Disclaimer: I still don't own Ranma1/2.

Summery: After the Mousse incident, Ryouga's trying to get away from everything so he can find out why he's suddenly so distracted around Shampoo. Unknown to him, Shampoo's tracking along, intent on paying back the honor debt she owes him.     

[Sign]

(Thoughts)

*SOUNDS*

++++++++++Flashback++++++++++

Chinese

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Unlikely Couple

Part VII

The way home, didn't we take the left trail here?

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Judging by the locked door into the Hibiki home and the lack of powerful aura coming from the inside, she could guess that the lost boy and her great granddaughter weren't there at the moment. Moving around the house, she stopped when she spotted the open window on the top floor of the house, it would only be a small challenge for her to get up there.  

Looking at the note in her hand, Cologne was at a loss. The note, hastily scribbled down in her village dialect left no doubt as to what had happened to her great granddaughter. "Shampoo, sometimes I question you." Jumping around on her staff, the elder Amazon left the Hibiki home, skillfully avoiding the trap placed above the window once more, smiling as she shook her head. Truly the Hibiki family was a strange one.

Stopping to stare back at the house, she shook her head with a finalized sigh. "With those two running around out there, it could be months before they show up again." Patting the strange colored dog next to her absently, Cologne blinked when she noticed the faint yet familiar aura of the hopeless blind boy that worked in her restaurant. "Mousse boy, you are wasting your time, Shampoo is not here, and neither is the boy."

The sound of robes moving told her that Mousse was backing away from her, to get a better place to strike or defend from. "Well, do you know where they are?" Already knowing where the boy was, Cologne continued to pet the Hibiki dog, keeping it from going over to see if the half blind boy was any threat to the house it protected

The sound of a sleeve moving back to expose a volley of chains and knives was all she heard in response, smiling Cologne turned around to face the boy with a cold look on her face, her staff moving through the air, sending out just enough force to knock he weapon out of the sleeves. "Should have guessed, you never wanted me anywhere near her did you." Mousse spat out the words as he jumped back and moved towards the backyard of the house.

Following him with her eyes, Cologne reached out a hand and picked up one of the knives. "Boy, this obsession with Shampoo isn't good for you, already you have tried to hurt her, what if you do it again." Leaving the rest unsaid, Cologne stared at the boy with a sad look. "When you are ready, I will be waiting in the Neko Haten for you." Plopping the staff down onto the ground, she looked around the yard with narrowed eyes, as the boy was gone. He was getting better at his stealth and hiding skills, but he was still centuries away from fooling her. "Mousse, I meant what I said boy." Glaring up at the roof, a smirk crossed her face as she noticed the white fabric of the boys robe moving away from the edge. "Remember Mousse, if you try to harm Shampoo again, you will not live long enough to regret it." Turning away from the house with those words, Cologne left the boy to his own thoughts.

*****************

Somewhere in the Japanese wilderness, two sulking teenagers were trying to track their way back to the nearest form of civilization, the leader, a purple haired Chinese girl was currently cursing loudly in her native langue, impressing the Japanese boy behind her with some of the more colorful phrases. 

Rubbing a hand across his forehead, Ryouga cast a worried look up into the bright midday sky, noticing the lack of clouds to provide some cover from the blazing sun. As an experienced traveler, he could feel that his body was protesting against the extra hot air they were having, and was demanding a break to cool off and replenish on water. "Shampoo, I really think we should take a break and get some water to drink." Already beginning to drop his backpack to the ground, Ryouga stopped when he noticed the somewhat to glare sent at him from the Amazon.

"We no stop until back at Neko Hanten, so Umbrella boy keep walking." Shampoo growled out the new nickname she had thought up for the lost boy, wiping her own arm across her forehead as well. "Amazon proud, we go for days under burning sun, you strong warrior, you no should complain, sound weak." Returning to study the only map they had found of the area, Shampoo began to lead them further into the rocky mountain valley, headed towards the one town she had found on the map.

Groaning, Ryouga pulled up his backpack and continued into the rocky terrain ahead of them. Skillfully moving around the large rocks, silently cheering when he noticed the forest starting back up again a bit further down the mountain. Still, it would have been nice with some water to drink, and some rest. "Are you sure we're going the right way? That rock looks familiar."

Looking to her left, Shampoo stared at the rock in question. Large and somewhat looking like a dogs head, it did have a striking resemblance to the one they had passed one hour ago. Looking back down at her map, Shampoo blinked and traced the path they had been traveling at for the last four hours. "No, is not same rock, we still moving in right direction."

