Disclaimer: See parts 1 - 2.

Summary: Thanks to Genma's laziness, Ryouga is stuck as Girl when hit with hot water and as a pig with cold water. Now she lives with the Tendo's and Saotome's, hoping to find a cure for both her curses or at least to be rid of the pig. The Chinese Amazon Mousse has shown up, and declared that he and Ryouga are engaged.

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Ranma and Ryouga-chan?

Part VI

In China It Happened Part I

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Ryouga blinked her eyes and felt the rice cracker fall from her hands. Here was someone that she thought she would never see again. Someone she had actually thought would… rapidly, Ryouga forced her mind away from the memories and focused on the now. "Mousse, you… How?" Memories of standing in a clearing and feeling the gentle hold on her shoulders as…

Mousse stared into her soft hazel green eyes and smiled gently, "You have no idea how long it took me to find you." Around them, most of the students had gone silent. Even Akane was staring at the scene with an unbelieving look on her face. Slowly, Mousse wrapped his arms around Ryouga and tilted his head to rest on top of hers. The crowd faded away as flowers started blooming in the background.  Somewhere, someone started to play a slow and very romantic tune.  My beloved Fire… Mousse mumbled as he titled Ryouga's head up.

"HOLD IT!!"

The flowers vanished and the sound of a violin breaking could be heard. Mousse and Ryouga turned to the right and stared at a very green-faced Akane Tendo pointing a finger at them "Ryouga… What… That's it! We need to talk…" Mousse blinked his eyes as Akane grabbed them both and dragged them away from the others. "You two better have a good explanation for this!" Life returned to the schoolyard as the trio vanished from it.

Dropping the two onto the ground, Akane turned and stared at them. "Okay… Mousse, Ryouga, start talking. What was that all about?" Akane crossed her arms as she sat down. Turning to Ryouga, she shot a glare at her. "Does he know about, you know what?"

Mousse calmly removed his glasses and started wiping them. "Of course I know. She fell into the Heitouenniichuan at Jusenkyo and was later dropped into a pot of boiling water from the Nyanniichuan." Looking at the way Akane blinked at him, he sighed "I know she was a boy once, but it doesn't matter to me." 

Ryouga blushed and looked away from them. She had hoped that this moment would never come, but now it had, and there was no way out; she had to tell someone what had happened back in China. "Akane-san, do you want to know what happened in China, after I had fallen in the spring?" At Akane's nod, she grimaced. "It all started the day after the incident at Jusenkyo…" Ryouga's eyes got a far away look in them.

+++++++++++Flashback+++++++++++

"Damn you world!" A loud crash followed the scream as a tree was destroyed by a clenched fist. At the end of the arm to which the fist was attached, a black haired girl with a gray headband snarled. Glowing with an aura of pure anger, she looked to the left and slammed her fist into yet another tree. Feeling the bark crumble from it gave her a short feeling of happiness.

Groaning, the tree toppled over and tore down through the branches of a few other trees. Curing into a ball in the center of the destruction, Ryouga began to cry. It wasn't fair, why did it have to be him? Why did the world have it in for him? Couldn't it just leave him alone? What had he done to deserve this?  

Standing up, he snarled through his tears and lashed out again. Hammering a hand through one of the fallen trees. As the tree split in half, he ripped up one half of it and tossed it through the air "ARRRRRGGGGGGGGG" The ground shook as his fist implanted into it. A cloud of dust rose up and coved the area.

The he tore out through it and continued to run away. He had been running since he woke up, trying to wake up from this nightmare. All he had to do was wake up and continue his quest for Ranma. He would find him and beat him. Pushing through a bush he stepped out into a large clearing.

Stopping, he reached up a hand towards his head. Feeling each of the cuts and bruises that were starting to form from running through a forest with closed eyes. What unnerved him most was the feeling he had gotten each time a branch or bush had hit him in the chest. He was a guy. Guys didn't have breasts.

