Toph and Shampoo were heading home from the supermarket. If this was anywhere other than Nerima the sheer number of bags the two girls were carrying would have caused most people to look at them in shock. They had well over two dozen bags between them, each girl carrying over a dozen bags. This food was not just because of the sheer number of people that lived in the Saotome/Tendo Dojo; nearly a dozen people did live there after all. No, the reason they had so much food was because everyone in the house was kind of a picky eater. Akane and her sisters liked spicy foods more than anything else, Aura and Shampoo liked foods that had a lot of water in them, Toph and Ryoga mostly liked food that originated from underground or grew directly from the ground, and Ranma would eat pretty much anything that was placed in front of him.

Of course the increase in the food bill meant that there was also a need for a sudden increase in students that came to the Dojo. As part of the court order agreement that Soun and Nodoka signed when she was given custody of the Tendo Sisters, the Tendo Dojo became the Saotome/Tendo Dojo as Nodoka and Yue had moved in with the Tendos. Soun also began teaching again in order to help provide money for his family, since Nodoka's librarian job could support herself and Yue but not the Tendo family as well. If he did not work then he would be forced to move out for invalidating the court order agreement which demanded he help pay the bills.

"So you think you got everything on the list?" Toph asked Shampoo curiously.

"Of course we did, I looked over it twice to make sure that we had gotten everything. Even if we did not we can always just have Ranma or Akane quickly pick it up and come back," she said.

"That's true. Being able to fly in their cursed forms sure does make quick things like that a snap," the blind teen said.

The two continued on their way home talking about various things as they did; however, as they were about to turn a corner Toph's left arm shot up, preventing her purple haired friend from moving forward while the right was stuck out in thin air for no apparent reason.

The reason was quickly discover when a guy around their age ran right into her arm making him gasp for air. Running into Toph's arm was like running into a brick wall, not only because she was an Earthbender but also because her bones were naturally harder since she was an Earthbender from the distant past where bending was more common place. Modern day Earthbenders with few exceptions, like Ryoga, have much lighter skeletons than their ancient counterparts, thus they cannot do things like bash their heads against boulders without getting a head injury or at least a splitting headache afterwards. Toph didn't have that problem.

As the guy collapsed to the ground holding his gut Toph turned to a two foot 'girl' -she had to guess age from the size as she was blind after all. She could not see what this 'kid' actually looked like beyond an outline of her figure.

"No need to thank….what was that for!" Toph said while glaring at them after being hit in the head by a cane.

She noticed this guy was running away from the 'kid' who was yelling at him to come back and to stop being a coward. From that Toph gathered that he must have done something wrong so seeing as the guy was not paying attention to where he was going, she decided she would stop him and prevent a return trip to the store as a result of the aftermath of running into them. However that turned out not to be the case as the only reward Toph got for her action was a blow to the head.

"Are you…" Shampoo started to ask.

Shampoo couldn't see the people around the corner, having been stopped by Toph at the start. However after getting struck in the head Toph started rubbing her head as the blow hurt, which both girls thought was weird since usually stuff like that didn't even phase the tomboy bender. However as Shampoo turned the corner to give the two on the other side a piece of her mind, the words simply died on her lips as her mind came to screeching halt upon seeing them.

"Hey Shampoo are you okay you? Why'd you just let go of your bags like that?" Toph asked as she was still rubbing her head. She used her bending to catch the bags before they hit the ground, but she still wanted to know what was up with her friend.

Shampoo didn't say anything; her mind was pretty much out to lunch as she stared ahead at the two that seemed as shocked as she was, especially the guy.

"We found you! We finally you after all this time, we have finally found you," the guy said hugging her unresponsive form.

That was until he was forcefully pulled away from her as the ground beneath his feet moved five feet back.

"Who are you two? Are you the ones that made it so we can't remember our pasts?" Toph demanded as she had the ground swallow up the guy. She would have got the 'kid' as well but she managed to jump on top her cane and it got stuck instead.

"Hold on child we…." the 'kid' tried saying. She had finally gotten a good look at Toph and could not believe who she was looking at. This girl standing here was almost the spitting image of an ancient picture that had been in her family for generations before getting stolen four years ago during an attack on their village.

"Is your name Toph by any chance?" the 'kid' asked.

"How do you know my name…never mind answer my question! What did you do that made us forget our pasts!" she demanded, taking a more serious Earthbending stance mixed with the martial arts she had learned from Ranma. The grocery bags she was carrying were now on the ground alongside Shampoo's.

Because Toph was so focused on getting answers from this 'kid' she did not notice a black woman around Nodoka's age rushing at her from the side until it was almost too late to do anything about it. Toph was pretty much at a loss as she had two people on either side that she did not trust. The black woman was clearly going to attack her yet there was something about this 'kid' that told her not to take her attention any from her. Then there was Shampoo: she was practically no better than a statue at the moment; there was no telling what would happen if she were moved in an incorrect manner while in her current state. Before she could even make a move Ranma (in his cursed form) just appeared out of nowhere, probably having flown here, and pushed her towards the catatonic Shampoo. While he stood there using all four of his arms to block a blow that should have knock him off his feet, from the sheer force Toph felt from the blow connecting with his arms, she noticed that for just a second Ranma's feet were in the ground, almost as if he was using Earthbending to help stand his ground.

Though he had managed to take the attack and remain standing his arms, all four of them, were stinging like crazy as they hung limp from that one blow. They felt like they had been struck by a metal bat repeatedly for minutes.

