**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2. That masterpiece is the property of Rumiko Takahashi.**

** Sorry for the delay! It was my birthday, and on my birthday I got an e-reader and got sucked into a book which delayed my writing since I couldn't put it down. I promise the next chapter is already half done and will be up soon (likely today!). Thank you for your patience. It's been a long couple weeks. :) **

This isn't real. My mind is playing tricks. Am I dreaming? This kind of thing just doesn't happen in real life. This is crazy. There's no way. Then again, I had a half angel baby at 18 years old, so maybe this is just right up there with how weird my life is.

Ranma stood stunned as the group made their way past him to sit inside, as if he wasn't actually standing there and was watching the whole situation happen in some sort of strange out of body experience. Ranma felt his brain shutting down, starting with his vision blurring. Ranma's breathing started to speed up as the voices from the group started to fade as they each moved further away from him inside the house.

She just walked past me like she didn't even know me. He felt a tug on his sleeve and shifted his gaze toward the culprit, his shocked expression unchanging.

Ukyo looked up at him with concern. "Hey, are you alright?" she asked.

Ranma shook his head in an attempt to snap out of the shock. "What the hell is going on, Ukyo? Tell me I didn't just see Miyuki walk past me," Ranma could hear the anxiety rising in his own voice and started to breathe deeper to calm himself down.

Ukyo put her hand on his back and rubbed it slightly. "Hey, you need to relax before you send yourself into a panic attack again. Let's find out what's going on and then we can freak out, okay?" Ukyo urged her friend.

Ranma nodded. "You're right." Ranma turned to finally follow the others inside, but before he entered he looked back at Ukyo and said, "Thanks, Ukyo."

"No problem, sugar."

Kaze stood at the head of the table, while all others took a seat around it. Kaze tried very hard not to make eye contact with Ranma or Akane, but ultimately couldn't stop himself. "I'm sorry to shock everyone like this, but I felt it was the best way. Who would believe this to be true without seeing it with their own eyes? When my family and I saw Miyuki turn into the cursed male form and vanish from the heavens, everyone thought she had died. The way she vanished signaled to us the death of a tennyo. No living human has ever been inside the heavens, aside from those that are half tennyo or tennin. I, myself, have only ever entered the heavens in tennin form, especially after that day. It definitely seemed as if the celestial energy surrounding a fully living human was enough to cause her death. Celestial energy is a very complex and powerful thing. Instead, she seems to have been thrown back on Earth in a random location with no divine energy and no memory from before the moment she vanished. The truth is, I don't actually know what happened to get her there or how to fix her memory, if we even can. She's definitely been through a lot and doesn't trust people. It took a lot of convincing on my end to get her to agree to come to Nerima. She was living in a small tent that was destroyed in the storm, like many others," Kaze explained.

"She's been homeless this whole time?" Akane asked.

Kaze nodded. "She didn't know where she was, who she was or how to get help. She did manage to befriend homeless veterans who were able to show her how to access some essentials and get set up. Miraculously, she seems to remember how to speak Japanese. When I found her in Canada, she was speaking fluent English. This is a good sign. I think that means that somewhere inside is at least some of her memory."

"This is crazy," Ukyo said in disbelief.

"I know. I was shocked, too. I honestly didn't even believe it at first. Our parents still don't know, since I can't bring her up there like this. I don't know what exactly happened to her, but it appears to me that.. she's no longer a tennyo. I don't know this for sure, but there is absolutely no divine energy in her anymore. I need to travel up to the heavens as soon as I can. My parents might be able to help, but I really don't want to leave her right now," Kaze said with concern for his sister.

Miyuki looked up at Kaze, eyes glazed and very obviously not listening to the speech. "Kaze, can we go back to the house now? I'm tired," she asked. Kaze met his sister's eyes, smiled sweetly at her and then nodded.

"Wait. You're just going to leave after dropping this on us?" Ranma said as he stood up from his seat.

Kaze looked directly at Ranma with battle eyes. "I'm going to take care of my sister who doesn't even remember who you are. She's alive and that's all you need to know for now. If she needs to rest then that's what she will do," Kaze insisted.

Ranma tried with all of his strength to not glare at Kaze, knowing his involvement in Kaze's issues with Akane, but it happened anyway. Ranma was obviously confused about a lot of things, but he knew for certain that he didn't want Miyuki to leave just yet. His daughter would have her mother back one way or another. "Can I at least talk to her first?" Ranma asked, deciding to at least try.

