Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or Dragon Ball Z.

Author's Notes: This chapter will be longer than the last.

Chapter 3

Rise to the Challenge

Nabiki was still not an early riser, but living in the Son household meant compromises. To be honest, she was glad to be near Ranma again, even if she wouldn't admit it to anyone. It felt good to wake up to the sounds of combat and with the smells of good cooking. If she closed her eyes she could almost imagine that she was home. The events of the night before left her with a warm feeling. The old pervert, Happosai, had tormented her mercilessly until she found the only person who could stand up to him. The pigtailed martial artist had vastly improved. She smiled as she burrowed back under the blankets as she thought about how he felt when she was up against him.

"Nabiki! Time to get up!" Chichi called. The girl sighed as she grudgingly got up and dressed. When she went downstairs, the woman showed her to her seat. Just as the Tendo girl was settling in, the rest of the household trooped in from their sparring. Nabiki almost jumped when Ranma sat next to her with a smile.

"Sleep well?" he asked. The girl blushed slightly and nodded, mentally cursing herself for acting like some hormonal little girl. Sure, he was handsome, and he had a body girl's would drool over, but she was more interested in a guy with brains. If he had a good body than it was a bonus. Gohan and Goten were already shoveling their food down. The two boys finished roughly at the same time and ran out the door in opposite directions. Ranma was actually eating at a slower pace, but still fast to an ordinary person. She was trying to get up the nerve to talk to him, but just then Chichi walked in the room.

"I just graded your test from yesterday." She began, sounding ominous.

"And?" he said in barely concealed worry. Nabiki knew what his grades were like and figured it would be more of the normal, but her next statement shocked her.

"You passed! You got an A." she said happily as she showed his test paper. He whooped happily, without even thinking about it he grabbed Nabiki in a hug. The shell shocked look on her face from hearing the grade turned into a funny little smile. Chichi cast an appraising eye on the scene before her with her own smile. The pigtailed boy realized who he had just grabbed and began apologizing, but she just waved him off with a flushed look.

"Ah…Does this mean what I think it does?" he asked.

"Yes it does, I'm sending your results in and you should have your diploma by next month." She said. The boy looked even happier at the prospect while the Tendo girl boggled.

"How?" the confused girl asked.

"I spent some time in a place called the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. It allows you to train a whole year in a day. Well, even I can't train that much without a break so I figured studying would be a good idea." He shrugged. Once again Nabiki was struck by the thought that something else was different and now she knew what it was. He sounded educated. It was quite a change. She was suddenly curious what his girl half looked like. While Ranma was distracted talking to Chichi, she threw cold water in him. The short, busty redhead was gone. In her place was a young woman, the baby fat that had made her look so top heavy was gone; she was still well proportioned, but it was better distributed now. The redhead gave her a look that was far from irritated; she actually seemed to be amused. As she stood, Nabiki noticed something else. Apparently Ranma-chan had a growth spurt. She may not be as tall as Kasumi, but she was just barely taller than herself. The mercenary girl may not swing that way, but it was obvious she was any man's dream girl.

"Hey Nabiki-chan, I didn't know you swung that way." The girl said with a humor clearly heard in her voice, making Nabiki blush. Chichi shook her head and left to wash the dishes. The girl felt slightly nervous about being alone with the other girl. It was a strange feeling. She knew this was Ranma, but she seemed to be more comfortable in her skin than when she was home.

"I don't. I'm just curious about this change in you. Normally you'd be running for the hot water by now." She asked curiously.

"Well, I had it pointed out to me that I am a fine specimen of a woman. Besides, I know I'm a guy and that I'm straight so why am I worried? Girls aren't weaker and dumber than boys. I was the dumb one for continuing with that load of bullshit." She said. Nabiki was amazed; she wondered what pod this clone climbed out of. Then again, it was easy to see for someone who knew him that this was Ranma. The mercenary girl had the sudden urge to hug the girl, but firmly held it down. The neo girl went to the sink and splashed herself with hot water, turning back into a guy. He flipped his pigtail, smirking over his shoulder at Nabiki, just barely catching a glimpse of the girl wiping some drool off her chin self-consciously.

"What are you going to do today?" Nabiki asked.

"Try to find Akane. She really hasn't been herself." He said as he put on the heavy turtle shell.

"What am I going to do while you're gone?" she said, unconsciously pouting. Why does her baby sister get all the boys? It wasn't fair. The pigtailed martial artist was struck by how cute she looked like that, but mentally shook himself. The woman of the house walked in the room.

"You can help me around the house today." She said pleasantly, but in a tone that brooked no contradiction. Nabiki gulped, but nodded. With a wave, the boy took off flying in the direction of Satan City, leaving the girl behind with chores and a lot on her mind.

