Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½.

Author's Notes: This story just keeps evolving. I'm going to make this the best story I can and I thank you all for being patient with me. Also, I would like to thank all of you for reviewing. Thank you and let's get on with the show!

Chapter 8

Cat's Dreams, Duck's Follies

The wedding had been beautiful. Everyone that the couple knew was there and was cheering them on. The bride brought her lips up and kissed her groom, now husband, with passion and fervor. He returned the kiss with just as much warmth and love as she was giving to him. When she pulled her face back from his, her eyes were moist as she regarded the eyes before her.

"Darling husband…I have waited so long…" she told the suddenly awestruck young man in front of her. His eyes became warmer before finally coming into focus more. They were a deep blue that she could easily get lost in.

"Shampoo…" her husband, Ranma, began only to stop as his face twisted into a smile. "How could I love you when I have Kat?" the words tore through her like a blizzard of knives, shredding her heart and piercing her soul. The purple haired young woman stared at her beloved in shock even as the blonde whore slid her arms around his waist. She wanted to kill her. She wanted to tear her into such tiny pieces that not even her dentist could identify her. The Amazon howled in pain and rage as the crowd's cheers turned into jeers.

"Why? Why must you do this?" she begged as her heart broke. Ranma looked back to her after kissing Kat lingeringly. The pigtailed boy seemed to actually think about it before his smile turned evil.

"Maybe because she's not a bimbo like you or maybe it's because she's not a barbarian from a backwater village? Hah, maybe it's because she never tried to drug me or trick me into going home with her? You might have had a chance if you hadn't tried to kill me just for being better! So what if I was a girl at the time?" he was obviously warming up to his subject. The hits were coming too fast for Shampoo to argue and even worse they rang true. She fell to her knees, sobbing her heart out as she heard the scorn in his voice.

"Why would he want a barbarian princess when he's got me? I'll never treat him like he's inferior for being male." Kat said with a taunting lilt to her voice. Shampoo punched the ground so hard it cracked but could do no more. Suddenly her clothes turned to rags and her hair grew limp. As she knelt in squalor, her eyes fell upon Ranma and Kat, leaving the church arm in arm, with her wearing the dress that should have been hers. How did that happen? This was her wedding day! It was her day to shine! The day when she finally got Ranma…

Shampoo sat up suddenly in bed, tears streaming from her eyes, before fumbling with the light. She sat there with her face in her hands as the dream replayed mockingly in her head. It felt so real that she had trouble even now distinguishing it from reality. The words that dream Ranma spoke were true. She should know, she thought about her actions often enough that the recriminations were anything but false.

"How did I get into this mess?" she asked herself as she gathered the picture of her and Ranma on Toma's Island to her chest. He had given up a chance at a cure for Akane. For that violent tomboy! The Kitchen Destroyer hadn't even truly appreciated what she had and apparently neither had she. Now it was all falling apart because of one little girl who showed him something he badly needed. If she had been less blind she would have tried that herself but she knew what they said about hindsight being twenty-twenty. Kat showed him affection and genuine understanding. She was his friend first and had actually sacrificed her honor to give him a way out. Of course she knew about that! Nabiki made sure everyone did.

"That damn mercenary didn't need to look so smug." Shampoo grumbled as she remembered that conversation. She had shown up looking for her Airen yesterday when she saw Nabiki doing a rather brisk business on information. Now she would usually buy the information like anyone else but she didn't feel like it today. She only had eyes for her Airen who was sitting with a girl other than Akane. That was confusing in and of itself but then Taro attacked and cold water sprayed everywhere. The part-time cat managed to avoid the geyser but she didn't avoid seeing the girl turn into a wolf so huge it could eat her cat form in a gulp. The wolf wasted no time in running off the grounds with Ranma with Taro giving hot pursuit.

