****Note: Yes I know that all these characters and more belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. She is a god send to us all!!!
When I Thought I'd Lost You
Ch. 10
"So what you're telling me is that Shampoo had no idea he changed to a girl when she was beaten by him?" said Lotion as she stared at Ranma as Genma splashed him with hot water.
"Yep and actually she'd try to kill me every time she saw me in girl form." said Ranma dripping wet, but now male again.
"That is what it seems Lotion." Cologne agreed. "Even I had no idea at first he was like this. I even tried to use his curse to my advantage and to get him to marry Shampoo, but it didn't work for long."
"So you've given up on trying to help on getting him to marry Shampoo?"
Cologne shrugged. "In a way, I have. I really just left things to Shampoo and let her decide on how she wants to do it. She's the one who had to marry him."
"You say that like it's a bad thing to marry me, Cologne." Ranma cut in.
"Very well, Cologne. I will go along with your decision." Lotion turned to Ranma and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Well young man, I am happy to meet you. We will have to make a meeting with the rest of the elders about you. We must deem if it is appropriate for Shampoo to marry you. This curse of yours...well its so unorthodox...we have to figure out if it accords with the rules." Lotion sighed. "See you later Ranma. Come Cologne, we have to yet to see my son."
Lotion tapped Ranma on the shoulder lightly and then started walking down the sidewalk in the direction they had been heading earlier.
Ranma sidestepped beside Cologne and whispered in her direction. " Are you going to see Mousse?" Cologne shook her head yes, yet kept watching the figure of Lotion walking ahead of her. Ranma scratched the back of his head nervously and coughed.
"Well...you know...Akane and I...we kind of found them asleep...together...this morning in his bed."
"I thought something like that would happen. Shampoo didn't come back last night and I assumed something happened."
"So then how is she gonna react if she sees them 'together'?"
"Honestly Ranma, I don't know. She could be outraged or she could be overjoyed."
"And since she doesn't know about their curses either?"
"It's hard to tell. She'll probably react ten times as worse as she did with you. Lotion is very adamant with her feelings."
"Good luck."
Cologne nodded back at Ranma and quickly headed off to catch up with Lotion. Cologne redirected her to turn left at the corner where she had been hesitating and then they were on the way to the hospital and towards Mousse.
Shampoo sprinted ahead and quickly closed the gap between her and Mousse. Knowing that he was still weakened, she didn't put all her effort into it, but ran as one would do when training at a paced rhythm. She laughed as she ran and smiled brightly at Mousse when he looked back at her, also smiling.
Nearing the trees, Shampoo sped up, determined to beat Mousse. Just as she was about to slow down and announce her victory, her foot caught on a root jutting out from the ground and she toppled to the ground. Mousse had been right behind her and thus, was knocked down to the ground also. They laughed at themselves as they tumbled on the grass until their momentum stopped. Still laughing, Shampoo lay on her back on the ground and Mousse was holding himself above her with his arms.
"Well, that was enlivening. I hope I didn't pull any stitches." Mousse said as he sat back and felt his chest.
"Sorry about that. I've never fallen before just from running." Shampoo said as she rubbed her head.
"Well nothing feels out of place. Doesn't matter if its never happened to you before. It just happens. Didn't it feel like we were kids though?"
"Yeah, it's like we're three again."
Mousse then grinned a wicked smirk as he remembered their childhood. "But now Shampoo, I must serve punishment!"
"What are you talking about? Punishment for what?" Shampoo said as she grinned back at him.
"For making me fall and stopping me from winning." Mousse said as flexed his fingers.
"How're you gonna do that?" Shampoo snickered.
"Like we used to do when we were kids. Remember?" He said raising an eyebrow in mischievousness.
"You've got to be kidding, Mousse! Thats a kid's punishment!"
"Doesn't matter, its still fun!" Mousse grinned. "Now, Divine Retribution Tickling!"
Shampoo screeched with laughter as Mousse began to tickle her wildly. Moving from her sides, under her arms, her stomach, and to a secret spot, behind her neck. Mousse laughed as he tickled Shampoo and as she tried to push him away. It felt as if they were kids again, playing together in the fields, not having a care in the world, nor a thought to the troubles they would have in the future. Shampoo tried to fight back against Mousse as she laughed uncontrollably, yet he was too quick to be stopped by her.
"St-stop it Mousse!," Shampoo managed to blurt out between bursts of laughter.
Mousse smiled wickedly as he didn't stop his tickling. "You have to say the words!"
"MU-TSU!"
Mousse paused for a moment and looked down at Shampoo. "Did you say that?"
Shampoo shook her head 'no.'
"Then who did?" Mousse turned around to find the owner of the voice that had called out his name. As soon as he saw the person behind him, he stumbled back and felt his throat choke up.
"M-m-mother!"
