Note: Yes I know that all these characters and more belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. She is a godsend to us all!!!
When I Thought I'd Lost You
Ch. 12
Shampoo's History
What Happened Before:
The front door shot open, startling everyone inside the store, to unveil a shadow in the storm's rain. Lighting flashed behind the figure once and it was almost as if the lighting had been called forth, the figure seemed so menacing. Pomade instantly knew who it was and a malevolent grin spread across her face and she sat down in her seat again.
"Hello, Xian Pu, High Elders,... Mu Tsu." the figure said with a tone of resentment not well hidden behind his accent.
The figure then stepped inside and revealed a young man, wearing a malicious grin on his face. The boy stood nearly five and a half feet tall, dwarfing some in the room. His hair, black with a deep tint of dark red, was short and cut close to his head. He wore a long sleeveless teal robe, with a split on both sides starting at the torso, along with pair of dark blue shirt and pants that were the same style of Ranma's. He had an orange wrap around his waist that trailed behind him and which holstered a pair of three-pronged sai.
Shampoo stared at the boy for a moment, not wanting to see what was before her. Stepping back, she exclaimed, "Xon...Xon Na! What are you doing here?!"
"Toner! What're you doing here?!" Mousse yelled at the boy who stood in the doorway, bordered by the storm behind him. Mousse quickly placed himself in front of Shampoo, hoping to shield her somehow. He knew that this wasn't going to end happily.
Toner laughed haughtily at Mousse's words and then suddenly stopped, smiling devilishly at Shampoo for a second before looking back into Mousse's fuming eyes. "Me? You dare ask me why I'm here? The disgraceful being that you are is nothing compared to the warrior that I am!"
As Toner slowly advanced upon the elders table, Mousse and Shampoo slowly moved away from him. He exchanged a look with Pomade before spiraling around once more to stare down at Mousse and Shampoo. "For your information, I'm here to take Shampoo as my wife!"
The silence stood thick in the room, hanging on everyone's shoulders like Atlas grasping the world. No one could believe what he had just said. That is, everyone but Shampoo. As soon as she had seen Toner, that one instant of time, she had known instantly why he was here and now she didn't want to face it. Everything was just beginning to become right again and her life was becoming normal for once in so many years. Why did he have to show up? Why did this have to happen now?
Shampoo stared down at the ground, feeling her anger and fear beginning to grow in the pit of her stomach. For some reason, she couldn't yell. She couldn't scream at him, couldn't hit him, she couldn't do anything…nothing but feel her body overcome with fear. Slowly she dropped to her knees and clasped her head tightly. Mousse didn't notice Shampoo fall to her knees, he was too caught up in the fight he had with Toner, both shooting menacing glares at each other. It wasn't until he noticed Tonic glance down to the floor quickly and then sneer happily to himself. Forcefully Mousse tore his eyes away from Tonic and looked back behind him.
Shampoo knelt upon the floor, her body rocking back and forth unconsciously as she gripped her head tight, knuckles turning white with the pressure. Without another second passing, he was immediately at her side.
"Shampoo?" Mousse asked, eyes searching for a reason why she was acting this way. He placed his hands on her shoulders and pulled her close, looking up once to glare at Tonic. He did something to Shampoo, he must of done something that would cause her this much pain. He would make Toner talk, he would make him talk if it was—
"I never agreed…"
Abruptly Mousse stopped fuming as he heard Shampoo mumble against him, his ears perking to catch every word. He glanced down and realized tears were flowing down her cheeks.
"That isn't possible. That isn't possible! I never agreed. I never agreed to that!" Shampoo cried, her voice straining with every word.
Mousse could only stare at Shampoo, not understanding her words at all. He was just about to stand and make Tonic tell him what was going on, but Shampoo beat him to it as she screamed out into the room. "I never agreed that day to marry you Toner!! I don't care what you say, I won't marry you!"
Flashback
"Shampoo, stand still for a moment!" Her mother said, trying to straighten the 8 yr old's clothes. "You must be perfect before you see Elder Pomade."
"But Mommy, I don't wanna. She scares me and…and Toner never wants to play with me!" Shampoo pouted, sticking out her bottom lip in a last minute plea for pity. "Can't I go and play with Mousse instead?"