Kaze looked at Miyuki. Miyuki smiled at Kaze. "It's okay, Kaze," Miyuki told her brother, seemingly interested in what it was that Ranma had to say to her.

Kaze glared back at Ranma and leaned toward him. "You better not say anything to hurt or upset her. You're not to overload her with information, either. Leave Megami out of this for now until we figure more out," Kaze demanded.

Ranma nodded as his expression softened. Kaze's demands made sense and, honestly, he didn't want to fight or argue with him. Miyuki happily got up and followed Ranma outside.

Akane watched after them, then scanned the room to assess the situation. Kaze wouldn't even look in her direction. Her head was spinning. What does this all mean now? I thought I was figuring out my feelings about who I wanted to be with, but maybe that's been decided for me. Maybe the answer is neither of them.

Ukyo moved over to Akane's side and placed her hand on Akane's shoulder. She leaned into Akane's ear and said quietly, "Relax, Akane. We will figure this all out."

Akane smiled at her friend. "I know, Ukyo. This is just.. I don't even know what to think right now." When did Ukyo become my voice of reason? I'm so thankful she's here right now.

Ukyo removed her hand and started making motions to signal deep breaths from Akane. Akane obeyed as she slowly brought herself to a better state of mind.

Miyuki stared at the back of Ranma's head, waiting for him to muster up the courage to turn around and look at her. Ranma took a deep breath, then slowly turned around to finally face her. "I can't believe this," Ranma started. "This is so surreal. I'm so sorry for everything you went through. We all would have helped you, if we had known."

Miyuki looked at Ranma with confusion. "Who are you?" She asked.

Ranma's face dropped. "I'm Ranma," he said gently, looking into her eyes.

Miyuki looked thoughtful for a moment. "Ranma.. my boyfriend?" she asked.

Ranma smiled. He didn't expect to hear that Kaze would have identified him as her boyfriend and he definitely didn't expect those words to make him smile. He nodded. "Yeah, I was your boyfriend."

Miyuki nodded with understanding. "You must have been really sad when I disappeared then," she said, as if trying to piece together her own story.

Ranma nodded again. "That's an understatement. I thought I would never see you again, and you were incredibly important to me," Ranma explained.

Miyuki looked confused and a little sad. "Am I still important to you? I've been told I've been gone quite a while," she asked.

Ranma grabbed her hands. "Of course you are still important to me. There's so much I want to tell you, but your brother wants you to take it slow," Ranma explained. Miyuki flinched at the stranger touching her and looked at Ranma with apprehensiveness. Ranma let go of her hands and put his hands up defensively. "I'm sorry, Miyuki. I will try to remember that you don't remember me. It's just really hard not to hug you right now. It's been so long since I could," he told her.

Miyuki lifted her chin to appear brave. "You can hug me if you want to," she told him.

Ranma lifted an eyebrow. "Are.. you sure?" he asked, confused.

Miyuki took a deep breath and then nodded. "Ever since Kaze found me, I've been trying really hard to remember anything about my life. Maybe hugging someone I loved will help," Miyuki said.

Ranma approached her nervously and cautiously moved to embrace her. Miyuki took another deep breath and then put her arms around Ranma and pulled him into the hug. Ranma closed his eyes, hugged her tight and nuzzled his face into her neck, almost forgetting that she had no memory of him. "I've missed you so much," Ranma said, trying to control his emotions due to how utterly overwhelmed he currently was.

Miyuki smiled to herself. "I feel like I missed you, too. I don't really understand it, but I think something deep inside me remembers you." Ranma didn't respond and just tightened the embrace a little more.

Kaze walked away from the table and sat away from the group. Kasumi arrived home and brought everyone tea while they waited for Ranma and Miyuki to finish talking. Kasumi served the tea to Ukyo, Ryoga and Akane and then brought one over to Kaze. She sat beside him.

"Hello, Kaze. How are you doing?" she asked.

Kaze smiled. "Well, I'd be lying if I said I was doing great, but my sister is alive and that is probably the most amazing thing that could have happened," he said.

"You must be so relieved. It's a remarkable story. I'm so happy for our baby girl, Megami. She will have her mother back," Kasumi said sweetly with a smile.