His eyes began to tear up as he looked down at the two mounds straining the stained black T-shirt. Taking a step forward, he grumbled as the fabric moved over them in a way it shouldn't have. Stopping, he looked up from his body to a large boulder near the other end of the clearing. "I'll wake up! It has to be a dream, it has to!" Crouching and ignoring the feelings going through his body, he stormed forward and ran straight into the boulder.  Standing still for a second, he suddenly stepped back and grimaced "That hurt!" Looking even more miserable then ever, he closed his eyes. "It's not a dream…" Slowly, he fell backwards onto the ground as darkness filled his vision.

Who is she?

I don't know. She's not from around here. You think she's from the Musk?"

Ryouga opened her eyes and stared up into the air. Everything was fading in and out of darkness. Suddenly, what looked like a green blur popped up in his field of vision. Damn, his body hurt all over. Falling back down, his eyes closed again as he slipped back into unconsciousness.

Quick, grab her legs, maybe the elder can tell us who she is.

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The world blurred into place, Ryouga opened his eyes. A lone lamp dangled in the air over him, strings with colored glass pearls and other decorations moved in the faint breeze casting light around the room. Focusing more on his surroundings, Ryouga noticed the blanket lying on him, and the sound of feet moving across the floor.

Looking around he spotted a few decorations and drawings hanging on the wall. Lifting an arm to move the blanket, Ryouga grimaced as a sharp pain went through it. Moving the thick fabric completely aside, Ryouga lie for a short while and simply looked up at the ceiling of the room. After the pain from the movement went away, he rolled over and placed one foot onto the floor winching in pain, as several sore areas made themselves known to him.

It took him a full five minutes to make it over to the door, mostly due to the pain shooting through him. Reaching the blessed hole in the wall, he pulled the pearl covered strings aside and looked into the next room. Three girls, two a little younger then him and someone his own age, were standing in the center of the room going through a simple kata.

Xian Puu how many times do I have to tell you not to practice indoors? A voice barked from the other side of the room. Slowly, an old lady hanging onto the side of a staff jumped into view. She stared at the elder girl with the long purple hair as she rapped her staff on the girl's heads. You're giving Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung bad ideas. Pointing her staff on the door she grinned. And you girl, don't stand there, come out here. It's rude to spy on other people.

Ryouga gulped as the 3 girls spun around to stare at him. Slowly slipping out into the light of the room, he ducked at the dark glare the purple haired girl shot him, while the other two had a look of curiosity. The old lade tapped her staff on the ground and looked him up and down, judging him.  Moving a hand up to scratch his head in embarrassment, he flinched when he felt the longer hair he had now.

The old lady chuckled and jumped closer "I'm Cologne, an elder of the Joketsuzoku. So, do you have a name?" The look in Cologne's eyes was full of barely hidden laughter as she regarded Ryouga from the top of her staff. 

Taking a step back, Ryouga bowed. "Ryouga Hibiki" Standing up, he looked down at the elder. "Thank you for helping me."

Cologne looked up at him "You're welcome" Jumping over to a small table she looked back at him. "Will you join me for a cup of tea?" Turning her gaze to Shampoo, Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung, she added "Go practice outside, I want to talk with this one alone." The 3 girls grumbled as the left the room. Picking up a teacup, Cologne tapped a finger on the table. "So Ryouga, care to tell me what happened at Jusenkyo?"

Ryouga gulped and looked at her "Hell! I was cast into Hell there!" Sitting down on the other side of the table he looked down at his hands. "I was looking for my enemy Ranma, when my hunt for him brought me to Jusenkyo." Ryouga eyes took on a far away look as he told his tale.

Cologne looked up from her empty cup and stared at the boy. "So you fell into the spring of downed pig and was later tossed into a pot of hot water from the spring of drowned girl?" Putting her cup down she grinned "Well, its been rare, but I have heard about something like this before." Lifting her staff she looked at him "200 years ago, a young warrior called Ling-Lung went to Jusenkyo to train, while there she fell into the spring of drowned monkey." Cologne seemed to be laughing on the inside "At the time, the guide was gone, so Ling-Lung waited for him in the guides hut. As the night came, she got hungry and began to heat some water to cook with. As the water had begun to heat up the guide returned. Opening the door he freaked at the sight of a monkey inside his home. As he went to chase her out, Ling-Lung dropped the water she had been boiling over them both. When the steam vanished, two young boys were standing in the room."

