Ranma Nibunnoichi - Reflections
A. V. Morgan
Part Eighteen: Coming to a Crossroads
An oddity of the human psyche lends the hour of awakening an eternal quality. In that critical period, a person could easily find her mind displaced in time by days, months or years. Akane was hardly immune to this phenomenon, rising naturally from troubled slumber in which the events of the past two weeks were revisited and filed with great relief under the header of dreams. Another oddity of the human psyche she unwittingly demonstrated, was the capacity to overlook inconvenient reminders of an unpleasant reality, such as the pillows, futon and comforter testifying to the fact that Ranma-chan and Ranko had slept in her room with her. Blinking and yawning, carrying her bath supplies, she shuffled blindly past that obstacle and made her way down stairs. She had gotten into the habit of hurrying downstairs to claim the bath while Ranma sparred with his father. Passing by the Tea Room, glimpsing Ranma and Ryouga conversing in muted voices as Kasumi poured tea, and judging it too early for Nabiki, Genma (in the absence of a sparring session), or her father to be awake, she concluded it was perfectly safe to enter the bath, ignoring the occupied sign hanging in the washroom. Altogether, her state of denial lasted about eight minutes.
For one whole minute, which Ranma-kun and Ranko spent frozen in apprehension, Akane struggled to catch up with events sufficiently to utter the appropriate phrases of outrage inspired by the boy and girl sharing the furo.
When the minute elapsed, and no coherent noise escaped Akane, Ranko cleared her throat and blushed, "If you're going to just stand there, you might wanna put on a robe or something."
Akane eeped, stepped back and slammed the shoji closed. A second later, the screen shot open and she stormed in wearing an oversized t-shirt. "What the hell are you two doing in the bath together!?" she demanded, fuming in outrage and embarrassment, while her eyes darted around for an implement of destruction.
Ranma-kun, who had managed to snap his eyes shut in the first few seconds of the show, carefully remained silent, sinking a little deeper into the water.
"Do you want an answer before or after you pound us into oblivion?"
Akane finally picked up the sprayer and aimed it at the boy. While not being deliberately malicious, it had recently been filed in her mind as a punitive weapon suitable for use in this situation. The remembered trauma of experiencing the triggers to the curse simultaneously caused both Ranma-kun and Ranko to bound clear of the furo instantly. The sudden movement caused Akane to clench her fist and flinch back from the wave of hot water, "Get back! Perverts!" In a flash, in more than once sense, everyone in the room was female and soaked. For Ranko, that was of course the status quo. Thus, she was the first to respond again.
"Are you quite through?" she demanded, glaring into the cold spray. Akane dropped the hose and opened her mouth, but Ranko cut her off. "I don't wanna hear it, Akane. The answer to your question is, bathing. If you think there's anything more to it, that's your problem. If you'd paid attention to the sign in the washroom, it wouldn't even be that. As for what you just tried to do," she narrowed her eyes to slits, "I hope you never experience the kind of pain you just threatened to hand out!"
Akane puffed up in indignation and began to roar, "Ranma…!"
"Ranko!!!" the girl screamed back, drowning her out. "Didn't you see me!? I'm in hot water up to my eyeballs and you're goin' ballistic cuz SHE," her finger snapped out to point in Ranma-chan's direction, "forgot she could still become a guy, even though she can no longer be him anymore!" Ranma-chan cringed at that and turned away from the confrontation. Until Ranko shouted it, she would not have admitted to herself that she had been taking refuge in her recently discovered feminine psyche to dull the pain of losing her real identity. Now that it was spoken, she suddenly could not meet Akane's eyes. Ranko was not done, however. "If you're not gonna even bother tryin' to understand what you're jumpin' into, maybe you oughta learn to stop rushin' blindly into the middle of everything!"
Akane recoiled from the combined outbursts as though they were an onslaught of physical blows. She spun and fled through the open door, leaving a mist of tears to fall in a line behind her.
As Ranma-chan turned around, Ranko folded to the tiles and burst into tears herself. Ranma-chan bit her lip, catching a rebuke at the last second. Ranko was well aware that she had been too harsh. Feeling how fragile her own emotions seemed, she slumped down beside her twin and held onto her somewhat helplessly. It was frightening. The changes they were going through were taking their toll. When Soun stormed down stairs and into the bathroom, driven from his bed by the sound of Akane slamming into her room and exploding into loud wails of grief, he took one look at the naked girls struggling to master their shattered feelings and backed out without a peep. When Ranko recovered, the two girls got dressed and timidly slipped up to the breakfast table. Sitting in his usual spot, Soun was staring into his tea looking shell shocked. Neither of the girls could meet the eyes of Ranma and Ryouga as they waited for the morning meal to appear.
