Author's note: Updates may be a little slower during the holiday season.

Magic and Mushrooms Ch7

Ryoga was alone in the street holding an unconscious Ranma in his arms. Dammit! How am I supposed to find a hospital? Shampoo had left to take Mousse to the Cat Cafe and Akane and run home to tell Ranma's father and the Tendos that Ranma would be the hospital... assuming Ryoga could find it of course. He cursed them for having left him there alone then took off in the direction he thought it might be in.

Normally he would not have resorted to this, but he was desperate. He asked the first person he came across to please walk him to the hospital, this was no time to merely ask for directions. They thought he was a tad on the 'special' side, but did it anyway for the sake of the poor girl in his arms.

A nurse rushed over when he entered the emergency room. "What happened to her?"

"She was hit in the stomach with an iron ball. She screamed and clutched at herself, then she fainted." He decided it was best not to include her violent outburst.

The nurse rushed into a side room and came back with two men pushing a gurney. Ryoga laid her down on it, she looked so small suddenly. She had been frighteningly powerful just thirty minutes prior, but now she looked as if a touch could break her. They wheeled her away and he was asked to sit in the waiting area.

The wait seemed like an eternity. He spent the time wondering what could have caused Ranma to snap like she had. Mousse could be annoying, but no one deserved what she had almost done to him.

The nurse that had met them at the door walked down the hallway to meet him.

"How is she?" He asked.

"She's doing well and the baby seems fine. If she'd been struck even an inch lower she may have lost it. What was she doing fighting in her condition anyway?" The nurse finished on a scolding tone.

"She was attacked!" He thought so anyway, Ranma wouldn't have bothered picking a fight with Mousse. Wait... "Did you say baby!?" He shouted.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I had assumed you were the father." He had to sit down. He took some deep breaths, Could I be...? No, it can't be. But what if i am?

"Anyway, she's awake if you want to see her. She's been moved to room 202. Oh, and she kept asking about someone named Mousse." With that said the nurse turned and left.

The armrest cracked under his fingers. Mousse? Then it's him? Is that why they were fighting? Ryoga supposed he should have felt relieved, but instead he found a strange ache in his chest. After taking several minutes to collect himself, he walked down the hall until he found her room. She was sitting on the bed looking out the window when he sat down.

"Thank you, for stopping me." She said quietly.

"Yeah, no problem." He replied. He wanted to ask if it was true, but he couldn't form the words.

"I wouldn't have been able to live with myself..." her fingers were clutching the blanket tightly.

The ache in Ryoga's chest twisted like a knife. "So, you and Mousse? How could you this to m-" he paused, "...Akane?" Why did I almost say that? I don't care what Ranma does or who she does it with.

Ranma's head spun around, "What?" It took a second to figure out what Ryoga was implying. "You moron!" She slapped him upside his head.

Ryoga gritted his teeth together as he jumped up and grabbed the front of her gown threateningly.

"Sleeping with guys isn't somethin' I make a habit of." Ranma said with an eyeroll. "It's yours, dumbass."

His grip on her gown released. "Oh." He said, the corners of his lips curling into a slight grin as he sat down again. "What are you-" he was cut off when someone entered the room.

"Oh, don't mind me." The woman said as she pushed in some sort of medical device on wheels. She looked at Ranma, "Hello, I'm Sakura, I'm an ultrasound technician. I know they checked when you came in, but I'm going to have a closer look to double check how everything is doing. We'll get clearer images now that you have a full bladder. You did drink all the water you were given, right?"

Ranma nodded, and returned to looking out the window.

"Maybe I should-" Ryoga started.

"Oh, you don't have to go." Sakura told him, "I'm sure you want to see too."

"Er, ok." He had to admit, he was curious.

"Lay down and pull up your gown." Sakura instructed as she set up her equipment. Soon she was rubbing gel on Ranma's abdomen, then she started up the machine. As she ran the wand over Ranma she pointed to the screen. "This is the baby." Ryoga thought it looked like a peanut. "The bigger part is the head, and this is the body. Look, you can just barely see a tiny leg here." Ryoga squinted, but couldn't see it. "Ok, let's have a listen." She flipped a switch.

