The Serpent's Proposal

by Adam Douglas

What happen's when Ranma gets his curse cured? Is this really such a good thing? Action and adventure as Ranma, Ryoga, and Akane journey to china in search of the cusred springs of jusenkyo! Mysteries/dragons/battles/gods/betrayal/love and hate in a story

I'd really appreciate ~any~ C&C!! Help me out!!

~the serpent's proposal~

A Ranma 1/2 fiction

by: Adam Douglas

dis*claim \dis-'klAm\ vb : DENY (as in I -deny- any rights or ownership to the characters or situations herein), DISAVOW (i.e. - I -disavow- any responsibility for the creation of the material this piece of fiction is based on)-- Dis*claim*er n : Ranma 1/2 is the sole creation of Rumiko Takahashi and her creation is used/misused/abused without permission. The rights of Ranma 1/2 belong to Mrs. Takahashi and Viz Video, of which I'm intentionally infringing on. ~~~~ I'm poor, and extremely bored, also I'm a big fan so don't sue me, Please!

...I hate disclaimers...

~the seprent's proposal~

Chapter one: ~The Presence~

School had finally let out at Furinkan and Ranma couldn't help but idly wonder, as he walked casually balanced atop the fence on his way home, how he would spend this school break.

Akane walked just beneath him to the side, in her own quiet thoughts, pointedly avoiding eye contact with Ranma whom in turn seemed to be mimicking this gesture with minimal difficulties. She was still angry with him from his earlier comment that she should invent martial arts food poisoning after trying repeatively to feed him some lunch she had prepared. Of course her anger wasn't quite as bad as it had been after she had then proceeded to give him a black eye. She could still see him, out of the corner of her eye, dabbing at the purple tender flesh that had swollen around his eye. It almost caused her to smirk, though she forced herself to be content with the smile she held on the inside for now.

Ranma for his part, was roused from his thoughts when he noticed a repressed smile from Akane form under the mask of anger she was trying hard to hold. It caused him to bite down on his lower lip. What an uncute tomboy she was, he thought. She actually seemed to enjoy the fact that she had hit him. What in the world could cause someone to make deadly toxic food, and then beat someone for not wanting to eat it, how stupid could she possibly be? He sniffed loudly when he caught her eyes drift over to him again, and proceeded to hop down from the fence and without even a note of ackowledgement proceeded to walk in the opposite direction.

Akane, slightly caught of guard, turned to watch him leave, her forced mask of anger now a look of puzzlement. She almost called to him but grew angry at the idea of letting him get to her. Let him do whatever he wants, she thought bitterly.

As Ranma walked down the low traffic road he began to let his thoughts drift, he couldn't remember the last time a rival had given him a shiner and couldn't quite figure how it was that all his hard training seemed to amount to nothing when Akane got angry. He could sense an attack from Ryoga a mile away, but then again, Ryoga always seemed to annouce his attack with a loud....

"RANMA PREPARE TO DIE!!!"

Ranma blinked as his thought was finished for him, and turned in time to see a charging locomotive heading his way at alarming speeds. Said locomotive sporting a rather hefty bamboo umbrella and a set of weather beaten olive colored travel clothes.

"What now Ryoga?" Ranma asked flatly having had this drill a thousand times before.

"What now?" He asked incredilously as he began to throw a barrage of punches that Ranma easily blocked. "How dare you mock Akane!"

Ranma, realizing Ryoga's reference was to his earlier comment about her cooking, felt his anger begin to surge. "For someone who's as eternally lost as you are, how the hell is it that you always seem to know what Akane and I are doing, P-chan?" He taunted.

"You shut up!" Ryoga roared. "I'd die if Akane tried to feed me her homecooking!"

Ranma couldn't help but smile at this, "Hey you -do- understand!".

"You know what I mean!" Ryoga stopped his attack to square off with Ranma in the park they had found in the midst of their battle. "For what you said to Akane, I'm gonna beat the hell out of you Ranma." He spoke cooly.

"Ryoga, how many times do I have to defeat you before ya realize you can't win, hmmm?"

"I won't lose."

"We'll see won't we?"

"DIE!!!" Ryoga cried out as he bounded at full speed at Ranma, dipped down just beneath him, and sent out an explosion of rubble with his breaking point. Ranma leaped up only a fraction sooner than the blast and rebounded off a nearby oak tree sending several furious punches into Ryoga's chest with his chestnut fist. Ryoga rolled onto his back using his legs to kick Ranma into the air. Leaping back to his feet, he managed to meet Ranma where he land and attempted to punch him in the face. Ranma swept under the punch and rotated his leg sweeping Ryoga's feet out from underneath him. Using the momentum of the sweep, Ryoga pulled his arms and legs in tight and rolled backwards in the air initiating a perfect backflip. Ranma, wasting no time hurled into Ryoga with a flurry of punches and kicks forcing Ryoga to take the defensive as he staggered backwards from the onslaught. Finally Ranma managed to back Ryoga into a tree but he didn't count on him acting so quickly and payed for it with a severe blow to the gut. Leaping backward with several backflips Ranma came to a silent stand off against Ryoga as each measured his opponent in hopes for an opening. Ranma began to feel his arm hairs prick up as Ryoga's ki level began to soar.

Not to be outdone, Ranma let his own level of ki rise to match Ryoga's.

"SHI SHI HOKODAN!" Ryoga let out the violent battle cry as his ki manifested itself in a blue ball of consentrated energy and shot out a Ranma.

"MOKO TAKABISHA!" Ranma counter-attacked with his confidence ki attack, each ball of energy meeting mid-way. Not good enough, Ranma thought as he watched Ryoga's ki attack plow through his own, Ryoga's depression is greater than my confidence. The blow passed just over Ranma's shoulder as he side-stepped it swiftly. But the dodge was short lived as one after another began to fire from Ryoga's out-stretched hands. Ranma found himslef engaged in a rather twisted version of dodge ball as each ki blast narrowly missed him.

Changing tactics Ranma began to leap through the trees to find more certain ground. Ryoga gave a close chase by ground as he played target practice with Ranma's agile form. Finding a nice clearing Ranma jumped down from the trees and back onto the ground only to have to dodge three more ki attackes.

"Ryoga DAMMIT!!!" He yelled in frustration. "KNOCK IT OFF WILL YA?!!"

"Whats the matter Ranma, am I too much for you?"

"Why you!!!" Ranma found just enough time to bring his confidence up another notch and began to swiftly meet each of Ryoga's ki balls with his own canceling each one out. Ryoga sensing the defeat in this tactic, halted his attack and felt his depression sink lower as he geared up for his next one. Ranma could feel the hair on the back of his neck now as he watched Ryoga surround himself with a menacing blue glow. "Oh shit..." Was all the thought Ranma had time for, before a gigantic heavy blue ki lashed upward into the sky from Ryoga. The pressure from all about Ranma began to increase to agonizing amounts as the ki attack began to peak, and out of a fit of desperation he had an idea surface.

"Hyru shoten ha revised, shi shi hokodan dragon repel wave!"

Ranma sent a chilled upward punch into the heavy laden ki, forcing the ki to disperse into a depression ki tornado. Ranma bounded back in time to see the highly pressurized ki twister sweep Ryoga up and begin to crush him from all sides. Ryoga let out a startled yell as he felt his body being crushed to death.

Ranma stared in horror at the results of his counter-attack, and hurriedly tried to think of a way to quickly save Ryoga.

"Nice ki wave you got there Ranma." He heard a familiar voice comment flatly. Ranma shot an evil look at the panty looting old freak Happosai, as he stared from Ranma's side at the crushing tornado rampaging through the central most part of the park. Trees began to uproot themselves as the tornado began to build momentum, and suddenly Ranma figured it out. Quickly snatching the old man's panty loot Ranma tossed it as hard as he could into the crushing blue ki twister. "HEY WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU"RE DOING!!!" The old man screamed as he ran at amazing speeds into the tornado.

Ranma spotted Ryoga again at the center, unconscious. At least he hoped. And noticed as the bundle he had thrown began to unravel and scatter panties in all directions. He could see Happosai swimming up in the depression wave trying in vain to collect all of his scattered loot as it was tossed all about, and could vividly see it knock nearly everything out of the old master that he could manage to maintain. He could also see that the old freak was getting severely pissed.

"RANMA I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!" He screamed out above the loud thundering of the twister. A large Ki built from anger and perversion, Ranma could only suppose, began to eminate from the old man as he began to press it out against the inside of the ki wave. It seemed to be working for a short while but then closely pushed back in on Happosai. "DAMMIT!!!" The old man screamed as the wave of anger burst out of him causing a blinding light of counter ki to suck all the surrounding light available from the area. Ranma shielded his eyes for the second it blew out like an explosion and then everything was instantly calm again. Ranma saw Ryoga's body seem to hover for a millisecond and then to fall lifelessly to the ground. Before it could reach though, he caught Ryoga in his arms during mid-fall and set him gently to the ground.

"Ryoga?" he gently nudged him. "Ryoga?" he tried again with a little more emphasis. Still nothing. He bent down cautiously with an ear to Ryoga's face, scared of what he might find, and let a sigh of relief as he felt breath tickle gently at his ear hairs. Carefully scooping Ryoga up into his arms he turned to leave and caught sight of a still conscious Happosai seemingly stunned but none for the worse. Stupid old man, he thought, but couldn't help but think how fortunate it was that he had been there.

Still, he decided to leave the old man where he was, he was pretty sure, despite his martial arts abilities, he didn't want to be anywhere near the old man when he shook off his daze.

With only a moments more thought on the situation he decided to continue towards his originally intended destination. He shifted Ryoga onto his back and carried him piggy-back style, Ranma couldn't help but snicker at the pun, to Dr. Tofu's clinic.

