Legal stuff: I don't own these characters, or the original idea. I just write about them and watch them whenever I get the chance. This is based on Ranma ½ created by Rumiko Takahashi and Co. Please don't sue me. I'm just a fan (not a fanboy).

Ranma-chan: female Ranma

P-Genma: Genma in Panda form his signs

C-Shampoo: Shampoo cat form

D-Mousse: Mousse in duck form

'…': denotes thinking

(B-D) : Scene Change!

:-) Flashback (-:

LEO: Low Earth Orbit


Week 2

"So tell me again why you have to drag me along with you?" questioned Nabiki.

She, Akane, Ranma, and Ukyo were walking toward the Cat Café after school. The Tendo sisters both had the girl's school uniform, Ukyo in her boy's uniform, and Ranma in his series uniform (red Chinese shirt and black drawstring pants). Ukyo and Ranma were glancing all around them, as if they were expecting something.

"I told you during lunch already," explained Akane. "I don't know. She only told us that she wanted to talk to us about something and that you'd want to know."

"Well, you better believe it'll have something to do with last night," said Ranma. "I've never seen Kuno and Mousse fight that good before."

"Kuno and Mousse? Together?"

"Yeah, Nabiki," answered Akane. "They tag teamed Happosai and chased him away."

"Well, Kuno I can understand him chasing the freak, but Mousse?"

"He was trying to get him off Shampoo's back," replied Ukyo.

"Ah, makes sense."

"And what about Kuno chasing him do you understand?" asked Ranma.

"Oh look," ignored Nabiki, "we're here."

Finally they had reached the legendary Cat Café. Most of the damage from before the fight had been repaired, but upon closer inspection you could still see a few burn marks on the wall across the street. They entered through the door.

"Welcome to Cat Café…Ranma!"

Shampoo glomped onto Ranma almost in tears. Akane's glare attack was ineffective due to Ranma's body already frozen at the mention of a cat. Shampoo recovered and released her fiancé. Mousse was standing next to the stairs, waiting for them. Shampoo then closed the door to the restaurant and put up the closed sign. Nabiki took note of this and knew that this was going to be serious.

"This way," said Mousse. "The matriarch will see you now." With that, he began to lead the potted plant up the stairs.

"Yo, Mousse," said Ranma. Mousse looked back, glasses falling to his face. "We're over here."

Mousse stared at the group, and then noticed that Shampoo's hand was an unusual shade of green. "Shampoo? When did you get so sick?"

POW!

Mousse became one with the stairs.

"Stupid Mousse. Plant have more sense than you." She turned to the group. "Follow Shampoo."

The five went upstairs and Shampoo opened a door on the right. The room itself wasn't much in terms of decoration. There was a table seated in front of a television and several non-descript pictures on the wall. Cologne was seated at the head of the table.

"Welcome, children. Please be seated." They all took their seats. Ranma sat at the other end of the table. Ukyo and Shampoo sat on the left side and the Tendo sisters sat on the right. "Now that I have you all here, I'd like to start by saying that considering the circumstances behind my defeat at the hands of Happosai, that by Amazon law I am entitled to do everything in my power to get him to become my husband. Because of this, my granddaughter, son-in-law, and Ukyo are to be his personal playthings, but you already know that. What I called you here for is to make you an offer. I want you to seriously consider this offer rather then jumping to conclusions. Normally I would hide whatever benefits we would gain from this type of offer, but in good faith I'll tell you everything. As of this moment I am offering you two rooms here at the Cat Café." Akane seemed about to say something, but remained silent. Nabiki merely had an inquisitive look on her face. Ukyo wondered what she was getting at. "Under normal circumstances I would take this opportunity to bring son-in-law into my home and convince him that Shampoo should be his rightful bride, but these are not normal circumstances. Considering that Happy is involved, my granddaughter and son-in-law are in danger of psychological and possibly sexual trauma. This is why I offer my protection to these two. As for Ukyo, I know that son-in-law would most likely not accept my proposal unless I offered to protect her as well. While I do not acknowledge their engagement, I do acknowledge their friendship, thus her inclusion."