Looking at the rock with a puzzled stare, Ryouga returned to following the purple haired girl, trying to think off his one true love. Akane Tendo, and mentally beating himself when he was distracted by the way her traveling companion hair moved, or how cute it looked when she turned to look at the surroundings with a half pout on her face. "Dammit, what is wrong with me?"

Shampoo stopped her walking as she heard the lost boy start up on the same argument he had been having with himself for the last few hours. "What umbrella boy complain about now?" Turning around and crossing her hands, she stared at the lost look on his face and sighed. "Shampoo want go home, you want too yes?" Turning back around, she tried to concentrate on the map, but kept getting distracted by the sound of Ryouga moving somewhere behind her.

Ryouga stared at Shampoo with a frown; then he looked up at the sun with a concerned look on his face. "I still say we need to take a break." The sound of Shampoo walking away from him broke through his thoughts, looking back down again, Ryouga grumbled and began to follow her, staring intently on the purple hair moving from side to side as she moved, how it followed the movement of her… Giving himself a mental slap, Ryouga cursed himself for looking at the purple haired girl like that, and refocused on following the purple mane of hair. 

Several hours later, Both Ryouga and Shampoo stood still, their eyes staring at a rock shaped like a dogs head. Both of them a expression on their faces over seeing the same rock, but while Ryouga's was only a mild annoyance over something he was getting far to used to experiencing, Shampoo's was one of pure rage, it was unheard off that an Amazon warrior could be lost, it was something only outsiders face, not someone from the proud and noble Chinese Amazon's.

The map in her left hand made a crumbling sound before it began to smoke. Looking up at the sound, Ryouga stared at one very angry Shampoo glowing with a sickening bluish aura, the map held tightly in a clenched hand. "Uh Shampoo." Lifting a hand and trying to get the girl's attention, he winched as her right hand moved rather fast through the air, smacking into the side of the stone with a sickening thud, cracks spreading out from under it. "Never mind." Stepping back, Ryouga began to pull off his backpack, from the sight of the angry girl, they were going to be here for a while if he knew his angry Amazon warriors right.

Screaming a loud and long string of curses in her native dialect of Mandarin, Shampoo began to shift from punching the rock to kicking it, the cracks spreading out more and more with each one, finally resulting in a rumbling sound and a lot of dust, as it broke apart. Huffing a bit, the purple haired stepped back and dropped the blacked remains of the map on the ground, knowing that it was completely worthless by now, turning to her companion, she breathed in several deep breaths of air, trying to calm herself down "Umbrella boy have an idea..." Her voice trailed off as she looked at Ryouga. "What you doing!?"

Ryouga looked up from eating his first cup of instant noodles, a bit of the brew seeping down his chin as he sucked down the last of the slippery food. In his lap, a manga was opened up and had the signs of having been read several times, his eyes showed a small bit of puzzlement at her question. "Um, taking a break" Dipping his chopstick back into the cup, he fished out some more noodles and stuffed them into his mouth.

Stomping over and reaching down to strangle him, Shampoo stopped as her stomach gave a small growl at the sudden smell of food hitting her nose, her eyes turned big as a pink blush spread over her cheek. "Uh..." Then she dropped down to the ground in front of him. 2Shampoo give up, we lost in mountain forever, guess curse on lost boy spread to Shampoo as well."

The sound of wood breaking was heard as Ryouga snapped his hand down around the chopsticks, the small pieces of finely cut and sharpened wood never standing a chance against the strength of the lost boy. "Hey!" Shooting a dark look at the purple haired girl, he threw the remains of his chopsticks away. "I'm not cursed, I know where I am, and I only get lost because the maps are all wrong."

Cracking open one eye, Shampoo stared up at Ryouga with a rather sarcastic glint in them as she lifted up a finger to remove a few strange of damp purple hair from her forehead. "So, Umbrealla boy just lost all the time." Watching the rather interest sight of several veins popping out on Ryouga's face, she reached out and grabbed the cup of noodles away from him.

Still fuming at the remarks and jabs at his pride, Ryouga glared at the girl when he saw her holding his cup of noodles in her hand, the sight giving his a flashback to a similar scene with a pony tailed younger Ranma in a school cafeteria. "Humph, it's not my fault I'm like this, I blame it on my parents, they suffer from the same thing as well."