Ranma-chan sighed after a moment, thankful of one thing. Akane's intrusion had shaken both of them out of their thoughts about Fa Shen. The realization got her mind back on that track, but hopefully Ranko would not join her in that contemplation. Ranko had enough to deal with. The prospect of becoming a stranger to herself, by embracing a long dead expression of herself, was too much to add to her problems. It made more sense for Ranma-chan to take on that challenge. She had the least to lose under the present circumstances. Becoming someone else was beginning to look like an ideal way out of this absurd situation. Unfortunately, she was not the only one "looking out" for Ranko.
Ranma cleared his throat to get their attention. "Ranko," he waited for her to meet his eyes. "Could I speak to you alone for a moment?" He gestured for Ranma-chan to stay out of it when she went to open her mouth. Ranko took a deep breath and nodded. "Come on. Let's go out to the dojo."
Ranko rose stiffly to her feet and followed him out of the house, expecting to hear some lecture or demand for her to explain her verbal assault on Akane. To her surprise, he began to fidget and blush once they were alone.
"Well? What did you wanna talk about?"
"I need to ask you some things," he began, trying to find a way to approach his proposal. "I guess the first thing is, I've had to face what's ahead of you, but I'm not really sure how you feel right now. Are you okay with bein' Ranko? I mean, taking the identity, bein' a girl for real… for Mom?"
Ranko arched back slightly in surprise, wondering what he was really after, to start with a question like that. "That was the idea, wasn't it?" she retorted easily, buying herself time to think while he scowled at her and tried to explain what he was asking. While he reiterated some of the things that had been said the previous couple of days, she composed her thoughts.
"…So it's not like I think you have'ta," he was concluding, "I just wanna know if you're gonna give it a try or if you plan to go to China as soon as we have this other problem straightened out."
"I am not doin' as good as, um, Ranma-chan, at tryin' a female perspective," she confessed, looking down. "I mean, she figured out how to do it, but I've been afraid to really try. She can be a guy, but all I can do is hold onto the memory of it. I'm afraid if I let go of that, I won't ever wanna go back to bein' me, exactly." Looking up she shrugged and shook her head, "No, not just that. I guess what I'm really afraid of is that I won't become Ranko in truth, but that I'll slide all the way until I become HER," she emphasized, trusting him to know who she meant.
He looked at her seriously, as he allowed the fear to unfold for himself. He had tried not to think about Cologne's revelation. The idea that he was a girl before ever being born as a guy was disturbing. Worse, she had been an amazon. Even in his sleep, his mind had retreated from nightmares that made him feel like he hated himself. Instead of following that topic, he addressed her previous concern. "So you really wanna be a guy again?" He knew he would, in her place. Just because he had been female—even a girl, in another life—and might be able to be one again, he did not particularly want to. Not if he could help it.
Ranko shrugged. "I'm not so sure it's as important, if I can't really be me," she stressed. Even if she could somehow manage it, and become Ranma's "twin brother", it would not be the same as being Ranma. It would be easier to hold onto her identity as Ranko, if she could be sure that was as far as she would slip. "If I could figure out how Mom would feel about having another son, I wouldn't feel like I was giving up everything just to be a guy. If I didn't know how much she wants a daughter…" she trailed off. It need not be said again that she was the perfect choice to assume that responsibility. Shaking her head, she crossed her arms and stared at him, "I don't have an easy answer. Why did you want to know?"
"Well," he began, scratching the back of his head, "if you are serious about bein' Ranko, or at least figuring out if you can, I have a… an idea, I guess. A proposal."
Her eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed. "What do you mean?"
"Ryouga wants to ask you out," Ranma sighed.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea right now," she frowned, looking away.
"I'm not sure it's a good idea to avoid it," he retorted gently. "I know the feelings are there. I feel it, but I can't do anything about it. Weird as it is, I feel about the same for Ryouga as I do Akane. We might all prefer to be guys, but only one of us can be with her. If there were no one else, that would be a real problem. Also, it would not be as complicated with Ryouga. There's no one else pressuring you into it, and he's bein' more open about his feelings than Akane. At least you have some clue if anything will ever come of it, while I'm never sure about her," he pointed out.
