Sign
(Thoughts)
SOUNDS
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Chinese

Unlikely Couple
--
Aftermath

As they tended to do with time, things soon quieted down well enough for her to assume some kind of control of the mess. And not a moment to soon in her well versed opinion. "Good, he's out cold, now to give him the cure."

Turning to face Ryouga and Shampoo, she cracked a small eyebrow at the sight of her great granddaughter staring at Ryouga with a confused, lightly emotionally troubled stare while the lost boy was busy drilling a hole through Mousse with a hateful glare.

Clearly, things were not really settled with him yet, something that would need her attention later. It just wouldn't do to have too much of a grudge between him and Mousse, it wouldn't do in the long run. Shan Pu, bring him inside, and then bring me the hot water from the kitchen, I'll need it. And you two put him that table

Moving into the restaurant when the last order had been given, she finally allowed a small grin to fill her face. The mere thought of Mousse, cursing himself to become hopelessly in love with the Tendo girl was priceless. Truly the mighty and careless ones did bring about their own defeat in time.

Normally she would have been dancing on the inside for having such a golden opportunity handed to her, for once, it would have mean that she had a reliable subject to dump the Tendo girl on, thus freeing up Ranma to love Shampoo.

But now that shampoo was an outcast, she wasn't bound to marry Ranma anymore, so in a sense this new development was useless. Unless she decided to once again try and do what she had failed in, namely claim the young boy as her husband.

If such a thing happened, she was certain that this new Mousse would be most useful, now however, he was a burden, an unwanted problems he had to deal with before things got even more out of hand.

Another thing had troubled her; the ease with which Ryouga had used the ShiShi Houkoudan was troubling at best. She would have a real chat with him about it, if he really had a thing for Shampoo, he would do best to learn the downside of emotion charged chi attacks.

"Put Mousse in that chair will you?" Pointing at one while pulling out a good, sturdy chain, she grinned as she quickly wrapped up the blind boy, ignoring the protests from the young Tendo, and the rude comment from Ranma. "Patience children, all will be explained in due time, Shampoo, is that water ready yet?"

Getting a faint reply from the kitchen, the elder Amazon jumped up on the table, planting her staff off to one side while pulling out a mixture of herbs, planting the small pile before her. "Now boy, look at me?" Turning Mousse's head around to face her, she smiled as she held up a hand in front of her. "You're really lucky you know that, if you had gotten just a bit more of that passion potion into you, you'd have been a lost cause."

"Taking such a huge dose, when only a handful of powder would have been enough to inflame a whole village." Chuckling lightly as she accepted the kettle of hot water that Shampoo emerged with, she stared at him. "Now, this will hurt you Mousse, in more then one way."

Mixing the herbs into the kettle, she stirred it slowly with a finger, muttering something about having to always clean up such messes. "There, now, drink this, all of it." Holding out the kettle, she nodded briefly at Shampoo while grabbing her staff. "And do it now."

Meanwhile, Ryouga found himself alone at last, a thing he had somewhat missed. And while it was a good chance to make his escape at last, leaving Shampoo and the whole mess behind, it seemed somewhat useless right now. He was knee-deep in the trouble weather he wanted to or not, and running away wasn't his style.

He wasn't like Ranma.

Drumming one finger uselessly on the kitchen table, he stared at anything he could think off, hoping to find some deep answer to his problem by some miracle. Still, one thing he really did learn form this, was the same thing he had always known.

"I hate my life." And boy did he ever, he wasn't sure he would even curse the likes of Ranma to live the kind of life he did. Always wondering if the next corner he turned would lead to someplace he knew, or if he'd once again find himself utterly lost.

Lost, like he wasn't always lost, in both the real world, and his chance to claim the ones he loved. If finding a way to prove his love for Akane had been difficult, how did one go about doing it to a girl that hated you?

Shampoo, she had never really been nice to him, the most of his memories about her was nothing short of insulting, with her mocking him with nicknames, poking at his directional sense. Yet, she had been so different lately, he had seen what most have captured Mousse's love.

