A Ranma 1 / 2 Alternate Histories Company Presents:

Everyone grows up sometime if only a bit

By Felix Webster ( Felix Warstar )

felix. All original Ranma ½ Characters and Back story Copyright

Rumiko Takahashi. This is written for fun and not for any profit so

please don't sue as I'm a poor writer who one day hopes to write

something original and become a so-called professional writer...

this is still just practice.

Events as of vol 38 up to the end of the fight with Saffron but

before they left Mt.Houou and Jusendo.

Chapter 2- The Second Step –

Ranma quietly looked around the guestroom he and his two daughters were given to use by Kasumi the night before. He had woken up more then fifteen minutes earlier and a glance at the clock on the night stand showed he had maybe an hour before the two still sleeping girls sprawled out on the large bed got up and wanted to start the day's training. It had been harder for him to sleep then he expected, with Akane's reaction on his mind rest just wouldn't come to him. He should have known Akane wouldn't take it all that well, but what he received was something he never even considered. How was he to know that she would see this as coming in last? Okay, not last, but second. His wife, Tonic, had been a means to an end as she had said many times with a playful smile when he voiced concerns about it all.

It finally hit him, he had just thought of his 'wife' and it wasn't Akane in that title. He sat down on the futon, that was set up for him last night, putting his head in his hands knowing now why Akane was upset. Lifting his head again his expression changed from depression to resolve, he would have to change that.

- - -

Ranma walked down the stairs to search for the large mansion's kitchen and found it easily by just following the wonderful smell of cooking food. Entering the Kitchen he smiled widely with his eyes shut to savour the sensation that good food brought to the nose causing the taste buds to want to moan in torturous anticipation, "What ever you're cooking smells wonderful Kasumi."

"Thanks, but I think you maybe needing my glasses this morning," Mousse replied with a smirk as he flipped something in a wok.

Ranma's eyes opened in mild shock at the sound of Mousse's voice, "Oops, sorry man. It just seemed like Kasumi's cooking."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Mousse continued to smirk as he mixed a small bowl. "But Kasumi is still in bed as she isn't feeling to well."

"Yeah, I meant to congratulate you on that one too last night but since no one was talking about it I didn't think it was public knowledge yet," Ranma took a seat at the small nearby table that was probably meant for the mansion's cook to rest at. "Besides Pop and Uncle Tendo wouldn't leave until it was way too late to talk about it anyways. I really can't believe they tried so hard at getting me drunk..."

"It's not public yet," Mousse confirmed without taking his eyes off what he was cooking. "And besides you I think Cologne is the only other person who officially knows."

"Probably Happosai does too, it's in her aura and I know he can see that clearly," Ranma accepted a cup of tea that Mousse offered. "But I'm surprised that Shampoo doesn't know as Cologne has trained her too."

"Shampoo is blind to auras, it's an odd and thankfully rare problem that means that she will never be able to read auras and power levels no matter how much she trains. She has tried to make up for this by learning to read people's skill level by observation and that almost makes up for her problem," Mousse explained as he started to put some of the food onto a plate. "It's sort of ironic that in at least one way I have better vision than her."

"So why didn't you use it to identify people when you didn't wear your... you're not wearing your glasses... why?" Ranma asked finally noticing what had been bothering him since he realized it was Mousse in the kitchen.

"My sister-in-law paid to have my eyes fixed... to a point. My vision was so bad that laser surgery could not correct it fully but it is enough now that I can wear contacts," Mousse smiled as he put down a plate in front of Ranma. "And to the other... I learned after the surgery."

"Who taught ya.. you?" Ranma asked, remembering to correct his speech, between bites as he quickly dug into the food. "I doubt the Old Ghoul would since you are male after all."

"Your Father did," Mousse replied as he prepared another plate and sat down across from Ranma.

"Pop?" Ranma smirked at the long haired Amazon. "I feel sorry for you."

"I don't see why? Your Father is an accomplished instructor, after all he did train you," Mousse looked a little confused.

"The Nekoken," Ranma said as his voice hardened slightly. "So you convinced Pop to train you, huh?"

