"Um, Akane… can you sit over there instead of here?" Said Ranma nervously as the two sat down for dinner.

"What happened to not being afraid of cats?" Asked Akane, obliging.

"I…well…I guess it was a onetime thing." Said Ranma. She was sitting rather stiffly, like she was ready to run if need be. After testing some slightly warm water and finding it way too hot, it was obvious that Cologne had done a repeat performance of manipulating the cat's tongue pressure point.

"That's just dandy! Now I have to Watch you freak out until we get those phoenix pills. That is if we get them at all!" growled the tiger striped cat.

Kasumi entered with dinner. As the others busied themselves with conversation and eating, Akane was trying to figure out how to eat without thumbs.

I can't use my chopsticks but I won't just eat like a regular cat…that would be humiliating. She thought. Her stomach began to complain, gargling and rumbling. Seeing no other options, Akane sighed and buried her face in the bowl, trying to eat without getting food up her nose. She wasn't very successful, and ended up getting rice tangled in her fur, which took an hour of brushing to get out.

"That looks like all of it." Said Kasumi, putting down the brush. She and Akane were sitting on Akane's bed.

"Thank you." Akane looked up at her older sister. "Hey, Kasumi? What do you think about me…now that I'm like this? Not just as a cat, but the entire curse."

"I don't think of you much differently than I did before. You're the same person, just with a little more hair." Kasumi giggled. Nabiki entered the room.

"Yeah, fur ball. You're still our baby sister. The curse only changed you on the outside. Well, mostly. If it happened to anyone, it wouldn't change our opinion of them." She said. She then pulled out the picture she had taken of Akane asleep on top of Ranma, and a picture of Akane practicing martial arts. The girl then picked up cat and set her down in front of the bathroom mirror. Kasumi followed.

"The girl in the pictures is the same girl in the mirror." Said Nabiki.

"You mean cat in the mirror."

"I said what I meant."

"She's right Akane. You are no more a cat than Ranma is a girl or Mr. Saotome a Panda." Kasumi scratched Akane behind an ear. The cat purred a little, then looked up at her.

"I guess you guys are right." She said. She hopped off of the sink and walked to Ranma's room. Akane needed a plan to beat Shampoo, and something told her that the Cat Fist wasn't going to help her this time.

"Ranma? We need to talk about tomorrow's rematch with Shampoo." She mewed, entering.

"Okay, but we're discussing this from other sides of the room!" Yelped Ranma, scurrying to the opposite wall. Akane glared at her, annoyed by her antics.

"Fine. Now, I'm almost certain that if I try to just go on and fight her like this, she'll kill me!" Said the cat, sitting down and wrapping her tail around herself.

"That's true. I mean, Shampoo's beaten you a thousand times over. You're not that good at fighting." The girl ignored the low snarl coming from Akane "You need an edge."

"What kind of edge do I have over an Amazon who's over twice my size!"

"You have a point." Ranma scratched her head and thought silently for about ten minutes.

"Well?" Asked Akane impatiently. She began to walk forward.

"EEP! Wait! I have an idea!" squeaked Ranma "She's bigger than you as a human, but as cats, you're way heavier. Trust me! All we have to do is build up on weight! Stay there!"

The cat was thoroughly confused. Ranma ran back in with a couple leg weights. She dropped them next to Akane and ran back to her place against the wall.

"We just have these around your gut and legs and bam! You can't be tossed around and you should be able to hit harder!"

Akane would have smiled had she been able to do so properly. She settled for a 'thank you' and a little purr. The cat then headed off to bed, as she would need all the energy she could get to beat Shampoo, even with Ranma's help!

/\/\

(0_0)-(-)~~~

V V –V V

Akane found herself in the dining room of a strange house. She once again was in her training uniform. But this time she had a ribbon with a bell tied around her neck.

"Akane? Oh, Akane!" Called a voice she recognized as Ranma's.

"I'm over here!" The girl called back. Well, tried. It came out as a cat's "Mew, me, meow!". Akane clapped her hands to her mouth.

A grown-up Ranma walked out of the hall, carrying a water bottle (the plastic drinking kind). "You know you're not supposed to get into the tea kettle! Good thing I found you first, kitty. Shampoo would've thrown you in a lake or something!" He scolded.

"Mew! Mew! Mew!" Akane was beyond confused. She was trying to ask Ranma all the questions she had stacking up in her mind.

"It's a shame you lost your human voice, Akane. I kinda miss it." Ranma sighed "But, at least I can still have you around. Shampoo didn't seem to happy about it at first. Truth is, I didn't really want to do it either. But you seemed so sad when your dad tossed you out, I couldn't have just left you there!"

Dad did WHAT? Ranma! What's going on here? Thought Akane, meowing franticly.

"Ranma Saotome having a pet cat. Who would've thought? Good thing Shampoo cured me of my childhood fears. My wife can work wonders!" The man laughed to himself.

"Conditioner is getting antsy. Can Ranma bring cat for Conditioner to play with?" Asked the adult Shampoo from down the hall.

"Better do as she says." Ranma dumped the contents of the water bottle onto Akane, who shrunk down to her feline form instantly. He then lifted her up and carried her down the hall. The two entered a room that was painted sky blue. Pastel Furnishings were scattered around.

"Kitty!" Squealed the small, blue haired toddler at Shampoo's hip. She was like a tiny carbon copy of the Amazon next to her. "Put down the kitty, daddy!"

DADDY? Akane's head was whirling.

"Alright, Conditioner!" Said Ranma cheerily, putting the cat down. The Adults backed up.

Grabbing two very familiar weapons, Conditioner charged at Akane. The toddler giggled as she approached.

"Meow! Meow! Meow!" Akane was crying out for help. She was chased out of the house and into the street, where a crowd made up of her friends, family and neighbors cheered.

"Knock her block off, Conditioner!" Called Kuno pumping his fist into the air.

"Stand still, cat!" Yelled Ryoga. He started throwing

"Wake up, Akane! Wake up! Wake up…"

/\/\

(0_0)-(-)~~~

V V –V V

"Wake up!" said Ranma from outside the room.

"Ugh…what is with my dreams lately? I swear, next thing I know those two are gonna adopt a dog or marry me to that ghost cat." Akane shuddered at the thought.

"Who's gonna do what?" called Ranma.

"Nothing. It doesn't matter."

"Well, then get out of there! Your match with Shampoo is today."

Akane jumped down from her bed and slunk out of the room. As she walked out of the house, she was surprised to see many people cheering her on.

"Knock 'em dead!" Nabiki smiled as she said this "I bet quite a pretty penny in you!"

"Make the Tendo name proud!" Said Soun.

Even Genma who had activated his curse earlier was waving pompoms and making excited growls.

"Let's go, Ranma." Said Akane "You need that Phoenix pill as much as I do." As the two walked to the Cat Café, a familiar face came into view.

"Hey, Ranma! Last time I checked, you were scared of cats!" laughed Ryoga. He walked up to them.

"He still is." Akane waved her tail.

"Wha? RANMA! What have you done?"

"Hey, I didn't do this!" Ranma glared at Ryoga "It was Shampoo!"

Ryoga personally disliked Shampoo. She had tried to cook him after all! Now normally, he would've left the blue haired girl well enough alone. But this wasn't a normal circumstance by any means.

No one does that to Akane! No one! The eternally lost boy's face contorted into rage. "I want to help."

"I don't think…"

"Wait, Ranma. He can help! We need someone as backup in case Cologne or Shampoo try anything funny." Akane nodded towards Ryoga.

As the three walked into the Cat Café, they braced themselves for whatever was in store for them.