Putting the cup of noodles to her mouth, Shampoo almost sucked up some of the brew and the few remaining noodles, but stopped as her mind began going over the words of the lost boy. "Umbrella boy's parents lost like Umbrella boy?" Shooting a quick stare out of the side of her eyes, she saw him flinch at the question, not enough, but enough to show it was one of the more painful facts of his life. "Shampoo, sorry for..." Adverting her gaze, she settled for staring at a nearby mountaintop, sucking down the noodles and brew in one gulp, only to spit it out again just as fast, her face screwed up in disgust. Yuck. Throwing the cup away, Shampoo snorted, as she could still taste the noodles. "Food taste like week old sushi left in sun."

Across from her, Ryouga gave a small chuckle at it, his eyes closed to hide his mixed feelings. "Well, if it all you have to live off most of the time, you learn to appreciate its taste." Standing up, Ryouga looked down at Shampoo, and then followed her eyes to the nearest mountaintop. "You thought of a way to get out of this place."

Shampoo grinned as she stared towards the mountain in the distance; her eyes twinkle with barely hidden amusement. "Shampoo, forget Amazon's first rule of traveling." Pointing a finger at the mountain, she reached out and grabbed Ryouga's hand. "Find travel mark and follow it."

Ryouga grinned as he stared up at the mountain in the distance, his eyes growing a bit big as he too remembered one of the most basic things his father had tried to teach him when he was younger, too bad it hadn't really worked since he would always lose sight of it one way or another. "You... can find the way now?"

Shampoo nodded and started to walk down the path, her eyes burning with a new resolve and determination to succeed and return to Nerima and her Airen... No it was Ranma, but Great Grandmother would have a solution to that by now, it was a sure thing. And then, she could pay off her debt to Umbrella boy and both of them could return to their normal life. Slowly, her eyes lost a bit of the spark, as thought of returning to the role of fighting for Ranma's affection and him to accept marriage to her, didn't sound so... Well, it was something she didn't want to think off now. "Shampoo know way now. We go towards Mountain."

Ryouga nodded in response as he finished packing his backpack again, his eyes going to look a t the purple haired girl, the sudden feel of depression in the air screaming out to someone who's whole life had spent getting to know the sighs of it, but his also knew from those rare past encounters with other people, that sometimes people didn't want to talk about it, and this looked like one of those times. "Well, shall we go then?"

Giving a quick nod of her head, Shampoo turned around and began to walk towards the mountain, her eyes never leaving it as she did so, and almost right behind her. Ryouga was walking as well, his umbrella once again shading him form the glaring sunlight, staring at the purple haired girl with a hesitant look on his face Ryouga gave a small sigh. "Shampoo?"

The purple haired girl looked back at the strange tone in her companion voice. "Yes."

Holding out the umbrella, Ryouga gave an awkward smile. "Here, use this to protect yourself from the sunlight."

Taking the umbrella from the lost boy, she stared at it and him confused for a few seconds, before holding it up over her head, feeling the heat of the sun getting chased back a bit, and giving her some much need relief from it. "Thanks." Mumbling the word out as she turned around, Shampoo fought down a small pink blush on her cheeks and began to walk again, feeling the weight of the umbrella in her hand as she did so.

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For Mousse, the search of the Hibiki house hadn't given him much to go by, other then the fact that all members of the Hibiki family had to have a serious mental problem. Pushing the last junk off him, he stared up at the robe swinging back and fourth. It was the fifth trap he had run into since entering the Hibiki house. And the strangely colored dog didn't make searching for clues to Shampoo's whereabouts any easier.

Ducking under the training weights that suddenly fell down towards him, Mousse jumped through the door he had just opened and stared up at the latest thing in a endless amount of random objects that had nearly brained him for a third time since setting foot in this house, Mousse question the idea of even returning to the house again.

Staring at the bedroom he was in, he noted the lack of traces in it as well. Sighing deeply, Mousse pulled out the small bottle he had finally gotten his hand on after so much trouble, and cash. Inside of it, a clear liquid swirled around and promised the love of the person he had always wanted, now if only that person he loved wasn't missing, life would have been perfect. "Damn you Hibiki, what have you done with my lovely Shampoo!!"

Turning around to leave, he stared at the door with a cold glare. "Not this time Hibiki." Turning back to the Window, he pulled it opened and jumped back to avoid the hand weight that dropped down from it hiding place above the opening to land on the ground. "This family is insane." Moving out through the window, he stared into the yard with a concerned look on his face. "My darling Shampoo, I will save you from that bastard Hibiki and his evil ways."

