Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

Author's Note (just a wee one)
This is another chapter I dont feel quite comfortable with, but I'm not entirely sure why.
Well in this chapter we get a startling look into Lotion's soul, her hatred and frustration, her inner self perhaps, and some of her hidden feelings for Ryoga (they aren't romantic feelings, dont worry) this isnt going to be a regular thing, and who knows, maybe you'll find you've got something in common with her somewhat warped outlook on life (please don't kill anyone) however, as funny as her conversation with Ryoga was meant to be I realized it also comes off rather serious, even a little depressing. But it was supposed to be funny! I'm not sure what went wrong, but enjoy it!

Charlotte's Sequel
Chapter III
A Darker Side . . .

Yoshimi raised an eyebrow. "Challenge?"
"He's gotten a lot worse, hasn't he?" Nabiki frowned.
"Ranma, what about the thirty minutes?" Kasumi sighed.
"Some things are more important Kasumi!" Ranma cried.
"I am sorry. Harume style is rather different from normal Martial Arts Bookkeeping, it is much more intense, and much more powerful. You lack the natural ability to learn the skill." Yoshimi said. She turned to Nabiki. "You, on the other hand, glow with the aura of the greatest of mistresses, if you train hard you could be the greatest, second only to my incredible self." Yoshimi said.
"Martial arts, aren't my thing." Nabiki said simply.
"But Nabiki, have you never had a moment when you wished you could defend yourself?" Yoshimi blinked.
"I taught her basic defense." Soun said simply.
"But she didn't really pay attention." Akane pointed out.
"Anyway, if you can defend yourself, why did you need Ryoga?" Nabiki asked.
"Because at the time I was inferior to my cousin, however seeing Ryoga's prowess at that age inspired me, and I strove to fight harder, and now I am the best. You could be the second."
Nabiki lowered her gaze. While it was true martial arts didn't interest her a great deal, if this form of bookkeeping was what the Harume family owed their incredible wealth to it might be beneficial to learn it.
"What's the catch?" Nabiki asked.
"Simple," Yoshimi said, "I can assign an excellent tutor to train you when you go off to college, and you will become a skilled martial arts bookkeeper. In return, you simply allow me to be Ryoga's wife."
"Not gonna happen." Nabiki said, a little disappointed.
"Now, now, I promise that he and I will try to seek out some far away land where having multiple spouses is still considered morally acceptable." Yoshimi said so innocently it almost sounded reasonable..
"I love Ryoga, and I will not let anyone else have him, no matter what!" Nabiki said with determination. "If you've got a truck load of money, you can borrow him, but that's my finest offer!"
"She's probably got enough money to 'borrow' him for the rest of your life. But what if he decides he doesn't want to marry you anymore?" Ranma asked.
"Then the assassin has a target!" Nabiki said coldly.
"Where is Lotion anyway?" Kasumi frowned.

Ryoga hadn't found a sink yet, instead he found himself outside the doors of the dojo. "Well . . . at lest I haven't left town." He decided. He opened the doors and stepped inside. The lights were off, which wasn't unusual at all since no one was inside. He walked in and looked around for a switch, he heard a strange sound, and was on his guard.
He moved along the wall, and found the switch, he flipped it and looked around, expecting to find some of those thrice cursed black ninjas sneaking around ready to kidnap him and take him to Azusa. It was too much, Yoshimi, Azusa and ninjas! This time there would be some fatalities, he swore!
But there were no ninjas . . .
Instead he saw Lotion holding two long cruel looking knives underhanded, one had a lightning bolt sort of blade, the other curved like a miniature scimitar, with lots of triangular cuts or groves in the blade. She actually managed to look pretty scary, as if she'd been about to pounce on him. "What're you doing in the dark?" He asked.
She was silent for a moment, then she said softly, "I did not wish for anyone to know I was here."
"Ah. I understand." Ryoga lied. He looked at her, she hadn't changed much since last he'd seen her, which had been a few months ago, when he'd agreed to help her assassinate a tree she had some sort of grudge against.