"But, this is Ryouga, man!"
"Yeah. I know, as a guy the idea is kinda sickening, but as a girl…" he shrugged. "As a girl there's nothing wrong with it. You could do a lot worse than Ryouga, and he needs someone who can understand and respect him."
"I just can't believe he'd even ask," she shuddered, feeling a bit angry that he had not respected her request for time.
"It wasn't his idea," Ranma responded. He explained how Ryouga approached him, and how he had been prompted to act as a way of helping Ranko. "The whole idea is to help you. It's enough just to ask, really, but he's ready to follow through, all the way, if that's what you want. If that's what you need. I think he's as scared of the idea as you."
"But you came to me with this," she pointed out. "You think I should do this. I don't think you'd have done that if you hadn't asked yourself first."
He sighed and gave a slight nod.
"So you already know what I'll say."
He nodded. After staring into each other's eyes in silence for a moment, he turned away, "I'll tell him it's okay to ask."
Ranko watched him return to the house. She slowly sank down to sit on her heels. It was both horrifying, and a relief, to find herself at this crossroad. The possibility had haunted her since the first time she had explored her cursed form. The silent friction of her hands on her own skin had whispered to her that this body had a purpose of its own, and a day would inevitably come when it would find a way to reveal itself to her. A day when something would compel her to accept that the change was more than skin deep. All that was required was for her to be put into a perfectly plausible position, and recognize that it applied to her. Ryouga was on his way out to ask a girl on a date. When he appeared in the door, looking nervous and determined, she could not deny that she was that girl. Trying not to look as though she stared death in the face, she turned her eyes up to meet his.
Ranma-chan had studied Ryouga for several long moments, when her reflections departed, before excusing herself from the breakfast table. She had a dreadful suspicion of what Ranma and Ranko were discussing and had not been prepared for the stab accompanying the realization that Ranma and Ryouga had not even considered her in their scheme. The sensation of doors closing to her was becoming painfully palpable. Ironically, she could guess what had brought this on, and could see that Ranko needed it more than she. She had never wanted to fight more than she did for the identity of Ranma, and yet she had forced herself to admit that it was a futile effort from the beginning. That realization had allowed her to embrace the identity she lost to Ranko even before Ranko realized it for herself. Along with the man who fell in love with that identity. It was this clarity that allowed her to understand what had really happened in the bathroom only moments ago. She wished she could break away from Akane as well, but instead she found herself at the girl's door hoping to offer in friendship what she was never able to offer as a fiancé.
Maybe one had to become a true outcast to comprehend the value of unconditional love. Or maybe what she felt was part of the process of coming undone, a gift realized in the same breath as the onset of death. Tightening her fist, she promised, "Curse be damned. I will not die. I might lose everything I know and love, but I'll find a way to survive!"
"Ranma?" came a muffled voice from the other side of the door. The faint sobbing had stopped.
"A friend," Ranma-chan answered, sighing.
A moment later, the door opened. Akane looked at her with horribly swollen, red eyes and a damp face. "What do you want?" she growled in pain.
"I…" she looked away. She originally intended to apologize for Ranko and explain the girl's attack, but suddenly wanted to be rid of this sense of collective responsibility. The truth was, she was in pain, and misery loved company. Rather than try to explain, she just relaxed the mask she had built to maintain a masculine façade against the emotional nature of her current form. Without warning, her eyes filled up with tears and she breathed, "A friend."
Akane gave her an odd look, unable to believe the cascade of tears streaming from Ranma-chan's eyes. She could not help but remember the conversation she had with Ranma on the way to Tofu's the morning before. Faced with the prospect of losing his identity to the reflections, he had expressed the hope of claiming the friendship she had promised Ranma-chan in their first meeting. Taking a breath, she pushed aside her own pain and asked gently, "What happened?"
Ranma-chan sighed and shrugged. "Ranko's claiming the other half," she explained simply. She had not witnessed it, but she felt in her bones that it was happening. Ryouga's nervous and eager air had betrayed enough for her to know what Ranma would ask Ranko, and she needed no help figuring out what her answer would be. Ultimately, the decision was based on her honor, so there was only one choice for the girl to make.