"No you can not! Pomade just wants to ask you a few questions. It won't be that bad. It's for the good of the village anyway." Her mother ran a hand over Shampoo's long purple tresses, settling a few stray hairs. "Pomade is to see if you will become a good elder when you're older. You just answer her truthfully and it'll be done before you know it. Alright?"
"Okay, Mommy. But I still don't like her."
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
"Shampoo, my child, do come in!" Pomade exclaimed with a smile at the young girl who stood alone outside her home.
Shampoo timidly walked inside, following Pomade's orders and sat down on a pad meant for children. Pomade settled herself as well across from her, yet still smiling broadly at Shampoo.
"Well, my dear. I have some questions for you. Understand what they are for?"
Shampoo swallowed hard. "Yes, Elder Pomade."
"Good, good. First of all, I have been hearing of your talents in class. How strong do you think you are as an Amazon warrior?"
Shampoo hesitated a moment before replying. "Well, I'm stronger than any of the high class students here and once I even beat the master, but… it was a lucky shot. I know when I'm older though, I'll be the strongest warrior ever!"
Pomade smiled at this, but something other than excitement flashed behind her eyes. "I'm happy to hear that my dear child. Do you intend to have a husband when you are the best warrior ever?"
"A husband? I-I guess so… I want to have a baby of my own someday, so I guess I should have one to help take care of it."
Pomade chuckled at the girl's answer. "Well, then, should he be as strong as you?"
"Oh yes. A weak husband isn't really worth keeping around."
"I see, so… Is there any boy here that may be as strong as you?"
"I don't know. I've never practiced with the boys since we aren't allowed to even spar together." Geez, Shampoo thought, didn't she know the rules between teaching boys and girls and how they must never train together?
"Well then, how about you spar with Toner and see for yourself how strong he is?
Shampoo was appalled at such words. How could she even come up with such an idea? "You want me to fight with Toner?"
"Yes, I would like to see if his training is paying off. Don't worry my dear, you won't get in trouble for this. You can even fight in my private arena. Okay?"
"Well, if you want me to… I guess I can." Shampoo said meekly, still not understanding where this was going.
2 hrs later - - - -
Shampoo lay on the ground panting hard from the overstressing fight that she had just lost. Yes, lost. Toner stood above her, holding a sai to her throat, stopping any and all action from her. There was suddenly clapping from behind them and both turned their heads to see Pomade walking toward them from the darkness of the sidelines. There was an unnatural gleeful look upon her face. Toner stepped away from Shampoo and holstered his sai.
"Very good my dear. Up till the last moment, I thought Toner would lose for sure. You have done very well. Toner," Pomade addressed her son. "Go home and get ready for our guests tonight."
Toner nodded and walked silently away into the dark shadows. Pomade held out her hand, taking Shampoo's and helped the young girl up. Yet still the gleeful look was upon her face, which now was beginning to scare Shampoo.
"Now my dear, I have a proposition for you. I won't tell anyone about this fight if you do something for me."
"What would that be, Elder?"
"Agree that when you are old enough and strong enough, you will marry Toner and take him as your husband."
Shampoo stared wide-eyed at the Elder before her. She wouldn't tell if she did what?!
"Come, come now darling. I don't think you want the WHOLE village to know that you lost to a boy in a sparring fight. You're supposed to be the best! What would your mother think if she found out? I don't think you want that hanging around you. But if you agree to marry Toner when you're older, this will stay between the three of us. Okay?"
Feeling tears forcing their way out of her eyes and without a second look behind her, Shampoo sprinted out of the arena and ran home as fast as her legs could carry her. Pomade watched her go, not the least bit surprised by the little girls reaction.
"Did she agree, mother?" came a voice from behind her.
Pomade sighed lightly. "Not with words. Though, I know she won't tell anyone she lost to you, so subliminally she has agreed to it. You did a good job, my son." Pomade turned and looked at her son, his face stoic and serious, nothing at all which a child's should look like. "Step 3 of my plan to take over the Elder Council is complete. When you and Shampoo marry, I will place the subduing spell over her. Once we have control over her, both of you will take out the council, one by one until there is only I! Then only I will rule over the Amazons as they really should be, by FORCE!"
