Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ but I do own Ding. Thank you.

Author's Notes: It seems this story is well liked and I'm happy to please. I hope all of you keep reading and enjoy!

Frozen Lake of Hell

Chapter 3

It was a rather large shock for all those involved to see the scene playing out before them. Ranma Saotome, currently in 'Ranko' mode, was lying atop the new girl on the block with a look of surprise. The surprise was echoed by said laid on individual because of where the pigtailed girl's head was. Right between her breasts. It would have been comical if Happosai hadn't decided that right now would be a good time to cop a feel.

The physics involved with righteous feminine anger are interesting to observe. At moment of contact with a woman's body the violator has a small window of opportunity to escape the following counter-strike. When the use of the word Pervert is applied it triggers a sort of God Mode that ignores the window of opportunity.

"PERVERT!" two girls shrieked in unison as with an eerily synchronous movement they slammed the old freak into the stratosphere with dual uppercuts. The girls looked at one another as if in evaluation. Ranma's girl form was short, busty, and redheaded while Ding's was tall, slender, and with startling green hair. Surprisingly, Ranma patted the now cursed warrior on the shoulder with a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry that ya got involved man…" Ranma said with an apologetic smile.

"Don't worry about it. There are plenty of worse things to be than a girl." Ding waved off the apology with a smile as well. The real women however seemed to take exception to the Dragon's phrasing and were resisting the impulse to go Akane on him. Nabiki glowered before heading back inside while Kasumi gave a simple sniff that spoke volumes.

"Was it something I said?" the neo-girls asked no one in particular.

-Inside-

Akane sat on her bed as she cradled P –chan. The little animal was far from his normal self as he gazed up at the lodestar of his life with anguished eyes. This just wasn't right, Ryoga thought mournfully. He was supposed to try and kill Ranma, fail, and get left where he lay by the arrogant boy, but this time had been radically different. He had fought a highly skilled swordsman in place of his usual opponent before defeating him, barely, and then getting trounced by his nemesis that seemed to have gained control of his curse. Then he had become 'pigged' and had injured his hoof with a nail. It shamed him to admit that he had done nothing to deserve being treated, expertly, by the pigtailed boy. His own pain was interrupted by Akane's sniffles.

"Why do I get so mad P –chan? It's not like he does a lot of this stuff deliberately. Okay, it's not like he does it deliberately all the time, but even then I don't need to hit him. Is it normal for someone to cringe every time you enter a room? I didn't think so. How do I go about fixing a relationship I damaged this badly?" the distraught girl asked her loyal pet as she cuddled him to her chest. The Lost Boy finally realized that perhaps he was lost in a place he shouldn't be and wriggled to get loose. He was creating this whole problem by simply being there. Akane blinked as her pet tried to wriggle free and finally let him go. As soon as his little hooves touched the ground he was off like a shot for the door…to her closet.

"P –chan!" she cried in alarm as she ran to check on the small side of bacon. Her eyes scanned the closet for signs of her little pig, but he was gone. How do you get lost in a closet? She wondered absently, it reminded her of Ryoga… With a muffled laugh she dropped that train of thought. Ryoga is P –chan? Right and that would mean that Ranma's problems weren't entirely his fault. Then she stopped to think about that. His problems really weren't all his fault. That dangerous line of questioning sent her on a spiral.

"Ryoga…is…P-P-P –chan…?" she stuttered disbelievingly before pitching forward in a titanic faint.

THUD

-Downstairs-

Kasumi was going through the motions of friendly and oblivious homemaker even if she was feeling far from her normal self. The young man that came home with Ranma was dragged into their sad little life without warning or even a life preserver. Sink or swim, she thought bitterly as she remembered the surprised face of the newest girl on the block. That comment the Dragon made about there being worse things than being a girl caused her blood to boil a little as she slammed down the knife on an unoffending carrot. With a low sigh, she calmed her temper and went through the motions of her fluid, domestic kata. Nothing could disturb her while she was in her element.

"This is so ridiculous." Ding growled cutely as he (now she) sat down at the table across from Ranma.

"It really ain't so bad y'know. Ya can get discounts and other things cuz guys can't resist a cute girl. My only problem is the guys expectin' ya to 'put out'." The redhead said sufferingly.

"They expect ya to what? Geez that's ridiculous! Ah well…at least I don't gotta worry about goin' through a period. Those are for real girls." The Dragon said cheerfully.

"We are girls right down to inner biology ya idiot. It ain't just a surface thing." Ranma's derisive words blew that hope out of the water. Much to the pigtailed girl's shock and dismay, her friend suddenly burst into tears that would make Soun proud (and cry harder).

