Chasing the Rainbow

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any related characters in any way, shape or form.

Author's Notes: I'm delighted the last chapter got a positive reception, and happy that this chapter came out quicker then the last one did. I think. Anyway, hope you enjoy this little disaster, and I hope we've found a way of handling "Ranma meets Nodoka while still needing to hide his curse" without basically mimicking the events of the second half of her introduction to the series.

Chapter 23: Another Bad Day For Ranma! Nodoka's Coming To Visit? Part 2

Nodoka sniffed softly, tears running unabashedly down her face. "Oh, my boy, my precious, precious little boy... look how you've grown!" She told him, voice harsh with emotion.

Ranma tried to think of something to say, but couldn't. In the end, it didn't matter; even the fear of his life didn't matter. He had his mom back... for the first time ever, he could see her again. He clutched her tightly as he could without actually hurting her.

"Oh, this is so beautiful." Ukyo wiped a tear away as she watched the touching scene with Kodachi and Shampoo. The rich girl nodded and 'hmmed' thoughtfully.

"Now we just have to prevent her from finding out about the curse."

Shampoo and Ukyo glanced at one another, "Ah crap."

"What curse?" Natsume asked, Ranma's fiancées looking at her with an expression of mingled wariness and disbelief.

Before anyone could speak, Nodoka finally released her hold on her long-lost son and took a step back. "It's so good to see you again, Ranma, but tell me; why are you here?"

"It's... uh, a long story." Ranma finally answered. "Ucchan? Can we go back to your place to talk?"

"Wha? Ah, sure, Ranchan." Ukyo quickly agreed.

Shampoo frowned, a visible expression of her jealousy and disappointment; why hadn't Ranma asked her if they could go to the Nekohanten? It was bigger then Ucchan's Okonomiyaki anyway!

The trip passed in relative silence; Nodoka gossiped with the girls, Ranma tried to equate the fact that he was walking with his mother in his true gender without worrying about having to carve himself open, and two father quietly followed with bated breath, hoping against hope that nothing happened to make Ranma reveal his curse.

Finally, they reached Ucchans, and while there wasn't a cloud in the sky as Ukyo fiddled with the keys, Ranma still glanced up from time to time before the doors opened and the group entered.

Nodoka accepted some tea and decided to get straight to business, she was happy that she finally was back with her son, but there was the matter of his accommodations to inquire about. "Now then, Ranma, Natsume-chan told me you had a fight with Genma. Is that why you were camping out there?"

There wasn't really any point Ranma could see in denying it. Best hope she not take this the wrong way. "It was with Soun, but yeah." He admitted.

"Oh, my mistake. But still, what happened son? What was so bad that you had to leave?"

How to put this...? Ranma wondered. "There was... something of a disagreement over my refereeing a match involving his daughter."

Nodoka blinked, she had seen Soun in his moods before, but still... "Just what sort of disagreement? Where you not being impartial?"

"I was. That was kind of the problem."

Natsume squirmed in her seat; she still felt so ashamed of that.

Now Nodoka was confused. "I'm afraid you lost me there, son. How could being a fair, impartial referee get you into an argument with Soun? Granted, he's...emotional, but that shouldn't be the reason."

Ranma sighed softly. "He blamed me for not fighting in Akane's place in the first place, because I insisted it should be Akane's battle to fight, as Natsume was challenging her for rights to be the champion of the Tendo Dojo."

Nodoka glanced at Natsume, who squirmed, and then back to Ranma, "And that's why you left?" Nodoka grimaced, "I always knew he was emotional, but that shouldn't derail your ability to conduct a fair competition. And you are right, it is a fight for the right to be champion of the dojo, which means you technically have no right to fight in it anyway, you practice a completely different style after all."

Nodoka sighed, "This is starting to get confusing."

"Tell me about it." Ranma muttered.

Nodoka shook her head, "Well, I'm sure Soun will come to his senses and apologize, it's such a silly thing to get angry about anyway."

The sound of something knocking over garbage cans outside was heard and dismissed by all present as being stray dogs.

Ranma said nothing. He just looked into the cup of tea that Ukyo had given him. As silence hung in the air for a few moments, the sound of a telephone ringing caught their attention.

