DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ranma 1/2. Nor do I own any other recognized series/characters that may appear in this story. Characters and series elements are copyright of their respective owners.


A/N: Once again, I need to tell the readers to usher the kiddies out of the room as this chapter has a naughty bit or two. Other than that, chapter 5 sees the appearance of a few new characters and flushes out the details of some now familiar (albeit warped) faces. To the Ukyo fans out there, please refrain from coming after me with pitchforks. Hate mail....... well, as long as it's constructive criticism. Oh, and to the sci-fi fans out there, try not to groan too loud at the not so hidden Star Wars quote. I couldn't resist *evil grin*


Ryouga walked off the set, soaking wet. He was more than a little sore from the fight, but soon dismissed it as he casually walked over to Akane. Moving past him was one of the animal trainers with P-chan on a cushion. Ryouga reached the object of his desire just as the little piglet was placed on-set to resume the scene. As the fight wore on in the background, Ryouga stood in front of Akane and gave her a fangy grin."Hey Sweetlips, miss me?"

Akane blushed. Ryouga smiled and continued as he leaned in a little closer.

"I'll take that as a yes. What say you and I head for my trailer and make up for lost time?"

Akane nodded. "I can fill you in on what's been shot while you were away." she exclaimed.

"Why waste time talking?" Ryouga answered fiendishly. "Conversation is a lost art. And I can think of a lot more interesting things I'd rather see you do with your lips. I need to get out of these wet clothes. I'll be waiting if you care to join me." he finished at a whisper only Akane could hear. With that, he headed over to his trailer for some dry clothes.


Akane simply stood there. *He hasn't changed. Doesn't he love me? I mean really love me? Why doesn't he ever want to do anything other than...* Akane was too frustrated to blush at her own thoughts. Instead she was worried that all Ryouga cared about was his spontaneous concept of 'fun'. Letting out a sigh, Akane was set to watch the remainder of the fight scene when Shampoo came up beside her. "You look about as lousy as I feel.." she said quite blandly, not taking into account how her words may sound to Akane. Actually, what Shampoo really needed was for someone to listen. And by the look of Akane's face, she just might be the understanding ear the young actress was looking for.

"Excuse me? What do you mean by that, Shampoo?" Akane asked. She was pretty sure no one knew of her involvement with Ryouga, so her colleague must have been referring to something else. It was Shampoo's turn to sigh now. She looked on at the fight scene involving her love prospect and best friend, respectively and finally spoke.

"I went on a date with Mousse last night." she stated. Akane smiled at her. "I wasn't aware you two were seeing each other." she replied.

"We're not......." Shampoo said solemnly as she stared at him from afar. "Our date went so well. At least I thought it did....... but today all we did was argue. He hates me, Akane.."

Akane blinked. Less than a minute ago she was offering congratulations to Shampoo, now she found it was a completely different story.

"I'm sorry to hear you argued, but I'm sure Mousse doesn't hate you, Shampoo." Shampoo didn't even move. She simply continued to speak as she was.

"I even told him how I felt. He gives me no words of kindness, not one smile. All I am to him is an annoyance.." she began to cry as she forced out the rest. She had to get this off her chest or it would eat her up inside. "Love means you talk to the person. You enjoy being with them, being near them. The very sight of them makes you feel light inside, like a warmth that envelopes your heart. I feel all those things when I'm near Mousse. But he shows no such feelings toward me. Instead he barely speaks a word to me. What kind of love is that? With such lack of communication, how can I ever hope to mean anything to him? Maybe I should just give up......."

Akane's eyes widened at Shampoo's words. She slowly found herself spotting parallels between Shampoo's predicament and her own. Sure, Ryouga didn't hate her, or yell at her. But he rarely really talked with her either. When Shampoo spoke of Mousse, Akane tried to show she followed by glancing over at Mousse in response. But instead her gaze fell squarely on Ranma. It was at that moment that she felt something. She wasn't sure what it was, but it felt, warm. When Shampoo finished, Akane put her hand on her shoulder. As she spoke words of comfort, she found her eyes refused to unlock their present gaze.

"You shouldn't give up, Shampoo. Even if things seem rough at first. If you feel something that wonderful when you're around him, you should keep trying for what you want. A long lasting relationship."

Shampoo paused. She had never said anything about a 'long lasting relationship' in her confiding in Akane. Obviously she had just been witness to a slip of the tongue. Smiling, Shampoo looked at Akane's eyes and followed them to their target. When she saw it was Ranma Akane was staring at, she wondered if her best friend had finally gotten off his ass and told the girl how he felt.

"Thank you Akane." Shampoo stated. "I shall try to keep my spirits up." Just then, Mousse was sent into the sprinklers. At the director's call, Mumu-chan was set down in his place and Mousse came off the set just as soaked as Ryouga before him. Shampoo smiled one last time to Akane and followed where Mousse had gone.