-thp thp thp thp thp thp thp thp-

Ryoga's eyes widened, "is that..?"

"The baby's heartbeat." Sakura nodded.

"Should it be that fast?" He asked.

"Yep, it sounds perfect. Well, I'll leave you two alone." Sakura wiped the gel off Ranma's stomach and packed up her equipment. She handed a printout to each them just before she wheeled the cart away. Soon they were alone in the room.

Ryoga brushed his fingers over the picture, feeling strange. He looked up to find out how Ranma was dealing with this when he saw tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.

Her heart had clenched when she heard her baby's heartbeat for the first time, she'd been unconscious during the previous scan. This is real. Before it had been something out of sight and out of mind. Now it was real and she was having second thoughts about her appointment. Feelings were stirring within her, maternal protectiveness, affection and fear. A heck of a lot of fear.

If I didn't go... Pops would be so ashamed. Mom would kill us both. Akane would be disgusted by me and angry for what I've done to her. Everyone that knows me would know what I've done as a girl. Shampoo could well try to kill me. Uuchan would be disappointed in me. Mr Tendo would be furious. Ryoga probably wants to get out of here as fast as he can. A hand on her shoulder broke her out of her thoughts.

"You ok?" Ryoga asked.

Ranma had never felt so many things at once. She wasn't sure if it was due to being a girl, the situation finally sinking in, or hormones. What she did know was that she was dangerously close to crying. How embarrassing.

"I have ta pee." She said as an excuse to leave the room and because drinking a whole litre of water will do that to you.

Ryoga looked at her in bewilderment "O.. kay..." Is that what's upsetting her?

Ranma splashed water on her face and took some deep breaths to calm down after relieving herself. "I guess you can see why I'm stuck as a girl now." She commented as she re-entered the room and settled back into bed.

"Yeah." He was still finding it a little hard to process. "How is this possible? You're a guy."

"Except when I'm not." She replied bitterly.

"What are you going to do? Shampoo has some instant Nannichuan powder. If you used it, you'd be a guy again so it would be over right?" He asked.

Ranma sighed, "No, at best it would have no effect, at worst it could kill me. To be honest, I was planning on getting rid of it, the medical way. I have an appointment tomorrow, but I don't know if I can go through with it now."

"Oh. What changed?" He asked, feeling oddly relieved to know she was having doubts.

"When Mousse hit me, I felt real fear at the thought of it being hurt. You saw how badly I wanted to protect it. I've never felt anything so powerful. I tried to deny it. This is could seriously mess up my life, but when I heard that heartbeat..." She smiled sadly, but it quickly turned to a frown. "I just don't know anymore."

Ryoga sort of understood, it had been a strange feeling hearing that heartbeat and realizing that he'd had a part in it. Had Ranma been a real girl, he might be rejoicing at the chance to have a family, to not be alone any more. As it was, he just felt weird.

"Just don't tell anyone, Ok? No matter what, it can't get back to my mom, this seems like somethin' that she could make me 'n Pops commit seppuku over. I can't let Pops die because of something I did."

"What is it that you did, Ranma?" Ranma and Ryoga turned in surprise to see Akane standing in the doorway.

"Akane!" Ranma exclaimed when she saw Akane in the doorway. Guilt gnawed it's way to the surface as she regarded her fiancée. Dammit! She took a deep breath, "I guess I should tell ya. Come in."

Akane sat in the seat next to Ryoga, "Is this about why you are stuck as a girl?"

"Yes, I'm-"

"And the Heart's Desire mushrooms, is it about them too?" Akane interrupted.

"You know about them?" Ranma was surprised. How does Akane know?

"Heart's Desire?" Ryoga asked.

"Those mushrooms Ryoga." Ranma replied to him.