Behind them stood the very upset Lotion, her eyes nearly on fire with anger and her arms crossed tighter than barbed wire. Behind her stood Cologne, not angered, but very astonished from the earlier scene.
Shampoo scrambled up from her position on the ground and helped Mousse to stand up.
"Elder Lotion, it's a surprise to see you!" Shampoo said as she held up the gawking Mousse beside her. Seeing him out from the corner of her eye, she stomped down on his foot to pull him out of the initial shock he was in.
"Ah, um, y-yes. It's good to see you again Mother." Mousse bowed slightly as he didn't know what else to do.
"Well I'm glad to see that you're happy to see me, but why was it that I had to find you two like...like that?!" Lotion seethed at the two and pointed a finger from them to the ground.
Mousse and Shampoo exchanged glances between them for a moment before turning back to Lotion.
"Mother, we have to tell you something important."
"Well then, out with it, out with it! I don't have all day!"
Mousse gripped Shampoo's hand and smiled at her before turning to Lotion. "I love Shampoo, Mother."
Lotion rolled her eyes and turned her back to the pair. "Oh you've been saying that since you were three, Mousse! What else is there for you to tell me?"
"Elder Lotion, I-I love him too." Shampoo said as she stepped closer to Mousse.
"You WHAT?!" Lotion spun around to glare at Shampoo, "How could you love him? You have to marry that...that man Ranma!"
"But I don't want to anymore, Elder Lotion! Even Great-Grandmother can see that! Anyway, he already has a girl to marry that he loves!"
"That doesn't matter! He beat you in combat and you have to follow tribe rules! There is no questioning the elders!"
"MOTHER! JUST STOP AND LISTEN TO US!" Mousse yelled at Lotion.
Lotion stepped back, aghast at the sudden outburst from her son.
"Mousse-you've never raised your voice to me before, what has happened to you?"
"That's because I never had the courage and a real reason to, but now I've made a promise to Shampoo. I'm not gonna let you have your way this time Mother!" Mousse then took a deep breath and stared straight at his mother. "I don't care what you say, I promised I wouldn't leave her."
Shampoo blinked in surprise. He was standing up to his mother and nonetheless an elder? For her? She smiled as she watched him stand defensively in front of her. Why hadn't she seen how he really was before now?
Lotion was still a little speechless from the sudden words by Mousse as she kept clutching her hand on a part of her robe. She would open her mouth to say something, but closed it as if the words suddenly had no meaning to her.
"Um,...well then...if you believe that much in yourself, I will talk to the elders about this and then we will see what lies ahead for you two. Do NOT get your hopes up! The elders do not look kindly upon those that go against the rules set by them." Lotion stared at the defensive Mousse for another silent moment before quickly turning around and walking off. Cologne looked at the pair and shook her head approvingly at them before chasing after the rapidly moving Lotion.
Mousse let out the breath he had been holding the whole time and dropped down to his knees on the ground.
"Mousse!" Shampoo said worriedly, kneeling beside him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Mousse said shaking his head with relief. "It's just that standing up to my mother was the hardest thing to do, especially with her fuming at us the way she was. I don't know if it was the right thing to do, you know. She could turn all the elders against us."
"Not all the elders," Shampoo said as she helped Mousse to stand up again. She looked over to where the small form of Cologne could be seen behind Lotion. "We still have Great-grandmother to help us out."
Mousse and Shampoo then started walking back to the hospital doors.
"What makes you think that she would help us out and stand against another elder?"
Shampoo looked at Mousse and grabbed his hand. "Because I think that she knew I loved you before I even knew I did. She didn't push me to go after Ranma for the past few months and she even stopped calling him 'son-in-law.' I don't know if she noticed that I recognized that. It confused me for a while, but I understand now."
"You changed too, you know."
"What are you talking about? I didn't change a bit"
"Oh, really? Then why was it that whenever you weren't talking about Ranma and hanging around me, when some one would question you about it, you'd get angry?"
"I did not!" Shampoo said as she crossed her arms resentfully and turned her head away from him.
"Come on, every time you'd chase after Ranma like there was nothing left to loose and hang on to him as if it were a life and death situation. I know thats more than different from your usual antics to get Ranma. You'd hardly ever spend all your time with him unless you thought that you could get something from it."
Shampoo looked back at Mousse, apparently a little shocked by his words as she stared at him with wide eyes. "I really acted like that?"
He nodded with a glint of humor in his eyes. Let it be her to be the last to see how she really acted. Nearing the hospital doors, Mousse opened one for Shampoo and walked in behind her. Arriving on his floor, the nurse from that morning came racing down the corridor towards him.
"My goodness!" she said as soon as she was in hearing distance, "I've been looking everywhere for you and...Oh my Kami! Just what have you been doing? You're dirtier than a child in a mud puddle!"