She was caring, wild spirited and free, just like him she was powerful and could fight, a graceful powerhouse that would never take no for an answer. So much like him, yet so different he felt stupid for even thinking of comparing himself to her.

And he loved her, the very place that only Akane could ever have hope to receive, was now only for the purple haired Chinese girl to have.

"As if she'd ever want me." Muttering out the comment as he leaned back against the wall, he didn't even blink or turn to greet the girl who walked in though the door, something that in the past would have meant days of silently berating himself for making such a mistake.

As for the girl, Akane found herself staring at him. Her mind still busy trying to figure out what it was that was going on, Ranma, Shampoo nor Cologne had answered any of her questions claiming thy were busy dealing with Mousse.

Which left only one person left to ask, if he could stay cohort long enough to utter some kind of response to her inquiries about the matter.

"Say Ryouga?" Waiting patiently fro a response, she frowned as nothing came, not even a nervous blush or a muttered out greeting. "Ryouga?" Stepping closer, she waved her hand up and down, hoping that this wasn't going to end with yet another one throwing himself at her, proclaiming his undying love.

And completely unforbidden, a memory arose of that time in the carnival, when she had nearly ended up getting crushed to death by an overeager Ryouga thinking she was in love with him.

"Ryouga!" Banishing the thought, she raised her voice a bit while stepping right into his field of vision, eyes lightly narrowed as her patience were running low. "Hey, you mind paying attention to me?"

Shaking his head and sighing as he focused on her, Ryouga briefly expected himself to break down like he usually did when he was near her. But instead of that, he found himself regarding her much like he would be regarding Ukyou whenever she had some kind of plan. "Sorry, I was thinking."

Pushing off from the wall, he smiled as well as he could, noting that the shorthaired girl was cooling off. "So, what is it that you wanted Akane?"

Frowning lightly at the lack of emotion when he spoke to her, Akane once again wished that she knew just what had been going on between him and the Amazons, or at least that she had some more clues about it. "Ryouga, do you know what's been going on?"

Opening his mouth to respond, Ryouga blinked, as the whole building seemed to shake as a loud, painful scream echoed out from below.

When it stopped, Ryouga closed his eyes and drew partly into himself. "It's a long story, a very long one." The phase leaving him in a faint muttering as he thought back once more on all that had happened lately. "I guess it all started when I returned from my latest training trip."

"So, he's okay now?" Ranma questioned as he gazed closely at a still fuming around the mouth Mousse, the half blind boy had looked better even after getting beaten up. "All that hot for Akane stuffs been dealt with too?" Turning around, he ignored the sight of Shampoo dragging Mousse out much like one would drag out a carpet.

Giving the pigtailed boy a skeptic glance, Cologne let out a small bark of laughter as she jumped up over him, landing on the table and lifting up her pipe. "Sorry Ranma, but it's not that easy, besides, the current situation is very beneficial to me."

Letting out a puff of smoke, she grinned as she regarded Ranma from the corner of her eyes. "Soon, Shampoo will be taking the trial to reclaim her Amazon hood, and when that happens." Letting a very feline smirk at the confused expression hitting her, she chuckles mentally. "Shampoo will be able to chose to have another shot at getting you to accept her as your wife, or she can challenge the one who's conquering her heart. But in short, she will be free of all previous requirements of the tribal laws"

Feeling a bit of a bruise on his ego at the thought of Shampoo losing interest in him, Ranma leaned in closer and gazed hard at the old woman before him. "And who do you think would do that, Mousse, Pigboy, or even Kuno." Smirking as she stood back in his full height, Ranma flicked his pigtail back proudly.

Chuckling more loudly, Cologne removed her pipe and glance up at the boy before her, a small amount of humor twinkling in her eyes at the thought of much fun that boy could provide. "Really Ranma, you know there is more then one way to win an Amazons love, and while you did beat her and earned the kiss of marriage."

Letting a dramatic silence fill the air, she grinned as she the full attention of the pigtailed boy was on her now. "The law became void to my great granddaughter the moment she lost her position as a warrior of the Chinese Amazon tribe, and as such, she is free to be pursued by others, as well as pursue someone on her own."

