I was unable to keep my promise to release a new chapter each week as Calculus and Physics have completely taken over my life. Nevertheless, I will try to release a new chapter whenever possible. Thank you for sticking with me. I hope that this chapter doesn't disappoint.

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The car door shut with a clap. Ranma settled into the leather seat behind the passenger chair. Akane sat directly in front of her, wearing teal shorts and a flower print top. Nodoka sat in the driver's seat. She wore wide, black sunglasses that covered most of her face. She started the car and turned to look over her shoulder as she backed out of the narrow parking space.

The redhead pulled uncomfortably at her blue jeans. She wasn't used to wearing tight pants. Her t-shirt was an extra-large from Soun's closet, and yet she still felt a little smothered. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath.

This wasn't quite what she had pictured when she asked her mom to bring 'guy clothes.' She had hoped to leave the hospital in her Chinese silk. Still, she supposed that dressing half-girl was better than dressing all-girl.

"How are you feeling?" Nodoka interrupted the redhead's thoughts.

"I'm fine." Ranma replied plainly.

"Ranma…" Nodoka chided. "We talked about this…."

"I know, I know… Sharin' feelings is healthy… Yada yada..." Ranma recited, letting out a long sigh.

"Good." Nodoka stated. "Now how are you feeling?"

"Just stir-crazy." Ranma reflected. "I'm a martial artist. I ain't cut out for the indoors."

Nodoka looked up at the mirror to meet her daughter's eyes with an empathetic frown. "I'm sorry dear. Hospitals do tend to have that affect."

"You did the right thing, Ranma." Akane chimed in. "Sure it was rough… but it in the end it saved your life! I'm glad that you went."

Ranma turned towards the window, somberly watching the roadside zip past. "Yeah… yeah, me too I guess..."

The car fell silent for a moment or two. "Ranma," Nodoka resumed, "I want to apologize for… well… for forcing everything on you. Not a day went by that I didn't blame myself for making you go… And I'm truly… truly sorry."

"It's okay, mom." Ranma said reassuringly. "Really… it is."

"But it isn't." Nodoka returned. "When I first met you… When you were hiding… I saw in you the daughter that I never had." She lingered, breaking for the red light at the intersection and staring off into the distance. "When I found out who you really were, I made an impulse decision. I asked you to go against your nature... and it was selfish of me. From now on, I'm not going to hold you to any contract. I will call you by whatever name you choose for yourself… And I will not force womanhood on you."

Ranma could barely believe her ears. Since returning to Japan, she had worried that Nodoka would persist in pushing her agenda. Yet here they were, almost a week later, and her mother was already yielding. She felt a huge weight lifting off of her shoulders. "T-thank you." She breathed.

"There is just one thing that I ask in return…" Nodoka continued.

"Y-yeah? W-what's that?" Ranma felt the dread creeping back.

Nodoka paused, considering her words carefully. "I… Or rather… Furinkan High School... Will require that you assume the identity of 'Ranko' during school hours."

Ranma's heart stopped.

"You've been absent for nearly half a year, and… Quite simply… There just isn't another way to move forward. As of right now, the school considers 'Ranma-kun' a missing person. They informed me that you would need to restart the twelfth grade if you ever returned." Nodoka paused, checking the mirror and noticing Ranma's deer-in-the-headlights expression. "Now, I won't ask you to become a woman... but you do need to graduate highschool on time." She concluded.

"I… M-maybe…" Ranma stammered.

"My dear, I'm afraid that this isn't up for debate." Nodoka interrupted sternly. "You can act however you'd like as long as you don't get into trouble… but we can no longer enroll you as 'Ranma.'"

Ranma braced for a panic. She slowed her breathing like they had taught her to do in the hospital. As she counted between breaths, however, her anticipation seemed to subside altogether.

