"So the girl has a wish eh?" Ranma chuckled from his place on the porch. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Kohane has had a tough life because of her powers." Watanuki watched the little girl speak with Yuuko. "I just hope that Yuuko can help her."

"I don't think that will be a problem." Ranma shrugged and got to his feet. "Let's leave them to their privacy. I can't stand girls crying."

Watanuki looked at Kohane slowly tearing up. "Yeah." He sighed and got to his feet. "What do you think would be good for dinner?"

"Anything but Chinese food." Ranma muttered. "No matter how good Xian Pu makes it, there is a limit to how much I can eat."

Watanuki chuckled before turning whistfull. "I miss the girls, seeing you three eat was always amusing."

"Heh." Ranma placed his hands behind his head. He thought Watanuki had a touch of nostalgia coloring his vision. The boy had yelled throughout most of the meals.

A flicker out of the corner of Ranma's eye made him stop and focus. Watanuki stopped as well, startled by the shift in demeanor.

"The barrier is going down." Ranma stated as his eyes stared off into the distance. "Why is the barrier going down?"

"Barrier?" Watanuki asked. "Isn't that what Maru and Moro are sleeping for?"

Ranma's eyes went wide, and he began to sprint. Realizing the way that Ranma's thoughts were going Watanuki began to sprint towards the girl's room as well. Outside the terrain seemed to flicker momentarily. Ranma made it to the door first, and snapped it open.

Inside, Maru and Moro were sitting up, as if waking up from a long nap. Both girls stretched cutely and looked at the open door with strangely old eyes. The blinked once, and then their eyes lit up in child like glee.

"Ranma! Watanuki!" They both laughed and dashed forward hugging the boys tightly. "Kitty Boy and Clumsy boy are back!!"

"Kitty Boy?" Ranma's eye twitched.

"Clumsy boy!?" Watanuki exclaimed.

Both girls giggled and looked up at the person they were huging. In stereo they both said one thing. "Feed us!!"

"Figures, they just wake up and they want to eat." Ranma sighed and hung his head.

"Hehe." Watanuki laughed and patted Maru's head. "All right, I will get to work. What would you like?"

"Food!" Maru and Moro let go of their hugs and grabbed Ranma's hands. "Feed us food!" They began spinning Ranma around giggling happily. "Servent boy is cooking!" They both sang out as Ranma chuckled from their antics.

"I think all that sleep gave them a lot of energy to burn off." Watanuki sighed and began to go the the kitchen. "I will make a lot all right?"

"Yay!!"

Ranma chuckled again before sighing and freeing his hands. Keeling down he looked both girls in the eye for a brief moment. Satisfied with what he found he stood up and patted the girls on the head. "Try to recover soon."

"We have no souls." Maro's voice had taken on a timeless quality. "Only Yuuko can restore us to full power now that we have failed our duty."

"And that will not be possible with the end game fast approaching." Maru continued. "Only the care that you and Watanuki have shown has allowed us to stay this long in the world."

Ranma shrugged. "Then keep with us a bit more, eh? I will be sad if you leave."

"You will." Maru smiled.

"Then you won't." Moro giggled.

With that the timeless quality of the two girls vanished, and it was as if they were normal girls once more. Ranma just shook his head. Getting an answer to whatever that had been about was going to be impossible.

"Just like that Kohane." Watanuki smiled at the little girl.

A few days had passed since that fateful day where Kohane had gotten a wish granted by Yuuko. The wish was something that the girl kept close to her heart, but it did involve loosing the majority of her powers. To the girl it was a double edged blessing. She had not really liked the TV shows and the hype, but her powers had been part of her for so long that she was a bit lost without them.

Yuuko had a solution though, and had placed Kohane with a friend of hers. An old fortune teller who had needed a successor had gladly taken the girl in. Xian Pu had also extended an invitation. For now Kohane was staying with the fortune teller, but she did want to visit the Chinese girl.

"Thank you Watanuki." Kohane smiled at the older boy over the stew pot. "I have never cooked before."

"You are doing fine." Watanuki smiled happily.

Out in the living room sat Ranma and Domeki. Ranma was a bit stiff, but that was mostly becuase the fortune teller was eyeing him strangely. He really didn't like the way she looked at him. She was polite enough at least.

Domeki sensing none of this simply handed the old woman a sake bottle. "You are a friend of Yuuko aren't you?"

"Oh! How nice. A good cup of sake with a wonderful dinner." She replied as she took the bottle. "Very good brand as well. You are such a well behaved young man."

"You are Yuuko's friend all right." Ranma muttered.

"I am sorry did you say something?" The old woman looked to Ranma.

"Nothing." Ranma smiled fakely. That look was back again, and he really didn't like it.

"Very good." The old woman smiled as Kohane brought a pot in. "It looks like dinner is being served."

Ranma perked up grabbing a spoon with obvious relish. Then something seemed to hit him, or more accurately he flinched. The rest of the table looked at the young man curiously.

Setting down the spoon and getting to his feet Ranma bowed to everyone. "I am sorry, something just came up and I have to go."

"Ranma?" Watanuki asked. He had never seen the boy turn down a meal.

"Stay here." Ranma smiled at Watanuki. "It's nothing you should worry about."

