PART XVI

Shadow Puppets.

=============

PS - I apologize in advance about the fact that I suck at writing fight scenes.

"CHARGE!!!"

Cologne once again dodged the postbox, which once again, crashed into the wall. It lay there for a moment before climbing to it's feet. The old woman's eyes widened slightly. "Not bad. Not bad indeed. You may not be the most skilled of warriors, but you have an obnoxiously high level of endurance."

"So I can marry Shampoo, right?" Tsubasa asked again.

Cologne thought for a moment. She could tell that it was obviously a love potion that had gotten the two together, but she was getting heartily sick of all the fiance chasing. Shampoo adored Tsubasa, Tsubasa adored Shampoo and once they got to China, she could always get some shampoo 114 and make them believe that they'd always been in love, just in case the potion wore off. Ah.... She could almost smell the air of China already... clean and refreshing .... With undertones of rotting vegetables. With a small frown, she sniffed a little harder. "What's that smell?"

The source of the strange smell was revealed a moment later as Mousse slowly walked into the restaurant, covered in garbage.

"What happened to you?!" Cologne asked in slight concern. After all, the boy was still an Amazon.

Mousse shook his head a little. "I don't want to talk about it," he mumbled. "I'm going to take a bath, OK?"

This was very strange. Mousse had entered, not glomped anything, not declared his love to the furniture and not gone ballistic at Tsubasa. Ah yes, Tsubasa. The old lady turned to he boy. "I have made my decision."

"Yes, honoured Elder?" Tsubasa asked hopefully. He had been carefully warned by Shampoo about respect for the old lady and had bitten off the urge to refer to ghouls and mummies. A point in his favour.

Cologne smiled. "Call me ... Great-Grandmother... Son-in-Law."

Shampoo had obviously been listening at the door. She charged through it (And by this, I mean she charged through the actual door, and not the doorframe) and glomped Tsubasa happily. "Aiya! Shampoo so very, very happy! We go back China..."

"China?" Tsubasa thought about it for a second as Shampoo continued.

"Go back China, get married, make lots of babies!" That made up his mind.

"AFTER you're married!" Cologne reminded the pair as they left the room, hand in hand. She sighed. I guess I'm just a hopeless romantic at heart. Unfortunately, she had far more pressing matters to deal with - such as how to get Tsubasa, Shampoo and Mousse to China without Mousse attempting to rip Tsubasa into tiny shreds. Nothing came to mind.

Ah well. She'd just have to leave him to make his own way back.

Mousse continued to fume as he soaked in the tub. Girlyboy... HA! He was twice... no, TEN times the man Hibiki was. How dare that dizzy idiot call him that?!!

He sighed and toyed with his hair. OK, so maybe she wasn't a dizzy idiot. But she was definitely lucky. He'd launched a flying kick at her, and at the last moment she had the utmost luck to slip over! He'd gone sailing over her head and straight into a garbage cart. And she'd started laughing at him! If he hadn't had the unfortunate luck to fall out of the cart and into a puddle, she'd have been laughing on the other side of her face.

Mousse didn't usually fight girls. But she'd REALLY irked him.

Nobody called Mousse more of a girl than Hibiki and got away with it.

Ukyo looked pleadingly at Ranma. "PLEASE just change the terms, that's all I'm asking. You can still fight him."

Ranma was torn for a moment. Then Merdith's dark spell took over and he shook his head again. "I said no, Ucchan, and I mean no. A warrior doesn't go back on his word, you know that. Besides, the higher the stakes, the greater the motivation." He made a face. "I finally figured out that's how Nabiki always wins at Monopoly." He gave her an arrogant grin. "Besides, why are ya all worried about him?"

Ukyo sighed and looked at the floor. Her hair fell over her face. "He's always been alone, hasn't he? Even when he could find his own house he was still alone." She lifted up her face slightly. "All his friends are here, in Nerima. All the friends he's ever had." She gazed imploringly at her oldest friend. "After a lifetime of loneliness, are you going to take away the first friends he's had in years?"

Ranma looked at her in amazement. "You ARE worried about him!"

Ukyo flushed. "I am NOT! It's just... I've spent most of my life alone too. And I know I'd be really upset if I was never able to see my friends again."

Ranma looked bored. "He's a big boy. He'll be fine. And who knows, he might be really lucky and win." He leaned over and patted on the shoulder. "And if he doesn't, well, you get rid of one freeloading, unwanted fiance."

Ukyo stiffened. "Maybe I happen to like having freeloading, unwanted fiances, you ever think of that?" She stood up, her gaze stony. "I liked the last one well enough, didn't I? And somehow, he still manages to keep control of my life." With that, she stalked out of the Dojo, leaving Ranma sitting behind her, stunned into silence.

As soon as she was outside, Ukyo leaned against the wall of the Dojo and tried to gather her jumbled thoughts into focus. She'd actually said that she liked having that idiot jackass Ryoga around. It was true. She really did like having him around in the restaurant. But what had Ryoga meant by saying "I'm going to lose anyway, it's a universal law?" If he lost then that meant she'd never see him again. I DO like my unwanted, freeloading, idiotic jackass of a fiance she silently admitted. Not as much as she liked her wanted- but-ex fiance, Ranma Saotome, she quickly reminded herself. Even though she'd sort-of chosen Ryoga at the moment. ONLY at the moment she reminded herself sternly. She still loved Ranchan... Speaking of which, I'd better emphasize the fact that I'm still interested, before he thinks that I don't want him anymore.

Although, Ranma hadn't ever really treated her as more than a friend... kind of like the way Akane treated Ryoga, except Ranma knew she loved him and Akane hadn't the faintest idea that Ryoga loved her.

poof

A little devil appeared on her shoulder. "You know Ranma just likes you as a friend."

She frowned. "Shut up, you."

"He never even hugged you or anything, not like Ryoga did today."

"You shut that up, Right Now," Ukyo spluttered. She forced the disturbingly pleasing memory out of her head.

poof

A little angel appeared on her other shoulder. "Uh... why are you here?" it asked the devil.

"Isn't thinking about two guys at the same time a bad thing?" the devil asked, evidently confused.

The angel shrugged. "I didn't think it counted if she was trying to reach a good outcome."

"Would you two knock it off?!" Ukyo hissed. "I don't know why you're even doing this. Ranma-honey's the only one for me!

The devil shook it's head and sighed. "Ah, to hell with this. Lets just go consult the handbook."

poof

poof

Ukyo shook her head. "That was very strange." She massaged her skull. "Very, very strange."

Akane appeared around the corner. "Ukyo! Hi! What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to Ranchan about his rematch with Ryoga." She wisely decided not to mention what was at stake. Akane was far too likely to use her mass weaponry on her fiance and scream a lot. Which really wouldn't help much.

"Ranma want's a rematch?!" Akane looked shocked. "Is he crazy?!!"

Ukyo shrugged. "Why? How close was the fight?" They walked down the corridor towards Akane's room and stopped outside the door.

"Come on it, I'll tell you all the details. And," she added, eyes twinkling. "I got a few magazines today with some great pictures of Magical Guy Makoto."

Ukyo immediately responded. "Now you have my attention!" she said with a grin. "If there was one guy who had a chance of stealing my heart away from Ranchan, it would have to be him," she gushed merrily, picking up a magazine.

"A little star struck, are we, Ukyo?" Akane teased.

Ukyo bopped her over the head with the mag. "Hey! It's not like I'm a lovesick teen from Osaka or something! It's a little different when you've actually been rescued by the guy."

Akane nodded. "I know how you mean. So how many times has he rescued you now?"

"About six. And his sister's rescued me twice." Ukyo flicked through the pages and came to a stop on one. "It's strange. Those two always seem to work so close to each other, but you never see both at the same time. I wonder why."

Akane frowned. "Really? There has to be a photo of the two of them together somewhere." She began leafing through one too. "See if you can find one."

A few minutes later they gave up. "Ah, well. It's not like it matters." Akane picked up a mag with a large glossy photo of Magical Girl Ryoko, a slight scowl on her face.

Ukyo spotted it. "What's up?"

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing really." She sighed and put the magazine down. "Ranma thinks she's kawaii."

Ukyo shrugged. "It's not like he's gonna need rescuing from her!"

Akane laughed a little. "He'd probably end up rescuing her." The smile was suddenly replaced by a frown. "And she'd fall for him and he'd fall for her and I'd have no-one."

"There's always Makoto."

Akane laughed again and this time the smile remained. "Hey, what does Ryoga think of the new magical girl?"

Ukyo smiled. "He said she's really pretty but he prefers brown hair to black." She deliberately left out the part where he'd mentioned liking long haired girls. Because we have to make another Akane and Ranma splitup plan, she quickly decided. We haven't done that for ages. Wouldn't be right for Akane to think that he didn't like her because she had short hair. She leaned against the window and looked out at the sunset. "Isn't it pretty out tonight..."

"Yeah." Akane pressed her nose against the glass and squinted down at the lawn. She frowned. "Is that baka Ranma fighting with his father again? Daddy told them not to until the walls were fixed." She pulled out her transdimensional mallet. "We'd better go stop them before any more damage gets done."

Ukyo nodded slowly, a large sweatdrop appearing on her forehead as she wondered how the mallet was supposed to prevent damage.

Merdith watched with nothing short of horror on her face as the binding spell cast by Skuld held long enough for Ryoga to pull himself out of the shadows. "Can't we just talk about this?" she pleaded gently, trying to cast her spell over his mind.

"No. We can't. We can end it now." Ryoga raised his wand before adding "And I don't like to play with the prey." That was all the demons were, parasites preying on human emotions and sometimes even human flesh. He felt no joy in his work and didn't like to prolong it.

The next thing he knew, he was being slammed in the back of the head. Stars flashed before his eyes. Must be an accomplice.... he thought, trying his hardest to remain conscious. He wondered why the words "Ranma, you jerk!" were bouncing through his head. Maybe he'd ended up in Ranma's body again. Yuk! That had been horrible just once.

Next thing he knew, he was being held tightly. "Akane, you idiot!" a voice (far too) near his ear yelled. "You just whacked out Magical Guy Makoto!"

It can't be... He forced his eyes open and looked up. "Ucch.." he caught himself. "Uh.. Ukyo?"

Ukyo almost dropped him instantly. "Oh, I'm sorry! Are you all right? Did she hit you hard?"

"Not too hard..." Ryoga managed, before closing his eyes and wincing at the pain in his head. "OK, so that was pretty hard." He groaned and snuggled back into Ukyo arms. If she ever finds out it's you, she'd going to kill you very slowly for this, a small voice warned him. Ryoga ignored it. His head hurt, the spell was catching up to him and he was just so very comfortable...

"WAKE UP YOU MORON!!!!!"

Ryoga jumped to his feet, startled by the concealed Mini-Skuld's shriek. "Where did she go?" he asked carefully.

"She slipped off when Akane and Ukyo made their dramatic appearance," she reported. "Keep a sharp eye out and try to get those two back to some sort of safety."

"Then what?"

"Put your mask back on straight, it's slipping."

"What's going on?" Ukyo asked nervously. "Who are you talking to?"

"I have a radio link with my sister," Ryoga lied quickly. He looked around the darkening garden, searching for any sudden movements. Something flickered in the corner of his vision and he whipped around. "Hiyaa!"

Ranma flinched and found himself pinned to the wall by an icicle that speared the fabric of his shirt. "Hey! Take it easy!" He pulled the icicle out and advanced. "I'm Akane's fiance, not some demon hell bent on destruction."

Ryoga remained on guard. "Sure? It got in through you, in any case."

"Hey, you!" Skuld hissed at him. "Stay on guard!"

Akane unconsciously moved closer to Ranma. "What's happening?"

"Ranma, get them out of here," Ryoga quietly ordered. "Now, before..."

"Makoto!"

He sensed, rather than saw the attack coming. Without even pausing to think, he grabbed Ukyo and jumped onto the roof as the ground behind him folded in on itself. Then twisted in midair to launch a quick series of attacks at Merdith. Ukyo screamed in surprise. "Are you all right?! You're not hurt, are you?" Ryoga asked in concern, mistaking her scream for one of pain.

"I-I'm fine," Ukyo gulped. She tightened her grip around his waist and buried her head into his tuxedo. "J-just a little surprised, that's all."

"Y-you d-d-don't have to hug me..." Ryoga stuttered, trying to pull away. How was he supposed to concentrate under these circumstances?! Sure, it was nice and all, but exceedingly distracting... luckily for them, Merdith was too injured to use the distraction against them.

After a moment, Ukyo regained her shy, star-struck instincts and let him go, blushing a deep shade of red. "I-I-I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean to d-do that..."

"It's OK, I don't mind," Ryoga quickly protested. The two of them stood in silence for a little while, unsure of what to say.

Finally, Mini-Skuld lost patience and whipped out her long handled mallet - which somehow managed to stay at normal size - and visible, despite the fact that she was still concealed - and whacked Ryoga over the head with it. "GET A GRIP AND FINISH IT!!!"

"OW! Jeez! Why does everybody in this town seem to get some sick satisfaction from pounding me with blunt objects?!?!" Ryoga grumbled.

"Well, the demon's weakened, one more attack should do it," Mini-Skuld informed him, ignoring his complaint.

"The demon's still around?" Ukyo enquired.

Ryoga nodded. "But don't worry. I won't let her hurt you - I mean anyone," he quickly corrected himself. Then paused. "Akane!" He began slowly torturing himself in his mind. How could I...

