Author's Note: Here it is folks! Sorry for the wait. I wanted to post this chapter yesterday, but we had people over for New Year's and I couldn't get to the computer (long story). Anyway, thanks again to all who reviewed, especially to Cat H (I read that story, btw. It was really good! I'll have to keep an eye on that one. But yes, it is quite different from mine). Your review made me notice a thing or two that I had overlooked, but I made a few minor adjustments and I think I smoothed it out.

    In reference to the title of this fic, it's from a line from Romeo and Juliet, act III, scene 2. Just after Mercutio dies, and Romeo kills Tybalt, Romeo says, "O, I am fortune's fool!" Basically, at this point in the play, his life is going to hell in a hand basket, and he's saying that fate seems to be toying with him. I figured, what better way to describe our favorite, pigtailed martial artist. Once again, fate is having a laugh at his expense.

    All right, enough with the literary history lesson. Back to the story.

Disclaimer: Well, no, technically, he's not mine, but in the theoretical sense, since I can perceive of a Ranma who is mine, than he must exist. (Anyone familiar with St. Anselm? If you are, congratulations on being super smart. If you're not, then never mind, philosophy joke. Don't worry; it's not that funny anyway ;)

Fortune's Fool

Chapter 3

"No one's gonna take her from me! Akane's mine, and she's engaged to meee!"..."I-I like you just the way you are! Please don't fight anymore..."..."If I give up now, how will I ever get you back?!"..."I-I love you..."...love you...love you...

Akane awoke with a start. She'd had another one of those dreams -- no, not dreams, memories -- full of blurred faces, and voices she couldn't quite identify.

'Ryoga,' she thought, 'It was Ryoga, wasn't it? That makes sense. It sounded like him.' Didn't it?

Well, at least she knew for sure that one of the voices was hers. But what did she mean by, "I like you just the way you are?" It was just one more question to add to the list. With a weary sigh, she got up and dressed.

When she left her room, she nearly collided with Ranma, who looked lost in thought.

"Oh, hi Ry -- uh, Ranma. Is something wrong?" she asked when he looked at her vacantly.

"What? Oh, no it's, uh, nothing," Did she just call him...? Nah.

"Oh. Well, see you later," she said. He watched her as she walked passed him and down the stairs.

She was surprised to find Ryoga at the table, because she knew he didn't live there, but she supposed he'd stayed over that night. She had a crazy impulse to hurl an insult at him, which made no sense whatsoever, but she suppressed it and sat down next to him. She couldn't understand why, but she found that even though she was happy to see him, she constantly had to bite back completely unprovoked insults throughout their conversation. Oddly enough, Ranma, who'd arrived a little while later, seemed to notice.

"So, how are you feeling today Akane?" asked Ryoga, warmly.

"I'm fine, baka," Akane muttered in reply, immediately gasping is surprise and slapping a hand to her mouth as everyone gaped at her. Ranma looked almost as hurt as Ryoga. 'That's strange,' she thought, 'I had no idea they were so close. I was under the impression they didn't get along too well.'

"I'm so sorry Ryoga, it just slipped out. It's the strangest thing. I keep having to bite my tongue to avoid throwing out these nasty remarks, especially at you. I don't understand it. It's like I have a bunch of them stored up and I can't figure out how to get rid of them."

Everyone exchanged glances as though understanding something she didn't.

"What?" she asked, suspicious.

"Uh, it's nothing," Ranma said quickly, refusing to look at her. She looked at him a moment longer, then sighed and returned to her meal.

Moments later, a familiar, and quite unwelcome, voice rang out across the yard.

"Saotome, thou art a villain!" Kuno leapt over the wall, bokken at the ready.

'Oh shit, not now,' Ranma thought, getting up to intercept him.

"I shall smite thee, vile sorcerer, that thou shouldst dare imprison the beauteous Akane Tendo, whom thou hast the insolence to claim as thy--" wham!

Ranma managed to knock Kuno senseless in time to keep him from blurting out the nature of Ranma and Akane's relationship. He heard her gasp behind him.

"What did you do that for? Who was that guy?" She looked quite startled. He almost laughed, for she would hardly have asked such a thing under normal circumstances. Hitting Kuno was a daily activity for them.

"Don't worry about him. He'll be fine," he assured her. Glancing back at the unconscious man lying nearby, a worry crossed his mind. "Uh, Akane, maybe it would be better if you didn't go to school. I mean, you're still recoverin' and all," The truth was that it had just occurred to him how popular his and Akane's relationship tended to be, gossip wise, not to mention idiots like Kuno challenging him left and right. The odds that she could make it through an entire day without hearing it mentioned were slim at best.

