Disclaimer: Ranma and all his insane companions are property of Rumiko
Takahashi.
Chapter 7
Shampoo stared out of the door of her hut in mingled apprehension and amazement. He was here. He'd come back for her. A part of her heart leapt at that, perhaps he'd challenge Mousse and win her away from him. Perhaps that was what he was doing, trying to free himself of the kitchen-wrecker. That was, however, the very smallest part of her heart. The rest, which had become twisted and bitter in the year spent back in her tribe, disgraced and nearly friendless, had a much darker celebration. If Ranma was here, Ranma could be made to suffer. He could be made to suffer greatly for what he'd done to her. For the twisting and shattering of her heart.
For the last year, Shampoo had spent the majority of her time training. There was little else to do, she certainly had no intention of keeping house for that idiot Mousse, and she had disgraced herself so she couldn't hold a position of responsibility in the tribe. Sometimes she'd catch glimpses of her so-called husband in the woods, training as well. They never spoke to each other on such occasions, there was no need. The only triumph Shampoo had felt since they left Japan was the triumph of her determination over her body, the strength flowing through her muscles in a way it never had before. In fact, if he'd slacked off just a bit since his marriage to the kitchen-wrecker, she might just be able to beat him.
But before she tried that, she had to seek the council of her Great- Grandmother. After all, Cologne kept track of all the comings and goings in their village. Perhaps she'd even know why Ranma had come. If he'd come to win her, she wouldn't fight him. There would be ways to make him suffer that went so much deeper than the flesh.
-------------------------
Akane awoke to see the somewhat irritated face of Cologne standing over her. She sat up, and was suddenly eye-level with the shrunken old woman. Why. . . . She looked around. Why wasn't Ranma still in the hut? Where had he gone?
"He went to find Mousse. He thinks he can beat him before Shampoo learns you're here," Cologne explained, seeing the direction of her gaze. She held out her hand to Akane, showing the girl the little red pill she held within it. "Eat this," she ordered. Akane looked at it suspiciously.
"What is it?" she asked, not taking it. Cologne sighed.
"One of the many pills my old friend Soap knows how to make. If a pregnant woman takes it, it will protect her womb from all blows. More importantly, once she takes it a red shroud forms over her belly," Cologne explained.
"But I'm not pregnant," Akane protested.
"On the off chance that you might be, take it anyway. Look, if Shampoo does find you but you've got a red shroud over your belly, she'll know what that means and leave you alone. She'll hate it, but she'll leave you alone," Cologne insisted. The logic seemed sound enough to Akane, so she popped the pill in her mouth and swallowed.
"It takes a few minutes to work," Cologne informed her, but Akane didn't hear. She was far too busy staring at the doorway, where Shampoo stood staring just as steadily back at her. She watched the emotions play over the face of the Amazon, shock, anger, and sorrow, followed by an expression so cold and calculating it made Akane shiver. She could almost see Shampoo weighing her options. And she knew just what the Amazon was going to do. She might was well save her the trouble.
"Shampoo, I challenge you," she said steadily, rising to her feet and glaring at the Amazon. Shampoo smiled, a cold little smile. Was she good enough to beat Shampoo? She thought so, at least she was good enough to beat her if she was still just as strong as she was when she left Japan. Eyeing the corded arms, she wasn't so sure that was the case.
They walked out into the street together, wordless but cordial. They took up their stances, watched each other or a moment. Then, with an undulating cry, Shampoo launched herself at Akane.
The fight was joined.
------------------------
The fight was joined, underneath the trees that hid the stars. They were silent in the dark, only their breaths betraying their movements. Ranma and Mousse were using their instincts and extra senses to guide them now, not their sight or hearing. It was easier, just a bit, because both combatants were dripping wet and the water made small noises as it fell when they moved.
Ranma kicked the huge lion's head that belonged to Mousse's new cursed form, and used it as a place to vault off of to dodge the resulting column of flame. Now, when he got wet, Ranma stayed a man. And when Mousse got wet, he became a chimera. The original Chimera, with a lion's head, torso and upper legs, a huge serpents tail for a back end, and half of a goat sticking out of his back. The half with teeth and sharp little hooves. That was nothing, though. The real problem was that he could breathe fire.