"I'll get it." Ukyo said brightly, stepping away from the counter to do just that. When she returned, though, she looked as if she was torn between fear and amusement. "Uh... Shampoo?" She asked.

"Yes? What spatula girl want?" Shampoo asked.

"That was your granny on the phone. She's... not too pleased that you skipped work today." Ukyo informed her.

Shampoo's face went as pale as a sheet before she yanked the phone out of Ukyo's hand and starting babbling apologies in Mandarin. After several minutes, Shampoo finally calmed down and nodded as she listened to Cologne on the other end and then hung up, "Shampoo need to head back to Nekohanten, sorry about that."

The girls nodded but Nodoka spoke up. "You work at the Nekohanten?" At Shampoo's nod, Nodoka smiled, "I've heard so many good things about it, would you mind if we had lunch there?"

No-one dared refuse, so the group left Ucchan's to head to the Nekohanten.

As they walked, Ranma was torn between staying close to his mother, who obviously was happy to see him again, and staying away from her, so he could avoid her seeing if he had some freak water-related accident. He knew that, sometimes, water seemed to seek him out at the worst possible occasions; look at what had happened the first time he'd tried to meet his mother as a man! Maybe that old man hadn't meant it as a blessing when he'd shouted at Ranma to "always live in interesting times"...? Nah, that couldn't be it.

And that was when the first blast of water did come out of nowhere. Ranma repressed a scream, but discovered he needn't have bothered; the water didn't come anywhere near him. Instead, it just narrowly missed splashing Shampoo, who leapt aside swearing in her mother-tongue.

"Nyahaha! Nyaaahahaha!" Came a hysterical shrieking sound

Nodoka stared in confusion as her manly son let out a very unmanly yelp, visibly stepping back apace and trembling with fear at the bizarre apparition that now confronted them.

Shampoo, meanwhile, ceased her cursing to glare at that same creature. "Not you again!" she spat.

"Correct! It is I, the one whom you defeated so long ago and whom who robbed of my rightful bride! It is I, the one whom you shamed! But no more! Now, you shall beg for the mercy of the great and powerful Maomolin! Nyahahahahahahahaaa!"

Ranma had his arms up in a defensive posture, a stance that Shampoo and Ukyo had also fallen into. Kodachi and Natsume, on the other hand, were currently in the same position as Nodoka; staring in confusion at this strange apparition.

"Ranma? What is going on, here?" Kodachi asked in confusion, holding off her familiar pet names for the moment. She had rather a right to be confused, or so she felt. After all, it wasn't every day that you saw a cat the size of a large bull wandering even the streets of Nerima, much less one with an eerie greenish-blue aura around its body, eyes glowing bloody red, and wearing a strange (and, privately, rather tacky) cat-faced amulet on a collar around its fat neck.

"More to the point, why is a giant cat accusing you of stealing its bride? Don't tell you've run into an actual catgirl in your travels?" Natsume joked feebly.

"That not funny!" Shampoo barked.

Natsume winced back; what had she done that warranted the Chinese girl trying to bite her head off? Of course, Natsume was unaware that, as part of the New Year's Incident, Shampoo had briefly become a "catgirl" thanks to Maomolin's neko-magic.

"Nyahahaha! You may have defeated me on that fateful New Years Eve Ranma! But I, Maomolin, shall have my revenge today and claim my bride! And there is nothing that you can do to stop me this time! For I have found the legendary Cat King's Amulet, a magical artifact that boosts my incredible powers a hundred-fold!" Maomolin waved a paw in Ranma's direction, "And I shall be more than willing to give you a demonstration of its powers! Nyahahahaaa!"

Had this been any other opponent, Ranma would have met such a boast with his own confident chest-puffing bravado. But, between his usual fear of Maomolin and the bakeneko's new uncanny aura and appearance, Ranma's teeth were chattering and his legs knocking together so badly that he didn't have a chance of moving, much less trying to trash talk the Chinese ghost cat.

"Ranma? Whatever is the matter?" Nodoka asked.

'Why doesn't somebody just kill me now?' Ranma wondered; this was humiliating enough at the best of times, but to let his mother see him like this?