Jumping off form the house, he lad on the small path leading through the backyard and then set off again, soaring up into the air and onto the roof of the neighboring house, and from there onto the next one and the next one. His path was clear to him now as the train tracks became clear. "Nerima, where ever he is now, he will make it back to Nerima sometime, and that's where I will be waiting for him." Grinning, the Chinese boy jumped down onto the side of the train as it speeded past, several passengers shooting a frighten look out at him when he hit the wall and grabbed a hold of it. "Just you wait Hibiki, your defeat will be swift and painful, that I promise you."

The train moved towards Nerima, several passengers shaking their heads at what they saw as an insane passenger laughing his head off while he was clinging to the side of the train, then again, the word that he was often seen in Nerima explained it all to them. One had to be insane to come from that district.

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The sun had long since begun to settled as they at last, finally found themselves walking across a village limits at last. Both Shampoo and Ryouga was more then ready to scream out in happiness at the sight of the brick and wood houses around them, instead they settled for glaring back at the mountain range in the horizon, both of them felt a shudder when remembering the last few hours spent in them. "Shampoo happy to be out of mountain." folding the umbrella down, she smiled as she handed it back to the boy standing behind her, the sudden feeling of it no longer in her hand left it and her arm feeling as light as a feather. "Go find place to stay, and get bath."

Ryouga nodded as he shook off some of the dirt as he felt Shampoo reach out and grab his hand, holding it gently as she tugged him down the street after her, he found himself staring at the delicate look of it, as the feeling of a faint blush forming on his face became clear to him, and then the fact that he was walking became clear. "Hey, I can walk on my own you know."

Stopping, Shampoo stared back at him with a light glare, her temper very closer to the breaking point. "Shampoo want bath now. No spend night looking for Umbrella boy." Returning to walking, she clenched her hand a little tighter when she felt Ryouga try to shake his hand lose. "Shampoo find good place stay, then she let go okay."

Glaring at the back of the Chinese girl, Ryouga felt his heart beat a little faster as he felt Shampoo squeezed his hand. Whatever response he might have had was lost as a rush of hormones made him blush and nearly stumble over his feet. Shaking his head and trying to fight off the blush on his face, he never notice how he simply followed every direction that Shampoo led him in like a trained pet.

Stopping, the Purple haired girl looked up at the small sign on the wall next to the door with a smile, only to grumble as Ryouga continued walking nearly pushing her over. "Umbrella boy stay still when Shampoo stop." Looking back to the sign, she reached into her pocket and fished out the small amount of money she had on her. "How much Umbrella boy have?" 

Breaking out of his thoughts, Ryouga stared at the girl before he felt her stomp on his foot as she glared at him, then he stared down at the few crumble yen noted and coins in her hand. "Oh!" Reaching into his pocket and retrieving his wallet, he pulled out the meager amount of cash he had as well. "Here, that all I have."

Looking at the amount of money added to her own, Shampoo began to count up just how much they had together. Then she looked back at the sign to confirm it. "We stay here." Not waiting for Ryouga to respond, she reached out and grabbed his arm, dragging him in. The inside wasn't very pretty looking as the place was far from the normal tourist spots, moving through the entrance hall and into the reception as fast as she could with the lost boy dragged after her, stopping as soon as she reached the counter. Lifting up the money, she waited for the elder sitting in the chair to notice them  

Looking around the place, Ryouga shook his head. While it was levels above his shabby tent any day, it still looked like a cheap motel. The walls only had one lousy painting of some small lake, and the rug they stood on was faded and worn. All in all, he had seen many places that were better then this. Staring ahead and at the elder who still hadn't noticed them, Ryouga reached out a hand and gently knocked on the counter to get some attention.

Looking up from his place behind the counter, the owner glared at Ryouga and then at Shampoo with half closed eyes and an angry frown as he held open his newspaper. Looking closer at Shampoo, he glared when he noticed her Chinese look and clothes. "Go away, we're closed." Looking back to book before him, he sighed and felt himself drift off to sleep again.

Ryouga looked at Shampoo with a puzzle look on his face, then he turned back to look closer at him. "Hey, we want to rent a room." Not getting a response, he gently pushed past Shampoo and cleared his throat a little louder as he knocked on the counter a third time. "I said we want to rent a room."

