Most Unlikely of Friends

by Derekloffin

Is it possible for two heated rivals to become the closest of friends? When Akane and Shampoo receive a pair of strange bracelets they find themselves living new lives in an altered world where they are indeed just that. However, with only one Akane and one Shampoo for two worlds, they now find themselves caught between them.

21. Chapter 20

%Chapter 20

Soon Li awoke with a feeling of uneasiness. She felt out of place, like she had just been someplace else just moments before. Of course a quick look around showed that the feeling was completely unfounded. She was in her room as usual, Soun sleeping at her side. The feeling faded.

'Bad dream I guess.' Soon Li laid back down and closed her eyes in an attempt to sleep. Nearly an hour passed before she finally gave up. Ever since Happosai's return she had not been able to get much sleep. She felt off balance. It was a strange feeling which she had never felt before. 'Obviously Happosai is getting to me a lot more than I thought he was,' she thought as she got up.

She quietly dressed herself and left the room. She checked briefly on each of the children. Akane, Nabiki and Kasumi were sleeping peacefully in their rooms. 'At least they are getting some rest,' she through before pondering where Ryoga had gotten himself, having not been in his room downstairs. A further search of the residence and she finally found him sleeping in the bathroom. 'How that boy manages to end up in these situations I will probably never unfathomable. I suppose, if nothing else, that unpredictability will come in valuable in his final lessons in the wind school.'

Deciding to leave him be, Soon Li made her way outside and to the dojo where Ranma and Shampoo were still staying. Although she had yet to reveal such, Soon Li knew Shampoo had learned the art of focus. The signs were all too obvious to another skilled in the art. Soon Li got an odd sense of mischievous satisfaction at Shampoo beating Ranma to the punch. Of course he had to realize that emotion was just as important to the art of focus as clarity of mind. Still, Ranma too was very near finally seeing it.

Soon Li looked in and smiled as she saw Ranma holding his fiancee close to him in his sleep and she was clearly very comfortable in that position. She definitely could not blame her for the minor deception, she understood the feeling completely. She felt very much that same way now about Soun. It was funny that she had been so unsure of those feelings at the beginning.

XXXXX

It was nearly ten years ago now that Soon Li's life had hit such a major turning point. It was the day before the tournament. It seemed quite typical at the time and, of course, Soon Li was preparing herself. It was really unnecessary, more a custom. There were few in the village that could challenge her. Those that could, like her adoptive mother, would not be participating. The others, well, they could be interesting at times but she was ensured of victory. The village was becoming quite the bore actually.

She sparred against one of the better villagers, Zhao Mi, a old friend of hers. She was good but no real match for Soon Li. However, despite her many defeats Zhao Mi always cheerfully continued. It was a rare quality, to be defeated so consistently yet remain in good humor. Soon Li admired her for that. So many of the others avoided her because of her ability. They feared the humiliation or perhaps they were just jealous. She could not fault them because of it. It was hard for many of the villagers to accept that someone could become so quickly adept as Soon Li had. Many had trained their whole lives yet could not hope to beat her.

Soon Li knew that much of her natural talent was due to her curse and sometimes felt guilty about that. Still, there was little that could be done about it. It was part of her being, and the others would see it as an insult to avoid utilizing such. It was a strange quandary to be in. And now, she was feeling the press of loneliness and a lust for something new.

Due to such, this was to be her last tournament, and her last few days, in the village. Soon, she would set out in search of her sister and brothers. She was barely able to remember them. They had been separated when they were all just a few years old, when their mother passed and they were orphaned. Each had been taken up by a different family. Soon Li would eventually be adopted by Cologne when her guardians could no longer handle her. However, due to that, and moving to China, she had lost all trace of her siblings. Finding them would be difficult but Soon Li needed the excitement and the challenge.

Zhao Mi fell one final time and Soon Li waved off a continuation. "No, that's enough."

"Very well," Zhao Mi replied as she got back to her feet with Soon Li's help. "You'll do well tomorrow."

"Of course," Soon Li said with a smirk.

Zhao Mi chuckled. "Yes, well, you never know. You could have gotten incredibly rusty in the last year," she joked before motioning to the side. "Looks like you got yourself a bit of an audience." With that Zhao Mi gave Soon Li a quick pat on her shoulder before heading off.

For the first time Soon Li turned to regard the three girls watching her. One she easily recognized as Shampoo. She had little contact with the young girl, but her hair color was a dead give away. The other two, though, she did not recognize at the time but later she would come to know as Kasumi and Akane Tendo. Outsiders were rare in the village, especially this young. Soon Li could not help but feel curious.

"Hello," Soon Li greeted the older of the two outsiders.

"Hello," Kasumi responded pleasantly.

Examining the girl for a moment, Soon Li noted, "I take it you're not Chinese."

"Why no, we're not. We're from Japan. I didn't think it was that obvious," Kasumi replied in surprise.

Soon Li nodded. "You do speak well but with no accent and there are a few differences in appearance that I can pick up on. So, what brings you here?"

"Oh, father has brought us here on vacation."

"Vacation?! This is not quite the place I'd picture as a popular vacation spot."

"Well, we're more just... getting away." The girl said, her eyes darting to the side. Some might have missed it, but to Soon Li it was obvious.

"Something wrong at home?"

"Our... mother recently died." Kasumi admitted, her eyes falling to the ground for just an instant.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. It must be hard."

"We get by."

"I'm sure," Soon Li said with a smoothing smile. 'Such wounds as these take time to heal,' she thought before choosing to switch topics. Looking over at Akane, Soon Li asked "I take it she is your sister?"

"Akane, oh yes. She's my youngest sister. Nabiki is also somewhere nearby," Kasumi replied with renewed vigor.

"And your father is here too?"

"Father is just talking with the local guide. We're planning on visiting Jusenkyo after we leave here."

"Jusenkyo? The training ground of cursed springs. That is supposed to be a dangerous place. If you do go, do be careful."

"I'm sure we will but we aren't leaving until after your tournament."

"Of course. It will be quite interesting I think."

"Akane and Nabiki think you're going to win."

Soon Li smiled at that. 'These are perceptive children,' she thought before replying, "Well, I'm not one to overestimate my ability. It is still possible that someone may defeat me. There are many excellent warriors in the village."

"You're being very modest."

"If one has the ability one need not declare it," Soon Li replied.

"Of course. You are, however, very talented."

"You're a good judge of ability."

Kasumi looked away. "Oh no, I tend to avoid such things. My sister Akane is the martial artist."

Soon Li examined the girl for a moment. 'I wonder about that...' she thought before switching her look to Akane. "Is she now. Quite good is she?"

"I think so but I'm not educated on such matters. Practicing martial arts seems to be all Akane does lately," Kasumi elaborated.

'Probably the younger girl's way of dealing with the mother's death,' Soon Li conjectured.

"Actually, I think she wants to talk with you," the young girl hinted. "But I'm afraid she doesn't know any Mandarin."

"That isn't a problem. I'm actually fluent in many languages, Japanese among them. I'll speak with her," Soon Li replied which cause Kasumi to smile.

"Thank you. Oh, I haven't even told you my name. I am Kasumi Tendo."

"You can call me Soon Li."

Kasumi nodded. Soon Li gave her sister a quick look but then noticed Shampoo getting anxious. 'That girl is always on edge. She reminds me of myself.'

"Hello Shampoo," Soon Li greeted her village sister.

Shampoo suddenly snapped to attention. "Oh, hello Soon Li." She replied, beaming. "I think you're going to do real well tomorrow."

"Thank you. I'll try not to be unworthy of your confidence in me."

Shampoo smiled at that. "I'm going to be in the tournament next year. Great-grandmother says I will be the best."

"I guess we'll see, won't we."

"Oh, I'm the best already. No one has ever beaten me accept for Great-grandmother. I'm sure to win."

Soon Li looked at the younger Amazon with a sort of pity. Cologne talked about her occasionally and Soon Li had a few minor meetings with her before and she could tell, this girl, like her, was feeling the sting of loneliness. Her position in the village already distanced her greatly from the other village children. Like Soon Li, the others gave Shampoo respect but little more. Soon Li supposed it was a sort of resentment tainting the others' views of the young Amazon. For Soon Li this was not so bad. She had not only the maturity to deal with it but also a few friends like Zhao Mi to count on. Shampoo was still far too young to handle it maturely and her only real friend was Mousse, a friend that all too often showed her little of the friendship she needed. Now she was looking for something to fill that void of loneliness and she'd decided being the best would do just that. Little did she realize the trap she was digging herself into. It was that very position of superiority that started her problems and now she would just increase it potency.

"I wouldn't keep your expectations so high. It's not always necessary to be the best."

Shampoo seemed almost insulted for a second. "I will be the best!"

'You probably will be too but it wouldn't get you what you want. If you rely on that superiority what will happen when you inevitably lose it?' Soon Li thought. 'All one can hope is she finds something better.'

"I never meant to infer you wouldn't be. Just don't become too attached to that title," Soon Li said to calm the girl.

"I... won't." She said the words but she obviously didn't understand.

'I just wish I could explain it to her, but I suppose it isn't my place. Besides, there is little I can do for her in the few days I have left before leaving,' Soon Li thought giving the girl a smile and nod before finally turned her attention to the young outsider and switched to Japanese. "Hello."

The girl looked at Soon Li in surprise. "You speak Japanese?"

"Yes I do," Soon Li replied. Sure enough, Akane was quite excited to get to speak, and quickly began extolling the virtues of her father, even going so far as to say he was better than Soon Li. The Amazon could not help but give an inner chuckle to such an idea. There was many a man that came to the village to prove themselves, and while many had skills, few could even be termed a real challenge for even an average member of the village, let alone Soon Li. Still, Akane was young, and Soon Li would let her have her little illusion of her father's grandeur.

That was when said man appeared, and with his appearance came... something. It was just a fleeting feeling, but for an instant she found herself regarding this man as more than simply another outsider male. Of course, the feeling passed, and the two exchange pleasantries before he collected his daughters and headed off. Still, she noted a similar hesitation in his own responses as her own.

As he left, she noted at last that Shampoo had disappeared and sighed. 'Probably should have talked to her more. Oh well. What was it about that man...?' she thought before shrugging and going about her daily business.

XXXXX

The next day Soon Li had done what she always did, win. Even holding back none of her fellow Amazons were any serious challenge. Even her final opponent could not stand long against her attacks. It was all rather dull. However she had little time to contemplate her victory as she noticed the man from yesterday, the one she'd soon come to know as Soun, eating the prize.

Soon Li could hardly contain her laughter. The prize meant nothing to her, she would just share it with the crowd as was customary, but this man was either enormously arrogant, stupid or just uninformed to so brazenly eat it without permission. The memory of the previous day and Akane's glowing review of her father's ability compared to Soon Li's came back to her. 'Well, I suppose this might make the day a little amusing.'

Soon Li jumped down and put on an angry face. It was hard actually, she was ready to break down into laughter at any second. "You sir, what do you think you are doing?"

The man looked at her, started by her angry words. "Ah, eating," he answered in honest bewilderment.

'Not arrogant,' she concluded before continuing. "Eating? This is the first prize."

He looked shocked at this. "Oh, ah, well I'm dearly sorry."

'I'm guessing misinformed, perhaps deliberately so?' she pondered sneaking a glance at his daughters who all seemed just a little too happy about what was happening. 'Yes... Very well, the day had been a real bore,' Soon Li thought. "I demand satisfaction sir. Defend yourself!"

The man was taken totally off guard. He obviously didn't expect that "What?"

And thus the fight began, or rather the slaughter. She kept the fight at a low level, after all this was just for fun. She had already given this man a thorough examination and had concluded while capable he was no real threat. As such, there was no need to seriously hurt the poor man. However, Soon Li did expect some competition which he would not give. He refused to fight back. 'Well, that's no good. He is making quite the fool of himself and I want at least something of a challenge. Besides, if he does nothing I doubt his daughters will be pleased either.'

She pressed her attacks slightly, trying to get him to actually defend himself yet he still refused. Finally she decided to give him one good whomp to the head. Surely that would make him get into the fight. He was knocked from his feet and dazed. Soon Li allowed his daughter, the one called Nabiki, to help her father to his feet as she slowly closed in. They spoke briefly and as Nabiki left the field the man began to put some effort into an offense. 'That's better, now I can make a show of it.'

He had his skill but, as expected, he was no match for her. Still, it was an unusual style and anything new always held some promise of interest. Soon Li proceeded to work her opponent over and finally pressed him back into one of the local shops.

It was then that something happened. She stopped to examine him and became fully aware of the injuries she had caused him. Something clicked in her. She could not help but feel concerned for him. She had never really intended to cause him serious harm yet she was getting uncomfortably close to doing just that.

In that moment of hesitation, he struck out one last time. It was a wild swing, she should have easily avoided it, or bent with it, or even taken no real pain from the hit. Thing was she did not avoid it, she did not bend with it or even keep the pain to a minimum. It actually hurt. She should have realized right then that her guard was down but she did not.

Then he finally recovered from his daze and fell into a panic over hitting her. "I've been fighting a woman. Ahhhhh!"

Soon Li's mind was still blind to her lack of defense. All she could think of was calming this man's fears. "Please sir, I'm not hurt, it was all-" That's all she got out. He backed into the wall and all she felt was a sharp pain in her skull.

It didn't take long for her to recover and then the shock set in. Here she now lay on the ground, clearly having been unconscious if only for a moment. She had been defeated and of all things by a set of pots against a clearly inferior foe, it was most embarrassing. Still, such became a discarded concern when the law sprang to mind.

At the time the full gravity of the situation was still lost to Soon Li. She was probably still in shock and actually got some amusement out of her opponent's reaction to hearing what he had gotten himself into. However, the shock of the defeat was starting to fade away and she soon began to get very anxious. She wanted some excitement in her life but this was not quite what she had in mind.

XXXXX

Soon Li couldn't remember much of the next hour or so. She was in a daze of sorts. She lead the Tendos to her home just out of a need to bring the excitement levels down a bit. Once there Nabiki immediately hinted at allowing them to stay. Their father was in a near catatonic state and therefore in no shape to protest. Her own mind was still quite locked so she agreed without much thought.

She let the children make themselves at home as she left to sort things out. Finally her mind began to function fully. His daughters had clearly been involved in some sort of setup and she had fallen for it big time. Soon Li could not help but laugh at the fact that children had outwitted her. However, the laughter did not calm her nerves.

