Disclaimer; This fanfiction uses existing ideas, characters and or worlds, but is an independent work of art. I own nothing, hence the reason for publishing my writings here instead of in real books where I could make some money.
Ranma woke with a groan.
The last thing he remembered was him sending a ki blast at Weapons-Master Karia, while she sent a chi blast of some sort at him. The two blasts had collided, and after the explosion there had been a strange vacuum that had pulled the two in, crashing them against each other and knocking them out.
"Must be a side effect of using different attacks …" mused Ranma.
The room looked unfamiliar … it smelled like a hospital, and an old fashioned one at that.
But that couldn't be right, the only clinic he had heard mention of had fallen victim to the fight Brianna and Grave Diggers had for the right to live. It couldn't be back to normal this quickly, could it? But then again, "magic" was very frequent in this realm, so having an entire building restored in no time at all didn't seem like such a silly idea. But hadn't that healer disappeared, or was that something he imagined?
He sat up and grunted. His body felt sore all over. Not even his fight with Saffron had left him this sore.
"Aspirin? Water?" asked a small, feminine voice next to him.
Ranma looked but saw only what looked like a pink turtle shell with wheels where the legs would be, and with an interactive face right in the shell where the head would poke out. It was a Peebo, according to the description Brianna had given him. Small bit bombs with Artificial Intelligence. They were Brianna's pride and joy.
Balanced on this Peebo's head was a glass of water, and a bottle of aspirin was next to it.
"Thank you," accepted Ranma and extracted two of the white pills and swallowed them with the offered glass of water.
Small spots under the Peebo's eyes seemed to redden for a moment, almost like a blush.
"What's your name?" asked Ranma, trying to be polite. The little thing had after all been kind enough to give him some water and pain relief, though it had yet to take effect. Not to mention it could cause an explosion, which was another reason to be polite.
"I have no name, but my production number is #042," answered the Peebo. "But you can call me whatever you like …" it added in an almost shy tone. Those red spots made another brief appearance.
Ranma mulled this over some. For several minutes, Ranma was silent, thinking about possible names for this Peebo with feminine characteristics in its voice and pink colouring.
"I think calling you #042 would sound too impersonal, don't you think?" asked Ranma conversationally. The face of the Peebo bobbed up and down, as though it was nodding. "How about Beebee? Short for Bit Bomb, or Big Blast?"
"Yes! That sounds very good!" agreed the now named Beebee, practically beaming in her pleased expression.
"OK, hello, Beebee, I'm Ranma," said Ranma as way of introduction.
Ranma could have sworn Beebee giggled for a moment, but this was a machine, machines didn't giggle, did they?
"So, Beebee," started Ranma. "Were you told to watch over me?"
Again, the face of Beebee lit up in red, and a meek, stuttered denial of that question was issued. From what Ranma could decipher from this admittedly cute stuttering, was that she had done this on her own initiative.
Ranma would have asked what had put her up to it, but he was interrupted by a swirling portal of a teleportation spell came into being, depositing Seance, Genn and Brianna.
"No time to explain!" gasped Brianna and grabbed Beebee. "Need to get to mom! She's in trouble!"
Ranma was hauled off the bed by Seance, revealing that he only wore his mage suit, and once more the teleportation spell was cast.
The party of four, plus one Peebo, were deposited in the middle of an arena, crowded with people that were climbing down the walls to rush into it.
Right before the small group was a severely wounded Julia, struggling to get to her feet, and with tears of despair in her eyes. Standing victorious above her, was a dwarven woman with long brown hair set into a curly ponytail, holding a staff with three connected sections in her hands.
The group managed to scoop up the wounded Mrs Diggers, and with the last of Seance's strength cast one more teleportation spell.
Meanwhile in Atlanta, Georgia, Britanny Diggers was at the front door of her own house.
The werecheetah in question was balancing on one foot, while holding as many as six paper bags filled with food and other necessities, using her remaining foot to ring the doorbell.
"Ginaaa! Stryyp!" she called out, ringing the bell a few more times. "Somebody answer the door!" another round of rings on the bell sounded. "I've got groceries!"
She noticed that the sun seemed to get brighter and the world darker, and turned around, curious about the source.
"What in the world?" she muttered as she saw a swirling light portal in the sky, about ten feet off the ground from the path to the house, whipping loose foliage up and around from the ground.