The journey in turn wasn't long and went without any other further interruptions. He reached Dr. Tofu's at a quarter to five and was greeted by a rather surprised Tofu. "Ranma how are you doing, it's been a while! Whoa that's a nice shiner you have there." Ranma flushed with renewed anger having completely forgotten about the black eye.

"Yeah well thats part of the reason I'm over here doc."

"Oh? You and Akane been fighting again Ranma, or was it with that boy you have draped over your back?"

"well it's a little of both actually. I came to get the eye examined but this idiot jumped me and I was forced to give em a beatin. Ya give both of us a look?"

"Sure, set him over here on the examining table." Tofu instructed and Ranma was quick to comply. It wasn't long before Tofu had Ryoga down to a pair of boxers and was giving him a thorough examination. "This is amazing Ranma, I've never seen anything like it before!" Tofu declared. "It's simply horrible where did you learn a technique like this?"

"It was actually more spontaneous, than anything else," said Ranma. "Ryoga had me trapped under a massive ki technique of his and I well- I sorta ripped it apart with my Hryu Shoten Ha."

"Hryu Shoten Ha, Ranma? You've mastered that technique?"

"Well- yeah, I mean, I had to, it's sorta a long story."

"Well you weren't kidding when you said you ripped his ki apart. It's torn all the way to his natural aura."

"Natural aura?"

"Well yes, everyone has one if you simply know how to look. It's really sort of like a magnetic field our body puts out except it's ki. For instance, when you, Ranma, raise your ki level so high that it becomes tangible, you in affect simply raise the ki level that already surrounds your body to such a magnitude that it can even be detected by the untrained eye. Ki doesn't just seep out of you, it's always around you. And Ryoga's here is damaged."

"Damaged?" Ranma gasped horrified by the prospect.

"Yes precisely. And you've somehow managed to inflict multiple bruises all over his body."

Ranma felt his body go limp at the implication that he had managed to hurt Ryoga that bad. "Will he-" Ranma stammered. "Will he recover?"

"With time and rest, yes, I'm sure he'll make a full recovery, he just needs to take it easy for a while and take this tonic once a day." Tofu produced a small vile from underneath one of his cabinets and handed it to Ranma. "This should help his ki heal faster." Ranma accepted the medicine graciously and pocketed it while Dr. Tofu began to reclothe Ryoga "Have him take only a couple drops by mouth from the vile everyday until it's gone, the lid also serves as a dropper so try and get a fairly accurate dosage, okay?"

"Sure, thanks doc."

"Now, about you, have a seat over here." Ranma obediently seated himself at the indicated table and Tofu began to feel up his torso and abdomen area. "You have an incredible resilience." He commented as he felt through the more painful areas of where Ryoga had managed to get in a few good blows, "Though not as good as his I might add." He seemed so involved in his examination the idle chat almost seemed completely seperate from his line of thought. "Had it been you in that repelling blast of yours I'm not so sure that you would have faired quite so well." Ranma shuddered at the thought. "You seem to be alright enough, Ranma, I'd just suggest that you get some ice on that black eye of yours and take it easy for the rest of the evening.

"Sure thing doc, thanks for everything."

"Not a problem Ranma, I've always felt a certain responsibility toward you and Akane, you two kinda remind me of myself when I was young and training hard. Now I'm going to go make me some dinner so I'm leaving Ryoga here's care to you. Make sure you give him some of those drops before the nights out, and two more tommorow and so on, okay?"

"Yeah sure, again thanks! See ya around."

"Oh Ranma one more thing!" Dr. Tofu called as Ranma snatched up Ryoga and began to head out the door.

"Yeah?"

"I want to see him again in a couple of weeks or so, so be sure and tell him for me."

"Alright doc," Ranma agreed. "Though I'll probably end up having to walk him here," He added wryly as he made his way out the door.

The trip back proved to be rather peaceful, with the sun just starting to sink below the horizon and the sky begining to come ablaze in colors of reds oranges, and pinks. It all felt nice for a change, no problems no worry's save the baka draped across his back. Ranma simply took his time enjoying the moment, trying hard not to think about Akane and how she was sure to react when she saw Ryoga unconscious. It was bad enough that she was still mad about his earlier comment on her food, he didn't need her hastling him on Ryoga as well. It was -his- fault after-all, not Ranma's. Stupid senseless baka!

It wasn't till half-way home when he finally sensed it. He wasn't sure -what- he sensed, just... it. He came to a stop on the sidewalk and shifted Ryoga on his back. The wind began to pick up and whip about his hair and brushed against his clothing. He waited for several moments to pass by but still nothing seemed to change. Sharply, he began to cast furtive glances about himself in hopes of catching sight of what it was his subconscious was alerting him to, but still, nothing.

Slowly, steadily, he began to resume his walk home gingerly picking up his pace every few steps. The thing that stood just beyond his wall of senses began to match his pace just as he was sure it would.

He tried hard to get a fix on it but was interupted by a passing van as it splashed water from a puddle in the road onto him and his charge. His stalker momentarily forgotten Ranma began to curse under her breathe as she turned around to snatch up the fallen piglet from the sidewalk. "Aww geez, now what?" she groaned as she held the piglet out at arms length. "I can't take you home like this! If I bring Akane's precious -P-chan-" Ranma-chan spat the name bitterly. "home like this, she'll kill me for sure!" She let a defeated sigh escape her lips when she suddenly remembered her follower. It was gone!

She looked about again as futiley as she had before but still no sign of it, not even the subconscious warning she had goten before. "Aw dammit!" She swore, "Why the hell did that van have to go and do that anyway?! Geez," She sighed. "Well lets get you back to normal then." She said to the unconscious piglet dangling from her fingers at her side.

It was fortunate that Uc-chan's was on the way home, she mused. It otherwise would have been a little harder a task to find some warm water.

After passing several more blocks she finally came to the okanomiyaki shop her friend owned and slipped in the front door with a friendly (yet sheepish) grin to her close best friend. Ukyo was busy taking orders from her regulars, and took a moment to notice Ranma-chan's abrupt visit. Her eyes widened with excitement.

"Ranma-honey, You came by to see me?" She beamed at him from over her counter.

"Er well, actually I just stopped in to see if I could get some hot water, I uh don't really have time to visit, I'm pretty beat." It was easy to see Ukyo's excitement deflate but she simply shrugged.

"Sure Sugar, I was just warming some up in the back for my cooking, you can have that if you want, though theres not much. I'm a little busy myself so you'll have to get it yourself."

"Uh yeah sure, thanks Ukyo!"

"No prob Ran-chan!" She flashed a smile.

"I'll just let myself out the back when I'm through." Ranma-chan offered as she passed behind Ukyo's counter into the back room.

A small kettle sat warming on Ukyo's stove and Ranma picked it up to examine it. "Looks like theres only enough for you." She said as she raised the pig up to eye level and let it dangle in front of her face.

Without another word Ranma placed the piglet on the counter and dumped the kettle's contents ontop of it. As expected the form instantly changed back into a man, and Ranma quickly reclothed him. A few short seconds later she had him scoopped up over her back again and resumed her trip home.

It was dark when she finally reached the Tendo's and pulled open the front door. "I'm home!" She announced as she slipped off her shoes and began to haul the cumbersome lost boy up the stairs.

"Welcome home Ranma," Kasumi beamed as she greeted him from the entrance foyar. "Oh is that Ryoga, Ranma?" She questioned.

"Yeah, he's gonna be staying here a while if you guy's don't mind."

"Not at all Ranma, we'd love to have him over. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes."

"Thanks Kasumi."

Once Ranma reached her room she found an extra futon and layed it out to set Ryoga down on. She produced the small vile that Dr. Tofu had givin her and twisted the cap off. Careful not to suck up too much medicine with the dropper Ranma gently pulled open Ryogas mouth and counted two drops before she screwed the cap back on and repocketed it.

"No, too powerful, it's....too powerful!" Ryoga moaned from out of his slumber. Ranma stood up and turned out the lights as she walked out and shut the door behind her. She felt pretty bad about the whole mess, but wasn't sure how to make of things yet.

Akane brushed by her with her nose in the air and sharply took down the stairs to the first floor. "Aww geez, she's -still- angry? Man, you'd think she'd be over it by now."

"Dinners ready!" Kasumi called. Ranma's ears perked up at this, she hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast due to Akane trying to force her homemade toxin down her throat all lunch period. Quickly she bounded down the stairs and into the dining room to take her seat at the table.

Everyone save Kasumi and Akane was already seated and anxiously awaiting their evening meal when both Akane and Kasumi appeared from the kitchen each holding a plate of food.

Ranma-chan felt her eye twitch. "Did she---," She couldn't complete the thought.

"Kas-umi," Soun stuttered. "A-kane didn't help with dinner, --did she?"

"Yep!" Akane beamed, and then cast a look at Ranma that suggested she keep her thoughts to herself.

"I just remembered Soatome, that fried rice we ate not half an hour ago."

"You're right Tendo, how could we be so foolish to -fill ourselves up- so soon before your two wonderful daughters brought out such delicious looking dishes they must have worked so hard on." The two men gave sheepish apologetic laughs at each other.

"Hardly worked on, you mean," Ranma-chan commented flaty.

"Ranma!.." Akane threatened.

"What Akane, have -you- actually -tried- it? Can you tell me for sure that if I eat this I'm not going to be sick in bed for the next day?"

"Well, I mean-" Akane began unsure.

"That's what I thought." Ranma said triumphantly.

"If you want me to try it Ranma I'll try it!" Akane challenged.

"Fine let's see ya."

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Akane reached for the nearest bowl of cury and eased a little to her lips. Everyone gathered, held their breath in anticipation as they waited for Akane to take the first bite. A dog in the distance barked at what was anyones guess. As Akane's lip parted everyone gathered seemed to breathe in as one. And then she ate it... The entire house seemed to grow quiet as they awaited her reation... And then.... They had it. Akane began to choke.