She made her way to her adoptive mother's home, needing someone desperately to talk to. It wasn't long before she was pacing the room, struggling with her own thoughts. "This is nuts. It's... it's silly."

"He did defeat you," Cologne pointed out.

"You know perfectly well that I could have easily defeated him at any time."

"Yes, but you didn't." Soon Li stopped her pacing to stare at Cologne's smiling face. "You know what I taught you. There are three ways to defeat someone: through the body, through the mind, and through the heart."

Soon Li blinked as she realized what Cologne was implying. "That's nonsense."

"Is it?"

"Yes, it is. You aren't going to hold me to this are you?" Soon Li asked with a frown.

Cologne shook her head. "No. You planned to leave anyway. Do as you wish. I'm quite certain the council will not try to push the matter on you."

"Then I'll call it off."

"Do you wish to do that so quick? Perhaps you should give it a chance."

"He was married once already. He has daughters and his wife has been dead but a year. Besides, it wasn't even his idea. It was a plan cooked up by his children who didn't know any better."

"You sound like someone trying to justify being scared to try something."

That shot hit home. Cologne had a way of knowing what was going through Soon Li's mind better than she did. 'Perhaps she is right. I've had never had a real relationship. Maybe I am just scared,' Soon Li contemplated.

Cologne hopped over and looked her in the eye. "If you don't try you'll never know and, trust me, that can be quite maddening."

"It's... I..." Soon Li's mind couldn't resolve the problem.

"I know child. It's a delicate decision to make. It is your choice in the end."

Soon Li nodded then left. Cologne had defined the problem for her but that did not help any. She fought with the decision as she walked home, not even noticing Akane walk up beside her.

"Ah, Soon Li?" Akane asked, nervously.

"Yes."

"You're not mad at us are you?"

Soon Li paused and looked at the girl. "So, you're admitting to cooking up this little turn of events."

"Ah..." Akane hesitated, then bowed her head. "Y... yes."

Soon Li looked at the girl, but could not help but smile.

"No, I'm not mad. Your intentions were good enough but I don't think you realize that such things as this aren't so simple."

"I guess not," Akane replied soberly but then perked up and looked back up. "Dad's really a nice man. You'll see. He likes you too, we can tell."

Soon Li considered trying to explain the intricacies of love to the young girl but she likely would not understand. "I'm sure he does. I just hope you're not expecting much."

"Me? Well, um, we just wanted to give Dad a little push."

'This was more than a little push,' Soon Li thought. 'Still, the girl's heart is obviously set on at least seeing something happen. They are nice childs, a little sneaky, especially that Nabiki, but quite nice. I could definitely get to like them. Soun though... I know little about him except a good first impression and his daughter's views, which are clearly biased... Am I really considering this?' "I guess we'll see." She said the words then immediately wanted to take them back.

"Oh, that's great!" The girl exclaimed happily. Soon Li sighed inwardly, she had stuck her foot in it now.

XXXXX

They arrived at her home a short time later and Soon Li had even more pressure put on by finding the girls preparing for a long stay. 'They really do have designs of seeing this through, don't they?' Soon Li thought. 'This has gone beyond just embarrassing. I'm being sucked into a relationship by a bunch of kids, all less than ten years old.' Soon Li collected herself, then went to find Soun.

Soon Li was a bit unnerved when she found him in her room, examining some of the wall hangings. It was a bit silly to be worried about him seeing anything but she suddenly felt very self conscious. He noticed her presence after a moment and turned to her nervously. Soon Li, still indecisive, could just stand looking at him. It was Soun who finally broke the silence.

"Ah, so... you're actually Korean?" he asked nervously. Soon Li nodded in response, slightly confused at how he had deduced that and now even more self conscious. Soun gestured to another wall hanging, this one with a small Korean flag at the center. "I saw that and just..."

'Of course, that,' Soon Li thought in relief. "Yes, I'm originally from Korea, or rather my mother was."

"Your father was a part of the village?"

"No. I was brought into the tribe by Cologne. I never knew my father. Actually, I never really knew my mother."

"I see. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. They may not have been my real parents but those who raised me did a wonderful job. I was just a bit... much for them. Cologne adopted me into the tribe and she has been quite good to me as well. I have no complaints when it come to that," she explained.

Soun nodded then ran out of small talk. Another moment of silence passed until he finally he came to the point. "This... marriage-"

"Don't worry about it. I won't be held to the law-"

"But you will be punished?"

"No."

"No?"

"Well, normally there are punishments for disobeying the law but... I'm a bit of a special case. I planned to leave soon anyway."

"Oh." Soon Li watched as a weight seemed to be lifted from Soun. "You were leaving?"

"Yes."

"Where to?"

"No where really. I was hoping to maybe find my sister and brothers, we were separated when my mother passed. Really though, I had no particular destination in mind."

"I see." Another moment of silence. "I've... dishonored you."

Soon Li was surprised by that statement. He understood the situation better than she had ever expected. The situation around the marriage law was always a complex one. Many viewed it simply as an odd custom, but in truth it was the law. To not fulfill the requirements was a serious matter of honor at the very least. It really did not matter though, she would not let her honor drag this man into something. "Nonsense."

"No, I have. My own carelessness has brought you dishonor."

"You couldn't have know."

"Perhaps I should have. Indeed, I was... tricked but I could've been more careful about your customs-"

"Actually they're laws-"

"That's the whole point. If I just leave I will have dishonored you out of my own misjudgment and given no compensation."

"It's not necessary. I don't need anything," Soon Li assured him.

"You're being very modest but I just can't leave you like this. Of course, a marriage is inappropriate but perhaps I could compensate in some other form?"

Soon Li looked at the man. 'He has a great honor in him. I offered him an easy escape yet he refused because he felt he has wronged me,' she thought. It was unexpected. Her general view of outsiders was that they did not care in the least for the laws of the Amazons. Most thought them strange or downright barbaric. If they were to use them, they would simply use them as a means to an end, in this case a quick Amazon wife. Of course, few managed that. She had never expect an outsider to be so concerned about trying to make amends for a slight of honor from a strange and foreign culture. It was a rare find in a man.

Soon Li shook her head, clearing the thought away. Her emotions were again beginning to rule her thoughts. Soun must have taken this the wrong way.

"So, there isn't another form of-"

"Nono," Soon Li quickly corrected. "Well, I don't really know the exacts. There may be another form of compensation. I suppose we could check."

Soun seemed to jump at this. "Well then, it's settled. We'll stay here till this... mess is corrected."

It seemed the decision had been taken out of her hands. Still, Soon Li couldn't help but feel relieved. There was nothing committal about this yet it gave her a chance to get to know the man. 'If nothing else, this will certainly liven things up.'

XXXXX

The days passed. A council meeting of the elders was called by Cologne to review the law in question to see if some other compensation was appropriate. They were still in deliberations nearly three weeks later. Soon Li expected nothing more. They'd delay, and delay as long as they could. Changing the laws was always difficult and Soon Li doubted they'd make an exception in her case but she could hope.

In the meantime she did her best to make the Tendos comfortable. Naturally the girls were trying to push things along even further. They'd take any opportunity to get Soon Li and Soun together. They obviously wanted their father to be happy. It was the optimism of the innocent. Still, Soon Li found herself often letting the little schemes work.

All this allowed her to learn much about her new male house guest. He was a bit of a lonely man. He spent much of his marriage in training, away from his wife. Despite that he loved her very deeply to the very end and beyond to this day. His nobility and honor were undeniable. His code was a little loose but she understood it and could easily accept it. Most of all, at his core he was a strong parent. He wanted the best for his children and to see them happy but perhaps was a bit blinded to their own feelings on certain matters. He also lacked the sternness to withstand some of the more trying moments of life. Still, to seek perfection was to seek for eternity.

At the same time he learned much about her. She told him about her very early youth. She and her three siblings were raised in a village in Korea, never knowing their parents. They were gradually separate until by the age of 5 they were all placed in different families. She moved with her adoptive family to a small Chinese village and soon after discovered her strange talent for martial arts. She snapped up anything she saw as useful to her skills and soon was able to defeat even the village's greatest. That must have been what caught Cologne's interest. She came to the village and after witnessing firsthand Soon Li's skill and offered to train her. Her adoptive parents had already become worried about Soon Li's ability and strange behavior and concluded that the training Cologne offered would be the best they could do for the cuckoo they had found themselves with. They agreed on the condition that Cologne take Soon Li as her own daughter.

She then related how Cologne had shown her scrolls speaking of the lost style of the storm and how Soon Li learned it from just the few hints given in the writings. It had simply come naturally to her as if she had always known it, but just had not realized till then. Unfortunately, such was not without its downside. She had quickly used her new skills to become the best of the village but that had left her with little in the way of social contact.

This all lead to the subject of her particular curse. How does one explain that the very heavens moving for you, and that was just the proverbial tip of the iceberg? To be honest, she little understood it herself. In her youth she had no control of it, coming and going as her moods shifted over the day. Only years of teaching for self control from Cologne had given Soon Li some modicum of control of it. Soun thought her embellishing until she demonstrated by turning the sunniest of days into a downpour. Even here though, he surprised her. He was shocked of course, but more intrigued than frightened.

However, all her time was not spent with Soun. She also spent a great deal of it with his children, getting to know them and letting them get to know her.

Kasumi was as kind and nonviolent as Soon Li thought could be possibly achieved in a human being. She pushed herself constantly, helping the family in any way she could but Soon Li could sense it was more than family responsibility. It was also a desire to stay busy. The pain of the mother's death was still most strongly felt in Kasumi. She did not show it but instead worked it out of her system by applying herself to the things she liked doing. If she was not cleaning, cooking or fetching something, she was reading.

Akane was an easy one to read. Idealistic and proud, but stubborn and emotional. She was the youngest so stubbornness and emotional outbursts were to be expected but Soon Li sensed they were becoming an intricate part of Akane's personality. That stubbornness and emotion were changing into a strong will that would hopefully serve her well. She was also driven to be martial artist and thus had a violent side her sisters lacked. Her ability was fair, even by village standards, but she had much more potential than she was using. Given the proper push she would be a great warrior someday.

Nabiki, on the other hand, was a crafty one. She knew how to keep up her guard and penetrating it was like breaking a siege line. In their conversations they always seemed to be matching wits, seeing who could draw more out of the other and Soon Li had to admit, she often lost the challenge. Soon Li was still left with a great deal of mystery about this girl.

All seemed to like Soon Li and she was really beginning to like them as well. They missed their mother, that was clear, but they had come to the general consensus that it was time to move on. But, could she let herself try and fill their mother's shoes? That just would not be right or even really possible. When she thought this a part of her roared to life pointing out that Soon Li was beginning to fall into that fantasy land of evil stepmothers and hateful children which was not always true.

Soun had not been blind to these interactions. In fact she got the impression that he was pleased by the way the children and her got along. That combined with the feeling that he understood and sympathized with her isolation made Soon Li begin to suspect that he felt a sort of compassion towards her and perhaps even a desire to build something more than a passing association. It was a nearly frightening revelation. There was nothing outright, nothing to confirm her suspicion but if she was right this man was beginning to warm up to the idea of a marriage.

If it was true it was quite the shock. Soon Li had been expecting to find a wall in the form of the memory of the former wife. She was right to an extent. He held to the memory of her dearly but like his children he seemed to be willing to let her go and move on. Soon Li was not too sure how to deal with that though. Her own feelings on this relationship were still hanging. She was torn between the notion that this may just be a silly infatuation or that it may truly be a love.

Every time she thought about it the same two sides came out. On the one hand this man was not just a face anymore. He had a personality, a presence that she knew now quite well and liked considerably. On the other hand, she may just be looking for the good things and being blind to the bad. She would then counter saying to herself she had seen some of the best in the man and some of the worst and in the end, on balance, it was a pleasing sight. Then she would counter again saying how could she really know that she wasn't slanting the image of him. Which was she to believe?

This left Soon Li so unsure of herself that she could not act either way. She was left floating, caught in the winds of chance and the whims of those around her.

XXXXX

Then the day came. Soon Li once again approached the council. She had been doing to this quite a bit in the last three weeks, coming forth to answer questions or to just hear a statement made by an elder either in her favor or against. Today was different though. They had reached a decision.

It was just what Soon Li always knew it would be. The review of the law changed nothing. The law stood as it always had. Honorably Soon Li was bound to marry Soun. Of course, they did add that given her status and her particular history that they would be willing to largely overlook the whole thing punishment wise.

Soon Li left the council chambers and headed home, lost in her own thoughts. It was Zhao Mi's approach that brought Soon Li back to reality.

"You didn't expect anything else, did you?" Zhao Mi asked.

"No, I suppose not."

"So, what are you going to do now?"

"I... I suppose I'll... just be leaving."

Zhao Mi nodded and the two walked on together in silence for a moment. "You know, when I met my husband I was really unsure about what we had. We were wild lovers really, like love struck teenagers. Who would have thought that we'd be married for, what is it, six years now?" She said the last line with a touch of sarcasm.

Soon Li merely nodded, causing Zhao Mi to frown, but she quickly reset. "You ever hear the tale of how that law came to be?"

"Can't say I have."

"It's cute. Now, how did it go? Ages ago, near the founding of the village, the then Queen had a good friend in the village, top notch warrior. Real proud sort too. There was this man though, he liked her like nothing else. Would do anything for her, and everyone knew she liked him too. She was just too proud to admit it.

"This went on for ages and this guy tried to impress her every way he knew, but she just wouldn't budge. One day, though, she comes into a meeting late with the Queen, and the Queen asks why she's late. And she answers that she was sparring with the guy and he actually beat her.

"So the Queen goes, this won't do. You'll have to marry him now!

"Of course, the woman is confused and asks why, and the Queen says that it's the village law, that any woman who is defeated by a man must marry him. Naturally this is the first anyone has heard of the law, but before the warrior can even protest, all the other agree that that is the way of things." Zhao Mi chuckled. "After that, everyone just started taking it seriously so..."

"What's the point of this little tale?"

Zhao Mi looked at her companion in annoyance. "What, do I need to hammer it home? You're acting like a scared little kitten! Practically everyone who knows you can tell you've got something for this man and you won't take any action. If you're looking for a one hundred percent sure thing you'll never find it. You have to take the risk."

"I just don't-"

"Are you telling me the great Soon Li is afraid to face her own emotions?"

Soon Li couldn't respond. It seemed her friend had pegged her right on. "Well, maybe I am." Soon Li turned and headed off to her house with that, leaving her concerned friend behind.

