A/N: OMG! I've updated! XD
Seriously though I honestly didn't think I was gonna get this chapter done. I was starting to rip my hair out I was getting that frustrated! But here it is at long last _
I'll make this A/N short.
First, I will be taking some down time from the story for at least a month as NaNo will be starting in approximately 13 days and I need to prepare for that in the time that I have left now that I have this chapter off my mind.
Secondly, I hope this chapter goes over well, though I'm sure I might get a couple of complaints here and there about certain things.
All I can say is that I've tried to keep the characters inline with how I perceive them and the way I've been playing them out from the beginning of the story.
Anyway, with that said I hope you enjoy.
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Chapter 20
Those Three Terrifying Words Pt 1
A low wind whirled through the trees and across the grounds, picking up twirling tails of dirt and dust that spiraled through the air before settling back to the hard packed earth again. The grass swayed and the leaf tipped branches of trees rustled like crate paper. The chill on the wind was belittled by the uncharacteristically bright blue cloudless sky and even bright sun. The dark clouds far in the distance sat on the horizon like a waiting army, a promise that colder, dreary weather was on its way and that winter would not be hindered by this brief respite….
Ranma stared out the class window with a quiet longing sigh as she tried to block out the constant scratching of chalk against the black board that set her teeth on edge and made her skin crawl. The page of her notebook was only partially full of the notes she was meant to be taking; at this rate she was going to have borrow Akane's again. She just couldn't focus on the teacher's monotonous rambling as he scrawled key points across the board, not that she could most of the time but today was worse than normal.
Her jaw tightened as a shiver twitched at the base of her neck.
It was a task, resisting the urge to stop look around for the eyes she felt staring at her, not that she wasn't getting used to it by now. Hardly a day didn't go by at school when she wasn't being stared at, but since she had started coming to school in her new outfit for the past week, the stares had only become more intense. She liked the clothes too much to simply give into the awed looks she received. Many of those were ones of lecherous approval from the guys and looks of annoyed jealousy from other the girls. She would have liked to believe that they were just clothes, but the fact was they weren't and she knew it.
Another week or so and they would get over it though…she hoped.
Her bored, wide blue eyes drifted up to the clock above the blackboard as the clack of chalk suddenly grew louder and the red head stifled another sigh. Forty minutes to go till she was free; may as well have been twenty hours with the way the class seemed to crawl on. The teacher's dry impassionate tone wasn't helping either. Going shopping with Akane and Ukyo was more interesting than this.
The pencil between her powerful but nimble fingers suddenly snapped as Ryoga popped in her head…
Ranma cursed quietly through clenched teeth, grounding her teeth together so hard her jaw started to hurt. She wasn't nearly as quiet as she thought she was though, as some of the others around her turned in curiosity. A quick discouraging glare from those suddenly frigid blues was enough to make them turn straight back around and she quickly retrieved a spare pencil from her bag.
Next to the irritated red head, Akane's brow furrowed in troubled contemplation as she watched her ex-fiancée as she idly jotted down more notes in her notebook. Ranma had been as nervous as a hyperactive flea since their girl's day out a week before. She would admit it had been amusing at first, maybe even a little cute, now it was just plain odd and it was obvious that Ranma wasn't willing to talk about it, much to Akane's frustration.
Even now the red head was zoning in and out when she should have been focusing on listening to the teacher; or, at the very least try. She suppose it was easy to take any other teacher - especially a substitute one at that - lightly after dealing with Miss Hinako so often, but even so it wasn't like Ranma could afford to ignore the lessons altogether. On the other hand, Ranma wasn't the only one on the verge of death by excruciating boredom.
Still for the incorrigible red head to zone out so completely she'd lose control of her considerable strength was another matter altogether. Not many people realized just how strong Ranma was or the amount of concentration and focus it took to keep that strength in check. If Ranma wasn't careful she could kill someone with no more effort than it took a normal person to kill a fly.
She didn't like seeing the red head so troubled though; it was an expression out of place on her face. What was she supposed to do though?
Ranma had put down her pencil again and Akane watched as her eyes glazed over with a distant, far away look; almost the same as the one she'd had in the cinema. She would have loved to have known what was going on in her head; she would have loved to have known what it was that could distract Ranma so completely the way it had. Idly she wondered if it was brain damage from all the hits to the head she had given the red head since they had first met…..
"Are you ok?"
Ranma was jolted out of her own little world and turned to find Akane leaning over from the desk beside her. She blinked a couple of times blankly, slowly realizing she had zoned out again, and felt her cheeks warm rapidly as she tried to ignore the fuzziness in her stomach at the thought of him, and having her ex-fiancée scrutinizing her so closely didn't help to stem the sudden surge of panic she felt. With a considerable amount of effort she pushed the panic and distracting thoughts aside and forced a smile across her face for Akane's benefit as she turned to face her, her mind racing for an excuse.
"I'm fine," she replied. "I'm just hungry that's all."
Akane gave her an exasperated look. "You're always hungry."
"Exactly," she flashed a wide grin.
"Miss Saotome!" the red head snapped to attention in alarm to find the teacher glaring at her disapprovingly. "Perhaps you would like to come up here and teach the class, since you seem to know so much about it that you can have a conversation with Miss Tendo instead taking down notes like you're supposed to?"
Ranma held back a smart ass remark that threatened to slip out. "Sorry, r."
The older teacher scowled at her over the rim of his glasses, like a bug that had just crawled over his food. "You should learn to apply yourself more, Miss Saotome. Knowing how to kick someone won't get you anywhere in life."
Ranma felt her cheeks flush with anger and pride at the disdainful way he insultingly dismissed her single greatest love in life. "It'll get me further than being a substitute high school teacher."
There were a few snickers and a couple of gasps as the color drained from the old teacher's weathered features in pure white rage. Akane simply rubbed her eyes and shook her head with a sigh. Ranma merely sat back with her arms crossed across her ample chest, an eye brow arched over one eye daring the teacher. A few seconds later she was standing in the hall holding a bucket of water in each hand.
Worth it.
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Uuchan's Okonomiyaki Restaurant was alive with the noise of sizzling grills and chatty customers, as Ukyo barked orders at her slave of an assistant, Konatsu, who rushed back and forth with utensils and ingredients like a chicken with its head cut off. Ukyo wiped the side of her face with her upper arm, wiping away the sweat collecting there that threatened to trickle down her cheek and along the curve of her jaw; with all the people crammed in the tiny restaurant and all the active hot plates, Uuchan's was hotter than a summer day.