The serpents tail lashed out at Ranma, and he jumped over it. If he could just lure Mousse into a spiral pattern. . . He fell back to the ground, stepping around the tail, dodging the huge clawed paws, leading Mousse a merry dance in smaller and smaller circles. At last, he reached the center of the spiral. And hit Mousse with all her had. For a moment, he thought it wasn't going to work, that maybe breathing fire wasn't a good substitute for battle aura after all.
Then, with a frustrated roar, Mousse went flying through the branches of the trees, into the deep indigo sky. Ranma grinned for a moment, basking in the dual warmths of victory and singed clothing. Then he turned and ran back to the Amazon village. With any luck, he and Akane could be out of there before Shampoo even realized they'd come. With any luck.
As he neared the Amazon village, it became perfectly obvious that luck had long since deserted him. Women were gathered in the street, watching a battle that was both loud and incredibly visible, since both combatants were practically steaming battle aura. He stopped, unsure of what to do. Akane was getting plenty of hits in, but it was obvious who was going to win out eventually. Her speed training had come in handy, and he was sure the Amazon had been shocked by Akane's new abilities. But they weren't going to be enough. She was hitting Shampoo but the purple-haired girl didn't seem to be feeling it. Her brute strength was failing her. And no wonder. Shampoo had trained hard enough over the past year to look more like a man with breast implants than a woman.
"So, you beat him?" Cologne asked casually. He glanced down at the old woman standing by his side. He nodded, then dismissed the matter.
"I thought you were supposed to hide her," he said, his voice unnecessarily gruff. He didn't want it to show how helpless he felt. Just then, Shampoo hit Akane in her lower abdomen . . . and her fist seemed to fly back to her as she let out a cry of pain. Ranma looked at Akane closely, there was an odd red tinge to the battle aura around her belly.
"What happened?" he asked Cologne. She smiled at him mischeviously.
"Oh, that was just the result of a little pill I had her take, to protect unborn children," she informed him. He frowned, more than slightly confused.
"Unborn children?" he said slowly. Her grin spread.
"Yeeeeees. See how that red tinge is sort of divided in half? There's a line in the middle of her abdomen where it just isn't red? That," she said with a certain amount of satisfaction, "Means twins."
Ranma stared blankly at her. In fact, he continued to stare blankly at her for the next five minutes, completely missing Mousse's dramatic landing through to roof of a nearby hut. In fact, he almost missed the end of the fight.
Akane kicked Shampoo in the stomach, sending the Amazon back a few feet. Instead of falling backward, she turned the momentum into a cartwheel, from which she launched into the air, flying over Akane and kicking the smaller girl soundly in the temple as she passed. Akane crumpled to the ground.
"Shampoo wins!" Cologne shouted. She nodded toward her great grandchild. "Well done. Now, let this young man collect his pregnant wife," she said calmly, putting quite a bit of emphasis on the word pregnant. Shampoo wasn't listening. It's entirely possible that she didn't even hear.
She glared down at Akane, and raised her hands to continue beating the blood out of her unconcious opponent. Ranma snapped out of his shocked state and began running towards them, now he could interfere and he'd be damned if he'd let her. . . but Mousse was there before he could even reach them. He towered over his wife, glowering down at her.
Shampoo yelled something at him in Chinese, to which he roared in response and gestured with a rather large, furry paw back toward their hut. She shook her head violently. He roared again, flames spurting out of his gaping maw. This time, she did as she was told and stalked away from the "battlefield," with all the righteous indignation of a woman who's been told to hike her fanny home.
---------------------
She stayed curled in the deepest shadows of the darkened hut. He'd be coming back, her husband. He would come back with the knowledge that she'd tried to replace him. And still, still she was sure he'd want her. That was the wonderful and terrible thing about Mousse. He was always there, whether she needed him or not. She'd come to count on it since their marriage. She always told him to leave, not to look at her, not to touch her. But when all was said and done, she was secretly grateful he was there. There to beat up when she'd had a horrible day, there to confront those who made fun of her, there to take care fo her when she was sick. And he demanded nothing.
As though summoned by her thoughts, his shadow fell across the doorway. But he didn't come in. He didn't move toward her. He simply stood there and stared, as if trying to memorize her features, his glasses foggy from the hot water he'd just poured on himself.