"Quick someone get Akane some water!" Someone shouted.

"you see what I mean, Akane?" Ranma asked.

"If- if I'm such a bad cook Ranma!" She began to scream out as her throat cleared. "Then why don't you go and marry one of your other fiances, at least -they- can cook." She shouted as she began to cry. She quickly turned and bolted from the dinning room and up the stairs.

"Akane!" Ranma called after her. "Dammit, why does she have to take everything so personal?!!"

"RANMA!" The floating demons head of Soun Tendo appeared before Ranma in all it's menace. "Now look what you've done!"

"Hey knock it off!" Ranma shouted up at the demon's head. "Akane!" She called after as she ran up the stairs in pursuit.

"Oh my." Was all Kasumi could say as she watched the turmoil unfold before her.

Akane raced up the stairs and headed down the hallway towards her room. Why was she crying, she wondered. Why did Ranma always make her cry.

"AHHH No NOOOO!" A scream came from Ranma's room as she swept past the door. She came to a quick halt and poked her head through the cracked opening. "It's crushing me!"

It was Ryoga she noticed. When did he get here, she wondered. Quietly she opened the door and approached the restless figure. "Ahh it's too strong. I can't move!"

"Ryoga!" Akane called as she gently shook him. "Ryoga wake up! What's wrong?!"

"It's.... It's you." He said finally and then seemed to grow peaceful again.

A shadow blocked the light from the hallway as Ranma came to stand and look in on the two.

"What's wrong with him Ranma?" She asked quietly.

"Well we kinda got into a fight after I left you earlier today. Doc Tofu says he'll be alright, he just needs to take it easy for a while.

"You beat up on him you mean." Akane spat.

"Hey it wasn't like that!"

"Sure it wasn't."

"Hey, he was the one that attacked me!"

"Ranma, why can't you just admit when you hurt people?"

"Akane I..."

"No don't, I don't want to hear it." Akane brushed past Ranma as she continued on her way to her room.

"But I..." Ranma began.

"What- what's happening? It's huge!" Ryoga moaned.

Ranma sighed, maybe I just need to clear my thoughts.

Later on the roof Ranma watched the expansive night sky loom before her in an endless sea of twinkling stars. It was beginning to get cold but she didn't care, she had to much on her mind to care. Just what happened with the Hryu shoten ha today, she wondered. I would never have expected that! The whole scene replayed in her mind. She could see herself shouting out her revision as her fist pounded the cold ki into the heavy depresive ki that crushed down upon her. Then it seemed to twist up into a tight funnel compressing all Ryoga's depressive ki into a tornado.

A comet passed by overhead in a quick blaze burning up in the atmosphere before she could even get a good look at it.

"I thought I might find you up here," She heard a familiar voice.

She looked over at the approaching figure. He seemed to move slow with a careful precision as he walked towards her. "So, you're finally awake. You shouldn't be up here Ryoga, you need your rest."

"I feel fine," He replied. "That was some trick you pulled earlier, Ranma. I felt like I was gonna die."

"You might have if I hadn't had figured a way to get you out."

"Is that so."

Ranma simply nodded. "Ryoga can I ask you somethin?"

Ryoga took a seat next to Ranma's lying form.

"Do I have problems admitting when I hurt people?"

"Y'know Ranma, it doesn't really seem fair. When I hear you hurt Akane, I can't help but get enraged. I lash out with my anger in hopes to avenge Akane's feelings, but in the end you still won. When I woke up, I could hear Akane and Kasumi talking in the next room about earlier tonight at the table..."

"So What your saying is..."

"Have you apologized yet to her, Ranma?"

"Have I what?"

"Apologized you dolt! Apologized for hurting her! You asked if you have problems admitting that you hurt people. So, have you apologized for hurting Akane?"

"Well I..."

"I see..." Ryoga said blankly. "You're an idiot."

"Hey!" Ranma shouted. "I just haven't had a chance to thats all."

Ryoga didn't comment. Gently he lowered his back to the roof next to Ranma and peered up into the depthless sky. "Y'know I never get tired of looking at the night sky. Especially when it's as brilliant as this." Ranma-chan lay silent looking into the ocean of stars. Ryoga was right she realized. She needed to aplogize to Akane but... Her cooking really was awful. She felt herself sigh. It didn't really matter she guessed, there had to be better ways to deal with it than insulting her.

"Ryoga, you're welcome to stay here for a while. At least till your ready to be back on your feet." Ryoga looked over at Ranma, a curious expression marked his face.

"You see, I took you to see doc Tofu after the fight. It seems your gonna need a while to heal."

"Why do I feel like somethings wrong with me? Something a little deeper than cuts or bruises." He finally asked.

"The doc said that the depression tornado somehow ripped your natural aura or outer ki er somethin. Something to do with your ki. He gave me this medicine to give you." Ranma finished by fishing out the vile from her pockets. Ryoga took it and looked it over.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I'm not sure to tell the truth, but it's supposed to help your ki get better."

Ryoga handed the vile back. "You better keep it, I'll probably end up losing it." Ranma took the small bottle back and slipped it back in her pocket. She lifted herself off the roof and began to walk off.

"You comin?" She asked looking back.

"Yeah, you heading to bed?" Ryoga asked as he pushed himself back up. Ranma nodded as she waited for the lost boy to push himself up and begin to follow.

"I'm tired and in serious need of sleep."

It wasn't long before the two had made their way back into the house and passed out on their futon's.

The next day started as usual... Sorta...

"Comon boy, wake up! It's the start of a new day, and as a martial artist it's important you don't sleep it away!" Genma yelled at the sleeping female form of his son. "Comon, Ranma! It's bright and early, why just look out the window boy, the day is practically screaming with possibilities!" Genma heard the door behind him slide open as three sleepy-eyed figures blinked at him from the hallway.

"Sao-tome, could you keep it down- a bit, people are trying to sleep around here." Soun pleaded grogilly.

"Yeah it's like four in the morning, could you take that screaming outside?" Nabiki added.

"Honestly." said Akane looking as ill-tempered as the rest of the gathered family.

Ranma-chan, however, still lay silently asleep her features conveying nothing but peace. Genma made an attempt at an apology that sounded more like an excuse and then turned his attention to his lazy son. Without a second thought he upturned a pot of hot water on her serene face and watched in satisfaction as the gasping face of his now male son struggled up to a sitting position.

"Gwha wha what the hell do you think you're doing. pop?!!" He screamed as he leaped to his feet.

"Shhhhh~, boy don't wanna wake the rest of the house-hold."

"Too late." Ranma heard a muffled reply at his feet and glanced down at the form of Ryoga lying on his stomach with the pillow pulled tightly against both sides of his head.

"Ha ha boy, it's bright an early lets get started on today's training shall we?"

Ranma's eyes narrowed. "Bright and early, pop?" He glanced at the gleaming red digital numbers emitting from the alarm clock in the corner. 4:13am it read. "The sun's not even up, you moron, how could it be -bright- and early? More like just early!"

"Real early," came the muffled reply again.

Genma and Ranma's gaze both drifted down to the stiff figure at their feet and then back at each other. "Ranma the life of a martial artist is-"

"Yeah yeah, frought with peril, I've heard this a thousand times, so whats it got to do with -me- gettin up at four in the mornin huh?"

"Ranma," Genma growled. "It's time you quit acting like an obnoxious pup and start listening to your father."

"Y'mean my panda?" Ranma asked as he kicked up a bucket lying on the floor and splashed it's contents onto the unsuspecting martial artist.

"Whatever pop, I'm up now, so I'll see you in the back at the pond if you're still serious about this."

Ryoga let out a sigh as he heard the two exit the room and shut the lights off behind them. He was used to getting up early but he had always made it a point not to get up before the sun. Which by his calculations had another two hours in coming.

Outside, Ranma squared off against Genma under the still night sky. Each took their position on a boulder as they sized their opponent.

"I heard you developed a new revision to the Hyru shoten ha, Ranma." Genma stated cooly.

"So thats what this is about, who told you that?"

"The master."

"It was just a chance counterattack, what of it?"

"A chance counterattack that nearly killed Ryoga from my understanding of it." said Genma. Ranma grunted. "Which tells me one thing Ranma!" His voice raised as he reached his point. "I've focused too much time on skill and strength with you and not enough on discipline!"

"Try nothing on discipline pop," Ranma retortred flatly. "Running me all over japan, selling me off when you were hungry, then stealing me back. Engaging me to whoever felt right at the time. Not to mention knocking me into a spring that totally altered any notions I may have had at leading a normal life."

"Boy, you gripe just like a woman! I'd say that curse is starting to effect your head."

"What'd you say!" Ranma warned.

"You heard me boy, why you didn't even bother to become a boy before you went to bed last night! I've even seen you galavanting around in girls clothing too! Thinking of ending your engagement with akane for Ryoga?" Genma taunted.

"I'll make you eat those words old man!" Ranma challenged as he leaped up in the air and crashed into the iron defenses Genma had already prepared.

It was later in the morning when the rest of the family gathered around the table at their own pace that Kasumi finally called the two martial artist in from their morning workout. Both wore equal looks of fatigue as they plopped down for breakfast. "Where's Ryoga?" Ranma questioned idly as he waited for the table to be set.

"Huh?" Akane grunted dumbly as she looked around for the person in question. "I thought he was outside training with you and Mr. Saotome."

"Did you even think to check in my room, Akane?" Ranma asked while all the while knowing what must've happened.

"Yes, that's why I thought he must be with you."

"Hoookay." Ranma sighed as he raised from the table and started heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" She asked puzzled.

"To go find him, duh!"

"I'll come with you." She offered helpfully.

"Nah, you stay here Akane, I'll do this by myself." Akane looked ready to argue the matter but Ranma was out the door without another word.

"Have some breakfast Akane." Kasumi beamed.