So what? She thought suddenly. The thought took her by surprise. It was a single voice nearly drowning in the pool of conflicting messages that swirled around in her head. A peculiar sensation trickled down into her chest, flowing into her veins with a euphoric touch. Was it peace? Surrender?

No really… So what if they think I'm a girl? Why does it matter? Her inner voice wondered.

Because… Because it matters! A male voice shot back angrily. She stared blankly at the headrest of the chair in front of her.

"Hello! Earth to Ranma!" Akane waved her hand in front of the redhead's face.

"I'm still a guy, Akane..." Ranma murmured, ungluing her eyes and glancing sheepishly up at her former fiance. "A guy…"

Akane looked genuinely worried. "Are you feeling alright?" She placed a hand against Ranma's forehead, checking for a temperature. The corner of her lip dropped slightly as she withdrew.

"Ranma…" Nodoka picked up softly, "I know this is going to be hard for you. You don't have to go back right away... I'll give you a few days to get ready."

Ranma nodded slowly. She knew that she should be feeling something awful. Disgust. Anger. Anxiety. She should be arguing. Resisting. Fighting. She leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes, trying to will an emotion. Try as she might, her mind was calm, and her heart was still.

It's the medication. She reasoned. Has to be. The meds are makin' me *think* i'm okay with this. I'm sooooo not okay with this.

There's an easy fix then... I'll just stop taking them.

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Akane paced about the kitchen, holding her phone to her ear. Most of the family was upstairs napping. She had been careful not to wake them. She didn't want anyone to overhear her.

"Sayuri, listen…" She spoke in a hushed voice, "Ranma just got back from the hospital… And I was wondering… Would it be okay if she comes with me?"

Ranma walked lightly down the shadowy hall towards the kitchen, water glass in hand. Afternoon sunlight filtered through the shoji paper at an angle. She hesitated as she heard Akane say her name.

"No, no it's not like that!" Akane argued into her phone. "Look, I know I called her a pervert before…" She lowered her voice to a whisper. "But she really can't change back now. She's going to be at school again next week... and I just don't want her to be alone."

Ranma crept silently to the wall near the doorway and cupped an ear. She felt a fleeting pang of betrayal that left as quickly as it came. She couldn't quite make out what Akane was whispering. Reluctantly, she backed away.

Whatever. Her inner voice scoffed. Who cares what the tomboy said about me.

"Yes. I promise." Akane resumed in a louder voice. "We'll just stay for the movie. It'll be a miracle if I can get her to come anyways. Ranma hates romance flicks." She paused again. "Okay, thank you. Okay, I'll let you go. See you soon."

Akane removed the phone from her ear and spun away from the island, coming face to face with the redhead standing in the doorway.

"Uhmm… Hi." Akane said, wide eyed. "I… Uh... Thought you were sleeping…"

"Relax." Ranma replied calmly. "I wasn't eavesdroppin' or nothin'... I'm just here for a glass of water." She gestured to the sink with her cup.

"Here. Let me get that for you." Akane said as she walked over and reached for the glass. Ranma relinquished her grip.

Akane made her way towards the sink, placing the glass beneath the faucet and turning the handle. "So..." She spoke over the sound of the water, "Maybe you heard, but my friend group is watching a movie tonight! Wanna come along?"

"I don't know, Akane. It's like you said… chick flicks ain't really my thing. 'Sides, Aren't all your friends girls?"

"It's just going to be Yuka, Ami, and Sayuri from school. I'm pretty sure you've met them. They're in our grade." She raised her eyebrows in a matter-of-fact manner.

Ranma's face wore the spaced-out expression that she made whenever she couldn't remember someone. "Uh Lessie… Sayuri… Yuka… is one of them that chick with pink hair?"

"Ranma, no one at school has pink hair."

"Oh right… Must be thinkin' of an anime…"

"Anyways it's at the end of the street… At Sayuri's house. And there's going to be food there too!" Akane turned off the faucet and handed the cup back to Ranma who smiled shyly. She was never one to turn down a free meal, and a walk through the neighborhood sounded very appealing after being cooped up for so long.