"Actually both your and Kasumi's fathers have been training me in the Anything Goes style since the wedding," Mousse answered with a small smile but he didn't look completely happy about it. "They insisted that since I was a warrior that the 'Family' style should be passed through Kasumi's line as well as Akane's"

"That and the 'Hidden Weapon' style," Ranma smirked. "It'll be a nasty combination. I wouldn't mind learning more then the basics I copied off of you when we met some time."

"I train with your Father on Mondays and Wednesdays so we could start on Tuesdays and possibly Thursdays if you'd like," Mousse replied then noticed the confused look from Ranma. "You are after all an Amazon male now, even if you are an Amazon sister, and it's the hardest style that Amazon male warriors can learn."

"That's really.. nice of you, what happened to change you?" Ranma smiled but looked confused. "It's got to be more then just becoming a husband and soon to be father."

"Actually it's all Happosai's fault," Mousse smirked as Ranma cocked an eyebrow at that. Taking a moment to work out how to best to word it Mousse started to explain the events starting about a month after Jusendo.

- - -

- - -

"Great-grandmother! Need get Ranma back soon!" Shampoo called out in annoyance as she came into the Nekohanten in a huff. "Shampoo no want stay in horrible country anymore!"

"What is it this time?" Cologne asked as she rolled her eyes at the young girl, this was becoming a regular occurrence since coming back without her Son-in-law.

"Always same since come back! Shampoo go out and some... what violent girl call them?... pervert comes out and try to challenge Shampoo!" Shampoo sat down in exasperation. "Boy not even want marriage but believe it get Shampoo to date boy."

"Mind trying that again in our language child?" Cologne requested as she was trying to decipher what Shampoo was saying.

Since coming back from Jusendo I get challenged every time I try to make a delivery. Some pervert will just suddenly attack me, usually pulling out one of those horrible translations of our laws that Nabiki Tendo had printed off, Shampoo explained again more annoyed that she had to repeat herself. And the boy isn't even trying to do it to marry me! Nabiki rewrote that law so they think they get a date with me giving them everything!

Yes, Nabiki Tendo needs to be chastised about that, Cologne tried to keep a straight face. She wasn't worried for the girl as the only boys around the area who could even challenge Shampoo's skill were the lost boy and the rich crazy boy with the wooden sword, but neither were acceptable as one carried a family curse and the other a family insanity.

Xain Pu! I will defend you from these bastards who seek your hand! Mousse cried out from the kitchen area as he ran out and hugged a young female customer who was starting to leave. "Shampoo... what happened to your chest? It's so small..."

Shampoo picked the flattened remains of Mousse off the wall really angry now, "Shampoo no need stupid Mousse's help. Mousse likely attack shrub thinking it boy challenging Shampoo!"

"But Shampoo... let me defend you!" Mousse protested not noticing the fire in the purple haired girl's eyes.

"Mousse think Shampoo is weak! Think Amazon Warrior no protect self! Shampoo think Mousse stay in this bad place too too long!" Shampoo shouted at him loudly enough to be heard down the street. With little effort she moved to the door and launched the robed Master of Hidden Weapons as far as she could hit him. "Go find flock and fly south!"

- - -

Happosai was having a very fun day. Without Ranma in the area there was really no one to hinder his activities, well except for those two idiots of pupils but they backed down if he threatened them. Actually he was impressed at how much of a backbone both men were developing as it was starting to take actually fighting with the pair now to get rid of them. And of course they were finally improving again.

He was still running from a small horde of angry girls, after having patted and fondled each one nicely, when as he leapt to a nearby roof a falling object hit him head to head.

A few minutes later Happosai was sitting on the same roof slowly smoking his pipe as he waited for the bruises to heal, Mousse was in an uncomfortable looking heap beside him, "So what can I take caused your sudden interruption to my day?"

Mousse slowly reset some dislocated limbs as he started to untangle himself before he tried to explain in a depressed tone, "If only Shampoo could see I was the right man for her and not that Ranma!"

"Ah, so it's that again," Happosai said closing his eyes and sighing. "It was only really fun watching you two when Ranma was around, now it's getting very... tedious. That was the third time this week you interrupted my liberation of all those silky darlings, I was starting to wonder if you were taking over Ranma's duties of trying to stop me."

"My hitting you was unintentional," Mousse stated firmly to the chimney stack and then went face first into said same stack.

