AN: Yay!! School's out for now, and I can finally write! Thanks so much to all you guys who took the time to review. I promise that this story is here to stay. ( Please more reviews!! You are the heart and soul of my stories, minna-chan!! Sorry... this is crappiest chapter ever. -__-0

School = killing!! BAD. I'm sorry I took SOOOO long.

MMMmmm. . . this chappie is dedicated to *~*Silver Moon Princess*~*! Thank you for your interest and your email. (

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The Way It Should Have Been

' . . . ' are thoughts

* = are special notes. Please look at the explanations included at the bottom.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ or Sailormoon. Rarrrrrg. . . this depresses me

Chapter Four

~*~*~ Usagi ~*~*~

The name scattered the blond girl's thoughts as flashes of Ranma's face and the memory of the perfume of his skin drowned her senses. How could he be engaged? The man was destined for her! No . . . It must be a lie, the young girl thought. He could not possibly marry someone that is not his true love. There must be a mistake - nothing could be so cruel.

But another look into the half-dreamy expression on Akane's face brought Usagi to the surface – she is familiar with that look on the other girl's face; Usagi herself carried it just a few days ago. Unable to cope with the fact that her dream love has already been stolen by another, the girl shivers and rubbed up and down her arms, lost in her thoughts.

So, he is engaged. Usagi closed her eyes and felt the unwanted tears threaten to flow down her cheeks. What a funny thing fate is – to let her meet the man of her dreams, the man of her destiny . . . and then to have him marry someone else. Biting on her bottom lip, she takes in a shaky breath, wondering what to say and what to do. She knows that he feels something for her . . . she can feel it in the way he looked and her and had heard it in the way he said her name. But engaged? She barely notices the concerned look upon Akane's face, and the touch of the other girl's hand against her forehead. Dazed, she was only able to catch the last of Akane's words.

". . . alright?"

"Hrmm? I am sorry, I spaced out for a bit." The blond struggled to plaster an embarrassed smile on her face, but fails. "I happen to do that quite a lot." She dropped her gaze to the floor as if she felt humiliated, but it was truly just to hide the look of despair and sadness in her eyes.

"Maybe it wouldn't be such a great idea for me to stay with you. . . It sounds like your home is filled with people. It probably would not be too right for me, an outsider, to intrude. . . I . . . do believe that it is rather easy for me to make friends and find other lodging. " The princess fingered a lock of her golden hair, twirling it in her fingers as a nervous reaction. Giving the black haired girl a brief smile, she turns around giving Akane a perfect glimpse of her bruised limbs. They were the "precious gifts" her aunt left on her porcelain flesh as punishment for some trifle things. "Thank you for being so sweet, Akane . . ."

A look of horror crossed Akane's face as she digested the look of the marred flesh, coming quickly to the conclusion that the girl was hurt, and lying about certain things. Although as her fiancé said, Akane is unfeminine and very bossy, the girl had a heart of pure gold, and she did not believe in letting the innocent suffer.

"No wait!" Akane's hand stuck out to grab the other girl's arm. "No, no, no." Her lips curl into a friendly smile. "Usagi, you cannot leave me here. I finally make another friend, and I'm not willing to let her wander around the streets alone. Besides, you . . . don't seem to know anyone else in this town." Grinning, she half-drags the other girl to the street of her dojo. "You'll see . . . everyone's very friendly. Well, with the exception of Ranma. That jerk . . . I swear I'm going to get him some day."

"Well. . . if you insist. But we have to stop by that Chinese Ramen shop first. I found this tiny little pigling who was lost in the woods. . ." Usagi pointed towards the restaurant that lay a few streets away from them.

"P-chan?!" Akane squealed. "That's MY P-Chan! Oh goodness, I have been looking for him for ages. I never know why he wonders off. It's as if he has the worst sense of direction in the worlds. . ." Akane grinned. "All right. . . We will go to that shop and claim my piggy. I hope Shampoo and Rei didn't cook him, yet. Ugh. I despise those two sisters."

Chattering happily, Akane dragged the reluctant bunny through the busy streets of Japan.

~*~*~ Ranma ~*~*~

Hearing Akane's voice flood the hall of the dojo, the young man peeked out of his room to see what the ruckus was about. He had been happily sleeping, dreaming about Usagi and lots of delicious food when her voice cut through the happy la-la land like scissors through rice paper. 'That unsexy – uncute tomboy makes a lot of noise', he thought annoyed, rolling out of his futon. The shrill voice was exclaiming about a bunny she found on the streets.

Rubbing his eyes, Ranma stepped out into the courtyard, stretching as he yawned. The sunlight burned his eyes. Why couldn't that lame girl wake him up later? It's still light outside. . . He perks up, though, when he heard a very feminine, very familiar giggle. Scanning all around, he moves through the yard, deftly dodging the overgrown bushes cluttering his path. But he slips on a wet towel strewn unceremoniously upon the path, and he fell into the icy pond near by. Ranma hisses at the unwelcome coldness, cringing as he feels his body change into something else. He picks himself up, and shakes the wetness from his silky red hair. Running a hand through the auburn locks, Ranma searched for the object that brought this curse upon him. Recognizing the pink towel with the cherry blossom that Akane is always using, Ranma's hands formed into two fists.

Out by the front gate, a very feminine voice could be heard screeching out three very unladylike words – "DAMN YOU, AKANE!!!!!"

~*~*~ Usagi and Akane ~*~*~

"Oh my goodness. . ." Usagi's eyes widened when she heard someone call out the name of her new friend. She cautiously scanned around for the perpetrator. Focusing on her eyes on a red-head stomping towards them, Usagi wondered if this strange girl is related to Akane.

"Um. . . I think your sister is annoyed," she whispers to the short-haired girl in front of her. Akane had been busy speaking to her father about their visitor, so she didn't notice the arrival of her fiancé. Now, hearing Usagi's warning, she turns to look at the stunned redhead.

"Shut up, Ran-. . ." she stopped glowering when she noticed the shocked expression on Ranma's face. What is going on now? He seemed to be spellbound by the beauty of Usagi. She felt jealous rise inside of her, and she yanked on Ranma's pig-tail. "You better treat our guest nicely. She will be staying with us for a couple of months, and I don't want you to get her any trouble."

She would have continued, but she noticed that Ranma no long acknowledged her presence. The "girl" had whispered a single word, "Usagi." Confused, Akane turned to look at the surprised blond.

"Do you know Ran-chan?" She tilted her head to the side, wondering what's going on. And then, she was relieved to hear Usagi's words.

"No. I don't think I've ever seen anyone with such auburn locks. Your hair is so lovely, Ran-chan." Usagi giggled. "I just hope that we will be able to become really good friends." She dropped to form a graceful tradition Japanese bow. Then, she extended her hand to Ranma. "I don't know how you guessed my name. Maybe my hair resembles bunny ears." At that, she laughed, once again. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ran-chan."