"What're you doing in here?"
"Preparing myself mentally." Lotion sighed.
"For what?" Ryoga asked.
"You would be happier not knowing."
"Assassin stuff?" Ryoga frowned.
"Yes, exactly that." The Chinese girl nodded. "I wanted to do something cool, like stand in a running river, or meditate under a water fall . . . but since I've met you people, those privileges are lost to me. I never really realized what privileges they were . . ."
Ryoga shrugged. Many people who got to know Ranma ended up taking a trip to China, and the training grounds of the accursed springs. Hand Lotion had made that trip and was now forever cursed. While Ranma's curse was mild in comparison to those of his friends (he merely stwitched his gender, he maintained his ability to speak, and use his opposable thumbs) Hand Lotion, like Ryoga, was cursed to transform into an animal when she got splashed with cold water, her alter-ego was a llama, nothing so cute as a little black piglet, Ryoga's alter-ego. "Why are you hiding in here? Aren't you hungry?" He asked.
"No, not really." Lotion shrugged. "And I do not suppose I will become hungry either. It would ruin my state of mind, besides grandpa–er Master Soun said I had to fix something before I was allowed to eat, but I cannot remember what it was . . . did you slaughter the moose?"
"No, some people came to take it away." Ryoga shrugged. She looked up at him, and he saw some sort of despair in her eyes. Not something he'd expect from an assassin so detached from the world around her that only Shampoo and Cologne could bring her down. "Are you okay?"
"I am fine." She said simply.
"Are you sure?"
"Do you doubt my honesty?"
"I don't really trust murderers . . ." Ryoga said it before really thinking about it.
"I am not a murderer!" Lotion shrieked.
"You kill people for a living, you get paid to end the lives of others, assassin, murderer, when you get down to it, there's no difference." Ryoga said crossly.
"Stop it! STOP IT!" Lotion cried, holding her hands over her ears and stomping her foot. She then recovered her composure, and waved the knife in her right hand at him, "Do not mock what you do not understand, you could never know what I have been through, the things I have done, do not judge me!"
"Uh . . . okay . . ." Ryoga raised an eyebrow.
Lotion snapped her fingers repeatedly, as if trying to remember what to do or say next. It was quite an achievement considering she was still holding her daggers. "Do you want to know why I am an assassin?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, as if trying to make idle conversation while she struggled to remember her actual purpose.
"No." Ryoga said sternly. He liked Lotion as much as he could, knowing that she had probably killed innocent people in the past, she had never confirmed nor denied whether or not the people she killed were bad. Now she was going to kill someone else who probably didn't deserve to die, he didn't want to know why she enjoyed doing it.
Besides, idle conversation with this girl could go on for hours.
"You know, we are not so very different."
"And how's that?" Ryoga raised an eyebrow.
"All my life people have treated me badly, I still do not know why. There is something about me that inspires hatred, my chest is shamefully flat for an amazon, I speak far too much, the things I say are foolish and no one cares because my words are meaningless dribble, Elder Cologne usually says something along those lines."
'You never did take the hint, huh?' Ryoga thought. 'I mean you do talk about nonsense an awful lot.'
"Have you ever heard the saying 'the grass is greener on the other side'?"
"Sure." Ryoga shrugged.
"Well sometimes I look at my reflection and I cannot see what's so wrong with the girl I am looking at! She does not look as if anything is wrong with her, sometimes she even looks happy, so I think maybe on the other side of that mirror, there is a place where people would like me, a place where I would be happy, a place just for me, people just for me to love, who'd love me back, but when I reach out for that place, to try to go there, to reach forhappiness my hand hits the glass, or sometimes the water. There is no grass on the other side, there is no other side, there is only this side, it is childish to think that there might be a place where people *wont* enjoy hurting me, and so I will never be happy. I believe this is called the 'human condition' or something.