Suddenly, dropping from the portal, were five shapes. Seance, Brianna, Genn, a strange werecat, and Julia, her mother. Naturally, she was curious.
"Whew! Made it!" breathed Brianna as she touched down smoothly, her power armour donning her body, indicating a struggle.
"I don't think we were followed," said Genn, relief obvious in her voice and expression as she touched down.
"Good …" rasped Julia, and made a stumbling landing.
"M-Mom?" asked Britanny in curiosity.
"Remember! We head back in thirty days," whispered Julia to her party. "That should be enough time for me to rest and prepare …" after a moment, she added. "And don't breathe a word to anyone of what happened! Understood?"
Ranma had no intention of crossing this woman, even in her current state, and nodded in agreement along with the rest of the group. He really didn't know much of what had happened, but could tell she didn't want anyone to know of her fight at the arena.
"Hey! WOW!" exclaimed Britanny and walked towards them, having put down her bags while the conspiratorial whispering had taken place. "Everyone's back from the "Great Jade Vacation"! Welcome home!"
Brianna, somewhat off the emotional centre answered in a fashion matching her state of mind, while setting the Peebo down. "Er … Hi, Brit! Did you miss us?"
The werecheetah walked up to her sister. "Hey, Brianna! Did you remember to get me some prezzies from your trip?"
"Well … um …"
"What happened on your vacation, sis?" asked Britanny curiously. "You're not leaving my sight until I've heard alla details!"
"Well," started Brianna, stuck in her sister's firm grip on her upper arms. "It's like this … mom was-"
"BRIANNA!" interrupted Julia sternly. A hurt and serious look was directed at the pinned woman as a moment passed in silence.
"-just … just … uh ... teaching us all about hiking and camping and woodsy stuff! Aheh, heh, heh …" Brianna finished lamely. Britanny was not fooled for a moment.
"Hey … Wait a minute …" said Britanny slowly, tentatively sniffing the air. "I smell blood? A lot of it! Is someone hurt or something?"
Britanny sniffed some more and went past everyone until she got to her mother.
"Huh? It's coming from you?" she asked in concern. "Mom? Are you hurt? What's wrong?"
During this questioning, she pointed her finger at her mother to affirm that it was her she was addressing.
"Now, Britanny, it's not polite to point …" the wounded woman chastised, the bandage on her cheek doing little to hide her state of health.
"But, mom!"
"Your dear old mom just had a little accident!" interrupted Julia, stressing the last word. "I'm not the young, daring swashbuckler I used to be …" a soft grunt of pain escaped her. "M-mind if I borrow your automobile, dear? It's a long walk back home and I'm a bit worn …"
Britanny dug out her keys and handed them to her. "Uh, sure, mom … Here …" she paused in thought for a moment. "Hey. Now that I think about it … your and dad's house is only two miles away! You've never been too tired for that walk before!"
However, her protests were unheard, as Julia had already made it into the cheetah coloured car and was starting it.
"Good bye, dear!" called Julia as she started down the road. "I'll return it tomorrow morning!"
"Mom! Wait! MOM!"
But it was too late, the elder woman had screeched the car down the street and was out of hearing range.
"All right, then … Brianna, Genn, Seance … one of you is gonna tell me what happened!" demanded Britanny.
Brianna was busy instructing everyone to pick up bags and carry them inside.
"C'mon everybody! Time to get Brit's groceries inside!" she sang, obviously avoiding the demand. Ranma was one of the first inside, guided by Genn, who knew the house, and followed by Beebee who was balancing a can of tuna on her head.
"Good idea!" chirped Genn in to support the distraction.
"If we waste time talking out here, everything will spoil!" finished Brianna in that same singsong tone.
Britanny would not be dismissed so easily, and followed the group into the house. She had yet to recall Ranma's presence, which was something he was glad of, as he didn't need another female drooling over him. Only a few had not drooled at him since his transformation. First and foremost was Beebee, followed by Mrs Diggers, Genn and Sheila, though Sheila and Beebee were acting strange around him. He hoped the answer to his problems was that women already spoken for would not try to touch him inappropriately.
"It's no use, Brianna," snapped Britanny as she followed her sister inside the kitchen. "I'm going to dog you and hound you until you tell me what happened to mom!"