The Chinese Amazon stepped to the forefront of the group, chúi materializing in her hands as she did so "Stupid cat-ghost get out of our way! Shampoo no have time for likes you!" She jeered, and then she said something in her native language that was undoubtedly very rude indeed.

"Ah, my pretty bride, so nice of you to step forward once more. Why not come with me peacefully and I shall spare these mere mortals?" Maomolin affected what might have been a gracious smile, but it looked more ghoulish than gracious as he offered a paw.

"You was never particularly smart... but this is just pathetic. What makes you think you get Shampoo now, when Shampoo chase you off all those times before?"

Ranma tried to not look like he was either relieved at Shampoo's defense (or Ukyo's, as she was also advancing into a defensive position) or grateful for having her between him and Maomolin.

Maomolin hissed, eyes blazing as he took a step forward, the ground shaking with the action, "How dare you! Very well then my dear, if you shall not come peacefully I shall break your mind and bring you to the wedding altar by force! And as for you..." The giant cat's gaze turned towards Ranma. "I'll make sure you never get the chance to ruin my plans again!"

"Okay! That more then Shampoo need to hear; Ukyo, let's kick this beast's ass!" The Chinese Amazon proclaimed imperiously.

"Precisely why do you think I want to help you with this?" Ukyo asked rhetorically. "Then again, I could use some exercise!"

As her bifauxnen Japanese rival cracked her knuckles, Shampoo hefted a chúi menacingly in Maomolin's direction. "Evil spirit, who seek over three thousand years for human bride, today be your last day plaguing this world!"

"Nyaahahahahahah! Come and face me then mortals and rue the day you ever faced Maomolin! Nyahahahahahahahaaa!" Maomolin began to glow ominously as he drew himself upright and lifted a paw in readiness to strike. A person witnessing the scene would have thought Maomolin looked exactly like a waving cat statue without the gold coin they usually hold. The two sides stood there, waiting for the first move that would start the battle in earnest.

With a giant swipe, Maomolin struck a nearby fire hydrant and immediately a stream of water blasted forth at the group. Ranma dodged out of sheer instinct, but Ukyo and Shampoo were not so lucky as they disappeared into the spray.

"Nyaahahahahaha! You fell into my trap perfectly, now I shall transform my bride into a beautiful bakaneko and marry her! Nyahahahahaha!"

"You're going to what?" Ranma shouted, disbelief, terror and rage all tumbling and twisting over each other in his voice. And then he screamed as Shampoo, soaking wet and now in her cat-form, leapt out and clamped onto his head with all the force she could muster.

Shampoo hated doing this, she really did; she knew just how frightened of cats her beloved was... but if they didn't get out of here now, well, it didn't bear thinking about! Even as her future mother-in-law asked in confusion what the matter was, the concern in her voice evident even though Ranma's terrified screaming all but drowned her out, Shampoo could feel Ranma blur into motion, desperately racing off anywhere in order to be somewhere that the cats weren't. This was good... the sight of Maomolin yowling in rage and chasing after them, a sight Shampoo could easily see from her current position, wasn't so good. She meowed loudly in Ranma's ear, spurring yet another burst of speed out of her unwilling mount.

"Oh, for the love of... Kodachi, take Mrs. Saotome to the Nekohanten and keep her safe, will ya? Natsume, you come with me; we gotta stop this before someone gets hurt!" The soggy figure of Ukyo snapped.

Kodachi nodded and quickly grabbed Nodoka's arm, "I think its time for us to leave." With that she pulled the confused mother away as Ukyo and Natsume sped off to intercept Ranma and Maomolin.

"Just what was going on there? Why did my son flee?"

Ukyo cast a wary look at her unexpected assistant. "I can explain... but you need to promise you'll keep this a secret. If word got out... my Ranchan's life could be ruined.

Natsume looked puzzled. "Why? What's so secret about it?"

As she led her future mother-in-law towards the Chinese restaurant as instructed, Kodachi tried to come up with a diplomatic way of explaining the situation. "Because, Saotome-san, Ranma has a reputation for being a powerful fighter here in Nerima. If it got loose that he had this weakness, his rivals and any new opponents would use it against him constantly and drive him mad."