She didn't mind one bit though; it was worth it to see the looks of enjoyment and satisfaction on their faces as they attacked the delicious meal she had trained so hard to perfect. The Cat Café may've been slightly more upscale in comparison, but she knew her smaller establishment pulled in just as much daily business, if not more.
She knew she had the high school students to thank for that. After a long day of tirelessly studying and goofing around, they needed a quick easy meal to satisfy their cavernous guts until dinner.
She looked up with a wide grin as the chimes above the entrance rang together and Ranma walked in, and then nearly laughed when she lost the tiny red head amongst the crowd of hungry customers. A few seconds later the smaller girl surged through the crowd at the counter with an exasperated growl. Straight away though she saw the weary tiredness suspended in the blue rings of her eyes.
"Rough day?" she automatically started to prepare Ranma's favorite, slapping the batter down on the hot plate and idly piling the red head's favorite toppings on it.
Ranma rubbed her eyes as she made herself comfortable. "You could say that."
Ukyo looked at her friend with a twinge of concern, noting the faint but tell tale shadows beneath the girl's eyes. "You feeling ok?"
Ranma looked at her wearily. "You know I am really getting sick and tired of people asking me that question."
"Well stop giving us a reason to then." Ukyo shrugged unsympathetically as she served out a few okonomiyaki's that were finished to their respective owners; as she did the red head muttered something undecipherable under her breath, causing the young chef to smirk triumphantly. "You know we only ask because we care about you Ran-chan, so stop complaining. Things could be a lot worse, you know."
"That's a matter of opinion," Ranma grumbled, resting her head in one hand looking away irritably.
Ukyo eyed the melancholy girl curiously, wondering what it was that had gotten to her this time. It never felt right seeing Ranma act this way; annoyed yes; ignorant, without a doubt, but never so affected that she had trouble sleeping or looked this troubled and confused. She was supposed to be the unwavering one, always confident, always sure of what she needed to do. Ukyo missed that Ranma, though she understood it would be a while before Ranma could be that person again.
"You're starting to sound as bad as Ryoga," she joked absently. "You two would make a perfect couple!"
The quiet red head shifted slightly but noticeably, cheeks flushing bright red like a spot fire as she turned away to hide her face. Ukyo blinked in confusion, caught off guard by the strange reaction to the harmless joke. It wasn't the first time she had seen the red head react oddly. For more than a week whenever she looked at the ruby haired teenager, she seemed to have her head in the clouds as her wide blue eyes stared obliviously into nothing while her body moved on autopilot; and then, she seemed to come back down to earth and her face would look like it was about to catch fire.
She wasn't the only the one that had noticed the odd behavior either; Akane had as well, but the dark haired teenager had chosen not to say anything as well. After all, with everything Ranma had gone through recently with Yukino – and that wasn't including everything leading up to that whole fiasco – it was only natural it would take time for her to get back to her normal self. Ukyo didn't care who it was, no one could go through all that torture and the brainwashing without having to deal with some baggage….Not that Ranma would ever admit she was anything but fine of course.
That's why they hadn't pushed her, knowing it would be no use. Now she was starting to wonder if that had been the wrong idea…
When they had taken her out a week ago, she had hoped it would put her in better spirits, cheer her up a little and help regain some of that spark she used to have; but, the entire time she had been nothing but distracted and gloomy. Ukyo had figured it was having her period for the first time on top of everything else. When she had rushed out of the movie theatre looking like she was going to hyper ventilate and have a heart attack was when she knew something wasn't right.
Then there was the abrupt end to their day out, when they ran into Ryoga an-
Ukyo's eyes widened abruptly, all thoughts dying instantly in her mind as her eyes froze on the fierce, tiny teenager. All the noise and chatter around her slipped away in a vacuum of silence and forgotten in a flash of connecting dots and images racing through her head. Slowly, trembling at the impossible conclusion she gaped at her in disbelief.
"Ukyo?" Ranma cocked an eyebrow at her puzzlement.
She couldn't even string a full sentence. "….Him?"
Ranma's own eyes widened in sudden, sickening realization. She looked back and forth in panic along the length of the counter at the other customers on either side of her, mostly Fuurinkan High students, who were starting to stare back and forth between her and Ukyo. Ranma snapped her eyes back at Ukyo, pleading.
"No, Uuchan!" she hissed. "Don't! Don't you dare do this, not here!"
Ukyo barely heard her. "Y….y….you have a crus-"
Before the words were out of her mouth, Ranma had leapt across the counter and tackled her to the ground in a blur of red and dark blue rolling across the hard polished kitchen floor. The customers gasped in shock and were on their feet in a flash, everything else forgotten as they watched the two girls. Then, all of a sudden Ranma was on her feet, with one hand clamped firmly over the chef's mouth as she rushed out through the back of the kitchen as she disappeared upstairs with Ukyo tucked firmly under the other arm.
Seconds later, Konatsu turned around from the back sink, and blinked in surprise to find all the customers gaping and Ukyo gone.
"Um...Ukyo-sama...?"
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Ranma took the steps four at a time, two leaps, a turn, and two more leaps as she left the crowds behind; heart and mind raced with panic and adrenalin pumping through her body like pure energy. She slammed the door shut behind her with a booming bang as she rushed into the apartment above the restaurant. Her face burned red, eyes blazing with furious anger as she all but threw the confused chef on to the sofa.
"Have you lost your freaking mind!" she nearly screeched at the bewildered brunette, struggling to remind herself that there was a restaurant full of people below her. "Do you have any clue what you were about to say in front of all those gossiping morons down there?"
She didn't give her time to answer, she whirled away with an exasperated snarl and stared to pace back and forth, hands clawing through her crimson locks; her heart felt like it was going to explode it was racing that fast, adrenalin surging through it like water through a busted dam. Even her hands were shaking the panic was that bad. That was far too close, she thought, with all those people, all those students that knew her. If they knew…kami, if they knew she would never have a moment's peace. It was bad enough they still whispered behind her back when they thought she couldn't hear them, that they still gave her strange puzzled looks. But, if they knew this, the whispering would never stop, and she would have every boy in the school trying to date her!
She would never know a moment's peace if those horny freaks had a choice.
