Characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi, with the exception of The Decision Master.

17

They stayed a whole week at that peculiar house; it was almost like they were on their honeymoon, before they returned to Nerima. As they arrived at the Nekohanten, they found that Ranma's belongings had already been brought over by Kasumi.

"What's been going on since we've been gone?" Ranma asked Cologne.

"Not much has changed, but you may want to go check in with your father. He's been acting strangely, even for him. How was the time away?"

They both blushed at the question, and Cologne chuckled under her breath. "Say no more. Before I forget, I have a surprise for you two."

"Surprise?"

"Consider it a wedding gift." She removed a tarp from two large drums with Chinese writing on them.

"Great-grandmother…" Shampoo trailed off.

"I would hurry before something happens." She quickly popped the tops off of the barrels.

"Airen in that one." Shampoo pointed and hurriedly jumped into the other barrel.

Ranma had a moment of panic when she went into the water, but when she surfaced she was still human and he realized what this was. Without a second of hesitation he jumped inside the barrel. Just in time, as Mousse had seen the two and attacked Ranma immediately. Using his talon attack he ripped apart the barrel Ranma was in and the water spilled to the ground.

"Stupid Mousse spill water from Nannīchuan."

"Nannīchuan? This was from Nannīchuan?"

"It was." Ranma stated as the water was absorbed into the ground. "I'm just glad I was able to use it first."

Mousse looked at both Ranma and Shampoo; they were dripping wet, but were in their original forms.

"I can always throw you back into the Nyannīchuan." Mousse threatened.

"No more Nyannīchuan." Shampoo announced. As Mousse was distracted, she had been draining the water so it could not be used against Ranma.

Mousse cried out his frustration, then moved to attack Ranma. "I'll just have to destroy you and take Shampoo away."

"When are you going to finally leave her alone? Shampoo is happy. Our engagement has been renewed."

"But I love her."

"If you really love her, you'll let her live her life."

Streams of tears rolled down his face, unabashed. "Treat her well."

"I intend to."

With a puff of smoke, Mousse vanished.

"Do you think he'll be okay?"

"I'm sure Mousse be okay with time."

"I need to go find my father now. I was hoping I'd be able to cure him too, mostly so he can't use his transformation to avoid answering questions, but Mousse saw to that."

"Airen want Shampoo come?"

"Not just yet. I want to see if I can see Ukyo and Akane too. I'll bring my father around later so we can all talk together."

Shampoo reluctantly agreed.

Ranma left the Nekohanten and went first to Ucchan's. She was not open for business yet, and he knocked on her door.

"Long time no see. How are you Ran-chan?"

He was surprised by her greeting. "I'm fine. How're you doing?"
"Never better."

"Ucchan." Ranma's voice was full of concern.

"Really, Ranma. I'm fine." She dropped the forced happiness. "It took a little while, but I am okay. You were right. I see you as a friend. Everything just happened so suddenly though, but I've had time to think about it and come to terms with it, and I'm okay. We still friends?"

"I would like it very much if we could be. You're my best friend, Ukyo."

"You're mine too, Ran-chan."

They hugged and she let him inside.

"So what have I been missing out on?"

"Your dad has been acting funny, oh and Akane found out about Ryoga."

"How did that happen? He tries to be so careful when Akane is around."

"It was an accident, of course. Akane was upset and Ryoga wanted to take the chance to try and console her, they were close to the Tendo residence, and you remember that old lady that would trigger your curse when she was throwing water on the street? Well, this time she got Ryoga right in front of Akane. Man was she upset. Not just at him, mind you. We all got an ear full for not sharing the information with her. Poor Ryoga took it pretty hard. We haven't seen him around since it happened."

"I knew that it was going to come back to him eventually."

"Me too; honestly I'm more surprised that it took this long for her to find out. There were so many tells and instances where she should have been able to put two and two together."

"Yes, but we only see what we want to, right?"

"Guess so. So how are you, Ranma honey?"

"Believe it or not, I'm great!"

"It is surprising. I never imagined you would choose Shampoo."

The projected images of his past with Shampoo reeled through his mind. Of course no one thought I'd choose her, including Shampoo. I really put her in a predicament. She would never be selected if she couldn't spend time with me, and I'd never spend time with her voluntarily. I was unfair to her.

"Ran-chan?"

"I'm sorry, I was lost in thought."

"Want to share?"

Ranma stayed with his friend for some time, going over his experience with The Decision Master and about what's happened since then. Ukyo listened tentatively; he could tell she was just as surprised as he was with the revelations regarding Shampoo.

It was evening when he finally walked out of Ukyo's restaurant and made his way toward the Tendo Dojo.

It feels so weird having to ring the doorbell now, after living here so long. Kasumi answered the door; a large smile crossed her face at the sight of him.

"Good to see you, Ranma."

"It's good to see you too. I was hoping my father was in."

"I'm sorry, he's been missing for a few days now, but when he returns, I'll let him know you stopped by."

"Thank you, Kasumi." Ranma didn't turn away.

"Was there something else I could help you with?"

Ranma looked to the ground. "How is she?"

"Heartbroken and embarrassed, but she's strong. She'll be okay."

Without raising his head, he nodded.

"Are you okay?"

"Feeling a little guilty."

"Guilty?"

"Because I've been so happy."

"Oh Ranma." Kasumi couldn't help her mothering instincts; she pulled Ranma into a hug. "Don't feel guilty for being happy. You found love. That's to be celebrated. You were in an impossible situation. We know that. There were always going to be two broken hearts at the end of this scenario. If anyone should be guilty, it's your father for putting this in motion in the first place."

Her words soothed over the rougher edges of his guilt, but did not alleviate it. "Thank you, Kasumi."

Ranma turned away.

Kasumi shut the door. "He seems happy."

"Yes, he does."