"You're still not making any sense." Natsume declared.

"Look, I only know this because he met up with me and my dad shortly after he first got it. I... once found him having a nightmare about it, and I managed to coax the information from him. Let's just say that Genma Saotome is a terrible father..." Ukyo scowled.

"I'm listening..." Natsume stated. It was easy to run and talk at the same time, in this case; the three they were chasing left a pretty clear trail to follow.

"The stupid old man was flicking through this stupid old book one day and discovered some supposedly miraculous technique called the Nekoken - Freestyle Catfist Fighting, or Cat Fu. He doesn't stop to read it fully, oh no, he just up and wraps Ranma-honey in fish sausages and locks him in a pit full of starving cats!" Ukyo scowled bitterly.

Natsume stared at her, aghast. "He did what?" She yelped.

"Tossed him into a pit of cats while restrained and wrapped in fish sausage." Cologne sipped her tea as she shifted on her walking staff, "Of course, your son was made of stern stuff and survived, as well as managing to suppress the effects of the 'training' on him."

Nodoka frowned, "But then why did he..."

"Flee? It's quite simple, Saotome-san, its a reaction he's crafted in order to prevent people from getting hurt. You may think that fleeing is unmanly, but I consider the consequences of his not fleeing to be far unmanlier. After all, what sort of man allows himself to become a berserker, a mindless animal that cannot think, only feel?"

As Cologne took another sip from her cup of tea, Nodoka looked thoughtful, and then hesitantly spoke. "I...suppose you're right."

Natsume stared at Ukyo. In fact, she was so caught up staring that she almost ran face-first into a streetlamp.

"Look, you see why he doesn't like to talk about it? It not only paints a bull's-eye on his chest, it's humiliating! Anyway, this isn't helping us catch him, so watch where you're going and let's hurry!" Ukyo snapped.

"But still, it seems embarrassing for my son to fall prey to something like cats." Nodoka sighed as Kodachi and Cologne shrugged.

"Embarrassing it may be, but your son is more of a man not to let it rule his life. If he has to stay away from cats, its a small price to pay."

It had not been difficult to track the flight of their three targets. Nor was it particularly hard to catch up with them; though neither girl had any idea how it had happened, Ranma had somehow tried to turn down the wrong side of a one-way street, ploughing straight through the wall and into the alleyway on the other side, where he now lay unconscious. Shampoo, while evidently torn to defend her husband (not matter how much he, or his father, or Soun Tendo, or Ukyo and Kodachi, would have contested the title), was forced to keep away from him. The hulking form of Maomolin cackled wickedly and launched some sort of aura blast at the transformed Chinese Amazon.

"Nyahaha! Give it up, myi pretty! Nyou can't escape me forever!"

"Get away from her ya sick pervert!"

That was the only warning the bakeneko had before the angry forms of Ukyo and Natsume descended upon him like divine wrath. As they hammered, clobbered, kicked, stomped, cudgeled and otherwise brought pain upon the Chinese ghost-cat, Shampoo sat down on her furry little haunches, wondering if she should be feeling relieved, grateful, ashamed or angry at being rescued by her greatest rival. She blinked as the strange amulet Maomolin had been wearing came shooting out of the melee and came clinking to a halt nearby. In a dignified fashion, she picked it up by clamping her mouth around its chain, trotted off towards an open drain, and dropped it down into the sewers before prowling back and resuming her seat to watch as the show came to an end.

"Well... that was pathetic." Natsume declared, looking down at the unconscious heap of fur before them.

"Ah, this guy's a wimp. Ranma would pick his teeth with his whiskers if it weren't for that stupid ailurophobia thing Genma gave him." Ukyo spat. A meow with definite overtones of a fake cough caught her attention, and she turned her head to see Shampoo sitting there, watching them. "Ah, yes... can you go find some hot water? I'll just run back and grab her clothes..." She asked Natsume.

So it was that when Ranma regained consciousness, he did so to the sound of Ukyo and Shampoo talking.

"So you remember, this time."

"Believe me, kitty cat, one look at you naked was more then enough for me in this lifetime."