"I kinda found the book you were reading. You left it on the roof." Akane said.

"But why are they called Heart's Desire?" Ryoga queried further.

"Because," Akane explained, "if you eat them, they will allow your subconscious thoughts to control you and reveal your deepest, most secret desires. Then they will remove your inhibitions long enough for you to act on them."

Ryoga paled, "Your deepest desires...?"

"So, the mushrooms, when you ate them, they revealed you wanted to be a girl right?" Akane guessed. She looked very proud of herself for coming to that conclusion.

"What? No! I didn't wanna be stuck this way!" Ranma yelled.

"Then what was your desire?" Akane asked.

Ranma's eyes darted sideways to look at Ryoga, who had been looking at her awaiting her answer. Their eyes meet and both their faces turned red, which Akane failed to notice.

Ranma's stuttered reply was, "T-that's not what's important. The important thing is that I'm pre-"

"Ranma!" Came a new voice from the doorway.

"M-m-mom?" Crap crap crap...

Ranma grabbed Ryoga's arm and pulled him in close. She whispered in his ear, "She can't find out, she'll kill me, literally. Please tell the doctors to keep quiet for now, please." He nodded in reply.

"Whispering sweet nothings are you?" Asked Nabiki, who entered the room behind Nodoka. She was in turn followed by Genma, Kasumi and Soun.

Ranma narrowed her eyes at the girl. "Just saying goodbye."

"Yes, I really must be going now." Ryoga bowed politely and quite gladly exitted the room.

Ryoga's head was spinning as he stepped into the hall. He slumped against the wall and looked at the picture from the ultrasound. Oh man... what am I gonna do about this madness? He wondered to himself. He noticed people staring at him and realised he'd smashed his head backward against the wall and cracked it. "He he he..." He laughed awkwardly, then took off in hopes of finding the nurse he'd seen earlier.

What was Ranma going to tell me? Akane wondered. She didn't dare ask now though, it was something that Ranma felt Nodoka might kill her over.

"No, he didn't hit me that hard. I just think I used too much chi, I let my battle aura get out of control." Ranma was explaining to Genma.

"Ranma, that was careless of you. We'll have to retrain you in the proper use of battle auras." Genma replied.

"Ok Pops."

"What I don't understand," Nodoka started, "is why you were fighting as a girl. Why didn't you change back into my big strong boy? It would have been much easier on you."

Everyone froze. They all knew that Ranma was stuck, but would telling her that result in her demanding Ranma and Genma commit seppuku?

"Er..."

"Uh..."

"While you see..."

"The thing is..."

Everyone sputtered at once. No one could think of a reasonable reply though.

"Yes?" Nodoka asked as she unwrapped her katana from the cloth she carried it in.

"It's training!" Akane exclaimed suddenly. She was determined to keep Ranma safe.

Everyone looked at her wide eyed.

"Training?" Nodoka asked.

Ranma took over. "Yes, I was defeated in my girl form. I realised that it's my greatest weakness. So I decided that I should remain as a girl for a time and train so that I may become stronger!"

Nodoka covered the sword back up. "How very manly of you. However, I'm concerned about your health. Battle aura or not, you are recovering, so I'm going to stay at the Tendo's for a while."

No one looked happy about this, least of all Ranma and Genma. Who wore matching expressions of fear.

Oh, poor Ranma. I have to help her keep her secret! As soon as I figure out what is... Akane decided. She had been really enjoying Ranma's company the past few weeks. Accepting Ranma a girl and letting go of her jealousy had made things so much easier. No one was going to hurt her friend.

Well that was fast. Already Ryoga was wandering in a deep forest (actually a rather small park), unsure where he was. Oh well, that gave him time to think and he had a lot to think about.

She looked right at me. Why did she look at me when Akane asked her what her desire was? Does that mean she really does like me? He shook his head, No, Ranma is a guy. He insisted to himself. Although... She did say that she liked me that night... He thought. Maybe...

