Disclaimer: Not mine, not mine. All belongs to the genius Rumiko Takahashi. Unfortunately.

Oh, and since they're back in China for the latter portion of this story, they're obviously going to be speaking their native language, so Shampoo can finally use some proper grammar.

I couldn't decide whether to end this one way or another, so I did both. So, don't get too confused. One ending is happy, one ending is sad.

Second

Mousse sat by the tranquil pond and looked over the ornamental gardens, furiously ripping up whatever flower happened to come into his hands.

Never good enough. Never was good enough. He and Shampoo had been married for nearly a year, now, but he wasn't happy.

It had all started after Ranma's wedding…

~*~

Mousse thought that the best day of his life had been when Ranma and Akane were married. Now, finally, Shampoo would have him, now that Ranma was out of the picture. She had to.

He was wrong.

Shampoo had cried for two days straight, and refused to be in the same room with him at all for over a week. Cologne tried to soothe her, without success. Mousse wanted more than anything to make her feel better, but he knew that anything he said would just make it worse. H always made it worse; he could never do anything right. He'd been so smug at Ranma's wedding that he'd never paid any attention to what Shampoo would be feeling.

But there was nothing he could do. He just took care of the empty slot at Cat Café, worrying about Shampoo until the ends of his hair were frayed from his chewing on them.

Eventually Shampoo came back. Slowly, bit by itty bit, she began to go back to normal. For a while Mousse was just happy that she was okay again, but… Whenever he tried to get her attention, she batted him off like she'd always had. She acted as if nothing had changed at all. But it had, right? She had to marry him now. He was the only man besides Ranma who had fairly beat her in single combat.

One day he hardened his resolve and gathered his courage to ask her.

"Shampoo!" He called. It was closing time and she was just wiping off some tables.

"What is it, Mousse?" She sniffed.

"Shampoo, now that, I mean, you have to come back to China to be my bride now!" Mentally he cursed himself. That was not the way he'd wanted to say it. He winced and expected her to whack him on the head with her tray or kick him across the room. What he got came as an absolute shock.

She sighed. "Okay, Mousse." She seemed totally resigned to her fate.

Mousse paid no attention to that at all. "You WILL? Oh, Shampoo, it's a dream come true!" He hugged her as hard as he could and for once, she didn't slap him for it.

They went back to China together, and Mousse felt like he was in an ecstatic dream the entire time. He just couldn't believe it. After all those years of dreaming it would happen, it finally did.

Cologne had not protested, though she clearly wasn't very happy about it. The old woman had probably figured that next to Ranma, Mousse was probably the second-best choice for Shampoo. The only man who could possibly be a better fighter would be Ryoga, and there was no person on earth who could convince him to marry Shampoo – he was far to busy being depressed over Akane. Well, more depressed than usual, anyway.

Mousse went through the wedding ceremony in a daze, and nearly fainted when he got to kiss Shampoo. How many times had he dreamed of this? Too many to count.

The night of the wedding, Mousse found Shampoo asleep on the bed, and decided not to wake her. They had the rest of their lives to consummate the marriage.

But… every night after that, Shampoo had some excuse. She fell asleep like before, or she was sick, or shy, or any number of excuses she came up with. Mousse always respected her reasons, and figured he could wait for his chance.

~*~

But that chance had never come. Still, after almost a year, Shampoo denied him. She'd given up making excuses after a while, but Mousse still respected her decision. He would never force himself upon her. He just wanted…

I want her to love me. I though that everything would be great after we got married, but it's worse than ever. She just so depressed all the time. She was so much happier before, before any of this happened. I loved her for her spirit, her energy. Now all of that's gone. Mouse flung a handful of petal fragments into the water, watching them float away, the occasional fish bobbing up to see if they were food or not. It's my fault. I thought… I thought that by taking her home with me, I could make her love me. But she never would. I've just got her trapped here, like a bird in a cage.

I should never have tried to compete with Ranma. What was the point? I'd always be second to him, and now that Ranma's married, it still doesn't change that fact in Shampoo's eyes.

"Supper, Mousse!" Shampoo called. Mousse got up to answer her summons.

They ate, as always, at a two-person table, opposite from each other. Shampoo never neglected her wifely duties, and always made wonderful meals. Mousse sat down on the floor and ate his meal, not really tasting it. Shampoo's food had always lacked that special something since they had gotten married. That extra bit of spice and enthusiasm. Or maybe it was just him, spreading his mood to everything around him.

Eventually he gave up and stopped eating. He just stared down at his plate.

"Why are you not eating? Is something wrong?" she took a bite. "It tastes good to me."

"There's nothing wrong with the food," Mousse sighed. "There never is. There's nothing wrong with you, you're always perfect, it's me with the problem." He stood up, back towards her. "Go, I know you want to."

"What?" Shampoo cocked her head.

He turned around, suddenly angry. "Just go, leave this house, okay? I know you hate it here, I know you hate me. I'm letting you go, alright? You don't have to stay here anymore!" Shampoo just stood there, shocked. "What are you waiting for?" he yelled. "Just go, before I change my mind!" He turned around and started to stalk out the door. I'll love you forever, Shampoo, but I want you to be happy more than anything else. Please leave.

"Mousse." He turned around. She was standing there, looking at him.

"Thank you." She walked past him out the door, not even pausing to take her belongings.

Mousse's heart broke into a thousand shards as he watched her walk down the road out of sight. He would never see her again.

----{-@

"Mousse." He turned around. She was standing there, looking at him.

"I'm sorry."

Mousse hung his head, refusing to look her in the eye. "No. I'm sorry. I was always wrong."

"No." Mousse raised his gaze from the floor to see Shampoo's face. His heart twisted as he looked into her eyes. "I am truly sorry, Mousse. I hurt you more than I ever had the right to. Will…" she swallowed. "Will you ever forgive me?"

Mousse could only nod silently, his throat suddenly stuck as she raised her lips to his.

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Oh, and sorry if Shampoo seemed rather OOC here. My excuse for her 'confession of love' (of sorts) was that in Mousse's action of letting her go, she saw that he cared more about her happiness than he did about his own, and so saw him for the sexy beast he really is. Heh heh.