Akane considered the response and pulled Ranma-chan into her room. Closing the door, she acted on impulse and hugged the other girl. At the moment, that's what she was. Ranma-chan allowed herself to be consumed by silent, racking sobs. Even as she cried, she found herself amazed by the emotional release. What was more surprising, when the fit finally ended some time later, was the strange clarity that followed. Akane had allowed her own tears to play out in the embrace, recognizing that Ranma-chan was there as much to unburden Akane's grief as her own. While they slipped apart and moved in silence to the bed, Ranma-chan pondered her current state of mind. By dropping her guard completely, she had finally admitted the depth of her loss. And it was devastating. There were suddenly no maps, no logic, to the terrain of her life. The assumptions that went with all she had been, had been stripped away as well. All she was left with was her determination to survive, and a sudden sense that she had nothing left to lose, and everything to gain by trying.
"Are you okay?" Akane finally ventured.
"I can't remember the last time I cried like that," she responded softly, allowing the wonder of it to enter her voice. "I had no idea it could help so much to just let it all out. I mean, nothing's changed. My life is still torn to hell, but it's like the fight is over. I'm a complete mess, but there's nothing to stop me from pickin' up the pieces now."
"You said Ranko was claiming the other half," Akane reminded. "What exactly does that mean? Why did that make you fall apart?"
Ranma-chan winced. She had enough pride left that she did not like the way that sounded. Sighing she shook it off, "I did fall apart, didn't I?" she forced herself to admit. Taking a breath, she tried to answer the question. "It makes sense for her to be Ranko, but she… She was not ready to accept it. When she lashed out at you, she was finally accepting that she would not be Ranma ever again. Then Ranma…" she stopped and swallowed back a new surge of tears. "I don't know how to explain it. Ranma and Ryouga were waiting for us at the table. Ryouga was beside himself, and only got worse when Ranma took Ranko out to the dojo. I can guess what's up with Ryouga, and if Ranma's helping him, then I know what's going to happen. Ryouga's a problem I can only figure out as a girl, and that's what's gonna cause Ranko to claim that identity for real."
"But you expected that, didn't you?"
Ranma-chan sighed. "It's easy to figure out, but it's a lot harder to live with. I'm runnin' out of things to hold on to, and I'm not sure I'm gonna like what's left." Once again, the specter of Fa Shen rose up in her mind. She laughed a bit harshly, "I got used to the idea of bein' a girl. Maybe it won't be so hard to get used to bein' an entirely different person. I just wish I had a better idea of who she is."
"Fa Shen?"
"Yeah."
"Why would you have to become her?"
"It's not a choice. That's just what's left when you take away the rest."
"I can't imagine it."
"Neither can I," she flopped onto her back. "That's the problem."
Ranma studied the girls across from him. Ranma-chan had slipped upstairs to Akane's room while he was out in the dojo talking to Ranko, and from the looks of her now, had been crying. It was unreal. When she had come downstairs, after Kasumi knocked on Akane's door to remind her sister to hurry if she wanted to bathe before breakfast, the cursed teen had made no effort to disguise the evidence of her unmanly indulgence. Ranko had entered ahead of Ryouga, before Ranma could comment, and had gone instantly to her side. They had spoken in hushed voices in the hall for a bit before returning to the table, where Ryouga distracted Ranma from the questions, or insults, he had been considering. Perhaps that was a good thing, Ranma considered, but it was beginning to bother him how they were distancing themselves from him. Oh, it was not hard to figure out why they were withdrawing, but it disturbed him to see "himself" retreating into the female guise he had hated as often as not.
Ranma and Ryouga had changed the topic of their discussion once they noticed the violent spasm from Ranma-chan, at hearing mention of the upcoming date with Ranko. They had observed the quick exchange between Ranma-chan and Ranko, as the cursed girl probed the other girl's feelings about the matter, and the decision underlying it. After an awkward hug, and words of mutual support, the two had retreated into silent contemplation of the what this decision might lead them to become. Ranma could practically taste the bitter thoughts stewing in both of them. It was too painful to watch this happening to, well, himself, but neither could he turn away. It was his fault they were forced to face these challenges. His fault they confronted a future as girls.
Genma joined Soun at the table, and Nabiki sauntered in as Akane raced out of the bathroom. Kasumi began setting out the breakfast dishes, and frowned at the subdued faces circling the table. Hoping to break the silence, she smiled and addressed a cheerful question in the direction of the twin girls, "So, Ranko-chan, is it true you are going on a date with Ryouga-kun?"