"Waaaaaaaah! I don't wanna have my period! Waaaaaaaah!" she sobbed loudly, and piercingly. Nabiki stuck her head in at the bizarre cry and groaned in frustration. Kasumi was gravitating towards the distressed girl to comfort her but her sister bopped the dismayed green-haired girl in the back of the head, incidentally bumping her head off the table. It startled the girl so much that she stopped wailing, but her tears and quiet hiccups were somehow worse.

"Nabiki! That was uncalled for!" Kasumi admonished as she gathered the now stricken girl in her arms. The redhead found she was forgotten in the confusion and gratefully left the table. She had to talk to Akane and get some hot water. Surprisingly in that order. Her ears had detected the thud from upstairs and she went quickly to investigate. The middle Tendo girl shrugged complacently at the confused neo-girl before sitting across from her.

"Are you going to be okay?" she asked, unusually solicitous. The girl looked at her with haunted eyes before regaining some of her equilibrium. Kasumi stroking her hair felt nice and if she could purr she would have.

"Not really. How do I explain to my family that I came across a gender shifting curse? It just ain't fair." The girl whined, but at least she wasn't crying anymore. It was so easy to ignore the curse when all it seemed to her was a topographical change, but to find it was a complete metamorphosis that was bad. The neo-girl could feel the sympathy radiating from the eldest girl before forcing herself to stand up. The girls looked at their guest in some surprise.

"I'm going outside to practice." Ding told them in a dull voice as she slowly brought out her sword before heading out into the backyard. Kasumi wanted to follow her but Nabiki stopped her.

"What would you do? The guy's handling it pretty well if you ask me. Just let him work it out. Now what do we do about Ranma and Akane?" the middle girl asked her sister.

"Good question…" Kasumi replied thoughtfully. The Dragon's plight forgotten, they turned their attention to the pigtailed one and his reluctant bride.

-Akane's Room-

Ranma reached her fiancée's room in record time but was unsure how to proceed. However, it was also decided that if it was another kidnapping attempt or Kodachi she had better get in there. With a sigh, she pushed the door open and peered inside. What she saw made her blood run cold.

"Akane!" she caroled in her soprano voice as she made her way to her downed fiancée. The short-haired girl was out cold as Ranma gathered her up in her smaller arms. It actually wasn't drug induced as she first thought as a brief probe of her aura assured her so she merely got comfortable and held the girl close. To hell if their parents saw them.

"It's my fault that we have to hide. If our baka parents saw us they'd be sendin' out the invitations. If my rivals saw it they'd try to kill me and if the girls saw us together they'd try to kill you. Why does everything got to be so rough?" Ranma asked a tiny voice as she waited for the girl who had become the center of her life to wake up. As luck would have it, she didn't have to wait long.

"Mmm…Ranma?" Akane murmured sleepily.

"I'm here 'Kane-chan." The redhead replied warmly only to stutter in shock when the youngest Tendo's eyes flew open and oriented on her. She caught the storm warning in the other girl's eyes as she pushed off from her fiancé turned fiancée. Akane looked as she was about to explode and Ranma braced for impact. When nothing happened for several minutes, the redhead cautiously brought her face up only to find Akane crying. This was definitely not what she was expecting.

"Ryoga is P –chan!" she wailed dejectedly. Whilst she cried, she alternated it with stabbing glares at the pigtailed girl.

"A-about that…I'm sorry I never told you but he made me promise before…I…met…" Ranma trailed off from her frantic explanation to take in Akane's miserable look. In a rare show of insight, she pulled the bigger girl into her arms again letting her cry into her shoulder. The girl clutched at Ranma like she was a life preserver. Ranma ruefully concluded that if she had changed back to a male all these tears would have feminized her.

"I'm still mad at you." Akane murmured from her shoulder, not lessening the hold a bit, but at least she sounded calm.

"Better to be mad than me across town." Ranma quipped. The girl's head came up, anger flashing in her eyes. As the redhead began looking for a place to hide, the look changed to pure mischief as she dived on the smaller girl with a glomp that would make Shampoo proud. With a squawk of surprise, the smaller girl was knocked to the ground and for the second time that day the floor took the lumps instead of Ranma.

THUD

End Chapter

Author's Notes: Sorry it took so long to update but I hope it was worth the wait. I'm currently holding votes for who Ding should end up with (if I decide he should). I don't usually do this but I believe adding some viewer participation is part of the fun, right? So send me your reviews and your votes and I'll include the results on a chapter by chapter basis. Thank you and ja ne!