Chapter 2:

Ryoga stared at the red-head sitting across from him at their little camp fire, "Ranma, are you sure that is what you want to do?"

Ranma nodded, "Ryoga, I am tired. Nerima is just one big brawl. Everywhere I turn it is one new challenge and false cure after another."

Ryoga winced, "The spring of drowned man could still work."

Ranma shook her head, "I did some research in the six weeks since the failed wedding, and the curses are more likely to mix or swap the water temperatures then they are to cure. There is also a good chance of it permanently fusing your two forms together or even eliminating your original form leaving you permanently in your cursed form."

Ryoga grimaced at all the scenarios that brought to mind, "I can see you not wanting to use that option, but still…"

Ranma shook her head, "But still nothing. I don't think these curses really have a cure. My family and the Tendos will never accept me as some half-man, half-woman creature. There is also the matter of all the honor obligations attached to the name of the male Ranma Saotome. No matter how I looked at the situation, the only way to ensure that no honor was lost for everyone involved was for there to be no more Ranma Saotome."

Ryoga nodded after thinking for a second, "And since you aren't exactly keen on killing yourself."

Ranma winced, "That means becoming a full time female, and because a female Ranma doesn't legally exist…"

Ryoga sighed, "The honor engagements would not apply to you, but I thought you hated being female."

Ranma shook her head, "A couple months ago I decided that it was more the fact that I thought being male full-time would please my Mom and Akane, but I don't think it is possible to please them no matter how mature a human man I may become."

Ryoga narrowed his eyes, "Ranma, I haven't fought you all this time without coming to know you, what else is there to it?"

Ranma sighed, "You know that the curse causes a complete change, right?"

Ryoga nodded, "Yeah, and…"

Ranma pointed to her head, "It messes with my mind whenever I swap back and forth. I found out why when I went to Doc Tofu last week."

Ryoga raised an eyebrow, "Why and how is he doing?"

Ranma shrugged, "He is doing okay I guess. He had to move away because of his Kasumi-itis." She sighed, "He told me that male and female brains are literally wired together differently and the way they process information is different enough that my mind is subconsciously noting the differences but doesn't know how to handle them. So for about a minute after I change my thoughts are a little muddled, and it is almost like the world has been put into fast-forward. He said similar symptoms have appeared in some people who are born somewhere in between male and female, such that their brains aren't wired together the same way all over. He also used some of that weird ki stuff he knows and told me that apparently my soul is female."

Ryoga looked at her alarmed, "What does that mean?"

Ranma laughed hollowly, "It means that at some point in the past I was supposed to be female and someone used magic to turn me male."

Ryoga gasped, "But that means…"

Ranma nodded sourly, "My life as a male is a sham anyways, and it confirmed something about the curses that I was beginning to suspect anyways."

Ryoga raised an eyebrow, "Which is what?"

Ranma shook her head, "It will sound crazy, but I think Jusenkyo has some sort of intelligence or something that controls who gets what curse, and the curses are somehow meant to show us something about ourselves, either that we need to improve on, or that we need to become."

Ryoga growled, "I could understand why it would do this to you if you were supposed to be born female, but why a pig for me."

Ranma smirked at him and held up two fingers, "Akane and Akari."

Ryoga grimaced, "I am sorry, but recently it has been more fear then enjoyment that has motivated me to keep silent."

Ranma nodded, "I ain't blaming you, but that is my guess as to why a pig. Maybe it is also because you needed to be taught what it means to be weak or something. I don't know. Part of what led me to think of that is because every other curse I have heard of doesn't give you any side benefits. Like for both of us it is increased speed, and for me my female form is beautiful."

Ryoga nodded, seeing her point, "You have thought this through."

Ranma nodded as well, "I had to. The Anything Goes school is based on adaptation. You can't adapt to the unknown."

Both of them leaned back slightly and just stared into the fire, contemplating where they had come from and where they were going in life. Both were not entirely satisfied by any of it, but they could not change the past, nor could they do anything about the future before they got to it. They could make plans sure, but if their time in Nerima had taught them anything, it was that no plan survives contact with the enemy. The simpler the plan the better.

Ryoga looked almost like he was about to nod off, "We will be there tomorrow. What form are you going to be fighting in?"