"Ranchan!" Ukyo covered her mouth with her hands. I can't believe I...

Mini-Skuld quickly brought them up to date. "They're fine. Ranma saved Akane and they're inside the Dojo resting."

Ryoga and Ukyo heaved small sighs of relief. "You'd better start making your way home too," Ryoga told the chef. "It's dangerous for you to stay here." He smiled shyly. "I'd hate for you to get hurt."

Ukyo blushed and stammered for a few moments before settling to give him a big smile and jumping off the roof. Ryoga looked at the spot she'd departed from for a few moments. Wow... when she's not angry, she can be so nice! Almost...cute, even!

"Umm... excuse me?!" a timid voice began behind him.

"AAAAAAA! DEATH!" Mini-Skuld screamed - directly in his ear.

"No! My name's Magical Girl Pretty Sammy!" Pretty Sammy squeaked. "I wanted to thank you and your sister for saving my life at that restaurant, that's all!" She stared at the ground for a second before working up the courage to add "I was also hoping, if it's not too much trouble, if I could have your autograph, please."

"... Uh... do you have a pen?"

WHAMWHAM

"Finish the demon before it escapes!" Mini-Skuld hissed again, the mallet disappearing again.

Merdith decided she didn't like that plan one little bit. Not one. With a banshee howl, she launched herself at them. Ryoga very calmly grabbed Pretty Sammy around the waist and leapt high into the air before launching a final attack at the demon without bothering to call the name out because I can't be bothered to think of one. Landing in the garden and placing the girl on the floor, they both turned to survey the damage done to the local area.

Think demolition zone.

Think hotel sliding off a cliff.

Think "Danger - Arms Testing Ground."

Mix them all together and get Akane, Ayeka and C-Ko to finish it off.

Done that? Congratulations! You now have what remains of the local precinct! (Luckily, the Dojo is somehow still standing.)

Now picture avalanche.

Dam burst.

Flood plain.

All equals Soun Tendo.

Ryoga, Pretty Sammy and Mini-Skuld sweatdropped. "I think this is time for a tactical military order," Mini-Skuld advised.

"RETREAT!"

End Part XVI

Final song - Dance Into The Light

===================

PART XVII

Little Washu

Genius Scientist.

Lousy Geography Teacher.

===================

PS - I also apologize in advance about the fact that I suck at sugar scenes too.

"WAKE UP, YOU JACKASS!!!!"

Ryoga clutched the blanket tighter and pretended he couldn't hear her. True, she was knelt on the edge of the futon and screaming at the top of her voice, but there was always the off chance that he had concussion. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if he did have concussion, with Ukyo, Skuld and Akane regularly hitting him with blunt objects. Maybe she'll give up and go away, he thought fuzzily. I should be so lucky!

Ukyo gave up and walked away.

After a few moments of silence, Ryoga cracked an eye open to see if she really had gone, before embracing his good luck and slipping back into sleep.

Luck is not a big fan of Ryoga Hibiki.

SPLASH

"YAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" Ryoga-chan jumped to her feet, shivering all over. "That was COLD!!!"

"What can I say but whoops?" Ukyo courteously poured hot water over her before making her way to the door. "Now get a move on or we'll be late for school."

"Oh goodie. School. Be still my beating heart." Ryoga yawned. That was a definite drawback to staying in one place - having to go to school. And why so early?!? How teachers expected their students to learn anything when they were all half asleep was a mystery to him. He'd have skipped school today and gone back to sleep, but now his bedding was soaked. "Go away, then."

"Yes, Dad," Ukyo mumbled, walking over to the door. She paused in the doorway, then turned back to face him. "Hey. Where did you disappear to last night?"

"Huh? Me?" Ryoga pointed to himself and struggled to think of something. "I uh.. I went for a walk! Yeah, that's it!" He laughed nervously. "A short walk around the block, that's all! Y'know, it was a nice night and all..."

A perfect night to be saved by Magical Guy Makoto... Ukyo smiled dreamily. "OK, you get dressed, lost boy."

Why on earth is she grinning like that? Ryoga wondered, gazing at her. Still... she's awfully cute when she does that.

"What are you looking at?!" Ukyo asked, snapping out of her daydream.

"Huh? Nothing! Nothing at all!" Ryoga protested.

Ukyo turned into the Flaming Ukyo Fire Oni and gripped her spatula. "Are you saying I'm nothing?!!"

"What?! No! I never said that!" Eep! Impending doom!

"So you think I'm nothing to look at?!!"

"No!" Ryoga quickly scanned the room for his clothes. If he was going to be air mailed across Japan, he wanted to do it fully clothed at least. This meant that his mouth spoke before his mind could double check the words. "You're nice to look at."

"WHAT?!???" Ukyo dropped her spatula in surprise.

"Umm... Gotcha!" Ryoga poked her in the center of her forehead, throwing her off balance. She landed on the floor, slightly dazed.

"Th-th-th... THAT was DIRTY!" she wailed, jumping to her feet.

"You snooze, you lose," he shrugged, finally locating his trousers (under the futon), his shirt (wedged behind the chest of drawers), socks (bookcase) and shoes (wardrobe, surprisingly enough).

Ukyo sneaked a quick peek at Ryoga as he tried to organize his homework into some sort of order. Did he really mean what he said...? Watching him, she stifled a small snigger as the pages slipped out of his exercise book and showered over the floor. He muttered something uncouth under his breath and disappeared under the desk to retrieve them. He's not so bad either.... and he does look awfully like Magical Guy Makoto...

"Psst! Ucchan!"

Ukyo looked around, startled, then let out a small squeal as something tapped her on the knee. She glanced under the desk, then slowly began fuming. "What on earth are you doing?!!" she hissed to Ryoga, red-faced with anger and embarrassment.

Ryoga looked totally unfazed. "Could you move your foot? You're stood on my homework."

"Get out from there, you pervert!" Ukyo snarled, ignoring the request.

"What do you mean, pervert?!" Ryoga protested, tugging at the piece of paper. "There's nothing to look at!" He meant in the fact that she was wearing trousers and not a skirt. Ukyo didn't quite see that.

"JERK!!!" Unable to spatulate him, she settled for stomping on his fingers. Hard.

"OW!" He snatched his hand back with a hiss. "What did you do that for, you violent tomboy?!"

"Get out from under my desk, you perverted, womanizing idiot!"

"Get your stupid great big feet off my work and I'd be happy to!!" Ryoga tugged at it with his other hand.

"Get a room!" Ranma called.

"SHUT UP!!"

STOMP

"OW!"

"Don't tell Ranchan to shut up!"

"Excuse me under there!"

Ryoga jumped in surprise at the new voice, promptly slamming his head on the underside of the table. "Miss Washu Sensei!"

The alien scientist sighed. "Little Washu!! And what are you doing under Miss Kuonji's desk?"

Ryoga flushed in embarrassment. "She's uh... stood on my homework."

Ukyo blinked. "I am?"

"YES! You ARE!"

"Sorry." She shifted her feet slightly and Ryoga stood up with the sheet of paper, which now boasted a large footprint, and returned to his seat.

"OK, class, your regular teacher is sick so I'm filling in," Washu explained, walking to the front of the classroom. "Today, I thought we'd go on a field trip." She held her hand up for silence as the class began to whisper loudly.

"Where are we going?" asked Hiroshi.

Washu shrugged. "Dunno. We're going to follow Hibiki."

The whispers started up again. "Sensei, are you sure that's wise?" Akane asked above the din.

"That's Little Washu. And no, it probably isn't wise, but it'll definitely be interesting! The principal's also given us the rest of the day off to get really lost in, so you get to skip maths!" This made the expedition an instant success with everyone and Washu grinned cutely and bounced over to Ryoga's desk. "Is that OK with you?"

"I... I guess so..."

"Good." Washu paused for a second before continuing, slightly bashfully. "I figured that this would be a good opportunity to find out how you get lost so easily."

"O-OK..."

"Ready class?" Washu began to move around the classroom, advising various students on what to take with them and other such advice.

Ukyo leaned over to Ryoga. "Hey, this would be a perfect opportunity to split up Ranchan and Akane!" she whispered gleefully.

"Huh? How?" Ryoga looked blankly at her.

Ukyo grinned. "I'll walk with Ranchan and charm the socks off him, and you can walk with Akane and impress her with your vast and extensive knowledge of the country. We'll keep them separated. First for the field trip, then for life!"

Ryoga looked doubtful. "Are you sure that will work? What if they decide they want to walk together?"

Ukyo frowned. "Don't be such a pessimist! As if they're going to want to walk together! She hits him all the time and he insults her!"

"Like us," Ryoga observed without thinking.

Ukyo scowled. "So? We don't want to walk together, do we?!"

"No way!"

CLANG

Ukyo lifted the spatula and glared at him. "You don't have to sound that horrified! Go and give Akane your usual cute - I mean clueless grin andaskhertowalkwithyou!" Mortified by her slip, she turned and dashed over to Ranma, her face burning.

Ryoga remained sat in stunned silence. Did she... just call me... cute?

"Oh WOW!" Mihoshi bubbled happily, gazing over the ocean and clinging tightly to Ryoga's arm. She grinned perkily at him. "The ocean's so beautiful, don't you think?"

Ryoga nodded aimlessly. He long since given up trying to prise the girl from his arm - and besides, it was nice to have company who appreciated him, he thought sourly as Akane stared daggers at Ukyo, who was alternating between bubbling at Ranma and trying to disembowel Mihoshi with her eyes. He sighed and looked at Akane again. "Akane, don't you think the ocean's pretty?" he asked woodenly, expecting her to reply with another answer - if she answered at all - from the girls handbook to conversations that aren't worth listening to. (Made a best seller during football season when us females had better things to do than be given step-by-step explanations of the match.)

Akane looked back at Ranma again, who was laughing at one of Ukyo's jokes, and fumed silently. That JERK! Well, two can play that game! She grabbed Ryoga's other arm and smiled sweetly. "I think the ocean is beautiful!" she gushed merrily, raising her voice a little. "It's so ROMANTIC!!!"

Oh good. She wasn't about to mallet him. Then he blinked. "Huh?!!!" She replied?!?!

Mihoshi growled and clutched Ryoga's arm tighter.

Behind them, Hiroshi and Daisuke glared jealously at them. "This is so unfair!" Hiroshi grumbled. "Look - Hibiki has two, Masaki has two. Can't they share the girls out fairly?"

Behind them, Ryoko growled. "We are not candy bars!" Her expression brightened. "But you can have Ayeka if you want!"

"Why would they want me when they can have you?!" Ayeka replied.

Tenchi groaned. "I'm going to walk with Miss Washu."

"You can't walk with me until you call me Little Washu!!" the teacher shouted.

Ryoga suddenly stopped. "Hey. Where did these giant head statues come from?!"

Washu walked into his back, then looked around. "Oh. We're on Easter Island... EASTER ISLAND?!?!"

"WHAT?!?!" screamed Ukyo in horror, charging forward and clouting Ryoga over the head with her spatula.

"OW! What did you do that for?!" he protested, rubbing his head. "And where are we, anyway?"

"Easter Island is an island off the coast of Chile. We are supposed to be in Japan!" Ukyo hissed.

Ryoga shrugged. "Maybe we are. Nobody noticed us cross an ocean or anything - maybe these heads are just imitations of the ones on Easter Island."

Washu shook her head, looking very pale. "I just checked. Somehow, in just a few hours, we have managed to get from Japan to Chile. Without crossing any oceans either." Her face broke into a broad grin and she gleefully smacked Ryoga on the back. "If I can figure out how you managed to do that, it could revolutionize space travel! Cross vast open areas of space without noticing! It's incredible!"

Ryoga laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "I hate to say it, but it's also probably a fluke. It only happens every so often when I'm traveling, and if we want to get back to Tokyo today we're going to have to find a different way."

Washu blinked. "Pardon?"

"Ocean crossing is fine if I'm going in a random direction. If we want to get back to Tokyo it won't work. It never works when there's a specific destination in mind. But I can't control it - it seems to happen by chance. We can't rely on it to get us back - we don't want to end up in Kosovo or someplace like that," Ryoga explained. He was fully used to this happening - it was how he'd first gotten to China. Getting back to Japan though, he'd had to hike for weeks, then take a boat, then hike some more.

Washu massaged her temples. "So basically, we walked about fifteen miles here and we have to walk thousands back?"

"Yes."

THUMP

Ranma blinked. "Why'd Little Miss Washu Sensei faint?"

Ryoko blinked. "Something has actually fazed Washu?!"

Washu sat up. "That's 'Mom' to you, young lady!" She sprang to her feet and began to think. A quick check of the register proved everybody to be present. "Hibiki, what do you know about this place?"

Ryoga thought. "In 1722 several thousand Polynesians inhabited the island, but disease and raids by slave traders reduced the number to fewer than 200 by the late 19th century. The island was named by a Dutch explorer who landed here on Easter Day in 1722. The Chilean government annexed the island in 1888. An area on the western coast is reserved by the government for the indigenous population; the remainder is used as grazing land for sheep and cattle. The ancestors of the present Polynesian population are thought to have traveled in canoes from the Marquesas Islands, massacred the inhabitants, and made the island their home. Many archaeologists believe that at the time of the invasion the megaliths, including about 600 statues, were standing throughout the island and that many were destroyed by the Polynesians during a period of violence on the island."