"Hey Shampoo, I can give you the juicy details for say…twenty-five hundred yen." Nabiki said as she sidled up to the Amazon. It startled the girl how stealthy the mercenary could be. She could give Ranma a run for his money, but then again she always does. For his money anyway. There was too much that she didn't know so she slapped the money in her palm and waited for Nabiki to count it before stashing it somewhere. The Amazon couldn't figure out where she put it for the life of her.

"Mercenary Girl tell Shampoo what she want now." Shampoo demanded. The girl with the pageboy cut simply chuckled softly before taking a more professional stance.

"Her name is Katrina Marx. She came to us from America by way of Jusenkyo. It turns out that Genma Saotome had made an agreement before the one with our family. She is the heir to her school and has a more legitimate claim than our family. Her cursed form is a wolf as you saw. She was challenged by Akane for the right to keep Ranma which my sister lost. Afterward, Kat let Ranma go to pursue his own happiness regardless of the cost to his honor." Nabiki told the elated girl.

"Akane not fiancée any longer and neither is Wolf Girl?" Shampoo couldn't help squealing happily. If that was the case her only rival was Ukyou; Kodachi didn't count. Before she could work herself into a frenzy the mercenary held her hand up to forestall her erroneous conclusion.

"Hold it. From what my agents found out this morning he agreed to marry her because of what she risked for him. I did give you some advice when you came back here. You asked how to get him and I said to appeal to his sense of honor. I said try being his friend. You didn't do that and now you're seeing how well it works. Too bad about that. Have a nice day Shampoo." The girl walked away with a confident step. Shampoo almost killed her right there but it was galling to admit that she had messed up. Her great grandmother had told her the same thing but she knew better.

"…Shampoo mess up big time." She muttered dejectedly before heading back home, the ramen she brought for Ranma long forgotten in her grasp.

The Amazon wept for what could have been but managed to cheer herself up with what was going to happen. Mousse would kill the girl that disgraced her in combat. Effectively he would remove himself from her hair forever. Maybe if things went well enough she might be able to finish off the girl with the weird eyes. She giggled at the idea; her eyes were a little crazed as she lay back down on her bed. Everything would work out fine and the only part of her dream that would come true would be the first part.

Cologne was also having a hard time sleeping. Perhaps it was because of the problems weighing on her or perhaps it was her unwanted houseguest. Sitting across from her was Happosai. The lecher was genuinely agitated about something and had taken solace in his pipe much like she was doing. It must be something important for him to have come to her but so far he wasn't talking. The Amazon Matriarch was also contemplating things. Their actions since they got here were deplorable. Just because she believed in the power of the Amazons didn't give her the right to be so reckless.

"The boy is stressed." Happosai said suddenly. The suddenness of the statement took her off guard but she quickly regained her composure. The old fool looked worried.

"We're all stressed." She countered only to have a pitying look leveled upon her. It didn't make her as angry as she expected. The look left her feeling wary. If it made him nervous then it might be more than he could handle.

"Does our stress result in dead gods and destroyed mountains?" he fired back with some asperity. The bald statement left her speechless. She had heard of what happened but it had happened there and not here. Distance always made things feel less real. When no real response was forthcoming Happosai continued.

"He was in girl form, surrounded by beautiful female bliss, but the look in her eyes was enough to make me ignore it. Your "Son-in-Law" looked as if he was about ready to go twelve rounds with the both of us. My heir was pissed in a spectacular fashion. They were at the hospital and watching over a girl lying there. Now she was beautiful too but that's not what caught my attention. It was the sheer anger Ranma had. I don't know the girl but she had those Hibiki fangs." He said. Cologne swallowed convulsively, the noise loud in the stillness. The old man looked to his former wife and sometime compatriot.

"Her name is Sora Hibiki. She's the heir to the Hibiki Style and was put in the hospital by her brother. He has since vanished as usual but I understand that the girl was walking Ranma to school after my great granddaughter tried to remove her obstacle the day before. I don't know if you heard…" she said to Happosai. When he shook his head she explained the whole situation to him. At the mention of Taro he groaned loudly.