"Nothing happened, sis … really …" denied Brianna weakly, evidence of her lying plainly visible on her face. "It was just a camping trip accident! Yeah …"
Just then, a well equipped blonde wearing only a tight blue tank top and a set of very short denim shorts entered the room.
"Brit?" she asked. "Was that you making all that noise outside?" annoyance was clear in her tone. "Banging on the door and jabbing the doorbell? Don't you know I've got delicate scientific experiments to conduct in sub-level two?"
She looked around the kitchen in confusion.
"Huh?" she asked in confusion. "Brianna and the gang are back?"
Britanny approached her, glancing over her shoulder at her youngest sister in annoyance.
"Look, Gina …" she started. "Something weird happened while they were gone. And they aren't tellin' what!" the sole female werecheetah leaned in and whispered conspiratorially. "Our only chance is to interrogate them! You be the "good cop" and I'll be the "bad cop"!"
"What are you obsessing about?" asked a confused Gina. "Interrogation? "good cop", "bad cop"?"
"Shh! Not so loud!" hissed Britanny in a whisper.
"I swear Brit, someti- I -" Gina's response trailed off as she saw something. "-I-"
What she had caught sight of, was the new and improved Seance, standing next to Ranma, handing him stuff from the bags to transfer to the proper place. In her mind, Gina was undressing the two men and placing herself in various scenarios with either of them.
"Gina?" asked Britanny. No response. "Gina?" she started snapping her fingers in front of the woman's face. Still no response part from a deep blush settling over her features as the daydream progressed. "GINA!"
The blushing woman was forced from her daydream by Britanny turning her head from the sight and to her.
"Look, Gina … can't you see this is more important than your libido!" demanded the irate werecheetah. She was about to continue her arguing when she noticed something that stole her temper away in confusion. "Hey, who's the kid?"
Ranma looked away from his task.
"I'm not a kid, I'm eighteen years old," he replied. "And I'll beat it into anyone who disagrees." A small bluff, he wouldn't start beating people for no reason, but a threat might make them think twice.
Apparently, he was wrong.
"Bwahahahaha!"
Britanny didn't seem to believe him capable of performing on her level. Hmm, he would have to rectify that …
"If you don't believe me, then I challenge you!" he stated firmly. In the background, Seance and Brianna were waving their hands and shaking their heads, trying to subtly tell the werecheetah not to accept. Unfortunately, those kinds of signs were not noticed.
"OK, maybe I can show you what a real werecat fighter can do!" laughed the woman and wiped a tear of mirth from her eye.
In the background, Brianna and Seance sighed in resignation, while Brianna added a slap to her own forehead before diving into the refrigerator where she saw several familiar shapes, fish … TROUT!
"Hi," started Gina, sticking out her hand. "My name is Gina Diggers."
Ranma, familiar with the western custom, accepted the hand and made sure not to squeeze too hard.
"Ranma," he replied kindly. "So, what scientific experiments are you conducting?"
"Oh, nothing much, for a real scientist, that is …"
"Really?" asked Ranma, wondering what level of intelligence she was on compared to her younger sister. "I dabble some with inventions myself … maybe we can have a discussion about it sometime?"
Gina was about to reply when Ranma was pulled away by Britanny.
"Come along, kiddo, let's have words," she groused.
Ranma resented being called a kid, but came along. This woman had some strength, and would have made it difficult to resist anyway. He was pulled into the hall where he was released against the wall.
"Look, kid," started Britanny. "If you are going to stay here for any stretch of time, there are two things you need to know to survive." One finger was ticked. "One; Bri' and Gina have libidos that could outpace a herd of elephants, so don't get involved or tricked into small confined spaces alone with them." A second finger was ticked. "Two; never, and I cannot stress this enough, never start talking about science or inventions with either of them unless you seriously have an interest, or they'll bore you to death or ask you to test some of their inventions! Most of the time, you'd end up injured from a small miscalculation!"
"Understood," replied Ranma, then paused for thought. "That would explain why Brianna insisted on getting me a mage suit … and why she kept hanging on to me …"
"You didn't …"
"Nothing happened," denied Ranma vehemently. "But, can you tell me why this Peebo seems to be reacting strangely around me?"
"Strange?"
Ranma illustrated his point by pointing at the door they had come from, where Beebee was poking out curiously. The Peebo squeaked, blushed and rolled back into the kitchen when she realised she was discovered.