"Ukyo just jealous Shampoo have bigger tits, that's all."

"That's really not something I needed to hear." Ranma made a show of announcing.

"Airen!"

"Ranma-honey!"

"Good to see you two as well." Ranma grinned. "What happened?" He asked, looking around - and quickly looking past the unconscious Maomolin.

"You fainted." Shampoo stated bluntly.

"I did not!" Ranma snapped.

"Okay, you run headfirst through wall in blind panic and knock self out cold." Shampoo casually amended.

"That's better." Ranma said, wounded pride salved.

"Anyway, now that crisis is over and done with, can I ask something?" Ukyo drawled.

"Go ahead." Ranma told her.

"Thank you." Ukyo replied. She then took a deep breath, turned to face Natsume and promptly shouted, "What the hell were you thinking?"

Natsume recoiled in surprise, "Wuh?"

"Oh, come on! You knew about the Jusenkyo curses, surely those idiots back at the Tendo Dojo told you why Ranma can't meet his mom while he's got his!" Ukyo exploded.

Natsume shook her head, "No, they didn't. They were more concerned with getting Ranma to return to the Dojo."

"They were what?" Shampoo and Ukyo screamed, forcing Natsume to step back and hold her ears.

"Speaking of which, where is mom?" Ranma asked.

"Oh, crap. We trusted Kodachi to take her to the Nekohanten." Ukyo realized, slapping herself in the forehead.

"Shampoo not know you care." The Chinese Amazon taunted her rival.

"I don't. But who knows what she's been telling Mrs. Saotome while she's had her alone?" Ukyo asked, to which both Shampoo and even Ranma paled. The latter admittedly less so then the former.

"We better head over there before Kodachi says or does something to put Ranma in more trouble."

Shampoo nodded in agreement. "No telling what lies rich girl say to make us look bad."

Ranma rolled his eyes as he motioned with his hand. "Well, lets get going." Just then there was a creak under their feet before a geyser of water burst through the pavement, missing Shampoo but dousing Ranma fully before it tapered off. A wet Ranma blew a strand of red hair out of her face, "Wonderful, just wonderful."

Ukyo revealed a thermos, prompting a confused glance from the other two girls, "Lucky I came prepared." One quick splash the group was back on their way with a now back to male Ranma.

"Thanks, Ucchan."

Ukyo beamed and Ranma was about to smile as well, when a car drove through a puddle and soaked him, now her. "Oh come on!" Ranma spluttered

Ukyo splashed Ranma again and the group resumed, the Okinawan cocking her head curiously. "I just realized, you were standing right next to Shampoo, Ran-chan… how come she didn't get splashed like you did?"

Shampoo put a finger to her lips in thought and was about to reply when a shout from up above alerted them to another splash and Ranma glaring death at a window washer. "Shampoo think is something wrong with Ranma. Other Jusenkyo-cursed still live normal life, only get splashed every so often – we splashed often, yes, but much, much less then Ranma. Shampoo sure Ranma have whole other curse that make Jusenkyo curse too-too especially annoying."

Natsume blinked. "Another curse? Just how many do you have Ranma?"

The girl in question accepted another cup of hot water while grumbling under his breath before sighing. "You tell me, the way pops used me as his private patsy I have no idea how many people have slung hexes at us."

Finally they turned the corner to the Nekohanten and Ranma sighed, "Please let this be end of this bad day..." The girls murmured their agreement as Shampoo opened the doors and led the way in.

"Great-grandmother, I back." Shampoo announced meekly.

Cologne looked at the way her descendent was clearly waiting for her reprimand and decided to be lenient. "Fortune smiles upon you this time, my child. Mrs. Saotome here explained about how you were beset by that miserable spirit, Maomolin."

"Thank you, great-grandmother." Shampoo beamed with glee.

"However, you will still be disciplined after work today. After all, was it not your actions that brought him to Japan in the first place?" Cologne decreed, cutting down Shampoo's hopes.

"Aw, great-grandmother!" Shampoo protested.

While this was going on, Ranma looked to see his mother, sitting at a table with Kodachi, openly smiling to see she was unharmed. "Glad to see yer okay, mom." He told her, doing his best to ignore the borderline hostile and highly suspicious look Ukyo was directing at Kodachi.