Looking up again, he looked from Ryouga to Shampoo with a darker frown on his face. "You with her kid?" As Ryouga nodded, he looked from the black haired boy to the Chinese girl. "Then we don't have a room." Pushing back from the counter, he began to walk away from counter. "I don't rent out rooms to them."

Glaring at the man as he walked away, Shampoo felt her temper reaching new heights, moving way beyond the breaking point she had reached before. "Shampoo want room now." Slamming her hand down on the counter to give her words extra weight as she spat out the words.

Turning around to face her, the man held up his hands with a disgusted look on his face. "No understand, now get out." Glaring at Ryouga he moved his hand lewd way. "Chinese lover." Spitting out an insult to follow the movement as well.

Whatever else he would have said went unheard as Ryouga smashed the counter into a pile of rubble. "What did you call me!?" Each word came out with the same temperature as ice as he walked across the remains on the floor and felt every muscle in his arms tense. Glaring at the stammering man before him with narrowed eyes promising a horrible pain in the near future, he grabbed the front of the man's shirt and lifted him up into the air to dangle. "Now, before I leave, I want you to apologize to her!" 

Looking from the angry face of Ryouga to the just a deadly look on Shampoo, the man broke out in sweat. "Look, I didn't know that you two… I mean that I… Don't kill me." Resorting to begging instead of apologizing to them, he struggled to get out of Ryouga's grip and finally he turned to a simple but old treat. "I'm telling the police, you can't get away with this."

Moving over to look at the man still held up by Ryouga, Shampoo reached out a hand and smacked it into his face as hard as she could. I should kill you for that insult male. Spitting out the words in Chinese, she stared at the man lying on the floor, blood running from his nose. But I'm tired and I don't want to waste my time on you. Let's go Ryouga Turning, she marched out of the room.

Looking down at the man one last time, Ryouga followed after Shampoo, leaving the man to yell curse and obscenities after them as they left. Staring around the dark village, Ryouga pulled his backpack on better and looked sideways at Shampoo. Her mouth was a thin line as her anger flared around her in a bright blue flame. "Are you okay?"

"No." Looking back at the house, Shampoo kicked a stone at the wall. "Shampoo want kill man for that." Spitting out a curse in Chinese, Shampoo returned to walking down the road, looking for another place to spend the night. "Shampoo tired of hearing stuff like that."

Ryouga blinked and hurried to keep up with her. "You… You get called names often." Cursing even as he asked, Ryouga looked away from the pained look on Shampoo's face. "I mean you don't have to tell me at all… Just forget I ever asked." Her Face became more drawn with each word he said, Nervously Ryouga began to wave his hands in front of him, feeling an impending doom at the hands of a rampaging Shampoo. "I'm sorry." 

Breathing out loudly as she tried to forget her anger, Shampoo stomped down the road, looking from one house to the other, keeping an eye out for a place to stay for the night. Behind her, Ryouga walked, face locked in deep thoughts as he could remember the times he too had been the target of people calling him names due to his bad sense of direction.

Minutes passed as each of the two young one walked down the road, their thoughts on a different subject, but still very similar from time to time, it hadn't been that much later before Shampoo stopped to stare at a small house to their left, a similar sign that she had seen on the last hung on the outer wall. Walking up to it, she glared at it with tired eyes cursing at the Japanese words written on the sign in her mind. "Umbrella boy, we afford this place?"

Stopping, Ryouga stared at the sign with a curious look as he read it, running a finger down over the words his face took on a more trouble for each sentence. Staring from the number of rooms to the prices a few times more to make sure, he finally turned to stare at Shampoo with a blush on his face. "Well, we could stay here, but… well… we can only afford one room."

Staring from Ryouga to the sign and back again, Shampoo sighed as she leaned up against the wall, tiredness and a headache beginning to from the long walk taking a toll in her. Clenching her hands, she stared at the lost boy with a firm glare as she reached out and grabbed his hand. "We get room, no care if share, want to sleep in a bed an have real bath for once."

"But… but…" Protesting the whole way, Ryouga reached out to grab a hold of the wall, only to feel his body getting yanked off the ground and nearly thrown through the door as Shampoo pulled him in with her. Getting off the floor, he shook his head as Shampoo walked up to the counter with a firm gaze on her face.

Hammering a hand down on the bell located on the counter, she looked towards the door as she began to tap her foot, shooting cold eyes at the furniture and paintings inside the room, snorting as she noted that it looked a bit better then the last place she had been at. Behind her, she could hear the lost boy getting back on his feet, than she noticed the old woman walking out of the back room. "Shampoo want rent room, and no want hear comments on Shampoo background."