"What kinda food?"

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The door swung open with a slight creak. Two girls, one with red hair and the other with black, stood patiently on the porch. A brunette girl in a sundress stepped out to meet them.

"Sayuri!" Akane greeted her friend.

"Akane! And Ranma… Chan…" Sayuri's face fell as she gave Ranma an awkward once-over.

"H-hey." Ranma said a bit hoarsely, looking downward and fiddling with the edge of her borrowed shirt.

Sayuri forced a cordial smile. "Come in, come in!" She waved them on, turning and crossing back over the threshold.

Ranma and Akane entered the spacious foyer behind their host. A large, cedar cabinet and a potted plant provided decoration. The far wall opened into a wide archway that led to a living area where two other girls were sitting on a couch in front of a huge tv. They turned to look as Ranma and Akane entered the room.

"Hi girls!"Akane spoke, preparing to make an introduction. "I think you've already met, but this is Ranma. Ranma this is Yuka and Ami."

Yuka held in a giggle. "Yeah… We've met…"

"I know a boy named Ranma..." Ami said. "but I don't think I've ever seen you before…"

Yuka nudged Ami's shoulder. "Same Ranma." She murmured.

"Oh…" Ami said, taken aback. She stared for several seconds. "It's… It's really you, isn't it?"

Ranma lowered her head and blushed.

Ami searched for positive words. "Y-you're really pretty!" She settled.

Somewhere in the very back of Ranma's mind a tiny alarm squealed away. She wanted to feel offended. She knew that she should feel offended. But instead a warm glow permeated her soul. "T-thanks." She said weakly. "Don't go getting the wrong idea or nothin' though... I ain't no…" She hesitated, somehow forgetting what she wanted to say. "I mean, I'm not no…" She trailed off again. "I'm… Um… I'm here for the food."

"Uh-huh… Sure..." Sayuri muttered wryly, glancing away.

"Yep. Definitely Ranma." Yuka confirmed with an amused tone.

"Well… Yuka baked a pie…" Sayuri said, nodding towards the kitchen. "and there's cookie dough ice cream in the fridge... Help yourself I guess."

"Don't mind if I do!" Ranma perked up, following her nose to the kitchen.

"Thanks, Yuka." Akane said. "I'll bake something next time.

"No!" Came three worried voices at once.

"No, no that's okay, Akane…" Sayuri picked up. "R-really… You don't have to do that…"

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Ranma sat on the couch between Yuka and Akane. The room was dark and the light of the tv flickered in her eyes.

Despite Ranma's best efforts to convince the group to watch an action movie, they had settled on a romantic animation instead. At first, Ranma had considered escaping, but she had already promised Akane that she would stay for the full feature. If there was anything she had learned from Genma, it was how to break a promise. But that was precisely why she couldn't leave now. She wanted nothing to do with her old man. And besides, the movie was growing on her.

The plot followed a high-school boy and girl who had the mysterious ability to swap bodies. They both attended different schools in what appeared to be different time periods, and they communicated by leaving behind short messages. After switching places several times, the two formed a close bond that grew into a melancholy romance. Each longed to overcome time and space to meet the other face to face.

Whenever she had watched a girly movie in the past, Ranma always tried to put herself in the male character's shoes, keeping a safe distance from the feminine perspective. However, she found tonight's gender-switching plot immediately relatable. She worried less about which character represented her and found it easy to laugh as they experienced the gender-shock that she was all too familiar with.

As the film drew to a close, Ranma began to root for the on-screen relationship. She caught herself wondering what it would be like to really, truly love someone. For an instant, she wondered what it would be like to be in love with the male character. She tried to push the thought away, but it lingered in her mind like a pleasant aftertaste, filling her heart with a fluttering ebullience. What would it be like to love a boy? What would it be like to be loved back? To be held close, warm and safe in the arms of someone bigger and stronger. What would it be like to kiss...