Pomade began to laugh loudly and was soon joined by Toner, their laughter ringing through the empty arena, as Shampoo ran home with tears staining her cheeks and a dark secret inside her heart.
End Flashback
"Toner! You have no right being here! You are not wanted!" Mousse said as he stood up and advanced toward Toner. "You see that she doesn't want anything to do with you so leave immediately!" Mousse stopped a few feet before Toner, both locked in another staring clash.
"Me? Leave? Why I just got here and it would be so rude not to say hello to my own mother. Or would you like to settle this outside, just between us?"
Lotion abruptly stood up, her chair scraping against the floor. Slamming her hands down upon the table, Lotion couldn't take the fighting anymore. "Just a second! Toner, you had no right to even be here at this meeting and what is this of making Shampoo your wife? There was never a decision of the council on that matter!" The other elders nodded in agreement and began to whisper among themselves.
"Oh calm down dearie." Pomade replied while picking at her fingernails and lounging back in her chair. "I told him that I was coming here and he wanted to come along. Besides Shampoo, Toner, and I have had an agreement about the marriage since she was a child. Don't worry about it."
"And just when were you going to tell us about this 'agreement' Pomade?" Lotion yelled, feeling her own anger rise. "Even so, it seems that Shampoo doesn't even have the same feelings about it as you do."
"Tell you? Come now, as long as one of us okays it, it should be a done deal. And her feelings, it doesn't really matter. We made an agreement and that's all there is to it. Toner will marry Shampoo and that will be the end of it."
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Mousse retorted, brushing past Toner and stepped in front of Pomade. "I…We have gone through too much for you to say that will be the end of it! If Shampoo is going to marry anyone, it'll be me! Now, I don't know what happened in your little 'agreement' but we're canceling it now!"
Pomade's eyes would have shot daggers if they could as she looked at Mousse. He was not going to destroy all her plans she had worked so hard on! Not now, not ever! "Fine, you think you're so high and mighty, let's find out. Our agreement was made after Shampoo lost a fight to Toner, so lets make it that again. You want Shampoo? Then fight for her against Toner. Mind you, he is the best and he has even gotten stronger since he fought with Shampoo. He's no weakling like you!"
Shampoo's head shot up at Pomade's words. Mousse fight Toner? No, he couldn't do that now! Not so soon after what just happened to him. He could get sick again!
Mousse slammed his fist upon the table. "Fine by me! I'll take him on, whenever you want. If it'll stop your incessant prattling about your little agreement, then I'll do it."
"Still don't think before you act, don't you Mousse?" Toner laughed as Mousse turned toward him. "You still think that you can beat me? Tell me, were you even able to beat your master back at the village before you left? I ask because if that's all you know, it'll be easy to defeat you. That old man was a waste of energy. How effortless it was to win over that man. A Master of the Hidden Weapons Technique? Yeah, right."
"If you're gonna fight him, you've gotta fight me too!" yelled a voice from behind Toner. He turned to find the owner and was confronted with a lot of angry faces.
"And who might you be? Some of the local yokels?" Toner commented.
Ranma and Ryoga stepped out from the shadows of the room. It had almost seemed as if they had been forgotten in the clash between Toner and Mousse. Ranma stalked up towards Toner, a fire in his eyes. "Now you shut up! Come in here acting like you're better than everyone. Well you're not! If you even want to fight Mousse, you've gotta go through me first!"
"How dare you even set foot in Japan! You are not a man worthy of any woman's love, much less Shampoo's." Ryoga criticized as he stood beside Ranma. "Any man that commands such an atrocity is a ruffian and lower than dirt. You want a fight? You got one with me!"
"Guys, I can't let you do that." Mousse placed himself between Toner and the two men and placed a hand upon both of their shoulders. "Thanks, but this is my fight. Anyway he won't be satisfied unless he battles with me."
Mousse turned and glared at Toner. "You happy now? You got your fight with me! And I won't be backing down!"
"Of course. I hope that you wouldn't. I won't be that much fun of a trip if I beat you so easily. We meet tomorrow for the fight."
"Fine! Meet me at the lake park and we'll have ourselves a fight!" Mousse yelled back at Toner, his anger rising at his remark. Toner was going too far. And it was going to be his downfall.