"That was my fault. So if Taro hadn't shown up or Mousse and Kuno, then Shampoo wouldn't have been such a problem? Never mind my foolishness. It was a combination of all of it. Right?" he asked while waiting for the hit to come. When no blow occurred, he looked to the old crone. Cologne was staring at him in disbelief.

"What have we done? Children are involved and we've played with their lives like chess pieces. No, more like dolls. Did we even care if they broke? I can't believe this…how did we forget they were kids? I've treated them like warriors for so long that I failed to notice that Ranma isn't even shaving regularly yet!" she exclaimed in a horrified whisper. It was a lot to digest but it had to be done. The honor of the Amazons was to be upheld by the Matriarch in all things but she had failed to consider how it would affect the children. Shouldn't a good leader take all things into consideration?

"This is just one of those things. We can't think of everything or even try to understand everything. We can't fix the problems without acknowledging them of course, but we also can't beat ourselves up for mishandling the situation. Ranma's probably going to do that for us." He said ruefully.

"I better talk to Shampoo tomorrow. Not to mention I need to talk to Mousse. I can't have them both being loose cannons. This will be difficult enough to salvage without aggravating the problem." Cologne said even as she got up to finish packing. The Grandmaster of the Anything Goes Style watched her as he puffed at his pipe. He figured that if he was a little wiser he would be packing to leave as well, but he smiled as he realized that it wouldn't be nearly this much fun elsewhere. Who else would look after his silky darlings?

"Well, I'm going to let you get back to packing. I suggest taking a head count tonight though." Happosai told her even as he bounded out the window. The Matriarch stared at the place he just vacated with a sense of dread. Of course, Murphy's Law, if it can go wrong it will go wrong. The old woman rushed to her great granddaughter's room and was relieved to find her in her bed.

"What's wrong Great Grandmother?" Shampoo asked in Mandarin. Her grandmother just smiled at her and waved her back down. The young Amazon complied, feeling unusually comforted by the elder's smile.

"Just checking a few things dear. You go to sleep now since we have a big day tomorrow." The elder said. Shampoo nodded and lay back down before snuggling up to get comfortable. Cologne shut the door and paused. The only one unaccounted for now was Mousse and she was pretty sure he was still in his cage. Her granddaughter wouldn't have just let him out, but then again she didn't want to cause an international incident by not checking. She checked the rest of the Nekohanten with a heavy heart. It didn't take a genius to see that the duck had flown the coop and even worse was probably out stalking the one he blamed for all this. Cologne had no idea what kind of lead Mousse had on her but she had to hope for the best.

-Hospital: Ranma-

A lone redhead sat beside the bed of a girl who had been hurt trying to help her. It hurt so much that people just getting involved in her life could become casualties. She was a casualty of the anger that surrounded Ryoga. Sora Hibiki had apparently defeated Ryoga in a permanent way without killing him. She took away his right to practice their family art. The attempt left her here, weak and tired. The doctors knew of the Nerima Wrecking Crew and had let Ranma stay because of that. It would not have looked good on the hospital if someone had come and finished off their patient while she rested.

"Sora…" Ranma whispered as she held the girl's hand. She asked to be left alone when it became clear that everyone insisted on staying the night. It wasn't fair for them to lose sleep when this was her fault. If she had only been stronger or maybe if she hadn't left Sora alone. Her thoughts ran around in circles and she couldn't seem to find where they began or where they ended.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you. No way in hell. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere." The redhead whispered fiercely. The chaos surrounding her life had subsided after Jusendo. That was a time to rejoice. There was no new fiancées, no new rivals, and she wasn't even getting hit as much. It was pure bliss but apparently Chaos wasn't finished with its favorite punching bag. Kat came into her life. Now that was a good thing actually. Only problem with that was then Taro showed up. The next time she saw Taro he was going to be singing soprano and eating his meals through a straw. That bastard was as arrogant as ten Saffrons and more vicious.

She looked upon Sora again with sad eyes. The young warrior was so strong that it was hard to believe she was here. Then again, it was that same strength that kept her alive. Ranma took a look around almost as if she was waiting for a bomb to drop before looking back to Sora. Hesitantly, the neo-girl reached out and gave her friend a hug while being mindful of the tubes.