"That was … odd …" agreed Britanny. "If I didn't know better, I would think it had a crush on you …"
"… that would explain some of her shy behaviour …" sighed Ranma and looked to the heavens. "Why me?"
It was night in Atlanta, and Ranma stepped out of his car in front of the hall where the Explorers' Society Banquet was to take place.
He was wearing a black borrowed tuxedo, and was in human form. He didn't much care for the clothes, as they were much too restrictive, and would tear apart like wet tissue paper if there was an actual fight. His only consolation was that he was wearing his mage suit underneath. He didn't know why Gina had invited him along … he had hardly known her for more than a day, but then again, it would be impolite to decline such an offer, so he accepted.
Before he left, he had tried contacting his mother, but was informed by the phone service that there no longer was a Nodoka Saotome registered. He had then tried contacting his bank, and was informed that his name had been changed on the account, from Saotome to Koki. He did not have time to call the phone service about a Nodoka Koki, because he was almost out of time … maybe he could try when the banquet was over. The important part was that he had let his bank know he was fine, and to send him a credit card at the address of Gina Diggers in Atlanta, Georgia.
The car in front of him was Gina's. She had offered to drive him, but Ranma asked why he needed a ride if he had one. Besides, she was to pick up her on-again off-again boyfriend, Ryan Tabbot, and the less Ranma got to see of any mushy stuff, the better.
Gina was wearing a lovely blue dress and jacket, and seemed very confident in winning the award that was given annually at this Banquet. She handed her keys to the valet.
Though Ranma was trusting, he didn't want anyone to fiddle with his car, so he took the distraction of Britanny waving her sister over as the perfect time to stow the car back into stuff space.
Ranma walked away from the curb and noticed the two unknown persons by Britanny. One was a dark lady with very curly hair who wore a grey business suit. The other was –
"A phoenix?" asked Ranma. This was cause for further investigation.
Ranma approached the yellow skinned woman with the wings.
"Hi," he started, offering his hand to the woman. "My name's Ranma."
"I'm Charlotte," greeted the winged woman cheerfully. The name brought unwanted associations with a certain kleptomaniac ice-skater girl back home.
"You wouldn't happen to be a phoenix, would you?" asked Ranma conversationally. He couldn't really think of any subtle way of asking, so being blunt seemed like the best tactic.
"What's a phoenix?" asked Charlotte in confusion. "Penny?"
"What is it Charlotte?" asked the woman in question.
"This is Ranma, he asked me if I'm a phoenix, but I don't know what they are … do you?"
"A phoenix is in mythology a bird that burst into flames, died and was reborn from its own ashes, and you are a harpy, not a phoenix, girl," answered Penny tiredly. Then she directed a glare at Ranma. "And what's your deal, trying to confuse my bodyguard?"
"I'm sorry," apologised Ranma sincerely. It was time to bring out the big guns … manners. "I had a few run-ins with the phoenix people in the Bakalayan mountain range in China, bird-people not unlike this lovely woman, and wished to know if she was one of them. I'm sorry for any inconvenience my question brought." Doing the only polite thing, Ranma bowed and gracefully picked up each of the two women's right hands in turn and gave them a peck on the knuckles. It was corny, he knew, but it was written in many books on etiquette that this was the proper way for a man to greet a lady … a written commentary by another reader added that it was also great for flattering a girl, and would only result in one of two ways, a slap or a smile.
Penny seemed unaffected by this, only raising a brow at the behaviour.
Charlotte, on the other hand, raised her three-clawed hand before her mouth and giggled shyly while blushing.
Before anything more could be said, Brianna grabbed a hold of his tie and pulled him along.
"Come on, lover-boy," she sang. "Time to get to our table!"
Ranma really hated that title, as it was completely unwarranted … he had not been with any woman or others in that way, and had no immediate plans on it.
The inside of the banquet hall was very fancy. And it was filled with fighters and only a few archaeologists and explorers. Why the fighters were there, Ranma had no idea. Until Gina explained that the fighters were the bodyguards of the explorers, and that they were here mainly because of the drunken brawl that normally followed the banquet. This was the only reason the fighters were here, and it was traditional.
There were many fighters, but only a few stood out.