"I think I'll be fine," she said, frowning at him curiously, along with everyone else. Ranma caught Ryoga's eye and indicated Kuno with a raise of his eyebrows. Ryoga nodded, comprehending.

"No, Ranma's right. I really think you should stay here," he added, sincerely. "After all, uh, with all those people...and you wouldn't remember anything you were studying...well, it might be just a bit too stressful."

"Yeah, right. You should take it easy," Ranma encouraged. The girl looked suspiciously between them for a moment. Truth be told, she was sort of dreading encountering more friends she didn't remember. Besides, it might be nice to spend a bit more time getting to know Ryoga.

"Okay, maybe you're right," she conceded, and both boys breathed a sigh of relief, "I'll stay home." She smiled at Ryoga as she said this, and Ranma, his mood darkening once more, grabbed Kuno roughly by the collar and dragged him off towards Furinkan High.

* * *

"Aiyaa! Nihao, airen!" Shampoo's bike landed on top of Ranma, causing him to release his hold on Kuno as he fell to the ground.

"Shampoo, dammit, get off me!" he growled. Why could she not understand that crushing someone with a bicycle on a daily basis was not an ideal way do gain their affection? 'Just what I needed,' he thought, wryly.

She complied, asking, "What happen to Bokken Boy?"

"Who, Kuno? He was being annoying as usual," Ranma dusted himself off. She 'hmm'ed, disinterestedly.

"So, Ranma, when you go to date with Shampoo? Tonight?" she asked expectantly.

"How many times do I hafta tell you 'no'? Look, this isn't a good time, okay?"

"But airen-"

"No," he interrupted, his patience wearing thin, "Just leave me alone, will ya?" He grabbed Kuno once again and continued down the street, leaving a disappointed Amazon behind him.

* * *

Two weeks went by with little improvement. Kuno continued to appear from time to time, only to be swiftly dispatched by either Ranma or Ryoga. Shampoo was persistent as well, taking advantage of every opportunity to get Ranma alone. Even Kodachi showed up a couple of times, but usually ended up arguing with her brother, a situation that invariably ended with each of them knocking the other unconscious. As such, she was almost helpful, for she saved Ranma and Ryoga the trouble of dealing with Kuno themselves.

Ryoga continued to stay at the Tendo residence, unwilling to leave Akane. This served to irritate the hell out of Ranma, especially since Akane was paying a great deal more attention to Ryoga than to him. Three months ago, he would have insisted that he didn't care one way or the other, but it would have been a lie. He had decided, no more self-deception. Now it was all he could do not to take her in his arms and kiss her until she remembered him and, hopefully, loved him too. It was amazing, the effect of a little soul searching. The mere thought of such a bold action would have scared him senseless before.

* * *

One afternoon, Ryoga mustered the courage to ask Akane to go on a walk with him. Neither of them noticed Ranma's eyes burning into their backs as they disappeared out the door.

The couple chatted about ridiculous things, laughing, enjoying the sunshine and each other. Before they knew it, they found themselves at the park.

"You know, it's funny," Akane began thoughtfully, after a lull in the conversation, "I only remember -- I mean really remember -- knowing you for about two weeks, but somehow I have this feeling that I've known you a lot longer. It's...comfortable, to be with you," She smiled at him, "I guess that sort of makes sense, doesn't it, considering the fact that I have known you for some time, even though I don't actually remember it. Now I'm just confusing myself," she sighed, lightheartedly.

Ryoga glanced sideways at her, " I think I understand. To tell you the truth, I had a similar feeling when I first met you. You were so kind to me when I -- uh, cough -- when I needed it," he narrowly avoided mentioning 'P-chan'. Though he had every intention of telling her his secret eventually, now was most definitely not the time to do so.

    Stopping, he sat her down in the shade of a large oak tree, settling himself next to her a bit nervously. "Akane, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a while now," he said, refusing to meet her eyes, until she coaxed his head up by tilting her own to look at him.

"Yes, Ryoga?" she said softly.

"Akane," he took her hand, "I care for you a great deal. In fact...I love you, Akane."

"Ryoga," she leaned a bit closer, "I love you too," The joy and relief in his eyes was unmistakable. He had never been one for tempering or hiding his emotions.