She shot a death glare at her friend, and wondered how the hell she had figured it out. Watching that unmistakable look of realization materialize on the Osakan's face, the clear and obvious sign of thoughts connecting and lining up to a single conclusion was like watching a bad dream become reality. It had filled her with a heavy sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, making it churn like an ill-tempered ocean; this wasn't how she wanted anyone to find out!
"Damn it Ukyo! Why did you have to go and figure it out!" she hissed angrily, resisting the urge to bang her head against the wall impotently. No, there was no point in being angry with Ukyo; it wasn't her fault she'd figured out what she had been trying to hide. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
"My god…it's true," Ukyo rose slowly off the sofa, completely shocked and wide eyed. "You do have a crush on Ryoga don't you?"
Ranma grimaced at that, trying to ignore the fluttering lightness that made her heart skip a beat; she had avoided even using those words even in her own mind. Even still, trying to avoid the word didn't change the cold hard fact she had found herself faced with. No matter how much she wanted it to.
"You don't know what you're talking about," she growled lowly.
If Ukyo heard her however, she didn't show it. "It all makes so much sense. That's why you've been so weird lately and why you freaked out when we ran into him the other day. I thought you were just embarrassed about the whole Akari thing. I can't believe I didn't see it, it was right in front of me the whole time."
Ranma clenched her jaw dangerously tight, feeling the heat rising in her cheeks as she flushed with embarrassment, remembering all too well her unwillingly extreme and uncontrollable reaction to his sudden appearance that day. She knew she didn't have to worry too much about Akane figuring it out, but it was a wonder Ukyo hadn't figured it out there and then. It was only a matter of time before someone did; though it could have been far worse though…it could have been her mother.
That sent a shiver down her spine.
"You…you can't tell anyone," she said hoarsely, throat dry with swelling apprehension as she watched the brunette try to process the revelation. It was pointless to try and deny it now; she could only do damage control now. "Did you hear me Ukyo?"
The other girl turned and stared at her, blinking and suddenly the shock melted away from her face and was abruptly replaced with empathy "Oh Ranma, I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking. I'm just so…I don't even know where to begin. Of course I won't say anything, you have my word on that."
Ranma felt her entire body sag; she wasn't sure if it was in relief or mental weariness catching up with her. Her whole body felt like it was made of lead, and every step to the couch was with such effort that she simply collapsed in a heap on it when she reached it. At the same time, more or less admitting the truth seemed to have lifted a load off her shoulders. She felt dizzy and light headed, as if the world was spinning around her. Ukyo eyed her carefully, a mountain of questions brimming behind those dark blue eyes just begging to be asked; she was practically bursting with excitement and hesitation.
Ranma sighed, "You look like a hyperactive little kid on Christmas morning."
The other girl's cheeks colored slightly like a child caught red handed. "I'm sorry. I'm trying to be understanding and sympathetic I am, but…this is so huge!"
"This is a nightmare," Ranma corrected bitterly, with a slight more sharpness than she meant to.
Ukyo was unfazed; not that there was much that could really shock her now. Her eyes never left the red head, perhaps afraid that if she turned her back long enough she might make a hasty escape before anyone could stop her. Ranma wasn't sure she wouldn't, given the chance.
Ukyo though sat down calmly next to her and gently squeezed her hand reassuringly. "You know you can talk to me if you need to sugar, and judging from the look of you I think might do you some good to get this off your chest."
Ranma stared dryly, eye brow cocked unconvinced. "Get it off my chest? Is that seriously the best you can do? You just want me to spill my guts to satisfy your own curiosity."
Ukyo flushed and pouted. "Well you can't expect me to just ignore and pretend this never happened can you? Besides it's not totally untrue you know. Look at yourself; this has been eating you up inside and what has bottling it up and pushing aside done for you? It's just made you spacey one minute and high strung the next. I think talking about it will do you some good."
She didn't even try to argue with that logic except to look away with a petulant pout of her own. Just because her argument made sense didn't mean she had to like it, but even still, she knew deep down that as curious as Ukyo was she wouldn't have suggested the idea if she didn't at least believe it might help.
"Fine'" she sighed suddenly, and tried not to glower at the excitement that plastered itself across the Osakan's face. "What do you want to know?"
"Well obviously I want to know everything," the brunette replied unabashedly. "But just take it slowly. When did it all start?"
Inwardly, the tiny red head was already regretting this.
"It started almost as soon as I overcame Yukino's brainwashing. Really though, I think it started sooner than that," she started softly, staring ahead of her at the wall, but seeing something else altogether. "When I got back my real memories back I also, got back the memories from when my...from when I was sick with the fever..."
There was silence as Ukyo eyes widened ever so slightly in surprise, sympathy mixed with concern. Then she said. "I didn't think you were aware of what was going on? Ryoga said you were delirious when he brought you back."
"It's hard to explain," Ranma hesitated slightly, still trying to sort it all out in her own mind as well. "I think most of the time I was out of it completely. Asleep or unconscious, whichever. There were a few times though when I was awake, but confused, delirious with pain and heat coursing through my body, my insides feeling like they were on fire and my body so weak I could have sworn it was the moxibustion point that was the cause. One of those times though I woke up during the night, still delirious but free of the pain; still weak and exhausted but pain free. I was scared too, I knew someone or something was chasing us, that they wanted to hurt us, but for the life of me I was so delirious I couldn't even figure out who I was let alone what they wanted with us or what we had done. All I knew was that he, was protecting me..."
For a second she was back in the forest, sitting in his lap, arms wrapped around her; she could almost feel the iron hard muscles and warmth of his arms. It made her cheeks pink and ignited a small but spreading fire in them.
"I can't even begin to describe, what it was like Ukyo. I've spent my entire life training, getting stronger so I can protect myself and those around me that I care about, and not just because that's what pops wanted me to be the greatest martial artist ever, but because I didn't want to have to be protected by anyone. And then, suddenly I couldn't, and it wasn't like when Happosai hit me with the moxibustion point, that was different; I still had my speed then at least. This time though…I was completely helpless Uuchan. What made it worse was not even knowing who you are in the moment; I was no one and nothing in those moments," Ranma paused to take a breath, feeling the knot inside her chest swell as those emotions came flooding back. "I had never been more terrified and so utterly and completely helplessness in my entire life until then."
Ukyo stared in silence, watching the haunted glaze that spilled across the red head's blue gems, dimming the life and energy they usually lit them. All she wanted to do right then was wrap her arms around her friend; no one should have to experience what she had, let alone deal with by themselves.