"You want Shampoo to see with clarity of mind so she can choose you, is that right?" Happosai asked as an evil thought crossed his mind, then he got back on track trying to shake the image of Clarisa Flockheart holding an enema syringe filled with vanilla ice-cream and nothing else, the woman could really use something in that stomach of hers regardless of which end it went in. Damn he loved people with satellite dishes. "I might be able to help you with that little problem."

"Really?" Mousse asked in hope as he placed his glasses over his eyes. "How?"

"As you know I have many many magical treasures..." Happosai started but was cut off by an angry boy.

"Most of which were stolen from us!" Mousse narrows his eyes at the short little oni, of course the only way to tell was that his eyebrows disappeared behind his glasses.

"The point is moot, and they were presents, but I may have a package of sprinkle seeds that might help," Happosai waved off the boy's accusation.

"Sprinkle seeds? What am I suppose to grow?" Mousse asked in confusion.

"The seeds are to be eaten not grown. They look like sesame seeds and will make the person think with clarity," Happosai rolled his eyes at the boy's lack of seeing the obvious. "A word of warning though, clarity isn't what you might think it's stacked up to be... it could shatter your little world if you let it."

"It'll make Shampoo realize that I'm better for her then Ranma! I'll take them!" Mousse grabbed the small old man and started to dance around sillily until Happosai had enough and Mousse went flying again.

- - -

He had them! He had the seeds! The old freak was good to his word and all he had to do was take a few snapshots of... of Shampoo coming out of a bath, okay so that part wasn't so good, but she'd forgive him when she realized she loved him. It was a special day, it was Shampoo's birthday, so he offered to cook for her as he did every year. He was planning a special ramien with a nice sesame sauce to give it a wonderful flavour, and the fact that Shampoo loved sesame sauces didn't hurt the plan either. He made sure that he had the kitchen to himself as he laid out the three bowls, one of which was red striped for Shampoo, and sprinkled the contents of the small package the old freak gave him in to the right bowl.

Putting his glasses back onto the top of his head he gathered up the bowls and walked into the main dining area.

Cologne was sure the blind idiot was up to something, sure he always cooked on Shampoo's birthday but he seemed even more eager this year. She had made sure her special cabinet was securely locked but knew that would do little to stop a master of Hidden Weapon's as they had special training in locking and unlocking anything they ran across. When Mousse came out with three bowls she narrowed her eyes as she noticed one of the bowls was different from the other two.

"Food is ready," Mousse announced as he made his way to the table without trouble. "The red bowl is for the birthday girl, it has extra love and care put in it's making."

Shampoo was actually looking forwards to this, she may not like the blind idiot much but he always tried to make her feel very special on her birthday. Without doing his usual antics. There would be no 'Shampoo I love you!' and no 'Forget about Saotome! I'm the one for you!', there was just happy birthday and here is the special dinner I made you, she liked him better like this... if only a little.

"Oops, almost forgot the special drinks to go with the dinner," Mousse chuckled nervously with a hand behind his head, he then walked back into the kitchen for a moment.

Shampoo was about to start into the wonderful smelling bowl when Cologne stopped her for a moment giving her a hard look and shook her head slightly at the ramien. Before Mousse could come back and notice Cologne grabbed her and Shampoo's bowls and caused the contents to suddenly be launched slightly above them so she could switch bowls. With Shampoo's dinner in her bowl she moved with lightning quick speed and exchanged her bowl with the identical bowl Mousse place for himself. Both Shampoo and Cologne waited for Mousse to come back, although Shampoo was a little confused about it all.

When Mousse came back and sat down in his seat he had noticed that neither one had touched their bowls, he started to eat his as he said, "Please eat it's very good."

"What did you put into Shampoo's ramien, Mousse?" Cologne asked looking a little concerned for the boy. "Besides the normal ingredients."

"What! I didn't... I didn't put anything in her ramein!" Mousse protested quickly as he was suddenly scared that the old ghoul had found out and that was why they weren't eating.

"It's always easier to know which antidote to use when I know what I'm curing, Child," Cologne replied calmly then an evil grin came to her face. "Especially since you just ate Shampoo's portion."

Mousse threw both his hands to his mouth in horror-stricken shock before he could stop himself and proved to Cologne that he had indeed tried something. Shampoo finally clicked in that Mousse had spiked her birthday dinner, the one thing she truly enjoyed doing with him, with a low growl she slowly started to get up as she asked, "What you try do to Shampoo!"