Staring after her as she left, Ranma left out a small huff as he stood up. "Great, so Shampoo's off my back with her stupid marriage law." Glancing at the doorway leading out into the main part, Ranma frowned as he thought about it. "Who cares if Ryouga and Shampoo ends up together."

"Sounds like you do." Came the rather indirect response from behind him, the very feeling of the voice making him cringe, as he just knew he would either be forced into some kind of scheme, or blackmailed for something. "Relax Ranma, I'm not going to blackmail you, I just came to see if the rumors I heard were true."

Turning around to face a smirking Nabiki, Ranma couldn't help but frown as he saw the tell tale self-satisfied smirk on the middle Tendo daughters face. "What rumors?"

Ignoring the rather frosty reply to her small comments, Nabiki glanced around the room with a small amount of interest, her eyes half closing as she finally shrugged. "Just someone saying that Shampoo had dumped you for Ryouga."

Feeling another bruise on his ego, Ranma clenched up his hands as he turned rather quickly to face the smirking girl. "She did not dump me okay, all I know is that she got kicked out of her tribe, and now she's hanging around Ryouga." Spitting out the last part, Ranma began to walk towards the door. "Why I don't know, only an idiot would like a guy who can't even find the bathroom on his own"

"Saotome!"

Turning to face the doorway, Ranma blinked as he found Mousse standing in it, a large sword held in one hand while a powerful battle aura blaze up around him. "You dare try to defile Akane by cheating on her with Shampoo?" Not even waiting for an answer from the pigtailed boy, the half blind martial artists struck out, cutting the second potted tree in the building in half. "I won't allow it!"

Kicking out and hitting the blind boy in the side, Ranma glared as he found himself facing the Amazon boy who had dropped his sword to favor a wider range of weapons, ranging from a yoyo to a small fishhook. "What are you rambling about, you're the one who got the hots for Shampoo, so go kick Ryouga's butt not mine, he the she likes, not me."

Chuckling evilly as he stalked closer, Mousse slipped into a battle stance. "Who could even care about Shampoo when seeing the radiant beauty of Akane?" Smirking, as he looked closer at Ranma, Mousse allowed a dark smirk to fill his face. "Then again, if what I heard is right, you should go after Shampoo, and leave Akane to someone who really does love her."

"You!" Descending on Mousse with a rather nasty tone of voice, Ranma lashed out while ducking the various weapons getting thrown at him.

And behind them, Nabiki chuckled as she watched it with keen interest. As usual, the sheer presence of Ranma seemed to bring about even more chaos to this highly amusing and very profitable situation.

When Ranma was done doing his thing to Mousse, she had a small business transaction to deal with him. Her left hand fingering the fresh set of photos she had just developed this day. Kuno had gotten his stash of it and while she had planned on making him get the rest later for a higher prize, she would be able to earn even more if she sold both pictures to him and to the half blind Amazon.

As soon as Ryouga ended his story, Akane nodded more for herself then for his sake, as she wasn't sure she had gotten most of the details, but it had made a lot of sense. "I see, so you and Shampoo aren't really together, it's a honor kind of thing."

Grinning somewhat emotionless at the comment, Ryouga pushed himself off the wall he had begun to lean on somewhere in his recapping. "So, you're not, mad?" His question, while innocent did give off the full feeling of having more then just a simple need for a yes or no.

And while she didn't really understand why he would a question like that, the short haired tendo daughter couldn't help but once more wonder just what was the reason for Ryouga to act like that around her. "Why would I be mad, you were just helping her out, it's what friends do. In fact, I think t was sweet of you to do so."

Smiling as cutely as she could, Akane failed to see the rather depressed emotion filling Ryouga's eyes for a few seconds. "Um, I think I'd better get going again." He should have expected it, but it still hurt that she had basically failed to see the true meaning to his question. "I'll see you later Ryouga."

Watching her as she left, Ryouga sighed as he leaned back against the wall. Things were really not going the way he had expected them too. Akane were acting like normal, and as she had done every time he had tried to figure out what she felt in a subtle way, had failed to see just what he had really meant with his question.