"Knowing you're too weak to do anything… that complete and utter sense of helplessness, it was like a dark suffocating weight crushing down on you… but knowing he was there with me, protecting me, and keeping all the bad things away, it… it made everything ok; it made me feel so warm, and safe, like nothing could ever hurt me. In my fevered, delirious and delusional mind, I was just a girl… an-an-and, he was my…ah," Ranma faltered, face flushing with color and heat as she fidgeted nervously.
"Your shield? Your strength?" Ukyo offered, before a coy smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, and she gave her a playful nudge. "Your knight?"
Ranma coughed and spluttered in alarm, her eyes widening almost comically as her face turned bright crimson. "What? No! That's absurd….. No, he was my-my, ah…my… you know what, it doesn't matter!"
Ukyo couldn't hide the knowing smile that spread across her face.
Ranma continued on quickly.
"That's beside the point anyway! I didn't know what was happening, I just knew I was grateful that he was there an… and I…I" she paused suddenly, trying to wet her lips, as her mouth and throat went as dry as a desert with growing apprehension; she knew there was no turning back now, not now that she had come this far… she took a deep breath.
"And, I kissed him..."
Ukyo's eyes were suddenly as wide as saucers as she stared at the crimson haired girl, her mouth opening and closing in silent shock as her brain tried desperately to connect the conflicting information with the person beside her. Ranma looked as though she was trying to make herself as small as possible so she could disappear, face flushed and her body trembling with embarrassment.
"Y-y-you, k-kissed him?" Ukyo repeated with a stammer of overwhelmed shock, making sure she had heard right. Ranma merely nodded, looking like she wanted to curl up and die. Ukyo rubbed her forehead in disbelief. "Wow...I honestly didn't see that coming. No wonder you've been so out of it."
Ranma grimaced, trying to ignore the memories that floated around her head, disjointed images of her lips pressed against his, sensory memories of his warm breath and the earthen smells all around them. Ranma shook her head furiously and forcibly shoved all of that to the back of her mind.
Ukyo patted her on the shoulder reassuringly. "It's ok Ranchan. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. I mean I know why you're embarrassed, but you have to remember you weren't yourself like you said. You were sick, delirious and frightened, so you found comfort and security where you could. You don't have to beat yourself up over this ok? It was an innocent mistake, that's all."
"I know..." Ranma replied softly, her tone conveyed an unmistakable measure of uncertainty and lack of conviction though.
Ukyo's brow furrowed in slight confusion. "Then what's the problem sugar. I mean, it's not like the two of you haven't had this happen under extenuating circumstances before… I know you haven't forgotten the koi rod incident. You got pass that easily enough right?"
"This time was different," the red head sighed miserably as she got up and started to pace around the living room. "This time...this time I enjoyed it...and I don't just mean then when it happened either. I also mean now, every time I think about it, or any time someone mentions him. I can remember it all so vividly, like it only just happened. I can still feel it all happening. It's always with me, always there at the edge of my thoughts, and I can't help but like it, even though another part of me is absolutely revolted!"
If she had been shocked before, now Ukyo felt as though a bomb had gone off in her head. What's more the girl before her looked just as floored and confused by her own admission. She looked so lost and desperate for answers. Ukyo didn't know what to say, she didn't know how to comfort her friend... her former fiancé at that! This was so far out of her league she didn't even know where to start.
"I don't know what to do about this!" Ranma hissed sharply, more to herself than Ukyo. "And that scares me even more! It's not something I should have to think about and I shouldn't be feeling this way in the first place, much less for him of all people damn it!"
Ukyo patiently stared at the freaked out red head. "This is far from as bad as you're making it out to be Ranchan, and take it from me, you could have fallen for a lot worse than Ryoga."
Ranma eyes flared with forced indignation. "I have not fallen for him!"
"Fine, pining, whatever you want to call it sugar," Ranma shot her a dangerous glare that she easily shrugged off. "My point is Ranma that if some little part of you, didn't like him you wouldn't be feeling this way; you would have accepted that it happened and put it behind you like you have in the past but instead you're letting that infuriating black and white perception of the world of yours get in the way of the part of you that wants to be happy. Now I'm not saying you need a man to be happy, but maybe you shouldn't be so quick to think that this is all a bad thing either."
"So what are you saying?" Ranma replied shortly.
"I am simply suggesting that maybe you should stop lying to yourself Ranma," Ukyo added gently, weathering another sharp look from the red head. "It's obvious that no matter how much you try to deny it that you're having these feelings and that's not going to change unless you explore them and figure out what they mean long term."
Ranma sank wearily back on to the couch, feeling and looking deflated. She was silent for a while, staring at the ground in thought as though she was trying to follow every little minute detail of the patterns in the weave of the carpet, brow knitted together in deep concentration.
"What's the point Uuchan? I can't ignore what I really am inside. It isn't like anything could happen between us anyway..." Ranma blushed suddenly and added quickly in wide eyed panic. "N-not that I want there to be anything between us, because I don't, ok!"
Ukyo couldn't help but smile with shameless amusement as she indulged Ranma's obviously pointless and transparent, if not surprisingly adorable denial; she didn't bother to point out the fact to the red head that she couldn't even look her in the eye when she said it though. It was cute, in a weird almost disconcerting sort of way.
"Look sugar, as I said, you can deny it all you want and until you're all blue in the face if you really want to," she explained, nearly rolling her eyes with exasperation as Ranma looked at her hopefully at that. "But, you know that's not going to work forever and if I figured it out, you can bet others are going to start figuring it out as well. Now imagine if that someone was your mother?"
Ranma shuddered violently. "She'd have me fitted for a wedding dress faster than I could blink."
"Exactly," Ukyo agreed. "So if you're not going to listen to me, then you should really find someone else to talk to because I really don't want to see you suffering again Ranchan, not after everything you've overcome so far and I know you don't want that either. Just remember though, that this doesn't have to be a bad thing and that I'm always here if you need to talk."
Ranma sat there silent, before she managed a weak nod and a small, appreciative smile. "Thank you."