Akane watched as Ranma left the set and went to his trailer. All of his scenes for that episode had been shot already, thanks to Ryouga's disappearance. So, the director had told him to take a break and that he'd be called if needed. Ranma headed back to his trailer, carefully avoiding looking at Akane as he passed by her.


Meanwhile, Ukyo was in make-up, preparing for her next scene. Doing the exact same in the chair next to her was Nabiki. Ukyo stole several glances at 'Nab-chan', none of them going unnoticed. Finally, the make-up girl working on them left them to go to the backroom for a lipstick brush she had neglected to bring out. Ukyo was about to use this chance of them being alone to break the ice, but the visibly uncomfortable Nabiki beat her to it. "Ukyo, why do you keep staring at me? I mean, it was nice of you to make me lunch, but it seems everywhere I turn, you're there as well." Nabiki started. Ukyo, who was growing both nervous and dejected was about to interrupt when Nabiki continued.

"I'm sorry to say this, but I can't help feeling uncomfortable at all this....." she trailed off when a word accurately describing Ukyo's advances failed to come to her.

Ukyo sighed. She knew Nabiki wasn't on the same page as her, let alone the same team. But she also knew that Nabiki had never publicly made known a relationship, nor spoken of interest in any type in particular. Ukyo let herself press ahead with one last attempt to sway her. If Nabiki rejected her openly, she'd abandon it then.

"Listen Nab-chan, I'm sorry 'bout following you around like that. I was only trying to be nice. To let you know I'm here for ya. But, if you want me to go away that badly, I will."

Nabiki had felt uneasy at the 'Nab-chan' reference, but now her uneasiness was caused by a different source. The notion that her words had hurt someone's feelings. Ukyo took Nabiki's momentary silence as cause to continue.

"Tell you what. Let me make it up to you. I've got these two folks I met here at the studio a while ago. They're both very nice. One's a lovely young artist and the other's a smart lookin' race car driver, real cute. What say we all go out for coffee?"

Nabiki pondered over the request. She appreciated Ukyo's offer. Especially since there'd be other people around. With any luck, Ukyo would be too preoccupied with the lovely artist to make any advances like before. *Race cars, huh..* Nabiki nodded politely and Ukyo smiled, using all of her strength to keep from throwing her arms around Nabiki. *Down girl..* she thought. *I hope Nab-chan enjoys herself.*


While the director started a scene at the Ucchan's between Ukyo, Nabiki and Kuno, Akane stood motionless next to the wardrobe area. She looked on at two trailers in front of her, one a little to her left, the other, just off to the right. Akane had never realized this before, for she usually had visitors come to her, but Ranma and Ryouga's respective trailers were practically next to each other. Now, there she stood, like a lost pedestrian at a fork in the road. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and stepped forward. Her feet carried her to Ryouga's trailer, but some part of her kept trying to steer them the other way.

Akane knocked on the door and smiled meekly as Ryouga opened it and welcomed her in. "I was starting to think you weren't coming." he said as his arms wrapped around and pulled her to him. Before Akane could answer, Ryouga was kissing her full on the lips. As his lips found their way down her face to her neck, Akane was free to speak again, albeit a bit flustered.

"I.. I had to take care of a few things. It's good to have you back, Ryouga-kun." By this time, Ryouga had slipped one of the tiny sleeves of Akane's yellow sun-dress costume aside and was saying a long overdue hello to her shoulder. His lips parted company from her skin long enough to respond. "Why so formal all of the sudden? I much prefer it when you call me 'Ryo-chan'." He lowered his voice to a husky whisper and along with it, lowered his hand to her breast. "..Especially when you're screaming it." he kissed her shoulder again and looked up at her, a sneaky grin baring his fangs. Running his hand along her clothed breast, he led her to the bed. "Matter of fact, what say we find out if I can hear that scream again. It's incredibly sexy."

Akane commanded her body to behave as she escaped Ryouga's grip and sat upright on his bed, positioning him next to her to do the same. Ryouga took on a confused expression, having expected Akane to reciprocate rather than pause what he was doing. Akane looked into his eyes. What she was about to say could very well reveal Ryouga's true intentions toward her. *It's now or never.* she thought as she opened her mouth to speak. "Ryouga, where do you see us a year or two from now?"

Ryouga blinked. He was caught off guard by the question, but more to the point, he wasn't sure what Akane meant by asking. Shrugging playfully, he smiled at her.

"That's easy, gorgeous. This series is good for three more seasons according to our contracts. I see us here, making my trailer shake." He winked at her as he finished off. Akane sighed, deciding to try again with different phrasing. "What I meant was, do you see us getting serious, being in love, spending more time together?" Akane held her breath. This time he had to give her a straight answer. An answer she'd wanted for a long time.