With that statement Ranma walked calmly out of the house.

"It should be fine." The old woman stated as he left. "In fact, we have to enjoy ourselves extra hard today."

Ranma continued to walk calmly until he was sure that no one inside the house could see him. Then he began to sprint. he moved as fast as he possibly could, running towards Yuuko's house with an intensity that he rarely showed. Over rooftops, through streets, and through the gate separating Yuuko's house from the rest of the city.

Out in back he found what he was looking for. There lay Yuuko bleeding. Next to her was a string leading up to unfathomably place. After a moment the string fell to the ground. Mokona was calling the woman's name with worry, and for a moment Ranma's heart stopped.

"Yuuko!" Ranma's voice cracked with worry.

Sprinting next to her side he knelt down. A quick once over reassured him that she was all right. It looked like something had burned her arm, and all the way down her leg. She was still breathing though, and she looked up at Ranma with a warm gaze, lifting her uninjured arm to touch his face.

"I am glad you found me."

"How bad is it?" Ranma cupped her hand, looking at her arm.

"Fei's strike robbed me of most of my power, but I managed to do what was necessary." Yuuko sighed out, dropping her arm. "Take me to bed?"

"Of course Yuuko." Ranma lifted the woman up gently, and winced at the damage that simple motion seemed to cause.

Maru and Moro looked on them both with strangely solemn eyes, before going back into the house to get something. Moments later they cam back with a salve and a few pills.

Ranma nodded distractedly at them as he maneuvered Yuuko to her room. The woman hand curled up in his arms, and seemed strangely vulnerable. Every protective instinct Ranma had was alert and flaring at this point, and he snarled silently at his utter uselessness.

A few moments later had Yuuko bandaged up and on some light painkillers in her room. Ranma hovered anxiously at her side. He was still worried, but she seemed fine now. Monoka and the twins had left earlier to give the two their privacy.

"No more magic for awhile." Yuuko chuckled slightly. "That is fine though."

Ranma sighed in relief. If Yuuko could joke, she was fine. He sat at her bed and took up her good hand. "I wish I had known you were going to do that."

"There is a time and a place for everything." Yuuko smiled warmly at Ranma.

"My time and place it at your side always." Ranma muttered. "I don't want to see that happen again."

"I feel honored to have had a knight such as you." Yuuko took a deep breath as she watched Ranma. "That is why I am hesitant to ask one last boon of you."

"Like you have to ask?" Ranma smiled at Yuuko. "Just tell me."

"A night." Yuuko finally asked as she watched Ranma. "A night together, as nothing but a man and a woman."

Ranma felt his eyes widen. "You don't ask much do you?" He laughed slightly as he got to his feet and paced around nervously. "If you are asking THAT.. Isn't it a bit soon?"

"You have no obligation to." Yuuko averted her eyes. "It is just a silly wish that I wanted granted before the coming storm."

"I never said I wouldn't do it." Ranma sighed. "Its just that.."

"I wish that we had time." Yuuko looked at Ranma then. "Time to really make it work out right, but we do not."

"'Sokay." Ranma smiled at Yuuko. "I think, I can deal with it."

There were no more words shared that night. It was awkward, hesitant, and had a few mistakes, but both Yuuko and Ranma shared something that night that was more than words. Something tender, and memorable.

"Sorry to steal your dreams like this." A voice made Ranma perk up. "Especially in such a moment."

He looked around frantically. He hadn't started up his dream technique yet, and here he was in his dreamscape. It was undeniably his as well. No other dreamscape was like Yuuko's house.

"But it was rather necessary." A version of himself walked into his view.

"What the hell?" Ranma blinked.

It wasn't enough that his dream had been hijacked, but something about this version of himself felt off somehow. He seemed normal enough, vaguely normal clothing, gloves on, and a pigtail. In fact the only thing unusual about him was the fact that there were two cats with him. A white one with blue markings over its shoulders was curled up in his arms and a black one with two tails was hanging on his shoulders.

"Call me Cat if you will." The intruder chuckled slightly. "I am glad that you don't flinch at that. You have no idea how many version of yourself have the Neko-Ken."

"All right then.." Ranma looked at the copy of himself questioningly. "So another version of myself figured out dreamwalking."

"In a sense." Cat replied. "Though yours is far less refined than mine." He let the white cat go. The cat flipped to its feet and prowled to his right. "I am here for two reasons." The black cat jumped down to his left side. "One was simple curiosity. It is rare to see one like you."

"And the other?" Ranma tilted his head.

"Hehe." Cat chuckled. "Why to ruin your night, or maybe enhance it. Isn't there a tradition for when a Ranma dreamwalks?"

"So you want to fight?" Ranma raised an eyebrow and got into a stance. "Well, why not?"

"Eight blades." Cat smiled. "Eight ways to fight. Eight ways to die."

"Aww hell, not again." Ranma began to look around.

"I can assure you, this is not like that Reality Marble." Cat chuckled as eight blades appeared and began to revolve around him. "His is a creation of will and magic. Mine is a gift of divinity, an angelic prayer sung before battle." The blades began to dart forward.

Ranma braced himself and got ready to dodge.

"Do try to last long enough to see them all." Cat chuckled. "Some of them are a sight to see."

"Oh joy." Ranma muttered.