XXXXX

Soon Li arrived home to the sounds of Akane yelling angrily. "You cheated!"

"I did not. You're just a lousy player." Nabiki responded calmly. Soon Li walked in to find the two girls on either side of a Go board, Akane leaning angrily over the board, facing her sister. "I am not!" Akane protested.

"Face facts sis, you suck."

Akane sat back angrily, shook for a moment then finally got up in a huff and stomped off. Nabiki responded with a shrug and began to reset the board, absently noting Soon Li's presence.

"Want to play Soon Li?"

Soon Li considered for a second then sat down at Akane's position. The two began to play, setting stones down every few moments.

"You haven't said what the elders wanted."

Soon Li examined the game board, considering her response. "They made their decision."

"Oh, really. And?" Nabiki prodded.

Soon Li laid down another stone. "I think that's between your father and I." Nabiki responded with a shrug then laid down a stone. "You children took quite the risk setting this up. You had no idea what I was like."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that."

Soon Li put down another stone. "Really, and why not?"

"Oh, I did a little research you know." Nabiki laid another of her stones down.

"Research?" Soon Li asked in confusion.

"Yep. After we saw you and Daddy together I decided to ask around about you."

Soon Li suddenly started to feel that self consciousness return. "So, what did they say?" She asked, a hint of nervous anticipation creeping into her voice.

"Well, most the people I talked to thought you were a great warrior-"

'I know that,' Soon Li thought in annoyance.

"But I could see that some of the older villagers were... well, a bit resentful I think."

'I thought so.'

"Course, those are adults. I never trust their opinions. They tend to hold unreasonable grudges against rivals. Now, the younger villagers really had things to say."

Soon Li's self consciousness went to an all time high, but she wanted to hear. She had never considered how the younger generation viewed her, a vast oversight now that she thought about it.

"They thought you were..." Nabiki paused and smiled. Soon Li tensed up when she realized her posture had changed to reveal her inner anxiety. Nabiki stifled a laugh then continued. "Really, really nice. They said you always were helping out and never seemed to be mad. Actually, the reviews were overflowing with that sort of `she's great' kind of stuff."

"I never knew that they felt that way."

"Oh yeah, pretty much everyone thought you were the best. I could only find a few who thought anything bad about you but that was usually due to a parental bias."

"I see." Soon Li sighed inwardly in relief but then started to feel quite pleased with herself. She quickly realized she was smiling, and covered it, laying down another stone. "So, that made up your mind."

"Well, I was laying down that night, thinking about it and I said to myself `she seems nice, Daddy likes her, what the hell'." Nabiki laid down another stone and Soon Li found herself in a bad position.

They continued to play for several more minutes until Nabiki was clearly going to win. Soon Li sighed openly in amusement then got up. Once again she had been outwitted by this girl and duped into revealing something about herself. "Your game. You're just too good at this."

"Of course."

"Where's your father?"

"I believe he went for a walk, up the mountain side I think."

Soon Li nodded then walked out of the house in search of Soun.

XXXXX

Soon Li made her way up the mountain side, thinking all the way about what to do. Zhao Mi was right in every regard, she was very attracted to this man yet she was afraid. The irony that a person who could probably face down a blood-thirsty mob without a twitch was afraid of her own emotions was not lost on Soon Li. She was acting silly, problem was she could not will herself to stop.

She finally found Soun admiring the view from her training ground. She had taken him here once before while on a tour of the village and surrounding so it was not unexpected. She stood for a moment, unnoticed, contemplating her next move. He finally noticed her before she reached a decision.

"Oh, umm, hello Soon Li."

Soon Li nodded then walked over to him. "I didn't wish to disturb you. It's a nice view, isn't it?"

"Wonderful I think. You can see the whole area from here."

"Yes, that's why I train here, it's peaceful."

"I'm sure it is."

Soon Li stood in silence for another moment, trying to make herself do something. The silence dragged on till finally she decided to just act and let her instincts take control. "The council has made its decision. The law stands, meaning I am honorably bound to marry you."

"Oh," Soun said, looking down.

"It really doesn't matter though. I said before I was going to leave and personally I consider you and your family's company these last weeks repayment enough."

"I'm glad we haven't been a nuisance b-"

"But I... if you would want to stay..." Soun went quiet, leaving it to Soon Li to continue. "The law be damned, I have... I love you Soun Tendo." Soun remained quiet, Soon Li could not judge how he felt. 'God, don't let me have just made a fool out of myself!'

Finally Soun seemed to come out of a daze and looked at her as if in total relief. "I've been trying to say the same thing to you for some time." Soon Li felt almost woozy from hearing this. Soun steadied her as she started to sag a little to the ground. "I guess I've been too nervous." She could do little but smile at that.

XXXXX

It was not long, a little over a week, before they finalized the decision to marry. Now, here she was in Japan, running a restaurant and looking out for four young women. It was not exactly how she had expected her life to turn out. She had always expected an adventurous life on the road. She had her fill of that while trying to find Shampoo's cure and was quite satisfied to be in something relatively calm. Well, sort of.

The Saotomes had brought some excitement back and in a way Soon Li was glad for the change. She could live without Happosai, most certainly live without him, but the rest seemed to give new energy to everyone. 'There is nothing like a little chaos to make you appreciate life.'

Soon Li watched the two young lovers before her sleep for another moment then leaped up to the rooftop of the house. She would have to see about getting those two married. Of course Ranma wanted his mother to be present which posed a problem since his father seemed unable to find her. Perhaps Soon Li would give it a try, she might have more success.

Soon Li set herself into a meditative position and focused her mind.

XXXXX

Later that morning Nabiki arrived inside Ucchan's. Mousse and Ukyo were busy tending to many customers. Ukyo briefly noted Nabiki's presence then continued with her work.

"Perfume's not here, Nabiki." Ukyo pointed out as she gave an okonomiyaki to a customer.

Nabiki moved over to the grill and took an empty seat. "I'm not here looking for her. Where she spends her off time is her concern. Now if she skips out on work then it's my concern."

"Okay then, what are you here for?"

"A little business proposition."

That caught Ukyo's attention. She finished with her customer then immediately came over. "What kind of business proposition?"

"Well, I've been doing a little thinking. There's a lot of competition around here. Now I'm sure you make a fair profit and we do too at the Nekohanten but I've got an idea that just may increase those profits some."

"I'm listening."

"Okay, I've been talking to several of the local businesses and I think we can reach a bit of a cooperative arrangement. We won't compete with each, rather we'll complement each other. Now, there's three other restaurants in this area plus several small snack stands. We're competing a lot with each other and that can hurt us but if we two were to ally together with some other businesses we can promote each other giving us a distinct advantage on our unallied competition."

"Won't we be competing with each other."

"Not really, we have fairly different customer groups. There'll be a little inter-competition but we already have that and the benefits will massively outweigh it."

"Sounds appealing. So, what do I do?"

"Just promote the other businesses in the co-operative. A sign here and there will be plenty and they'll do the same for you. Oh, and you'll also contribute to an advertising budget. Later I'm thinking of some sort of cross business discounts."

Ukyo thought for a moment but finally nodded in approval. "I think I like it. Can you give me some details on paper?"

Nabiki smiled and responded by producing a folder of paperwork. "Here you go."

Ukyo poured through the papers, examining each carefully. "This is a lot to go over... Nabiki, I have a little proposal for you too," Ukyo said as she continued reading.

"Do tell."

"I want to find Perfume a husband... or a wife I suppose."

"Oh, and you want me to help you find this man or woman."

"Yes. Now, it has to be someone decent, who's not going to take advantage of her and is going to treat her well. I don't want some jerk who she happens to like. I want her to be happy."

"Hmmm, that's a lot you're asking for. Decent relationships are hard to come by."

"I made her a promise and I intend to fulfill that promise."

"Well, it's going to cost you. 100,000 yen up front and 400,000 more on delivery."

Ukyo withdrew in shock. "That's steep! How about 50,000 yen up front and 100,000 on delivery."

"Hey, this is a heck of job. 90,000 yen up front and 350,000 later."

"75,000 and 150,000."

"90,000 and 300,000, that's my best offer."

Ukyo paused to consider then finally nodded. "Alright, but he... or she has to meet with my approval."

Nabiki considered for a long moment. "Okay. You got yourself a deal. Didn't realize you had that kind of cash kicking around."

"I have some savings," Ukyo grumbled as she figured in her head then added, "Had..."

Nabiki could not help but smile. "Now now. I'm sure we can rebuild that. Now, about those papers..."

XXXXX

"Come on Pop, can't you do better than that," Ranma taunted from the other side of the small carp pond.

"You shouldn't get cocky boy," his father warned.

"Against you, I don't have anything to worry about."

"Oh really... LOOK, A HUNDRED YEN COIN!" Genma said, pointing off behind Ranma.

"Where?" He turned back just in time to see Genma's fist flying into his face. Two more punches and three kicks later the female Ranma was angrily staring at her smug father from the carp pond. "Why you..."

"One little shiny object and your mind takes a hike."

"That's it, you're going to get it now!" Ranma said as he jumped from the pond, hands ready to strike.

Just then Soon Li walked out into the yard. "Mr. Saotome, Ranma."

Ranma stopped with her fist pulled back and holding her father by his collar. Both looked to Soon Li and responded together. "Yes, Soon Li."

"I don't wish to interrupt you."

"Nonono, no interruption." Genma quickly interjected.

Ranma sneered at her father before letting him go and relaxing. Soon Li walked over to the pair. "I was thinking of trying to find Mrs. Saotome myself and-"

"Oh, nonono, I assure you that I looked everywhere." Genma quickly responded, suddenly nervous. Ranma looked at her father with a frown and started to open her mouth but Genma clamped his hand over it.

"Well, maybe I could have better luck."

"Nonono, she's out of the country. She always was a real world traveler you know."

"Oh, well, in that case I guess it would be rather pointless. You will inform me when she returns?"

"Of course." Genma answered with a nervous smile. Soon Li nodded and returned inside. Once she left their sight Ranma batted her father's hand away.

"What'd you say that for? It's that stupid promise you made that-"

"Look boy, she's an Amazon, as in she won't appreciate us not living up to our honorable obligation to your mother. Do you like the idea of impaling yourself?"

"No, not really."

"Well, then she'll just have to remain in the dark about that little promise."

"Yeah, I guess so. I better tell Shampoo that then." Ranma responded, a bit sad.

"What?! You told her?!"

"Well, yeah. She wanted to know what the problem was. I had no reason to lie."

"Oh, great. Just don't go around telling anyone else."

"Yeah, yeah. Now, where were we? Oh yeah." Ranma suddenly slammed her father over the fence. "Stupid old man."

XXXXX

Soon Li walked out the front gate just at the right time to run into Nabiki as she returned. "Hello Nabiki. Did Ukyo agree to your little idea?"

"Of course," Nabiki answered with a smile.

"That's good. So, you'll have those advertisements out by the end of the week?"

"I'll have them out by tomorrow. I just need to give approval. We'll have an ad in every paper in Tokyo."

"Perhaps we'll finally get some students for the dojo."

"Oh, I'm sure of it. Question is will any of them last more than a week," Nabiki pointed out to which Soon Li smile.

"Yes, well, we demand a great deal of our students."

"Perhaps we should consider a lighter course," Nabiki hinted.

"Perhaps," Soon Li said with a nod then started to walk off but then stopped. "Oh, your father wants to know if you have found a boyfriend yet."

"Oh, come on. I have more important things to do than chasing after boys." Nabiki replied in annoyance.

"You haven't been avoiding relationships have you?"

"No but I'm not about to put aside other things for that. No one's really interested me yet."

"Okay then, just don't wait too long or you might just find yourself alone."

Nabiki reluctantly nodded and watched as Soon Li walked off.

Nabiki walked on to her room, closed the door behind her and crashed into her bed. 'How did I get myself into this mess? Dad is bad enough but now even Soon Li was pressuring me,' she thought with a sigh.

After letting herself relax for a moment, she got up and went to her desk. She switched on the computer, waited as it booted up, then quickly ran up her database. She stared at the screen listing nearly a hundred names, most with an `X' next to them. She had been compiling this list for sometime now, checking out her prospects. She selected Kuno then sat back and examined his record sheet.

Name: Tatewaki Kuno.

Age: 17.

Occupation: Student, Furiken High.

Hobbies: Kendo, poetry (bad poetry).

Finances: High level.

Family: ? father and mother. Sister, Kodachi Kuno (mentally unstable!). Note, house guest Bu Xiang (mentally unstable or just weird?) and servant Sasuke (total incompetent but loyal).

Notes: In love with Akane, Shampoo and Ranma's girl half. Actively trying to "smite" Ryoga. Knows of Ranma's and Bu's curses yet believes they work in reverse. Sucker for photos of his "beloved"s and antiques. Incredibly thick headed.

Prospect: maybe.

Nabiki continued to look the record over, coming back many times to the finances field. He was fairly well off. He had a mansion and a fair bit of a bankroll too. That appealed to her. She shook her head. It wasn't right though. Sure, his cash was enticing but she found now she wanted something more.

Her father and Soon Li, Shampoo and Ranma, Kasumi and Dr. Tofu, Akane and Ryoga... everyone of them had that... something... And that something is what she wanted now, damned the money. 'Okay, it would be nice to find a person with some decent cash flow,' Nabiki thought, but shook her head. 'But that alone just isn't enough.'

Nabiki selected the prospect field, hesitated for another moment but finally changed it to an `X'. 'Kuno has his charm but he simply doesn't have what I want anymore,' she thought. She gave the whole list another look over and `X'ed off a few others then took in what was left. 'Not much really. The prospects are getting quite thin around here.'

'Well, no use in worrying about it. Might as well get onto something else.' Nabiki set her mind on Perfume. Ukyo was going to be paying well for this and maybe it would give Nabiki an idea or two on the way. She quickly copied her database to another filename and returned all the prospect fields to `maybe's. She skimmed down to Perfume's record and brought it up

Name: Perfume.

Age: 16.

Occupation: Delivery girl and waitress, Nekohanten.

Hobbies: Martial arts.

Finances: Low level.

Family: Father and mother Amazons located at village. No known siblings. Note, trainer Cologne (highly dangerous, caution).

Notes: In love with Ukyo. Hates Mikado. Has a grudge against Tsubasa. Tolerates Akane, Shampoo, Mousse and Ranma but may not actually like. Afraid of Cologne. In possession of perfume mixes. Know to be easily angered, partial to nice people (of either sex) and completely intolerant to pain. Honorably bound to marry Ukyo.