Ranma took to the rooftops in hopes of making some headway on the lost boy, but felt that his attempts would prove futile. As random a path as Ryoga took, he could walk a hundred miles and still be in Nerima, or walk fifty and be three cities away. It was practically hopeless. At least he thought so before he found his first signs of destruction. A hole in the wall here, a mangled mail box there, a leaning light pole. He found him self snickering. Ryoga was aparently not very happy about getting lost either.

He began to follow the property damage along their course straying only once or twice when the damage was far enough apart to not immediately pick up on, which was rare. Ryoga was apparently -very- unhappy at getting lost. Ranma could sympathize. Ryoga had probably gotten lost looking for the bathroom and was now walking aimlessly over japan without breakfast or a toilet. Poor guy.

It wasn't until he felt himself get drenched that she realized where she was. She glowered at the old bat who seemed to take a secret glee at hosing down the local cursed populace and wondered silently how it was that a ninety plus woman with squinty eyes and nothing but a bucket and spoon could get the best of every martial artist in the area. dismissing the matter she realized suddenly that Ryoga's trail was gone, and then realized why. "Oh that's just great!" She found herself yelling, and then proceeded to gather Ryoga's clothing where it was bunched up and soaked on the sidewalk. "It's gonna be twice as difficult to find him now!!"

She hung her head in defeat yet couldn't bring herself to give up. She took only several steps before she felt ~it~ again. The presence. The feeling she had gotten earlier yesterday just after her fight with Ryoga. Something was watching her she was sure. What was odd she realized was that this thing must've seen her transform twice now. It seemed to dissappear yesterday after she transformed then and now seemed to reappear after it happened again. She wasn't sure how this connected, but felt that it must. Shrugging off the feeling she resumed her search of the lost piglet making sure to make careful note of any changes in the presence that seemed to hover about her without making itself known.

She wasn't sure -how- she was going to find the idiot now that he was a pig, but she knew she had too, since he was her responsibilty until he healed properly. A fat lot of resting he's doing, walking all over japan, she thought bitterly.

So far the presence seemed to stick close to her and she was beginning to grow content with the idea that it stayed there. She wasn't sure she was in any mood to deal with what might be on the other side of that feeling.

"Hey wait, isn't that Ranma?" a faint voice off to her left asked.

"Yeah I think it is." another confirmed.

"Hey Ranma!" The first voice called out. Ranma turned at her name to see two of Akane's friends Yuka And Sayuri, running to her.

"Ranma isn't this Akane's, P-chan?" Ranma looked down through half-lidded eyes at the black piglet dangling from Sayuri's hands.

"Yeah thats him alright," she reponded flatly. The black-haired girl handed Ranma-chan the pig and Ranma thanked them.

P-chan whined in Ranma's grasp.

"You really ought to keep him on a leash." said Sayuri.

"Yeah we see him wandering around a lot!" Added Yuka.

"A leash huh?" Ranma-chan mused holding the pig up at eye-level. P-chan for his part tried to bite Ranma in the nose.

"Thanks again you guys, Akane will be -real- happy to see him, won't she 'P-chan'," The piglet let out several pathetic bwee's and struggled within Ranma's grasp but unfortunately for him, Ranma's hands weren't budging.

The three girls said their good-byes and Ranma-chan found herself carrying a very deflated piglet around to find some hot water. "You better figure out a way to stick around the house pork-butt, I'm not gonna go hunting the city over for ya every time your bacon gets lost!"

It was then that Ranma felt something brush past her sub-conscious, and she mentaly kicked herself. Dammit how many times am I gonna get distracted and forget that something is watching me, she thought in anger.

She checked about herself and realized without much surprise that the presence was gone again. She looked at the meek little piglet snuggled up against her where she held it and wondered if he had felt it too.

The search for warm water proved futile with the early hours of morning still rousing people from their bed. Ranma had checked by Uc-chan's again but she had left a sign on the door explaining she was out. She had tried Dr. Tofu's clinic but there wasn't much success there either. He must be on a house call Ranma figured. She checked a few other places but each time the result was the same, so she finally concluded her best bet was to sneak the little pig in the Tendo's house and warm some water there. At least that had been her plan before Akane swung a corner on her jog onto the very sidewalk Ranma walked. Ranma-chan thought to leap quickly from the sidewalk into a near-by tree but was spotted before she could.

"Ranma! Hey did you find Ryoga?!" She called out as she made her way down the sidewalk to the red-haired martial artist.

Ranma took a quick couple of seconds to consider her answer before Akane finally reached her. "Well uh- not -really- Akane, but y'know Ryoga," She gave a nervous laugh. "I'm sure he'll show up sometime today, he-..."

"P-chan!" Akane screamed, shocking the little piglet out of his slumber. Ryoga tried to squirm out of Ranma's grasp but Akane had him scooped up in her own before he could manage anything. She gave a soft giggle. "Where have you been sweety?" Her face soured a bit when her gaze fell back on Ranma. "You weren't picking on him were you Ranma?!!" She asked threateningly. "I swear you're such a jerk sometimes!"

"But I-" Ranma stammered.

"Why can't you just leave P-chan alone?! Honestly!" Akane screamed, and then proceeded to stomp off in a huff.

"Well I.. But- Akan- Ah, you dumb uncute tomboy whadya know anyway!"

"I heard that Ranma!" Akane screamed back, Ranma ducked just in time to evade a stone statue Akane had found on the nearby roadside. Which Ranma intellectually retorted by sticking her tongue out and flapping it at Akane.

"Ehhhhh, stupid jock-girl, couldn't hit the ocean if you were sitting on the bottom," Ranma taunted through her flapping tongue. Unfortunately she was too busy taunting to react to the road-sign Akane had managed to unearth.

Ranma picked herself off the ground mumbling inaudibly for her own benefit as she watched Akane continue her jog down the street. She remembered ryoga and managed a shrug. At least this way he won't get lost, she mused.

As she continued her walk back to the dojo she found her thoughts would keep drifting back to that presense. Twice now it had appeared suddenly. Then, Suddenly it would dissappear. She was pretty sure it was nobody she knew. No, if it was, they wouldn't waste their time poking around. They'd simply do whatever it was they were going to do. Not hang around just out of sight and try to spook her. The thought occured to her again about whether Ryoga had felt it too, and decided to ask him about it later.

"Nihao, Ranma!" Ranma had only enough time for a quick shudder before she felt a harsh imapct and then a tight embrace. "Ranma date with Shampoo today, yes?"

"S-Shampoo, Hey leggo!" She protested but unfortunately her protest fell on deaf ears.

"All Shampoo need do is finish delivery for great grandmother and then her and Ranma go on date!"

"Go on a date with your grandmother?" Ranma asked mortified.

"No silly then you go on date with Shampoo!"

"Shampoo listen," Ranma began as she tried in vain to slink her way out of the Amazon's hold. "I ain't got time to-"

"Ranma!!! How dare you steal my Sham--oy." Mousse found himself cut short from a quick foot implanted on his face.

"Shamoy huh?" asked Ranma. "You found yourself a new girl, or is this just a new pet name your use'n for Shampoo?"

"That's not funny, Ranma!" Mousse yelled. "I'll make you pay for stealing Shampoo's He~~art." He screamed as he made a lunge for Ranma, which Ranma simply avoided by hopping off Mousses head sending him into the dirt. Mousse hit the ground with a gasp and quickly leaped back to his feet. "That's it, I've had enough!" He shouted, pointing straight at his adversary. "Now I'm going to make you suffer." Shampoo watched Mousse through narrowed eyes as he made threatening gestures at her. "Now DIE!!!" Mousse charged at his opponent and found a bombori firmly planted on his head for his effort.

"Stupid Mousse, next time you wear glasses." Mousse leaped up again and glomped onto Ranma-chan.

"Oh Shampoo, I'm so sorry! Can you ever forgive me, I'm such a fool!"

"Oh Mousse you such a hunk, Shampoo never stay mad at you! We marry now, yes?!" Ranma tried her best attempt at a Shampoo impression.

"Oh Shampoo do you really mean it?!" Ranma rolled her eyes as Mousse began to bawl profusely.

"That not funny, Ranma!!" Shampoo chastised. Mousse didn't hear from all his sobbing.

"Really really Mousse, We go make many babies, Hiya!!!" Ranma began laying it on thick, and found herself laying face down on the pavement for the second time that day.

Shampoo looked down at the two martial artist she had just slammed into the concrete, brushed her hands, and slung her bombori over her shoulder. "Serves you two right!" she said, and then proceeded to walk off in a huff.

"Sh-Sh-Shampooo~" Mousse whispered in pain. "Come, b-back!" His head hit the pavement with a thud.

"Sheesh, why'd she have to go and do that?" Ranma wondered as she painfully pulled herself off the ground.

She looked down at Mousse, unconscious and face down in the dirt, and sighed. "Why are things always like this?" She muttered, and with a slight shrug she continued on her way home.

When she finally made it back to the dojo, she didn't even waste her time with a kettle. She marched straight up to the bathroom to have a nice soak in the furo.

Ranma sighed as his body was fully submerged up to his neck. It felt good to finally have a little time to himself again. He let his head relax against the slope of the tubs lip and stared up into the light fixed just above him on the ceiling. He began to reflect on the past few hours and suddenly remembered his fathers comment about him not even bothering to change back into a guy before going to sleep last night. The truth was, with all that had happened yesterday he hadn't even thought to change. He began to wonder at the implications of this but couldn't bring himself to any other conclusion than fatigue and confusion being it's cause. Afterall he had nearly killed Ryoga, and his mind had been pre-occupied with that. Not about some dumb curse. He had had the damn thing for nearly two years now and for some strange reason it didn't seem to matter so much anymore. He nearly leaped up in the bath at this thought.