Ok, say she does, and that's only if, then what? It's still Ranma in there. Ok I get it, I clearly, he shuddered, desired her body at the time. What did she expect when she's constantly teasing me and making me frustrated. No matter how cute her girl half is though Ranma is still a boy. Even if she did go through with this, she'll go right back to being a man. He nodded to himself. That's right, once Ranma is a guy again he'll get over whatever this is. I can't forget that.

Ok then, now that that's settled... About Ranma's current situation. If she was really a girl of course I'd take responsibility and ask to marry her. He laughed out loud at that thought. That's not gonna happen, I'm not into guys, which she will be again eventually. She'd probably also kick my ass just for thinking it. He wondered if he should get a job to help out, or if that would just offend Ranma's pride. I wouldn't be able to find my way there everyday anyway.

Ryoga had no idea what the right thing to do was when the mother of your child was a man. He laughed again, but not humorously, "Ha ha ha hahaha!" He sounded rather maniacal, tears were streaming down his face. If anyone had seen him, they would have run away screaming. This is insane, how did my life come to this?

Back at the hospital, Akane, Genma and Nodoka were still visiting Ranma. Genma had been trying to persuade Nodoka to leave, but she was hearing none of it. Ranma wasn't sure why she herself had to stay, now that she knew everything was fine.

"Nihao Ranma."

Great, more guests. Ranma sighed as Shampoo and Cologne entered the room. "Hey Shampoo, how's Mousse?"

"He hurt, but he be ok." Shampoo replied.

That was a relief to Ranma, "I'm glad."

"You did quite a number on the poor fool." Cologne commented. "That sounds like quite a technique you used."

Ranma shrugged, "It wasn't a technique, I just let my aura get out of hand."

"Maybe so, maybe so." Cologne said with a hint of mystery. "Then again..." The old woman brought the head of her staff quickly, but gently down onto Ranma's stomach. Her face became serious and sad. "It is as I thought."

"What is you old hag?" Ranma didn't like being prodded. She saw the old woman's eyes shift sideways, indicating that she shouldn't say in front of Nodoka. Oh... Ranma's eyes widened, the old bat knows!

"Is there something wrong with my son?" Nodoka asked.

"I wouldn't say something is wrong, No." Cologne replied to Nodoka, then turned to Shampoo, "Let us go granddaughter, we have no more business here."

"But great grandmother..." Shampoo started, but Cologne was already bouncing on her staff out the door.

"Shampoo be seeing you later." She waved to Ranma and followed Cologne out of the room.

"That was weird." Akane stated, looking after the two Chinese women.

Not long after Ranma was released from the hospital and was free to return home. She could tell that Akane was itching to have a talk with her and find out what was going on, but Nodoka barely left her side. When her mother finally decided to take a bath and give Ranma a break she headed up to the girl's room.

-knock knock-

"Come in." Said Akane.

Ranma opened the door and entered. She closed the door quietly and stood there looking awkward. She opened her mouth, but couldn't speak. It had seemed easier when Ryoga, her partner in crime, had been in the room with her.

"Why don't you sit?" Akane gestured toward her desk chair.

Ranma took a seat and looked at her hands. "Akane, I did somethin'. It's why I'm stuck as a girl..."

"Yes?" Akane was on the edge of her seat (well, her bed) in anticipation.

Ranma reached into her pocket and gripped the photo from the ultrasound. She withdrew her hand slowly. "It might be easier to show ya." She began to extend her hand...

"Ranma!" The door flew open and Nodoka rushed in.

Ranma shoved her hand right back into her pocket. Akane's face was a mixture of disappointment and annoyance.

"You should be in bed dear." Nodoka scolded.

"I thought you were taking a bath?" Ranma asked.

"I just couldn't relax knowing you needed me. Now off you go." She made a shooing motion out the door.

Ranma sighed, "Goodnight, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Alright." Akane said as she watched Ranma leave. She scowled at Nodoka as soon as the woman's back was turned. She had been so close.