"Every day I wake and I think that yesterday must have been a bad dream. But it never is. It really happened, everything is really happening, there's no way to change it, no way to go back, nothing I can do to stop it, nothing at all! I woke up one day and I realized that I had been cursed. In my quest to become as good as Shampoo, I was cursed, never again would I feel cold water on my bare skin, it is something I wish I had appreciated when it was still in my power to do. Because of my hatred, and my jealousy, I am a freak! You are the same, because of your hatred you too are cursed! I laughed at Shampoo, I pointed my finger and laughed when she turned into a cat. Now I turn into a llama! A llama, I hate llamas! If I had become a cat, maybe I could have disguised myself, and tricked someone into loving me as their pet.
"Sometimes I wish," she continued, looking into his eyes, her despair had become sorrow now, and her voice trembled, "I could be the sort of person people would like, or that someone could look at me, find out what is wrong and fix it. But it is not like that, life is harder than that, you know? And when I find a place that seems green, when I find people I can love, who maybe, some day might love me too, suddenly, in one form or another, the glass appears, in the real world even! My hand hits the glass when there shouldn't be any glass, I am back at square one, which is unhappiness and I leave a failed attempt at happiness behind, and it becomes harder every time! I do not know what is real any longer, I am like a mime, I am in a glass box, when I reach for something good I am stopped, and people laugh, or are disgusted with me. In the end, my life is just one twisted, bitter writer's unfunny joke."
"Everyone has problems, Lotion. Nobody is always happy, most people are just like you, never happy, don't assume that you and I are the same in any way, shape, or form." Ryoga tried not to scowl. For some reason her words angered him. "Feeling sorry for yourself won't solve anything, because in the end it's you who chooses to run from this proverbial glass wall. I like you Lotion, but you are the last person in the universe who deserves my, or anyone's pity, have you ever pitied the people you killed? Did you ever go to their families and say 'I did this for this reason, I'm sorry and here's a fruit cake'? Perhaps your line of work is the glass." Ryoga said. "You kill people, are you expecting me to approve of it, and comfort you? Tell you that it's okay, and I understand because you're unhappy?"
"No! Never!" She cried. "I would be even more unhappy if you ever approved of my actions."
That set him back a couple paces. "What?"
"If you ever, ever approved of this, of me, the explanation could only be that I had corrupted you, changed you from the wonderful person you are, into someone more like myself, someone who by all rights does not deserve to live, and I would have to kill you. I do not wish to do that." Lotion said simply. "I tell you these things because I know you feel the same, I assumed nothing. I *know* and maybe you do not see it . . . but I can see it all too clearly. But I can see by your expression that I am speaking unimportant, mindless dribble again. There is no point in preaching to the deaf, I will leave."
"Where will you go?" Ryoga asked.
"That is unimportant." Lotion said. "It need not concern you at all."
Ryoga raised an eyebrow. "You were upset a moment ago, now you're all business, what's going on?"
"Nothing!" Lotion hissed. She turned towards the door. "Take care of yourself."
"Where are you going?" Ryoga said more firmly.
"Somewhere." She shot back, Ryoga was starting to feel like a father trying to keep his daughter from meeting some boy in secret.
"Are you coming back?" He asked.
"Perhaps . . . expect me when you see me. Do you wish to come with me?" She asked, she sounded almost hopeful.
"I don't know. I just got back from a long trip." Ryoga said, scratching his head. "Where are you going?"
"I did not answer you before, what makes you think you can get an answer from me now? Never mind." She walked over to him, "This is for you," she said, handing him an envelope, "only you, you understand? No one else may see it, not Ranma, not Akane, not even Nabiki. I am very serious." She said.
"Why are you giving me this?" He blinked.
She lowered her gaze and said "Because . . . I think that if circumstances were different, we might have been friends."
"Well . . . for what it's worth, I thought we already were." Ryoga said.
"No. No we are not. It is simply not possible, friendship is something that I simply cannot achieve, I think it is best if I do not try."
Ryoga looked at her envelope, "What is this?" He asked.
"Something just for you to see." She said simply, and then she left without another word.