"You're so smart!" Mihoshi gasped. "So what are we going to do, Miss Washu?"

Washu thought for a moment. "This western coast is for the general population?" Ryoga nodded. "So they'll have telephones?" Ryoga nodded again. Washu clapped her hands. "Then I guess the only thing for us to do is to call home and tell them we'll be back tomorrow, hopefully. I'll tell Principal Kuno that we're here because of the archaeological interest and we can all camp here tonight!"

Ryoko sidled up to her mother. "Why don't I just call up Ryo-ohki?" she whispered.

Washu grinned. "Because although these students may be a little more used to high levels of craziness than the ones at Tenchi's old school, I think the appearance of a huge space ship may just freak them out." She winked conspiratorially. "Besides, don't you want to spend the evening on a romantic island with Tenchi?" She grinned wider as Ryoko rushed away. Plus it'll be amusing, and I get a chance to study my guinea pig further!

Chattering ran through the students, who quickly weighed up the pros and cons. Many of the girls gave evil grins as they thought of various ways to capture the love of their lives - in a romantic island setting, how could they fail?

Many of the boys also sported evil grins as they considered ways to smuggle the girls into their beds past the eagle eyes of Washu .... Sorry, gained access to Hiroshi and Daisuke's minds for a second.

"Where are we going to sleep?" Sayuri began. This began a flood of questions.

"How are we going to pay for food?"

"What are we going to eat?"

"We don't have any tents!"

"What are we going to wear?!?!"

Washu waved her hands in the air. "I have a dimensional portal. I can call up food, drink, tents, clothes and other assorted junk from there, OK?" After all, she reasoned, if seeing Ryoko waving her sword around and teleporting through walls doesn't faze this lot, nothing will! And this is a perfect chance to study Hibiki!

Ranma shrugged. "Sounds fine to me. But how many tents can you call up?"

"I dunno. They'll probably be four man tents." Washu observed Ryoko and Ayeka out of the corner of her eye and added, "And it will be single sex tents, you all got that?!?!"

There were a few groans of disappointment, although Hiroshi and Daisuke were currently begging Ryoga and Ranma to share with them and plotting ways to get the two totally soaked.

The rest of the day was spent sightseeing, playing around on the beach, exploring the local area and putting up tents as Washu decided they all needed a break as they'd be doing a lot of traveling the next day. It was now evening on Easter Island and most of the class were gathered around the bonfire in the middle of their camping ground. Ryoga idly scanned the group as he roasted the marshmallows he'd brought earlier to share around. Yuka and Sayuri had gathered a small crowd of girls and were currently holding some sort of fashion show with the clothes they'd liberated from the dimensional portal with a small gang of boys giving them their opinions. Ranma and Akane were arguing, surprise, surprise although he really couldn't be bothered to go over there and smack Ranma over the head. Ryoko and Ayeka were also arguing. Gosunkugi was hammering a straw doll into a tree trunk. Hiroshi and Daisuke were filling water pistols. Tenchi was hiding.

Ukyo sat down next to him and pinched a marshmallow. "Tonight. You can get Akane and I can get Ranchan," she stated, ignoring Mihoshi's glare.

"Mmm hmm." He winced as Akane whacked Ranma over the head with a tent pole. "You going to nurse his injuries?"

Ukyo grinned. "Good idea, sugar!" She clapped him on the back and his marshmallow fell into the fire. "Oops."

"You can have one of mine," Mihoshi offered.

"Thanks." Ryoga peeled it off the skewer. "Ow hot!"

"Idiot," Ukyo proclaimed fondly. "You know anything about astronomy?"

Ryoga nursed his burnt fingers and glanced at her. "A little, why?"

"There you are! When the sun finishes setting, you can offer to point out the constellations to Akane and it'll be so romantic... it can't fail!"

Ryoga stole another look at Akane, who was still chasing after Ranma with deadly weaponry. Somehow, seeing her like that didn't make him feel romantic, it made him feel terrified. He probably deserved it, he tried to convince himself. It wasn't working. He'd probably made an off-hand remark which she'd taken the wrong way. But she only gets so mad because she cares about him. With a small sigh, he skewered another marshmallow and held it over the flames. I wish I'd never ended up in Ranma's body! Now he couldn't hurt Ranma every time Akane got upset because now he knew it wasn't all Ranma's fault. She is a little over reactive, I guess.

"Penny for your thoughts," Mihoshi inquired lightly.

"Hmm?" Ryoga shrugged. "I wasn't thinking much."

"Same as usual, then?" Ukyo teased.

"Meanie," he replied cheerfully. Now this was nice. Good friend on one side, violent fiancee not being violent on the other. "Marshmallow?"

"Thanks." She bit the marshmallows off the skewer with a giggle.

"Hey! I meant one! And you've got it all over your face, you mucky idiot!" Somehow this was a lot more fun than trying to make small talk with Akane and mucking it up.

Mihoshi laughed a little. "Have another of mine," she offered. She grinned at Ukyo. "You go get your Ranma," she said encouragingly.

Ukyo edged a little closer to the fire. "Yeah, in a minute." Truth was, she was in no hurry to cut in on the couple's argument - people rarely were - and besides, it was nice to sit and joke and roast marshmallows while watching the sunset with her idiot fiance who wasn't being an idiot and a sort of friend... "Hey Mihoshi, want to share a tent?"

"Sure!" Mihoshi was pleasantly surprised. "I was going to share with Ryoko and Ayeka but they do nothing but argue over who Tenchi likes better."

Ryoga laughed. "Girls. I will never understand you, ever."

SPLASH

Ryoga-chan jumped to her feet with a small scream, turning to glare at Daisuke. "I'm SOAKED!!! What did you do THAT for?!?!"

"I thought it would help you understand girls better," Daisuke lied.

"What I do understand," Ryoga-chan growled, "is that I am cold, wet and pissed off where I wasn't a moment ago."

The mood was spoilt. Ukyo sighed and stood up. "Well, I'm going to go talk to Ranchan. I'll send Akane over."

"Goodie." Ryoga-chan tried to mask her lack of enthusiasm. Marvelous. Send Akane over while I'm a girl. Grrrrrreat idea.

Mihoshi sighed. "I'll go get a kettle."

Ukyo lingered around for a moment longer after sending Daisuke away with threats of pain echoing through his mind. "Good luck with Akane, sugar."

"You too," Ryoga-chan replied. "I mean, good luck. With Ranma, that is."

Ukyo smiled and gave her a little wave. "Tell me how it goes!"

"I wonder what she sees in him," Ryoga-chan wondered aloud as Ukyo walked away.

"Sees in who?"

"Huh?" A genuine smile appeared on Ryoga-chan's face. "Tenchi. I see you've come out of hiding at last!"

Tenchi laughed ruefully. "Yeah. I hope it'll soon be dark enough that neither of them notice me."

"I don't suppose you could do me a big favour and keep Mihoshi occupied while I talk to Akane?" she asked hopefully. "I mean, she's nice, I like her, but I want to talk to Akane alone."

"No problem."

Mihoshi chose that moment to reappear with the kettle. Tenchi waited until Ryoga was back to normal, before dragging her away to buy some more marshmallows to replenish supplies. A few minutes later, Akane wandered over and sat down next to Ryoga with a scowl on her face. "What's the matter?"

Akane pointed to Ranma and Ukyo. "Three's a crowd, that's what."

"Oh." After a short silence, he offered her the bag. "Y-you want to roast marshmallows?"

"OK." Akane skewered a few, then settled back, her eyes never leaving the couple. There was another short silence. It was followed by a longer silence.

"Um... nice night, eh?" Ryoga started, watching the marshmallows blacken. "You can see all the stars here, out of town."

"That's nice. Do you know what they're talking about?"

"No." And I don't care, either.

"I'll bet that womanizing jerk's trying to get her back on his good side so he'll get free food again," Akane grumbled. "He doesn't get free food now. Shampoo emptied her ramen over his head and Ukyo flattened him."

"Did you know that this island is formed from three extinct volcanoes?" Ryoga began again.

"He keeps saying he's hungry, but he still won't eat my cooking."

Ryoga glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She was still staring at Ranma and Ukyo. "Hey. I'm going to bungee jump off the top of Everest and knit a pair of socks on the way down," he said dryly.

"It's not my fault my cooking's bad, I try, I really do, but that jerk just won't appreciate it!"

"You've ruined your marshmallows. They're on fire." He decided there was wasn't any point in pointing out the shooting star in the sky.

Akane ignored him. "I mean, he never tries anything I offer him without checking to make sure who made it first."

"Akane, your marshmallows are on fire," Ryoga repeated. It wasn't particularly important, but surely she could notice the temperature of the skewer, which was beginning to glow red.

"If I offer him food that Kasumi obviously made, he'll still ask first. I told him that I'd cooked some cookies and it was really Kasumi who'd cooked them and they smelt great and he still refused to try them!"

"Watch it, you'll get burned!" Ryoga snatched the skewer away from her. "OWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!! HOTHOTHOTHOT!!" he yelped, shaking his hand in pain and dropping the red-hot metal skewer on the floor.

"...And she still insists on feeding me that toxic sludge she calls cooking, no matter how many times I beg her not to. I can't trust anything she offers me - she thinks it's normal for food to break the laws of physics!" Ranma continued.

Ukyo pasted a smile on top of her scowl and laughed loudly. She was sick to the back teeth of hearing about Akane, Akane, Akane! If he hated her so much, why did he go on about her so much? She could barely get a word in edgeways and when she could, he obviously wasn't listening. "Ranchan, I'm going to streak across Antarctica."

"If she would just try some first, or let me help her and actually listen to what I was trying to say, she might make something edible one day.... Hey, what're those two doing?"

Ukyo jumped to her feet and ran over to them, closely followed by Ranma as Ryoga let loose an ear-splitting yell. "Ryoga-sugar, what's wrong?! What did she do?!" She grabbed Akane by the collar. "What did you do to him, you violent tomboy?!!"

"Who's calling who a violent tomboy?!" Akane retorted angrily, shoving Ukyo away from her.

"I'm calling you a violent tomboy! You beat up Ranchan and now you've hurt Ryoga!" Ukyo shoved her harder.

"STOP IT! BOTH OF YOU!!" Ryoga yelled, stepping in between them. Much to his surprise (and relief!) they stopped. "And I'm fine. Akane's marshmallows caught fire and I grabbed her skewer to stop her getting burned and wound up getting burnt myself. That's ALL!"

Ukyo scowled at the floor, feeling extremely foolish. "In that case... I'm sorry, Akane," she mumbled.

Akane matched her expression. "That's OK. If I'd been paying attention it wouldn't have happened."

Ukyo watched her and Ranma wander away before switching her gaze to Ryoga. "I guess that means you had no luck with Akane, huh?" she asked casually.

"You guess correctly." He sighed. "She didn't pay me the slightest bit of attention. What about you and Ranma?"

"No luck either. He just complained about Akane's cooking." She laughed. "How that girl can ruin a marshmallow is beyond me!" She settled down next to him. "How's your hand?"

"Hurts. It won't blister or anything though."

Ukyo grabbed his hand and looked at it critically. "You should hold it under cold water for a while," she advised as he tried to pull free.

"No thank you! I'm fine!"

"You're a macho idiot, that's what you are."

"I like being macho. It's encoded into the Y chromosome," Ryoga joked. "I don't want to become a girl - they're not macho, they're stubborn."

"'Kay class, go to your tents. We've got a long way ahead of us," Washu called. "Anyone who thinks it would be fun to disobey me will be used for scientific testing!!"

Tenchi charged over to his tent. "She's not joking, trust me on that!"

"Well, goodnight, Ucchan. See you in the morning," Ryoga waved and disappeared into a tent, only to be met by screams and projectiles. "Sorry! Wrong tent!"

Ranma couldn't sleep. Normally this wasn't a problem for him - what with spending his days battling various friends, fiancees and foes, he usually slept like a stone. When he couldn't sleep, it was either because Akane had given him food poisoning, he was under attack or baby phoenixes were trying to peck him into small pieces. What was unusual was that he couldn't sleep because he was thinking. (I mean it's unusual that he's giving up sleeping time to think rather than doing it at some other time - for example, during a lecture from his father.) It seemed to him that he had a few problems on his hands. Firstly, there was Ryoga and Ukyo. Him and Akane were definitely going to have to play matchmaker at some point. That little scene at the bonfire obviously proves that there's something between them, he decided. Ucchan does not blow up at Akane for nothing.

Then there was that stupid duel. Now there was no encouraging voice in his head, he was seriously questioning his sanity at asking for a rematch. That voice was probably due to a blow on the head. There is no way I want to fight Ryoga in a rematch with those new tricks of his! Although Ryoga seemed just as unenthusiastic at the prospect of a rematch as Ranma himself did - for no reason Ranma could see. I would've thought Ryoga would be happy to beat me again.

Hmm.... What to do, what to do.... He shrugged, rolled over and shook Ryoga. There was no way this would work, but the reaction would be hilarious. "Hey lost boy, wake up!"

"G'way Ucchan. I'm asleep..." Ryoga mumbled into his pillow.

"It's Ranma, you idiot!" Ranma thought for a second. "She's been kidnapped!"

Ryoga pulled the blankets over his head. "Go away."

"A crazy prince has kidnapped her!" Ranma pulled the blanket away.