Back at the Tendo-ke-

Soun, Genma, and Happosai were sitting around the shogi board drinking sake and cheating outrageously. Soun was stealing the panda's pieces, Genma was stealing the crying man's pieces, and the old pervert was stealing from both. The topic of their slurred discussion was Ranma.

"I swear the boy needs to learn some respect! He goes off and learns how to fly, but doesn't teach his old man!" Genma grumbled. Across from him, his friend nodded sagely or as sagely as a drunken man can nod without vomiting. The perverted master just groaned. The sake had taken his mind off of his humiliating defeat, but not off of the various pains lancing through his body. He was furious with the boy for denying an old man his innocent pleasures.

The three would have continued bad mouthing Ranma all night, but Kasumi had enough. She couldn't do anything overtly, but she could sabotage them indirectly. When they called for more sake, she cracked the seals and quickly slipped something she got off of Shampoo the last time she was there and dropped it in. She served the drunken fools and went back in the kitchen.

"Now she is a good and dutiful child." Genma said wit approval. Soun glowed at the praise. The men saluted her and drank down half their bottles in a toast to Kasumi before, as one, they passed out face first into the shogi board.

"Ah…Peace and quiet." She said with relief, but she was briefly worried about the interaction between the sleeping draught and the sake, but decided that a martial artist should be able to survive it. With that thought in mind, she went back to cleaning.

/-

The skies above Satan City were clear as the pigtailed boy flew overhead, trying to spot his errant fiancée. The girl was hard to find. What was really infuriating was that he caught a glimpse of her a few times, but by the time he got there she was gone. It was sort of disturbing that she should be able to hide that well.

Up ahead, something got his attention. It was Akane! She was floating in mid-air with that funny M on her forehead and she was dressed in what looked like a blue bodysuit with wraparound white chest armor, white gloves, and white boots. Her short hair seemed to have grown out to below shoulder length and her hair was bluer. The girl smiled and it actually went up to her eyes. Ranma stopped as he felt the powerful, lethal chi radiating from her.

"Hey Ranma." She said as he got within talking range.

"What's up Akane?" he asked. Mentally preparing himself for battle. The girl was dangerous with a capital "D". Her aura was simmering just below the surface, but the smile never left her face.

"Nothing much. As you can see I've become stronger. You should have treated me nice when you had the chance. Too bad for you." With a laugh she flew straight at him, clearly intent on taking his head off with one swing, but stared in shock as her fist was grabbed and a fist took her in the gut. Her breath exploded out as he released her, but a surprise spin kick tore into the side of his head, sending him spiraling through the air. He shook his head to clear it. When he looked at his homicidal fiancée she merely smirked, but otherwise appeared unharmed.

"You're right, you are better, but that doesn't change a thing. Just come home. Everyone misses you. Please. I wouldn't even be here if you weren't important to me." He figured kindness might work, but the derisive bark of laughter chilled him to the bone. He barely dodged in time to avoid the lightning fast mallet to the skull that would have killed him instantly. Ranma knew he had to get out of there, but she wouldn't just let him go that easy so he did the only thing he could do. He fought. Forget what his Pops said about not hitting girls, even if they might be weaker they can still do damage. Akane was case in point of why he should defend himself. When she came around to attack again, the boy was ready for her. A few furious blows took her in the stomach before a powerful uppercut struck her in the jaw and tossed her upward into the sky. Before she could reorient herself he grabbed her from behind, bending her arm up behind her back and an arm across her throat. The girl struggled, but couldn't get loose. With a furious growl, she managed to slam him in the crotch with her free hand, twist around and strike him in the face then using his momentum to hurl him head first into the ground outside the city.

"I always knew I was better! You should have realized that in the first place." She gloated before streaking off into the distance. The battered boy climbed painfully from the hole, a sharp spasm of pain running through his crotch. He unconsciously held back, but the feral glint in his eyes said that there would be no mercy next time.

Back at the Son house-

Nabiki was quickly learning how to clean. Sure, she knew the basics such as grab a broom and sweep, but the girl was learning things that she didn't know before. Chichi was working her to exhaustion. When the girl complained, the older woman said it was for her own good. When the woman said Nabiki should learn how to cook, the girl knew she meant that she better learn or else. The "or else" was never specified, but it had to be bad. The girl knew her cooking wasn't the best, but at least it wouldn't kill you. Still, the woman was determined that the girl would turn her cooking into a culinary masterpiece. As they worked together in the kitchen, Nabiki wondered if this was what it was like for Kasumi to learn from mother. She was rapidly beginning to value the woman's advice.

"Nabiki dear, what are your feelings for Ranma?" Chichi asked out of the blue, startling the girl. She nearly cut her own finger off, but quickly controlled herself.

"He's a dumb jock with fiancées chasing after him, chaos is attracted to him like a magnet, and people want to kill him." She said after a moment's thought. The woman smiled slyly.