Ranma-chan stiffened but contained her reaction better this time. Ranko blushed and flicked a look at Ryouga before meeting Kasumi's smile. "Ah, yeah. Mom's been buggin' me to try dating. If I'm really gonna be Ranko—a girl she would want as her daughter—it's about time I started tryin' her suggestions."
"Well," Kasumi's smile grew a bit warmer, "I would be happy to help you get ready this afternoon. Just remember to excuse yourself from your studies a couple of hours ahead of the date, since this will be rather new to you!" Ranko's eyes widened at the suggestion. It had not occurred to her that a date implied getting dressed up for the occasion.
"Oh, that's okay, Kasumi," Ryouga tried to intervene, catching the alarm on Ranko's face. "She doesn't need to get dressed up for me! I think she's pretty enough just the way she is. Really!"
"Now, don't be silly, Ryouga," Kasumi giggled, waving him off. "A first date should be really special. You should both try and look your best and find something really special to do together."
Genma had been looking back and forth, following the conversation. He had settled on Ranko with a stern and thoughtful expression. "Daughter," he intoned, trying the word out carefully and waiting to see how she reacted to it. When she simply sucked in her breath and snapped around to stare at him in shock, he continued, "I am well aware that you have teased Ryouga quite a bit in the past. I can hardly fault a young man for taking an interest in, ah, a girl with such healthy attributes." Genma actually blushed, rushing on, "Ahem. However, in light of what has passed between you, I am hesitant to give my blessings to this venture."
"Geez, Pop," she scowled and looked down. "It's just a date. And it's not like I tried to trick him into it."
Genma considered that and turned instead to Ryouga, "So, it was your idea to date her?"
"Well, not exactly," Ryouga blushed and looked at his breakfast. "It was my decision to ask her, but it was actually suggested by, um, someone else. I did talk to Ranma about it first, since I wasn't sure she would be interested."
Genma ignored the other details at the moment to sustain the focus of his pursuit, "Who, if I may ask, actually suggested it?" There was obvious suspicion written over his face, as he leaned forward to intimidate Ryouga a little. There was a moment of silence as Ryouga bit his lip.
"It was my idea, actually," Akane spoke up. She gave Ryouga a strange look, wondering why they boy had tried to keep it a secret. Clearing her throat, she explained her reasoning. "Being stuck in a female body, with Ranma's memories, it seemed to me that it would be kind of hard for her to really become Ranko, even if Auntie Saotome really wants a daughter. I thought it might help her to, um, try some things as a girl. I mean, if she can adjust to being a girl, being Ranko will be a lot easier for her," she outlined roughly.
Genma frowned and looked between Ranko and Ranma. "I'm not sure I understand," he admitted, still looking suspicious.
Ranma-chan suddenly spoke up, "It's girl training."
Genma turned to stare at her. She refused to meet his eyes. "Explain," he commanded, leaning back and picking up his rice bowl.
Ranma-chan sighed. "There's a lot more to bein' a girl than just having a girl's body, Pops. If that wasn't true, I'd have really become a girl every time I changed. Yeah, I've used this form to mess with Ryouga a lot,"' she admitted, gesturing to herself, "and as a result, Ryouga started to develop some kind of feelings. When Copy-chan started chasin' him, those feelings became real. For him and for her. She kinda got absorbed by all of us when she returned to the mirror. Since she really was a girl, those feelings are sort of the key to becoming a girl." She looked up and fixed his gaze. "You suggested it, and she's the one who has to do it. Unless you wanna watch her go insane, you better let them do it," she warned him.
"And what do you plan to do?" Genma suddenly challenged.
"What do you mean?"
"Are you going to date him too, to see if you can be a girl, or are you going to remain a boy?"
"I don't need to date him," she shrugged.
Genma paused to consider what that implied. He had absorbed the details related by Cologne, about Ranma-chan's epiphany, about the struggle the cursed teen faced finding an aspect of identity to cling to for survival, about the previous incarnation as a woman, and spent the previous evening pondering them. "Isn't the alternative to being Ranko also being a girl?" he pressed.
Ranma-chan twitched.
"Don't you also need to consider this 'girl training' you mentioned?"
