"So my child, have you come to a decision?" asked Cologne, balancing on her walking stick.

"Yes, great-grandmother, I decide to go along with your plan," answered Shampoo.

The two of them were standing in the kitchen of the Nekohanten before the restaurant was to open.

"Very good," said the old woman, "You realize that as an amazon you must try every tactic at your disposal. I know you pride yourself in your ability to fight, but sometimes drastic measures are needed to win."

"Shampoo understand and am willing to do anything to make Ranma my husband," replied the girl, heading for the swinging door that leads to the dining area.

"You know what you must do now," responded the old hag.

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Ukyo remained absent again. This concerned both Ranma and Akane. He thought she might be avoiding them because she is unable to accept the fact the two of them are together. They both agreed to go and see her when school let out.

Walking home, they took a little detour and headed for Uchan's. Looking through the restaurant's front window, they saw her working away the time sweeping the floor.

They entered and were greeted with a half-friendly, "Oh, hello."

Returning the hello, Akane came right out and asked, "Why weren't you in school again? Was it because of us being together?"

The other girl stopped sweeping to answer her, "I just didn't feel like going today."

Noticing the bandage on her elbow, the boy asked her, "What happened to your elbow?"

Looking down at the wound, she replies, "That I got yesterday. I was nearly hit by a car."

"A car?" he repeated, a shocked tone present in his voice.

"Yep. Luckily Ryoga saved me," she responded, smiling, "He came out of nowhere, grabbed me and pulled me to the side."

"Ryoga did that?" asked Akane, sounding surprised.

"Yeah, he did," said Ukyo, beginning to blush.

"Are you wearing one of his bandanas?" wondered Ranma, looking at the headband she was wearing.

"He showed up here this morning. I tried to give it back, but he said I could keep it.," she explained with a big grin, "You know, it's kind of funny, before he saved me he could say full sentences whenever he talked to me, but this morning he was fidgeting and stuttering, it was almost comical."

Smiling to himself, Ranma says, "Sounds to me like he has a new crush."

With a puzzled look, she asked, "What makes you say that?"

"That's how he acted whenever he was around Akane," replied the boy, "He was just too shy to tell her."

"He had a crush on me?" wondered his girlfriend, looking at him.

"A big one. Why else would he give you all those things from his travels," he pointed out to her.

"All that because he-. Are you serious?" she asked him, starting to turn red.

He nodded.

"That would explain the fruit basket he gave me this morning," said Ukyo, pointing to the item sitting behind the counter.

"And I think you have a crush on him too," added the boy, smiling some more.

"I do not!" she replied quickly, her face turning tomato red in color.

"Deny it if you want, I can see it in your face," he said, "And I think you two would make a cute couple."

"I do too," agreed Akane, smiling along with him.

"You really think so?" she asked, sounding hopeful.

"Yeah, I think you'd be great together," answered Ranma.

"Thanks," she said, looking down at the floor. Picking her head up, she puts down the broom and asks, "So, do you guys want anything?"

"No, I'm good," said the other girl.

"Ranma?" wondered Ukyo.

He told her, "A friendship."

"What was that?" she asked again, not sure she heard him right.

"I want us to be friends again," he repeated.

"Oh," she sighed, turning her gaze to the floor again, "I thought about that a little bit. I said to myself that you're an idiot for thinking we should be friends again."

The boy's smile faded when he heard that, "Then I guess we'll be going," and he started to turn to walk away.

"Wait," she replied, looking up and sighing again. She continued, "I also thought that I'm a bigger idiot for agreeing with you."

Just as quickly as it left, his smile came back.

"Friends?" he asked, holding out his hand.

"Friends," she answered, smiling as well, accepting the handshake.

"Will we see you in school tomorrow?" wondered Akane.

"I'll be there," she told them.

Heading for the door they say goodbye.

"See you later," said Ukyo, waving to them.

"Good luck with Ryoga," called Ranma, "I don't know when he'll be back, but I'm sure it'll be sooner than you think."

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"That's two down," said Akane, walking down the street, hand in hand with Ranma.

"And only Shampoo remains," he pointed out, finishing the sentence for her.

"Right. She's going to be the hardest one of them all. It looks like a fight will be the only way to stop her pursuit of you," she explained.

He stopped walking and she stopped as well.

She turned towards him and asked, "Why did you stop?"

"You don't have to fight her if you don't want to. I mean, I don't want to see you get hurt. I'll fight her instead," he replied, sounding sincere.

She said, "That's sweet of you to say, but I'm going to fight her. She needs to know that I'm willing to stand up for myself and for what is rightfully mine," and she pulled him forward.

He knew that once Akane's mind was made up, not a lot of things can change it. Making their way for the front door, the couple see Kasumi waiting for them with a gloomy look on her usually happy face.

Her sister asked, "What's wrong?"

"I found this stuck in the tree by your window. It's addressed to you," she replied, handing over the item.

It was an arrow with a note attached.

Removing the letter, Akane opened it and read it.

"It's from Shampoo. She's challenging me to a fight tomorrow after school. It says, 'We will decide which one of us is fit to marry Ranma.'," said the girl.

"You did say you wanted to fight her," answered the boy.

"Yeah, I did, but not that soon," she pointed out.

"Don't worry, I'll help you train," he responded, taking the note, "When I'm done, you'll be ready."

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Breathing heavily, Akane was nearly out of energy. Ranma was also low on stamina.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she says, "This is what I call training."

They have been working out in the dojo for three straight hours without a break.

"I told you I'd help you train," he replied, "I'm just surprised you got a couple of good hits in. You've obviously gotten faster and stronger too." He began to rub the side of his chin and added, "That one punch to my jaw still hurts a little."