Toner smirked once more at the group inside the room before making his exit through the front doors and the dissipating storm.
Everyone was left staring at the doors, still contemplating everything that had happened so quickly. Mousse sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He hoped that he hadn't put himself into something that he would regret. He looked over his shoulder and found Shampoo still crying, but with Ukyo and Akane trying their best to comfort her.
"Mousse, I…," Lotion spoke, uneasy at what to say to her son. He turned at the sound of her voice. She saw him force a smile upon his face and knew that even he was worried about what the consequences of tomorrow would be.
"Mother, I'll do my best. You can count on it, but if I were to lose…please watch over her. I won't return to the village with you. I wouldn't be able to stand it. Just promise me you'll watch over her, please?"
Lotion shook her head in agreement. She didn't dare say it for fear that it may come true. She watched with a pained heart as Mousse walked over to Shampoo. She stood up with him, but he held her tightly in his arms and the pair walked into the back of the café in silence.
Pomade looked around at the room, stagnant with unease and fear, drinking it all in like a flower to the morning light.
"Well, that was exciting, wasn't it?!" She said enthusiastically. This earned a death glare from every one in the room, even from blind Elder Polish.
"Shampoo, this isn't like you to cry." Mousse said as he ran a hand across her cheek, brushing away a tear with his thumb. They now sat in Shampoo's room, the best place he figured for them to be at this moment. Shampoo was still crying and he couldn't figure out why. "Please let me see you smile once more. I hate to see you cry like this."
Shampoo sniffled once and looked up at him. "Oh, Mousse. I wish I could but every time I think about Toner coming here, I-I-I can't help it…" She said as the tears flooded her eyes once more.
"Then don't think about it." Mousse said as he tightly hugged her against him. "Think about how you used to hit me all the time and how happy a life we'll have in the future. Just don't think about him or that arrogant mother of his."
Shampoo buried her tear-stained face in the folds of his robe and clutched her arms around him. "I'm sorry Mousse, I'm so sorry. I should have swallowed my pride back then. We wouldn't have to go through this now if I had just done that!"
Mousse sighed once as he rubbed her back, trying his best to calm her. "I don't care about what happened in the past between Toner and you. For all I care, its nothing now. I love you and I finally know that you love me too. I'll do anything to keep Toner away from you."
"But, but what about your chest?"
"What about it? I'm healed now. There's nothing else to say about it."
Shampoo jerked her head up to look at Mousse in shock. "But you could get hurt again! Toner could open the wound. Your stitches haven't even been taken out yet!"
Mousse was at a loss for words. Yes, he had thought of that already. He just didn't want to face the reality that it might actually happen to him.
"It's always my fault whenever you get hurt." Shampoo cried as she stared up into his blue-gray eyes. "First the tumor and now Toner! All this happens because of me and at times I think I don't even deserve to be near you."
"No, its me that doesn't deserve you, Shampoo!" Mousse placed a hand against her face, feeling her tremble. She blinked her violet eyes, trying to rid herself of the tears that had been building up. "You're the most beautiful girl I've ever known and I've loved you since we were young. What happened to me, well it happened and there is no way in knowing whose fault it was. If its anyone's fault, it was me and not going to a doctor when I started to feel pain, alright? You had nothing to do with this, save for giving me a reason to keep living. I'll always love you, no matter what happens. Just remember that tomorrow and there's no way that I can lose."
Shampoo sighed heavily and leaned against Mousse, but never broke eye contact with him. "I will, but if you lose, I'll never forgive you for it."
Shampoo's reached up with her trembling hands and touched his face, tracing her fingers down his strong jaw line to the curve of his chin. Without another moment she kissed him deeply, her lips telling him just how she felt mixed with the taste of her salty tears.
OH MY GOD! DID I FINALLY ADD ANOTHER CHAPTER TO THIS STORY? I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!
Anyway, thanks to all who stuck around and waited for another chapter. Hopefully there will only be two more chaps, the end and then an epilogue. I just love writing epilogues, don't you? Please read my other story and review it if you haven't already.
Watch out soon. I will be posting a challenge to all you people out there, so look out for it!
Thanks!!!!!!! No Triple Thanx!!!!!
Cyancat (/)