NOT MATTER ANYMORE?!! He thought incredilously. Oh no! Maybe pop was right, maybe my curse ~IS~ Starting to effect my head. He layed back against the side of the furo limply with a sigh. Ah man, what am I gonna do now? It can't be that can it? No it can't, it just....can't. He felt himself sigh again. It was only late morning, and with the intensive sparring him and his father had done early that morning, not to mention walking all over town in search of Ryoga, he was already pretty tired. He sank a little further in his bath water. This is all pop's fault anyway, he thought. Dragging me off to that stupid training ground in the first place, what an idiot. Ranma felt his thoughts muddle as he continued to try and think on the situation but the more he tried to focus, the more dreary he felt. It wasn't long before he was fast asleep.

When at last Ranma woke up she stood herself up in the tub and began to wipe down with a dry towel. Quickly reclothing herself she couldn't help but notice how refreshed she felt after that afternoon doze. She casually stepped out of the bathroom and paced herself down the stairs humming softly a sweet tune as she approached the kitchen.

Kasumi was busy with an early start on dinner and steadily working on chopping at a bit of vegetables. When she looked up to see Ranma she smiled cheerfully. "Afternoon little sis," She beamed at Ranma. Ranma smiled back.

"Hey Kasumi-san, where's Ryoga?"

"He's out back in the dojo with his father, are you planning on joining them?"

"I was thinking about it," Ranma-chan responded.

"Could you let Akane out when you do Ranma, I'm a bit busy."

"Sure thing Kasumi!" Ranma agreed.

"She's at the door so you just need to let the door open."

"Alright thanks!" Ranma walked to the back den where at the door leading out to the dojo, a small cat paced back in forth rubbing at the wall. Ranma scooped the cat up and nudge it's nose with a friendly smile. "Does little Akane want outside?" She asked in a childs voice, and giggled at the small mew she recieved in response.

Without another word Ranma slid the door open and Akane leaped from her arms. She watched the small cat run off behind the dojo and smiled to herself.

It was only several feet to the dojo but Ranma took her time breathing in the fresh air and enjoying the fragrance of the afternoon blooms as they spread in varying colors all about the many gardens planted around the rim of the house and dojo. As she reached the dojo she peered through the window and caught sight of the two sparring martial artist.

Ryoga's full concentration fell on his larger opponent as they circled each other at the center of the large room. His stare was intent, and movements precise. But where Ryoga's moves, however smooth, were focused more on strength. Ranma's moves more than made up for in speed. Together they made a rather deadly pair. Her smile became a slight wicked for a brief second, before Nabiki caught her by surprise from behind.

"Spying on Ryoga again lil sis?" She teased. "I swear Ranma you're just like a little school girl." With that anology Nabiki left a blushing yet inarguative Ranma to herself, and proceeded to slip in through the back door. Ranma-chan sighed, and then pushed herself in through the door to the dojo.

"Hello Ryoga, Hiya Mr. Saotome!"

Ryoga and his father broke off their duel and turned to see Ranma as she walked in through the door. "Hey There Ranma, come to join?"

"Sure if you two think you can handle me." She challenged teasingly.

"Actually boy I promised Tendo a few friendly games of shogi, so you two are going to have to practice by yourselves." Genma made a quick retreat to leave the two love-birds alone, and smiled to himself as he did. With those two together his school was as good a safe. He chuckled aloud and decided to share in his good fortune with his friend Soun.

Ranma and Ryoga were left together awkwardly, blushing at each other. "Shall we begin?" Ryoga asked cooly.

"Bring it on!" Ranma-chan challenged.

Ryoga smiled at the vibrant girl. She really was something. A bundle of energy and all the while so innocent. He couldn't entirely hide his thoughts from his features as he slipped into a ready stance.

Ranma smiled back at Ryoga as she took an opposite stance to his. They had done this several times before and both was equally prepared for what the other had to offer.

Almost as though an unspoken word or signal to begin had been sounded they leaped at each other as one, each engaged in a colorful dance of martial beauty. They moved with such grace, mere words couldn't accurately define. Each delivering countless blows and blocks in their seemingly deadly waltz. Their forms were perfect and accurate as each one anticipated the others move like it had been their own. It wasn't long before their smooth deliverance was relocated to the outside and their spar became more airial. Ranma smiled deviously at Ryoga as she slipped in an underblow he hadn't expected, and Ryoga for his part, faster than thought countered with a swift foot sweep. They both chuckled softly at the others expense and continued to deliver and recieve blows. It wasn't long before they had reached the Koi pond and began to skirt it's edges with precise foot-work. Their dance began to elevate to it's climax when Ranma accidently stumbled over a carelessly discarded bucket and slammed into Ryoga toppling the both of them into the pond.

They both resurfaced at the same time and Ranma looked over at the small white haired girl that looked back, and felt her cheeks rise to a blush again. "I'm sorry Ryoga, that was so stupid of me, lemme go get some hot-water for you okay?" Ryoga-chan nodded despondently.

"It's alright Ranma I should've been more careful. I shouldn't have let you catch me off-guard like that."

"Don't be silly Ryoga, come on into the kitchen and we'll get you changed back!" Ryoga pulled herself out of the pond and followed behind Ranma as they entered into the kitchen where Kasumi was busy cleaning some fish by the sink.

"Oh Ryoga!" said Kasumi as she looked up from her cleaning. "Ranma there's a kettle on the stove already heating for some tea, you can use that but be sure to fill it back up when you're through."

"Thanks Kasumi!" Ranma thanked, and proceeded to hand the kettle to Ryoga-chan. Ryoga accepted the water graciously and proceeded to upturn the kettle over her head feeling relief at changing back into a guy. He smiled warmly at Ranma and handed the kettle back to Ranma, who in turn filled it back up as instructed and set it back on the stove to reheat. "Let's get you upstairs and dried off now," She offered. Ryoga thanked her and followed her upstairs into the bathroom where she produced a clean towel and handed it to him. He opened the folded cloth and began to rub himself down thuroughly.

"I'm really sorry about this, Ryoga," Ranma apologized again. "If I hadn't been so clumsy..."

Ryoga took her by the hands, and gazed down into her eyes. "Look it's okay," he assured. "It was just a simple accident, everybody has them."

"Yeah but, I'm a martial artist, Ry..." Ranma closed her eyes tight.

Ryoga pulled her closer to his face to get her attention, her eyes fluttere d back open. She could hear her heartbeat as it pounded loudly at her chest. "You never cease to amaze me," Ryoga complimented. "You train harder and beat youself up more than any other martial artist I know."

"Ryoga?" Ranma questioned as she felt herself being pulled even closer. It was the last thing she said before her lips met his and he pulled her into a full embrace.

The moment seemed to last forever as the two drank in the sweetness of the other. As it seemed to intensify large swarms of white birds began to claw and scrape at the window from the outside.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" The loud scream echoed throughout the walls of the household as Ranma thrust herself up to a sitting postion in her bath water. She sat silently gasping for air as she tried in vain to calm her heart which beat so hard it hurt. She could hear running footsteps outside the door.

"RANMA!" She heard Akane call as she burst in through the door. "what is it?" She asked urgently. Other members of the household filed in behind her.

Ranma's eyes found Akane and her face filled with relief. "Akane you're not a cat!"

"I'm not a what?" Akane asked baffled.

Ranma heard her own voice and quickly looked down at herself. "M-my body!!! I'm still a girl. Oh no, I can't change!!"

Akane approached the furo skeptically and leaned in to test the water. "That's because the waters cold you moron!" She stated bitterly. "Ranma did you go to sleep in the bath again? Honestly, and you wonder why the waters gone cold! How long were you in here?"

Ranma felt things mentally click into place. "Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream," she chanted monotonously under her breath.

Akane spun around on her heels. "Honestly! Putting such a scare into the entire family over some stupid dream! I don't -even- want to know what it was about!" Ranma looked over as the family one by one followed Akanes lead out and gave a sheepish smile as they did. She felt her face warm as she began to blush profusely.

She laid back in the tub again, still trying to recover from the shock of the dream. It had seemed -so- real. She could remember each individual emotion she had felt in the dream, and all had been pleasant.

The thought gave her chills. A life with Ryoga... She shivered giving a disgusted "yuck" at the idea.

She felt her tension begin to fade as the realism of the dream began to drift, and her attention began to wander. When she finally looked out the bathroom window, she felt her heart skip.

Perched on the tree just outside the window was a large swarm of pearl white doves. The entire tree seemed to be stuffed with the white creatures as they all seemed to be staring right at Ranma.

Not wasting another moment Ranma leaped from the tub and quickly reclothed herself. She had to get out of that room.

Once down stairs she was interrupted by Kasumi, "Ranma, Mr. Saotome said he and Ryoga were out back training and asked that you join them." Ranma felt another chill at the similarity of her dream. She thanked Kasumi and headed outside. First she swung around the side of the house to the tree that stood just outside the bathroom window, and she peered up into it's branches, which with an exception of it's own green leaves, laid bare. Not entirely convinced of this she walked closer to the tree and began to circle around it's trunk peering straight up into it's branches where still nothing stirred. Strange, she thought. Where did they all go?..

"Ranma!" She heard a voice call. She turned to see Genma and Ryoga coming from the back-yard. "I see you're still a girl, boy. You're starting to worry me. Sleeping in your girl form, screaming in the bath-tub at stupid dreams, whats next boy, you gonna give up martial arts?"

"Don't be stupid old man!" Ranma retorted. "I can kick both your's and Ryoga's butt in either form!"

"I'd like to see you try, boy!" Genma challenged.

"Yeah, Ranma, that would be something worth seeing." Ryoga followed while cracking his knuckles.

"You want it, you got it!" Ranma answered their challenge.