Nodoka's expression, however, was far grimmer. Politely finishing her cup of tea off and setting it gently but grimly upon the table, she rose from her seat. "It is good to see that you are unharmed, son."

Ranma cocked his head to the side, quizzically. "Mom? What's wrong?" He asked.

"I am aware that your... condition... is not directly your fault. Though Miss Kuno was self-professedly unable to clarify all of the details on how you came to acquire your... ailurophobia."

Ranma swore, in the depths of his head. He didn't exactly have the keenest grasp on normal Japanese society, but he was aware that there was a certain stigma against divergence from the norm... and mental illness was one of the worst ways to be an outsider. "I can explain... it was all the old man's fault..." He began.

"Do not." Nodoka stated, simply and firmly. "You are already standing on shaky grounds, my son, as ashamed as I am to admit it. Please, do not prove yourself beyond redemption with your own ill-chosen words."

As she said these words, Nodoka had moved over towards Shampoo, picking up a small vase with a flower in it from the table as she did so. Turning to Shampoo, she bowed formally. "Please, forgive me."

"What for?" Shampoo asked, confused.

Nodoka promptly dashed the contents of the vase in the Chinese Amazon's face. Shampoo's clothing had barely begun fluttering to the ground before Nodoka snatched up the newly cat-ified girl and whirled to face her son, arm outstretched in his direction and causing Ranma to leap backwards. "A true man rises above any obstacle, overcomes any fear! If you have truly lived up to your oath, my son, then you shall master this ridiculous fear of cats and be proven as a true man. If you will not, then my husband has failed and you must die to atone for your dishonor." She decreed, bitter tears falling from her eyes as she said this.

Shampoo, upon hearing this, immediately began squalling in protest, claws slashing at the air as she tried to either struggle free or bite Nodoka for her actions. Unfortunately, this was a rather poor choice of actions, given she was currently being brandished at Ranma like a torch before Frankenstein's Monster. Ranma shrieked in fear and tore off out of the Nekohanten. Nodoka immediately gave chase, her demands for Ranma to stop this and prove his manliness competing with Shampoo's own distressed yowling for audibility.

Ukyo's jaw dropped at the sight. "She can't be that stupid!" She protested instinctively.

"Unfortunately, it seems she is - are you coming or not?" Kodachi snapped, already being well on her way out of the building.

Ukyo realized what was happening, shook her head, and raced off after Kodachi and Natsume, who had both sprung into action.

Ranma ran, and ran, and ran some more, barely aware of his mother's demands that he stop running and prove himself a man among men right this instant over the thundering of his heart and that terrible, terrible meowing behind him. Between his deep, deep psychological wounds and his own understandable fear of death at his own mother's hands, he couldn't do anything but run.

...Well, alright, he could also wonder just where the heck his father in panda form came from after the panda snatched him onto its shoulders and carried him off. Then he found himself being thrown to the ground before Soun dumped the contents of a bucket on him, changing Ranma into his female form and leaving her wet and angry.

"Okay, what the hell was that for?" She demanded.

"Show some gratitude, Ranma! We just saved you!" Soun bellowed, Genma grunting his agreement.

"Yeah, from a mess you caused." Ranma scowled back, wringing out her pigtail.

"How is this our fault?" Soun demanded.

"Let's see... you could have made some effort to keep mom from finding me in the first place." Ranma pointed out.

"That's not our fault - if you were at the Tendo Dojo, like you are supposed to be..." Soun began.

"What?" Ranma snapped. "You threw me out, ya half-wit! You chuck a tantrum and I'm out on the street - how is the fact I didn't know she'd come around to the Tendo Dojo again my fault?"

Soun's mouth flapped as he tried to come up with an answer before turning towards his best friend for support. When he saw Genma was holding up a sign with the kanji for "He has a point there," written on it, he shouted "Saotome, how could you?"

"Whatever, I'm outta here." Ranma scowled, standing up and striding off towards the exit of the alley she'd been snatched to.

"Ranma! Come back here!" Soun demanded.