"Akane's a professional hostage, she'll be fine." Ryoga pulled the blanket back again. "Tell me again in the morning."

Ranma fought down a snigger. "Who said Akane? It's Ukyo who's been kidnapped."

"WHAT?!?!" Ryoga sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me SOONER?!?!"

"Gotcha." Ranma started to laugh. Hard. "Your face!"

WHAM

"Goodnight."

Ranma rubbed his face. He'd have a hell of a bruise in the morning, but that had been worth it! Well, it wasn't over yet. He reached out and shook Ryoga again. "Hey, Ryoga- chan..."

WHAM

"I said goodnight," Ryoga said calmly as Ranma twitched underneath the mallet.

"......ouch........" Ranma eventually managed to remove the mallet and read what was written on it. From the people who brought you Akane Tendo's Mallet For Pounding That Jerk Ranma When He Screws Up My Day, is the Mallet For Casually Pounding Ranma Saotome Into Burger Meat. Not to be used for any other reason except maybe sending him into lower air orbit. Have a nice day. He sweatdropped. A company actually do these things?!!! He scowled. "Lost boy. You wanna call off that duel?"

"I wanna go to sleep. Push off."

"Look, do you want to call off that duel or not?"

Ryoga sighed. "Yes. Now please would you let me go back to sleep?"

"One condition." Ranma grinned. It would be worth getting pounded into burger meat if this worked or not just to see the expression on his face.

"Whatever you want, Ranma. Just Shut Up." Ryoga pulled the pillow over his head and attempted to block out the sound of Ranma's voice.

Ranma bit his lip to keep from laughing. "One week. You have one week to kiss Ucchan or you leave town. If you manage it, I pay for all the okonomiyaki I freeloaded." He waited for the reply.

"OK, that's fine. Goodnight," came the muffled reply. Ranma facefaulted. There was a long silence.

It was followed by an even longer silence.

Ranma wondered whether Ryoga had fallen back asleep when he spoke up again. "I just agreed to do something REALLY stupid, didn't I?"

"You just agreed to do something phenomenally stupid," Ranma confirmed.

"Oh." Pause. "Tell me I'm asleep and I dreamt that bit."

"You're asleep and you dreamt that bit," Ranma obliged. Pause. "Although that's not true."

After a moment Ryoga sat up. "I just agreed to either kiss Ucchan or leave town, didn't I?"

Ranma gave him a wide grin and nodded cheerfully. This was even more entertaining than the time Kuno had proclaimed his love for Nabiki before noticing he had the wrong Tendo sister! This was going to be worth any amount of pain Ryoga dished out! "No potions, no hypnotism, no telling her you want to kiss her and especially not why you want to kiss her, it has to be the real thing, on the lips, tongues optional."

Ryoga stood up and pulled on his trousers, his face pale.

"Where are you going?" Ranma asked. "Raring to go already?"

"I'm going to commit seppuku."

Ukyo stared at the canvas ceiling before turning and glancing at the blond woman across the tent. "You awake, Mihoshi?" she asked after a while.

"Yeah."

She rolled over. "Watcha thinking 'bout, sugar?"

"Nothing," she replied quickly.

Too quickly. Ukyo frowned. "Why do you like Ryoga, anyway?" she asked curiously. "It's not like you've known him long."

"Juliet didn't know Romeo for long," Mihoshi retorted.

"That's because they topped themselves within a week of meeting each other." Ukyo lay on her front and rested on her elbows. "Go on then, why do you like him?"

Mihoshi blushed. "I-I-I...."

"Come on!" Ukyo grinned at her. "I promise I won't laugh or anything."

"Promise?"

"Sure, I promise."

"He's cute..."

"Cute isn't everything!"

A short glare shut Ukyo up. "Would you let me finish?!"

"Sorry. So, he's cute." Have to agree. No way am I saying I agree though!

Mihoshi took a deep breath and looked skyward. "He's awfully kind, he's sweet, generous, caring, considerate, he's always leaping to your defence, he's strong, he always eats Akane's food even though it's more toxic than Ayeka's so he doesn't hurt her feelings and he's so shy it's adorable.... I'm babbling, aren't I?"

Ukyo blinked. "You are, rather."

"Bet you think I'm a real idiot," Mihoshi said defiantly.

She's right.... He is nice..... maybe he's mean to me sometimes because he's scared to be nice.... Ukyo thought about the few times he'd let slip with a comment about her being cute then quickly passed it off as demonic possession or temporary insanity or mind altering alien death rays. "No.... I think you might be right."

Mihoshi stared at her. "Huh?!!!! You think I'm right?!!!"

Ukyo blinked. "I said it aloud?! Oops!"

There was quiet for a while before Mihoshi spoke again. "Why do you keep trying to set him up with Akane?"

Ukyo sighed. "Because he loves her."

"WHAT?!?!" Mihoshi sat up in amazement. "You're kidding me!"

"'Fraid not, sugar. He's head over heels for her." For some reason she couldn't fathom, this came out in a spiteful sounding tone. She clenched her fists tightly.

"He didn't seem that enthusiastic to be around her today," Mihoshi began.

"Huh?! He didn't?!"

"Not really. She was practically ignoring him the entire time. He made a game of what kind of stupid statement it would take to get her to notice him." She giggled at the memory. "It was fun."

Ukyo frowned. She's done that with Ranma, telling him that she was going to commit suicide by jumping out of the window of her apartment as soon as she finished dinner (which was ridiculous - from that height, she barely get a bruise!) and he just continued to rant about how Mr Tendo wanted him to marry Akane before any more demons attempted to demolish the place. In the end she settled for laughing loudly at every opportunity to make Akane jealous. Guess it worked.

Mihoshi continued. "In the end he just gave up talking to her." She squinted at Ukyo. "Are you sure he's really in love with her? He flinched every time she spoke."

Ukyo contemplated the thought. Ryoga not in love with Akane? That line went into the Nerima X-Files next to 'Ranma loses a fight,' 'Akane cooks edible food,' and 'Ukyo gets sick of cooking okonomiyaki.' Naaaaah. Not possible.

But if he didn't love Akane, how was she going to split up Ranchan and Akane? Or.... If he could fall out of love with Akane, then maybe it was possible that she'd fall out of love with Ranchan....

She stood up quickly.

"Where are you going?" Mihoshi asked.

"For a walk. I need to think."

Ryoga leaned against a boulder that happened to be conveniently near to the dying remains of the bonfire and tried to collect his thoughts, clutching his blanket tightly around him.

One week.

Seven days.

One hundred and sixty-eight hours.

Ten thousand and eighty minutes.

Six hundred and four thousand, eight hundred seconds.

That was the exact amount of time he had to kiss Ucchan.

It wasn't long enough.

It would never be long enough. He couldn't kiss her, just thinking about it made him feel faint. There was no way he'd be conscious long enough. The only thing was, would he faint first or would she beat him unconscious? She'd never let him kiss her voluntarily and there was no way he'd force her, no way on hell. Besides, he wouldn't know what to do. Granted, he'd been kissed by Shampoo. But he'd only been conscious for... lets see now.... 1.64846 seconds. He was definitely not an A grade kisser. But if she ever did let him kiss her, then that would mean she liked him that way and he didn't know if he liked her that way but if he didn't and she let him kiss her and she found out, she kill him. Sloooooowly. In great pain. In interesting ways, over a long period of time.

No.

There was absolutely NO WAY AT ALL that he could kiss Ucchan without anyone getting hurt. Which meant the only option left was to leave Nerima for good.

A hand tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, sugar."

"AAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!! DEATH!!!!" Ryoga jumped about twelve feet high and whirled around, expecting to see the Grim Reaper or something similar. Worse. It's Ucchan. He sat down again and glared at the sky. Somewhere up there, one of you hates me and is laughing a lot.

Sure enough, somewhere up there was a god who hated him and was laughing a lot. Fate and Destiny glanced at each other for a moment, before dragging him away and locking him in a broom closet.

"You're awfully jumpy, sugar," Ukyo commented, sitting down next to him. "Can't sleep?"

"Something like that. What about you?" Ryoga asked, trying to edge away from her in a none too obvious way.

"Something like that too." Ukyo snuggled up to him. "It's cold out here," she commented.

He swallowed hard and tried to wriggle away again. "Y-y-you c-can borrow m-my b-b- blanket ify-youwant..."

"This is nicer," she pointed out, in no mood to move away. He draped the blanket over her shoulders anyway and she murmured in appreciation. They sat like that for a while, neither saying anything.

Ryoga broke the silence first. "Ucchan.... do... do you like me?" he whispered shyly.

Ukyo thought for a moment before quietly replying. "Yeah... I like you." Ryoga relaxed a little, although she still decided he looked like he was about to bolt like a frightened deer. She opened her mouth to question him, but he spoke first. "Look! A shooting star!" He pointed to the sky.

Ukyo gazed at it in awe. "Wow.... It's so pretty!" Ranchan never pointed out the stars to you she thought. Then she realized he was unconsciously carrying out her suggestion to charm Akane - on her! "Hey, Ryoga?"

"Hmm?" He glanced down at her.

"Do you still love Akane?"

He visibly tensed and gripped the blanked tighter. "I-I don't know... I'm just not sure anymore. She's nice.... but she is so paranoid." He lowered his head slightly. "I-I'm sorry."

"Hey. It's not anything to be sorry about, sugar," Ukyo assured him, slipping an arm around his waist. "I guess you're just realizing she's human too. She has her bad points, just like everyone else." She sighed. "Just like Ranchan."

Ryoga slid an arm around her and gave her a quick, reassuring squeeze. "Yep. I'm afraid Ranma is human too and not the missing link we thought he was." He instantly winced, expecting the moment to be shattered with a shout of "RYOGA, YOU JERK!!!" and a quick midnight flight to the beach. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that...."

Ukyo giggled. "Idiot."

There was no anger in her voice, Ryoga was relieved to note. Maybe he was dreaming. He hoped he wasn't, he wanted to remember this and feel happiness and not anger/ pain/ depression/ any other negative emotion which usually happened when he thought of events. "Did you know this island is made from three extinct volcanoes?" he asked suddenly.

"You're pulling my leg." Ukyo rested her head against his arm and looked up at him. Mihoshi's right.... He is cute!

"It's true. The statues are made from tuff, which is a volcanic rock. They quarried it from one of the craters... Rano Raraku, the crater's called."

"You're a walking encyclopaedia! The volcanoes aren't dangerous, are they?" she asked cautiously.

"Nah. The volcanoes are extinct. Can't hurt anyone," Ryoga reassured her, looking down at her. She looks so pretty in the moonlight! "You may want to watch out for the stone men though," he teased.

Ukyo looked eagerly at him. "You know something about them?"

Ryoga shook his head. "I know a story about them. I never believed it when I was younger... but I just don't know anymore."

"Will you tell me the story? Please?" she asked in a sugar-sweet voice.

"Well.... OK then." He relented. "Many years ago, when the island first formed and the volcanoes were still active, a tribe lived here," he began in a soft voice. "They created giant stone men to help the tribe with their daily tasks and to guard them from danger. The giants were as gentle as kittens with the tribespeople, trusted with even the youngest child. But whenever any threat approached they became hostile and would destroy everything that was a danger."

Ukyo found her eyelids drooping in spite of herself and she tried to force them open. "What happened to them?" she asked. "How did they get the way they are now?" She yawned.

"Remember I told you the volcanoes were still active back then?" Ukyo nodded sleepily and Ryoga continued. "One day a volcano erupted. The tribe fled the island in terror. The giants tried to follow them to sea, but they were too slow and got engulfed, right up to the torso, in molten lava. And when the lava cooled down, they were stuck there forever, looking out over the sea where their owners disappeared." He looked at the dark, shimmering ocean. "Maybe they were real..." he whispered softly. "Who am I to doubt the existence of magic?" He glanced at Ukyo again. She was almost asleep, her head leant against his chest. I'll let her sleep, then I'll carry her back to her tent, he thought with a yawn, leaning back against the boulder. He allowed himself one last look at Ukyo. She is cute... he silently admitted to himself. He thought back to the challenge Ranma had made. "I've got one week. Surely it can't hurt to try...." With that thought, he closed his eyes.

End Part XVII

Final Song - One More Night

============

PART XVIII

Back to Reality.

============

Mihoshi glanced around the tent as faint sunlight filtered trough the canvas. Where's Ukyo...? she wondered curiously, sitting up and stretching. Surely she can't be awake already - it's just dawn! She shrugged and pulled her clothes on. It wasn't important. Maybe she'd gone down to the beach or something for an early morning swim. Maybe she'd join her. Mihoshi grinned and left the tent, and wandered across the camp. And stopped when she noticed the two figures curled up by the boulder.

Ukyo yawned sleepily and refused to take notice of the tapping of her shoulder. I'm sleeping... push off, she mumbled in her mind. Her mouth gave up trying to form the words. The tapping stopped. Ukyo was glad. She didn't want to be woken up, she was perfectly comfortable where she was, Thank you Very much.

After a few moments, she realized she was now being gently shaken. She groggily creaked an eyelid open, then shut it again. "G'way."

Finally, the person attempting to wake her up got pissed off and slapped her lightly. "What?!" she grumbled, exasperated.

"Ssh." Mihoshi smiled lightly. "Don't want to wake him up, he's cute when he's asleep."

Ukyo blinked a few times, then smiled faintly when she finally worked out who Mihoshi was talking about. "Uh... look, I can explain, really..."