Ranma shrugged, "This one probably, I will need the speed boost to dodge their magic attacks. I don't doubt that I could take some of them to the face and keep fighting…"

Ryoga nodded, "Better to not take that chance in the first place. You brought your own tent right?"

Ranma grinned slyly, "What is the matter, don't want to sleep in a confined space with little ol' me?"

Ryoga growled, "The koi rod debacle was quite enough for me in that department."

Ranma quickly went from an amused teasing look to glacially cold glare, "Speaking of which, ever try something like that again and I will be knocking your head into the nearest steel beam a hundred times."

Ryoga winced, realizing he shouldn't have brought that up, "You remembered all of it, huh?"

Ranma growled and turned away from him, "I remember enough to know that you were trying really hard to stop me from turning into a lovesick idiot."

Ryoga grimaced, "I am sorry about that by the way. I broke that pole afterwards and used it and the others at the magic shop I got it from as kindling for my next few fires."

Ranma wheeled around with wide eyes, "You didn't!"

Ryoga raised an eyebrow, "I didn't what… I burned them all. What is the problem with that."

Ranma smacked her forehead hard, "Ryoga, you dunce. You don't just burn magical artifacts no matter how annoying they are."

Ryoga raised an eyebrow, "Why not?"

Ranma put her head in her hands, sleep a long lost thought for the both of them, "Because that is liable to cause the magic to stick to you or something. Or you end up cursed in some other way, ughhhhhhhh!"

Ryoga gave her a rather frightened look, "You don't think…"

Ranma grimaced, "No Ryoga, I know. Those rods, their effect becomes greatly weakened when destroyed, but their magic sticks to the last ones who used them and they were used on."

Ryoga stumbled backwards out of his chair, "You mean…"

Ranma sighed, "Luckily they can no longer induce feelings of 'love,' but from what I read in that old book of magic artifacts from the Ol' Ghoul, they make it easier for the two parties to reconcile with one another if they have disagreements."

Ryoga breathed a sigh of relief, "That means you won't start coming on to me again in the near future, right?"

Ranma nodded, "It has actually probably helped us in mending our friendship so I guess in this case it worked to our advantage, but please don't do something like that again."

Ryoga shivered slightly, "I really dodged a bullet there. Do you have any way to tell if the magic is still on us?"

Ranma rubbed her chin in a manner that usually only those who had beards would, "Maybe… no… that couldn't work, but it might… Hey Ryoga, want to do an experiment with me?"

Ryoga warily glared at her, "What kind of experiment?"

Ranma grinned, "Don't you think something like that would show up in our auras? I can kind of remember the feel the Koi rod gave me and I want to see if I can find any trace of it in our auras."

Ryoga gave her a doubtful expression, "You can do that now?"

Ranma rubbed the back of her head, "Not well, I took a few lessons on medicinal martial arts from Doc Tofu when I visited him the last few weeks. I want to see if I might be able to pick up on something in our aura's."

Ryoga glared at her, "You kill me and I will come back to haunt you… What do you need to be able to do this?"

Ranma rubbed the back of her neck while looking around almost aimlessly, "Well, Doc Tofu had me and his apprentice lie down and relax while he sent… bounced… er… something like that… his aura off or into ours."

Ryoga rolled his eyes, "I must be crazy."

Ranma grinned, "I ain't gonna disagree."

Ryoga glared at her as he opened the flap to his tent, "May as well do this in a comfortable place."

Ranma shrugged and followed him in, "Let's see if we can figure this out."

Ryoga lay down on his bed roll with a shake of his head, "You and your technique crazy mind."

Ranma smacked his head lightly with a smirk, "Like you don't also learn anything from our spars or outside of them."

Ryoga smirked, "My life isn't solely about martial arts, Ranma."

Ranma suddenly grimaced, "That is other reason I want to escape Nerima, there is nothing there for me but martial arts. I want to see what else is out there. How else can I put my talents to good use? Heck, I know more about the 'feminine arts' than my own fiancée."

Ryoga grinned unable to help himself, "I am sure you will make someone a good wife someday."

Ranma nodded solemnly, "If I can't get 'cured' that could definitely be the case eventually."

Ryoga winced, he couldn't remember the last time he had heard his friend and rival talk so fatalisticly, "Ranma, if nothing else I will be here for you as a friend when you need me."