Prospect: maybe.

Nabiki quickly changed the Prospect field to `subject' then continued to examine the profile. It was too brief for Nabiki's liking. Even Perfume's aversion to pain was only a recent discovery thanks to Bu's little stunt of injuring her to put her out of action. Soon Li had apparently figured it out some time ago and had to explain it to Nabiki as she was having a hard time believing a little fall would lay up an Amazon warrior, especially one of Perfume's caliber. Having missed something that vital Nabiki was not impressed with knowledge of the girl, even if she had been hiding it. 'If I am going to set this girl up with someone in a decent relationship I'm going to have to know more about her.'

Nabiki saved the file then shut the computer down. She made her way to her younger sisters' room and entered to find Akane working on some school work. Akane turned to see Nabiki.

"Oh, hi Nabiki. You want something?"

"Is Perfume at the Nekohanten or out training?"

"I think it's training today. Why?"

"No reason." Her sister gave her a confused and suspicious look as she left and returned to her room. She stepped over to the closet and retrieved some rarely used pieces of clothing and equipment. 'Time for a little information gathering.'

XXXXX

It was about two hours later when Nabiki arrived at the training ground. Perfume and Cologne trained at the same ground in the mountains as her sisters did so it was easy to find. The harder task was sneaking up without them becoming aware of her presence. One always got the best information when the subject didn't know they were being studied.

Nabiki quietly approached the training grounds until she could hear the sounds of battle. She could easily identify the yells of one warrior as Perfume while the other remained silent. Nabiki pulled out some climbing gloves from her pack and began to make her way up a tree.

She'd never been up to her sisters' level in the martial arts. She really never developed the interest they had in it. Still, she had picked up a skill here and there, hard not to in a martial artist family, and sometimes found some of the ninja style tricks of the Anything goes school to be useful. Now was one such time.

Nabiki finally came to a branch thick enough to support her weight and high enough to oversee the battle field. She set herself up on the tree, pulled out a notepad and looked down at the pair of fighters below. As expected Perfume was in a duel with Cologne. Rather unexpected was that Perfume was using her axes with what looked to Nabiki as reckless aggression towards her trainer. That gave Nabiki momentary pause, but judging from the fact that Cologne was easily dodging or blocking everyone of Perfume's attacks, calmly, Nabiki could only conclude the impression she was getting was quite deceptive.

Nabiki continued to watch the battle as Perfume seemed to pull out every skill in her arsenal to get a blow through. It was all pointless. Cologne was matching her young trainee move for move and by all appearances was not even being particularly strained by the effort. Perfume on the other hand seemed near complete exhaustion yet she fought on.

Perfume flipped back from a massive exchange, panting in fatigue. Cologne merely smiled. "Come child, you can do better than that." Perfume sneered and in quick flash of motion sent several metallic objects flying at her trainer. Cologne dodged the incoming projectiles then smiled tauntingly at Perfume.

Nabiki then noticed that Perfume seemed too confident for someone who had just missed. She turned her attention to the projectiles and noticed them curving back like boomerangs. 'Nice trick,' Nabiki noted as the weapons came back at Cologne. At the last second Cologne tensed up and leaped into the air and clear of the returning projectiles. Perfume cursed in frustration and plucked the weapons from the air, now clearly small throwing axes of a rather peculiar design.

Cologne landed and nodded to Perfume with respect. "I see you've added a new attack to your arsenal. Impressive."

"You really think so?" Perfume asked, lowering her guard at the unexpected praise. Cologne took the opening, leaped in and relieved Perfume of her axes. Perfume recovered quick enough to avoid a staff strike to the head but was now weaponless.

"Yes, but let's see how well you do without your weapons." Cologne pressed in with a set of staff thrusts, forcing Perfume completely onto the defensive. One blow slipped through her guard and she crashed back into a tree trunk, tears streaming from her eyes. Cologne shook her head and ceased her attack. "Perfume, stop your crying and get up."

Nabiki mirrored Cologne's action then quickly took down a few notes. 'Sucker for cheap praise...'

"If you'd concentrate on learning the Bakusai Tenketsu-"

"I no like being thrown into rock!"

"I realize that but if you undergo the training you might just overcome that pain problem of yours."

"That what you always say and always wrong! All I get is many bruises!"

"We'll never know if it'll be successful unless you try."

"I no want to!" Perfume whined out desperately.

"Stop whining!" Cologne ordered sternly causing Perfume to quickly go quiet. "You are an Amazon, it is disgraceful!" Perfume bowed her head in shame, sniffling. Nabiki took down a couple more notes then noticed that Cologne seemed to soften just a slight bit. "You may rest while I prepare." Cologne hopped off.

'She really does have it rough,' Nabiki thought as she continued to watch Perfume. The Amazon slowly got up and retrieved her axes, mumbling in a mix of emotions the whole time. Nabiki shook her head then looked on in confusion as Perfume examined a small log. ['Now what?' Perfume readied her ax then in a blur of motion began to cut the log. She finished after a moment and picked up a small wooden sculpture that Nabiki could just make out as Ukyo. 'Artistic talent, hmmm.' Perfume looked at the figurine for a long moment then held it close to her. Nabiki shook her head then took down another note. 'Hmm, Ukyo didn't say she was out of consideration.' Nabiki smiled then jotted down another note as Perfume walked off with her figurine.

Nabiki briefly considered following her but several hours of watching someone smash into a rock and cry probably would not tell her much. She'd learned enough for now. Perhaps later she'd talk directly to Perfume to see what she could dig up. In the meantime she had business to attend to. She put away her notepad then began her descent.

XXXXX

Once more Soon Li lay awake in her bed. These nights of sleeplessness were becoming quite the nuisance. Meditation just did not seem to solve the problem. Rather than try such again, Soon Li instead tried to simply busy her mind.

Kasumi and Dr. Tofu were making plans for their wedding under heavy pressure from his mother to move things along. 'I will have to look in on how things are going later today. Of course when they did get married that will mean Kasumi will be moving out and the arrangements for the household chores will have to change. There is also the matter of Kasumi's shifts at the restaurant. I doubt she'll have much time for that, although I suppose I should not assume such. Later I'll go to see them and perhaps ask the doctor if he had a remedy for this damned insomnia,' she thought.

'Ryoga and Akane's relationship seems to be moving along very nicely. The boy's nervousness is fading daily now,' she analyzed and then smiled with another thought. 'Of course, back at the village, this would be considered a downright blowing pace. Not that I can blame him. Not like Soun and I were making out on the second day or anything,' she joked. 'Still... perhaps a little help is in order. I'm confident Ranma will finally unlock his focus tomorrow. With that, and Akane saying that Ryoga had caught up to her in his training, it is time I think to get them onto their final technique. That might just move things forward a bit.'

With that thought, Soon Li turned back to the matter of Ranma and Shampoo. 'All parties involved want the marriage to go on but without his mother that isn't going to happen. Something about that Genma. He doesn't exactly strike me as being all that thorough or even that reliable. There might be a way to contact Ranma's mother wherever she is. Maybe I can go give it a look see. Better yet, why not make it a surprise.'

Soon Li smiled but then sighed, no closer to sleep. 'I don't feel stressed out or anything but something is definitely out of balance. If only I could get rid of that old man then maybe I could get some sleep.' After contemplating her choices for another moment, she shook her head and got up.

XXXXX

Later that day Soon Li arrived at Dr. Tofu's clinic and found him, his mother and Kasumi gathered together. "Hello," Soon Li greeted.

Dr. Tofu's mother got up to meet the new visitor. "Oh, hello, Soon Li. What brings you by?"

"Oh, nothing really. Just came to see how the plans are going. Dr. Tofu, I see those new fog proof glasses are working well," Soon Li said with a smile.

"Oh yes, quite well. Ah, let me get you some tea." Dr. Tofu started to get up but tripped over his own feet and crashed into the floor.

"Are you alright?" Kasumi asked as she helped back up to a sitting position.

"Oh, I'm quite well. Now, I should go get-"

"No! That's unnecessary. I'll be fine." Soon Li quickly interjected as she sat down next to Kasumi. "So, have you kids set a date?"

Dr. Tofu suddenly started looking nervous. "Uhh, well, we haven't quite-"

"Oh Tofu, of course we've set a date. 1 month to the day. We decided just today." His mother said.

"Wonderful. I'm sure Soun will be very pleased to hear that. So, what are the plans so far?"

"We were thinking of a small ceremony, just the two families and some close friends. We were also thinking of having it at the dojo."

"I don't think Soun would have it any other way," Soon Li agreed.

They continued to discuss the details for about an hour until Dr. Tofu's mother finally left to run an errand with Kasumi. After Dr. Tofu returned from seeing them out Soon Li decided it was time to get to the other point of her visit.

"Doctor, I actually did have another motive for my visit. I haven't been able to get much sleep lately."

"Oh really. Hmm." Dr. Tofu immediately switched from befuddled lover to family doctor and gave her a tertiary examination. "Any fever, rashes, headaches-"

"Nono, nothing like that. Just the insomnia. I think it's because of Happosai. He tends to stress me out a little."

The doctor nodded then directed her into the examination room as he went over to a drawer and retrieved a blood pressure kit. He checked her pressure then nodded. "Nothing abnormal here. Pulse is fine too. Have you been feeling unusually tense or nervous?" He asked as he started examining her.

"No, not really but I have been doing a great deal of meditation lately to rest."

"Still, not exactly typical of stress. Bad dreams?"

"No, not at all. I wake up perfectly calm. I just can't get more than 5 hours of sleep a night."

The doctor stopped, looking at something on the back of her neck behind her hair. "Is this normal?"

"Looks like three solid parallel lines?"

"Yes."

"It's a birthmark, it's normal... sorta."

"Sorta?" Tofu asked.

"Let's just say it has to do with my particular heritage. It is nothing new though."

"Hmm, unusual," Tofu commented as he finished his examination. "Anyway, you could be suffering from the early stages of some illness. Let me get a few blood samples and I'll have some tests run for you." The doctor said as he pulled out a syringe. Soon Li allowed him to take the samples then sat waiting while he stored the samples and returned with a small packet. "Here, try these tonight. They're a mild natural sedative. It should help you sleep. I'll call you in when I get the results. And, if you start showing any other symptoms-"

"Yes, yes, I'll tell you immediately. Thank you Dr. Tofu. I'm sure it's nothing."

"I'm sure it is."

"So, you ready for the big day?"

The competent air of the doctor left to be replaced by a mild apprehension. "Mother is really pushing it along. To be honest I wish I had some more time. Right now it's all so fast."

"If you want to push the date back a little-"

"Nono, that's not really necessary. I'll be fine."

"Don't feel too pressured. This can a wait a little while."

"No, like I said, I'll be fine."

"Tofu, we're back." His mother called out from the clinic doorway then came into the examination room.

"Well, I have other things to do so I'd best be off." Soon Li said as she began to leave. Kasumi started to follow her.

"Do you mind if I come along?" Kasumi asked, with a hint of urgency in her voice.

"Very well, if you're not needed here."

"Heavens no, go on. We can continue tomorrow with the plans." Tofu's mother responded. Dr. Tofu and his mother saw them to the door and on their way. They walked down the street and stopped at a local bus stop.

"So, where are we going?" Kasumi asked.

"Hopefully to set up a little surprise for Ranma. I found out where his mother was living. I'm hoping to find out where she went to from there and contact her."

"Oh, that will certainly make Ranma happy. I don't think he's seen his mother in years."

"Not since he was three from what I understand. I don't think it's right to separate a mother from her child at such an early age."

Kasumi nodded in agreement as the bus arrived and they boarded. The bus was crowded so they remained quiet until they reached their stop. As they began on their way Kasumi continued. "Soon Li, I've been thinking. Dr. Tofu and I are going to be married in a month yet we haven't been able to spend much time with each other."

"Oh, well if you want some more time feel free to take it. We can arrange something. I was actually going to ask about that. I'm sure we can make arrangements at the Nekohanten for you to be freed up, assuming that is what you want?"

"That... actually would be nice. I was thinking of helping Tofu with his clinic," Kasumi said with a smiled but then started playing with her hands. "But, actually, I was thinking of something a bit different."

"Yes, well?"

"Well, I was thinking of maybe... moving in now." That took Soon Li by surprise. "Nothing serious mind you. He has a spare room and all. We wouldn't be... you know."

"Yes, of course."

"This way we could have much more time with each other."

"Have you discussed this with him?"

"A bit. He seems to like the idea. What do you think?"

"Hmm, it would complicate things at home. I was hoping to have the time to work something out."

"I'm sure you could get by without me. The house doesn't take that much to maintain. Besides, Shampoo and Akane will have to do that in the future anyway and there's Ranma and Mr. Saotome-"

"Yes, you have a point there. I should kick those two in the rear and get them helping out around here. Hmmm, I suppose we can work it out so it's okay by me."

"Thank you. Do you think father will approve?"

"I think so." Soon Li let a devious smile onto her face as the thought of Kasumi and Dr. Tofu alone and in the same house came to mind. "Just don't be doing anything crazy."

"Tthat's not at all what I mean."

"Oh, of course not." Soon Li replied sarcastically.

"You don't actually believe we'd do such a thing, do you?"

"Oh, nonono." Soon Li responded, again sarcastic then inwardly laughed as Kasumi blushed and turned her eyes to the ground. Soon Li believed her of course, at least in so far that Kasumi believed nothing would happen, but it was amusing nonetheless.

Soon Li and Kasumi stopped at the entrance of their destination, the Saotome residence. Out of curiosity Soon Li knocked but as she expect got no reply. She looked about and spotted some activity in the house next-door. "We'll ask there." Soon Li said as she started to walk towards the house with Kasumi following. They made about five steps when a voice called out to them.

"Why hello, were you looking for me?"

Kasumi and Soon Li turned to see a woman in a modest blue kimono and carrying a long object wrapped in a brown cloth. Soon Li stepped forward to greet the woman. "Perhaps. I am Soon Li and this is Kasumi Tendo. Are you Nodoka Saotome?"

"Yes I am."

"Wonderful. This is very convenient," Soon Li said, beaming.

"Convenient?" Nodoka asked, blinking.

"Yes, umm, can we speak inside?"

"Of course." Nodoka answered then lead them inside.