"That's great and all," said Nabiki, "but that's against the pre-fight agreement of non-interference."

"Indeed it would," Cologne replied. "My official reason for bringing these three children into my home would be to lure my future husband to me rather than I hunt him down every night." The group winced when she referred to Happosai as her husband. "I will not interfere with his playtime with them, as per the agreement, but I will have my playtime with him, first." Eyes began to twitch. "So at least here you have a line of defense against Happy's advances. Do you agree to this?"

The group glanced at one another. Finally Nabiki spoke up.

"Ok, so they're relatively safer here, I'll give you that, but now I have to speak for my father. How do we know that you're really not going to try to force Ranma and Shampoo together?"

"You have my word as a matriarch of the Jusenkyo Amazon tribe."

"Is highest promise Amazon woman can make."

"Ok…" replies Nabiki as she glances at her unusually calm sister. "So, who's rooming with who?"

"I share room with Ranma, yes?"

"No, granddaughter. We have no spare rooms, so Ukyo shall share a room with you while Ranma shall room with Mousse. Is that acceptable?"

Shampoo glared at Cologne while Ukyo sighed.

"Me and Mousse? As long as he doesn't try to kill me in my sleep, I'll be fine."

"Ranma!"

"What, Akane?"

"It will only be for the rest of this month," interrupted Cologne. "If son-in-law should decide to move back in with the Tendos, so be it. I will not force his decision, and neither will Shampoo."

"Mind if we talk about this in private?" asked Nabiki.

"Of course not. Come, granddaughter. We must wake Mousse."

Shampoo sighed as she got up and followed her grandmother out of the room.

"Seems too good to be true to me," said Ukyo.

"Yeah," agreed Akane.

"Maybe," said Ranma, "But can you guys think of a better idea?"

"Not without dishonoring yourselves," said Nabiki. "I have to admit, she left herself a pretty good loop-hole there, and you get the protection to boot. All you two have to do is survive three weeks with the Amazons. I'd rather do that than try to hide from Happosai."

Ukyo bit her lower lip, trying to think of another way. Akane was having the same problem.

"Come on, you guys," said Ranma. "How hard can it be? I hate to say it, but Nabiki's right. Who would you rather deal with, the freak or the ghoul?"

"Guess I don't have a choice," conceded Ukyo.

"What do you think, sis?"

Akane growled for a second. "Fine."

"Ok," said Ranma, "looks like we're moving in for a while, Ucchan."

"Heh…yeah, I guess."

"Have you decided yet?" asked Cologne from outside the room.

"Yeah," answered Ranma.

Cologne, Shampoo, and Mousse enter the room.

"So what shall it be, son-in-law?"

"We'll stay."

"Very good. I'm glad and amazed that you have come to this decision without fighting or property damage. You can move in tonight after we close, however…"

"What?"

"There are two conditions that I forgot to mention."

Ranma eyed Cologne suspiciously. "And they are?"

"First, while you stay here, you will be working your old job until you move out."

He thought for a moment. "I can live with that. And the second?"

"That from this point on, you stop calling me ghoul, mummy, or whatever."

"Huh? Ok…what do you want me to call you, then?"

"You can start by calling me 'mom' or 'grandmother.'"

Everybody in the room save Cologne pratfell.

"NO WAY, YOU OLD GHOUL! THERE AIN'T NO WAY I'M CALLING YOU MOM!"

"Fine, then either 'Cologne' or 'elder' will do, then."

Across the street of the Cat Café sat a person. She had been watching them for some time. She frowned for a moment as she read their lips, but then focused on what she was doing here. She had to know, and there was only one person who could tell her.

(B-D)

"Welcome home, Nabiki. Did everything go well with Cologne?"

"Yeah, we just won't be seeing Ranma around for a while."