"I didn't try any... it's was something called Clarity Seeds!" Mousse replied in a panic as Shampoo grabbed him around the collar and yanked him up to face her.

Cologne started to laugh, then she started to roll around on the ground laughing which caused Shampoo to pause and turn to look at the old woman, "What so funny!"

"Sor.. sorry Child, I wasn't laughing about him trying this, I was laughing about what he has used on himself," Cologne slowly got off the floor and put herself back into her chair. "The Clarity Seeds will do little harm as they are only used to make someone to see the truth they refuse to see. Where did you find any? I thought the entire stock had been ruined?"

"Happosai," Mousse replied still in Shampoo's grip.

"Right! I forgot I gave him some years ago," Cologne shook her head slightly. "I had hoped he would use it on himself but evidently he has kept the package all these years."

"Shampoo no understand," Shampoo tightened her grip on the robe of the horrible man who didn't understand that 'I don't like you' meant 'NO!'.

"Mr. Part-time is going to be understanding the real truth about everything around him for a few days, then afterwards he won't be able to delusion himself ever again about anything as an after effect," Cologne explained giving Mousse a nasty smile. "A fitting punishment for a male who has never seemed to know his place."

Mousse's eyes narrowed at the old woman but Shampoo distracted him by yelling at him, "Mousse is bad! Shampoo no want anything to do with duck ever again!"

Before he could reply Shampoo splashed him with water and threw him out as hard as she could.

- - -

Mousse sat on a roof near the Tendo Dojo sulking, true to what was advertised the Clarity Seed was making him understand the truth of things, unfortunately it seemed to love pointing out his little delusions most of all. He finally realized that he could have had a chance with Shampoo if he had just been calm about it, she'd given him enough chances over the years. He was obsessive over what he saw as his, and Shampoo fell into that category, but now he knew he had lost... but not at least to Ranma. That was another thing he wasn't proud of, Ranma had never pushed himself on Shampoo... well except once but that was an ego thing and Ranma had ego problems. Shampoo couldn't see that Ranma loved Akane and no one else, heck up to yesterday neither did Mousse, but Mousse wouldn't have a chance even without Ranma in the picture. His life was destroyed by his own single minded obsession and now he had to find a way to rebuild it.

Going back to the Village was a joke, they barely accepted him because he became such a strong male warrior. He had to laugh at the traditions he once held as nearly sacred, they seemed so ridiculous now. They treated men worse then how the Japanese treat women and the men put up with it... there was no way he could anymore, people should be equals. No woman in the Village would accept a man with those values unless they knew they could break him of his opinions, another reason the old ghoul would never get Ranma.

He now had to find a life for himself, free of Shampoo and her Great-Grandmother. He actually didn't mind Japan so staying in the country wouldn't be a hardship, and since his parents were long since gone from the world he didn't have any close family to miss in China. Mousse's train of thought was derailed as he heard a familiar voice call out from below.

"Good morning Mousse," Kasumi called up with a smile when she noticed the long haired Amazon thinking on her neighbour's roof as she was heading out to the market.

"Is it really Kasumi Tendo?" Mousse replied sadly as he jumped down from his perch. "I see it is morning, but whether it is a good one can only be judged on a person to person basis."

Kasumi tsked slightly at the younger man who looked as he had been having trouble sleeping, "If it isn't a good morning when it starts you have to try to make it one. What's wrong?"

"Some days can't be helped," Mousse replied then noticed the basket. "But my troubles are my own and I will not burden you with them, you seem busy this morning."

"This? It's just my morning shopping," Kasumi smiled again as she lifted the basket then gave Mousse another tsk. "Talking about what troubles you is one of the best ways to come to a conclusion as to how to solve the problem."

"I think it best that I should go," Mousse turned to leave but Kasumi grabbed his arm fast enough to prove she had some training in her family style. Mousse looked back confused at the smiling face of the slightly older girl.

"Come and help me with my shopping, I can always use a set of strong arms to carry it all back to the house," Kasumi said and it was obvious that she wasn't going to take no for an answer. "And while we're looking around we can talk about... life."