XXXXX

Kurumi finished retying her bow into her hair then left the empty delivery carton on the ground. Natsume was going to be mad at her again but she could hardly expect her to starve. Besides, the restaurant that delivery came from could handle it.

It did not take her long to find her older sister and from the look on her face she knew exactly what she was in for.

"Kurumi! Where have you been?" Her sister asked sternly.

A prick of nervousness took hold. "Well, I was hungry and-"

"Oh, Kurumi! I told you it's wrong to steal!"

"I know but I was hungry."

Her sister scowled at the excuse then gestured for her to follow. They walked along the road, Natsume shaking her head the whole way. "What am I going to do with you? You have to stop doing that. Sooner or later you'll get caught and then what?" Kurumi could only shrug. She really had not thought of it. Natsume sighed then turned towards a bench down the street. "If only we could find father then we could stop this life of wandering." Kurumi nodded in agreement as the two sat down on the bench, Natsume pushing aside a newspaper then going into deep thought.

"What are we going to do now Natsume?"

"I don't know. We just can't keep aimlessly wandering. If only we had a clue." The two girls sat in silence for a moment. "Well, first things first, we need some money so we can actually pay for food." Natsume picked up the newspaper then began searching through it.

"What are you looking for?"

"A job advertisement. If we can find a job then we won't need to be asking for handouts. Hmmm." Kurumi watched as Natsume continued to look until she suddenly stopped and went back a page. Natsume's eyes locked on the bottom of the page, wide with excitement. "Tendo school of Anything-goes martial arts!"

"What?!" Kurumi asked in excitement.

"It's an ad for the Tendo school of Anything-goes martial arts. Kurumi, we found it!"

"Where?" Kurumi asked as she tried to look at the ad.

"In Nerima, we can get there in just a couple of days." Natsume ripped the ad out and stood up, Kurumi doing likewise. "Come on, we have to get going."

XXXXX

In the Tendo dojo, Soon Li stood, examining a lone pin placed in a wall, Ranma standing behind her impatiently, but confident. With a smile and a nod, she turned to the boy. "Very good, Ranma. That is definite proof of you acquiring the art of focus."

"Right," Ranma said with a series of nods which he interrupted after a few seconds to look back at Shampoo who was sitting opposite her training pin, although watching them. "Alright, how long have you had it?" he asked with a frown.

"What you talking about, Ranma?" Shampoo asked with an innocent smile.

Soon Li, like Ranma, turned to Shampoo and raised an eyebrow. With a sigh, Shampoo got up, picked up the remaining pin on the floor, and with a flick, embedded it in the nearby wall.

"I knew it," Ranma said as Soon Li examined it and again nodded. "I still officially win."

"If you say so," Shampoo replied.

Soon Li chuckled before Ranma turned back to her.

"So, just what exactly is this we're seeing. I'm guessing lines of energy, ki?" Ranma asked.

"Yes. But not just ki, if you look at Shampoo, or yourself, you'll see another color of line," Soon Li directed and both teenagers did as bidden. "That's mana, the sign of the magics on you both. Shampoo has more of them due to the three separate spells on her, the curse, the Maomolin's curse, and the bracelet's splitting magic."

"Is that what that is," Ranma said as he examined his hand.

"Indeed. This level of focus will also affect your control of yourself. You will have much better feel for your own limits, and energies, and thus can control them much better. It just takes a bit of practice. You can even potentially now directly attack an opponent's energy field," Soon Li explained, and demonstrated by poking Ranma's hand. To normal observation it would have been nothing more than a poke, but to Ranma and Shampoo's new focus they could both see the ripple that passed along Ranma's energy system.

"Woah," Ranma commented.

"Yes. That was nothing. A significant attack of that nature can disable an opponent's energy system for several moments. I've even experimented with uses against magic," Soon Li said and paused for a moment to concentrate. For that moment, the line of energy around Soon Li seemed to go wild, but quickly reordered themselves. "What you saw there was just that. It is like a magic jamming field. Unfortunately, it takes significant effort to pull off. Useful against a momentary magic attack perhaps, but not so against the likes of your curses I'm afraid."

"That's too bad," Ranma replied.

"Indeed," Soon Li agreed. "If one had enough energy, theoretically it might hit a point of self maintenance. However, that is significantly more than I possess, and I'm sure what kind of side effects that might have either," she explained to the two's disappointment. "Now, I should ask, particularly Shampoo, you have been finding it difficult to maintain concentration while using this, haven't you?"

Shampoo nodded. "Yes. Is... just too much."

Soon Li nodded in agreement. "Yes. Naturally our minds aren't meant to take in this much data, so even with the enhancements of your nervous systems and the speed of your minds, they are overtaxed. In time you will naturally find a balance, but I know a way to speed things up. Akane has said Ryoga is all caught to her as well, and seeing that you both are done with your technique, I think it is time I move onto their training. Theirs will require them to be at the training ground in the mountains. Around here is simply too... public."

"Public?" Shampoo echoed in confusion.

"Just trust me," Soon Li said with a smile. "You both should come along as that is also the ideal place for you to fully master this technique. I think I'll be bringing your fathers along too. They could use a bit of practice themselves I think."

"Yeah, Pops certainly could," Ranma said, looking away, getting another chuckle from Soon Li.

"Yes, I noticed you throwing the fight a bit there the other day," Soon Li noted.

Ranma shrugged. "Don't want to embarrass him too much. With what I've learned, he really isn't a challenge anymore." After a moment of silence between them, Ranma nodded and headed off.

"A few days in the woods with Ranma..." Shampoo said with a smile as she too turned to leave.

"Restrain yourself Shampoo."

"I no intend... don't intend anything like that... unless of course he wants to." Shampoo said as she toyed with a couple fantasies. She pushed aside the thoughts, then noticed Soon Li smiling in amusement. Shampoo shrugged innocently. "When we leaving... are we leaving?"

"Tomorrow and maybe when we get back we'll have some good news about Ranma's mother." Soon Li's amusement level seemed to increase just slightly at the end.

"Are you up to something?"

"No, what makes you say that?" Soon Li replied, apparently confused at the accusation.

"Nothing. It would be nice though." Soon Li smiled and headed off to the house.

XXXXX

Nabiki sat in a corner booth of the Nekohanten late that night, examining several ledgers and books. Perfume was busy clearing and cleaning tables, in a rather miserable mood. In actuality Nabiki had been finished for hours. She was just pretending to continue in order to not only examine Perfume as she worked but also to get a chance to talk with her. Cologne had been keeping her trainee incredibly busy ever since Nabiki had been given this little task. This had been Nabiki's only way to get the girl alone.

Nabiki continued to give Perfume a glance every few moments, waiting for her to finish her work. Nabiki now knew a lot about the Amazon. She definitely did not like her training yet she was too afraid to stand up to her trainer. That was understandable considering just how dangerous her trainer was. Nabiki also now knew that despite Ukyo's apparent rejection Perfume still held some hope of her changing her mind. Nabiki had designs of testing that little possibility. After all, Ukyo did have this dressing as a man thing and she did seem to have some trouble opening up with emotions. Maybe she was not as against the idea as she said.

Of course Nabiki knew she could not rely on that. She'd already eliminated quite a few on the list that just did not cut it but there was still plenty left. Mousse was still quite available. Perfume did seem to have a thing against him but it might be workable. Then there was Bu. Nabiki did not know much about him, or was it her, but she knew that Bu's particular nature might just be suitable for Perfume. However, he would be a hard sell with the way he... she acted when he first arrived. Then there was Kuno. If Nabiki could do something about his other relations he might just make Perfume a husband. Of course convincing Ukyo would be a bit of problem. A few other possibilities were also on Nabiki's mind but right now they did not seem all that likely.

Perfume finally finished and dropped into a chair to rest. Nabiki closed the books and walked over to her. "Finished?" Nabiki asked and got an annoyed look from Perfume in response. Nabiki sat down next to her.

"What you want?"

"Just to talk. You can handle that, can't you?" Perfume in response just dropped her head onto the table, looking thoroughly depressed. "Having a rough time with your training?"

"Does look like having good time?!" Perfume snapped back.

"No, I suppose not. So, how are things with Ukyo?" Of course Nabiki knew perfectly well how things were going but Perfume did not know that.

Perfume dropped further into depression. "None your business." She replied quietly.

"Yeah, well, there's plenty of good prospects out there."

"Not for me."

"Oh no, I'm sure there's lots of people who'd love to have you as a wife."

"Hmph, all they want is pretty face. I no interested in person like that."

'Might as well be direct about it.' "Then what are you interested in?"

Perfume sat in silence, either unwilling or unable to answer. 'Maybe she just needs a little push.' "Well I'd want a person with some decent cash flow, a mansion would be nice..." 'Damn, there I go again.'

"I no want money. I no want big house. All want is someone who care, who nice, like... like Ukyo." Perfume went even further into depression then quickly got up and headed into the back. "I no want talk anymore. You go."

'If I'm going to get her with anyone else she's going to have to get over Ukyo,' Nabiki thought with a shake of her head as she realized how much more daunting this task was than she first thought.

XXXXX

'Damned weather man!' Akane thought to herself angrily as she walked along through the woods next to Ryoga and Shampoo, all three in their animal forms. This would not be so bad if she could be carried to the training ground but Soon Li had gotten insistent that everyone get used to their cursed forms. Akane supposed it was a good idea. She still was not anywhere near as used to her cat body as Shampoo was and that could be bad if she got into a situation in her cat form. Still, this once she wished she could be carried. It would make the trip a lot shorter.

There was a few things Akane liked about this new form. Her senses were much sharper. She could detect someone's approach from twice the distance she could as a human. The lack of size also gave a bit of a stealth advantage. Shampoo had often employed that to advantage in China and it certainly was handy. Akane had no need to as yet but she probably would in the future.

There was one advantage that Akane had hoped for but did not get, to be able to communicate with Shampoo. Even though both were now cats they couldn't make anything out of the other's meows. In hindsight it was rather naive. Akane blamed her misguided hope on too many cartoons.

They still could communicate in minor ways, using some body cues that Akane had long ago learned to pick up from Shampoo. Now Akane was learning to use those same body cues to at least get some communication ability. Still, it was gravely lacking.

By the time they finally reach the training area Akane felt like her feet, or paws rather, would fall off. She climbed up on a rock and collapsed from fatigue. Ryoga, Genma (who was also transformed by the short rain shower earlier) and Shampoo followed after the female Ranma as she went to get some water while Soon Li and Soun prepared a camp.

"Akane, go with the others and change back." Soon Li said as she dropped off some packs.

'Yeah but I don't want to move. I'm too tired,' Akane sat contemplating this for a moment longer but then decided it best to obey and forced her body back into motion. She made her way down to a nearby stream where Ranma had already retrieved a bucket of water and was preparing a rather large jolt of electricity. As she finished her electrical build up Ranma let loose the charge into the liquid until she slouched to the ground, drained. The water steamed.

They all quickly changed back and dressed, the girls out of view of the boys naturally, and returned to the camp. When they finally finished Akane was ready to crash to the ground but Soon Li had other plans.

"Alright, Akane, Ryoga, come on. Now is as good a time as any to start." Akane thought differently but followed after Soon Li anyway. They made their way higher up till they came to a clearing. Soon Li turned to her two trainees then smiled in sympathy as she noticed Akane's tired condition. "Are you sure you're up to this Akane?"

"I'll live. I'm just not used to hiking so far as a cat."

Soon Li nodded. "Okay then. I think since Ryoga hasn't had a lesson with me I'll start with him. So, Ryoga, Shampoo and Ranma have just learned the art of focus. What are you going to do about that?"

"Huh?"

"Come now, you've observed them and seen the improvement. They now have an incredible ability. They can examine you and find your points of greatest weakness, or rather the paths of least resistance. They also have a great ability to focus their own bodies. How can you counter such a thing?"

"Well, uh, um, I don't know," Ryoga replied honestly.

"It is a problem, isn't it? It's the same problem the original masters of the wind school faced and it's a problem that took them over 5 years to solve. For that time the lightning masters were superior and not even the best of the wind school could hope to defeat a master of the lightning school. However, they did solve the problem so I ask again, what do you do?"

"Uhhh, well, maybe don't let them focus."

"You're on the right track but how?"

"Attack them?"

"Nonono, that's right against the wind school's doctrine. To keep a lightning school master unbalanced enough so they can't focus would require near total offense. Defense is always key to the wind school. It is the lightning school that holds the advantage in total offense. Any other ideas?"

"Uhhh, ummm, is there some way of making it so they can't focus on you?"

"Ahh, yes, there is and that's the key. The technique is called the Art of Chaos. It is based on the chaos of a hurricane, tornado or other such wind storms that seem unpredictable. What you will learn to do is release that chaos in your own fighting style making yourself so chaotic that the advantage of the focus is nullified. Let me demonstrate."

Soon Li walked out a few paced, turned back to the pair and simply took in a single long breath. An instant later, on instinct both Akane and Ryoga fell back, but immediately looked at each other, puzzled at the reaction as Soon Li had not otherwise moved.

"You felt you just now," Soon Li explained. "Not consciously, but you have trained for much of your lives in the martial arts and general combat. You have an instinctive ability to read danger around you that you don't fully comprehend. What just happened is I scrambled that sense. It was so jarring that you immediately defaulted to considering me a threat."

"That's... incredible," Ryoga commented.

"Yes. So as you can see, even against non-focus users, the technique has application. It can scramble all forms of reading your intent. I like to say that a true master of the Art of Chaos is so chaotic that even if an opponent could instantaneously and effortlessly read your mind, they would still not be able to predict you as even you don't know what you'll do next. Beyond that, it will also allow you to augment the potency of your techniques by increasing the... natural fury behind them."

"That sounds awesome. So how do we learn it?" Akane asked.

"There are three key components. First, the body itself. This is the most obvious, and you've done a low level of this your whole life which is keep your body in as unreadable a form as is possible. You already know elements of this so we need only improve that a bit.

"Second, scramble your ki fields. This is quite difficult. We by nature like keeping our ki field in particular order, but I will teach you means by which is disrupt that order, yet keep the potency it offers, even augment it.

"Finally, even with both the previous points, there is still a point at which you can be predicted, and that is your mind. Your minds have a set of preconceived notions about what actions to take. However we like to conceal that, we have inherent biases. We have to eliminate those, loosening yourselves to wild possibilities at all times. This is perhaps the most difficult thing to learn so it will be what we start with. You two know how to play games right?" Akane and Ryoga responded with confused nods. "Well, we're going to play a little game." Soon Li pulled out two lists and some dice. She handed one list to each of her trainees.