Ryoga shook his head. He thought about what she'd said, he realized for a while–a long while–he *had* been a lot like her, downing in self pity over his curse, lusting after a friendship with Akane, but not fully content with the one she was offering him. But Lotion was different somehow, he wondered if maybe he should have let her tell him why she'd become an assassin . . . then he realized that he simply didn't need to know.
He did not care, not one iota. She'd taken that step, become a killer of the innocent, it was unforgivable, what the blazes made her think that just because her life was so miserable, she had the right to end the lives of others? Nothing *ever* gave her that right.
'And what did you want to do to Ranma, when you were cursed?' Ryoga asked himself. He smiled wryly.
He looked at the envelope she'd given him, he wondered if he really wanted to know what was inside.
'No, there's no need.' He decided. But he did think, sometimes, like when he'd been cursed to become P-Chan, he *had* wished it were just a bad dream, that tomorrow it would be false.
Would he ever take that unforgivable step himself? Would he . . . could he kill someone who didn't deserve to die . . . did anyone deserve to die? 'Oh sure . . . there are some cases . . . ah what am I saying?'
He shuddered to think that perhaps he was a little more like Lotion than he felt realized or comfortable with.

Nabiki was headed for her room when Yoshimi stopped her. "What is it?" Nabiki asked.
"The boy you like, what is his name?" Yoshimi asked.
"Huh? I like Ryoga." Nabiki said a little impatiently.
"The other one, the one you believe would be a good husband for me?" Yoshimi almost squeaked the word 'husband'.
"Oh, Tatewaki Kuno, he lives at the Kuno Estate," Nabiki then proceeded to give Yoshimi the address, phone number, and detailed directions. "Go, meet him, you'll fall in love!"
"We will see." Yoshimi said.
Nabiki shrugged and decided to find Ryoga to tell him the good news. As if setting Akari on Kinnosuke hadn't been enough, now she might well have set Yoshimi after Kuno! This was too good to be true, her rival in being stingy, and her most loathed of 'friends' would be distracting her two rivals in 'love', nothing could stand in her way! Sure Ryoga might have problems finding a new girl once she left him, but really that was his problem.
"One thing," Yoshimi added before she left, "have you decided what college you plan to go to?"
"I'm not going to go to a college." Nabiki said simply.
"Why is that?" Yoshimi blinked.
"I'd just rather be with Ryoga. You know, get married and stuff." Nabiki shrugged. "While we were traveling, I realized that he's the most important person in my life."
"Would he not wait for you to finish your classes?" Yoshimi asked.
"Maybe. But who knows? He might run off any marry some billionaire's daughter while I'm away. Besides, he needs me." Nabiki wasn't completely convinced of that, but it was easy enough to say.
"It's a shame." Yoshimi said. "You were accepted, weren't you?"
"What?"
"To Marvard, and High Tech, and the others." Yoshimi said. "So very much work was put into your applications, you know."
"Are you the reason I was accepted to so many colleges?" Nabiki growled.
"Oh, so you were accepted!" Yoshimi clapped her hands. "And you're rejecting them?"
"I've never heard of Marvard." Nabiki said. "And why are you submitting my name to colleges in different countries?"
"Oh it wasn't me, it was my father and future mother-in-law. They paid your own father, teachers, and friends to help them with your applications."
"I should have known." Nabiki growled.
"Well, I must go." Yoshimi smiled. Nabiki nodded, feeling very hopeful, and hateful at the same time. If it was the last thing she ever did, she'd make Kotaro Harume, and whatever her first name was Hibiki pay!

"Is this the residence of Tatewaki Kuno? May I please see him?"
Kodachi Kuno looked the young woman over and shook her head. "Brother dear, your latest hooker has arrived.
Will you come to meet her, or shall I send her directly to the torture chamber?"
"What are you talking about? Bah! I will be there in a moment!"
"Oh, he's just cleaning the candle wax off the table he used last time." Kodachi chuckled.
"I beg your pardon?" The girl blinked.
Kodachi however was shoved aside when her brother, seeing a hot young piece of flesh with no visible boyfriend around, decided to throw on the Kuno family charm.