Mihoshi smiled brightly. "It's OK. I understand." She paused, her smile changing slightly. "I see we reached an understanding last night - I scratch your back, you stick a knife in mine." She picked up a metal tent pole and wandered off. "Don't go anywhere," she bubbled brightly over her shoulder.

Ukyo frowned. What's she up to?

She quickly found out. Mihoshi skipped over to Ranma's tent and swung the tent pole she was carrying so it connected solidly with the center pole. "Hey! Wake up! Check out the hot new couple!"

Ukyo's eyes widened. "Stop that!" She twisted around and tried to wake Ryoga up. "Wake up you stupid jackass!" I can't let Ranchan see me like this - he'll never let me hear the end of it!

As Hiroshi, Daisuke and Ranma began to emerge from their tent, Mihoshi bounced over to the next tent. "Yoo Hoo! Wake up!"

Ukyo panicked. She only knew one way to wake Ryoga up and he hated it. "I'm sorry," she whispered, before picking up the sleeping boy and throwing him into the ocean.

One minute Ryoga was happily dreaming that he was getting married to Sailor Mars (long dark hair, short sailor suit and a job away from home - what could be more perfect?), the next, he hit water. This was unusual. Usually water hit him, not the other way around.

As usual, the contact of the icy cold water on his - now her skin made her gasp for breath. This was a bad thing today as she discovered she was in fact, underwater. The salt water made her retch and she inhaled another mouthful of the foul-tasting water. She started to panic as her trousers began to weigh her down and she tried frantically to claw for the surface as her body continued to betray her and forced her to cough.

Finally, she broke the surface and stumbled to the shore where she collapsed, sobbing and coughing up salt water.

"Ryoga! Are you all right?!"

Ryoga-chan looked up Ranma. "I-I-I'm f-f-fi coff ine, R-R-R-Ranma, c-cou coffcoff couldn't be b-better..." she said weakly, through chattering teeth. She hardly noticed as somebody - probably Washu, she suspected - wrapped a blanket around her and began to lead her up the beach. She stumbled a few times, so Ranma picked her up and began to carry her. Ryoga-chan was mortified. "P-put m-m-me down, S-Sa coff Saotome, or I-I'll b-b-break coffcoffcoff e-every coff b-bone in your b-body!" she quietly threatened.

Ranma ignored her. "What did you do to make Ucchan so mad?!" he asked curiously. "Was it about that deal we made last ni-"

"No." Ryoga-chan shook her head. "I-it w-was n-n-nothing to coff do with t-that." She scowled. So Ucchan threw me into the ocean? Gee, I'll have to remember to thank her for that.

She saw Ukyo as she was carried back to the camp and her scowl deepened. "Ryoga! Are you all right?!" Ukyo asked in concern. She glanced at Ranma. "Is it OK if I talk to him alone?"

Ranma shrugged and unceremoniously dumped her on the ground. "Sure."

Ryoga-chan glared at her fiancee some more, before running her fingers through her wet, sandy hair and pulling the damp blanket tighter round herself. "Well. Thank you so much, Ukyo. And here I thought we'd come to some sort of understanding last night," she said, acidly. "What did you throw me in the ocean for? I nearly drowned! You couldn't at least've woken me up first, could you? No, instead you nearly kill me and humiliate me in front of our entire class."

Ukyo looked at her beseechingly. "I... I'm sorry...."

"Why did you do it?" Ryoga-chan stood up and looked down at her. "Why? A reflex reaction to waking up next to your 'idiot, jackass fiancee?' Are you ashamed to be seen with me? Or did you just think it would be an interesting way to wake me up?" Ukyo didn't reply and Ryoga-chan scowled. "Violent tomboy. I can't believe I thought you were cute!"

"You thought I was cute?"

"I must have been delirious," she said quickly. "I'm probably catching pneumonia from being continuously doused with cold water."

"You're not catching pneumonia and you get continuously doused with cold water because you deserve it," Ukyo snapped, anger starting to overtake guilt.

"And what did I do to deserve it today?" Ryoga-chan crossed her arms and waited for Ukyo to answer.

"..."

"Haven't got a reason, huh."

"Yes I have!" Ukyo snapped. "I wouldn't throw you into the ocean for no reason!"

"So what's the reason?"

"..... I don't have to tell you!!"

Ryoga-chan groaned and gave up. "Fine! Be that way! See if I care! Just don't expect me to be having any more late night chats with you again, if that's how you're going to react!"

"I said I was sorry! You don't have to get all stroppy about it!"

"I woke up underneath ten feet of salt water! I'll be as stroppy as I want!"

Ukyo scowled. "Fine!!"

"Fi..achoo! As if I car...achoo!" Ryoga-chan gave up trying to finish the sentence and settled for turning her back on Ukyo and walking away angrily towards her tent, shivering violently.

"Hibiki!"

Ryoga-chan turned around to see Hiroshi and Daisuke run up to her. "Yeah? What do you..." She trailed off as her nose started to twitch again. "ACHOO! Dammit!" I have got to get changed!

"Hibiki, we will get straight to the point," Daisuke panted.

Hiroshi held out a bundle of money. "All this is yours if you stay female for an hour or so."

"You're joking, right?" Ryoga-chan said flatly, pulling an extremely baggy T-shirt over her head, wishing she'd brought a jumper with her. "Or have you both finally ... achoo lost what was left of your tiny little minds?"

"We're serious," Hiroshi said gravely and waved the money slowly. "You want it?"

Ryoga-chan watched the money, her mind working quickly. It was a rather thick wad of bills and it would probably pay off a sizeable chunk of her debt to Mr Tendo. And she was already a girl, so she didn't have to go through cold water torture again. Besides, if she said no and changed back into a guy, they'd probably just splash her anyway. And she didn't want that.

On the other hand, there was the question of why these two perverts wanted her to stay female. She didn't want to stay female - she was cold and her male side seemed to be more resistant to cold temperatures. Besides, none of her clothes fit right. Her shoes were too big, her shirts fell off her shoulders and the arms were too long and her trousers always fell down.

She sneezed again and sighed. All her clothes were soaked anyway and at least she could make a little money. "OK, thanks for the money. But why do you want me to stay this way?" she asked, tiredly.

"Because you're so hot...ouch!" Daisuke rubbed his head. "No need to hit me!"

"Pervert."

Hiroshi smiled slyly. "You should put some other clothes on, you know. You'll freeze to death like that." He handed her a bundle of cloth. "Here. These should fit you."

Ryoga-chan narrowed her eyes and took the clothes from his outstretched hands before disappearing into the tent. She examined the sleeveless royal blue silk Chinese jump-suit with a critical eye. Funnily enough it appeared to be the correct size instead of a size too small and didn't appear to be see-through or anything like that. I wonder what those two are up to...? she thought to herself.

Outside Hiroshi and Daisuke high-fived. "Perfect! We'll be out of debt with Nabiki in no time!" Daisuke gloated. "Plus, we get to see Ryoga looking like a real babe for once!!" He paused. "But why are we giving her the photographs to sell? Even if we sell them at half price, we'll still be making more money than she pays us."

Hiroshi shook his head sternly. "If Nabiki found out we'd been selling photo's behind her back, she'd make our lives a living hell. Now don't even THINK along those lines again, d'you hear me?!!?"

"If we can get good rates, we may be able to get a tramp steamer to Japan or something," Washu said, tapping away at her computer. "Do you speak the language here?"

"Bits of it," Ryoga-chan informed her, rubbing her bare arms. "Is it just me, or is it chilly out here?"

"Just you. Put this on," Washu said, holding out a watch-like article.

"What is it?" Ryoga-chan asked cautiously, examining it critically.

"It'll measure different things, pulse, blood pressure, PKE readings and stuff. Perfectly harmless, it's just for research," the small scientist reassured her. She grinned cutely. "Don't say I can't do this - I did say that anyone who sneaked out last night would be tested on, remember?"

"Huh?! But I..."

Washu held out a hand, cutting her off. "I'm a teacher. Nothing escapes my all-seeing eyes!!! Mwahahahahaha!!!!"

"...." Ryoga-chan decided not to pursue the line of conversation any more.

Washu continued to tap away at her computer for a few seconds before speaking again. "You've caught a cold. Put a jumper on or something or it'll get worse."

"All my clothes are wet," she pointed out. "Anyway, I'll be fine."

"Suit yourself." Washu turned around and raised her voice to speak to the class. "I know you all think this is some kind of vacation and I hate to break your bubbles but I'm going to have to teach you all a little geography as we go along." She waited for the moans and grumbles to pass before attempting to speak again. "But I know better than to attempt it before at least after lunch. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me, whether they're about geography, science or how the hell we're going to get back home. Follow me!"

Ryoga-chan blinked. "Aren't we supposed to be following me?"

"Hey, you kids aren't the only ones who can learn a lesson, you know! We have to get back to Japan now," Washu explained.

"Oh."

"Now then..." Washu smiled in a motherly way and patted her on the arm. "Hibiki, I know being a teen is difficult. And I know it must be especially difficult having a curse like yours."

Ryoga-chan blinked and backed away slightly, the sudden subject change making her nervous. "Uh..."

"I know I'm just another teacher to you, but I'm Ryoko's mother and I know all about teenager's problems. You can come to me anytime you need to talk, you got that?" Ryoga-chan nodded numbly and Washu continued. "There's no sense in bottling things up you'll just end up hurting yourself more than you already are. You shouldn't take things out on yourself."

Ryoga-chan blinked with confusion for a few moments until she noticed Washu's gaze settle upon her arms. "You mean... NO! No, no, no! I am not crazy! I did NOT do this to myself!" She flushed with embarrassment.

"You mean that's not self inflicted?" Washu looked at the many cuts and scratches that adorned the girls arms. "'Cause if it isn't, I hope whoever did it has been arrested!"

Ryoga-chan groaned and held her head in her hands. "It doesn't matter."

After a few more minutes of walking, Ranma inched over towards Ryoga-chan. "Hey. Can I walk with you?"

"What for?" Ryoga-chan muttered.

"I wanted to talk to you, that's all. Can't I talk with my pal?" Ranma tried.

"We're not pals," Ryoga-chan said bluntly. "What do you want to talk to me about?" She paused and sneezed violently. "I guess I am catching a cold," she said to no-one in particular.

"Why did Ucchan throw you into the ocean?" Ranma queried. The incident had been bugging him all morning now and curiosity had finally gotten the better of him.

"Curiosity killed the cat, Ranma. And I really don't see why it's any of your business," Ryoga-chan said sourly. She'd been trying to forget about the awful awakening she'd received. Just like him to bring what's bothering me back to my attention, she thought.

With more force than he'd intended to use, Ranma grabbed hold of the back of Ryoga- chan's collar and twisted the cloth tightly. "Ucchan is one of my best friends and it's not like her to do something like that without reason. Which means you musta done something to provoke her!" He shook the girl angrily. "So tell me what you did to her so I can justifiably hurt you!!"

Ryoga-chan pulled free from Ranma's grip and glared at him. "If I knew what I'd done to make her act like that, I would've apologized already. The point is, Saotome, that I don't KNOW what I did wrong! She won't tell me!" she hissed, clenching her fists tightly.

"Well how are you supposed to kiss her if you can't even talk to her?!!" Ranma hissed back, suppressing a giggle as the small girl turned an alarming shade of red.

"As if I'd want to kiss a tomboy like her anyway! She's not even cute!" Ryoga-chan said venomously pushing images of Ukyo highlighted by starlight to the very back of her mind. "She's not!"

CLANG

Ukyo furiously shook the girl by the collar. "Well, ex-cuuuuuuse me for not being cute! As if I'd ever even WANT to BE kissed by a cross-dressing pervert like YOU!!" She finished by throwing the girl into the ocean for the second time that day. "Oooh! He makes me so MAD!!!"

"Y'know, it's rude to listen in on other peoples conversations, Ucchan," Ranma said sternly. You might hear classified information!

Ukyo scowled. "It was difficult to not hear it, the stupid jerk was nearly shouting!"

Meanwhile, Ryoga-chan was dragging herself back up the beach. "...Violent uncute tomboy maniac psycho! Does she have to over react to every little thing I say???!" she mumbled to herself. She sneezed. "Damn. Now I really am going to catch a cold."

"Looks like that outfit's soaked through," a voice above her said. She raised her head to Hiroshi and Daisuke standing by her head.

"What do you two want now?" she asked wearily.

Hiroshi blinked. "Why, we were only concerned! If you don't want some dry clothes, we won't bother you anymore," he said, sounding hurt.

A hand grabbed him by the ankle, almost dislocating it. "Dry clothing. Explain further or I twist," Ryoga-chan said grimly.

A few minutes later, she found herself clad in another Chinese outfit - unfortunately, it was a dress. A short dress. "Very nice," Daisuke said approvingly, looking her up and down. "How about giving us a twirl, maybe you could bend over and pick up that rock for me?"

"I'm a guy," Ryoga-chan said through gritted teeth. "Get a life."

"Just like my old girlfriend," Hiroshi said fondly. "Let's go and rejoin the others now, shall we?"

"Seeing as you two seem to be carrying around an endless supply of clothing in my size, I don't suppose there's any chance that either of you happens to have a jumper that would fit me?" Ryoga-chan said hopefully as they walked along.

Daisuke shook his head regretfully. "Afraid not. Besides, what do you need one for?"