Akane examined her list and quickly went wide eyed as she realized it was a list of tasks, each with a series of numbers. In addition, many of the tasks were ones she would be rather apprehensive about publicly doing. She looked across at Ryoga who seemed to have come to the same realizations. "You can't be serious?!" Akane asked.

"You must eliminate your inhibitions and be willing to do anything. I don't mean for you to drop your skills in combat and enter a berserker rage, that wouldn't do. What you are to do is to open up your mind to every possibility and be willing to do any of them. This will throw your opponent into confusion, leaving them totally uncertain on how you'll approach each situation. He, or she, will be unable to predict your actions. This principle is key to completing your training in the other two. Once you've mastered this you can move on to applying the principle to your body and finally to your ki. This will eliminate the visual cues that all warriors and particularly those using the art of focus use to judge your actions. That will leave them unable to predict and even unable to reliably react to you."

Akane looked down once more at her list. "I take it those dice are for the numbers? You roll the dice and we have to do what the number says?"

"Correct and I'll be doing it at random intervals too, so be prepared at any time. Oh, you'd best memorize those lists."

Akane nodded then shook her head in amusement. 'It's going to be a wild few days.'

"Very well then, if you're both ready and have no questions...?" Soon Li prompted but both teens shook their heads. "Good, then let's begin," she said as she tossed the dice into the air, caught them in a cup, shook it rapidly, and then in one fluid motion kneeled down, tipped the cup over, and placed it top down on a stone. Giving the pair one last smile she lifted the cup to reveal their first tasks.

XXXXX

Not far away Shampoo and Ranma were examining the woods awe. "Soon Li was right, grass growing is much more exciting than that pin. And the crazy thing is, I can see it," Ranma noted.

"And leaves... and insects... Aiyah," Shampoo said but then her and Ranma's attention shifted as they sensed Soon Li approach.

"I'm guessing you two already see the difference," the Amazon said as she approached.

"Everything is so... alive here," Ranma replied.

Soon Li nodded. "The city is far more static. This is pushing your focus to it's very limits. Fortunately, the human mind is very good at filtering out the unimportant. You just have to give it a good opportunity to relearn to do so with your new perception. So, this is simple enough. You two will alternate with sparring sessions, and then... hide and go seek."

"Hide and go seek?" Ranma repeated skeptically.

"Yes. Sparring will force you to focus on your opponent, filtering out the world around you. Hide and go seek though will force you to take in the world around you to find the other. You have to learn to do both," Soon Li explained. "It shouldn't take very long actually. By the end of the day, I suspect you will have both become quite good at it."

"Right," Ranma said, although he examined Soon Li for another moment before giving up. "Alright, let's get to this. I got some ideas how to apply this new technique and I want to try them out."

"Me too," Shampoo agreed.

"Good. I'll leave you two to it. If you have any need for me, just ask, but I think you'll be good on your own. I'll be quite busy with Akane and Ryoga." With than, Soon Li left.

As the pair began their preparations for a sparring match, Ranma asked, "Doesn't it seem like she is hiding something?"

Shampoo looked back at the way Soon Li left for a second, then back. "I thought same... the same when she said we coming here. And why bring fathers too?"

"Almost like she wants them out of the house for a while," Ranma concluded. "Is there a birthday coming up soon or something?"

Shampoo shook her head. "No, unless yours?"

"Nope, mine and Pops both aren't for months," Ranma said with a frown. "Oh well, no sense in worrying about it, I suppose. Let's get to it," he said and dropped into a fighting stance with Shampoo echoed.

XXXXX

Nabiki snapped awake with a start. She took in several quick breaths but could already feel the nightmare fading. "Damn it," she muttered as she absently rubbed her arm and tried to banish the thoughts, but they stubbornly stayed.

After several minutes she looked to her clock and sighed. "I'm not getting any more sleep," she groaned and got up.

Several minutes later, now dressed, she arrived at the Tendo kitchen to find Kasumi already beginning preparations for the day. "Nabiki, you're up early," Kasumi noted.

"Bad dream," Nabiki replied simply before pouring herself a glass of water. She sipped at it for a moment, once again rubbing her forearm.

Kasumi watched this then started to ask. "Was it about-"

"Yes, and I don't want to talk about it," Nabiki interjected before leaving the kitchen and heading to the common room. Kasumi soon joined her with her own glass of water and simply sat down opposite her at the table. Nabiki eyed her suspiciously for a moment, but her elder sister said nothing, simply drinking.

Nabiki inwardly sighed and decided on another tactic. "I'm still a bit surprised that you and Tofu were that close."

"Oh yes. I suppose it wasn't obvious, but I've been aware of his feelings for some time," Kasumi explained with a smile. "I've been seeing quite a lot of him since we returned to Japan. I'm a bit surprised you all didn't know."

"I knew he liked you. I didn't know you knew," Nabiki replied. "But, are you really sure he's the one for you?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Kasumi asked.

"I mean, I know you know a fair bit about him, and this whole moving in thing is to get closer still, but still seems awfully... impulsive."

"I don't think so," Kasumi said, looking to the pond. "I suppose there is some risk involved, if that is what you mean, but I know Tofu is a very good man. I am quite happy when I am around him and I'm certain he feels likewise."

Nabiki shrugged. "If you say so."

"Are you asking me about this because you have found someone-" Kasumi started to ask, looking back at her sister.

Nabiki laughed, cutting Kasumi off. "No," she replied in amusement. "Not like everyone isn't trying to get me to find someone though."

"Well, they just want to see you find some companionship. Going through life alone sounds very... unpleasant," Kasumi said.

Nabiki looked to the pond. "Let's not get started on that. I just haven't found the right person."

"And what do you consider the right person?"

"Filthy rich," Nabiki responded with a smile.

"I suppose that's an interesting quality," Kasumi conceded reluctantly.

'If I were honest, I don't really know,' Nabiki added in thought. "What do you think I should consider?"

Kasumi thought for a moment. "Hmm, well, I've always found the more... unusual men interesting. However, I suppose I'm rather odd in that way myself. I think the most important part though is the person is someone you can truly love and loves you in return." Nabiki let out a laugh. "Yes, I suppose it is a bit fanciful. Still, if you don't have love, what do you really have?"

'A good romp in bed,' Nabiki thought to reply with a mischievous smile but decided against it. "If you say so," she said instead. "But it isn't like you just go poof, you're in love."

"That is true. You do have to try. And the risk is always there that the person you try with isn't the right one. But, eventually, you will find that one."

'Risk isn't my issue,' Nabiki replied in thought. 'I know risk management all too well. I just can't seem to find the right person to even bother with the risk.'

"I suppose I should start breakfast," Kasumi said after a moment of silence and headed off.

Nabiki thought a moment more on the subject, sighed, and turned her mind to other matters for the day.

XXXXX

Shampoo stood in front of a practice dummy, locked in concentration. She set herself into a formal lightning school stance and called on her focus. The lines of light that she now knew as ki lines revealed themselves. She concentrated further, readying her ki. She could feel the electricity tingle in her hands and feet and she knew she was ready.

She rushed forward with all the speed she could manage. As she reached the dummy she let off a series of kicks and punches that pushed her speed right to it's limit. With each blow she let loose a bit of her built up charge. Each attack was aimed precisely at a ki line junction, the points of greatest weakness. It took only five strikes, in a time so short that Shampoo could only feel her body move but not see it, to utterly destroy the dummy. She finished it off with a roundhouse thunder clap punch that shattered it completely leaving only slivers and bits of hay.

Then the exhaustion hit her like a freight train. She collapsed to the ground, letting her body recover from the drain on it. As she struggled to regain her breath she could hear clapping from the side. She weakly turned her head to see Soon Li smiling.

"Well done Shampoo. That's a nasty little attack you've developed."

Shampoo panted a few more times then got to her feet. "Yes, I call it the Grand Chain Lightning Assault. It's very draining though."

"You aren't used to drawing on so much ki from yourself. You'll get used to it and learn to draw on even more as time passes. A year down the road you'll be able to do that and not even feel it."

That was both a very interesting and scary thought. What kind of techniques would she be capable of then? While Shampoo was pondering this Soon Li walked over and took her by the shoulder.

"I see you're making some great progress," Soon Li said to which Shampoo nodded.

"It's very easy to call on my full energy now. How is Akane and Ryoga doing?"

"Quite well for the basics. The mental aspect still are giving them both issues, but that is not surprising at all. It is the toughest aspect. They will master it, though, at their current pace before we have to head back." Hearing a series of thunderclaps from not far off, both turned to the sound. "Ranma seems to be making some good strides as well."

"Yes, he said he was trying to combine the thunderclap punch with the grand lightning punch," Shampoo replied.

Soon Li nodded. "Yes. With the focus you'll be able to do much more with your basic skills. It will be a while for you to recover. Why don't you go get Ranma. Dinner will be ready soon."

Shampoo nodded and headed off while another rapid set of thunderclaps rang through the air.

XXXXX

Not far away, Ranma let loose another barrage of his new improved technique at the boulder in front of him. The art of focus had certainly allowed him some major improvement. Indeed, as before a single thunderclap punch took significant attention and energy, he could now chain the technique rather efficiently.

Finally the rock shattered under the strain of the blows, turning into a number of finely pulverized pebbles. Ranma stopped his attack and readied himself for the drop from his adrenaline boost and it was every bit as hard as he had expected. He could not even hold his footing. The thunder was not exactly all that great for his sense of hearing either. Unlike with a single punch where he had learned to toughen up his eardrum, the multiple punches were just too noisy for him to handle. 'I'm going to work on fixing that,' he thought.

He sat on the ground, staring at his accomplishment until Shampoo's face appeared in front of him. She said something, but he could not make it out. He could only respond by weakly pointing to his ears. She shook her head then leaned in close to his ear.

"It is time for dinner goofball!"

'Food, I could really use that right now,' he thought and nodded. The two walked together back to the camp they had set up as Ranma used the focus to restore his hearing. Ranma sat down next to the fire and looked in confusion at the plate of food Soon Li set before him, a head of piece of dried meat and a bun.

"What the heck is this?"

"Dinner, what's it look like." Akane responded as she too sat down.

"This isn't dinner, it's a bad joke! I thought you were supposed to be cooking Akane?"

"I was, but unfortunately I got a bad roll and... well, this is what you get."

"Huh?!"

"Don't worry about it. It's training."

Ranma continued to stare at the meager meal before him, seriously contemplating eating the plate but decided it was best to go with what he had. "Your training may just kill us."

"No more than that thunderous racket you were making."

"Alright you two..." Soon Li cautioned causing both to drop the issue. Ranma looked down once more at his meal. He was starving and this was not going to cut it but unfortunately it was all he had. He sighed and started to eat.

"I'll make us something later." Shampoo whispered in his ear. "And maybe we can get some time alone."

The thought of some food was pleasing. The thought of being alone with Shampoo, well, that could be most appealing. Ranma had a little helpful push to go with his feeling, namely one mix 612. It had obviously long since worn off, but that one minute had freed him of all his worries. He knew now that there was not really anything to fear from letting go. Still, there was a little apprehension left about going further. 'I'll be sure to be over that by the time the wedding came around... probably,' he thought. 'Hmm... could always borrow that 612 stuff.'

"So Ranma, have you thought about your wedding at all?" Soon Li asked causing Ranma to swallow his last bite in surprise.

"Ahh, no, not really," Ranma answered.

"You should you know. Your mother could arrive at any time."

'Not likely thanks to that stupid promise.' Ranma looked at his father with an angry glare who nervously turned, innocently scratching his cheek. "Maybe. We were just going to think about it then."

"Procrastinating?"

"I'm not procrastinating. Besides, what's to think about? Have the ceremony, sign a few papers and it's done, right?"

"What kind of ceremony? Where? Who's invited? How big?"

"Uhh, well, umm, maybe there's more to it than I thought."

"Hmm, how about you Shampoo, any ideas?" Shampoo hesitated but finally responded with a shrug. "I was thinking of having, maybe, an Amazon ceremony."

"Well, I-" Shampoo began to respond

"Hold it, what's an Amazon ceremony?" Ranma interjected, images of harsh tests of pain and pits of spikes coming to mind.

"Son, there's no need to get excited." Soun replied. "It's quite simple actually. Remember, I went through one."

"Don't we need to be at the village for that?"

"No, we have all the necessary elements here." Soon Li answered.

"How's it work?"

"Well, first off you pick a speaker. Your speaker should be a female but I suppose here it could be a male. This person will speak for you on all occasions except the final exchange of vows and such. She, or he, should also be ready to face any outside challenges in your place. You also have to pick a best man of sorts. This is almost always a male who will be your main defender."

"Wasn't that the job of the speaker?"

"Yes but she would just be a second. This individual would be your first."

"Okay, but why would I need a defender anyway?"

"It's ceremony Ranma. In the old days there was often a great deal of competition between families and such. It wasn't unusual for there to be an assassination attempt on a prospective groom, or bride for that matter. Besides, it was considered disrespectful for a groom to arrive at his wedding covered in blood."

"Must have been fun days back then." Ranma commented sarcastically.

"I'm sure they were. Now, where was I? Oh yes, Shampoo must then pick two people as well. One will act as her protector for you. The other will act as her chosen protector for herself. The family will also pick someone to act on the family's behalf. I could act in that regard. Finally, a village overseer is appointed to ensure the village's interests are served. I'm sure Perfume would act in that role. Once all those people are chosen you announce your speaker to a village elder and your speaker will then put forth your claim to Shampoo."

Shampoo scowled at this. "Cologne will cause nothing but trouble."

"Don't worry about her. We can get by without her. Someone else can act in that regard." Soon Li paused then scowled herself. "I suppose, seeing as how... Happosai trained Soun-"

"You don't mean-" Soun and Genma suddenly jumped in.

"Yes, he's perfect... well almost. The usual custom is to ask your family's elder or a trainer's elder. He fits into the second category almost perfectly, except for his gender, and funny enough I think he'll go for it."

"I can just imagine it now." Ranma remarked in amusement.

"In any case, from there Shampoo announces her agreement then you two separate for the day to go to separate events. I guess you'd think of them mostly as day long parties but there is some ceremony involved, purification and such but nothing major. The next morning it is your duty to make your way to the site of the wedding. In the old days this was when most the challenges took place so it's customary for you to prepare yourself appropriately, as would your protectors. Along the way the village appointee will confront you and ask you to justify yourself, pledge never to violate the village order and such and if you satisfy her you may continue on in her company. Next the family member will confront you and ask you similar questions, this time in regards to the family itself. Assuming you satisfy her you move on with her."