She stared at the dirt splotches Mousse and Shampoo had all over their faces and clothes. They then just started to realize their blemishes and blushed a little with embarrassment.
"Oh well, we were outside and kind of fell down while racing. I guess we didn't realize how dirty we really were."
"I'd say! My goodness, how am I gonna get you cleaned up before the doctor comes in to give you a final visit?" She said as she grabbed Mousse's arm and started to literally tote him back to his room, Shampoo following close behind.
"A final visit?"
"Yes, my boy, a final visit. If you had stayed around, you would have learned that your tests turned out okay and all you had to have for your release was one last visit by the doctor. Now then," she stopped at his room and pushed him into the bathroom located there, "Get cleaned up quick and I'll bring another set of clothes for you to wear."
Lotion had been walking at full speed since she had turned away from Mousse. Nearing a park, she sat down on a bench and put her head in her hands. Cologne caught up to her and sat down as well.
"Lotion? Something ail you?"
"No, nothing's wrong with me Cologne. It's just... Mousse has never stood against me. I was so shocked that he would stand up for Shampoo like that. I never thought..." Lotion sat up and stared out into the park, eyes filled with distress.
"Love changes many things in a man's heart and mind."
"I've always known he was in love with Shampoo. Geez, since he was three he's been saying that, but for her to say it...I just..."
"Blew your top?"
"Yes, I guess I did, didn't I? I could have stayed there and kept yelling at them, but Mousse said something that made me think."
"What was that?"
"He said that he promised Shampoo he wouldn't leave her."
"And that affects you how?"
"It made me remember a promise I made to him long ago...I promised him when he was six that...that he could marry Shampoo when he could stand up for her."
"I see..."
"I never really thought that he would ever get her to love him back."
"He grew on her, Lotion. Have you forgotten how you met Mousse's father?"
Lotion leaned back in the bench, a small smile upon her lips. "I never pass a day without thinking about him. The first day I met Tonic, I hated him. A captive from another village, a male, and eyes as bad as badger's, he was so pitiful I visited him all the time just to mock him. He just took it all in stride and listened to me as I prattled on to him of all his bad qualities. Sat there and stared at me with those green eyes everyday for a year at least. Then one day he isn't there, a villager had bought him as a slave. I run home crying to my mother about it and I find him there, waiting for me. I nearly knock him over, I'm so overjoyed to see him. Turns out my mother had bought him. I never let him leave my side after that day. Three months later, I'm pregnant with Mousse." Lotion sighed deeply in recollection.
"So he grew on you throughout all that time, like Mousse grew on Shampoo all these years. She couldn't see living around here without him another day. I know she felt that, I could see it in her eyes. When he was in a coma, she was there for him nearly everyday. The son takes after the mother."
"Cologne, I was actually scared that I would lose my son like I lost Tonic. Mousse wasn't even two years old before... before Tonic died from some unknown disease. If I hadn't had Mousse, I would have joined him in death. I loved him so much."
"So now you know how they feel for each other. Don't try to keep that from them."
"That's up for rest of the elders to decide. You know that! Two elders don't really make much of an impact on the whole group's decision."
"But at least it's two more voices for them and not against them. Though I feel that there is something else that I should tell you about them."
"What is it?" Lotion looked over at Cologne, confused.
"You remember how Ranma had a curse? Change from boy to girl and back?"
"Yes, what about it?"
"I don't know how to phrase it any better, so here...Shampoo and Mousse also have curses." Cologne paused to await a rant or scream emit from Lotion, yet she did not.
"Do they...turn to the opposite sex?" Lotion's eyebrow twitched.
"Oh, no, no...they don't turn into that."
"Oh good then...so what do they turn into?"
"Mousse changes into a duck and Shampoo changes to a cat."
"A duck...and a cat?"
"Exactly...does that bother you?"
"No, I guess it shouldn't bother me, should it?" Lotion smiled at Cologne, yet the corners trembled lightly. "I mean he is my son after all and with some luck Shampoo will be my daughter. I just won't look at roast duck the same way again." The two stared at each other, eyes dancing with nervousness and the knowledge the years had given them. They smiled and then they simultaneously broke out into laughter that rang clearly across the neighborhood.
***** Hello Hello Again! Thanks To You All Who's Read and Reviewed!!!!!
People, I am loving the reviews! I nearly shriek in happiness every time I read a new one! AS of for the tickling, I always hear 'Divine Retribution' in anime and thought it worked well for the spot. Wanted to have a cute place with them in it together, bringing out some parts of their past back into the relationship. Like it?
I also wanted to put in a little sentimental spot about Mousse's parents and I think it really worked out well. Made me sigh in sadness for Lotion. Next chapter, the elders will show up and decide their fate. Again thanks and stay tuned for another chapter soon!
^_^ (\/) cyancat