"Oh Akane, you've had my heart since the day we met, but I was so afraid to tell you. If you had rejected me, I don't know what I-" She placed her fingertips lightly on his mouth to silence him, but soon replaced them with her lips. He kissed her back, softly, tenderly, his arms wrapping around her to pull her close. She felt so safe and comfortable in his embrace, as a myriad of images chased each other about her brain, finally coming clear. She saw Ryoga, rescuing her, dueling for her on countless occasions. Her brow furrowed slightly, however, as some detail seemed to snag in her mind. She ignored it, as they broke apart, smiling at each other. She looked deep into his eyes and...that was it, his eyes! Hmm...

"Ryoga, did your eyes used to be blue?"

He looked back at her, puzzled, "I don't think so. Why?"

"Oh, nothing," she brushed the thought aside, "The few memories I've managed to recover are still a bit jumbled, that's all. In some of them, I could swear you had blue eyes. Crazy, huh? Come on, let's go home," She smiled and stood, offering her hand, which he gladly accepted, and they headed back in the direction of the dojo.

* * *

Unable to endure the frustration of being at the Tendo house, waiting around for Akane and Ryoga to return, Ranma had taken to the rooftops, and was now wandering aimlessly around Nerima, lost in thought. As he passed by Ucchan's, he noticed it was dark, and the closed sign was up. It had been a while since he had seen Ukyo herself. Come to think of it, she hadn't been around since before...the accident. His brow creased in slight suspicion.

'Nah, what am I thinking? Ucchan would never do a thing like that. It's not her style. Kodachi, yes. Shampoo, maybe. But Ukyo?' She was his oldest friend. He knew her better than that. Still, he couldn't help but wonder where she'd gone. She hadn't even said goodbye.

* * *

Shampoo stood at the stove, cooking her noodles halfheartedly. Ever since Akane had been injured, it seemed that Ranma paid Shampoo even less attention than usual. He only brushed her aside, ignoring her completely in favor of that violent tomboy, who, in turn, ignored him. She and Ryoga seemed to be hitting it off now. Shampoo had thought that if Akane fell for someone else, Ranma would surely have come running to her, Shampoo. On the contrary, he was now even more preoccupied with Akane than before.

She heard Mousse come up behind her and place a hand on her shoulder. She immediately shrugged it off saying, "Go away, Mousse," though it frustrated her how weak her voice sounded.

"Shampoo, I only wanted-"

"Shampoo say go!" she whirled at him, then tried to hide her face as tears of frustration welled in her eyes. She had tried so hard to make Ranma love her, but he seemed only to slip further and further away. Now Akane was falling for someone else, and that only caused him to slip further. She knew he was out of her reach now. She didn't want to admit it, but she had lost. Ranma didn't love her. He never would.

Despite her efforts to stem the tide, her tears began to overflow. She fell to her knees, weeping, and when Mousse knelt beside her in concern, she surprised him by throwing her arms around his neck and sobbing into his shoulder.

Shock mingled with joy on his face as he held her gently, rocking her back and forth. He made no declarations of undying love, nor did he beg her to marry him. He just held her, comforted her, sensing that that was what she needed most at the moment.

After some time, when her tears had subsided, Shampoo just sat, cradled in his arms. She felt surprisingly content. Mousse could be very understanding, it seemed: very perceptive. Slowly she pulled back and looked into his beautiful, turquoise eyes, too often hidden behind those glasses of his. "Thank you," she said quietly.

He simply nodded, and brushed a lock of lavender hair away from her face. When his hand brushed her cheek, she felt an odd tingling sensation. She gave him a weak smile as he stood and helped her to her feet. He turned to go, leaving her to her cooking, but paused in the doorway to look back at her. "If there's anything you ever need, I'm always here, Shampoo." This time it was she who nodded. Then, without another word, he left.

Shampoo stared after him for a moment, then returned to her noodles with a small sigh.

A/N: Ahh, another day, another chapter. Incidently, for all you Shakespere buffs, Kuno's line, "thou art a villain," is a direct quote of Tybalt, in the same scene of Romeo and Juliet from which I derived the title for this fic.

    Keep reviewing (feedback is very helpful)! I hope I can type fast enough so that my posts don't catch up to my writing. But I'm still okay at the moment, so that's good.

    Oh, and Cat H, Kuno's appearance here is dedicated to you, since your review gave me the idea for it ;) And to all my loyal readers, whomever you may be, goodnight!