Thank you for being patieny. As of late it hasn't been easy for me to come back, and I haven't been paying attention to this universe either. I apologize if I made you wait too much, hopefully you'll understand it wasn't my intention to leave things unfinished. I'll try to catch up, but try to be patient with me. That's all I ask.

(PS: Luckily, I wrote half of the chapter before Life interrupted me, a couple of months ago. So I was able to finish the rest today without concern. Enjoy.)

- Azalia

A ghost could be seen within the mist at the house of the Tendo, a ghost... and a small piglet. The mist, coming from the bathroom. Obviously.

"What a day..." - Ranma tried to be as quiet as possible with everyone in bed by the time she had reached the shower. Unclothing herself was the next step but first she had to lay down P-Chan, then she began. He couldn't stand the sight of Ranma naked, not that she wasn't a total beauty, but his small body had already lost too much blood and he didn't wanted to risk his own life for such a sight.

"Alright, P-Chan! In you go!" - Before he could even react, he felt his body flying upon the air, with eyes popping out of surprise and landing into the bathtub. What came out struggling though, was the same little piglet now soaking wet and trembling of cold. - "Arah, it's cold already? Bullocks, plan B"

Again without him able to think of the situation, another shot of water had fallen upon him. This time however, the water was hot and it now came from a thermos bottle. What followed though wasn't a pleasant thank you from the now naked Ryoga, but a strong fist on the thick head of Ranma who was still smiling with that silly face of hers.

"Ah!" - The pain made her fall on her butt, with her eyes turning into anger, wanting to reply with an even stronger fist on his jaw or by dropping him in the bathtub again. Instead though, she only complained. - "What the hell was that for, you ungrateful son of a...!"

"Ranma! You're nuts, you could have made a new pool of the drowned pig if I hadn't got out of there!"

"Pft... How exaggerated" - Replied Ranma as she tried to smooth the pain on her head. - "Your loss wouldn't have been the greatest though, due to your miserable life"

Ryoga's patience was running very low now, and soon he had taken Ranma by the shoulders and threw her to the bathtub. - "Feel the meaning of hell, Ranma!"

"Gyaaahh!" - Ranma complained as she quickly tried to get out of the bathtub, being colder than what it was just a few minutes ago. - "A-Are you a-an idiot! You almost kill me!"

"Same thing you almost did to me!" - Another complaint was about to come out from his voice when Ranma suddenly fell on the floor. The sight she gave to him was that of a woman in pain, and Ryoga's anger disappeared. Soon the worry began to fill his being. - "O-Oi, Ranma... Are you alright?"

Ranma felt a sudden blush and her heartbeat quickening, the atmosphere around them had changed almost completely. Her anger had vanished as well. - "A-Aye, Akane threw me out of the house again today and... the land didn't go well"

Due to the constant yell, pain and anger they both gave to each other, only until she said it, Ryoga realized it was true. Her left side was completely scratched and with wounds that led a path of severe scratches from her shoulder to her knee, her knee being the most wounded of them. - "S-So that's why she had that stick..." - Thought Ryoga, feeling horribly for what he did and the way he threw her.

"Come" - Ryoga all the sudden he sat on the floor, taking the spare of clothes that Ranma had taken with her. Wearing only the bottom and leaving the shirt on his hands.

"No"

"Just come here, is not what you think" - He didn't waste anytime and soon had he taken Ranma by the hand, pulling her next to him, making her sit with some strength.

"W-What are you trying to do?" - Ranma couldn't believe the audacity of being pulled like if she were a weak girl, but in that moment she couldn't feel the strength on her body, finding herself doing what he told her to, a feeling that almost made her be afraid. Not even noticing her breasts had bounced not far from his face because of the sudden movement, making him blush for a moment.

"Calm down Ryoga boy, remember she's a guy..." - Coughing to try and distract his mind from the sight he was not not far from, he started to act as the cool guy. - "What else? I'm gonna take care of your wounds" - Said the guy as he started ripping the old shirt in shreds, taking care of the wounded flesh and wrapping them around the cuts when needed.

The procedure wasn't exactly easy, mentally speaking. His eyes were in a constant fight with his curiosity of finding other scratches on spots of her body that weren't of his business. Before his conscience got the best of him though, he realized his hands were shaking, and it wasn't about being close to her. Not anymore, at least. - "Could you please stop doing that? You're shaking like crazy"

"C-C-Can't stop... It's..."

"You're cold?" - Ryoga felt stupid for a moment. He had ripped off the dry cloth there was around, or maybe he didn't wanted to go and search for another, it would mean to leave her side. He didn't want that in the least, not with the innocent look she was now giving.

"N-No! It's just t-that... I... Ah!" - Ranma felt how the entire world had paused. Ryoga sat not only very close to her but wrapped his arms around her small body.

Those moments of shock were for both. Ryoga couldn't believe what he was doing, or that his body wasn't reacting like other times in the past. Ranma couldn't believe she was being held against a man's body, against Ryoga's to say the least, and that she wasn't backing away.

Her eyes looked on the nothing for some moments, like if her heartbeat had stopped almost entirely. For that time, she felt peace, and warm. A warmth that filled her body only when Ryoga had called her a beautiful woman without the usual mockery. Ranma then, couldn't stop her body from resting against his own, her body had stopped trembling as of now and her arms had wrapped around his waist. It didn't felt wrong.

Ryoga held her tighter against himself. It wasn't about keeping her warm anymore. It was about keeping her close and to never let go. With his naked chest, he could feel every single curve and muscle of her body, and he didn't backed away because of it, neither did she.

The environment remained silent between them both, their eyes looked at the nothing and their bodies wrapped each other like if they had done it before. For some reason, they were happy this way, they didn't want this to end. And so they remained like this until heavy footsteps were heard above them.