Ryouga head banged onto the table. "Why couldn't it have been water from that spring the old moron used?" Closing his eyes, he felt like killing a certain old martial artist and using his panda form for wall decoration. "I'll kill him…" Mumbling in a voice full of death, Ryouga decided to send Genma to the nearest hospital when he found him.

Cologne stared down at him and hummed. "Stay here for a while, I'll check the books we have on Jusenkyo for answers." Patting Ryouga's arm she smiled "It could have been worse. At least you other form is human, think about what it would have been like to have two animal curses…" Lifting a hand she looked at him.

Ryouga eyes went small at the words and the sound of wood breaking was heard as his hand clamped down hard, through the table with ease. Lifting his head, he looked slightly green as he thought about it. "I need a moment to think…"

Nodding, Cologne jumped out the door "I'll send someone over with something for you to eat."      

Ryouga stared at the door as it closed behind the elder. Lifting a hand, he stared at it and grumbled. "Just great, my parents are gonna freak." Lifting his head, Ryouga tapped his finger on the table "I gotta find something to do, something to distract me…" Staring around the room didn't help much; the only thing that was worth anything of interest was his backpack leaning against the wall. Jumping up, Ryouga almost tore the backpack open as he rummaged through the contents.

Ryouga looked up from his Lupin III manga when Shampoo entered the hut holding a takeout box. Closing the manga, he followed Shampoo as she put a tablecloth down, and pulled out three bowls of and a teakettle. Having finished setting the table, Shampoo sat down at the table and stared directly at him. Blushing, Ryouga looked away "Um… um…. Um…" Ryouga mumbled as he thought of something to say.

Shampoo yawned as she stared at the stuttering boy who was now a girl. Shampoo shook her head, and looked at the small book that Ryouga had dropped near the edge of the table. Picking it up, she looked through and dropped a second later when she noticed that it was in Japanese. Wanting something, anything to do she looked again at Ryouga. "Nihao, Shampoo"

Ryouga stared as the girl spoke about Shampoo and pointed at herself. Lifting an eye brown he shook his head "Sorry don't have any…" It was true, he had used the last weeks ago, and with his luck in finding a supermarket it would be very long time before he saw another bottle again.

Shampoo stared at Ryouga as he brushed off her introduction. Lifting her hand, she pointed at herself "Shampoo, Shampoo"

Ryouga dropped his hand onto the table and glared at the girl "I told you, I don't have any!"

"SHAMPOO!!"

"I DON'T HAVE ANY!!"

"NO, SHAMPOO!!!"

"LOOK I DON*T HAVE ANY!!!"

It would have become a very messy situation had Cologne not chosen that very moment to enter through the door. Staring at the two glaring teens, both gripping the sides of the table. "Children, what is the problem?" She eyed the empty bottle of herbal shampoo in Ryouga's hand "And why are you waving around a bottle of shampoo?"

Shampoo dropped her hold on the table and stared at her great grandmother The outsider has insulted me. He claims that I sound like a hair care product, I demand revenge!! Crossing her arms, she shot death glares across the table. It would only be a small while before the outsider was eating dirt beneath her foot. {That should teach her a lesson about insulting the soon to be champion of this village…}

Cologne blinked, as Shampoo began giggling, "Yes, so you say that Ryouga here insulted you. How?" twirling her staff she sighed, why was it that these young folks were so difficult, why in her young days things were far more different. Xian Puu, when you said your name in Japanese how did it sound?     

Shampoo looked down at her great grandmother "Shampoo?" Looking at the bottle in Ryouga's hands, she picked it from him and ran her finger over the label on the side "Sham-Poo" Dropping it she grabbed her head I sound like a hair care product in Japanese, I don't believe it… Shampoo sat frozen on the spot not staring at anything.