- - -

Over the next few weeks Kasumi took Mousse shopping each morning, even going out of her way to go to the Nekohanten and get him. They would spend hours talking about things, mostly his life in China when he had left the village to train in his style. After the third week of this Kasumi invited him to dinner at the Dojo knowing that he was not enjoying eating at the restaurant since the seed incident.

Mousse, on the urging of Kasumi, was dressed a little more in tune with the modern culture around him. He wore new black jeans, that he had taken just enough time with to break in so he could move smoothly in if he had to fight, and an oversized white turtleneck hanging untucked. He was starting to understand why Ranma liked his silks as Mousse had found it difficult to stock even a basic selection of weapons in this outfit.

The gates of the Dojo had never been a barrier to him before but as he approached them this time he decided that since he was guest of Kasumi's he should do things a little different. He rang the bell.

"Yes... Mousse?" Akane said as she opened the gate and looked up confused at the Chinese boy.

"Good evening, Akane," Mousse replied nervously trying poorly to look casual.

"Shampoo isn't here," Akane stated in almost the coldest tone Mousse had ever heard from the shorter girl and turned to go back inside.

"I'm not looking for Shampoo... I was invited here by Kasumi," Mousse said not bothered by Akane's initial reaction. Her second reaction wasn't that easy to ignore.

"What do you what with her!" Akane demanded as she suddenly had him against the gate wall with her hand at his throat. "Leave Kasumi out of your little spat between Shampoo and Ranma!"

"This.. has.. nothing to do.. with either of them," Mousse said trying to catch his breath every time she flexed her fingers slightly. "Kasumi.. invited me to.. eat with your family."

"Akane!" Kasumi scolded as she came to see what was taking her little sister so long outside. "That is no way to treat a guest! Put Mousse down, and be thankful that he chose not to defend himself against your attack."

"Kasumi?" Akane looked over confused at her sister's stern commands then reluctantly let Mousse go. She looked at the Chinese boy who was straightening his clothes and a little embarrassment showed on her face, "Um.. sorry about that..."

"It's understandable," Mousse said sadly as he followed both girls inside.

The meal went oddly as Kasumi was the only one to say much. Mousse was too embarrassed to add much except to answer Kasumi's questions. Akane was confused as Mousse never mentioned either Shampoo or Ranma at all. Nabiki was sure he was up to something and just sat watching and listening to what was going on. Genma and Nodoka were out of the house for reasons that no one elaborated on. And Soun... Soun Tendo sat back and watched his eldest daughter and the Chinese boy who had caused some interesting challenges for his family. He developed a devious smile.

"So... Son, how did you and my daughter become friends?" Soun asked after the meal finished, the girls had cleared the table and were busy in the kitchen, likely grilling Kasumi at the same moment.

"Friends? I.. I guess it was a few weeks ago," Mousse replied both a little shocked and confused, was he and Kasumi really friends?

"I see," Soun sipped his tea hiding his smile then turned serious again. "So, what are your plans?"

"Plans? I really don't know. I can't really go back to village... I really couldn't live under that system again..." Mousse started to reply but stopped when Soun laughed.

"No no, that wasn't what I meant," Soun explained seeing the confusion in Mousse's face. "What are your plans with Kasumi?"

"I don't know what you mean," Mousse looked from Soun to the kitchen door and back to Kasumi's father again. "I really don't have any plans..."

"Really? Then you are dating my daughter to what? Make that girl.. Shampoo jealous?" Soun's voice started turning more and more dangerous.

"I have no reason to try to make Shampoo jealous anymore! It is far too late for that kind of thing!" Mousse replied in hurt annoyance then caught on. "Kasumi and me aren't dating..."

"You're not? But you two have been seeing each other almost every day over the last little while," Soun didn't hide the smile this time. "Did either one of you really think I wouldn't catch on?"

"I've been helping her with her shopping, nothing else," Mousse gave the man a look of wide eye shock. "It was her idea as it gave us time to talk about.. things that have happened recently."

"I'm sure it was her idea, it usually is the girl who makes a move like that first," Soun smirked at the thought that his eldest was starting to think about her future finally. "But my question is basically how far do you plan to take things?"

Mousse looked confused again, "I guess that would be up Kasumi..."