Looking at the young lady before her, the old woman shook her head and took out a small pipe, lighting it up she took a deep drag before blowing the smoke out into the room. "So, would you like two beds or one in the room for you and your companion?" At the sudden beat red face on the boy, and the growing anger on the girls face, she noted to herself that it would require two beds in the room instead of just one. "Well, let me see your money."

Dropping the few bills and coins they had on the counter, Ryouga and Shampoo continued to stare at the old woman as she counted the money, the pipe sending out a thin steam of smoke, finally she took out the pipe and stared at them with the same uncaring look that she had the whole time she had been present. "You're 2100 yen short to afford two beds in the room."

Looking a bit down, Ryouga began to turn around to leave, Shampoo face nearly red as she was starting to shake with anger and frustration over the treatment she had to endure in the last half hour from this old woman and the idiot man down the street, her first impulse was to reach a hand back and pull out a bonbori to force the price down by smashing the counter.

Pulling out the pipe of her mouth again, the old women leveled a glare a Shampoo, silently threatening her to do it, then her face soften and she stared at them both with a look that could have belonged to Nabiki anytime, it spoke of a unbending will in the field of trading and price haggling. "Well, there might be a way for you to rent the room anyway."

Shampoo stopped and returned the greedy business women glare with her own Amazon warrior glare, putting down a hand over their money, she continued to look at the old women. "What you talk about?" Her voice was calm, but spoke of hidden violence that she would unleash at any moment if she didn't like what the old woman was up too.

"Well…" Taking a deep drag of her pipe, she allowed her sentence to trail off as she began to go over a few numbers in her mind, taking in the look on both of the two travelers, blowing out a small smoke ring, she returned to looking at them with her full attention. "If I were to let you sleep in the room, you'll have to work off the difference in the price."

Ryouga opened his mouth to protest, when Shampoo smacked her hand down on the counter. "We take it." Her look back at the lost boy would have killed anyone if it were a weapon. Nodding in agreement to the deal, Ryouga breathed out as the purple haired girl removed her eyes from him and picked up the key handed to their room instead.   

The old woman grabbed the money and dumped into a metal box from under the counter, looking at them as they picked up the key, she briefly grinned over the deal, then it was back in her normal cold glare. "Room 11, up the stairs. Whatever you do in there, keep it down, other people are trying to sleep."

Both Ryouga and Shampoo shot a dark glare at the old woman as they walked up the stairs, Ryouga after getting rescued from nearly walking out the door by a rather irritated Shampoo. Reaching the room, Shampoo nearly kicked it down in order to enter, her eyes going over the rather sparely room. Two beds that looked like they belonged in the army, one simple dresser, and one window with a simple piece of clothe for a curtain. "Umbrella boy stay here, Shampoo look for bath."

Nodding in response to the words from the Chinese girl, Ryouga settled down on the bed and dropped his back pack on the ground, the few lumps in the bed not feeling that bad to someone who was used to sleeping on a rocky ground with only a sleeping back between him and the very earth itself most of the time, it wasn't that bad, a bit above the average, but still rather normal. "Now what." Leaning back on the mattress, he stared up at a spot filled ceiling that was in desperate need of paint. "Where do I go from here?" Eyes turning to the side, he stared out the window and up into a night sky just starting to show the first few stars of the night starting to come out.

Down the corridor and inside a small room, Shampoo stared up at the showerhead, the water still in the process of warming up. Which would explain was she was almost hugging the wall, the last thing she needed was to spend time as a cat. But while she was taking care to avoid the water, it was purely on reflexes; her mind was far too busy working over the current problems she was facing. "What wrong with Shampoo? why she no longer feel so happy at thought of Arien?" Eyes going to the water falling to the ground, a sad smile crossed her face as a single tear of frustration joined the water. "What Shampoo do deserve this?" Sighing and sinking down to the ground, her sniffs of stress turned to a loud cry that turned into a cat's scream as she placed herself right in the path of the cold water. Looking up, the pink cat eyes closed to prevent water form hitting them. {What Shampoo do, deserve this.}

TBC: Trials, Leaving the Mountains at Last.

An: Well, another chapter out, and if I'm not wrong, just as long a time as it took to get out the last one, namely half a year. I'm really getting to be too lazy on my Ranma stories aren't I? Still, I'm hoping that some of you old readers are still out there and in the mood to leave a positive review of this story.