"I'm cold."

Hiroshi looked amazed. "How can you be cold??! It's forty degrees out here!"

Relative calm settled over the Furinkan group for the next few miles as they followed Washu. (By relative calm I mean minor fights, small squabbles, little destruction to the surrounding area.) Suddenly the pink-haired woman frowned as she looked from her map to the surroundings.

"What appears to be the problem, Miss Washu?" Ayeka asked as she stopped tugging at Ryoko's hair for a moment.

"This can't be right." Washu began tapping at her computer, oblivious to the students.

Akane frowned. Washu hadn't yelled out the customary 'that's Little Washu!' remark - something had to be amiss. She looked around and shivered. That's strange - I was warm just a second ago...

Then the island disappeared into fog.

"Where on earth are we now?" Tenchi asked.

Washu looked around. "I have no idea. Hey, Hibiki, where are we?"

"You expect me to know???" Ryoga-chan asked, incredulous.

The group looked around their new surroundings. Or, to be more precise, lack of surroundings. All around them was industrial pink. (Stare at the edge of your computer. It should be that awful beige colour. Imagine being totally surrounded by that colour. Awful, isn't it? It's things like that which give a perfectly good colour like pink a bad name.)

"Welcome, travelers."

The crowd whipped around to see a small man, not unlike Cherry from Uresai Yatsura standing next to a tall and very beautiful woman with long black hair and ornate robes. And behind them were a large army of soldiers. It was the small man who had spoken, and he now spoke again. "My name is Grebes and this is Lady Ibis. We welcome you to the Realm of the Lost Spirits. We hope you enjoy your time here."

Washu stepped forward and bowed. "Thank you for you welcome, although I regret that we can't stay long. I don't suppose you know the way to Furinkan high school from here?"

Lady Ibis stepped forward. "Surely you can stay for a short time? I insist that you meet my son, Lord Tinamous." Her tone showed that she was not used to being disagreed with.

"I'm sorry but we really should be going," Washu said firmly. "Could you please tell us the way out of here?"

"You don't appear to underst..." Grebes began.

Lady Ibis waved her hand. "Silence, Grebes. It never works, anyway. Just do it."

Grebes nodded and threw a large ball over to the group. It exploded, releasing a cloud of gas which enveloped them. Within seconds, the entire class had fallen asleep faster than they did during history lectures.

"Pity we always end up doing that," Lady Ibis said casually. "Separate the men from the women and place them with the others."

Slowly, Ranma creaked his eyes open and looked around. He sat up slowly, rubbing his head and taking in the surroundings. It was still entirely blue and silver and very comfortable... but there was something else. It was enclosed space, populated by male figures. He was surrounded entirely by men. Akane... he thought suddenly, and scanned the area again. There wasn't a single female figure to be seen.

Next to him, Tenchi woke up and rubbed his head. "Where are we... where is everyone?"

"I see Gosunkugi, Hiroshi, Daisuke, Ryukyu, Hiro... yep, all the guys from our class are here, but none of the girls," Ranma observed. "Except for Ryoga... well, he's either gotten himself lost or they think he's one of the girls."

"What?! Mihoshi and Washu and Ayeka and Ryoko aren't here?!"

"Yep."

Tenchi looked around. "Are you certain Ayeka and Ryoko aren't here?"

"Sure." Ranma looked solemnly at him. "I'm going to find Akane and the rest of the girls. Are you coming?"

"We don't have to rescue them yet, do we?" Tenchi pleaded. "I'm sure they're fine... and this is the most peace I've had in weeks!"

Ranma thought about Akane. Then he thought about Akane's mallet/ cooking/ temper and shuddered. "You're right. We don't have to rescue them yet."

Akane opened her eyes and sat up slowly. "Where... where am I?"

"I see the sleeping beauty awakens," Ryoko said calmly.

"What is this place?" Akane frowned and scanned the place. Unlike where the boys were being held captive, this room was in shades of pink and gold, with comfortable cushions and seats to sit on. "Where are all the guys?"

Ryoko's eyes welled up. "I don't know! I can't find Tenchi - this place has neutralized my gems somehow and I can't get out!"

"So you don't have any idea where the guys are?"

Ukyo woke up just in time to catch the end of the question. "What? The guys are missing?!" Akane nodded. "Even Ryoga?"

"Worried about him? I'm sure he's fine, wherever he is..."

Ukyo scowled. "For starters, I am not worried about that idiot, he can take care of himself and secondly, he was in girl form when that gas hit us and I thought he'd be here, that's all."

Washu battled her way over to them through the crowds of women and sat down on a cushion. "My computer isn't working and neither are my links with Ryo-ohki. Wherever we are, it must be on a different plane of existence to be able to do this. I bet there's also a high level magical barrier too."

"Damn!" Ryoko swore. "How are we supposed to get out?!"

"Ranma will rescue us," Akane said confidently. "He always does."

"First we'd better find the rest of the girls," Washu commanded. "Look around and see if you can find them and come back here to regroup. We'll work from there."

Soon, Ukyo re-appeared with four girls in tow and Akane with five, including Ryoga- chan. "Ryoga! You're here!" she cried happily.

"Yeah...." The other girl said cautiously. Ucchan appears to be happy to see me. What is wrong with this picture? She looked down at herself quickly, to make sure she hadn't ended up in Ranma's body again. Nope. I'm me. But Ucchan is never happy to see me. Which means... she's either preparing to dish out serious bodily harm to me, or she really is happy to see me. Nah.... Not bloody likely!!

"Great! Your brute strength will have us out of here in no time!" she continued cheerfully.

"I'm not sure whether to be relived or insulted," Ryoga-chan said gloomily.

"Just do that breaking point thing and bust us out of here, sugar," Ukyo ordered.

"Can't."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, CAN'T?!!!!"

Ryoga-chan backed away from the roaring fire oni. "The Bakusai Tenketsu only works on rock and these walls are made of something else," she squeaked.

"Of all the useless, incompetent idiots..." Ukyo cursed.

"Fine, wait for darling Ranma to save you if I'm not good enough for you," Ryoga-chan snapped and sat down, arms crossed and a scowl on her face.

Ryoko and Ayeka appeared with the remaining girls. "So, 'Mom,' what do we do now?" Ryoko asked.

"..." Washu began.

Her words were cut off by a loud fanfare and golden doors which hadn't been there a moment before opened wide. Lady Ibis and Grebes entered. "Ladies, you will now be presented to Lord Tinamous," Grebes announced loudly. "Please walk through these doors in single file."

"Excuse me, but why are we here?" Ayeka asked politely.

Lady Ibis sighed. "Was it not explained to you? You wandered into the Realm of the Lost Spirits. Most people who wander into here usually wander straight back out again without even realizing they were here. But since Lord Tinamous turned seventeen last week, we've been keeping a few people here to be presented as possible bridal candidates."

"Just a few, huh?" Sayuri said, sweatdropping as she looked at the looooooooooong line of women.

"Where have you hidden Ranma and the others?" Akane demanded.

Lady Ibis blinked. "The males? They are perfectly fine - they will all be returned to their homes when a bride is chosen, as well as the rejected women," she explained.

"So in other words, all we have to do is present ourselves to this Lord, make a really bad impression on him and we can go home?" Ryoga-chan spoke up. She jumped to her feet. "Let's go then."

"...Too fat, too old, too tall, too ugly... that one's another 'maybe,' too ugly...." As each girl in question walked past the young Lord, each one who was singled out as a 'maybe' was pulled aside by Grebes.

"Wow! That Lord's actually kinda cute," Yuka said quietly, from a spot near the end of the queue.

"Well, I'm responsible for your well being and it's not like you can get your parents permission," Washu said. "He just seems to be opting for pretty girls at this point, so if any of us make it through, remember to behave as badly as possible." She pulled a compact out of mid-air and began applying make-up.

"Miss Washu! What are you doing?!!!" Ayeka hissed in a shocked voice. "We don't want to be chosen!"

"Correction, none of you lot want to get chosen. However, some of you may. So I want to get chosen so can keep an eye on anyone who does get chosen," Washu pointed out.

"I am so nervous," Ukyo admitted.

Ryoga-chan patted her arm. "Don't worry. If he has the bad luck to choose you, just hit him with that spatula of yours."

"Like this, you JERK?!?!"

CLANG

"Y-yeah... j-just like that... owww"

They began to talk in quieter whispers as the line progressed. Ukyo sighed. "Ranchan would've saved us all by now," she said gloomily.

Ryoga-chan shrugged. "What's wrong with this? We get through inspection, we all go home. There. Case closed."

"But some poor girl will still end up engaged to that guy," Ukyo pointed out. "Ranchan would've beaten him up by now, trashed the place and saved the day by now if he were here."

"No doubt causing vast amounts of property damage and getting himself noticed and probably engaged to the guy," Ryoga-chan added, annoyed by all the Ranma referrals.

"Ranchan woul..."

"Oh, please would you shut up about Ranma, already!" Ryoga-chan snarled. "What's the problem - you want me to do something? Fine, I'll do something!" She grabbed the compact from Washu and examined her reflection critically. "Does anybody have a hairbrush?"

"What are you doing?" Ukyo asked cautiously.

"I'm going to get myself chosen. Then, when you all get sent home, I'll change myself back and they'll throw me out. See? Foolproof!"

Lord Tinamous sighed and looked down the line. Where is she... He craned his neck to see if there were any others past the end of the Furinkan group, disappointment clouding his eyes when he saw nobody else. "Too plain," he said boredly as Sayuri passed him. "Too full of herself," was Ryoko's comment. Ayeka giggled until she heard herself described as "too pompous." Akane sighed as she stepped forward. Here goes nothing... another crazy weirdo out for my heart as usual... Ranma, where are yo..."

"Good god, that one has the figure of a brick!!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?!?!?!?!"

Tinamous calmly side-stepped the very large mallet and it crashed into his throne. "And too violent. I would never marry a macho chick like her."

Akane blinked. "Are you related to Ranma Saotome, by any chance?"

"No." The Lord waved her away and critically examined the last few girls. "Hmm... maybe..."

Pick me, pick me! Ryoga-chan thought grimly as Washu was pulled aside. She stepped forward and placed her best cute-girl grin on her face, the one that ended up on the newspapers when she got photographed as Magical Girl Ryoko.

"Another maybe," Tinamous decided aloud. The resemblance to Yukio-chan is amazing... He examined the last few girls as Grebes pulled a gleefully grinning Ryoga- chan aside. "No, no, maybe," he finished as Ukyo walked past.

"What?!" Ryoga-chan jumped forward. I can't let him try and marry Ucchan - she'd never let me hear the last of it! "Lord, sir, you don't want her, she's even more violent than the other one!"

"Hey... you..." Ukyo began with a twitch.

"She only ever cooks one type of food, she wakes you up by soaking you with freezing water, she dresses like a boy and whenever she gets mad, she hits you with a giant spatula..."

"LIKE THIS?!?!?!"

CLANGCLANGCLANG

Tinamous laughed. "She's so high-spirited! Yes, a definite maybe, I think," he said as Ukyo peeled her giant spatula from the unconscious Ryoga-chan.

"Hey! When I did that, you just called me violent!" Akane called out.

"You are violent, Miss. This young lady is spirited. There is a subtle difference," Tinamous said calmly.

"There is? What is it?" Ryoga-chan muttered. "I always thought she was violent."

"Oh, shut up, you jerk! Who cares what you think?!" Ukyo snapped.

"Look at them, Grebes. They are so much like Yukio-chan. I don't suppose I could have both of them, could I?" He looked at the old man hopefully.

"I shall have to check with your mother," Grebes said gravely. "But I think you should attempt to acquaint yourself with the other girls at least, instead of looking for a girl who reminds you of Miss Yukio." He walked away in search of Lady Ibis.

Tinamous clapped his hands. "Ladies, I do apologize for all that you have been through. Feel free to make yourselves comfortable." He instantly walked over to Ryoga-chan and Ukyo. "And what might your names be?"

"Akane!"

"Ranma!" Akane raced over to him and burst into tears. "He said I was violent and built like a brick..."

Ranma placed his arms around her awkwardly. "I say that to you all the time, but it don't bother you... does it?"

Akane sniffled. "Not really. I'm used to it from you."

"So I take it the Lord didn't want you?" Ranma tried not to let his happiness show.

"No. But he's still got Miss Washu Sensei and Ukyo and Ryoga." She sighed. "With all the boys that seem to chase me, I thought he'd chose me too."

"I don't know whether to say he's got horrible eyesight or great taste in women."

WHAM

"I'm guessing you should've stuck with the first one," Tenchi said, peeling his friend from the floor.

"Tenchi!"

"Lord Tenchi!"

Tenchi whimpered as he was glomped from either side.

Washu kept a sharp eye on the Lord as he chatted to Ukyo and Ryoga-chan, basically ignoring the other girls in the room. That was fine with her, as far as she was concerned - it meant Ryoga-chan was more likely to be the chosen one... if only Ukyo didn't keep butting in. In fact, apart form the minor point that Ryoga-chan was spending 50% of her time unconscious, the only flaw in the plan that Washu could see was that when Tinamous found out Ryoga-chan was really a guy he would either keep him here anyway, or just go out a capture another load of girls. Ah well. With only two students there to keep an eye on, she could continue her research. Of course, it would've helped if her computer was operational.

"Excuse me for a second, ladies," Tinamous said as he saw the forms of Grebes and Lady Ibis enter the room.