"What can I do for a fair maiden such as yourself?" Tatewaki asked.
"Are you Tatewaki Kuno?" The girl asked.
"Why . . . yes, yes I am. I see my reputation has proceeded me. I'm afraid I can not give you an autograph, I am not the sort who takes head shots." Tatewaki said, patting his chest as if to show he had no pictures.
"Some times, brother dear, I think I would like to take a head shot at you." Kodachi mumbled.
"You mean, "of" me, dear sister." Tatewaki chuckled as if he were correcting a small child.
"I meant what I said." Kodachi said sweetly, resisting the urge to reach for her throwing club. "And who might you be, young street hooker? From the 'Chaste' School Girls stable, are you?"
"Actually, my name is Yoshimi Harume, daughter of Kotaro Harume." Yoshimi said with a smile. Kodachi changed her tone to one of respect. Harume was one of the few families even wealthier than the Kuno family! "Wh-why do you seek my brother?" Kodachi asked. 'A wedding! A merger of our clans, the fortune to be unleashed upon the world would be monumental!'
"Well . . ." Yoshimi said "I have come on behalf of a friend, who is desperately in love with him, who will ruin her life, wedding another man if your brother continues to ignore her affections."
Tatewaki gasped. "Another woman? Engaged to another man? Why . . . you must be speaking of Akane Tendo!" Tatewaki cried.
"No." Yoshimi said. "No, I speak of her sister . . . Nabiki Tendo."
"Nabiki Tendo? But I hate Nabiki Tendo! And she hates me, we've an uncomplicated relationship, and it works." Tatewaki said.
"Has she ever said that she hates you?"
"Hmm . . ."
FLASHBACKS OF EVENTS
Nabiki Says: You're so pathetic Kuno-Baby!
Kuno Hears: You're so amazing Kuno-Chan!
Nabiki Says: (Whacks Kuno on the head) See? You didn't feel any pain, because you haven't got a brain.
Kuno Hears: (Runs her fingers through his hair) Mmm . . . this is great conditioner!
Nabiki Says: Are you going to lay there looking all beat up, or are you going to get up, and kick Ranma's butt? No one bet on you, I'm out a lot of money if you lose!
Kuno Hears: Oh Kuno-Chan, are you okay? Lets go home and you can sleep it off . . . with me.
Nabiki Says: If that lonely brain cell of yours ever finds it's way out of your testicles, and you start *thinking* for a change, maybe Akane would be attracted to you.
Kuno Hears: . . . TAKE ME NOW! Ravish my warm, virgin flesh! Ravish me Kuno-Chan! Ravish me all night long, let our love be that of legends!
END FLASHES
Tatewaki Kuno scratched his chin. "Self esteem boosting illusions aside . . . I do not believe she has ever used the word 'hate'!" He realized.
"Because Tatewaki, if I may call you that, she does not hate you, she loves you. She has sought affection from any possible source, because she receives none from you, from our conversation I can more or less figure out how she and my Ryoga got together. Obviously she was attempting suicide in your name, when he stopped her she became attached to him, and Ryoga, not wanting to hurt her, cannot send her away, for fear that she might try to harm herself again."
"Nabiki Tendo attempted suicide? Over me?" Kuno gasped.
"I believe it. Just knowing you, brother dear, is enough to drive better men and women to take their own lives." Kodachi scoffed.
"She loves you, as deeply as I love Ryoga. But I can tell, your hiring of hookers, and chasing after her little sister while you have her right under your nose, makes her feel unattractive, in fact she said to me that she believes you find her too plain for marriage." Yoshimi said.
"I have never hired a hooker!" Kuno cried. It was true, he never had hired one . . . on purpose. But he considered his other romantic pursuits. His relationship with Akane Tendo and the Pigtailed Girl . . . his interest in the dog swinging siren (that's Azusa, she hit him with a dog) . . . never had he attempted to court Nabiki . . . And always she'd supported him, if somewhat reluctantly, selling him pictures of her sister training, and of the pigtailed girl sleeping, pictures that perhaps . . . were her way of saying 'I love you'. Maybe, proud Nabiki Tendo could not bring herself to admit that she had feelings, and instead displayed them by supporting him, even if his pursuit of her sister pained her . . . "How could I have been such a fool?" He shook his head. "How could I not see Nabiki Tendo's love for what it truly is . . . ?"