The sun was high in the sky, when finally they squared off in the Tendo's back yard. The rest of the family had decided this was amusing enough to watch and were lined up at the steps to the house in anticipation of the up-coming fight. The afternoon had hit it's peak, when the air is it's most humid and the temperature it's hottest. The glare from the over-head sun practically bleached the area in light as the three watched each other in silent concentration. Ranma wiped her brow at the sweat that had already begun to seep through her damp skin and made a quick glance at Akane in wonder at her thoughts.

Off to their right the three heard quiet yet amplified murmurs of a man describing the depth of the situation in accurate detail.

"The combatants are each carefully sizing each other in this hot blazing sun, making no mistake in the calculations they estimate as they silently concentrate on the moment at hand." Ranma wondered where Soun had found an amplified mic but brushed the matter aside, knowing she had pulled the same trick before.

A gentle breeze blew in from the west causing a stir in the trees as it whipped at Ranma's hair causing her pigtail to blow to over one of her shoulders. She brushed it back and with careful precision bent her knees spreading her feet out to make a careful firm stance on the solid earth. Slouching only slightly, she expanded her arms at a comfortable length in preparation for the first attack.

She mustn't attack first she knew, it had to be them. Her focus had to be on that initial attack to prepare her senses for the divided battle. If she attacked first, she left herself wide-open for a counter-attack and it was too early in the game for slip-ups. She had made the boast and she intended to carry-through until these two understood who they were dealing with.

Ranma wasn't sure how much time had passed in the silent stand-off, ten maybe fifteen minutes? She didn't know. It seemed indeterminable. The sun shone down upon her as though a great weight was hanging from the sky and resting squarely on her back. She held herself in complete control, however, making sure to give no signs of weakness, and then it happened. As though a silent agreement had passed between Genma and Ryoga the two ran at an increasing momentum toward Ranma, each building his strength as he rappidly approached.

Ranma-chan waited for only an agonizingly slow second for the two martial artist to cover their ground and as they were almost upon her, Genma leaning in to his first punch, she launched herself straight into the air. Ryoga recovered from the shift first and bounded off the back of Genma in attempt to gain on Ranma's aerial ascent. They exchanged blows in midair, Ranma blocking Ryoga's first two kicks, followed by Ryoga defending against Ranma's counter-attacks, as they reached the ground, Genma was waiting, swinging a hard roundhouse just over Ranma's head as she dropped to the ground just below the severe kick.

Ryoga dropped with her and dropped two punches on her that she sumersaulted backwards from and catapulted herself back to her feet.

Milli-seconds after her feet touched the ground she was forced to duck as Genma charged over head with a quick aerial kick. Ryoga charged up and blasted at the very moment of Ranma's crouch a high powered shi shi hokodan, that Ranma timed just perfectly to shoot herself up into the air and over.

Genma hit the ground from his jump-kick spinning around instantly to jump back at his son, and launched himself into the air locking Ranma in a grapple and pulling her to the ground.

As Genma locked Ranma's arms backwards, Ryoga gained a quick run and leapt up into a crushing kick that Ranma barely evaded by dropping through her fathers iron hold, to the ground.

Genma took the full blunt of the kick, sending him flying backwards into a slide on the ground. Ryoga turned with an apologetic yet sheepish look and Genma shouted at Ryoga as he struggled to regain his feet. "Don't look at me you fool, pay attention to Ranma!"

It was too late, just at the mention of Ranma's name Ryoga turned to find a punch crash into his face. His head lurched back but Ranma didn't stop to gloat. She instead followed it up with the chestnut fist into Ryoga's gut, causing him to lose his footing and slam backwards into the ground.

Ranma could hear the air chasing up against her head and quickly dropped into a foot-sweep causing the fastly approaching Genma to trip and be sent flying over into a near-by tree. Ranma grunted in satisfaction.

Soun could be heard over the sounds of combat, commentating the moves as each one was laid out in plain view of the attentive audience sitting liesurely on the back steps.

Ryoga was quick to his feet, staring daggers at Ranma. He wasn't about to let Ranma make a fool of him like this in front of Akane. Genma was at his side a second later exchanging tactical info with him. Ryoga grinned as he felt sure that Genma's plans must surely work.

They squared of again, but this time Ryoga and Genma took opposite sides forcing Ranma to divide her attention. She smiled in spite of herself, was this the best they could think of? Still, it was a start. She was curious to see how this played out. After-all she was starting to enjoy this. In the last moments before the next attack she realized that in this sandwich-like attack she could be caught from a crouch -or- a jump. Options began to play out in her head as she heard the first rustle of grass. Their footsteps began to fall faster and faster as she tried to figure out from their form, what they intended. She realized she need to go up. -Way- up. It was a quick plan to throw them off and get clear of this sandwich attack once in for all. Just as the very air began to part before her, sending a speeding fist into her face an idea hit her first, and she wasted no time. Aiming her arms at the ground she performed a mokotakabisha while leaping straight up. The added boost lifted her clear of the two approaching martial artist only hundredth's of a second before feeling their attack. As had happened last, Ryoga leapt after but without the added boost Ranma had used he fell short from any contact and watched as she came down several hundred feet from him. Genma was quick to Ranma as she touched the ground and laid into her with a fierce and calculated attack. Jabbing, and punching as he forced Ranma back. Ranma was able to block the majority of his blows but the suddeness of his attack had caught her off-guard enough to slip in a couple of punches, one directly to her face. Her head snapped back and her knees buckled as the severity of the blow knocked her to the ground. Genma tried to stomp at her but she managed to roll from his kick and catch him by the foot pulling it out from under him. He hit the ground just as Ryoga managed to arrive and dive at Ranma with two outstretched fingers. "Bakusai Tenketsu!" He yelled as the breaking point errupted just beside Ranma's head, sending a pile of rock and debris into the air, Ranma's face catching the brunt of the force. The blow did, however manage to jolt Ranma up enough to catch her footing and kick Ryoga straight into the gut where he had fallen from the blast.

Ryoga's body convulsed with pain at the harsh kick and he pushed himself back up, only to find Genma's recovery quicker.

Genma charged at Ranma leaping at her, leg outstretched in a jump-kick, landing mere inches from her side-step and following it with a roundhouse that caught her in the back of her head. She was knocked forward, and caught herself on the ground with her arms. Using the momentum of the kick she rolled clear of Genma from any further attempts only to find Ryoga upon her before she could manage to pull herself back up. With a severe blow to her gut, she found her body lifted up off the ground from where Ryoga had booted her and caught by the back of her shirt from one of his outstretched hands. She hung there limply only a moment but it seemed like an eternity as Ryoga let sink in who was winning. Before she could pull any coherent thoughts enough to react Ryoga snapped his wrist upward flinging her body into the air and swung around with a powerful roundhouse sending her helpless form at intense speeds into a nearby tree.

Pain exploded through her body as she felt her limp form wrap around the huge oak and slide effortlessly to the ground. She heard Akane call her name but it was far off. Everything was far off, even the pain had suddenly seemed to disappear into a reserved corner of her mind, and in this moment of tranquility she felt ~it~ again, the presence. The being that stayed just out of her sight. She knew it now, the feeling she was having, knew for sure that something really -was- watching her. It wasn't just something she was imagining. It was real. As the numbness began to draw back and the pain began to flood in again, she fought back against her nasuea.

"Had enough, boy?" She herad her father question behind her crumpled form. She was forced to smile. Idiot, she thought. I'll show him! I'll show him -AND- Ryoga.

Wearily she stood up and for the first time she tasted the metallic taste of blood fill her mouth. She smiled again and could feel her ki level rise. The two martial artist waited, each a measure of patience as they waited for the battle to resume.

Ranma wouldn't let them win.

She spit out the blood that was welling in her mouth and wiped the excess from her lips with the back of her hand. She realized then with a curious sense of horror and giddiness, she was still having fun!

The pain was real, it felt horrible, causing all her joints and muscles to swell. And she loved it! She felt alive.

She had never truly realized it before, but upon reflection she could see that she had always enjoyed these sort of battles. The battle against Herb. The battle against Saffron, and Pantyhose Taro. The battles that truly tested her limits were the ones she lived for, they -were- her. The feeling must have escaped her each time she faught such powerful duels because of Akane. It seemed most of the time she -ever- had any real opponent to battle it was to protect Akane. In this sense of needing to protect she lost some of the flavor that she would have otherwise have savored in such crucial battles.

Most of the fights or duels she fought on a regular basis were nothing compared to those fights. They never had much -real- challenge to them. Ryoga was the only regular opponent she ever fought anymore with any building talent. The rest of the fighters were as strong as they had been when Ranma had first encountered them and had never really gained in any strength, except Ryoga, that is. It was then she had another revelation. Without Ryoga, she would have had no reason to take the immense strides that she had to be the martial artist she was today. He was the reason for nearly every important technique she had mastered within the last year and a half. Him, not her father, or Akane, or the challenger of the week. It was Ryoga who she was always in constant rivalry with, and without whom she would have no one to fully train with.

The metallicy taste welled up in her mouth again, and she wondered if there was any internal damage. She spit the bloody substance again, and let her ki rise even more. She was going to give them the beating of their lives.

Ryoga felt the hair on the back of his neck prick up at the amount of ki Ranma was generating, and began to raise his own, Ranma was almost down for good he was sure. He and Mr. Saotome just had a little further to go...

Genma smiled at his son, what a strong martial artist he had grown up to be, it was too bad that he now had to put the boy in his propper place before he think himself the master.

Ranma-chan continued to gather her ki. She watched the two opposing martial artist with a cautious eye, searching for a glimmer of what they intended. She could feel Ryoga building his own Ki to match her own, and smiled again, just a little bit more and she'd be ready to strike.

Genma's glasses caught the reflection of the quickly passing noon-day sun as he watched his son gather her energy. He could build his own ki up in response but his ability at ki manipulation wasn't as advanced as Ranma's so he would have to rely on his martial art skills alone.