"Oh my…"

"Relax, Kasumi. He's just staying at Cologne's for a while till this Happosai thing blows over."

"I hope he'll be alright."

"I'm sure he will, sis. Besides, Ukyo'll be there, too, so Shampoo can't really try too much anyway. Well, I'm going to my room. See ya'."

"Ok. Dinner will be ready in a few hours."

Nabiki strolled into the living room and was greeted by the usual sight. Glancing at the older men playing some random game, she sighed and went up to her room. She didn't like the way things were going. Her sister's fiancé was moving in with one of her rivals for a few weeks. She sat down on her bed. She still had a hard time believing that this was going on. Ranma, Ukyo, and Shampoo locked in a deal that even she wouldn't have considered. Although with Happosai involved, it would've been hard to think of something else that would make him fight, but not at the cost of two people she could even call friends. Even Shampoo didn't deserve that. All things considered, them staying with the Amazons was the best idea. She couldn't think of a better one. She laid down with her eyes closed. Suddenly she heard a soft footfall on her carpet. Being the daughter of a martial artist did have its advantages. She sat up quickly and glanced around the room.

"Greetings, Nabiki Tendo."

Nabiki double-blinked as she saw a woman sitting in her chair at her desk.

"Kodachi?"

"I have need of information about a certain martial artist in the area. Since brother dear comes to you for this type of thing, I figured to try you first."

Nabiki regarded Kodachi for a moment, wondering why she was here.

"Ok, usually I see people by appointment only, but since you're here, what do you need to know about Ranma?"

"You assume incorrectly, Nabiki Tendo." Nabiki arched an eyebrow. "What do you know of the man in white robes who helped my brother fend off Happosai last night? I've seen him several times before, but I've never bothered to know anything about him."

Nabiki was somewhat amused. Kodachi interested in Mousse? This should be fun.

"Well, I believe you're talking about Mousse. Anything more will…" Kodachi placed a wad of yen on her desk. Nabiki inspected the wad to find about 50,000 yen. Nabiki smiled. "…will be my pleasure to tell you."

Kodachi listened as Nabiki told her all about the Chinese Amazon man, his devotion to Shampoo, his mastery of hidden weapons, and why he's always fighting Ranma, just to name a few. Kodachi digested this with a pondering look to her face. Nabiki had rarely seen a Kuno actually thinking before, but quickly dismissed that thought.

"This Mousse is indeed an interesting character, and I'm surprised that Shampoo would spurn such a man, but I do have a question."

"Yes?"

"Does Mousse have any unusual features of note, such as the use of magic or say, perhaps…a curse?"

Nabiki nearly fell off of her bed at this question, but quickly recovered.

'You mean she knows about the curse? Hmmm, this may finally be my chance to get her to see what she's done.' "A curse, did you say? What makes you think he has a curse?"

Kodachi looked down as she tried to remember. "Hmmm…well, last night I was at the Ucchan's while Mousse and my brother were fighting Happosai. I merely wanted to offer Ranma better accommodations for the month, but that girl Ukyo attacked me. During our battle, Happosai threw a bucket of water at me. I ducked, but I saw Mousse get hit with it. I couldn't believe what I saw."

"Let me guess. You saw him turn into a duck, right?"

Kodachi snapped her head toward Nabiki in shock. "Yes! Yes! That's what happened. My, and here I thought I was going mad. OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!!!!!!" Nabiki cringed as she had rarely heard that laugh up close and personal, and wondered if her last statement was in fact true. "So I see that you know of this…curse."

'Boy, do I.' "Yes, I do. And he's not the only one with that curse, either."

Kodachi's eyes widened. "You mean there are others who turn into ducks?"

Nabiki sighed. "No, not ducks, but other things." She thought for a moment. "Let me tell you a story of a legendary cursed training ground in China…"

Kodachi listened intently to Nabiki as she told of Jusenkyo. The different springs with different transformations and how they are activated. Things started to fall into place for her.