"You hate me so much you'd rather be with a man you once asked me to kill," he said flatly. It wasn't a question or a reproach, just a statement of fact. "I am miserable here, tortured by you and the thought of the parts of you I can never have. Your heart, for instance," he paused, a wry smile lighting on his lips. "And it seems my presence here tortures you as well. There is enough pain in the world, there is no need to add that to it.
"I am leaving," he announced, watching her face for any reaction. "And I am not coming back."
With that, he left her alone. Heartbeakingly, utterly alone in the hut she'd once felt loathe to share with anyone.
------------------------
"I don't understand," Ranma said softly, cradling Akane's prone form to him. He felt at her temple, and was relieved to find the bone wasn't crushed. Cracked a bit perhaps, but not crushed. When he'd seen that final blow. . . he'd feared, for just a moment, that it had killed her. "How can she be pregnant?"
"I expect it has something to do with your bedtime activities," Cologne said dryly. He snorted.
"You know what I meant," he said. She shrugged.
"Eh, it doesn't matter so much how now that it's done. If it comforts you, she isn't very far along. Not far at all. In fact, at this point it's still very common for women to lose babies."
"THAT isn't comforting," he growled, putting a protective hand over the low parts of her belly. He firmly suppressed any paniced notions about diapers and 3 AM feeding. They could handle this. And if they couldn't . . . he wasn't going to think about that until they were home again. It was going to be a long journey.
"I think it's time you left," Cologne announced, glancing up and down the main street of the village. The sun was just beginning to lighten the sky in the east.
"She's not fit for travel," Ranma insisted.
"Well, you're both going to be a lot less fit for travel if these women find out who you are. You'll have to carry her."
"Carry her and both packs," Ranma sighed. This was going to be a VERY long journey.
"You don't have to," a voice said behind him. Ranma turned to see Mousse, still a bit damp from turning himself back into a man. "I'll help carry some things."
"We're going a long way," Ranma told him, frowning. Mousse shrugged.
"So am I. Off the edge of the world, if I can find it. It won't hurt matters any if I travel with you for a bit."
Chapter 7
Shampoo stared out of the door of her hut in mingled apprehension and amazement. He was here. He'd come back for her. A part of her heart leapt at that, perhaps he'd challenge Mousse and win her away from him. Perhaps that was what he was doing, trying to free himself of the kitchen-wrecker. That was, however, the very smallest part of her heart. The rest, which had become twisted and bitter in the year spent back in her tribe, disgraced and nearly friendless, had a much darker celebration. If Ranma was here, Ranma could be made to suffer. He could be made to suffer greatly for what he'd done to her. For the twisting and shattering of her heart.
For the last year, Shampoo had spent the majority of her time training. There was little else to do, she certainly had no intention of keeping house for that idiot Mousse, and she had disgraced herself so she couldn't hold a position of responsibility in the tribe. Sometimes she'd catch glimpses of her so-called husband in the woods, training as well. They never spoke to each other on such occasions, there was no need. The only triumph Shampoo had felt since they left Japan was the triumph of her determination over her body, the strength flowing through her muscles in a way it never had before. In fact, if he'd slacked off just a bit since his marriage to the kitchen-wrecker, she might just be able to beat him.
But before she tried that, she had to seek the council of her Great- Grandmother. After all, Cologne kept track of all the comings and goings in their village. Perhaps she'd even know why Ranma had come. If he'd come to win her, she wouldn't fight him. There would be ways to make him suffer that went so much deeper than the flesh.
-------------------------
Akane awoke to see the somewhat irritated face of Cologne standing over her. She sat up, and was suddenly eye-level with the shrunken old woman. Why. . . . She looked around. Why wasn't Ranma still in the hut? Where had he gone?
"He went to find Mousse. He thinks he can beat him before Shampoo learns you're here," Cologne explained, seeing the direction of her gaze. She held out her hand to Akane, showing the girl the little red pill she held within it. "Eat this," she ordered. Akane looked at it suspiciously.
"What is it?" she asked, not taking it. Cologne sighed.