"If I become Fa Shen," Ranma-chan declared cautiously, "it'll be sort of like how they became me. I'll just remember. She doesn't have any problems with bein' a girl. If anything, the problem will be dealing with turnin' into a boy."
Genma's eyes narrowed at that. The idea of his son suddenly becoming a man hating amazon was a great deal more disturbing than the notion of him becoming a daughter. Perhaps this previous incarnation was not the answer to the problem he foresaw. Though he could not honestly support the possibility of this cure killing the cursed teen, her continued existence remained an obstacle to reuniting his son and wife. Adopting Ranko would not be a great difficulty, if the current assumptions were preserved, but one glimpse of the curse in action would reveal the connection between Ranma and Ranko. He had hoped that Ranma-chan would be pressured into embracing her femininity and thus allow him to present her to Nodoka as Ranko's twin sister. It sounded as if this Fa Shen person might welcome an encounter with the chisuiiton, but it did not sound like much—if anything—that was Ranma, would survive her emergence.
Seeing the effect of this topic on those at the table, Nabiki decided it was time to change the subject. Turning to Akane she smirked, "Hey, Sis. Since this date thing was all your idea, why don't you grab Ranma and go along too. Make it a double date!"
Akane whipped around to stare at her sister in horror, even as Soun and Genma leapt to their feet shouting their support. In a flash, they were standing behind Ranma and Akane, pushing them together and babbling about duty and the necessity of patching up past misunderstandings caused by the curse. "It will be a perfect chance for you to see the young man you are going to marry in a new light!" Soun was insisting.
"This is your chance, Boy! You don't have to worry about sudden changes ruining the mood! You can finally show Akane how manly you are!"
"I don't believe this!" Akane whimpered. Glaring at Nabiki she growled, "I am going to get you for this, Sis!"
Ranma cringed away from his father and moaned, "Why me!?"
Ranma-chan grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him forward to respond from an inch away, "You have nothing to complain about!"
While everyone at the table was in an uproar, two diminutive figures entered from outside. Happosai had left the previous evening to consult with Cologne on how best to deal with the trio's affliction. Seeing their return to the dojo had gone unnoticed, they absorbed the confusion and realized what was happening. Akane had unwittingly complicated the situation by arranging a date between Ryouga and Ranko. The impetuous girl had never considered this would leave her open to pressure from the fathers to make it a double date.
The two elders caught the attention of Ranma-chan, who slipped outside to hear what they had to say. The good news was that the two had come up with some ideas to help the trio. In fact, they pointed out, the prospect of the reflections departing in the afternoon on this latest lark could actually serve to test the techniques they intended to have the trio learn during the day. After discussing it, Ranma-chan led the way back inside and interrupted.
"Hey!" she shouted to get everyone's attention. When they all stopped jabbering and looked at her, she continued, "Ranma, Akane, it would actually be a good idea if you two did go out tonight when Ranko and Ryouga do. Happosai and Cologne are gonna teach us something today we have to split up to test. I dunno if a double date is the best idea, so you might wanna plan on going to different places for this." She quickly outlined the Elders' suggestions. While she spoke, Cologne's attention gravitated to the other red-head.
Ranko was stealing glances at Ryouga, her face clouded by uncertain thoughts and emotions. It was the look of a girl wondering what she was getting herself into, cautious of her heart. It brought a strange smile to the old woman's lips. She could not help but remember her observations about Copy-chan and the eternally lost boy. Apparently something might come of that after all. She slipped up to Ryouga and asked a few questions, and received an explanation detailing Akane's logic on how he could best help Ranko. Cologne took an optimistic view of the arrangement.
Cologne's secret interest in Ranma, now that she had established that the boy was a reincarnation of Fa Shen, forced her to create a situation that would allow her to continue probing. As an elder, she was compelled to exploit the situation to resurrect the ancient amazon heroine and take her back to china. While Ranma-chan was most liable, in her eyes, to adopt that identity, Ranko seemed a more likely choice for Fa Shen to make. If, as it seemed possible, Ranko won the heart of Ryouga, he would make an acceptable husband—with sufficient training to defeat the girl under the right circumstances. By taking the girl, Ranma-chan would have the option of becoming Nodoka's daughter Ranko. If she could not embrace that role, she might prefer to accompany the girl to China as Shampoo's husband, finally. Presenting her with the second option might be the only way to encourage her to consider the first.