Kaze nodded.

Akane watched her sister and Kaze talking. She turned her gaze to Ukyo. "Hey, Ukyo. What do you think is going on out there?" she asked.

Ukyo shrugged. "I don't know, sugar. I think they are just getting reacquainted," Ukyo said.

Akane nodded. "I guess they will always be connected because of Megami. I don't really know what to think about all of this," Akane said as she got up and walked over to the window. Akane's face dropped.

"What is it, Akane?" Ukyo asked.

Akane took a deep breath. "I think, despite everything that has happened, that they are still in love," she said with despair in her voice.

Ukyo got up and walked up to stand beside Akane. "Oh, sugar. Let's get away from the window. You don't need to see this," Ukyo urged her.

Ryoga raised an eyebrow. "What's going on out there?" he asked.

Ukyo led Akane back to the table. "Ranma and Miyuki are.. hugging."

"Intimately," Akane added.

"We don't know anything yet, Akane. Let's not jump to conclusions," Ukyo reminded her.

Ryoga nodded. "I get it. That must have been heartbreaking to see, no matter who you were choosing to be with. All this time of him declaring his love for you and then the mother of his child returns from the dead," Ryoga said.

Ukyo shot him a cold glare. "Thanks for pointing that all out, Ryoga honey," she said to him, sarcastically.

Ryoga smiled sheepishly. "Sorry," he apologized.

Miyuki moved back slightly to look up at Ranma, who had moved his head above hers and out of her neck. "You feel so familiar," she said as she searched his eyes for the answers she needed to make sense of the situation.

Ranma felt himself smile at that statement, pulled her back in and began to hug her tightly once again. "I hope that somehow this helps you, Miyuki. I will do anything I can, I promise," he told her.

Miyuki smiled again. "I don't know about my memory, but my soul feels more at peace. Thank you," she said.

The pair sat like that for a while before Ranma pulled back and looked down at her. "I can't imagine letting you leave right now, but I know you have to. You've been through a lot and I know your brother is going to want to bring you home soon. Do you want to go back inside or do you want to talk some more?" Ranma asked.

Miyuki smiled at him. "How very considerate. You're right. I would like to come back and speak with you tomorrow, if you would be okay with that," she asked.

Ranma smiled. "You can come back and talk to me any time you want. I don't live in this house, though. I live just down the street. Kaze knows where," he told her. He gave her one last squeeze, then forced himself to let go of her. He then offered his hand, which she took in hers, and he led her back inside the house.

"I'm here for my sister right now, Akane, not you," Kaze said to Akane as Ranma and Miyuki entered back into the house. Ranma froze when he heard the words. Akane looked over at him and Ranma saw her eyes move to his hand holding Miyuki's. Ranma felt incredibly uncomfortable at the moment. Ukyo and Ryoga were still seated on the other side of the room, so Ranma led Miyuki over to the happy couple and away from Kaze and Akane. Kasumi was back in the kitchen.

"Kaze, I am so sorry about what happened. I just want to sit down and talk it over with you," Akane pleaded with him,

Kaze looked away. "Akane, I'm not ready. I have too much going on to deal with deceit right now," Kaze said to her. Akane felt the sting of that sentence. Kaze looked over and noticed his sister and Ranma had returned. Kaze's expression dropped when he saw the hand holding between them. "I need to bring Miyuki home."

"Will we see you tomorrow?" Akane asked.

"I don't know. That depends on Miyuki," Kaze answered truthfully.

"Kaze, I'm ready to go now," Miyuki told her brother. Kaze smiled at his sister and nodded before walking over to her.

Akane didn't turn to look at Miyuki. The last thing she wanted was to glare at Kaze's lost sister who didn't have a memory, but she felt slightly enraged that she would interrupt them. Akane was so confused with life at the moment, she just felt like she really needed to talk to Kaze. Kaze had always been there for her, so it was breaking her heart in pieces that he was shunning her at the moment. She knew she had no one else to blame but herself for this situation she found herself in, which didn't help her ability to handle it in any way.

"Let's go, then, Yuki," Kaze told her before shooting a quick glare at Ranma. Ranma let go of Miyuki's hand, which Kaze then took before leading Miyuki out of the house.