"I hope you still want to be my friend. I sure as hell want to be yours." The girl whispered in her friend's ear before feeling a pair of arms come up and circle her back. Ranma looked down in surprise only to smile happily at the sight. Sora was awake and was smiling as well. Her eyes were a little misty.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily. We're still gonna be friends no matter what." Her voice was a little strained from disuse. Ranma pulled back, stroking her friend's hair back from her forehead. The Hibiki girl rolled her eyes as she realized she was in a hospital, but it was clear that she had been expecting something else.

"Want me to get ya a drink?" Ranma offered. The girl on the bed cleared her throat a few times before nodding. The neo-girl nodded "I'll be back in a bit." She said over her shoulder as she left the room. It was with a much lighter step that she went down the hall. When she reached the nurse's station she told the girl on duty that Sora Hibiki was awake. The girl gave her a smile and thanked her before calling up the doctor.

"Well, I guess I was wrong…" the redhead said as she got a soda from the vending machine. It was good to know that not every situation could go wrong. "Just most of them." She mused with a small smile. As she got closer to the room, she thought she heard noises from inside. Without hesitation she rushed into the room and skidded to a halt in horror. There was Mousse standing over Sora's bed with a pillow over her face.

-Hospital: Sora-

After the door shut, Sora let out a small sigh of relief. She was sure that she was a goner when the Shi Shi Hokodan was released. Hell, it was expected. The battle had taken its toll on her and she hadn't expected to survive. Judging by Ranma's reaction that was the general consensus.

"Ryoga…I wonder what you're doing right now little brother." She mused to herself as she got comfortable on the hard bed. Hospitals were her least favorite place to be. The needles, the sterile smell, and the even more sterile people. She was going to demand that they let her out tomorrow. This was cruel and unusual punishment for someone who is used to seeing the sky. A sound from near the window drew her attention. When a man in white robes crept in she was sure that the weirdness index had gone up twenty points.

"Who are you?" she managed to get out in a whisper. The longhaired man looked in her direction; his glasses were so thick that she couldn't make out the eyes behind them. He padded over to her bed with the skill of a hunting cat. Not once did he say anything or show his acknowledgement of her question. The silence was making her nervous. She went to hit the call button but a thrown dagger severed the cable deftly.

"Sora Hibiki…you have harmed my beloved Shampoo. I can't even begin to describe how angry I am or even how much I'm going to enjoy this." He said with a sneer. Sora went to bring her arms up at least to defend herself but she was too tired, nothing was working. His smile turned even more vicious as he backhanded her across the face. Stunned tears filled her eyes as she looked up at him. He seemed to be enjoying this. Without saying another word he took her pillow before cracking her across the mouth again.

"Don't do it. You won't make it out of here." Sora warned. The crazed young man degenerated into a fit of giggles at her brave front. He knew she was bluffing. There was no one around to save her. It was too perfect. He would have his revenge and be out the window before anyone was the wiser. With that, he pressed the pillow onto her face. She clutched at his hands but there was no strength or leverage for a good grip. He would have gotten away with it too but just then another player in the game showed up and all Mousse knew was pain.

-Hospital: Sora's Room-

Ranma stared in stunned disbelief at the tableau. There was Mousse with a pillow of Sora's face. It was incomprehensible to the neo-girl. Sure he threatened to kill people before but he never actually did it. It was a horrific sight. Sora's hands clutched with waning strength at Mousse's wrists but he bore down inexorably. The scene before her made her mind snap. It was like the Neko-ken only she could still see. The whole room took on a bloody hue before she exploded forward, warping the very air around her with the speed of her assault.