By the time she fully realized what she was doing, it was too late. She should be feeling sick. Why wasn't she feeling sick? What the heck is wrong with me? She thought. I don't like boys!

She blinked a few times, trying to snap out of whatever strange spell had taken over her mind. Although the feeling was vaguely familiar, she could swear that she had never crushed on a guy before. In the past, she had fallen hard for Akane. She remembered that fact quite clearly, and yet, she couldn't recall the reason. She glanced at the brown-eyed girl sitting next to her. Despite Ranma's tendency to insult her looks, Akane really was quite beautiful. So why didn't she feel any attraction?

Something had changed, or rather, something was changing. Therapy must have really gone to her head. Everything seemed so easy to accept lately. Almost as if being stuck as a girl wasn't the end of the world.

Ranma's frenetic thoughts slowed to a crawl as the movie played on inside her blue irises. The medication would wear off in a few days. She would figure it out by then.

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Akane shut the door behind Ranma and turned to face the Tendo family room where Nabiki sat in a leather recliner. The ice queen smirked and crossed her arms below her chest.

"Well look who's back." She observed smugly.

"What do you want?" Ranma asked tiredly.

"Oh nothing. Just… Seeing as you *were* dead a few days ago… I thought I might check up on you."

"Welp, I'm alive. Thanks for askin'." Ranma conceded before moving towards the staircase.

"Have you figured it out yet?" Nabiki called after her.

Ranma stopped cold. What did she mean? Was she just fishing for a reaction?

"Figure *what* out?" Ranma questioned suspiciously, turning around and raising an eyebrow at the Ice Queen.

"Shut it, Nabiki!" Akane yelled out, standing indignantly with fists balled up at her sides. "Don't you dare." She glared.

"Cool it, sis." Nabiki said as calmly as possible, "I was just going to ask if she had fallen for Ryoga-baby yet."

"What!?" Ranma blushed furiously, eyes darting back and forth. "N-no way, no how! I'd never fall in love with pig-brain!"

"But you *would* fall in love with a boy?" Nabiki asked, clearly entertained by the topic.

"I… I… I…" Ranma froze up like a broken record. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. "N-no… I don't know!"

"Come on, Ranma," Akane intervened, "Let's get out of here." She took the redhead by the arm and tugged her up the stairs.

The two walked side by side down the darkened hallway to Ranma's room. Akane turned away as they stopped near the open doorway.

"I'll be right back." She said before disappearing into the shadows.

Ranma stood alone in the doorway until Akane returned with a slip of paper in her hand.

"I need to tell you something…" she said quietly, her expression growing rather grave. "Right before you disappeared, Nabiki did an experiment. Your mom paid her 50,000 yen to prove whether or not you and me were meant to be together. So she used her black market connections to get ahold of a magic pencil… A love detector of sorts. It was charmed to draw a picture of your soulmate." She smiled faintly, appreciating for a moment just how ridiculous it all sounded. "You know, it's funny... I never even believed in magic before you came along..." She lingered before offering the paper to Ranma. The redhead received it cautiously. "Anyways… This belongs to you."

Akane peered deep into Ranma's blue eyes, and for a second she saw her fiancé staring back. Tall, handsome, confident. Then the signs of insecurity and fear surfaced, reminding her of the redheaded girl and her desperate condition. Ranma averted her gaze. Akane sighed. She hoped that her fiancé-turned-friend was ready to handle at least a small piece of the truth. "Goodnight, Ranma." She said, making her way back into the darkness.

Ranma raised the paper in her hand to eye level. Etched onto its textured surface was a lifelike pencil sketch of a young man with little fangs that barely peeked out over his bottom lip. He wore a polka-dot bandana and his eyes spoke of loss and loneliness.

"Ryoga..." She whispered.

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Music that inspired this chapter: "Space Song" - Beach House, "Death with Dignity" - Sufjan Stevens