As soon as he'd stood up, Ryoga-chan leaned over. "Look, Ucchan, I appreciate the help with this, but could you please butt out of this?"

"I'm just trying to fill you in on being a bit more feminine," Ukyo argued.

Ryoga-chan bit back a comment about leaning feminism from the worlds biggest tomboy and replaced it with, "you don't have to hit me whenever I get stuff wrong, though. I don't like being out cold. I don't know what's going on. I mean," she continued, choosing her words with care. "I don't want him to choose you instead." Oops. I don't think that came out in quite the right way, she thought, waiting to be spatulated.

"Ryoga... don't tell me... you're jealous..." Ukyo began, a slight blush crossing her cheeks. How sweet of him to do this...

"You've got to be kidding!" Ryoga-chan blurted. "Jealous of a tomboy like you?! It's just, if you marry him, I'll have no one to cook for me!"

"WHY YOU....." Ukyo paused in pre-swipe. "I thought you were sick of okonomiyaki, anyway."

"No, I thought he might get sick of it. For me, after Akane's cooking, a lifetime of okonomiyaki is bliss."

CLANG

"YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE!" Grebes called. Silence fell. "The Lord Tinamous has made his decision. He will we wedded to Miss Ryoga Hibiki..."

"Yes!" Ryoga-chan hissed gleefully from under the spatula.

"...And Miss Ukyo Kuonji."

"WHAT?!!"

Washu gulped. This, she hadn't anticipated.

End Part XVIII

Final song - Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

===============

PART XIX

Thin Line Between

Heaven and Hell.

Epilogue#1

===============

"Ranma!"

Ranma turned to see Skuld walking towards him. "Skuld. Hi," he said with a small wave.

The young goddess looked particularly worried. "You're back from Easter Island? Where are Ryoga and Ukyo?"

Ranma scratched the back of his head nervously. "Come with me. I think it's best that you talk to Miss Washu Sensei about it."

"About what? The fact that they don't seem to be on this plane of existence?" she said wryly.

"You know?!"

"I'm a goddess. Of course I know," she snapped. "The problem is, they should be on this plane of existence. I don't know where to find them and neither does the Almighty and we NEED them back as soon as possible!"

"Wow." Ranma blinked a few times. "I never realized those two were so important."

"... And these are all the photographs we got when we were away," Hiroshi finished.

Nabiki examined them with a critical eye. "Very good work, boys. Kuno-baby's gonna love these!" She walked over to her wardrobe and pulled out another bag full of clothes. "See if you can get Ryoga to wear these, will ya?"

Daisuke and Hiroshi exchanged glances before laughing nervously. "Well, there's a slight problem with that..." Daisuke began.

"Which is...?" Nabiki prompted.

"Ryoga and Ukyo are stuck in the Realm of Lost Spirits and it's very difficult to take photographs of somebody who no longer exists here," Hiroshi finished. "My, is that the time?"

"Wait," Nabiki said sternly. "What do you mean by 'they're trapped in the Realm of Lost Spirits?' I thought you went to Easter Island."

"We did," Daisuke said helpfully. "And the Realm of Lost Spirits."

"Explain," the middle Tendo ordered, switching on a tape recorder.

"...Lord Tinamous decided that he was going to marry one of the girls who wandered into his realm. Our class was hopelessly lost and wandered into there by accident. Ryoga happened to be a girl at the time, and hit on this bright idea of making the Lord fall for him so we could all go home and then revealing his curse," Washu explained. "But nobody expected the Lord to decide he wanted to marry Ryoga and Ukyo..."

"...And the moment this Lord announced his decision, we all ended up back at school minus Ryoga and Ukyo. We can only assume they're still in the other realm. Pity. They were babes, both of them."

Nabiki tried to think. Apart from selling the information to Kuno, she could see no way that this information would help her make a profit. She had two choices - leave them both to find their own way out of this realm and find money-making schemes elsewhere or use her connections to help get them back. "You two run along now," she said, suddenly remembering the presence of Hiroshi and Daisuke.

"Thank you Nabiki. As always, it has been an expensive privilege doing business with you," Hiroshi said.

"Flattery won't get you a raise." Nabiki shut the door behind her and sat down at her desk. Let's see... with Ryoga and Ukyo gone I lose money through arranged dates with Ranma, pictures of Ryoga-chan and fight money. Plus, with Shampoo marrying this other guy, competition for Ranma and Akane goes down which means less money from her. But I guess it saves on insurance, and if Ranma and Akane get married things'll get a bit quieter around here... She sighed. She couldn't do it. Not even she was heartless enough to leave two of her little sisters friends stranded in some other dimension. "Akane..."

"Realm of Lost Spirits?" Maika looked at Miyu, who shrugged and shook her head. "Never head of it."

Mihoshi looked like she was about to burst into tears again. Luckily, her body seemed to have dried out for now. "Yukinojo? Do you know anything about the Realm of Lost Spirits?" she pleaded down her remote link.

"I'm afraid not, Mihoshi. That location is not found under any of my files."

Mihoshi's eyes welled up again and she exploded into full sob mode. "If I hadn't m-m- made Ukyo throw him in the ocean h-he wouldn't have been a girl and he'd still b-be here!!!"

Maika tried to think of some way to cheer her friend up. "You know, you shouldn't be asking aliens for links to Earth realms. You could ask that old lady who lives at that Chinese restaurant. She seems to know an awful lot about magic."

Mihoshi brightened up at this suggestion. "Yeah! But will you two come with me?" she added plaintively.

"Urd, I've got a real problem down here." Skuld sniffled down the telephone. "It's URGENT!"

"I don't remember raising you to come running to your big sis whenever there's a teensy little favour you want doing," Urd said irritably, trying to watch the television out of the corner of her eye.

"This isn't a teensy favour. Ryoga, AKA Magical Guy Makoto and Magical Girl Ryoko is stuck in the Realm of Lost Spirits and the magic is blocked."

"WHAT?!!!!" Urd jumped out of her chair, almost knocking over a bottle of sake in the process. "But if the Amityville demons find out, they'll attack Ranma Saotome and anything that stands in their way! Knowing them, they'll probably try and take out the rest of the city too, just for the sake if it!!!"

"You think I don't know that?!" Skuld snarled. "What do I do?!!!"

"Hold on, I'll be right there," Urd promised.

"Hibiki is trapped in another realm with the okonomiyaki tramp?" Kodachi repeated. "That's mildly interesting but WHY AREN'T THEY DEAD???!?!???!?!?"

"Because he's Magical Guy Makoto," the underworld minion repeated again. "Look, do you want to take advantage of this or not? Because if you do, shut up and let Jodie take possession of your mind, body and soul." He yawned. If she agrees to this, she is definitely some sort of psycho.

"Very well then. If that is what it takes to win my Darling Ranma's love, then that is how it will be." The black rose smiled and accepted the black cloud that filled her, blackening her soul and taking control.

A few minutes later she stepped out of her hidden room, closing the door behind her, before walking up the stairs.

After looking around and taking note of it's new surroundings, her shadow followed.

"This Hibiki guy has a sister, right?" Urd asked, handing her youngest sibling a mug.

Skuld took a long drag of the cocoa and grimaced. "You put brandy in this, didn't you?"

"So what if I did? You were hysterical over the phone," Urd protested. "Sister. The guy has a sister."

"Yeah. Keiko Hibiki. He's never met her, I've never met her." Skuld took another drag of the warm drink. "Why do you ask?"

"If she's got the same parents as him, then logic says they have the same powers. I guess our only hope is to find this Keiko kid and train her the same way you did for him."

Skuld held up a hand. "One, I don't know where to find the kid. Two, she wouldn't believe the story, three, I don't have time to train the kid and four, she's seven years old. I'm not putting her up against Amityville demons."

"Personally, I think it's about your only hope. The other option is to warn this Saotome kid that a big demon is out to get him, his fiancee and half the city and round up all the super heroes in Tokyo to protect him."

Skuld grinned and reached for the telephone. "You know, that's not such a bag idea."

Cologne looked up as Ranma, Washu, Akane and Nabiki ran into the restaurant. "Hello there. Come to say your congratulations to Shampoo and Tsubasa before we leave for China?" she asked pleasantly.

Behind her, Mousse snapped another pair of chopsticks in half and glared at his ramen. When I find Hibiki, he is dead meat...

"Hibiki and Kuonji are in the Realm of Lost Spirits?!" Mousse pricked his ears up at this and listened carefully as Cologne continued. "Unless we manage to wander into the realm, they are lost to us.

Yes!! Mousse mentally high fived.

"So we find the realm. How do we do that? Ranma asked stubbornly.

Mihoshi, Maika and Miyu charged into the restaurant. Cologne grinned. "Looking for information on the Realm of Lost Spirits?" she asked.

"Yeah," Mihoshi panted. "How do we find it?"

Mousse shook his head. "I can't believe you're all doing this to get that idiot back," he said calmly.

"I bet you'd be too scared to even consider traveling to the Realm of Lot Spirits," Mihoshi snapped.

Mousse paused. "Did you just call me a coward?"

"Yes, I just called you a coward." Mihoshi turned her attention back to the old lady. "So how do we get there?"

Cologne shrugged. "Simple really. You just let yourself get lost. That's why it's a realm of lost spirits. Whenever anybody gets lost, their astral body is sent to the realm and wanders there like a ghost. The time difference has an effect too, which is why people get lost so suddenly, then find themselves back on track with an equal suddenness."

Washu blinked. "So the reason Ryoga gets lost so easily is because he has an overactive astral body that keeps wandering into the realm and operates on a different time level to him?"

"Precisely. All the Lord has done is take the mortal bodies there too, so they would operate at the same time. The problem with finding this realm is the time lag. By the time your astral body has reached the realm, you will have no doubt, found your way back again."

"So we get ourselves hopelessly lost, easy," Ranma said, picking up a pack. "So who's with me?"

Shampoo and Tsubasa stepped forward. "We are," Tsubasa said sternly.

Akane nodded. "Me too. Oneechan?"

"Yeah, go on. Count me in," Nabiki said recklessly.

Mihoshi nodded her head. "And me."

"Me too," Mousse added.

Mihoshi gaped at him. "YOU?!?!"

"Yes, me! I won't have you call me a coward and get away with it!"

Washu sniggered at the bickering pair. "It could be interesting. I'm in too."

Cologne looked around. "And me. Hey, what about you two?!" She looked at Maika and Miyu.

"We can't," Maika said regretfully. "Our washing machine blew up yesterday and we're expecting a visit from the insurance company." She neglected to add that Miyu had blown it up with a Zero Cannon yesterday, while battling a thirty-foot high old man. (Geriatric Park. )

"HALT!" A bokken wielding figure ran into the room. "I, Tatewaki Kuno shall travel too with you to rescue the Bandannaed maiden."

Ranma blinked at him. "Kuno?! What do you know about this?!"

The upperclassman smiled enigmatically. "A little bird informed me that the lovely Miss Kuonji and the even lovelier Bandannaed girl were being held captive by the forces of magic in another realm, a Realm of Lost Spirits, and seek rescue from the hands of the villainous UnderLord, Tinamous."

"Wow... for once, he actually has vaguely correct information!" Ranma said in awe.

Nabiki blinked. "Kuno-baby ...how did you find out about this?"

"Silence, wench! The time for talk is past... come, let us rescue the fair Miss Kuonji and fairer still Bandannaed girl!"

End Part XIX Epilogue#1

Final song - Separate Lives

====================

PART XX

Lost Spirits

in the Realm of Lost Spirits.

Epilogue#2

====================

And what of Ryoga and Ukyo?

"YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE!" Grebes called. Silence fell. "The Lord Tinamous has made his decision. He will we wedded to Miss Ryoga Hibiki...And Miss Ukyo Kuonji."

The two of them stood in stunned amazement, Ryoga-chan not even bothering to lift the spatula from her skull. "Wha.. wha... wha...?" was all Ukyo could stutter out.

"Thank you for all your co-operation, ladies. In a moment you will find yourselves at your destinations as our way of saying thank you for being here," Grebes continued.

Washu jumped to her feet and ran towards them, fading out of sight before she'd taken six steps. Tinamous bowed down before the two stunned girls. "I hope you do not think it awfully rude of me to ask both of you to marry me," he said politely. "We can talk about it over dinner." He called one of the servants over, an elderly lady. "Greta, could you please show Miss Ryoga and Miss Ukyo their room?"

Greta nodded and smiled pleasantly at the dazed duo. "Please follow me, missies."

Still speechless, the two followed the old woman down a maze of corridors, before stopping outside a huge set of double doors. Greta pushed them open. "You should both find some appropriate clothing inside the wardrobes. If you each choose an outfit each, I'll lead you to the baths where you can prepare for dinner. This will be your permanent quarters - I hope you find them satisfactory."

"Wait a second," Ryoga-chan cut it, blushing a little. "Are you saying we have to share?!!"

Greta smiled warmly. "Of course! You will both be the wives of Lord Tinamous, it is essential that you both bond with each other as well as with him." She gently pushed them inside and closed the doors. "Call me when you're ready!"

Ryoga-chan looked at the floor, beet-red. Ukyo did the same. After a long silence, Ryoga- chan eventually walked over to the large wardrobe and opened it. "Ucchan, this one would look nice on you," she said in a falsely cheerful voice, turning around, holding a long silver dress in her arms. "Uh... Ucchan?"