"Well sure, sexy." Ryouga chuckled. "We get serious all the time. Oh boy, do we get serious. We make love, Sweetlips. With your sexy body, how could I not?" Ryouga eased Akane onto the bed as his hands explored her every inch, ready to pick up where they left off as he continued his reply. "..And hey, as for spending more time together. If you wanted to sample more of the famous Ryouga stamina, all you had to do was ask."

Ryouga was about to kiss her, when Akane sighed and sat up again, pushing him aside as gently as possible. A second time, Ryouga blinked, completely baffled by Akane's behaviour. Akane leaned in and kissed Ryouga softly on the lips, then stood up.

"I need to get going. See you later Ryouga. I'm glad you found your way back to us." With that, Akane exited the trailer, leaving Ryouga, sitting dumbfounded on his bed, wondering what went wrong.


Akane looked across at Ranma's trailer and walked over. She tapped on the door and was soon greeted by the sight of a surprised and embarrassed Ranma. *Oh man, she's here ta confront me 'bout that kiss. I'm dead!* Ranma thought as he simply moved aside to let her in. Akane stepped inside and sat down on Ranma's bed. Ranma, seeing this, was embarrassed as hell at the thoughts it provoked, but shooed them away quickly and squatted on the floor in front of her. He swallowed quite audibly and decided an apology was the best route.

"Err, Akane..... about before.." he started. Ranma was in the middle of finding the right words to continue when Akane cut him off, but good!

"Yes."

Ranma stared. He had no idea why Akane had said this. Was it forgiveness to the apology? No, he hadn't gotten it out yet. Was it that she actually 'liked' the kiss? That last consideration made Ranma blush. Akane noticed this and figured Ranma knew to what she was referring.

"I never did answer you about that invitation to dinner. It was rude of me not to. When did you have in mind?"

Ranma was awestruck. He never dreamed she would accept his invitation. Especially after what had happened. Forcing himself out of shock, he smiled. Akane couldn't help but notice Ranma's smile was cute. She waited for him to answer.

"Um, is tonight okay?" He said nervously. Akane smiled and nodded to him "Tonight is fine. I'll meet you at my trailer after work. See you then, Ranma." Akane stood up and bowed to him. Ranma just stood before her, staring. As Akane left, she smiled back at him. Only after the door closed did Ranma fall back on his bed in complete bliss.


"FOOLISH BOY!!!!" Genma's cry seemed to ring through the entire stage as he and Ranko proceeded to shoot one of their famous 'sparring matches turned ugly' scenes. Most of the cast was on break now. Those who weren't in wardrobe or make-up were off memorizing lines. Tatewaki sat outside Kodachi's trailer, cooing apologies through the window. She had barely spoken to him since the coffee prank.

"I'm begging you Koda-chan, let me in! You can't still be mad after all this time." he whined.

"You can stay out there until you prove to me that you're above such foolishness!" answered the stern voice from inside.

Just then a large splash was heard from on set as the director stopped the scene in progress. A crewman called out. "Can we get the panda in here!" Mr. Panda slowly emerged with his trainer toward the set. At the same time, Kasumi was storming out of make-up louder than ever. "Can't you people do anything right!? This junk is caked onto my skin so thick, I look like pancake batter!!!! My delicate skin can't take this amateur make-up job!! OH!" Kasumi's rant was cut short just then. Due to her fussing, she neglected to watch where she was going and thus walked straight in the path of Mr. Panda. The innocent animal looked down at her, barely phased as Kasumi let out a slowly, growing growl.

"Grrrrrrrrrr that's IT! I don't get any respect around such incompetents! Somebody get this walking carpet out of my way, NOW!!"

The trainer quickly led the animal to the set where it was needed as the fuming actress got set to yell for a third round. Just as she opened her mouth, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Swerving around to see who dared to interrupt her she met eyes with a grinning Doctor Tofu.

"What do you want?!" she roared. Doctor Tofu wrapped his arms around a startled Kasumi and dipped her in a deep kiss. Casually, he returned her to an upright position and let go of her with a sly grin. "Calm down gorgeous. Everything's under control. Now show the nice folks your beautiful smile."

"Oh my.." was all Kasumi could think of to say as she walked back to her trailer, calmly smiling a sweet smile. Tatewaki was among the many who had witnessed this and broke down laughing at the sight of it. "Guess she doesn't need my help afterall!" he blurted out between giggles. Kodachi who had emerged from her trailer at the commotion wasn't laughing. She glared down at her husband just as his giggles died down. He looked up at her just in time to catch her reply. "You're off to a lousy start." With that, Kodachi went back into her trailer and closed the door.