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The air was starting to develop a nip to it, clouds mottling the blue canvas of the sky with patches of whitish grey. Ranma barely glanced up from the side walk as her body moved like it was on autopilot. Everything with Ukyo was still fresh in her mind; what a strange afternoon her day had turned into. Inwardly she was still cursing that Ukyo had figured it out, let alone got her talking about it. Now there were so many things flying around in her head she could barely tell left from right. Everything was all messed up…
Ukyo didn't get it though, no matter how easy she made it all seem; she couldn't forget who she was inside regardless of how she felt. Even if she did want to act on those feelings, what difference would it make? Ryoga would never be able to look past what she was inside either. As far as she was concerned, she was just asking for trouble exploring something that she knew could never amount to anything. Ukyo was right however; if she had realized the truth then it wouldn't be long before other's started to as well… as much as she would like to ignore it all and move on, she did need to talk about it with someone.
She sighed miserably; she hated having these feelings pulsing through her, messing with her life the way they were, though not nearly as much as she hated the fact that she did like them, or at the very least part of her did anyway.
Her life was far too complicated sometimes…
It wasn't long before she found herself standing outside the Tendo residence. It was deceptively serene from the outside, like any other home on and around the surrounding streets. Having lived there for nearly two years though Ranma knew that just because it looked peaceful on the outside, didn't mean chaos wasn't running rampant on the inside. Standing on the other side of the double wooden gates a sea of memories swept in and filled her mind. She couldn't help but smile. For all the chaos and trouble living there had caused, the time spent there had been some of the best in her life up until that point.
Sometimes on rare moments, she found herself almost wishing her mother hadn't taken her and her father from the Tendo's after she had revealed her secret to her. Those moments quickly passed when she reminded herself that of course that time had to end. The two of them couldn't freeload off Mr. Tendo forever, no matter how far her father's friendship with him went back. It wasn't right, not when the house was in a constant state of repairs from all the damage her daily battles with whatever foe of the day caused. Though in her defense, just as many of those damages were caused by a certain mallet swinging psychopath.
Ranma rolled her eyes as she reached out for the gate handle; not that little miss perfect would ever admit to that though…
"Ranma!"
Her hand jerked back in alarm as she yelped and her heart leapt into her throat, whirling around to find Kasumi standing behind her, arms overloaded with groceries.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," the eldest Tendo sister apologized with one of her patented disarming smiles. "I thought you heard me."
"Y-you didn't frighten me," she lied unconvincingly as she felt her face flush with heat from embarrassment. "Here let me help you with those."
"Thank you," the young woman replied as she let her take a couple of the bags and started inside. "I almost dropped them of times on the way home."
Ranma followed in silence, feeling less and less confident with every step. The only upside was that as they passed through the house there was no sign of anyone else. It made her slightly less nervous knowing that it was just the two of them and they could talk freely.
"So what brings you all the way here Ranma?" Kasumi asked as they placed the bags on the counter and she started storing the items that needed to be refrigerated. "Is everything ok? You look a little frazzled about something. Those girls haven't been giving you a hard time again I hope?"
Ranma winced inwardly at that, but at the same time Kasumi's natural motherly nature made her smile.
"No, I'm pretty sure I took care of that problem," she admitted, grimacing at the memory of how close she had come to breaking Sayori's arm; but then again the bitch had it coming. "I...uh...was hoping I could talk to you about something?"
"Of course you can Ranma, you know that," Kasumi smiled warmly, reassuringly even as the red head struggled with her inner thoughts and insecurity. "What do you want to talk about?"
Ranma felt her chest start to tighten with nervousness again. "W-well it's like t-this. Lately I've b-been having these…I mean."
She stopped and frowned hard at herself and her sudden inability to form the words she wanted to. This had seemed so much simpler in her head on the way over, after already talking to Ukyo. Now everything was all jumbled and tangled together again like Christmas lights after being stuffed inside a box for a year; even if she had an end to start from there was no guarantee she'd ever be able to find her way the mess of her thoughts.
Kasumi put a calming hand on her shoulder and said. "How about I make us some tea and we go sit in the sun. It's so nice outside at the moment that it would be a shame to waste it standing in here."
Ranma breathed in relief, and smiled awkwardly, feeling a little foolish.
"That would be nice…"
…
….
….
Ranma sipped slowly at the hot tea, savoring the bitter liquid as it warmed her from the inside out, while gazing around at the sun lit yard in quiet reflection; it was hard not to stare at any one spot without a myriad of memories playing out before her like scenes from a movie washed in the grey tones of time long since passed. Some memories were fresher than others though.
Though it was fixed now and as good as new, she knew the section of wall immediately across from her was the section she had blasted Ryoga through only a couple of months earlier; and, only a few feet away was the patch of earth where Akane had landed after she had back handed her ex-fiancé by accident.
She could do without either of those memories.
The nervous red head glanced at Kasumi, expecting the young woman to be staring at her, waiting; instead, she was staring up at the sky and seemingly enjoying the feel of the breeze as it ruffled her hair, and the feel of sun on her skin. She had forgotten how peaceful it was to simply sit with the slightly older girl. Kasumi was perhaps the only person she felt like she could be open with comfortably about what was going on with her at the moment.
Part of her knew she should be talking about her problem while they had the place to themselves; the more she stalled the more she ran the risk of someone coming home and then she definitely wouldn't be able to talk. At the same time she wondered if maybe some part of her was hoping that would happen so she didn't have to talk about it… Spilling her guts to Ukyo wasn't exactly something she had planned on or wanted to do; even if getting it off her chest had felt, somewhat good, as much as she hated to admit it.
She sighed.
"Are you ok, Ranma?" Kasumi said suddenly, drawing the red head out of her thoughts as she looked up at the older girl, meeting the gaze of a pair of concerned brown eyes. "You look so troubled."
Ranma peered down at the dark liquid in her cup in thought, everything still flying around her mind like leafs in a storm.
"I am…I'm confused and lost…" she replied softly. "I have a lot going on in my head at the moment that I just don't know how to deal with. I've tried and I just keep running myself in circles but I'm getting nowhere…"
"You've been through a lot recently," Kasumi said, as if that explained everything as she tried to be comforting.
She felt her shoulders sag a little. "I wish it was that simple."
"Isn't it?" Kasumi tilted her head in curiosity.
"No… no it's not," Ranma shook her head slowly, brows down turned in worried seriousness. She absently turned the little plate her tea cup was settled on, idly wondering why a cup needed one in the first place. With a sigh she pushed the pointless thoughts aside and took a deep breath as she looked up at the older girl that was like a sister to her; she couldn't keep avoiding it. "I-I think I'm in love with Ryoga…"
Silence abruptly fell across them as Kasumi gaped at her in surprise.