Ranma grinned at that, "Thanks, Ryoga. Now… lie down and relax and I will see if I can't figure this out. After having it used on me so many times I should be able to tell what magic feels like."

Ryoga knew she was dodging the issue, but it didn't feel right to him to push the matter, so he complied and lay down. Ranma waited for a few seconds until he had relaxed and then hovered her hands over top of his midsection. She started radiating a calming aura that came close to lulling Ryoga asleep. He definitely spaced out though, he had never expected his chaotic rival's aura to be so pure and calm. Ranma was also slightly surprised though for a different reason. Ryoga's aura was a lot more powerful than anyone else's she had ever fought except for maybe Herb, but there were three anomalies within it. She could detect some magic, but she couldn't tell which bit of magic could do what. The anomalies however she might be able to fix.

The anomalies were all spots in Ryoga's aura where for some reason it doubled back on itself, limiting his ki potential. Considering one of them was focused on in his head, she believed that it may be part of the reason why he has such a bad sense of direction. She started with the easiest one first though, the one in his gut. She poured some of her ki into his body and willed it to surround the anomaly. She then used her will to force it to conform to the baseline she had gotten from Doctor Tofu and his apprentice.

Ryoga managed to feel his ki squirming, but when it stopped his aura was stronger than ever. He had no clue what she was doing, but whatever it was, he hoped she didn't stop considering it seemed to be benefiting him. She then moved on to the one centered in his chest, and did the same there. There was a bit more resistance and Ryoga felt a small amount of pain, but the gains he felt were definitely worth it in his mind. She growled though when she got to the head anomaly, cause when she tried to move it, she felt resistance from some of the magic that was within Ryoga. Her eyes started glowing blue as she instinctively reached within herself for something that could annihilate the magic that was trying to keep her from helping her friend.

Ryoga was starting to get a severe migraine when Ranma made the breakthrough, some energy that was neither magic nor ki responded to her call. Pulling at it was like trying to corral a thousand cats solo, but she forced it to obey her, and in following her will it reversed time on the resisting magic that was inside of Ryoga. She made it so that it was like it had never existed within Ryoga, an impossibility considering it had, and she then almost snapped the anomaly back into place.

When Ryoga's migraine cleared it was like a fog had been lifted from his senses and he could feel the world around him. It was incredible. He looked over at his rival and saw that she was completely exhausted, and almost like his brain figured out that that was its cue he crashed hard and his eyes rolled up into his head. He was unconscious.

Ranma smirked her signature cocky smirk, "Heh, knew I could beat it." Then she two was out like a light, falling on top of her rival unconscious.

She was so busy trying to help her friend, that she missed the very thing she had gone in for. Her aura and his mixing caused the koi rod magic to solidify their bond of friendship into something like brotherhood, but not quite. Maybe this is a hard thing to try to explain, but the original koi rods induced a false romantic love in those that were subconsciously similar to one another. The magic this time however was not strong enough to do such a thing, so it instead strengthened their bonds of comradery before finally dying out. Instead of forming new, false bonds, it instead worked on old ones to make them stronger. What existed between them was not something idiotic like romance. The two of them would not be able to do that if they tried. What existed between them now was a bond that they had never really felt before, it was in fact the true kind of love that does not focus on appearance or action. A bond that would seek each other's happiness. There had been glimpses of it before in their friendship, but now it was different, it was solid. Of course anyone knows that what makes a couple of meatheads happy is a good fight in the morning.

Ranma whined as she rubbed her cheek, "You didn't have to hit me so hard."

Ryoga growled, "Well what was the big idea of falling asleep on me when you had your own tent to set up?"

Ranma glared at him, "This is the thanks I get for helping you with your sense of direction?"

Ryoga snarled, "Oh, grow up, Ranma."

They were walking the streets of Juban after they had abandoned their campsite that morning. Not that there was much left of it after their fight. The first thing that they noticed was that the people of Juban seemed weaker on the whole than the people of Nerima despite having to deal with more demons over here.

Ranma stopped rubbing her cheek and looked around, "Considering our food got ruined, let's see if we can't find ourselves some food."

Ryoga rolled his eyes, "Always thinking with your stomach aren't you Ranma?"