"Deception intended to win our family's fortune?" Kodachi raised an eyebrow.
"Are you still here?" Kuno shouted at his sister
"I live here." Kodachi said.
"Be gone, I have much to think of, and I do not need you clouding my judgement with anger!"
"If you're willing to stop being a sexist, male chauvinistic pig, I believe I have a way for you to make things work with Nabiki before it is too late." Yoshimi noted.
Kuno wasn't sure if he was willing to give up Akane and the Tree Born Kettle Girl, or even the illusive cute-thing naming Dog Swinging Siren, still even if it meant only adding another possible bride to his harem he needed to let Nabiki Tendo know that he respected her good taste in men.
Now he could see their long, and expensive friendship in a new light, she'd always loved him, he'd been to callous to notice. She'd been playing hard to get perhaps, and he'd been too careless to see it. He cursed himself! Cursed his very bones! "I will do anything it takes to hold Nabiki Tendo in my arms! I will buy one hundred thousand roses, if such a number of them exists, and I shall take them all to the Tendo home–if I can carry them–and I will date with her, a date to end all dates, a date that will make up for the suicide-causing torment I have put her through before!" Kuno cried.
"I have something . . . a little different in mind." Yoshimi said. Slyly the young woman went over her plan, Kuno listened intently, Yoshimi presented it in a manner that even he could understand and easily commit to memory.
Tatewaki bowed before Yoshimi Harume. "My savior, my goddess, I am in your debt!"
"You seem to forget that you and Nabiki Tendo, despite your freakish friendship truly do hate one another." Kodachi noted.
"Silence!" Kuno hissed.
"Oh now, now, I am no goddess." Yoshimi Harume said, blushing.
"But you are . . . my soul itself may have been saved by your brave actions this night, I am eternally in your debt."
"If that is the case, the best way to make it up to me," Yoshimi said, "is to follow my plan, and reignite the fires of Nabiki Tendo's love for you. Make her yours, whatever it takes."
"I shall, Yoshimi Harume, most honored friend, I shall." Kuno said, those old fires of his special brand of determination (the sort that never seems to die) burning in his eyes.

Ryoga yawned and sat down to breakfast across from Akane and Ranma. Everyone else was asleep, and there was no sign of Yoshimi, though Kasumi had offered to let her stay with "cousin Ranko" and her "magical pet panda" in the guest room, the billionaire's daughter had decided that an extravagant hotel would be preferable.
That, and her spies probably knew that Ranko and the panda were really Ranma and Genma.
Ryoga wondered if Yoshimi knew about his curse. 'Maybe I can dissuade her from caring for me if I showed her I'm cursed. No . . . she probably knows, someone probably told her.' He decided.
"Yo Ryoga, you wanna maybe have that duel today?" Ranma asked.
"Sure." Ryoga shrugged.
"After breakfast." Kasumi insisted.
"Natch." Ranma shrugged.
Ryoga looked at his plate, strangely he didn't feel too hungry.
"Well look who came back." Cologne said from behind him. "That's good. I'm sure son-in-law wont need your help, but it's good that you're here to provide it."
"Yeah," Ryoga shrugged, "I can tell, that wall is going to be a pain in the–"
"I was not talking about the wall, though I agree you two will have a difficult time with it." Colonge said. "I am talking about the situation described in my letter."
Ryoga raised an eyebrow. "Letter?"
"We don't read Chinese." Ranma noted.
Cologne blinked. "Son-in-law, are you so blind? I wrote in Chinese *and* Japanese so you could understand it as well." She said reproachfully.
"You did?" Kasumi frowned. "We did not think to check it, Mousse said it was for Lotion, we didn't want to pry."