"Yes I would guess you would be right there, it is always the girl's choice in these things," Soun sipped his tea again knowing he was going to have a very interesting conversation with his daughter. "Although I would suggest it would be wise to find out from her, and soon."

- - -

A couple of days later Mousse had finally decided that he needed to know what it was that Kasumi's father was hinting at so when he and Kasumi met to go shopping he asked her.

"Kasumi.. ?"

"Yes?" Kasumi replied as she looked at few pieces of fruit.

"Your Father.. Your Father seems to think we are dating," Mousse shifted the basket he was holding for her.

"Don't worry about Father, he's a bit of a romantic," Kasumi waved off the idea as she put several fruit in the basket.

Mousse looked annoyed at the avoidance, it was totally unlike Kasumi. Straightening his shoulders he decided a straight question was necessary, "Are we dating?"

"You're the one who ate the 'Seeds of Clarity' so you tell me," Kasumi replied sounding annoyed herself now as she continued to look at more fruit.

Mousse stepped back in mild shock then he took a moment to think about it. It took less then two seconds for him to realize the answer, "We are, aren't we."

"I wouldn't go so far a say it was a date," Kasumi smiled sadly at the watermelon she was holding, it was out of season for watermelon. "I've been enjoying your company, haven't you been enjoying mine?"

"Of course I have!" Mousse blurted out shocked she even had to ask.

"Then I want you to take a moment to think about what you really feel about me," Kasumi put the watermelon down and looked up at Mousse seriously.

Concentration crossed Mousse's face as he did what was asked of him then a total look of shock that slowly turned to a smile replaced it, "I.. I love you.. when did that happen? When did I fall in love with you?"

"I'm not sure," Kasumi smiled back then gave Mousse a small kiss on the lips that sparked a bit of giggling from the other women out shopping and a silly grin on Mousse. "I'm not sure when I fell in love with you either, but I did."

- - -

- - -

Ranma looked at Mousse and laughed, it was fitting that he didn't see love coming until it hit him and then have to have it pointed out to him, "I guess Cologne and Shampoo weren't happy about the idea?"

"Cologne came to inform me that Kasumi would not be welcome in the village as she gave the wrong image for young Amazon warriors," Mousse shook his head slightly as he refilled his tea. "I had the pleasure to inform her that I never planned on going back to the village as it was."

"And another blow to the Old Ghoul's ego," Ranma laughed again. "First she couldn't complete her task here and bring me back to the village, then she couldn't even keep an Amazon male under control. She isn't going to be looking to good when she goes back."

Mousse thought about the idea for a moment and smiled, "Her opponents that want change will have a lot of ammunition to discredit her stringent refusal of that change. But she has changed herself while she's been here too, you would not what to have met her before she came looking for you... very scary."

Ranma raised an eyebrow then shuddered at the idea, "I can't see how she could be any worst.. but I'll take your word on it."

"I believe your daughters are up," Mousse stated as he looked at something on the wall. Ranma curiously looked at the same area and noticed that a small monitor was there saying that there was movement in the first guest bedroom and a couple of lit dots on a floor plan.

"Interesting system..." Ranma cocked an eyebrow.

"Sasuke had them installed all over the house so he always knew where his master and mistress were," Mousse shrugged as he stood up and set up another plate. "He even went so far as to sow a small transmitter in their clothes that made them show up in different colours."

"I guess this means I should go and start the girls training for the morning," Ranma smirked as he got up and walked out of the room.

- - -

Poppa? Blush asked trying to get Ranma's attention as the three of them finished cooling down in the massive Dojo that seemed hidden in the old Kuno mansion.

Ranma sighed to himself as he had an idea what the twins were going to bring up but he knew he would have to talk about it sooner or later, What is it? What is it that's so important to make you forget to speak Japanese?

I'm sorry Poppa... but we need to be able say what we mean, Blush looked embarrassed about not obeying his commands while they were in Japan.

We're wondering.. what was wrong with the girl who you say is going to be our new Momma? Perfume asked in worry as both knew Akane was upset about them, but didn't really know why.

Akane fells betrayed by me, Ranma sat with his back against the Dojo wall shaking his head slightly. I promised I would come back to her, and she knew it was to finally marry her, but my marrying your Mother just.. just added to the our problems.

But.. but you married Mother to solve your problems so you could marry this girl, Blush looked confused as it made sense to her to do it.