But he still hadn't come any closer to why he had sought the peace and quiet of this room to begin with. The lack of depression form Akane's reaction to his question hadn't been as shattering as it would have been a month ago, mostly, it just felt like a friend had ended up hurting him without intending to.

As for Shampoo, he would never be able to ask her question like that. He had learned from what had happened around Akane, his heart of glass wouldn't just handle a rejecting form the Chinese girl like it normally did, not at this point in time anyway.

"Why?" Asking the same question for what felt like the millionth time to himself, Ryouga found no answer. Other then the knowledge that this time around it wasn't just as simple, pounding Ranma into the ground wouldn't just solve it.

Shampoo was different, she loved Ranma, hell even he had seen it. And it hurt to know that, it was bad enough that Ranma had always been the first on Akane's mind, how was he compete against him when the girl had done anything but yell out that she loved that pigtailed jerk once a day.

Standing up to leave as well as he found himself getting depressed just by thinking, Ryouga froze as he spotted Shampoo standing in the doorway, a nervous expression on her face as she gazed at him. "Shampoo here to get Ryouga, great grandmother wants us to meet down in the restaurant." Not waiting for a response from Ryouga, she reached out and grabbed his hand. "She tell Shampoo to lead you there, so meeting no be late."

Blushing somewhat heavily at the feeling of her hand around his wrist, Ryouga began to beat down the same thoughts he had suffered from recently as he found himself enjoying the contact.

Not doing much better herself, Shampoo did at least have more training in dealing with her emotions and as such, didn't show much difference not that she were beginning to admit the lost boy were having some effect on her, but it wouldn't work, she had to become and Amazon, and then refocus on reclaiming the honor she had lost.

Sitting calmly at the table, Cologne enjoyed the rare peace and quiet, the feelings gained from everything cooling down after a messy ordeal always left her smiling. "So, Ranma, you and Mousse are getting along nicely." Her commenting full of the humor she found in the new rivalry between the half blind Amazon and the pigtailed boy.

And when she said it all worked out for her, she wasn't kidding. If Shampoo decided to go after Ranma, she wouldn't have Mousse to worry about anymore, and she had anew card to play against the young Tendo daughter. Not to mention the fact that while Ryouga would be heart broken, he would more then likely end up pinning for Akane as well.

All in all, this whole ordeal had left her with a better hand then ever.

Looking up, as her inner thoughts were broken, she smiled as Ryouga and Shampoo entered the room, the lost boy not doing a very good job of hiding his emotions for her great granddaughter. "Ah, Ryouga, sit down, sit down." Pointing at the chair, she grinned as she watched Shampoo take the place she had expected, right between Ranma and Ryouga.

But that kind of small details about her great granddaughter's current emotions were for later, now was the time to outlay what should happen from now on. "Shampoo, I have finished the last arrangements for your trial." Sending out a puff of smoke as she lit her pipe, she watched her young charge for any sign of change in her. "They have agreed to let you undergo the mind, body and spirit trial."

Sitting up a bit stiffly at the words, Shampoo felt her face light up with a big smile. She were going to reclaim her honor at last, no longer would she just be a dishonored outcast, she would prove herself to be an Amazon among Amazons. "When Shampoo take trial?"

Letting silence fill the room, Cologne watched her with a calm expression. "Two weeks from now child." Her eyes halfway closing as she gazed around the room. "And as I have already told Ryouga, outsiders are not allowed to watch the trial, but I doubt we'll be able to keep you from traveling with us."

Smirking at each of the teens around the table, she allowed her little speech to sink in before she continued. "As such I figured I might as well invite you along, rather then have you show up on your own."

TBC: Back To China.

AN: I'm getting closer to an ending. First I'll deal with getting to China and the Amazon village, then I'll begin the final story arc, the trial. After that, there'll be a bit about Ryouga and Shampoo dealing with their new emotions.

Other then that, there were a lot of minor problems with this chapter, I feel that I failed to show Ryouga trying to figure out how to tell Shampoo that he cares for her, but I thought it would be more wise to get Akane and Ranma in on the current events, even if they don't have anything to do with them.

I'm thinking of a few things that could happen while they are in China, but I'm not sure if I should add it to the story.