Before they closed the door, Miyuki turned back, "Goodbye, Ranma. I will see you soon," she said before exiting. Kaze didn't look back to the group.

Akane looked at Ranma. "I guess you're happy," she stated.

Ranma looked back at Akane. "Akane, I'm so sorry. I don't even know what to say right now," he said.

Akane didn't adjust her gaze at all. "This changes everything, doesn't it?" she asked.

Ranma sighed. "I don't know what this means right now, Akane. My brain is still trying to catch up, but I do know that Megami is going to get her mother back and, as her father, I couldn't be happier about that," Ranma answered honestly.

"Kaze's really mad, isn't he?" Ukyo asked Akane sympathetically.

"Kaze is definitely furious," Akane said, "I've never seen him mad like this before. He can barely look at me," Akane said as she looked at the ground.

Ukyo put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Just give him some time. He has a lot going on right now," she assured her.

"If I had known this was going on with Miyuki, I would have waited to tell him!" Akane exclaimed.

"You couldn't have known," Ryoga piped in.

"I.. I need to go see Megami. I'm sorry, everyone. I have an overwhelming urge to go hug my daughter right now. Besides, it's getting late so I should really get back to her," Ranma said. He turned and looked at Akane. "We will talk tomorrow," he told her.

Akane sadly nodded, but did not meet Ranma's gaze. Ranma looked at her sympathetically, then nodded a goodbye to Ryoga and Ukyo before heading out the door.

Akane looked at Ukyo with tears forming. "Ukyo, I really screwed up," she told her. Ukyo pulled her into a hug while Ryoga decided to catch up to Ranma.

"Ranma!" Ryoga called out to Ranma as he ran up behind him.

"Hey, man. What's up?" Ranma asked as he stopped to allow Ryoga to catch up.

"Any faster and I would have lost you," Ryoga chuckled. "I had to check in with you. I know Ukyo is really concerned with Akane right now, so I wanted to make sure you were okay, too."

Ranma nodded. "I mean, my head is in a whirlwind. I still can barely process what happened," Ranma said before he paused. "Ryoga, she remembers me."

Ryoga raised an eyebrow. "What? Did she say that?" he asked.

"She doesn't fully remember, but something inside of her does. This gives me hope. I know this is going to hurt Akane, but Miyuki needs me right now. Whether or not we can help get her full memory back, she has a daughter who deserves her mother," Ranma explained.

Ryoga nodded. "I get it. I'm sure Akane gets it, too. She's a really good person that way, but that doesn't mean it is going to be easy for her," he said.

Ranma nodded. "I know. I feel awful, but what else can I do?" Ranma asked.

Ryoga sighed. "I need to ask the million dollar question, Ranma," Ryoga stated.

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "What? What million dollar question?" he asked.

"Now that Miyuki is back, do you still want to be with Akane or do you want to be with Miyuki now?" Ryoga asked.

Ranma shook his head. "That's not fair," Ranma said.

Ryoga smiled sympathetically. "You love them both, don't you?" he asked.

Ranma stared at the ground for a solid minute before he answered, "I do."

Ryoga nodded. "I can see that. Do you want my advice?" he asked. Ranma nodded. "Don't rush. Think this over thoroughly, but also do not drag this out too long. One of these women is going to be really hurt and deserve to heal as soon as possible. Even Miyuki. She may not remember, and even if she never does she is going to learn you share a daughter and that is going to hold a lot of weight."

Ranma chuckled. "When did you get so smart, man? Seriously, you've grown up a lot since you started dating Ukyo." Ranma said.

Ryoga smiled. "That's what the love of a good woman will do to you, Ranma. Maybe you'll know what it's like someday," Ryoga laughed with his friend.

Late the next morning, Ranma heard a knock at his door. Ranma stretched his arms, not quite ready to take on the day. There was another knock. "Okay, okay," Ranma said out loud, even though he knew he wouldn't be heard. He moved toward the door and opened it. Outside stood Kaze and Kasumi. Ranma raised an eyebrow at the odd pairing. "Hey guys, what's up?" he asked.

"I need to go speak to my parents about what's going on with Miyuki," Kaze told Ranma.

"Okay. That's great. What does that have to do with me and why is Kasumi here? No offense, Kasumi," Ranma asked.

"None taken," Kasumi smiled.

"I have a minor complication. Miyuki has a headache, which isn't surprising. This is why I didn't want you overloading her with information," Kaze started to explain.