First and foremost was a giant of a man, almost eight feet tall, with long red beard, bulging muscles, and a safari suit with the finishing touch of a hunting rifle and a belt with a huge buckle, like those world champions in boxing tend to put on. There was just something scary about him, and this was the thoughts of a man who had killed a demi-god with his bare hands and fought a dragon descendant to a standstill while levelling an entire mountain … actually, he had levelled a mountain for each of those two ... oops?
Ranma was taken to one of the numerous round tables, and was somewhat pleased to sit next to the bubbly harpy. At least he wouldn't have to worry about being grop-
"Ugh!" Ranma realised that he had spoken too soon, and tried to get Brianna to remove her hand without letting the world know about his situation.
The lights were dimmed and Gina started for the podium to deliver her discovery about real, living Djinni, though this one couldn't grant wishes. Ranma's nerves were getting frazzled, as Brianna took this as an opportunity to up the groping.
Before Gina made it to the podium, it was taken by this guy named Fauntleroy, who was giving the same presentation as her, only with a different Djinni, and a more violent story of acquisition.
Gina was a tad miffed that no one seemed to care about which order things went by.
Ranma, on the other hand, was suspicious. The last time he felt something like this from a person had been from Herb, the prince and sometimes princess of the Musk. This man had dragons' blood flowing through his veins, and from the concentrated feeling, he was more pure-blooded than Herb was. He would have to keep an eye on the man. From what Ranma could tell from all of these people, only a few would be able to go up against the man and be the one to walk away. He even had doubts that he was capable of that feat. Perhaps after a year or two of intense training …
Mrs Diggers seemed like a good fighter, maybe she could teach him after she had taken care of that thing on Jade in a month's time. If she was one of the best of Jade, a realm where everyone had to know at least some basic form of fighting, even if they hardly used them even when the opportunity presented itself, then she might know a few tricks.
Then the lights went out completely.
Ranma didn't know much about presentations or banquets, but he knew this was not part of the deal.
His keen senses picked up a short struggle behind the curtains behind the podium, followed by a rocket shooting out from there, hitting the far wall of the hall.
Someone called out that it had come from the table Ranma was at, and since it was apparently a well known fact that Brianna had a weapon fixation, plenty believed it and the drunken brawl was started before anyone could manage to get drunk.
Ranma was having a blast.
This fight was a real challenge, much like his fight with Weapons-Master Karia. But here there were more opponents, and most of them above the skills of most his fiancées and rivals in Nerima.
Though the fighting was fun, Ranma's real goal was keeping the non-combatants in this section of the hall out of harm's way, which proved quite a challenge, as several people had brought weapons such as firearms to this "shindig" and were not shy about using them in concussive ways rather than lethal.
Three of the more powerful fighters in the hall had disappeared, to where, Ranma had no idea, and no time to wonder. Bullets and other projectiles were flying through the air, and only the overturned Titanium-alloy-reinforced dinner tables prevented any real harm to come to those hiding behind them.
Ducking one blow and sidestepping another, Ranma was having fun. There were so many different styles at work in this hall, and he tried to memorise everything he could manage to sense or observe while ducking and weaving between bullet, animals, rockets, blades, feet and fists.
His borrowed suit was not faring as well as he was, as the cuts and tears all over it could contest to. Ranma hoped this Stryyp person would understand, and not be upset with him for not being careful with it. That guy had radiated with power, though most of it did not seem natural, leading him to believe that he was cheating somehow … but no matter what, he wasn't fool enough to egg on someone that would use such things as telekinesis to fight with only a little effort.
Speak of the devil and he will appear, there the cat-man was now, with his hand wrapped around the fist of that Fauntleroy guy. From the strained expression on the dragon-man's face, he was in pain. This only served to prove Ranma's reasons for not wanting to upset Stryyp.
Not far behind, Ryan and Seance were beaten badly, and Britanny was in danger of losing her decency.
Gina looked ashamed for some reason. The giant hole in the wall behind them may have been the reason …
Ranma felt the need to hear what had happened, but knew well enough not to press where pressure was unwanted.
This was the turning point for the brawl, and everyone started calming down some. Not long after, some were kind enough to go about treating injured fighters.
Outside, the police were settling bets on who would take down whom, while dunking their doughnuts in their coffee. The rookies still could not believe that they would not do anything to the hooligans that were destroying private property and discharging firearms of various destruction capabilities so recklessly.
These rookies were sent to get more coffee and doughnuts to keep their whinging and complaining from getting too annoying for their superiors.