"You did not read it?" Cologne blinked twice this time. "I can depend on you for nothing it seems." She sighed at Ryoga.
"Me? I thought you didn't even know I was back!" Ryoga protested.
"Surely it is your presence that distracted son-in-law from reading my letter."
"Mousse said it was for Lotion, we guessed it was another taunt from you." Akane said.
"Why do we care about some crap lousy letter? So some amazon in 'the old country' needs Lotion to ice some dude, who cares?" Ranma scoffed. "Let her go off and do her job, I don't want to think about it, when I do I want to punch her."
Ryoga began, "Aside from the desire to hit a woman–"
"It ain't like I wanna hit a girl either!" Ranma protested, "Not as a guy anyway, I'd transform first."
"–I've got to agree with Ranma on this." Ryoga finished. Everyone stared at him. "I know, it freaks me out too." He said.
"What I find interesting is that neither of you tried to stop her." Nabiki pointed out.
"Where is Lo-Chun?" Cologne asked.
"Ah, she's gone 'somewhere' we're to expect her when we see her." Ryoga shrugged.
"You mean 'if' you see her." Cologne shook her little head. "Did she take the letter?"
"No, she ripped it up and threw it aside." Akane said.
Cologne shook her head. "I should have expected something like this. I blame Mousse."
"Why?" Akane asked.
"Because it's so easy to do." Cologne shrugged. "I suppose Lo-Chun is to blame as well. But Mousse should have told you that you were to read it as well."
"What exactly is going on?"
"What do you know?" Cologne asked.
"Lotion said that the letter was to you, from an amazon named Sun Set, and that it was to be forwarded to her." Kasumi said.
"Really?" Cologne scoffed.
"She said it was a letter saying that Sun needed an assassin, and so Lo-Chun was off to do her job." Ranma said.
Cologne shook her head. "We must find Lo-Chun."
"Why?" Akane asked. "Is something wrong?"
"Besides the bludgeoning I plan to give her with this stick? No, everything should be fine."
"What's up?" Ranma demanded. "I ain't skipping breakfast unless there's a good reason."
Cologne shook her head. "Lo-Chun is a liar, the letter had nothing to do with Sun Set, or rather my version had nothing to do with Sun Set. Which means that our little assassin's two lonely brain waves came together to form a coherent thought."
"What?" Kasumi asked.
"It's a short story, but I can tell it slowly. No . . . that's not right . . ." Cologne scratched her head. "Oh yes, it is a long story but I can tell it quickly."
"Then tell it." Ranma sighed.
"Well . . . as is our custom, when an amazon is defeated in combat by an outsider, if that outsider is a woman she must track down and kill that person, if the outsider is a man she must make him her husband. I believed Lo-Chun when she told me that Mousse was the first person to beat her, but he isn't an outsider so when she refused to marry him I accepted it, mostly because to argue would mean having to continue our conversation, and believe me, having to talk to the little twit drives me nuts!"
"Me too." Ranma scowled.
"Well it turns out our little assassin has lost before. Defeated by someone familiar with our customs, apparently he defeated her with the intention of making her a bride. Well she broke our traditions and told him it was just a myth, and they parted ways. When he found another amazon he asked her if the 'myth' had any truth to it, only to learn that it was true after all, he tracked her down and even got her into a wedding dress. But Han decided to run away instead, he's chased after her and finally found our village, naturally the helpful women there, Sun Set in particular, excited about the idea of wedding the little twit off to someone from a distant land, eagerly told him she was staying with me here, and lo and behold he's on his way to marry her. The letter I sent was, first, to tell her that her wedding would commence, and if she tried to get away from this one, I'd bludgeon her to death with my stick here."
"You cant do that, that's wrong!" Kasumi cried.
"I had no intention of actually killing her, it was an empty threat." Cologne shrugged
"You cant make a girl get married against her will, especially Lo-Chun, she's just a child!"
"She's older than she looks actually, she's a few months older than Shampoo. Her lack of chest makes her look twelve. Anyway, the part of the note that was for you to understand was to let you know not to let her escape."