Ranma nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that. I didn't give her a lot of information. I respected your wishes," he said, still confused.

"Anyway, I can't bring her up to the heavens with me in this state. I need someone to stay with her while I go. I would have asked Kasumi, but Miyuki insisted that she wanted you. I brought Kasumi over to help watch Megami," Kaze finished explaining.

"Which I'm happy to do!" Kasumi exclaimed, excited to spend some time with her favourite baby.

Ranma nodded. "Okay. I'm a little surprised you want me to help take care of her," he said.

"Trust me, I'm not happy about it. My sister may not have her memory, but her strong personality hasn't faltered," Kaze rolled his eyes.

Ranma slipped his shoes on and turned to Kasumi, "Megami is in her room taking a nap. She should be up very soon," he told an eager Kasumi as he started out the door. "Let's go," he told Kaze.

"Miyuki?" Kaze called softly into Miyuki's room.

Miyuki laid with a cloth on her forehead, wrapped in her soft blankets in her dark and quiet room. "Yes, Kaze?" she responded.

"Ranma is here. I'm going to go to see our parents, like we talked about, and he's going to stay here with you like you wanted, okay?" Kaze asked.

Miyuki smiled. "Send him in, please," she said.

Kaze turned to Ranma. "Take care of her and don't tell her a bunch of information about herself right now. Her head is already sore," Kaze warned.

Ranma nodded and walked into Miyuki's room. Ranma sat on Miyuki's bed and smiled down at her. "How are you doing?" he asked as he reached over and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

Miyuki smiled back. "Hey there, Ranma. My head is a little sore, but I'll be okay. Kaze is just being overprotective," she said as she lightly chuckled.

"I am being just the right amount of protective," Kaze argued. "I'm heading out now. I will be back as soon as I can." Miyuki nodded and gave Kaze a soft wave goodbye.

Ranma took Miyuki's hand. "I'm honoured that you wanted me to come sit with you," he told her.

"I feel a strong connection with you, Ranma. I want you to stay close to me, if that's okay. I have to ask you something, though," Miyuki told him.

"Of course. What is that?" Ranma asked, worried if her question may be hazardous to the promise to not overload Miyuki's poor brain with too much information.

"Is there something going on with Akane?" Miyuki asked.

Ranma stiffened. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, Kaze won't tell me, but it's obvious he's displeased with you and Akane. I know I've been gone a long time, so it's not like I would expect that you never moved on, but did you?" Miyuki asked.

Ranma sighed. How do I answer this truthfully without upsetting her? "Akane and I are not a couple, no. We have kissed, though," Ranma explained.

Miyuki nodded with understanding. "Do you love her?" she asked.

Ranma's head started spinning. The last thing he wanted to do was make Miyuki sad or cause her stress. He quickly came up with the best response he could think of. "I love you," Ranma said, truthfully. He didn't actually answer her question, but was hoping this would lay the topic to rest for the time being. Have I ever said that to her before? I can't remember.

Miyuki beamed. "You do?" she asked. Ranma nodded. Miyuki sat up and threw her arms around Ranma's neck. "It makes me so happy to know that someone loves me. Thank you, Ranma. I'm so sorry I don't remember you."

Ranma chuckled and hugged her back. "You don't have to apologize for your trauma, Miyuki. I will be right here to help you." Shit. This is going to bite me in the ass, isn't it?

Akane sat in her bedroom at her desk with her homework in front of her with a pen in her hand. Unfortunately, her work was not getting done as Akane stared out the window deep in thought.

"Akane?" Nabiki slowly opened her sister's door.

Akane turned and smiled at her sister. "Hey there, Nabiki. What's up?"

Nabiki looked at her sister with sympathy. "Hey, Kasumi filled me in. How are you doing?" Nabiki asked.

"You're actually concerned about me?" Akane raised an eyebrow at her sister.

"Akane, you're my sister," Nabiki said to her with seriousness plastered on her face.

Akane sighed. "Yeah, I guess I'm okay. I've been really thinking about what to do about what's been going on. I was really confused for a long while, but I think I know what I have to do," Akane said as her gaze drifted back to the window.

"What? What are you going to do?" Nabiki asked.

Akane gave Nabiki a sad smile. "I'll let you know after," Akane told her.