"What happens if I don't?"

"Oh, I'm sure you will, but in the old days any of these people could challenge you and kill you should you not meet with their approval. If you succeeded in defeating them you could still move on though, you were considered to have proven yourself through combat."

"This sounds kind of... violent."

"Well it was at one time, but it isn't anymore. The ceremony has just stuck. Anyway, once you pass the family appointee you move on till you come to the wedding area. Here Shampoo's personal protector will confront you on Shampoo's behalf. Should you meet with her approval the final ceremony and vows can take place under the guidance of the elder. That done you go on your honeymoon, as it were. Your protectors usually oversee you until the end of the first night. So, what do you think?"

"Interesting, I'll give it that."

"Shampoo?"

Shampoo contemplated it a moment then gave a small shrug. "It's okay by me."

"Well, you have plenty of time to make up your mind." Soun said as he finished his dinner.

"Of course." Soon Li said this with a smile then began to retrieve the plates. For some reason Ranma got an uncomfortable feeling about that. He dismissed the thought and got up to continue his training.

XXXXX

About an hour later Ranma sat resting against a tree. Limited intake of nourishment and massive expenditures of energy had finally drained him totally dry. His body refused to even consider getting up. He decided it was best to take the hint and just sat back and stared at the darkening sky, the first stars just beginning to appear.

His attention shifted back to earth when he felt something being laid on his lap. He looked down to see a bowl of ramen and Shampoo sitting down next to him. 'Food!' Ranma quickly snatched up his chopsticks and began to devour the noodles.

"Hungry?" Shampoo asked in amusement.

"Can't talk, eating." Ranma replied with a quick smile. Mere moments later he set the empty bowl down on the ground and leaned back with a satisfied sigh. "Thanks, I really needed that."

"I can tell."

"So, what do you really think of this marriage thing?"

"The Amazon ceremony? Well, it would be nice but I don't really care. Anything would be fine by me."

"Hmm, I don't know. It seems kind of like preparing for the worst."

"You mean all the protectors? They're just there for ceremony."

"Yeah, I suppose. Although, the thought of facing a wedding like a battle does have a certain odd appeal to it," Ranma conceded.

"I never told you about the dream I had."

"Dream?"

"Well, both me and Akane had it. It was about another world where we were enemies."

"Sounds like a real fantasy to me."

"It seemed real enough at the time." Ranma noticed that Shampoo seemed very uneasy.

"What's wrong?"

"I just been thinking. When I was there me, Akane, Ukyo, even Kodachi were all chasing after you."

"Oh, fun."

"It wasn't that. You and me.. we didn't-"

"This is because of Bu and Kodachi trying to break us up, isn't it? Stop worrying about something getting between us. I won't let that happen."

Shampoo considered this for a moment then nodded. "Right."

"Ah, forget about it. We got more pressing worries, like what will happen at this wedding. Can you just imagine the vows Happosai will think up. He'll give a whole new meaning to 'to have and to hold'."

Shampoo laughed. "We'll need plenty of pervert repellent."

"Well, maybe we can convince Bu to make us some of that fancy armor of hers."

Both broke into another bout of laughter.

XXXXX

Akane sat by the campfire, looking off at Soon Li and Soun sitting off by themselves. They always did like it up in the mountains and Akane had the suspicion that perhaps Soon Li had that ulterior motive in getting them up here. She continued to watch them until the sound of a piece being placed down on the Shogi board caused her to turn. Ryoga had finally made a move and Genma was now contemplating his next move.

This wasn't exactly what Akane had pictured as training but according to Soon Li it was. Her and Ryoga had already engaged in a mass of completely wild activities in just the short while since they started. She had done everything from simply choosing now to be the time to exercise or start singing to such things as attempting a tea ceremony or changing into her pajamas. Ryoga had his share of weirdness including insisting on being called `George' and even going for short runs (which was quite the problem with his sense of direction). Now Ryoga was challenging Genma to a game he barely knew how to play. It was funny to watch but a bit embarrassing to participate in.

Genma quickly made a move leaving Ryoga in yet another bad position. This game was all but decided but Ryoga seemed determined to continue to the end. Akane shook her head then let her mind wander off to other topics.

Soon Li had just informed them that Kasumi was going to be moving out right after they got back. That would certainly change the whole mood of the house. Akane was used to having her big sister around keeping the house going with her ever pleasant attitude. This was just the first sign of the family beginning to go their separate ways. They were grown up and Akane could not help feeling like she was losing something. Still, it had to happen.

This turned Akane's mind back to the future. Shampoo and Ranma were to be married and would be running the dojo. 'A restaurant of my own... it's one idea. Still I would really like to meet Ryoga's one of these days, but with them wandering all the time... hmm, maybe if we stayed at his place...'

As Akane mused over that prospect her mind turned to Nabiki. Of all the sisters Nabiki was the only one who did not seem to interested in finding someone. She would most likely end up running a business somewhere or being an executive in a large company thanks to her business savvy. However, Akane had to wonder if that was all she really wanted. She was practically ready to jump at the prospect of a marriage when Ranma first came. Now she had gone back to this 'I don't really care' attitude.

Akane was not buying it. Nabiki was great at hiding what was going on in her head but Akane knew her sister wanted something more than money. If that was true, however, she was going about finding herself a man in an awfully bad way. Here, the master set up artist, the one that got Dad and Soon Li together, helped push along the whole situation with Ranma, and even got Akane setup with Ryoga and she could not even find herself someone. Well, maybe it was time she got a helping hand. After all, she had helped out both Akane and Shampoo. Now it was time to return the favor.

Akane resolved to discuss it with Shampoo later then turned her mind back to the game. Amazingly, even after several more moves Ryoga was somehow still in the game. Akane smiled as she watched him for another moment.

"Akane, 1, 3 4, and 3." Soon Li called out causing Akane to droop her head.

'Not that one! Oh well, it's training,' Akane got up and walked off.

Genma and Ryoga continued to play for a few more minutes until Akane, now in cat form, suddenly leaped into Ryoga's arms. He looked down at her in confusion for a moment then continued to play, blushing just slightly.

'Well, there is one other slight advantage to this body that I'd never admit to,' Akane thought as she cuddled herself into Ryoga's arms.

XXXXX

Kasumi awoke from a peaceful sleep and went over her day's schedule in her head. The others had been gone for three days now and would be returning tomorrow so she had plenty to do. She sat up, stretched, stepped out of bed and went to her dresser. After getting dressed she headed off to the kitchen to prepare breakfast as usual.

As breakfast cooked for her and Nabiki, Kasumi ran through a list of chores she had to get done today. Clean the house as usual, that would not take long. Laundry, take it in from drying. Shopping, she should pick up a few things. Pay her usual visit to Dr. Tofu. She should also prepare her stuff to be moved.

'I do hope Soon Li has made all the arrangements for doing without me,' she thought. 'The house could practically fall apart if someone doesn't keep on top of the chores. Oh well, I will simply have to trust that they will get along without me for.'

Kasumi finished preparing breakfast and took the plates into the common room where Nabiki sat waiting by the table, examining her notepad. She accepted her food absently as she scratched out a line. The two sat and ate in silence for several minutes as Nabiki continued to examine the notepad.

"So, what do you have planned today?" Kasumi asked just to fill the jab of silence.

"I'm going over to the see the Kunos." She responded.

"Oh, say hello for me."

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

"Would you be able to help me sort out my things later?"

Nabiki looked up at her sister as if she just realized Kasumi was there. "Ah, sure. Actually, speaking of your little move out..." Nabiki reached down beside her and picked up a bag which she put down before Kasumi. "A few housewarming gifts."

"Why thank you, Nabiki." Kasumi responded as she started to look through the bag's contents. There was what Kasumi expected, some kitchen and bathroom supplies, but there was also some things that left Kasumi quite stunned. Nabiki smiled as Kasumi slowly pulled out a red lace negligee. Kasumi could feel the temperature in her cheeks rise a few degrees as she looked at it.

"That's for those cold nights together."

"I don't think this would be that warm."

"Trust me sis, you wear that and you won't be feeling the cold."

Kasumi's mind finally clicked on what Nabiki was implying and her temperature went up another couple of degrees as she dropped the negligee into the bag. "Nabiki!"

"Kasumi, you're getting married. One of the usual goals of that is to get, how should we say, intimate."

"Well, I suppose." Kasumi looked back into the bag and after finding another few particular items quickly closed it. "But is it necessary to discuss it so openly."

Nabiki looked around for a second then turned back to Kasumi. "Okay, shall we go with public key encryption or something simple like morse code?" Nabiki asked teasingly. "Come on Kasumi, loosen up. It's not exactly taboo anymore. So, are you going to wait for the wedding?"

"I don't... Nabiki, of course we are!"

"Well, that's your choice but don't feel pressured. None of us would hold it against you if-"

"Nabiki!"

"What?! Yeesh sis, you're just too high strung." Nabiki looked down at her watch then began to get up. "I have to get going."

Kasumi watched her sister leave, still stunned. A sort of odd curiosity overtook her as she retrieved the negligee from the bag. 'It seems awfully small. Maybe Nabiki got the size wrong. I guess I should try it...' Kasumi's mind seized up again as she realized what she was thinking. Such things were just, well, unsuitable for a proper young woman, or at least that is how she saw it. Kasumi quickly returned the garment to the bag and set her mind to her chores.

Working around the house usually kept her distracted and at peace but it was not helping much today. Soon Li and Nabiki had both implied now that she had ulterior motives for moving in with her soon to be husband. It simply was not true. All she wished to do was get to know him better.

Sure, she knew him fairly well, enough to agree to the marriage. She had actually had been very aware of his feelings towards her but she did not want to pressure him. The very first time she talked to him after their return to Japan it was quite clear that he was interested. From there his feelings just seemed to grow. She also became very fond of him but it was not her place to push things forward. Now people were implying she was doing that very thing.

Kasumi did not even approve of Shampoo's rather open attitude toward being with Ranma every night. Nothing seemed to happen but, still, it just was not right. Now Akane and Ryoga seemed to be getting very close and he was not even her fiance. The others may be comfortable with such things but Kasumi found it a bit disturbing.

Nabiki often accused Kasumi of living in the past and that she was too caught up with tradition. What was wrong with tradition? So many people abandoned it now when it became inconvenient. Kasumi was not like them. She knew life was not always there for her personal pleasure.

Kasumi pushed aside the thoughts and continued on with her work until she heard a knock at the door. 'Who could that be at this time of day?' Kasumi asked herself as she went to answer the door.

"Why hello Kasumi. It's good to see you again." The visitor said as Kasumi opened the door.

"Mrs. Saotome, I'd completely forgot you were coming today. Come in."

XXXXX

Bu, currently in male form, walked down the hall of the Kuno mansion on his way to the kitchen, eating an apple. The sound of a large explosion caused him to stop, scowl and shake his head. "Here we go again," he said as he changed his destination. Sasuke turned the corner and began to run towards the kitchen but Bu blocked his path.

"Mis... Master Bu, I must-"

"Don't bother. You'll just get yourself into that 'which side are you on Sasuke' argument again. Leave them to work it out themselves."

Another explosion rocked the walls causing Sasuke to get more tense. "But-"

"But nothing. Don't worry about it. Besides, I lowered the effective yield on their weapons. They're just real big noise makers now."

"Oh. A smart precaution."

"Of course." Bu's ears caught the sound of the doorbell through another explosion. "I'll get it, you stay here till I say otherwise, unless you want to be kicked out again?" Sasuke shook his head in response as Bu walked off to the main door, finishing off his apple and throwing it back at the ninja. "Do something with that would you." Once at the door he opened it to find Nabiki who had a questioning look on her face. "Hello Ms. Tendo. Did I do something to offend the cat or girly-man?"

"No, not that I'm aware of."

Another explosion rocked the building. "Then what can I do for you?"

"Just came over to chat. The siblings having another little tiff?"

"You could say that. Well, come on in then." Bu said as he lead her inside as yet another explosive caused the walls to shake. "I suppose you got something to sell to Tatey."

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you mostly."

"You got absolutely nothing I want, Ms. Tendo." Bu replied as he lead her into a large common room and sat down.

Nabiki sat down across from him. "I don't know about that."

"Oh really. And just what would you have that would interest me in the least?"

"It's not what I have per-say, it's what I have access to."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. Get on with it!"

"Aren't we the impatient type. I know about your little problem with women."

"What, that they have this nasty knack of thinking of me as a girl?" Bu asked, getting annoyed.

"Yes. Anyway, I know of a certain party who just might not care about your curse."

Bu leaned his head on his hand, unimpressed. "Go on."

"You know Perfume right?"

Bu broke into laughter causing Nabiki to scowl at him in annoyance. "You need to do your research a bit better."

"What's wrong with her? She's a liberated girl, a damned good martial artist, doesn't really like Shampoo that much and if you give her a little respect she'll love you for it."

"She's also an Amazon and I'm not going back to that village."

"Why not?"

Bu laughed again. "You really didn't research this. Because, Ms. Tendo, I wasn't exactly in the greatest of moods when I first went there. It was just after I went to Jusenkyo you know. Needless to say I didn't exactly make the greatest of impressions and I wouldn't be all that welcome if I returned. Matter of fact, my future health would be in severe jeopardy if I did. They don't take particular take kindly to thieves after all."

"I see but there is no necessity to return to the village. I get the impression she doesn't particularly like it there anyway."

"Well, sorry to spoil your little scheme, whatever it is, but I already have an interested party."

"Really, and who would you be referring to?" Nabiki asked, slightly confused.

Bu smiled. Judging from the lack of recent explosions Nabiki would get her answer the easy way. Sure enough Kodachi, in a slightly singed red and green dress, walked in and placed a small bag of cookies in Bu's lap.

"Here you are darling."

"Thanks." Kodachi smiled and sat down next to Bu then scowled when she noticed Nabiki. Bu switched his attention back to his visitor. "I think this discussion is over."

"I guess so. I'll be sure to make a note of this." Nabiki responded as she began to get up.

"Do that."

XXXXX

Nabiki walked aimlessly down the street. 'There goes one option. Kodachi and Bu, what a major slip up. I'll have to check all my records if I missed that one.' Nabiki shook her head and turned towards Ucchan's. Ukyo was probably getting anxious for a progress report, not that Nabiki had much progress to report. Still, she might as well probe the Mousse option.