"Guess I screwed up." Ryoga said.
"What?" Akane cried. "Ignore her Ryoga, it wasn't your fault." she scoffed.
"Well last night she told me she was leaving, I even watched her go and I didn't bother trying to stop her." He said.
"Why not?" Cologne demanded, hitting him on the head.
"What do you think? Exactly what you said, having to talk to her would drive me nuts!" Ryoga lied. Actually forcing her to stay never occurred to him. He'd simply been content to let her do her thing.
"Well did she say anything? Anything at all before leaving? Where she was going or when she'd leave the country?" Cologne asked.
"No, she just said she was going 'somewhere' and that she might return, but she didn't seem all too sure about whether or not she'd actually bother. When she left she was dressed differently, a black tench coat, but I didn't see any problems. She did ask if I wanted to come with her." Ryoga noted.
Cologne shook her head. "Another chance to get rid of her, gone! Well at least now the entire village knows she's claimed, next time she dares to show her face back home they'll tie her to that tree she likes so much and wait for her fiancee to show up."
"She hates that tree." Ryoga corrected.
"I know. Do you think she's stupid enough to go back to the village to try and destroy it?" Cologne asked.
"How should I know?" Ryoga shrugged.
"Well . . . it's a shame. I almost got rid of her." Cologne sided. "I cannot believe you let her escape, son-in-law!
The destroyed wall might have been an acceptable excuse, if there had been some sort of struggle, involving the deaths of Ryoga, and Akane, and Kasumi I would understand, but you just let her go, the never of you people, you do not even try to lie to me! Just for that, you're invited to the wedding." Cologne hopped of.

"The nerve of that woman!" Akane growled. "Blaming us because Lotion doesn't want to get married to some old jerk!"
"Yeah, no kidding." Ryoga scoffed.
"As if we'd attend the assassin's wedding!" Ranma scowled.
"Does it bother anyone else that Lotion didn't seem nervous, or uninterested in the idea of a wedding?" Kasumi asked. "She seemed . . . angry."
"Big deal." Ranma scoffed.
"He defeated her two times. Maybe she's humiliated." Akane said.
"Maybe Cologne lied." Ryoga whispered.
"Maybe, but who cares?" Ranma scoffed. "A strong gust of wind can defeat Lotion!"
"I care. I care a great deal." Nabiki said with a wicked grin. "I see opportunity here. Horny old man seeking teenage amazon wife! And with Nabiki Tendo to play cupid, how can he fail?"
"Well wont you be at college?" Akane asked.
"Uh . . . sure." Nabiki chuckled.
"Now, now Nabiki, it's obvious that your head is filthy with lies, it's time for you to confess, and tell Akane what you told me!" Kasumi cried. "Tell her why you're not going to college!"
"I'm gonna kill you Kasumi!" Nabiki yelped, because suddenly Soun managed to crawl out of the wood work and stand right behind Nabiki.
He placed his hands firmly on her shoulders and said, "Tell me that what Kasumi just said isn't true . . ."
"Uh . . . gee daddy . . . um . . . it's all Ryoga's fault!" Nabiki cried, Ryoga's jaw dropped.
"What? This is the first I've heard of it!" He protested.
"Nonsense! Now whose head is filthy with lies? You've corrupted my little girl with your college-less lifestyle and now you mut die!" Soun cried, he armed himself with a mallet from out of thin air, he lunged forward but Ranma and Akane held him back.
"wait, remember the wall!" Ranma cried.
Soun calmed down enough to look at the wall, remeber t was demolished and cry.

To Be Continued . . .

Will Lo-Chun ever return? Will the Koruda School of Combat ever attack the Tendo Training Hall? Will Nabiki make up a good enough excuse about not going to college to keep Soun from ripping Ryoga to shreds? If you haven't figured it out yet, the one she's been using so far (loving Ryoga too much) is of course a lie, her real reason will shock you all! Well anyway, if any of these things were to happen, they'd happen in PART IV: "A Darker Story . . ."