Ranma took another deep breath, gathering her courage and started from the beginning. By the time she was done, she felt a little drained as she finished explaining everything, letting it all spill out of her in a rush, pausing every so often to capture her breath before continuing. She was frantic to get it all out before she chickened out and clammed up again. When she was done she felt her heart racing and sipped slowly at the rest of the bitter sweet liquid of her tea as she tried to calm herself and waited for Kasumi to absorb it all. The older girl looked as though she had been smacked with a billboard sized revelation, the surprise clearly evident in her light brown orbs. She was nervous as she waited for her to say something, anything and fidgeted awkwardly under her gaze. It was a lot to take in, even for Kasumi she realized. Even still, she couldn't help but feel like a kid admitting to something they had done wrong.
"Well," Kasumi said eventually, still struggling. "No wonder you've been so confused, shouldering all that by yourself."
"You don't think I'm weird?" Ranma asked worriedly.
Kasumi smiled warmly. "Of course I don't. Why would I ever think that?"
"Because of who I am," the red head replied, shrugging her shoulders very slightly. "Because I have feelings for Ryoga, I can't get any weirder than that."
"Oh Ranma," the brunette said gently. "That doesn't make you weird. It just means you're a perfectly normal teenager."
At that Ranma stared up at the older girl with a cocked eyebrow and a dry expression. "Normal?"
"Ok, normal might not be exactly the right word," the young woman allowed. "That however doesn't mean it isn't true. I don't think there's anything wrong with what you're feeling though. I know it's all confusing and you have you're reasons for being scared of that, but that happens with these things. It can twist you up inside until you don't know what direction you're being pulled in."
"I don't want these feelings though," Ranma sighed heavily. "I don't like them, and I shouldn't be having them. I don't know even know if they're my feelings."
"Sometimes we don't get to choose the ones that make us happy, and it doesn't matter if you're a boy or a girl, but it doesn't make the feelings any less important either," Kasumi explained as she reached over and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I do know this though. You used to be full of so much energy and joy. You had your problems and you dealt with them as best you could, but you always had that gleam in your eyes. When you lost your male body, you lost that light as well and you were so angry. After what you went through with that dreadful Yukino woman though, you started to get it back, and just now, when you were talking about him, you may not have realized it but your eyes were as bright and full of life as ever. That's how I know what you're feeling, are your feelings."
Ranma's mouth opened and closed rapidly like a fish gasping for breath as she struggled to reply and ignore the burning fire in her cheeks that spread crimson from ear to ear in embarrassment. "T-that has nothing to do with him!"
"Ranma, it's nothing to be embarrassed about," Kasumi replied, a light chuckle ringing in her tone. "I don't much like martial arts, not the way you and Akane do, but even I know that it's no different to what you're going through now. You have to rely on your instincts, on what your heart tells you to do. You can think about it as much as you want, but in the end you're going to have to make a choice; you can't avoid it forever."
"That's the problem," the red head grumbled. "I don't like what it's telling me."
Kasumi smiled sympathetically. "We don't always get a choice. It's like the old saying goes; the heart wants what the heart wants."
This was exactly what Ranma had been afraid of happening. It was what had always scared her the most about her female form; the fear of losing who she was to it, the same way her idiot father seemed to lose himself in his panda form. The question that she kept coming back to over and over again, was it her having these feelings or was she having these feelings because she was losing herself to the girl Yukino had claimed was part of the curse?
She wasn't sure which one was worse…
"Ukyo says I should explore it," Ranma explained doubtfully. "As if it's really that easy."
"I think she's right," Kasumi replied seriously, much to the dismay of the surprised red head. "You're not going to be able to move forward unless you push yourself Ranma. Otherwise you're just going to keep punishing yourself thinking about it. You should explore these feelings, otherwise you might regret it later."
Ranma swallowed uneasily as she whispered almost conspiringly, as if someone might overhear her. "That would mean telling him, though."
There was amusement in the young woman's eyes, like an adult watching a baby trying to walk before it could crawl. "Why yes, I do believe it would."
Ranma felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment, knowing she was being mocked. "I can't do that! Akari is his girlfriend, and besides, he would just laugh at me."
What was more frightening was that he wouldn't; what if he did take her seriously, then what would happen? What would he say? What were they supposed to do then? The questions and scenarios were so many it was absolutely mind boggling and made her brain feel like it was going to explode from overload; it terrified her in ways she couldn't even begin to explain.
"I don't want to make a fool of myself," she admitted quietly.
Kasumi smiled fondly at her. "Whether you're a man or a woman, love; real love is about risks, Ranma. When we love someone, when we feel something special for another person we eventually have to take a leap of faith and risk our heart to them, and trust they don't break it. If two people can't do that, then what's the point?" she explained calmly with wisdom far beyond her years. "At some point you're going to have to take a chance and roll the dice; you'll never know unless you do."
The red head felt her eye twitch uneasily. "I suck at gambling."
Kasumi laughed; a warm and gentle, embracing laugh that made Ranma smile despite herself. It was hard not to hear Kasumi's laugh and not feel like everything was going to be ok, no matter how bad something seemed to be. She had often marveled at the peacefulness and caring that radiated off the other girl, soothing everyone around her. If it wasn't for her the Tendo house hold would have fallen apart like it was made out of a stack of cards.
She knew she would have fallen apart without Kasumi's support, when she woke up after the fever…
"Thank you Kasumi," she said softly, after the other girl had stopped, fingers fidgeting. "I know everyone tried to help me as best they could after I found out I was trapped this way, but… but you were the only one that managed to keep me anchored and I never said thank you for that… so, thank you."
Kasumi just smiled like the saint she was. "You don't have to thank me for that, never. I knew you would find your way, just as I know you'll find your way now. Because that's exactly the kind of person you are Ranma; you'll figure this out like you do with every challenge you've faced. I know you will, you just have to have more confidence in yourself."
Ranma sighed heavily.
"This challenge, is different this time…"
…
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…
The day was late, the sun high in the sky and the damp cold of the air cooling significantly by the minute. It would be getting dark soon, and there was the possibility of snow on its way. People walked the streets, on their way home from work or school, oblivious to the red head that sat on the grass overlooking the canal, deep in thought with a far away look in her eyes.