Mousse seemed to sense the oncoming charge and turned to stare in amazement at Ranma. The neo-girl looked as if she was ready to kill and had brought her fist back, the one holding the soda, for one helluva haymaker. The blind boy tried to bring his arms up to defend, but Sora still held his wrists! Her strength had become something of nightmares as he took the fist across the jaw, blood flying from his mouth. The can of soda exploded, spraying the room in soda but it wasn't cold. Mousse tried to figure out why he was still human when he felt the heat from the Saotome girl's burning aura.

"S-Sao-Saotome…" he stuttered weakly, his tongue was shredded by his teeth and his gums were split. The first hit was not the last as the left hand came around and uppercutted him in the gut, picking him up and throwing him violently into the wall. The sound of bones snapping was clearly heard even over Ranma's audible growling. Mousse could tell even without checking that his ribs were shattered. His eyes turned blearily over to Saotome only to see her red aura flickering over the ceiling. It was clear to the boy that he was as good as dead if no one came.

"Mousse…" her voice came out as a guttural noise of purest viciousness. Ki claws sprang into existence on her fingertips, blood red just like the color of her aura. Her eyes were the worst, pure blue orbs without any mercy in their depths. He tried to stand only to realize as soon as he stood that he couldn't feel his legs. There had been a sharp pain and then nothing. The myopic boy didn't even realize he had fallen back to the ground. Blood was everywhere, it ran down his legs where Ranma severed the tendons and nerves with an unseen strike, it ran down from the wall where he had crashed into it, and it ran from his mouth from the initial blow. It was to this that Cologne walked in to see.

The Matriarch assessed the situation in a thrice. She saw Sora sitting up in bed with a look of awe and horror on her face; fresh bruises were on her face. Mousse was slumped against the wall trying his best not to disgrace himself by crying out in terror. Her stomach turned at the sheer amount of devastation wrought upon him. When her eyes turned to see Ranma, the girl was in her face and slashing with Neko-ken claws! If she had been any slower she would have been sliced like salami!

"Ranma, stop this! I'm not here to fight!" she tried to reason with the berserker but there seemed to be no getting through. What was worse was that it wasn't a true berserk. She could see the calculating gaze and felt the cursed boy's mind behind those eyes. It did nothing for her calm that she was not listening to reason. Not because she couldn't but because she simply didn't want to! A back kick tore through her defenses and almost ripped her in half from the force. If this was what Saffron faced then she prayed for the godling to never have to meet this fury again.

"R-Ranma…stop…no more please! I'm begging you!" Sora cried out, tears streaming down her face. Just before the claws came down, she stopped. Her eyes seemed to clear a little as she realized how far she let herself go. She was a hairsbreadth from killing the Matriarch. Her hands dropped as she surveyed the damage. The walls were covered in blood and cracks. The ceiling was damaged due to aura burn and the floors were clawed apart. She couldn't handle the damage she saw and ran back to Sora's bed, bawling her eyes out.

Sora weakly enfolded the redhead in a hug and rocked her gently. Her eyes met Cologne's in perfect understanding. Finally security came in to survey the damage. Ranma almost tore into them for being late but Sora's soft crooning kept her sedated, somewhat. The standard operating procedure for non-martial artists was to wait for the battle to be done before entering. It wouldn't be safe otherwise. Her doctor came in and took charge. He ordered up a stretched for Mousse, who had fainted from pain and blood loss. The only one who noticed when the elder had left was Sora.

"I'm sorry Miss, we'll move you to another room immediately." The doctor tried to say but was cut off by an angry redhead.

"She's comin' home with me. Right now, not tomorrow or in the morning. She's comin' NOW!" Ranma growled. "No protection! Do you let just anyone waltz into yer hospital ya stupid jerk!" she would have gone further but Sora suggested she go clean her face. The neo-girl almost barked at her before realizing who had made the suggestion. The sullen redhead went into the bathroom to do as she was told while Sora looked to the doctor.

"I'm going with Ranma. He wouldn't be satisfied with anything less so don't even argue. I can rest easier there anyway without having to worry about security problems." She told the apologetic doctor. He was actually glad that she would be going. If this got out to the other patients there would be hell to pay. Not to mention lawsuits to pay. When Ranma came back, calmer and male, it was to find Sora dressed and ready to go. He scooped her up and took off out the window without waiting for approval.