Seeing Ranma with his arms limp at his side caused a growl to come from Toph's mouth as the very ground around them began to shake almost as if an earthquake was happening.

"Toph calm down this instant," Nodoka demanded, immediately getting the desired effect from the blind bender as an angry Nodoka and/or Kasumi were two things Toph did not want to have to deal with. She had missed Ranma put his mother down in the confusion of the moment

"Great just Great. This is what we feared would happen," the Saotome matriarch sighed as she snapped her fingers and waved her hand in front of Shampoo's face, not getting a response to either action.

"What do you mean 'we?' Surely you are not talking about him?" the 'kid' said, agitatedly gesturing to Ranma.

Nodoka ignored the question as she went over to the black woman that struck her son

"What were you thinking attacking my son like that! I was sure I sent you all updated pictures of him and informed you all of his cursed form," Nodoka said using her own version of Haruna's patented scary face.

"Sorry! I was caught up in the moment! That girl looked like she was about to attack an Elder and he just appeared suddenly," she said quickly, in obvious fear of Nodoka's look.

"What's going on here! Who are these people?" Toph asked wanting to know what was going on. Ranma just wanted the feeling to return to his arms.

"The one you probably think is child is actually Cologne, Shampoo's great grandmother. The guy you bent into the ground is Mousse, Shampoo's childhood friend. While this woman over here, who I will be talking to privately when we get back, is my old classmate Ku Fei. They are all from the same village of Chinese Amazon that Shampoo belongs to," Nodoka told her.

"If they are related to Shampoo why wasn't she told ahead of time that they were coming and not just sprung on us like this," Toph said wanting to know the answer.

"I told them to wait at the station until I had gotten off work and then I would then take them over to a friend's house. They would stay there and Shampoo would have been told when you all got back. Ranma came to fly me over to the station since it would be faster than walking. We pretty much saw everything that happened from sky and you know the rest," Nodoka told Toph as she then turned her attention to the Amazon trio looking for answer of her own.

"The blame is this fool here" Cologne said motioning to Mousse who was still stuck in the ground. "We were waiting for you at the station when he saw what he thought was a purple haired girl, lost his nerves cause he's still blaming himself for what happened four years ago, and ran."

"Then what was with the 'Oh Shampoo I am so glad we found' routine," Toph said, mocking the male Amazon.

Mousse opened his mouth but no words came out as he only stared at Shampoo with a disappointed look on his face, not really directed towards her but more towards himself, thinking that he caused more harm to his old friend.

Toph would have demanded he speak up, since she could not see the look on his face, but was stopped when Ranma nudged her with his shoulder to catch her attention as his arms were still numb and then shook his head. Which Toph picked up as a sign to drop the matter.

"The joy of finding her again after all this time overrode his fears most likely," Nodoka said as she could easily imagine herself in his shoes, having gone through something similar with Ranma.

She could not count how many time she thought 'what if I had only stayed with him that night his bastard father stole him from me again?' If only she had taken Ranma into her arms and held him close, would that bastard have risked stealing him from her again? However, recently she also started thinking about what if she had... Yue might have grown up knowing her big brother, but what of Aura and Toph? They seemed utterly alone in this world with only Ranma connecting them to it. They both were very protective of him and also seemed very close as well, more so than with anyone else they knew. She could not help but wonder what their lives would be like if Toph had never met her son or if Aura had never found her older brother that day.

Nodoka shook her head to clear her thoughts. The past was the past; there was no changing it now. Even if she could, the effects it would have on the future might have been good to her, but there was no telling how bad it could be for others because of what that one event would change.

"Toph, get Mousse out the ground then pick up the groceries. Ranma go with her and get Aura to look at your arms. She might not be as good a healer as Shampoo yet, but she can probably do something," Nodoka told the two cursed benders and received quick nods.

She then turned her attention to the Amazons that were still standing. "Ku Fei, you are coming with me. We are going to have a little talk on the way back to the house. Cologne and Mousse will help Shampoo get back; she's in no condition to get back on her own," she ordered.

"Has your friend always been like this?" Mousse whispered to Ku Fei before they split up.

"Not really. When she was younger she was never able to take charge like this. She embodied the literal definition of her name: calm and quite. A lot happened after Negi-Bozu appeared, and Nodoka was amongst though his influence effected the most," Ku Fei told him.

"HEY! Ku Fei, stop messing around back there and come on," Nodoka called, somewhat annoyed.

Telling her fellow Amazons she would see them later, Ku Fei left them to take care of Shampoo but not before giving them one hasty warning:

"Do not think of taking Shampoo home right now. You would not want to see Nodoka angry." Then she set off after Nodoka, looking very much like a prisoner walking to the gallows.

Cologne just nodded. Outside the Elders like herself and her own grandmother, Ku Fei was considered the strongest warrior in the village. She took the warning to heart, not that she was even thinking about running off with Shampoo anyways. There were far too many things that needed to be explained and cleared up before she could even think of letting Shampoo set foot in her birthplace again.

So with that, everyone was now heading back to the Saotome/Tendo Dojo, where they could try and get Shampoo out of her catatonic state, and figure out how to deal with how this would all affect her afterwards.

I would like to thank:

Ryuus2,OBSERVER01,cabrera1234, and Hanzo of the Salamander for reviewing this story

vladisnoangel, Haruka Hoshika, SilentStriker99, and Hanzo of the Salamander for adding this story to their Story Alert List

Hanzo of the Salamander for adding this story to their Favorite Story List