Ranma sighed; her talks with Kasumi and Ukyo hadn't been as helpful as she hoped, though she wasn't sure if it was help she was really looking for or someone to tell her what she wanted to hear. If anything she was more concerned than when she started. What had she expected either of them to say though? Kasumi was the closest thing she'd ever had to big sister and was probably the only person she respected more was her own mother; and Ukyo, wanted her to experience these things for the sake of experiencing them. Neither of them were exactly bias when it came to this advice.
But were they wrong…?
After weeks of being assaulted by that damn memory, and just over a week of living with the realization of what those emotions might mean she was no closer to understanding them or figuring out a decision. She pinched and rubbed the bridge of her nose, tired of running herself in circles; what was she supposed to do? It wasn't as easy as Kasumi and Ukyo wanted her to think it was… she couldn't just go and say, hey Ryoga, guess what?
He'd think she had gone insane.
The kami only knew what her mother would do if she went to her about this; although she imagined there would be a lot of excited jumping and squealing with joy, followed by celebrations and gods only knew what else! Hell, she'd probably be married off before she could even blink, knowing her parents.
She shuddered at the thought of herself in a wedding dress…
"Uuurrrggg! This sucks!" She flopped backwards on the ground with a growl of frustration and glared up at the sky in thought, digging her fingers into the corners of her eyes pinching the bridge of her nose in irritation.
Sighing she continued to stare up the sky, letting her arms fall straight out to either side of her, watching the dark grayish streams glide across the darkening blue canvas behind them. Long shadows stretched across the world as the clouds grouped around the sun, before passing by seconds later. The silence – save for the normal sounds of urban life around her – was relaxing in its own way; the cool air flowing over her body, like she was lying in a stream. She could almost go to sleep.
She let her head roll sideways, and then felt her bones nearly jump out of her skin, and swore.
Sitting two feet away was Nabiki.
"How long have you been sitting there?" she demanded as she sat up.
The other girl shrugged. "Long enough to know that talking to yourself is usually the first sign that you're going insane."
Ranma felt her eye twitching rapidly and her jaw tightening irritably as she stared at the other girl in disbelief. Nabiki didn't spare her a glance, instead watching the water flow past in the canal, small wooden boat rocking and bobbing on the little waves of disturbance. How Nabiki had learnt to move so quietly or hide her presence so well she would never know. The girl was far too good for it to simply be a lapse in her own concentration; was probably how she managed to get such good photos of people in compromising situations.
She was worse than a damn ninja.
"What do you want Nabiki?" she asked finally. "I'm not in the mood for any of your damn extortion schemes today."
Nabiki grinned unnervingly. "Ranma honey, if I wanted to extort money out of you, I would have by now and you know it. You're not that dense."
"I repeat," she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What do you want?"
The other girl sighed. "I overheard your conversation with Kasumi earlier."
Ranma felt her blood suddenly go cold and she stilled at the horror of Nabiki of all people having this information to hold over her head; and then she felt the fire of an indignant anger begin to burn inside her.
The red head stood up, visibly shaking. "How dare you!"
Nabiki wasn't fazed. "Sit down before you have an aneurism Saotome. Besides, you should know by now to be more cautious if you want to have a private conversation on my turf. If I overheard something I shouldn't, that's your fault not mine. I didn't intend to spy on you anyway, it was an accident; I was going to the kitchen when I overheard you explaining everything to Kasumi. Now sit down, I'm not here to black mail you or anything…I just wanna talk…..."
Ranma eyed her wearily, but sat back down. Every instinct and experience told her not to trust the manipulative young woman, trying to calculate how much money she had been cheated out of by her or the many times she had made her life difficult just because it was amusing and there was a profit to be made from it. She was ruthless when she wanted to be and was possibly one of the smartest people Ranma had ever known; but, at the same time there was a strange twinge in her tone, an odd hint of seriousness that grabbed at her.
"What do you want to talk about then?" she asked eventually, unable to hide her irritation. "About how I'm scared that I might have feelings for Ryoga or how I keep dreaming about kissing him when I had that damn fever?"
"Ranma, you either have feelings for him or you don't," Nabiki replied evenly without so much as sparing her a glance. "If you didn't have feelings for him you wouldn't be trying to convince yourself so desperately that you don't, and you know it. But, that isn't what you're scared of, and you aren't scared that he might not feel the same way either."
"Oh really?" the red head glared coldly. She didn't like it when people presumed to know what she was feeling. "What am I scared of then Nabiki, since you know me so well? Enlighten me."
Finally the girl turned and stared at her with piercing, knowing eyes. "You're scared because you can't help but wonder if you had these feelings before you got trapped this way. It's gnawing at you and you're more worried about what people are going to be whispering behind your back if you give into them and you're prideful enough that, just to spite yourself you'll ignore what your heart is telling you to do and in the end you'll just end up lonely and bitter."
Ranma glared and clenched her jaw tight, grounding her teeth together, but she couldn't hold the other girl's gaze and turned away.
"See," Nabiki continued casually. "You know I'm rig–"
"You are the last person that should be giving anyone advice," Ranma hissed as she cut her off, surprising both Nabiki and herself with the venom in her voice. "All you ever care about is your precious money; you'll even sell out your own sisters if there's a profit to be made. You don't care about anyone but yourself! So why, why would I ever wantadvice from you?"
As soon as the words were out her mouth she regretted it. There was a flicker of genuine hurt in the other girl's eyes, and then with a blink it was gone as quickly as it had appeared and she turned away from her, corners of her mouth tugging downwards sadly. Ranma closed her eyes and cursed inwardly as an incredibly heavy, uncomfortable and awkward silence settled over them. The red head kicked herself angrily, and tried to look everywhere except at her; she was just trying to help she reminded herself; it wasn't fair to take her frustration out on her.
"I'm sorry Nabiki, that was uncalled for," she apologized softly.
"I suppose I deserve it," the other girl replied distantly. "I know what people think of me. I know I've made a lot of enemies and I've made peace with that. Really, I don't care what they think of me."
Then she stared pointedly at her.
"I do care about my family though…..and for better or worse, that includes you too Ranma."
Ranma couldn't help but blink in surprise at that. For all the time she had known this girl, she could count on one hand the number of times Nabiki had shown any real emotion over anything other than money. All the times she had cheated and manipulated them all to whatever end she needed had clouded Ranma's judgment of her; only once had she ever seen the middle Tendo sister act even half way considerate towards anyone, and that had been when her mother had first visited the Tendo's. Ranma would never forget how affected Nabiki had been by that encounter.