"I hope that no one screws with that kid…They wouldn't be able to handle what they unleashed." The doctor said in the quiet room. His eyes fell upon the pooled blood on the floor.

-Saotome Home-

The wa of the home was subtly off Nodoka thought to herself as she checked the doors and windows again. As she passed by the back door she opened it before Ranma even touched down. He passed his mother, carrying a sleeping Sora in his arms, before realizing she was there.

"Son, I thought she was supposed to stay in the hospital." Nodoka said to her son. The youth settled his burden against his chest a little more securely before looking at her. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked like hell.

"Mousse took a run at her. I didn't want any of the other loonies makin' a play for her." He said in his gruffest tone. The one he uses when he's trying to hide something. The mother in her wanted to know what was hurting her baby. She gave him a one-armed hug since he was still holding Sora, before showing him where to take her. One of the old storage rooms had been cleaned out by her and Kat earlier to give Sora a more permanent bedroom. Since the Hibiki girl was likely to be staying for a while longer.

"Don't worry dear; nothing will happen to her while she's under this roof. We'll all see to that." She told her son. Ranma laid her down gently on the futon while his mother covered her with the blanket. The young man looked upon her sleeping face before a sense of dread passed over him. Without even looking at his mother he took off from the room and ran into Kat's room.

Nodoka rushed to follow him, but then decided to just let it go. He was acting much like his father when he was first born. Genma had to make sure everyone was safe and sound before he would go to bed. Where did her husband go wrong? The Saotome matriarch decided to just go to bed. She would talk with her son in the morning. As she passed Kat's door she heard her son talking to his fiancée and smiled.

-Kat's Room-

Kat sat in bed reading a book she had brought from home. The story was familiar to her since it was a favorite, but she couldn't bring herself to read it. Her eyes kept straying from the pages to look at the clock. She heard a commotion but nothing that sounded life threatening. As she was about to get out of bed, Ranma came into her room without knocking, searching frantically for something.

"Ranma, what's wrong?" she asked in concern. He finally seemed to see her and relaxed visibly. The pigtailed boy pushed the door shut with his foot before walking over to her bed. He sat down uninvited but that wasn't what drew her attention. Ranma was visibly shaking. The Marx girl put her arms around his waist from behind.

"Thank the kami you're okay…I don't think I coulda handled it if someone hurt ya too…" his voice was soft and raw with emotion. Kat squeezed him a little tighter and urged him to tell her what was going on. He was silent for a time and she thought that he wasn't going to answer. Just as she was about to ask again he spoke up and told her what happened. Her eyes widened to saucers as he told the tale of what Mousse had tried to do and what he had almost done.

"It's not your fault that someone tried to hurt her. You stopped him and that's all that matters. Don't blame yourself. He made his choice." She told him with an uncharacteristic heat to her voice. Ranma turned in her arms to stare at her in astonishment.

"I may have crippled him and there's nothing wrong with that?" he asked incredulously. She shook her head before resting it against his chest. Automatically he put his arms around her in response.

"I didn't say that. If you didn't feel remorse I'd be disappointed in you, but he made his decision. Every action has consequences and now he's reaping his rewards. Mousse would have killed Sora if you hadn't stopped him. Focus on that." She pleaded. Ranma still didn't look totally convinced.

"Would I kiss you if I thought you didn't do everything you could?" she asked him. When Ranma went to make a retort she sealed her lips with his. The whole dam of emotions that had built up suddenly burst free as Ranma let himself go. Kat was a little surprised when he pushed her onto the bed but there was something about it that just spoke to her. Neither one of them were fully in control as the wolf in her wrestled with the wild cat in him. The two of them wouldn't even fully realize their actions until the morning after.

End Chapter

Author's Notes: I'm so full of ideas. I hope you all appreciate the quicker update! Thank you one and all for reading this little story. Always remember to read and review. Ja ne!