"One of the many pills my old friend Soap knows how to make. If a pregnant woman takes it, it will protect her womb from all blows. More importantly, once she takes it a red shroud forms over her belly," Cologne explained.
"But I'm not pregnant," Akane protested.
"On the off chance that you might be, take it anyway. Look, if Shampoo does find you but you've got a red shroud over your belly, she'll know what that means and leave you alone. She'll hate it, but she'll leave you alone," Cologne insisted. The logic seemed sound enough to Akane, so she popped the pill in her mouth and swallowed.
"It takes a few minutes to work," Cologne informed her, but Akane didn't hear. She was far too busy staring at the doorway, where Shampoo stood staring just as steadily back at her. She watched the emotions play over the face of the Amazon, shock, anger, and sorrow, followed by an expression so cold and calculating it made Akane shiver. She could almost see Shampoo weighing her options. And she knew just what the Amazon was going to do. She might was well save her the trouble.
"Shampoo, I challenge you," she said steadily, rising to her feet and glaring at the Amazon. Shampoo smiled, a cold little smile. Was she good enough to beat Shampoo? She thought so, at least she was good enough to beat her if she was still just as strong as she was when she left Japan. Eyeing the corded arms, she wasn't so sure that was the case.
They walked out into the street together, wordless but cordial. They took up their stances, watched each other or a moment. Then, with an undulating cry, Shampoo launched herself at Akane.
The fight was joined.
------------------------
The fight was joined, underneath the trees that hid the stars. They were silent in the dark, only their breaths betraying their movements. Ranma and Mousse were using their instincts and extra senses to guide them now, not their sight or hearing. It was easier, just a bit, because both combatants were dripping wet and the water made small noises as it fell when they moved.
Ranma kicked the huge lion's head that belonged to Mousse's new cursed form, and used it as a place to vault off of to dodge the resulting column of flame. Now, when he got wet, Ranma stayed a man. And when Mousse got wet, he became a chimera. The original Chimera, with a lion's head, torso and upper legs, a huge serpents tail for a back end, and half of a goat sticking out of his back. The half with teeth and sharp little hooves. That was nothing, though. The real problem was that he could breathe fire.
The serpents tail lashed out at Ranma, and he jumped over it. If he could just lure Mousse into a spiral pattern. . . He fell back to the ground, stepping around the tail, dodging the huge clawed paws, leading Mousse a merry dance in smaller and smaller circles. At last, he reached the center of the spiral. And hit Mousse with all her had. For a moment, he thought it wasn't going to work, that maybe breathing fire wasn't a good substitute for battle aura after all.
Then, with a frustrated roar, Mousse went flying through the branches of the trees, into the deep indigo sky. Ranma grinned for a moment, basking in the dual warmths of victory and singed clothing. Then he turned and ran back to the Amazon village. With any luck, he and Akane could be out of there before Shampoo even realized they'd come. With any luck.
As he neared the Amazon village, it became perfectly obvious that luck had long since deserted him. Women were gathered in the street, watching a battle that was both loud and incredibly visible, since both combatants were practically steaming battle aura. He stopped, unsure of what to do. Akane was getting plenty of hits in, but it was obvious who was going to win out eventually. Her speed training had come in handy, and he was sure the Amazon had been shocked by Akane's new abilities. But they weren't going to be enough. She was hitting Shampoo but the purple-haired girl didn't seem to be feeling it. Her brute strength was failing her. And no wonder. Shampoo had trained hard enough over the past year to look more like a man with breast implants than a woman.
"So, you beat him?" Cologne asked casually. He glanced down at the old woman standing by his side. He nodded, then dismissed the matter.
"I thought you were supposed to hide her," he said, his voice unnecessarily gruff. He didn't want it to show how helpless he felt. Just then, Shampoo hit Akane in her lower abdomen . . . and her fist seemed to fly back to her as she let out a cry of pain. Ranma looked at Akane closely, there was an odd red tinge to the battle aura around her belly.
"What happened?" he asked Cologne. She smiled at him mischeviously.
"Oh, that was just the result of a little pill I had her take, to protect unborn children," she informed him. He frowned, more than slightly confused.
"Unborn children?" he said slowly. Her grin spread.
"Yeeeeees. See how that red tinge is sort of divided in half? There's a line in the middle of her abdomen where it just isn't red? That," she said with a certain amount of satisfaction, "Means twins."