Kasumi entered the dojo carrying a tray with two glasses on it.

"I brought you two some lemonade and came to tell you that dinner is almost ready," she reported.

Putting the tray down, the eldest Tendo daughter returned to the kitchen.

"Let us take a rest," said Ranma, moving over to and sitting down next to the tray.

Not having to be told twice, Akane joins him.

Sipping on the lemonade, she asks, "Do you think I'm ready to fight Shampoo?"

"Mastering the Fierce Tiger Shot would help," answered the boy, "But I'm sure it'll be a good battle between two very powerful people."

Looking over at her, he notices she has a despairing look on her face.

"What's the matter? Did I say something wrong?" he wondered.

Placing the half-full glass back on the tray, she told him with her gaze pointed down, sounding doubtful, "I'm not sure I can win tomorrow. Shampoo's been training and fighting most of her life. Hell, fighting is her way of life. I don't know if I can compete with that."

Putting his glass on the tray, the boy stands up and steps in front of Akane.

"Come on," he says and helps her to her feet, "You've trained most of your life, too. Think of it this way: anyone can be beaten on any given day. Get rid of the negative thoughts and think positively for a change," and he gets in a battle position.

Charging forward, she tries to land a punch. Instead of dodging the ongoing attacks, Ranma blocks each one as they came.

"Do you think I'll win?" she asked, sending a Forward Kick his way.

"Yes, I think you can, but what I think doesn't matter. What matters is you have to believe you can win," he replied, stopping the attack with a low Crossblock.

She immediately launched a Straight Right Punch, only to have him tilt his head to the side, letting the attack sail by. Her next attempt was to sweep his feet out from under him, but the boy jumped over the sliding foot. From her kneeling position she quickly dashed forward, catching him off guard with a light Shoulder Spear, putting him on the ground and she fell on top of him.

Laughing, he says, "You did that on purpose."

Akane gave him a tiny peck on the lips and replied, "Yes I did," and then she punched him in the kidney.

Groaning slightly, he responds, "That wasn't fair."

"So? What are you going to do about it?" she wondered, poking him in the ribs.

"This," he answers, tickling her stomach.

"Stop that!" she giggled, while he rolled over on top of her.

Sitting up, he continued his assault on her mid-section saying, "Say 'uncle'."

She tried to stop him by pushing his hands away and kicking him wildly in the arms and chest.

Squirming around under his attack, she replies between laughing and breathing, "Okay! I give! I give!"

At once he halted on command. Laying on the ground, she kicks him one more time.

She tells him, while gasping for air, "Very funny, Ranma."

"What? At least I got you to smile," he pointed out, looking at the big grin she had on.

"Thanks," she said.

Standing up, he helps her to her feet again.

Holding her hands, he adds, "Anytime," and then he releases them.

Kasumi came back into the dojo and said, "Dinner is ready you two, go wash up."

She left the couple and went back to the kitchen again.

After cleaning up, they sat down at the coffee table in the common room to plates of food already waiting.

Before they could start, Soun asked, "Have you accepted yet?"

"Not yet," she answered, replying with a sigh, "I told you I'll let you know."

"Hurry up and accept. We have most of the planning done, we're waiting on you two," he told them.

"I've been meaning to ask, how many people were you planning on inviting this time?" wondered his youngest daughter.

He responded, "A few."

"How many, daddy?" she repeated, sternly.

Laughing nervously, he said, "A hundred."

"Why couldn't you make it a small wedding with only our immediate family and friends?" she asked in a complaining tone of voice..

"Saotome wanted three hundred, but Nodoka persuaded him to drop it down to a hundred," explained her father.

"But still, that's a lot of people, daddy," she pointed out.

"How many do you think we should invite?" he wondered.

"How about thirty?" answered Ranma, putting his two cents in.

"Yeah, thirty sounds good," she agreed, looking back and forth between the two males.

"But it's your big day, we should invite as many people as we can," argued the old man.

Nabiki steps in and tells Soun, "Don't forget: the more people you invite, the more it'll cost you. Remember, the bride's family pays for the wedding."

"As I was saying, thirty people should be enough," he replied, shoving food in his mouth.

"Thank you, daddy," said Akane sweetly, turning her attention to her plate.

------------------------------------------------------------

When dinner was over, the two teenagers went back to the dojo for a few more hours of training. Afterwards, they each took separate baths and went to their individual rooms for the night.

Slipping on her new nightgown, Akane was sore from training and was ready for a good night's rest. Before she climbed into bed, she heard a faint squealing sound. Looking under her bed she found P-chan hiding underneath.

"There you are. Come on out," she says, reaching for him.

He allowed himself to be caught and snuggled, hardly putting up a fight. The pig had a look of despairing regret on his face, as if he didn't want to be there at that particular point in time.

"Where have you been?" she asked, holding the little black piglet close.

All she got out of him was his common response: "Bwee."

"Ready for bed?" she wondered, putting the pig on her bed.

Almost immediately he jumped down to the floor. She picked him up and placed him on the bed again. Once more, he jumped off the bed and onto the floor in an almost insistant kind of way.

"Don't you want to sleep with me?" she asked, confused by the piglet's actions.

P-chan answered her by shaking his head 'No'.

'That's weird. I thought he liked sleeping with me,' she said to herself.

Knowing she shouldn't force her pet to do something it doesn't want to do, Akane lays one of her pillows on the carpet for it to be a make-shift bed for the little guy.

He crawled onto the pillow and squealed, "Bwee," as if to say, 'Thank you.'.

"Goodnight, P-chan," she replies, pulling the covers over her chest.

Staring at nothing, she says to herself, 'I hope you're right about tomorrow, Ranma,' and then she closes her eyes.