"What a horrible place!" gasped Kodachi. "Has anyone in our area been to these cursed springs?"

"Well…" said Nabiki as she glanced at the wad of yen on her desk. Suddenly there was another, equally thick wad of yen beside it. 'I love new clients.' "Yeah, there are four others that live in this area."

"Tell me! Tell me now!"

"Shampoo fell into the spring of drowned cat."

"Shampoo?! Hmmm, well that does explain a few things."

Nabiki walked to the door and looked in the hall to make sure it was empty. She closed her door and returned to her bed.

"You remember your match with the red-headed girl a while back?" Kodachi scowled at her, then took on a curious look. "Well, that black piglet you found and handcuffed to her was a man named Ryoga Habiki, Ranma's rival."

Kodachi's mouth hit the floor along with the rest of her body. As she recovered various scenes from that match replayed in her mind. "Yes, that would explain why a piglet would actually be afraid of hot water…" CLICK! "No way…"

"Come with me, Kodachi," she smirked. "I have something to show you."

Nabiki led a slightly dazed Kodachi down to the living room. Akane wasn't home yet, which was good. Soun and Genma were just finishing their game.

"Mr. Saotome?"

"Yes, Nabiki?" he answered as he looked in her direction.

ACHOO!!

Game pieces flew at Genma as Soun gave a mighty sneeze, wrecking the entire game.

"Hey, I had you! You did that on purpose!"

sniff. "Sorry, Saotome. I don't know what hit me. Must be my…allergy, yeah, that's it. My allergy's come back!"

"You don't have any allergies!"

"Um, Mr. Saotome?"

Both men stopped short as Nabiki interrupted their argument.

"I'm sorry, Nabiki. Did you need something?"

"Yeah, your wife is here."

Sploosh!

I'm just a cute panda taking a bath with his fishy friends.

Kodachi nearly fainted as she fell to her knees.

"Is she ok?" asked a concerned Soun.

"No," Kodachi whispered as tears began to form. "Father went to Jusenkyo as well?"

Where is that other person's wife?

"Yes, he did," answered Nabiki. "And he went there before he came here."

"But didn't Ranma darling travel with father before they settled here?"

"I have to admit, I'm impressed. You're much sharper than your brother."

Kodachi was near the breaking point. "Did he…?"

Nabiki merely nodded. Soun was observing this with a serious look on his face.

I'm starting to think that 'she' isn't here.

"And what…?"

"I think you know that answer, Kodachi," replied Nabiki.

Kodachi broke down crying, then suddenly stopped.

"I'll see for myself. If this is a lie, Ms. Tendo, I'll have your head."

And with that, she jumped the wall in classic gymnastic perfection trailed by black rose pedals.

"Are you sure that was a good idea, Nabiki?" asked Soun.

"Hey," Nabiki shrugged, "she asked for it."

(B-D)

If things go the way they have been, you guys are really gonna like the next chapter. To simply say I'm really happy with the reviews is a massive understatement, and I'm looking forward to more feedback. I hope you enjoyed this. Added 9/20/04: I'm going to Atlanta for the Anime Weekend Atlanta this coming weekend, so I won't be able to update again until the weekend after. Forgive me, but I need a break from my job and some tips from the fanfiction workshop on how to do a better job with this story. Anyway, I promise to update on Oct 2. In the meantime, keep the reviews coming so I can get better: )

Now the fun part that I have to add after pasting…it's review response time :-D

Runnerz- They've always been good, but now they have to go all out because the target actually wants to do something to their heart's desire. Also, thanks. I was tired of cutting my chapters so short.

Goku905041- You're right about that, but after an offer like that is made, do you think he'd go for anything else?

Dana-san- Thank you. I had fun seeing how they would react to Mousse. If you like that, just you wait.

Next time, on Final Judgment, Kodachi: Someone is sad, Ukyo cooks for someone bigger than her, and something minor happens to Ranma. : )

© Den Scurman 2004