"I asked for your feelings, not a description." The girl blushed as she realized she wouldn't be able to maneuver her way out of this. She had to compose herself, but it was hard to concentrate all of a sudden. Her thoughts went back to when the engagement had been switched to her. He had taken it so seriously and had been so sweet. She was actually surprised this guy was Ranma and even after it was switched back she watched him, but could see now that Ranma didn't deserve even a fraction of the beatings her dear little sister would give him. What she was probably mad about was the fact that he always spoke the truth and Akane never could stand the truth unless it was favorable towards her. In retrospect, the girl wished she could go back in time and hold onto him with all her might. It hurt even more than she expected it to. Nabiki knew Akane didn't love him or even like him, but they had been getting along out of necessity. Maybe if she was more honest she'd have a chance. With that in mind she finally decided to answer Chichi.

"He's sweet and caring. You know his word is good and he would do anything to help a friend. Those qualities are what attract me to him. I-I like him a lot. It's time I did what I should have done before." Nabiki smiled as she checked the miso soup, but a voice from behind her startled her out of her reverie.

"What should you have done?" Ranma asked as he walked in.

A few minutes earlier-

Ranma was flying back to the house like an airplane with two engines gone and weaving erratically. The pain was dying down, thankfully, but the dizziness was persistent. He once again asked himself why he allowed her to hurt him. He understood that right now she was possessed or under mind control, but that didn't stop him from remembering all the times she would hit him for no reason. His thoughts were on the women in his life. Sure, he missed everyone back in Nerima, but he was glad that they weren't here. Kasumi was an excellent cook and an even better listener, but he couldn't imagine spending the rest of his life with her. Then came Akane, no scratch that. Shampoo? File that under Fat Chance. While he was at it he threw Kodachi and Ukyou in there as well. What about Nabiki? The girl who constantly blackmailed him and basically held his debts over his head? Then again, he understood that he did owe her quite a bit. She always tried to provide for her family and he could respect that. If she managed to make some money off of him at least it was for a good cause. He began thinking seriously about her because otherwise the honor agreement between the families would never be honored and he actually liked the Tendos. The time the engagement was switched leapt to mind and he had to smile at the memory. They came so close to breaking through their shells, but it ended too soon in his opinion. Once again he ended up with Akane the Kitchen Destroyer and Fiancé Masher, doomed to be miserable again. Maybe he could give it a shot. After all, he couldn't be bossed around for the rest of his life.

"It's my life." He said with a smile and, with a burst of speed, flew back to the house. As he walked through the door he could hear Nabiki saying something to Chichi.

"…It's time I did what I should have done before." She said before leaning over a pot of miso soup that smelled heavenly, but he actually left his stomach behind to talk to her.

"What should you have done?" he asked. The girl seemed to jump, but kept her calm outwardly. He could tell that her aura was a whirl of emotions as she turned to look at him. Standing there in that apron with that slightly flushed expression made her look beautiful, but he knew that wasn't her and was glad of that. Without either of them realizing it, Chichi had left the room after discreetly turning off the stove and snagging Goten before he ran into the kitchen.

Nabiki's heart had leapt into her throat at hearing his voice just after confessing how she felt, but she was also secretly glad. She knew how hard it was for either of them to admit anything. His clothes looked beaten up, but he appeared no worse for the wear. She took a hesitant step forward before going up to him. Maybe a diversion would work?

"Are you okay?" she asked as she felt around for anything out of place, but he stopped her by taking her hands.

"You didn't answer my question." He said with gentle amusement. This was not the Ranma she was used to. This one was more open and seemed more at ease than she could remember. She sighed.

"Alright, I was remembering the time we were engaged. I…reallyenjoyedourtimetogetherandwishitcouldhavelastedlongerbecauseI'vesecretlyhadacrushonyou." She said in a rush. Ranma blinked.

"Excuse me?" he feigned ignorance. She snorted in exasperation.

"Fine! I really enjoyed our time together and wish it could have lasted longer because I've secretly had a crush on you. Happy?" she snapped. He looked stunned for a moment before his brain restarted.

"You have a crush on me?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Yes I do and I'm sorry to bother you with it…" her irritation giving way to depression as, without a word, she turned to leave before feeling a pair of strong arms hold her from behind. She gasped, but leaned back into him with a happy sigh. The girl looked over her shoulder at him.

"I have a confession to make. I've had a crush on you as well." He said as he gently kissed her. The girl was briefly startled but soon returned the kiss eagerly.

"You certainly are interesting to have around, Ranma Saotome." Chichi said with a smirk as she went about serving lunch, leaving the two alone.

End Chapter

Author's Notes: Mwahahahaha! A new chapter is done and I am a genius! With my bout of megalomania aside, I wish to thank all those who review whether it be good or bad. For the people who can't criticize properly and give two word reviews, your stuff is great for laughing at.