As usual Ukyo and Mousse were busy tending to a full house of customers. Nabiki made her way over to the grill and stood waiting until Ukyo had a moment free.

"So how's it going Ukyo?"

"Business is up. Looks like your little plan is working."

"Did you expect anything less?"

"No. How about our other deal?"

"It's... coming along."

"Having problems?"

"Nothing I can't handle."

"You better be able to. I'm paying good money for this." Two new customers walked in and Ukyo turned her attention to them. "Be right back." Nabiki nodded and leaned against the wall to wait. She observed the crowd, in particular Mousse who was busy serving the customers.

'Ukyo obviously thinks well enough of him. He's an Amazon already. Looks like he makes it to the top of list. Now, if I can just get Perfume to forgive the guy for whatever he did to her.'

"Hey!" One of the new customers said in surprise. Nabiki looked over to see one girl holding what appeared to be a rug beater in front of another slightly younger girl, blocking her from the grill.

"Kurumi..." The older girl scolded.

"I wasn't going to do anything." The younger girl replied as she stepped back, bowing her head. Ukyo gestured for Nabiki to come over.

"Hey, Nabiki, these two girls are looking for your dojo." Ukyo said as Nabiki walked over.

"Really? Looking for some training?"

The older of the two girls stepped forward. "Actually no. We came to find our father, Soun Tendo."

Nabiki found herself totally bewildered for a moment. "Really?"

"Yes."

'Oh, this ought to be good,' Nabiki thought in a mix of amusement and worry.

XXXXX

Natsume followed behind Nabiki to the dojo, Kurumi walking beside her. She could tell her little sister was overjoyed to finally find her father. Natsume shared a great deal of that happiness. However, she was not too sure what to make of this whole situation. She never expected to find herself with more sisters, especially ones of approximately her age. That meant only one thing, that her father had relations with more than one woman, one her and Kurumi's mother, the other the mother of these other girls.

It was not that she held much loyalty to her mother, she never knew her. Still, it was a bit disturbing to find that she and her sister had been left behind. Surely father had his reasons but Natsume had an inner doubt that refused to be stifled. She would hate to come so far just to find she was not wanted.

She refused to believe that. He was their father. Maybe he had somehow forgotten, a blow to head in a battle perhaps. Maybe he had been somehow forced to leave. In any case, she would not lose faith in him. He had made them a promise.

Natsume turned her mind to other matters. From what she had been told she now had four new sisters, one adopted. She also had a stepmother, an Amazon of all things. That was interesting. They could most certainly expand their skills under her training. That also meant they may also be facing some stiff competition to be the best.

Natsume sized up Nabiki as they walked. They were about the same age, she was fit, trim, and may have some strength but she was no significant threat. However, that meant nothing. There was three others to worry about and this one may be the weakest of the lot.

Nabiki finally stopped in front of a gate. "Here we are." She said as she entered. The two sisters followed her inside. This was the dojo that Kurumi and her had waited so long to find. It was not quite like she pictured, much smaller, no statues, no elaborate carvings, quite plain actually. Well, it was mostly their imagination running wild that had built up such a magnificent image of the place and her father. She would have to be sure not to use those wild notions as a method of judgment.

They walked into a common room and found a woman and another girl talking at the table. The girl was obviously Nabiki's eldest sister and it didn't take Natsume much effort to notice that she was even less a threat than Nabiki. Natsume first concluded that the woman must be the stepmother but she didn't strike Natsume as an Amazon, but, then again, she'd never met a real Amazon before.

The eldest sister turned to her new guest. "Oh Nabiki, who are your little friends?"

"Oh, you'll like this. This is Natsume and Kurumi." Nabiki turned back to them. "This is my older sister Kasumi and... ahh..." Nabiki looked back at the woman who stood up in response and bowed.

"I am Nodoka Saotome. You must be Nabiki."

Nabiki seemed to be momentarily stunned but quickly recovered. "Oh, good to meet you. This is a bit of a surprise."

"Yes, that was the idea."

"I see." Nabiki pondered something for a moment then looked back at Natsume and Kurumi. "There is going to be an immense amount of explaining going on tomorrow." Kasumi looked at Nabiki in confusion. "Well sis, among other things, which we'll have to discuss later, it seems that the sisters Tendo are greater than we ever knew. Meet our other, newly discovered, siblings."

"Oh my!"

XXXXX

Akane twisted around in mid-air to face Shampoo's next attack. This match was not going all that well for her. Sure, she was still conscious, which was actually impressive considering what Shampoo could now do with that art of focus, but Akane was still taking the worst of it.

Shampoo leaped into the air, preparing to let off another barrage of punches. Akane let her mind go loose and picked a useful tactic at random. She extended the chaos discipline quickly to her body in hopes of once more jamming Shampoo's focus. It worked, the blows landed but had their usual light impact that Akane quickly shook off. Akane counter attacked with a chaotic blast of air. Shampoo shielded herself but flew backwards into the ground below as Akane rocketed into the air.

Akane landed a moment later and found Shampoo fully ready to continue but Soon Li stepped between. "That's enough for now. Shampoo, you kept up the focus through the whole match. I think you have pretty much mastered it now. Akane, I saw that you dropped out of chaos quite often. You should be able to keep it up the whole time."

"I know, it's just hard."

"You'll get it with some more practice. Shampoo, why don't you go make sure Ranma and Ryoga aren't killing each other." Shampoo nodded with an amused smiled then walked off as Soon Li walked over to Akane. "So, how are things going?"

"Hmh?"

"You and Ryoga?"

"Oh, okay."

"No problems?" Akane hesitated for a second then shook her head. "You sure?"

"Well, I'd... no, everything is fine." Soon Li nodded but Akane could tell she was unconvinced. "Okay, okay, he's being a bit slow for my liking but that's alright. He'll get on with it sooner or later."

"Yes, you're probably right." Soon Li said then pulled out a piece of paper. "Here, this is your modified list. You'll be using this one for a while."

Akane took the paper and scowled at the new instructions. "I thought we were done."

"Nope, you'll be doing this for a while yet till your mind gets really used to it."

"Lovely." Akane looked up from the paper to see Soon Li walking off and followed after her. "What do you think about Kasumi leaving?"

"She's grown up and getting married, it's to be expected."

"Yeah, I know but it is going to change everything."

"Change can be good. Besides, it's unavoidable."

"I suppose." The two stopped as they came up next to Shampoo in a clearing where Ranma and Ryoga were sparring. "So, who gets to replace her?"

"I was just going to let you all divide the tasks as you liked. That seems fairest." Akane nodded and watched the two boys' match for a moment.

"They're pretty good. You two have done well in teaching them."

"Yeah, that's right, we've done most their training." That had a satisfying feeling to it. No matters what, Akane and Shampoo could say they had trained them.

"Yes and you'll be getting some more practice at that from now on. You'll be teaching each other your style."

"Hmm, aren't you going to do that?" Shampoo asked.

"And why should I? You're both masters in your schools now. From now on you just perfect your techniques and devise ones specific to yourself. I cannot help you there. Being masters it is now your duty to pass your knowledge onto others, including each other. I'll be there to help you combine the two schools together smoothly but mostly it's up to you."

"Never thought of myself as a master." Akane commented and Shampoo nodded in agreement.

"You know all the techniques now. In my book that qualifies you as a master. Now, once you learn the other school, you should resume training with me as we flesh out the combine Storm style, but that will be a while," Soon Li said then frown.

"Something wrong?" Akane asked.

"No. Just an errant thought," Soon Li replied.

Satisfied, Akane turned to Shampoo and smiled. "Well, Master Shampoo, when shall we start our instruction?"

Shampoo returned the smile. "I don't know, Master Akane, what do you think?"

The two girls laughed together.

"Perhaps you should take a break for a while and simply work on ironing out what you currently know," Soon Li suggested.

Akane and Shampoo both contemplated that for moment then nodded and as they continued to watch the match. Finally the boys' sparring match came to an end, roughly a tie, and they walked over to the others.

Soon Li pulled out another paper and handed it to Ryoga. "Here's your new list Ryoga. You'll be using this one from now on." Ryoga took the list and looked it over. He's eyes went wide near the bottom and he looked desperately up at Soon Li. "I did say anything." Ryoga responded with a reluctant nod. Soon Li then turned and left with a smile.

"What is it?" Akane asked out of curiosity, trying to look at Ryoga's list.

Ryoga quickly rolled up the paper, keeping it hidden. "Oh, it's nothing."

"What, is the little piggy scared of kissing the girl?" Ranma teased.

"Shut up Ranma or I'll give you another thrashing!"

"Thrashing my eye! I was winning!"

"No you weren't! I could take you any day!"

"In your dreams pig boy! I have a hundred times your skill!"

"Oh yeah?!"

"Yeah!"

The two boys stepped towards each other threateningly, much to Shampoo's and Akane's annoyance. Akane then got a devious look on her face. "Master Shampoo, I believe our students need to see some real skill so they don't get complacent. What do you think?"

"I agree completely Master Akane. So, shall we?" Akane nodded and both turned on the boys who suddenly got very nervous.

Soon Li chuckled as the girls rushed in and engaged their students. As the little battle went on, Soun joined her.

"There you are," her husband said before pausing to watch the display. "They have come so far."

"Yes," Soon Li said before frowning once more.

"Something wrong?"

Soon Li tilted her head as she continue frowning. "It's odd. As you know, my knowledge of my style is instinctive for the most part. There was only those old tales to direct me. And, although I've taught them everything I know of the two schools, I feel like I'm missing something."

"Missing what?" Soun asked.

"I wish I knew. Ranma asked me a while ago why I taught the girls only one school at a time. I still don't know. Yet I know in my gut it is the right way to do things, yet here we are at the end of their training and I still don't understand. There is a piece missing," Soon Li analyzed before sighing. "I just can't think of what it could be."

Soun nodded. "I wish I could help."

Soon Li shrugged. "Perhaps it is just my imagination," she said as the battle between the boys and the girls shifted as Akane and Shampoo started working together and quickly overcame the boys. Soon Li chuckled. "One thing the boys definitely lack, teamwork."

"Indeed," Soun agreed.

XXXXX

The next day Akane and Shampoo walked in the lead as they all headed for home. Ranma and Ryoga were engaged in a heated discussion over who's martial arts talent was better. Genma and Soun were walking side by side recounting `the good old days' while Soon Li listened. Akane turned her attention from the two boys who would likely be getting into a fight any moment to prove themselves.

"So, Shampoo, what do you think?"

"I'll help but who? Nabiki hasn't exactly shown much interest in anyone."

"Yeah, I was thinking about that. Mousse and Perfume don't exactly seem to be hitting it off. We could try him."

Shampoo consider with a slight scowl. "I don't know. He does seem to have gotten over his obsession thing but I don't really think he's Nabiki's type."

"So, who is her type?"

"Mmm, Kuno."

"Kuno?! That guy's as obsessive as hell and a real dolt."

"Yeah, but he's got money and Nabiki does hang around him a lot."

"That's because he's her chief pigeon."

"I suppose that could explain it but maybe she likes the guy."

"I don't really care. Until he gets a severe attitude adjustment he's out."

"Alright then, but I still say Mousse isn't her type."

"Okay but who then?" Akane asked as she finally stopped in front of the gate to their house.

"Give me some time to think."

Akane nodded then opened the gate and walked towards the house, the others following her. She was just about to open the door when it opened for her and Kasumi came out.

"Hello everyone." Kasumi said in welcome and got a few waves and greetings in response. She looked behind her briefly then turned back to them. "We have a few visitors."

Akane looked back at Soon Li and her father and found Soon Li smiling but then her expression suddenly changing to a confused look. "A few?" Soon Li asked.

"Yes." As Kasumi responded a woman in a blue Kimono and two girls came out. The woman immediately looked at Genma and quickly walked over to him. Genma, on the other hand, was paralyzed with shock.

"Genma!" The woman grabbed Genma in a hug.

"Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh, Nodoka, what a surprise!" Genma finally managed to respond, sweating severely.

In the meantime the two girls had rushed to Soun. "Are... are you Soun Tendo?" The oldest asked anxiously.

"Ahhh, yes, I'm Soun Tendo."

Both girls lit up with joy. "Then it's really true. We've found you. Oh father!" Both grabbed a shocked Soun in a hug or their own.

There was a variety of reactions to these events. Ryoga was simply confused. Ranma was looking at Nodoka in his own state of shock. Akane was giving her father a very angry and suspicious look. Shampoo was both confused and tense, looking back and forth between Nodoka and the two girls. Soon Li was intent on Soun and the girls, too stunned to act. Kasumi merely watched it all.

Finally Nodoka released Genma then noticed Ranma. "Ranma, is that you?" She asked. He could only respond with a nod. "Oh, I've waited so long to see you again!" She said as she took her son into a hug.

Close by Akane, Kasumi and Nabiki, who just came out of the house herself, were gathering around their father. "What's going on here, DAD?!" Akane asked, barely able to control her anger.

"Yes Daddy, do you mind explaining this?" Nabiki asked with a suspicious tone.

"It's some sort of mistake! You must have me mistaken for someone else!" Soun protested.

"Oh no, it's true," the oldest said as she withdrew and pulled out a photograph and handed it to him, "see."

He looked the picture over briefly. "I don't-"

"No, here." The younger girl said, quickly turning the picture over. Soun looked at the writing on the back then went pale.

Soon Li had finally managed to recover but then started to look quite perturbed. "You'd best be able to explain this, Soun. Am I to understand you have two illegitimate daughters you have never told us about?" She asked as she approached him, getting angrier by the second.

"Nonono, it's a mistake." He pleaded but got only a scowl in response.

A rumble of thunder sounded from above followed by a sudden downpour of rain. The various Jusenkyo curse victims had no time to react and all changed, Ranma still in his, or rather now her, mother's arms. Nodoka soon noticed the change and stepped back, still holding Ranma by the shoulders, and examined the girl before her in amazement and shock.

"Ahh, hi Mom." Ranma said with a nervous smile and wave.

Soon Li paid that little mind, more focused on Soun. She wanted answers, but just as she started to open her mouth to ask the questions she stopped in shock. There was a flash of something else, the Tendo common room with several of those now gathered now there, but along with Cologne.

The flash ended abruptly, returning her to the here and now, but confused. 'What was that?' she ask herself. Before she could get an answer it hit again, stronger this time...

%End Chapter 20