Akane watched the three standoff and wondered what Ranma might be up to. It was obvious that she was hurt from the way her stance slouched a little more than usual. The girl was just too mule-headed to admit it. What could she possibly be up to, she wondered.

Ranma let a glance slip by Genma as she surveyed her two opponents. He'd have to be dealt with first so she could focus her full attention to Ryoga. A glint caught her eye as her smile turned a little more mischevious than usual.

Akane caught the slight under-handed look Ranma's face had flashed for the briefest moment and wondered if the other two had caught it.

Almost time, Ranma snickered inwardly as she felt her ki reach it's maximum. She let her gaze fall from the two martial artist for only an instant and then gasped suddenly. "Look it's fifty yen!!!" She screamed while pointing in a vague direction at the ground.

Genma wasted no time, he dropped to the ground at the indicated spot on all fours. "Where!! Where!!" He cried as he frantically searched the ground over.

"GOTCHA!!!" Ranma shouted triumphantly as she pile-drove her elbow into the back of her fathers head. Genma slumped to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Ryoga smacked his fore-head. "What kind of attack is that?!!" He screamed.

Ranma's head snapped up, her eyes meeting Ryoga's. He felt himself grow uneasy under that gaze, her eyes seemed to almost glow under the diminishing light of the fading afternoon. "It's a -final attack- wouldn't you agree?" She asked quietly, her gaze shifting down to Genma's resting form for an instant and popping back to meet Ryoga's. "Now it's just us." She explained, walking from her father back out into the open, facing off against Ryoga once again.

Ryoga crouched to a loose and ready position. He wasn't sure what had gotten into Ranma all the sudden, but he wasn't about to let her win. "Then shall we continue?" He asked casually.

Ranma-chan wasted no time, she leaped at lightning speeds sending an outstretched foot mere inches from Ryoga's head as he managed to shift his torso out of the way. She hit the ground on one foot, and with a silent grace twisted on her toes lifting her other leg up in a quick arch, that he evaded only slightly once more. Once her leg came down she twisted it into the dirt swinging the other one into the air. Ryoga caught her leg and pulled her from the ground into the air. Ranma used her free leg to lay three powerful kicks to Ryoga's face before he slammed her into the ground.

She rolled from him as he brought down his fist for another breaking point. Not wasting a moment she pulled her hands together and concentrated her ki, "Moko Takibisha!" A golden blast of energy slammed into Ryoga's chest knocking him several feet backwards onto his back. She was quick to her feet running at Ryoga with blinding speed, she attempted to kick him from the ground. Ryoga managed to leap from the path of her foot as he regained his footing and sidestepped a punch she tried to follow through on. Catching Ranma by the wrist, he pulled her forward and past him, to land a solid kick on her butt sending her face first into the dust.

Ranma hit the ground with an audible thud and quickly rolled onto her back sending another ki blast straight at her adversary. Ryoga was just as quick sending an equal shot of ki to extinguish the first and quickly gathered his ki for a full shi shi hokadan.

Ranma pulled herself to her feet once more and felt the heavy ki pull in about Ryoga, but before she could act he outstretched his arms with a mighty yell and released the depressive ki straight into the sky. As the ki began to abruptly leave, Ryoga could feel his body begin to grow hot. Tiny daggers began to prick at him from every direction as the ki exploded from him. Suddenly, just before the ki hit it's intended arch and altered it's course downwards, it blew out from Ryoga in an unnatural way. Instead of the pillar of ki it should have formed it blew out in all directions and then reversed it's directions quickly impacting Ryoga from all directions as though his body had sucked the ki back to him.

Ryoga felt the blow hit his aching form like a bus and crumpled to the ground in a fetal position.

Akane screamed for him as she ran to his side and pulled him from the ground to her lap. Ranma stood frozen in place as her mind tried to rationalize what had happened. Akane tried to awake Ryoga from his unconscious state, but to no avail. Something off to the left caught Ranma's eye and her gaze snapped up in attempt to locate it. Something was moving fast about them, It almost always seemed to be just out of her sight as she tried to identify it, then suddenly it stopped for the briefest second right over where she had spit her blood. It hovered momentarily and she caught the vaguest outline of some shadowy birdlike figure. It seemed to look at her for an instant, and then flew straight up and out of sight. She realized as it did, the feeling of the presence she had had was gone as well. Was that the -presence-, she wondered silently.

"Ryoga, wake up!" Akane called. Shaken from her shock, Ranma quickly ran to join Akane. "Hey Ryoga buddy, you alright?" She asked while shaking him.

"Ranma you have to take him to see Dr. Tofu!" Akane exclaimed. Ranma forced herself to find Akane's worried face and nodded in agreement.

Scooping Ryoga up over her shoulders she bounded for the edge of the yard and was stopped by a call from Akane. "Wait I'll go with you, Ranma!"

Ranma turned and shook her head, "Akane I gotta get him there as fast as I can, there's no tellin what might have happened to his ki! You wait here, I can't be slowed down on account of you."

Akane's face took a sour look at Ranma's remark, but then softened. "You're right, Ranma. Hurry okay?" Ranma nodded again and leaped over the fence out into the street where she took to the rooftops to gain some speed.

Akane looked after for a moment silently hoping Ryoga would be all right.

"Soatome get up!" She heard over her shoulder and turned around to see Soun nudging at the downed martial artist.

Kasumi looked after Ranma as well, worry etching her flawless features."Oh my," She said in response and then something else seemed to register. "I have to finish dinner!" she said almost in surpirse as if she had lost track of time, and then turned around and walked back inside. Nabiki was quick to follow her older sister wordlesley.

"Genma old friend wake up!" Soun sobbed.

Ranma raced across the rooftops with the lost boy drapped across her back for the second time. She felt a tinge of guilt at his situation. If she hadn't pulled that counter-attack yesterday this wouldn't have happened, she kept thinking. Ryoga moaned something incoherrent in her ears and she tried her best at soothing tones. "It'll be alright Ryoga," she said. "We're almost there! I know Doc Tofu can help!"

She sailed over the last building landing with in-human ease onto the pavem ent just outside Dr. Tofu's clinic and raced for the entrance. "Please be here, please be here, please be here!" She chanted silently to herself as she reached the front doors. It was to her relief when the front doors swung open with minimal effort.

"Yo Doc!" She called as she strolled into the front lobby and folowed through into the exam room. "Dr. Tofu?!"

"Yes, who is it?" Her answer came back. Dr. Tofu entered in through a side door and closed it behind him before looking up. "Ah Ranma, what can I do for you? I see that black-eye has healed up nicely! You do have remarkable recovery abilities, afterall!" He then noticed Ryoga on her back and his smiled slipped into concern. "Isn't that the boy you brought in yesterday, Ranma? Is he still unconcscious? The medicine I gave you didn't work?"

"I think it was working fine doc, and no he's unconscious -again-. You see we were having another friendly spar-" Dr. Tofu noticed Ranma's slouch and poked her in the ribs."

"AAAAAGGGHHHH!" She screamed as she dropped Ryoga to the floor and bent over in pain.

"Friendly spar huh?" He asked humorlessly.

"Yeah well it would have been friendly if this idiot hadn't kicked me into a tree," she spat and grimmaced at the same time. "Sheesh you didn't have to do that!"

Dr. Tofu scoopd Ryoga up onto the exam table and again began to unclothe him, only stopping at Ryoga's boxers. "You better sit down Ranma, that injury of yours seems serious," he said absently as he looked over Ryoga.

"I'll be fine doc, just tell me what's wrong with Ryoga?"

"First I need to know exactly what happened."

"He tried that full shi shi hokadan technique of his again and something seemed to go wrong. His blast seemed to circle around and suck back into him. He fell unconscious after that."

"I see," Dr, Tofu nodded in understanding. "I told you he should take it easy for the next couple of weeks Ranma. This is what I feared might happen. Until his ki heals properly, the more he exerts it the more he's going to further damage the wound. If he tries again it may very well kill him." Ranma's eyes grew wide at this. "Do you have that bottle of medicine I gave you?" He asked.

Ranma dug through her pockets and produced the small vile, and handed it to Dr. Tofu who took the vile and stuck it on a shelf. "I'm afraid this won't be much good anymore," He stated as he began reading through the labels of a collection of bottles gathered in his bottom cupboard. "Ah here we go," He said as he pulled another vile out and blew the dust from it. "This is a special chinese herb that works soley on someones ki, it's much more potent than that other medication, and much more rare. You'll need to give this to him twice a day for five days, the rest of the healing will have to come from him. Till then he needs to avoid all forms of fighting of any kind. Any exertion of his ki can further his condition, and possibly cause irreperable damage? Do you understand me, Ranma?" Dr. Tofu asked seriously. Ranma nodded. "Now I mean this, this isn't a game, if he tries this move of his again until he's completely healed, he could kill himself. Any other form of fighting could cause permanent damage to his ki, and if he uses his ki for any extended amount of time this could also kill him. You have to understand that this is extremely important."

Ranma's complexion was growing pailer by the minute. Ryoga; die? The thought didn't seem realistic. Sure she had fought with him from day one, and of course he was a nuisance more than anything else. But the truth was he was more of a friend than anyone else, and the thought of him dead filled her with dread. It didn't help that she would be primarily responsible for his untimely demise, and that wasn't something her conscious could deal with. "You can count on me doc, no more fighting." Dr. Tofu nodded in satisfaction.

"Now sit over here so I can have a look at you," he instructed. Ranma complied meekly and did as she was told. Dr. Tofu gently began to feel around Ranma's body searching for Ranma's many aches. He found that the pain seemed to center mostly on her ribs and decided he needed an x-ray. He brought Ranma into his lab and had her lay on a large table where he brought a big machine hanging from the ceiling from a swivel arm and aimed it ontop of her chest. He instructed her to be still while he stepped into the next room and snapped the shot and then allowed her to warm up a pot of water to change back to a guy as he waited for the x-ray to print up. As he stepped back into his exam room to check over the x-ray he noticed Ryoga sitting at the edge of the table.