Now here she was, trying in some way to build a bridge between them.
"You think of me, as family?"
Nabiki's lips formed a small smile at her obvious shock. "Well you were almost my brother-in-law, Ranma. And like I said, you've stuck your neck out for us more times than I can count, so if that doesn't make you family, what does?"
Ranma just blinked at her in surprise. "Wow. I don't know what I should say."
"Oh don't go and get all sentimental on me Saotome; that definitely isn't you," Nabiki replied humorously. "Besides things may have turned out very differently between the two of us if you had shown up in your guy form the first day we met."
Ranma looked at her, frowning in confusion at the whimsical musing in her tone; but when she offered nothing more, Ranma decided to let it go. It would do her no good to try and pry information out of someone like Nabiki Tendo, someone who valued information as being just as precious as money.
"You're right though, it does scare me," Ranma sighed as Nabiki glanced at her silently but listening calmly. "It scares me so much that I can't think about anything else. I shouldn't have these feelings, but I do... and yes, I am scared of what people will think, who wouldn't be in my situation? It's bad enough dealing with this without having to deal with what other people have to say about it."
Nabiki stared at her seriously. "Screw what others think, Ranma. It's none of their business anyway."
Ranma frowned at the ground. "It's weird though. I can't be the only one that thinks that way about it right? I mean, come on, me and Ryoga?"
"You don't get it do you," Nabiki shook her head. "Ok yes, it is a little weird, no one is denying that but it's not nearly as weird as it would be if you could still transform back and forth, not that there would be anything wrong with that either, it just would be that's all. Besides, this is Nerima; there are things far stranger around here than you liking Ryoga."
"I suppose," Ranma whispered uncertainly as she drew her knees to her chest.
It was true though. There were plenty of weirder things running around the ward on a regular basis; a girl that could turn into a cat, a guy that could turn into a duck, another into a pig and a man that could turn into a panda. Magic, curses and monsters and other worldly crap run amuck. She took comfort in the fact that even the strangest things in this place had a way of becoming normal amazingly quick. She had tried to keep her curse a secret when she first arrived; in theory it worked, but the reality was so much different and staying away from cold water had been far harder than she thought it would be. But, instead of being viewed as some sort of monster….everyone still accepted her… that didn't stop rumors though.
That's what she hated
"People will talk though," she muttered almost bitterly.
The brunette gave a nonchalant shrug of her slim shoulders. "People will talk regardless. You know that better than any on Saotome. If you don't give them something to talk about they'll only make up something themselves. You should have heard some of the stories about you and your assorted harem of fiancés."
The way her tone rose with amusement irked the red head slightly and she cast an irritated look at her. "Yeah, and I bet you made a nice tidy sum off spreading those stories too."
Nabiki's eyes twinkled mischievously as she feigned innocence, smiling at her own genius. "Whether I made a profit is beside the point. But since you asked, yes I did."
The girl was nothing if not incorrigible.
"Look, I might be obsessed with money, and I make no apologies for that either," Nabiki said suddenly. "But that doesn't mean I don't see what's right in front of me. You're tearing yourself up over something stupid and as much as I like to see you squirm I don't find enjoyment in seeing you like this..."
"What do you suggest then?" she asked calmly.
"I'm not suggesting anything," the other girl replied. "I'm am simply telling you you're thinking too hard about this, twisting yourself inside out and for what? Boy or girl, man or woman, what does any of it mean in the end as long as you're happy? Why do you have to be one or the other in order to be with someone that makes you feel good, as long as you're happy?"
Ranma blinked as she stared at the other girl; she found herself seeing Nabiki in a brand new light she never expected to. The sharp minded, quick tongued business woman that had cheated and financially crippled her and so many others over the years had just opened up a part of herself she didn't think many, if any at all had ever seen before. She felt surprisingly honoured, that her former sister-in-law/potential fiancé had allowed her to see that much of herself.
The red head looked away, to stare at the sky in thought; and what's more, Nabiki wasn't wrong either… What did it matter...in the end?
But could she really find the strength though to do what they all kept telling her to do, to do what her heart was demanding she do? Even though it would mean going against everything she thought about herself, against everything her instincts told her was wrong and disgusting; everything that she was so terrified of losing… could she do it? Could she really put it all aside?
And, how would it change her when she was done…?
Movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention suddenly and she turned to see Nabiki holding out her hand; her thumb, index and middle finger rubbing together in an all too familiar, universal sign.
Ranma looked at her in disbelief.
Nabiki just grinned. "Nothing's free Saotome."
…
…To Be Continued
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A/N:
Ok, I honestly thought this chapter was going to end up being a lot longer than it really turned out to be. While I was writing the Ukyo section I thought I was going to reach close to the 35 page mark, but then I decided not to write this little section I wanted to do with Akane or Ryoga because I just couldn't figure out what I wanted to do or how I could make it relevant so I just got rid of that completely. The wrap up was going to be different as well, but when I got up to it I just couldn't think of what to do so that went too.
Now I had originally meant for this and the next part to be a single chapter but I had already decided months and months ago that I was going to do it as a two part chapter. So unlike my other multi part arcs, this one was actually planned and concludes with the next chapter XD
Initially it was just gonna be Kasumi and Ukyo giving Ranma advice, and originally Ranma was going to willingly ask Ukyo for hers, but I decided it would be funnier if Ukyo figured it out for herself. Then I started to think that well yeah, of course that's the kind of advice those two would give her, that's what everyone would expect…. So I decided to have Nabiki throw her two cents in as well, since generally she should be the last person people would expect to give a damn about anyone except herself.
Ok, now Ranma.
As most had correctly assumed, her "dreams" were memories from hers and Ryoga's escape from the monks.
Now I know there have been readers that have "begged" and almost demanded that I don't make this a Ranchan/Ryoga fic, but as its clearly labeled as one and since this was obviously the direction its been heading, you shouldn't be surprised and I don't wanna hear any lip from yah's about it. If you don't like that its gone in that direction, that's your problem.
Anyway, with that being said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter because A LOT of work went into this chapter and I hope it reflects that, because honestly a day hasn't gone by in the last two months that I haven't worked on this thing ;
I hope you will all come back for the next chapter…..
…so until then ^_^