You know I came to love your Mother, Ranma said sadly and received two nods from the girls. It would have been a little easier if I could have been able to tell Akane I didn't, but I couldn't...

He flung his hand out behind him in anger to bring himself back to standing, I should have known. I should have known that she always felt like a second choice.. and now she's going to be a second wife!

"I shouldn't think she'll hold that against you for too long, she loves you too much for that," Kasumi said as she brought in a large tray of food for the three of them.

"Kasumi!" Ranma spun surprised to the face the older girl.

"I live with Mousse so I've learned some of the language," Kasumi shrugged with a smile answering Ranma's unasked question.

"Should you be out of bed? Here let me get that," Ranma was in front of Kasumi before she could blink twice.

"Honestly!" Kasumi huffed as she reluctantly released the tray. "You're as bad as Mousse! I expected better of you since your are doing better with your girl side."

Ranma looked slightly embarrassed, "You're pregnant, and the less stress the better for both you and the child."

"I'm only a couple of months along!" Kasumi looked almost offended. "Stress comes from a lot of sources you know."

"Like people treating soon be mother as invalid?" Blush quirked an eyebrow at the pair as she and Perfume took a cup and a sandwich each.

"Soon 'to' be mother," Ranma corrected out of reflex then looked ashamed of himself. "Sorry Kasumi..."

"It's okay Ranma, I shouldn't be surprised by it since Mousse and Father both treat me that way. Your Father doesn't... but he also has his own difficulties at the moment..." Kasumi said trying to give a comforting smile, it looked strained for some reason. "Auntie Saotome says I should just enjoy it while it lasts."

"I still can't believe that I saw your pregnancy but totally missed Mom's," Ranma shook his head slightly. "I didn't even look at her aura... even to see if she was healthy."

"Oh.. um, about auras..." Kasumi seemed nervous suddenly. "The doctors say it's too early to tell me the.. sex of my child. Cologne just smirks and won't tell me anything, but last night she let it slip that you would be able to tell better than anyone since you are both sexes."

"She let it slip? Or is she trying to test how much my skills have improved in the last year?" Ranma cocked an eyebrow at the thought. Looking back at Kasumi he smiled slightly. "Well, I'd say she has already given you an answer with her smiling, I doubt she would be happy if it was a boy... unless she could figure a way to marry it into the tribe."

"Oh I realize that but I want to be sure," Kasumi smiled again.

Ranma's eyes seemed to lose focus for a moment then he looked up smiling, "Well congratulations it's a girl... it's also very strong for just two months along but I don't see any tell tale signs to suggest a Jusenkyo curse being passed on."

"Oh don't worry about that," Kasumi waved off looking happy. She was a little surprised that Ranma had trained himself to detect Jusenkyo taint in a person's aura but figured he had more than enough reason to learn. "Cologne explained that Jusenkyo curses don't often pass from parent to child... it just refocuses the extra magical energy into some style matching the form of the curse, and increases their natural abilities."

"So our kids are going to have stronger chi?" Ranma looked impressed. "Pop's gonna to be happy about that... the style of the curse?"

"Well... with Uncle and Auntie Saotome it should be a child that grows a little larger than those around him or her with more natural strength."

"Great," Ranma rolled his eyes. "I'm going to have a bigger 'little' brother... or sister."

"Yours might either be all girls or boys who will always pass a girls," Kasumi giggled at Ranma's reaction to his parents situation. "We don't know what it'll do with Mousse's curse as Cologne says no one she's ever heard of with the duck curse has ever survived long enough to have children... the same with the pig curse."

"So everyone knows about that?" Ranma didn't look happy about Ryoga's curse being common knowledge. "How?"

Kasumi smiled sweetly at the boy, "Akane should explain that."

"I guess.. if I don't get it out of Nabiki," Ranma smiled back.

"Nabiki won't tell you, regardless of how much you offer. Akane made her promise to that," Kasumi replied as she cleaned up the finished food.

"Has anyone seen him lately?"

"Nobody wishes to." Kasumi answered firmly stood to leave. "It would be safer if he never showed his face again."

"Great, now I really want to know what he did," Ranma rolled his eyes as Kasumi left the the Dojo.

- - -

AN: next up the return to school. Hopefully written sooner than this one was.