"Ryoga?" Ukyo said quietly, from her perch on the edge of the four poster bed. "Tell Tinamous about your curse now."

Ryoga-chan blinked a few time. "Pardon?! Did I just hear that right?!"

Ukyo sighed. "You heard me. Tell him the truth and you can go home. It's my own fault he chose me too, I interfered, remember?"

Ryoga-chan stood in silence for a moment, before walking over to the large bed and sitting down next to her. "Ucchan, I'm not telling Tinamous about my curse and I'm not leaving here without you."

"But you should just go home. I'm fine," Ukyo insisted.

"Ucchan... I..." Ryoga-chan paused and ran the words through her head to make sure they didn't come out incorrectly. "...I don't have any home other than Ucchan's okonomiyaki restaurant," she said quietly. "And that isn't home without you there."

Ukyo sniffled and hugged her knees tightly. "Th-thanks... but I still think you should go..."

"Hey. Do you really want to marry this guy, is that it?" Ryoga-chan asked quietly.

Ukyo looked up in surprise. "Of course not!"

"So shut up," Ryoga-chan berated. "If you don't want to marry the guy, I'm staying. I'm not going to abandon you here, you got that? We can work something out ... maybe you could hit him with that obnoxious spatula of yours," she added with a grin.

Ukyo couldn't help but laugh. "OK, jackass. Hand me that dress." Ryoga-chan handed her the silver dress, glad to see a smile on her friend's face again. "One more thing, sugar," Ukyo said suddenly.

"What's that?" Ryoga-chan asked distractedly, flicking through the remaining outfits for something she wouldn't feel like an idiot in.

"There is no way on Earth that we are sharing a bath, you got that?"

Ukyo's forgiveness for her female fiance was rapidly disappearing as Ryoga-chan bombarded Tinamous with a huge variety of reasons as to why he shouldn't marry her, but just send her home. If he thinks I'm so bad, why didn't he break off our engagement? she thought angrily as Tinamous listened to the small girl's continued insults.

"... And she's totally obsessive, she hunted down this guy for ten years because he dumped her when she was six..."

Ukyo finally exploded as those words vibrated through her ears. "Well, at least I chased him for a good reason, instead of tracking across the world because he stole a few bits of bread!" she snarled, steam almost coming out of her ears.

"He ran out on a scheduled fight!"

"YOU were the one who turned up four days late! How pathetic!"

The fork Ryoga-chan was holding distorted into strange shapes. "Pathetic?!! Pathetic is chasing the idiot for ten years, giving up being a girl because he humiliated you and then falling straight in love with him because he said you were cute!"

Ukyo went white. "What... did... you... say...?!!?!!" she spat.

"Uh... ladies?" Tinamous asked timidly.

"You heard what I said!" Ryoga-chan spat back.

"At least I had the guts to admit I loved him instead of being a spineless jellyfish like you! I didn't turn into a stuttering wreck whenever I spoke to the guy of my dreams!" Ukyo leaned forward until they were both nose to nose. "You know what? The only reason my plans to get Ranchan for me and Akane for you never worked was because you were always too scared to admit you like her. And now they're too close to split up. It's YOUR fault!!" She grinned, slightly maniacally and leaned forward so they were cheek to cheek. "At least I can get a real man. But once your secret's out, you'll be all on your own again," she whispered quietly into Ryoga-chan's ear.

Tinamous wisely decided to flee.

Ryoga-chan was shaking like a leaf, her fingers digging deep holes into the table. She's right... it's MY fault I never got Akane... I'll be on my own again... all on my own... oh god... I don't want to be alone any more! A tear trickled slowly down her face.

Ukyo suddenly noticed the green glow surrounding the smaller girl. "Uh... Ryoga?" Her anger vanished as quickly as it had popped up. She touched her fiance on the shoulder and the dark-haired girl looked up at her with huge green eyes filled with unshed tears. "Ryoga, come on you big dummy, you know I didn't mean a word of that..." Ukyo choked out nervously.

Ryoga-chan pulled away from her, the glow around her getting even brighter. If she didn't mean it, why did she say it? Why does it hurt so much? Tears began to flow down her face. She didn't know what hurt her most, the fear of being alone again or the fact that Ukyo had just plainly stated that she'd rather marry the Lord of this strange place who she hardly knew over her. All of a sudden, she just wanted to hurt Ukyo back. Hurt her back as much as she was hurting her now. She clenched her fists tight. I will not hit a girl, I will not I will not I WILL NOT!!!

"Ryoga, sugar... come on, you're scaring me now," Ukyo said, laughing nervously. "Stop glowing like that..."

"Bitch."

Ukyo blinked. "Wh... what did you say?!" she asked, incredulous, grabbing the girl by the shoulders.

Ryoga-chan lifted her gaze to meet Ukyo's, her eyes sparkling dangerously. "You total BITCH!!!" she screamed. "I HATE YOU!!!" She broke free of Ukyo's grasp and ran away, choked sobs forcing their way to freedom. Finally she collapsed to the ground. The green glow shone brighter around her until it grew too bright to look at directly. Then a huge pillar of light enveloped the girl and lit up the sky, before crashing back down to Earth.

"Ryoga!" Ukyo called in worry, waving clouds of dust from her sight. She'd been chasing the girl, trying to get her to stop so she could apologize. She looked at the debris around her and plodded onwards, looking for the girl. Did Ryoga do that? She thought to herself, thinking about the green glow she'd been following, which had suddenly exploded outwards, taking out most of the east wing of... wherever this place was. Luckily, nobody else seemed to be here except for her. Oh, I hope he didn't blow himself up with that! She came to an intersection and looked both ways. Hmm... that way, light and airy. That way, dusty and demolished. Gee, I wonder? she thought sarcastically, turning down the demolished corridor. "Ryoga!!!"

She tripped and stumbled. Looking behind to see what she'd tripped over, her spirits brightened when she recognized the small figure curled up on the floor. To her relief, she didn't appear to be terribly injured by the collapse of the building, but just plain exhausted, although the dress was ripped almost entirely to shreds. "Jackass," she sighed, kneeling down and picking up the light body. "What was that you did back there?" After a moment's contemplation, she quickly carried Ryoga-chan back to their room and placed her carefully on the bed. Then she disappeared in search of water in varying degrees of temperature.

Wordlessly, she removed the tattered dress and poured the hot water over the girl, who didn't awaken with the change. She pulled the covers over him and looked at him for a minute. He looks so sad... I did that to him... She sighed and brushed his hair out of his eyes. No wonder he hates me, she thought sadly.

Ryoga dreamed. The ghostly white figure of Ukyo Kuonji haunted his nightmares. Wearing the silver dress, she looked like an angel but acted like a demon, stabbing him repeatedly with glass shards of conversation. She floated a little above him, forcing him to look up to her to try and make his point. She grinned sardonically at him, blue eyes flashing as she spoke each barb. "...At least I chased him for a good reason, instead of tracking across the world because he stole a few bits of bread!"

She glared at him through those dark blue eyes. Ryoga tried to summon up the angry responses he'd returned each blow with, but refused to come forth. Instead he heard the weary voice of defeat as he told her the real responses.

I was hungry... so, so hungry... don't you understand? That was my first meal in six days...

"YOU were the one who turned up four days late! How pathetic!"

That's what they all said... taunting me, all of them... some even saying I skipped out on purpose. I had to get away from them... that's why I chased him so long. I couldn't go back there, I was a joke. He tried to keep the words inside, but they spilled out like a waterfall. Nobody knew why he'd obsessively hunted down Ranma. Maybe it wasn't to prove to those other children that he wasn't a coward, but to prove to himself.

"At least I had the guts to admit I loved him instead of being a spineless jellyfish like you! I didn't turn into a stuttering wreck whenever I spoke to the guy of my dreams! You know what? The only reason my plans to get Ranchan for me and Akane for you never worked was because you were always too scared to admit you like her. And now they're too close to split up. It's YOUR fault!!"

It's my fault... all my fault... It hadn't worked. He was still coward, even after defeating Ranma.

"At least I can get a good man. A real man. But once your secret's out, you'll be all on your own again."

I've always been alone... I don't want to be alone... A bitter sob escaped him.

The ghost Ukyo giggled softly at him. "So lonely. But what else is there for a lost spirit like you?" A cold hand cupped his chin, forcing him to look at her again. "Even in the Realm of Lost Spirits, there's no lost spirit to keep you company. Poor, eternal lost boy. Alone, even in a crowd." Her expression dimmed a little and she looked even more like an angel. Ryoga waited for her to act even more demonic. She smiled a little. "You'll always be lonely if you keep pushing me away like that, dummy. Why can't you be nice like you were by the campfire?"

He hung his head in shame. I... I'm scared to... he finally admitted. I don't want to lose you too!

The white figure shimmered, fading. "Then don't push me away, bring me closer..." she whispered, before vanishing. And he found himself alone again.

Ryoga wasn't the only one with nightmares that night. Ukyo dreamed too of the events that evening. But Ryoga wasn't in his cursed form as he threw razor sharp daggers that cut deep into her soul, standing taller than her in a pale outfit that contradicted the darkness he was forcing her into.

"... And she's totally obsessive, she hunted down this guy for ten years because he dumped her when she was six..."

Ukyo tried to voice her denial when he cupped her chin gently and forced her to look into his dark green eyes. Weakly, she spoke the truth instead of the angry words she'd used earlier. They left me behind after they promised I could go... and stole my dowry... my honour was gone and so was my innocence...

"Pathetic is chasing the idiot for ten years, giving up being a girl because he humiliated you and then falling straight in love with him because he said you were cute!"

I couldn't be a girl any more... my dowry was gone and I couldn't get married... he was the first guy to see me as a girl and liked it... he said so... and if I could marry him, my honour would be restored... Ukyo bowed her head.

The ghost Ryoga frowned. "He's not going to, though. You saw how quickly he backed out of the engagement as soon as he had an excuse."

But I don't want to be alone... Ukyo sniffled and wiped her eyes.

The ghost Ryoga smiled at her. "Lonely in a realm full of lost spirits, little Ucchan? No wandering soul to keep you company?" Ukyo waited for him to stab her with the final dagger, to scream that he hated her, he never wanted to see her again and he was going to leave her here alone. A small tear rolled down her cheek. Ryoga leaned forward and gently brushed it away. "Why can't you be all cute like you were by the campfire?"

Ukyo flushed. I don't want to scare you away... I want you to stay with me, she whispered.

The pale figure flickered and dimmed. "If you truly want me to stay then tell me. Don't push me away..." he whispered, disappearing into the night.

Ukyo's eyes flickered open, taking in the darkness of the room and estimating the time to be early am. With a yawn, she stretched, realizing she'd fallen asleep at the ornate desk that stood next to the huge bed. She cast her eye over the boy sleeping there with a small and desolate smile. As if you'd want to stay after the things I said to you, she thought grimly. She reached a hand out to flick a wayward lock of hair from his forehead, then jumped back, startled as his eyes flew open. "S-sorry sugar, I didn't mean to wake you..." she apologized quickly.

"I was just waking up anyway," Ryoga said with a yawn. He thought back to the ghost Ukyo and the advice she'd given him.

"Ryoga, I..." Ukyo began, then stopped as he gently took hold of her hands, blushing a little.

"Ucchan, I know I said some nasty things to you earlier and I'm sorry," he said sincerely. Ukyo blinked in surprise and he quickly continued before she could cut in. "There's no way I could hate you and... and I'm sorry I called you ... you know..." he trailed off and looked at her in the darkness for a moment before he realized he was still holding her hands. "Um..."

They sat in total silence for a few minutes, neither wanting to be the first to speak.

"Ryoga, you won't leave me here alone, will you?" Ukyo asked suddenly, pleading him with her eyes.

"I said I'd stay here and I will," Ryoga promised. He looked down and sighed. "I guess that means I'd better turn back," he said ruefully, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. He looked around the room, noticing for the first time, the single bed. "Where were you sleeping?" he asked curiously.

"On the desk," Ukyo admitted. "And you don't have to wander off - I have cold water here."

"You sleep on the bed," Ryoga offered. "I'll be fine on the floor."

Ukyo remembered the ghost Ryoga's comment about being all cute at the campfire and the advice he'd given her. "Don't be silly," she chided, smiling a little. "Washu said you were getting a cold and I don't want you falling ill here."

"I'll be fine," Ryoga insisted. "Besides, where would you sleep?"

"We'd both be girls, right? We can share the bed," Ukyo teased. Ryoga froze. Totally. "It was a joke, you big dummy," she said with a laugh. "Ryoga? Ryoga? Snap out of it!" She smacked him lightly upside the head.

Ryoga blinked and jumped off the bed, picking up the glass of water. He paused before tipping it over his head. I was always too scared to tell Akane how I felt about her. Well, I won't be a coward anymore! The glass trembled and he glared at it. So maybe I'll still be a little bit of a coward... he admitted before turning to face Ukyo. "Hey, Ucchan?"

"Yeah?" She looked at him, a teasing smile still on her face.

She really is cute when she smiles... "You don't know any French, right?" he asked.

Ukyo frowned, puzzled by the question. "No, why?"

"Nothing. Je t'aime, Ucchan." Hoping Ukyo couldn't see him blush in the darkness, he poured the cold water over his head.

End Part XX Epilogue#2

Final song - We All Fall In Love Sometimes