Ryouga stared back and fourth between the two amazons. "Uh, what's wrong?" Reclaiming his empty bottle of Shampoo, Ryouga dropped it back into his backpack. One never knew if it might come in handy. Looking back at Cologne, he sat down at the table "So did you find anything that could help me?"

Cologne looked up at him as she gulped down her ramen. Putting down her chopsticks she pulled out a book "This is the dairy of Ling-Lung, you should read and try to find some answers in it. She left it behind before she ran away from the village. As for your curses, I don't know. We've never had a reason to cure Jusenkyo curses before, you see we use Jusenkyo as a punishment." 

Ryouga looked down at the small woman "You mean, I may be stuck like this forever?" Dropping his chopsticks Ryouga froze as he grabbed the side of the table "I can't… I gotta find a way… There must be a way." A green glow formed around Ryouga as he mumbled to himself "Stupid Ranma, lucky bastard only stuck half the time. I'm gonna kill that old fathead…" 

It wasn't until Cologne whapped him on the top of his head that he snapped out of it. "Listen boy, there is a cure to everything. It will take some time, but I'm sure we'll find something." Cologne snapped as she pointed at Ryouga's bowl. "You must learn to control your emotions and not let them guide you around."

Nodding, Ryouga picked up the bowl and began to eat again.  He was sure it was a nice dish, but he just couldn't think of anything else but the fact that there might not be a cure. Putting down his empty bowl, he looked down at Cologne. "How come you speak Japanese so well?" He was truly confused. It hadn't been fun to cross through China only knowing the most basic words and sentences in Mandarin and Cantonese

Cologne grinned as she hopped up on her staff "I haven't lived 300 years for nothing." Turning to face Shampoo, she nodded Shampoo, show our guest to one of the rooms. I'll be waiting for you at the main hut. I want to hear about your progress Pogoing out of the room, she crackled in a strange way {Finally, something new around here.}

Both teens sweatdropped and coughed at the cackle. Looking at one another, Ryouga smiled nervously as the amazon girl collected the bowls "Shampoo, right?" As the girl nodded, he grinned. "I'm sorry about before, I didn't mean to… Well you know" Ryouga mumbled as he blushed at the very innocent stare Shampoo were giving him. 

Shampoo shrugged and stood up "Is okay, Shampoo… sorry" Stopping she looked at Ryouga I don't know that much Japanese.  Don't see why I should learn. It's not like I'm going to go to Japan Switching to the mandarin dialect used in the village, she looked at the blank stare Ryouga gave her. "Come with Shampoo"

Ryouga looked around the room they entered. When he had gotten up, he hadn't done that much looking around. It was pleasant and very homey for a guestroom. It clearly outdid the one back at his house. Thinking about the house he sighed. It had been a long time since he had last been home, then again it was not as if there were others there. Only his pet dog Shirokuro, and she was used to being alone most of the time anyway.  

Shampoo looked as Ryouga sat down on the bed and looked at the book her great grandmother had given her. Turning around, she looked back over her shoulder "Shampoo bring Mousse. He speak better" Leaving the room, the decorative cloth functioning as a door fell into place and the room became quiet.

Ryouga dropped back down onto the bed and opened the book. Looking across the pages he grimace "Hey. I can't read this kind of Mandarin…" Looking around as no one answered, he dropped the book onto a small table next to the bed. Lying on his back, he studied the ceiling as the lamp filled the room with a soft glow. Standing up, he put out the lamp and dropped onto the bed. A soft breathing filled the room as Ryouga fell asleep.

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TBC In: In China It Happened part II

An. Remember to review. I feed on reviews. More questions will be answered in the next part of In China It happened. Also check out my homepage I share with Gyzzmo

Until then,

Dak.

Editor's Note: What a surprise… its late again and all my fault to boot. Sorry guys, but the draft got lost somewhere between Dak's computer and my email inbox… I probably accidentally deleted the email. Ah well, hope you enjoyed!

Gyzzmo