"Forget it! I'm outta here!" Ranma stomped off, grumbling under her breath as she entered the street before taking a deep breath; maybe turning into a girl would be something useful. If only she could figure a way not to freak out at the sight of Shampoo, she could use her change in forms and her mother's ignorance to separate Nodoka and Shampoo, keeping her mother away from her newfound "instrument" and then think of some way to calm her down.

Ranma was jolted from her thoughts when she heard Nodoka's voice call out, "Ranko! Ranko dear!" She fixed a smile on her face and turned to face her mother, inwardly sighing in relief at seeing Shampoo draped across Nodoka's shoulder like a beaten up rag-doll. She could handle that; so long as Shampoo didn't mewl or anything like that, Ranma could pretend Shampoo really was nothing but a little stuffed doll.

"Ah! It's Auntie Nodoka! How are you?" She fought to keep her tenseness at being so near to Shampoo from appearing on her face or body language.

"I'm fine dear, so nice to see you back from your trip. I can't talk for long however, I need to find my son Ranma. You haven't seen him have you? I nearly caught him but he got kidnapped by a panda!"

Ranma felt her face twitch in an effort to wrestle away from her fake smile as she clapped her hands together. "Oh, that must have been Mister Panda! He so loves playing with Ranma he must have taken him to play a game! Well, if Ranma's still with him when I find that naughty panda, I'll be sure to tell him that you're looking for him!"

Shampoo stirred with a mewl, followed by a yawn that showed off her sharp teeth and Ranma felt her nerve start to break. "!" She dashed off, leaving Nodoka blinking in confusion as Shampoo stretched and lifted a foot to scratch her ear.

Seconds later there was a male yelp and a shout of, "Watch where you're going dammit!" Nodoka's eyes widened and she turned and sped towards the corner and spotted Ranma chewing out a salaryman, a spilled cup of coffee on the ground.

"What the hell is it with you people and losing your sense of direction when you spot a girl? Is it that difficult to remain focused on...on...oh crap." Ranma spotted Nodoka out of the corner of his eye, and she was already grabbing neko-Shampoo, who mewed once in confusion before she started struggling again.

"Ah, to hell with it! Forget I said anything!" With that Ranma took off at a dead run.

"Ranma! Apologize to this man! I'm deeply sorry, sir, rest assured I will discipline him for this – Ranma, come back here!"

Ranma ran, and ran, and then ran some more for good measure. He didn't even bother looking back over his shoulder; somehow, no matter what he did, his mother was keeping up on his trail, and was now waving that sword of hers around with her free hand, which was making people particularly eager to get out of both their ways.

'Gah, this is worse then when Shampoo first chased me around town!' The thought came skittering across Ranma's forebrain from nowhere, but it slammed home with the force of a slingshot. 'Wait a minute…' Now, just where was the closest public bathhouse…? And why was it that being in mortal danger always seemed to make his brain really kick it into notch?

Nodoka gasped desperately for breath, too winded to even speak now – she wasn't really a trained martial artist, not like her husband and son, so it was taking everything she had just to keep up this pace. She didn't know how much more her body could bear… but she had to do this, the contract demanded nothing less! She still groaned hollowly when she saw Ranma suddenly accelerate – but she would not be thrown off! After him she went, around corners and down streets, her legs feeling like they were turning to rubber when she saw him go streaking through the doors of a public bath. She forced herself on despite the pain, but it was really no surprise when she found her footing giving way as she hurtled into the (strangely empty) bath chamber, Shampoo going flying from her grip with a dismayed yowl and plunging into the hot bath on the far side of the room, legs scrambling desperately in the air. Nodoka, meanwhile, found herself saved from a painful introduction to the floor by a pair of strong, feminine arms around her waist.

"Are you alright M- Mrs. Saotome?"

Allowing herself to gasp for breath for a few moments, Nodoka looked into the face of her savior. "I… Yes, thank you, Ranko. I'm sorry, but I don't have time to talk right now – I'm looking for my son."

"…I'm sorry too."