"How bad is it doc?" Ryoga asked.

"Pretty bad, you're ki is severely torn and if you don't restrain yourself from fighting for at least a couple of weeks you could die."

"I see," Ryoga answered simply. "Tell Ranma I'll catch him back at the dojo." He said, again his voice not conveying any sort of thought. He was out the door before Tofu could make an attempt to stop him.

Dr. Tofu slapped the x-ray picture up to a flourescent table mounted to the wall and examined the picture for a few moments before he was interrupted.

"Hey doc, where's Ryoga?" Ranma asked as he walked in from the back, toweling himself off from the water he'd poured over himself.

Tofu didn't look up from his picture. "He said to tell you he'd catch you back at the dojo."

"That's just great, now I gotta go find him!" Ranma spat in irritation as he headed for the door.

"Ranma wait!" Dr. Tofu, caught Ranma just before he reached the door. "You can look for Ryoga in a minute I need to fit you for a brace."

"A WHAT?!" Ranma asked.

"You've fractured two of your ribs, this is also a serious injury, though not as serious as Ryoga's, you'll still need to restain yourself from fighting for a while or risk crippling yourself. You'll also need to wear a brace."

Ranma pictured himself walking around in a large cast over his upper body and shuddered. "Come on, doc, their just fractured right? I'll be fine!"

"No Ranma, I'm serious. Follow me so we can get you fitted." Dr. Tofu noticed Ranma's miserable look and smirked. "Don't worry Ranma it's light and fits perfectly under your shirt. Nobody will even be able to see it." He watched the noticble difference in Ranma's expression, and chuckled to himself. "Worried Akane would see you wearing a big cast?"

"That stupid tom-boy, what would I care what she thought?!" Ranma retorted quickly, not at all convincingly.

Dr. Tofu lead Ranma into a small room where he wrapped a small measuring cord around his waste and produced a thin yet hard cloth brace and had Ranma try it on. Ranma did as told and lifted his shirt to strap the brace on and was shocked at how quickly this eliminated a lot of his pain. Dr. Tofu noticed Ranma's surprise and smiled at him. "Didn't even realize how much it hurt did you?" Ranma shook his head no and Dr. Tofu lead him out of the closet area. "That brace has adjusting straps on it, and it should be able to fit either form, however I caution you, adjust that to your female form and turn back into a guy with it on before re-adjusting it and you'll snap both of those ribs. But I advise you to adjust it while in either form, the more you wear it the quicker those ribs will heal. So I strongly advise that the first thing you do when changed to a girl is adjust it, and then worry about finding a way to change back.

Ranma nodded again wordlesly as he was led by Dr. Tofu to the front door. "Thanks a lot doc, this brace keeps it from hurting quite so much. I'll go find Ryoga and make sure he gets his medicine."

Dr. Tofu waved as Ranma left his clinic and silently hoped Ranma would take his advise and keep himself and his friend out of any fighting for a while.

Farther off and quite lost, Ryoga Hibiki tried his best to ask for directions back to the Tendo dojo and failed each time. He could hear the gods silently laughing at him as he tried to make east out of west and left out of right. Why couldn't he just find where he was going for once, he wondered to himself. He thought to find a map but couldn't seem to find anywhere that sold one. He tried asking for directions to one that did but he always wound up back where he started. He began to growl to himself. Why did this -always- happen to him?! He almost punched the wall next to him but stopped himself short. No, Dr. Tofu had said quite plainly that he shouldn't exert himself at -all-. He sighed inwarldy and continued to poke idly around the streets in hopes of getting lucky.

Ranma reached the dojo with minimal difficulty and raced up the stairs to his room. Nothing... He raced back down and found the family already gathered around the table steadily consuming their supper.

"Sit down Ranma, dinner is Ready," Kasumi invited.

"No time Kasumi," Ranma answered. "Have you guy's seen Ryoga?"

"I thought he was with you?" Akane asked in suspicion.

Taking that for an answer Ranma left the room followed by Akane's calls but he ignored them. Only an hour of daylight was left and he intended to find Ryoga before the sun went down. It would be twice as hard to find him in the dark. He bolted out of the dojo, and took a straight run down the street, he had to find Ryoga!

Ryoga had found a sturdy tree nearby and broke himself off a nice walking stick. He might be lost for a while, he had decided. He walked down the deserted street slowly not even checking to see where he was going anymore. What was the point, afterall? Paying attention or no, he was lost, it didn't matter if he was walking blind-folded, the only thing his eyes served was to keep him from running into things, and even then that didn't always work. He felt his depression sink a little lower. Oh Akane, he thought silently, here I have the chance to spend several weeks next to your side, and I wind up lost again.

He found a set of train tracks and began to walk next to them. At least this way he was sure to go somewhere, he figured. Though he didn't think there were train tracks anywhere close to the Tendo Dojo. But then what did it matter? He was probably going to stay lost for several weeks with his luck.

It wasn't until he had given up on the tracks and decided on a new road to follow that he felt it. The -presence-... He had felt it twice before. Once earlier today when he got lost, and then in the middle of his fight with Ranma, it had been there as well. He stopped in tracks and began to look about frantically. "Stop this game!!" He yelled at the feeling. "Show yourself you coward! I can sense you! Come out here and show yourself!" He felt the feeling grow stronger for a moment and then something in the corner of his eye seemed to move. His gaze quickly shifted but there was nothing there. He growled again. "Dammit, what do you want?" He yelled. but before he could even finish the question the presence vanished.

Ryoga cursed outloud at his rotten luck and after a moment of searching for the feeling in question he resumed his aimless trek.

He found a sign indicating the large establishment behind it and read it aloud. "Furinken High School." He read, and sighed. "If I had any sense of direction I could find my way back to the dojo from here." He said somberly.

"If you had any sense of direction you'd already be at the dojo." He heard in response and turned to see Ranma standing just behind him.

Ryoga's heart sang at the appearance of Ranma and silently cursed himself for such a weak feeling. "I thought I told you I'd meet you back at the dojo!" Ryoga said testily.

"I didn't feel like waiting two weeks." Ranma responded.

"Shut up."

"Come on, I'll lead you back. Sheesh what do we have to do tie you on a leash?"

Ranma suddenly remembered Yuka and Sayuri's words, and felt an idea surface. "Follow me pig-boy," He said as he took Ryoga by the wrist.

"Don't call me that!" Ryoga snapped.

"Whatever, just come on!"

They traveled down several blocks before Ranma finally found a mini-hardware store and walked in, Ryoga still firmly behind him.

"What are we doing here, Ranma?" Ryoga asked suspiciously.

"Solving a problem." He answered as they began to roam the isles.

Ranma searched over through the rope section until he finally found small yet highly durable nylon cording and began to pull it from the reel until he had produced about seven feet of slack. He reached up with a heavy-duty cutting tool that the hardware store had provided and cut the cord from the reel.

He bundled the cord and led Ryoga to the check out counter where they measured the cord and sold it to him. Once outside Ranma unbundled the cord at let one end drop to the ground.

"Let me borrow a couple of these," he asked, reaching up behind Ryoga's head and untieing two bandannas.

"Hey those are mine," Ryoga protested.

Ranma ignored him and proceeded to tie one bandanna to each end of the cord. He then tied one bandanna to his wrist and then tied the other to Ryoga's. "There," He said in satisfaction. "Now there won't be any getting lost. You'll be tied to me until you've fully healed.

"I'm not gonna stay tied to you for that long!!" Ryoga screamed in outrage.

"Hmmm, your probably right. I don't know that I could stand that either." Ranma agreed. "Tell you what, we'll do this for now until I have a better idea." Ryoga fumed, but silently nodded. "Good," Ranma acknowledged. "Let's get home, everyone else has already eaten and I'm bushed."

It was nighttime when they finally arrived back at the dojo, the sun having set half an hour earlier. Ranma looked over at her weary partner and saw that his eye-lids were drooping. "You just wanna get some sleep?" He asked. Ryoga simply nodded. They ascended the stairs and Akane met them at the top.

"You alright Ryoga I was so worried!"

"That's so sweet of you Akane, I'll be fine!" Ryoga flushed.

"No thanks to this jerk!" Akane spat and poked Ranma in the ribs.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" Ranma doubled over in pain.

"What the-" Akane stammered. "Ranma what's wrong?!"

"He has two fractured ribs." Ryoga explained, having had it explained to him on the way home.

"Oh Ranma I'm so sorry." Akane gasped.

"No I'm fine," Ranma answered in strain. "It's nothin." He righted himself again and brushed past Akane without another word. Ryoga stayed for a moment as if to say something more, but was quickly pulled after Ranma when the cord between them went taut. Akane watched the two boys disappear down the hall and into Ranma's room and silently wondered why they were attached by a rope.

Ranma hit his futon with a grunt and let out a sigh as he felt himself seep down into the comforting cushioning. Ryoga wasn't long to follow hitting his futon with as little grace as Ranma and quickly rolled up into ball under a blanket.

The lights were out but his pop hadn't made it to bed yet, probably playing some games of shogi with Mr. Tendo, he speculated.

He layed there in the quiet of the night letting his mind review some of the earlier events of the day and could feel as sleep began to pull at him, urging him to fall asleep. Ryoga was already asleep at his side and it wasn't long before Ranma let his eyes slide close and joined him.

That night Ranma dreamed...

end chapter one.

Well thats chapter one, what did you think? I'm really anxious for any sort of feed-back so please don't hesitate to write me. If you actually liked this, and are curious where I'm taking it, the more responses I recieve determines the pace of my next chapter so PLEASE RESPOND!! Any help anyone is willing to provide for personal pre-reading is also appreciated, as I feel I need to improve my writing style.

~Adam~