Meanwhile in Tokyo, Japan, Nabiki Tendo was on her way to work.
It had taken some adjusting to the new life she was starting away from her family house. She wouldn't be able to handle bets anymore, nor blackmail. The boss was too strict for that. Another worker at the PR office of Mihon Inc. had tried something similar and was fired and blackballed from the media business. This job helped her keep food on the table, so Nabiki was not fool enough to try something like that.
Occasionally, she saved her company some money by doing the photography jobs they were supposed to handle, instead of letting a professional do the job. From all her experience with snapping photographs in the past, she had gotten quite proficient at it, and she had gotten no complaints about the quality of the images to date … though she had hardly even had the job for two weeks.
All in all, things were picking up.
She walked past the news stand in front of her office and had taken only a few steps before she froze.
"Was that …?" no, it couldn't be …
Slowly, she retraced her steps, and came to a halt before the "science section", where she picked up a magazine.
There, on the cover of the magazine, with a silly grin on his face that she remembered taking a picture of when he had gotten a technique right, which technique it had been she didn't much care at the time. And hanging in the air before him was what looked like a small bracelet with a monofilament wire instead of chains. The banner of "Possibly the greatest inventor of the year!" came like a blow to her head.
Ranma, an inventor? And of something that actually worked? And that didn't involve fighting?
She rifled through the magazine, ignoring the cried of protest of the man behind the counter, and came to the article, where a rough sketch of the effect of the invention was set up.
This was highly advanced stuff! No one had done this! How on earth did Ranma sneak this by her without her noticing at all? And if he was so smart, why didn't he do well in school?
Tearing the page out of the magazine, Nabiki stormed off to the nearest telephone, which happened to be in the lobby of her job's office building, to tell Auntie about this.
Maybe if he really did come back, she could handle his Public Relations, or better yet, be his manager.
By the time she got back home for the day, the magazine had cost her ten thousand yen in fines, but she had kept her article.
In Tokyo harbour, a reunion was taking place.
One was a crippled old grandmaster of the Anything Goes school of Martial Arts, who had only gotten his superficial injuries healed before emerging from his journey through the Tokyo sewer system. He had gotten swept away with the currents, and was helpless to fight it.
The other was an amorous female octopus, who had swallowed a permanent love pill and seen said old man first upon swallowing the pill. She was very pleased, to be reunited with her love, and he had stopped fighting her! He loved her!
Much to Happosai's dismay, the overjoyed squid entangled him in her tentacles and somehow managed to pull him along out to sea.
Back on Jade, the Amazon hunting party were in a tiff.
Their prey had been in their sights, fighting one of the Ten, and had made it into a draw, a draw that knocked them all out from the force of the blast. And he was nowhere to be found when they had regained their senses.
The reputation of the Jade Amazons was at stake, they needed to find their prey again, and fast!
"I hope you realise that the agreement is fulfilled and we shall pay no more," commented Cologne. "The agreement was that you help find Son-in-Law, which you did … then you lost him, we will not pay more than up till the day you first found and lost him."
The local Amazons wanted to argue, but knew better. The agreement had been for that set time, and they had to continue now, their honour and reputation was at stake. Money or no, they had to find the werecat, or lose all the respect they had as hunters and trackers in Jade.
The hunt was on once more.
Not far away from the Amazon hunting party, were three wererats, who were also wondering about where their prey was gone to.
"Some of the people from the Arena said they saw a black werecat escape with the disgraced Arms-Master," suggested Romeo.
"Just f&#ing great!" growled Lydia. "Now he's with the werecheetah! How the f&# are we supposed to get past the Glare of Doom, not to mention an Arch-Mage and his wife, who happens to be one of Jade's greatest fighters, to get rid of another werecat?"
"Like, wouldn't she, y' know, be angry with us for putting that, y' know, collar on her?" asked Moisha nervously.
Lydia's eyes widened.
"F&#!"
"Great," grumbled Romeo. "Just great …"
On a bed in another clinic in Seer's Hamlet, Weapons-Master Karia was going over the fight in her mind while waiting for her wounds to heal.
She could only come to one conclusion … that werecat was a prodigy, and come Hell or high water, she would meet up with him again, and either settle the issue of which of them was the better, or settle down with him. He had proven worthy of her attention, and good men were so hard to find …
Author's Note; Not much happened with this chapter … just a couple of short corrections.