Nodoka wanted to ask what Ranko meant by that, and by the unnervingly intimate embrace she had transferred Nodoka into, but something hard and thin jabbed a point on the back of her neck, and the world went black…

Shampoo rose from the hot waters of the bath naked as the day she was born, mad as a cut snake, and swearing in a fashion that, had she not been dead for a decade and a continent away, would have made her mother spank Shampoo's backside until it glowed red and wash her mouth out with soap. Ranma's mother or not, if that crazy woman thought she was going to get away with this…! Then she stopped, realizing that Mrs. Saotome was being gently laid out on the floor by a sad, tender Ranma, currently wearing his female form. "Airen?" Shampoo asked.

"I saw Happosai use that move on Ryoga during that mess with the Japanese Nanniichuan. Never had a chance to use it before." Ranma declared softly.

"What we do with her?" Shampoo asked, padding over the tiles to her unconscious mother-in-law, oblivious to her nudity.

And, of course, that was when Ukyo, Kodachi and Natsume came bursting into the room. "Put some clothes on, kitty cat!" Ukyo barked at her rival.

"Where you come from?" Shampoo asked disdainfully.

"Can we kindly focus on the real issue here?" Ranma's voice rang out, causing the girls to glower at each other, then concede the draw this time; each wanted Ranma to choose her, after all. Once she realized they had calmed down, Ranma spoke again. "I can't believe I'm asking this, but… do you have that Xi Fang Xiang Gao stuff?"

Shampoo's eyes went wide, and then fell into a sorrowful expression. From her own ki void, she pulled forth a bottle of shampoo. "How far back Ranma want Shampoo to erase?"

"Take…" Ranma choked, swallowed, then tried again. "Take it all. Make her forget she ever heard where I was, that she ever met me again…"

Nodoka blinked awake, her head felt rather fuzzy, and looked around to see the concerned faces of Ranko and the other Nerima girls. "Wha? What happened?"

"Oh thank goodness you're alright Auntie Saotome! You knocked your head pretty badly when you slipped on the soap!"

Nodoka looked around and realized that they were in a public bathhouse. Well, it made sense why Shampoo wasn't wearing anything except a strategically applied bath towel. "Oh, I slipped? It's strange, but I don't remember how I got here? It's all fuzzy..."

Strangely, the girls looked at each other, almost questioningly, before Ranko spoke up. "Well, we spent the day walking around and talking before we decided to visit the bath house, don't worry you didn't miss anything...anything special. Ranma and Genma went off to train and there's no telling when they'll be back."

Nodoka nodded, "Ah...I see. Well, perhaps I'll see them another day."

"I... If you'll excuse me, I gotta... I gotta go, I just remembered some place I need ta be. Girls? Can you keep her company while I'm gone?" Ranko asked, her voice strangely wobbly.

Nodoka noted this, but had no time to question as the other girls promptly pressed in around her, blocking off even her view as Ranko left the bath chamber.

Ranma burst through the doors as quickly as she could, fighting against the tears. "It's just not fair..." She hissed to herself.

"Ranma!" Soun snapped, popping out of nowhere alongside Genma.

Ranma's fists and feet flashed out in a blur, leaving both of the men barely unconscious and in a lot of pain on the floor. "Stay out of my way!" Ranma barked, then tore off as fast as she could. Ranma hated his girl-side, hated it, hated it, hated it... but, just this once, he was glad he was a she. Because being a girl meant that he could cry until the pain went away...

Some may think the ending of this is a little off. However, anime or manga, the fact Ranma can't see his mother while he has his curse is one of the things that most truly upsets him, in a "makes him sad" way, rather then a "make's him angry" way. Ranma will cry as a boy, yes, but he's much freer with weeping when in female form – for all that he doesn't like his curse, and I can understand why, I am not going to deny that Ranma's quite quick to use it as an "easy out", which I personally think is behavior he's picked up from Genma.

Anyway, sad to say it, but Nodoka's not going to be forming one big happy family with Ranma… not yet, anyway. In the future… well, who can say?

Next chapter will see Soun and Genma rally themselves to make a more determined push to bring Ranma back where he belongs. After that, we plan on doing our adaptation of "Nihao, My Concubine!" And once that's complete… just the events of the Ryugenzawa and Body-Switching Doll to go before we bring up the big climax with the Tendo Dojo Xmas Party!