I do not own Ranma 1/2 or any of its characters
-10-
The morning light shone in from Ranma's window, waking him before his alarm went off. Grumbling, he got ready for the day. He was supposed to be working at Ukyo's again, and as it was Saturday, she was opening earlier than normal. After he was ready, he slipped out of the house undetected. He let himself in the restaurant and found Ukyo already preparing ingredients.
Without looking up at him, she asked, "Snuck out again?"
"Yeah…"
Without another word she heated a small portion of the grill and cooked up a couple of eggs for Ranma so he had at least a little something to eat.
Grateful, he took the offering and ate quickly.
Their shift went by quickly as they were busy from the moment they opened till they closed. As he helped her with the cleanup, he decided it was time to move things along. "Ukyo, how do you feel about everything?"
She froze in her movements. "What do you mean?"
"I mean with all this fiance business and with the resolution to make a determination. What are your feelings in all this?"
Ukyo knew this was coming her way sooner or later, she just hoped it was later. She had been reflecting on things since Ranma first spoke to her about his decision, but she was still uncertain of her own feelings. "Ranma you have consumed my entire life. From the moment your father left me, my life changed. I gave up being a woman, took to disguising myself as a man to hide from the shame of being abandoned by my fiance, and thinking the entire time that you were involved in it all. I grew up hating you for what I thought you had done to me, and when I finally found out the truth, I thought that things would be different, but of course, I wasn't the only one your father promised you too. So then I had to battle for you. Everything moved like a whirlwind, that I never actually stopped and considered how I felt."
Ranma considered it all. He had tried to sort out his own feelings concerning Ukyo and he always ended on her being his childhood friend, even now, he felt friendship for her more than anything else. "Ukyo, can I kiss you?"
She looked up at him surprised by the request. My first kiss. Do I want to give it to Ranma? Frantically, she thought about him, their relationship, and her own feelings, and the conclusion was right in front of her. Tears swam in her eyes, and she looked up at him.
He was concerned by the threat of tears. "Ukyo…"
"No." Her voice was barely more than a whisper. "I never stopped to consider before, but Ranma…"
Patiently he waited for her to continue, assuming she felt the same way he did, but he needed her to say it.
"I...don't love you like that. Even after consuming my entire life, I feel only friendship toward you." The tears finally fell forward as a chapter, years in the making, finally concluded.
Ranma went to her, trying to offer comfort in his embrace. "I realized it too. I love you, as a friend. You're my best friend, Ukyo. Will we still be able to keep that friendship?"
Through her tears, she responded, "I would like that, you are my best friend too, Ran-chan."
He stayed with her a while longer, until she assured him that she was fine. With another push, he left Ukyo and headed for the Nekohanten and Shampoo.
As he entered the building, Shampoo's face immediately lit up, and he smiled in return. She was still cleaning some of the tables as the restaurant had just closed. "Nihao Airen!" Rushing over, she embraced Ranma. He returned the hug and felt her warmth and acceptance.
Cologne stepped into the room, from the kitchen. "Ah, son-in-law, welcome back. Are you two ready to continue training?"
They both nodded. As they headed to the back, Ranma asked, "Where's Mousse?"
"Mousse left after talk with Ranma," Shampoo informed him. "Said he needed time to reflect."
Ranma nodded, happy that Mousse at least considered what he had to say.
Once outside, the two took their positions. They harmonized quickly.
Cologne watched, and once she was sure their link was stable she gave further instruction, "Now, we need to test the link. Both of you gather a small portion of your chi and put your hands together like before. They did, but there was no static shock this time. Now, when their hands met, a warm sensation spread down their arms.
"Good, now raise your hands up and release the chi together."
They did and a red ball of energy shot up into the air.
Cologne sat back and watched it go higher into the sky, then gazed back at her two students in amazement. They both looked proud.
"Okay, we're going to move onto the next portion of training. The last bit should go easier, but remember the entire technique comes down to you being able to stay synchronized with one another."
They both nodded in understanding.
"As I want you both to be as flexible as possible, I will teach you both sides of the technique, that way you are not limited by who is available to engage it."
The three stayed out there for a long time going over all the aspects of the technique, by the end of it, they had successfully completed the technique, but it lacked intensity to do any real damage, as it just cinged the straw dummy they were using.
"You two are doing great, but you must keep yourselves harmonized. Come, let's get some dinner." Cologne turned and entered the building first.
Ranma grasped Shampoo's hand to hold her outside a little longer.
She looked up at him concerned, seeing that he had something he wanted to tell her. "What happened?"
"Ukyo and I talked after my shift. We decided that we were better as friends."
"Is Airen okay with that?"
He studied Shampoo before answering. Of course she thinks of me first. "Yes, it's for the best."
Shampoo hugged him before they turned to go inside.
