Ranma-chan woke to the sound of a low baritone singing a familiar tune. As she sat up, a damp cloth fell to her lap. She noticed that the ground surrounding her makeshift bedding in the tent was covered in a variety of medical supplies. The most notable of which was a pile of dirty bandages. She raised her hand to her head, confirming that similar bandages now covered it. They matted down her bangs and itched terribly, but she thought better of removing them. Slowly, tentatively, she hoisted herself out of bed and crawled to the exit of the green and yellow tent.

As she unzipped the tent flap a harsh, unforgiving light pierced through the opening into her unprepared eyes. She flinched briefly, then proceeded out into the opening. She found herself in an encampment a few tens of meters wide. A fire roared in the center, over which a pot with tantilizing scents cooked. She felt ravenous at the scent first, then nauseous as a pain arced through her head. She clutched her head briefly. "Oww..."

How on earth did I get here? She glanced around the camp and caught sight of a large beige pack, heavily beaten and covered with dirt. She stared at it, puzzled before she realized where she had seen it before. Suddenly, memory returned to her of her brief encounter with Ryoga. Oh my head. Ryoga that bastard. I can't believe he gave me a-

"Hey there, Ranma." A voice sounded from behind her. "Up already? I should've known you couldn't stand being beaten for more than a day." She turned around slowly, careful of her battered cranium as she looked upon its courier. Ryoga stood at the edge of the clearing, a bundle of sticks held in his arms. His voice sounded cocky, but his stance was slightly off. He didn't seem to know quite how to approach her.

Ranma-chan felt in no mood to play along. She felt embarrassed and ashamed of herself for having been injured as much as she had by the man standing before her. She narrowed her eyes and with a tired voice she began, "I lost my conditioning, Ryoga."

Ryoga looked taken aback. "Lost your-?"

"My conditioning. Can't ya see it in my movements? C'mon you're not that dumb." As hard as she tried, Ranma couldn't manage to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

Ryoga took a hard look at her. He bit back his prepared denial and examined her. It's true. She lacks the grace that she usually possesses in her movements. They look choppy and rigid, as if her body didn't know how to handle the signals her brain was sending.

Ranma could see the transformation occur in Ryoga's face. He at first looked skeptical, then he frowned and stared at her. She felt almost naked under his gaze. Here she was, a

top-tier martial artist without any semblance of physical conditioning. Her body, once hers to command, now refused to listen to her. She was back to the basics. Baby steps. She shifted uncomfortably, suddenly acutely aware of the stark difference in power between her and the person standing before her. She didn't have to wait long for Ryoga to break the awkward silence.

"How?"

She suddenly found that she wished that she could answer that question herself. She mentally shook herself, attempting to keep from going down pointless roads of thought.

"How does stuff like this always happen? I tried ta find a cure for my curse and it went all screwy. Again. I touched this diamond meant to 'cure any curse' and the next thing I know I'm flat on my ass in a stream with a body that a PE instructor would shake his head at." She paused to take a break, feeling and sounding now much more exasperated than she had intended.

"I'm telling ya, Ryoga, these curses are gonna be the end of us" she chuckled morosely.

"So what, are you just going to give up?" Ryoga quipped, venomously.

"Fuck no!" she snarled. "I'm gonna whip my ass back into shape and find a fuckin' cure!"

"For which curse?"

"Both of 'em!"

"Good." Ryoga smirked, "I can't exactly have my revenge on someone who would rather just lay down and die, now can I?"

Ranma looked up at him and spoke with a mixture of irritation and respect. "Yer a jerk, ya know that, Ryoga?" She rubbed her bandages "And you hit like a piledriver. My head hurts!"

Ryoga winced, "Sorry about that, I didn't know."

Ranma grimaced, "You couldn't have." She paused briefly before punching him lightly on the shoulder "Hey can ya get some hot water started? I really wanna get out of this form. I need ta see what kinda condition my real body is in."

Ryoga set his bundle of wood down and set to coaxing the fire up. He and Ranma shared a meal of ramen and rice. The meal had light bits of conversation throughout, mostly consisting of Ryoga keeping Ranma's spirits from falling. He knew that despite whatever front she was putting up now that she was in bad straits. He felt an obligation to nurse Ranma back to health, even if he had to play-act and boost her spirits in order to achieve that.

As they finished up their food, the tea-kettle over the fire whistled, informing them that it had completed its task. Ranma took the kettle from off the fire, careful not to burn herself. Eagerly, she raised the kettle above her head and poured the steaming liquid from its spout over her temporarily unbandaged head. As the steaming water cascaded over her head and down across her shoulder-blades, she involuntarily let out a sigh. During the cat's tongue fiasco she had grown an appreciation for just how good hot water felt. As it flowed down her back and across her chest, she noticed that the sensation was distinctly different. Something was missing.

As the water reached her nethers, she realized exactly what it was that was missing. Her sigh became an exhalation of all the air in her lungs. She tensed up, furrowing her brow briefly before opening her eyes. She didn't have to look down to confirm it, the sensations of her female body were too distinct for her not to be able to tell, but even if she weren't able to, it was plainly written in his face. Shock, followed by sympathy tinged with a bit of fear.

She was stuck. Again.

"Ranma-"

"Don't." She took in a deep breath, calming herself before slowly exhaling it.

"Don't start."

"Start what, Ranma?" Concern was written plainly in his face.

"Don't start treating me like one of your damsels in distress, man. Right now, I really can't handle it. It sucks enough practically being an invalid without you having to treat me like one so just-" She audibly balled up her hands into fists. "Don't."

Ryoga tensed his jaw, gave Ranma a firm gaze and nodded.

"Alright."

She nodded back. "Let's pack up and get going. The sooner we get back to Nerima, the better."

"Are you sure you should be travelling with that concussion?"

She flashed him a glare. "Ryoga. What did I just-"

He toughened his resolve. "Hear me out before biting my head off. I wouldn't travel on an injury like that, and I'm hardier than you in your prime."

Ranma bit back the venom that she had prepared to spit at him and thought for a moment.

"We'll travel until nightfall or until I tire. Whichever comes first. I won't push myself and risk further injury but we need to start getting some headway. Your supplies won't last forever."

"Didn't you bring any?"

"My pack didn't come with me on my magical 'pass out and teleport' trip."

"Shouldn't you go back and get it? Is there anything you need in it?"

Ranma gazed off to the side before returning to meet Ryoga's gaze.

"I'll come back for it. After I regain my manhood."

Authors Note: Long time since writing! I've had this sitting around for ages but I promised myself that I wouldn't publish it until it reached 5000 words, but at this point, I think I'd better keep releasing or else this won't ever get finished. I'll try to get another chapter out sometime before 2013 ;)

-Cat5