Ranma stared blankly at her. In fact, he continued to stare blankly at her for the next five minutes, completely missing Mousse's dramatic landing through to roof of a nearby hut. In fact, he almost missed the end of the fight.
Akane kicked Shampoo in the stomach, sending the Amazon back a few feet. Instead of falling backward, she turned the momentum into a cartwheel, from which she launched into the air, flying over Akane and kicking the smaller girl soundly in the temple as she passed. Akane crumpled to the ground.
"Shampoo wins!" Cologne shouted. She nodded toward her great grandchild. "Well done. Now, let this young man collect his pregnant wife," she said calmly, putting quite a bit of emphasis on the word pregnant. Shampoo wasn't listening. It's entirely possible that she didn't even hear.
She glared down at Akane, and raised her hands to continue beating the blood out of her unconcious opponent. Ranma snapped out of his shocked state and began running towards them, now he could interfere and he'd be damned if he'd let her. . . but Mousse was there before he could even reach them. He towered over his wife, glowering down at her.
Shampoo yelled something at him in Chinese, to which he roared in response and gestured with a rather large, furry paw back toward their hut. She shook her head violently. He roared again, flames spurting out of his gaping maw. This time, she did as she was told and stalked away from the "battlefield," with all the righteous indignation of a woman who's been told to hike her fanny home.
---------------------
She stayed curled in the deepest shadows of the darkened hut. He'd be coming back, her husband. He would come back with the knowledge that she'd tried to replace him. And still, still she was sure he'd want her. That was the wonderful and terrible thing about Mousse. He was always there, whether she needed him or not. She'd come to count on it since their marriage. She always told him to leave, not to look at her, not to touch her. But when all was said and done, she was secretly grateful he was there. There to beat up when she'd had a horrible day, there to confront those who made fun of her, there to take care fo her when she was sick. And he demanded nothing.
As though summoned by her thoughts, his shadow fell across the doorway. But he didn't come in. He didn't move toward her. He simply stood there and stared, as if trying to memorize her features, his glasses foggy from the hot water he'd just poured on himself.
"You hate me so much you'd rather be with a man you once asked me to kill," he said flatly. It wasn't a question or a reproach, just a statement of fact. "I am miserable here, tortured by you and the thought of the parts of you I can never have. Your heart, for instance," he paused, a wry smile lighting on his lips. "And it seems my presence here tortures you as well. There is enough pain in the world, there is no need to add that to it.
"I am leaving," he announced, watching her face for any reaction. "And I am not coming back."
With that, he left her alone. Heartbeakingly, utterly alone in the hut she'd once felt loathe to share with anyone.
------------------------
"I don't understand," Ranma said softly, cradling Akane's prone form to him. He felt at her temple, and was relieved to find the bone wasn't crushed. Cracked a bit perhaps, but not crushed. When he'd seen that final blow. . . he'd feared, for just a moment, that it had killed her. "How can she be pregnant?"
"I expect it has something to do with your bedtime activities," Cologne said dryly. He snorted.
"You know what I meant," he said. She shrugged.
"Eh, it doesn't matter so much how now that it's done. If it comforts you, she isn't very far along. Not far at all. In fact, at this point it's still very common for women to lose babies."
"THAT isn't comforting," he growled, putting a protective hand over the low parts of her belly. He firmly suppressed any paniced notions about diapers and 3 AM feeding. They could handle this. And if they couldn't . . . he wasn't going to think about that until they were home again. It was going to be a long journey.
"I think it's time you left," Cologne announced, glancing up and down the main street of the village. The sun was just beginning to lighten the sky in the east.
"She's not fit for travel," Ranma insisted.
"Well, you're both going to be a lot less fit for travel if these women find out who you are. You'll have to carry her."
"Carry her and both packs," Ranma sighed. This was going to be a VERY long journey.
"You don't have to," a voice said behind him. Ranma turned to see Mousse, still a bit damp from turning himself back into a man. "I'll help carry some things."
"We're going a long way," Ranma told him, frowning. Mousse shrugged.
"So am I. Off the edge of the world, if I can find it. It won't hurt matters any if I travel with you for a bit."