Ranma grinned at his embarrassment when his stomach rumbled after that statement, "Hey, if your pops routinely stole your food every day for years you would be thinking the same way as me, and at least part of you is honest."

Ryoga growled at her, but stopped short in shock when what she said registered, "Wait, your father starved you?"

Ranma tilted her head to the side, "I wouldn't exactly call it starving me. I mean, he is the one who taught me how to scam street venders."

Ryoga looked at her aghast, "Your father starved you and taught you how to steal, what is wrong with that man?"

Ranma grinned, "That is nothing when he gets his mind to it, I mean he taught me how to fall by throwing me off roofs and he improved my stamina and strength by making me run from wolves while he was on my back."

Ryoga could have said he was getting a severe case of culture shock, but they were unfortunately a part of the same culture, "Ranma, next time I see your father I think I am going to be turning him into a rug."

Ranma blinked, "Why is that everyone's reaction? He is an idiot, but what he did was effective."

Ryoga glared at her, "That ends do not justify the means, Ranma. What your father did was abuse."

Ranma shrunk from him slightly, "Errrrr…"

Ryoga rolled his eyes at her lack of response, "You are clueless. At least my parents had the excuse that they really didn't want to abandon me, but our sense of direction is crap." He grabbed her wrist and started dragging her towards the first open restaurant he saw on the street, which seemed to be combined with an arcade, "Come on, I am going to get you some food, and since your father isn't here you won't have to worry about scarfing it all down like a rabid wolf."

Ranma blushed slightly in embarrassment at the fact that to people around them they probably looked like a traveling couple, "Ryoga, knock it off, I can get there on my own."

Ryoga glared back at her, "I know, but I am making sure that the people get paid for the food they cook for us."

Ranma turned her head away, "HMPH!"

Considering neither of them were watching where they were going, it is no wonder that they accidentally plowed into a certain meatball-headed blond who was exiting said restaurant with an ice-cream cone in hand.

Usagi Tsukino picked herself up off her butt, looking first at the two martial artists profusely apologizing to her, and her poor ice-cream cone that already had an ant on it, her eyes started watering, "Sniff… That was what was left of my allowance."

Ranma quickly waved her hands around, forgetting that she was the one of their two person party who had no money, "It's okay, we will get you a new one."

Ryoga gave her a mild glare, then rolled his eyes, "It was our fault after all."

Usagi looked up at them, both of them being taller than her, and bounced up and down while shaking their hands, "THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!"

Ryoga and Ranma got a severe case of mental whiplash and Ryoga answered, "Your welcome?"

Usagi calmed down slightly, though they were still unused to her bubbly personality, "My name is Usagi Tsukino, what are your names?"

Ryoga shook his head to clear it, "I am Ryoga Hibiki, and…"

Ranma grinned, "I am Ranma Saotome, best martial artist in Nerima."

Usagi tilted her head to the side, "What are you doing here?"

Ranma opened her mouth to speak, but Ryoga glared at her, "How about we talk about it over our breakfast and your snack."

Usagi nodded quickly as she turned to open the door to the Crown Arcade and Restaurant again, "Sounds good to me, let's go."

Ranma blinked and turned to her current partner in crime, "Excitable, ain't she?"

Ryoga nodded, and looked down at their hands, "Hey, Ranma?"

Ranma looked at him confused, "What?"

Ryoga blushed slightly, "You can let go of my hand now, you know."

Ranma looked down at their still conjoined hands, pulling hers away rapidly, "Hey, you are the one who grabbed mine, bacon-brains."

Ryoga glared at her, "Well you didn't need to keep holding on. I am not looking for a girlfriend so soon after Akari."

Ranma grinned slyly, "Would I be such a bad girlfriend?"

Ryoga glared at her, "Ranma, you need help. I think all that scamming has rotted your brains."

Ranma moved into the shop, seeing that Usagi was looking at them interestedly, "I wouldn't doubt it."

Ryoga rolled his eyes to the heavens, "What did I ever do to deserve this?"

Ranma grabbed his sleeve and yanked him into the shop, "Oh stop being so melodramatic."

Ryoga growled and ended up paying for about three meals worth of food for Ranma alone. If there was one reason he could think of off the top of his head for why Ranma would make a terrible girlfriend it would be her bottomless pit of a stomach, not to mention her attitude.