"Nihao Ranma!" Shampoo climbed through the window bright and early the next morning.

Ranma groaned, she had yet to decide whether or not to go her appointment, but figured she really should get up anyway. "Hello Shampoo." She briefly considered reminding the girl that they did in fact have a door, but decided against it. None of them would ever really learn.

"Shampoo make you too too tasty tea. It very good for health." She grinned and presented Ranma with a cup.

She's getting less and less creative... Ranma thought. "Thanks Shampoo." Ranma pretended to drink it, but held the tea in her mouth as she left for the washroom. She spit it in the sink. Probably a love potion, again...

"Is time for your appointment. Hurry hurry." Shampoo said as Ranma returned to her room. Any minute now... thought Shampoo.

"How do you know about that?" Asked a shocked Ranma.

"Shampoo have her ways." That and Great Grandmother knows only martial arts midwife in town. After learning about the unique chi Ranma had displayed, Cologne assumed Xiao Tao had somehow been involved with her son-in-law. It hadn't been difficult to uncover Ranma's appointment. It was up to Shampoo to make sure Ranma went through with the procedure. Speaking of which... Why she still conscious? Sleep potion should work by now.

"May as well join us for breakfast." Ranma said when she was done getting ready.

"Ok!" Shampoo eagerly followed along.

When it became obvious that Ranma wasn't going to fall asleep, Shampoo decided to slip her back up dose of potion into Ranma's food. She carefully snuck it onto a plate of fish before serving it to Ranma. Ranma's chopsticks descended towards the fish as Shampoo watched in anticipation, only to have Genma snatch the fish up and devour it in a single bite. Stupid stupid old man!

"Hey!" Ranma shouted, but she didn't start a fight. Even if she had been allowed to fight, she didn't much feel like it. There was still an internal debate being waged within her and neither side seemed to winning. Just get it over with! Part of her mind screamed. A weight settled in her stomach at the thought, but... She looked up and watched Akane talking animatedly to Kasumi. The weight doubled. She'll hate you. The voice continued to prod. She'll hate me regardless once I tell her. She replied to herself. Then don't tell her. The voice answered. Guilt washed over Ranma at thought and she knew she couldn't take the easy way out, no matter how much she wanted to. Oh, but you'll take the other easy route? The voice mocked her, referring to the appointment. Wait, What side are you on anyway?

"Well, that was... hmm... a little nap..." Genma passed out on the floor. Nobody paid him any mind though, he was often a lazy old sod.

Ranma's eyes landed in her mother, she shuddered. If that woman only knew... There's really no choice then is there? She asked herself rhetorically. She looked at her father, sleeping so peacefully. He had no idea how very close they both were to death. The decision was made, she didn't like it, but it had to be done. She gathered all her resolve and strode out of the house before she could change her mind.

Shampoo followed behind, trying to figure out how she could knock Ranma unconscious without the potion. A direct blow to the neck would work best, but she'd have to catch the martial artist off guard. "Look, what pretty kitty!" She announced while pointing down an empty side street.

Ukyo was on her way to visit her Ranma Honey. She'd only just found out that Ranma had been hospitalized. Her plan was to cook for her poor fiancée while she was on the mend. On the way to the Tendo dojo she was met by a most unwelcome sight. There before her was Ranma, holding shampoo in an affectionate embrace. What on Earth?

Ranma clung to Shampoo, cowering from the supposed cat. Shampoo raised her hand, intending to strike Ranma while her guard was down. When her hand was midway through its slice however, Ranma suddenly broke free. "Hey!" Ranma shouted in a mix of annoyance and amusement. "Can't you tell a dog from a cat?"

Shampoo turned to see a scruffy mutt was now sitting in the center of the street, scratching it's ear with its hind paw. Curses... She tried a number of other tactics to distract Ranma, including the old 'What's that over there?' technique but nothing worked.

Soon they were stepping inside the clinic and Shampoo grew desperate. Knowing that there wasn't much time left, she launched an assault while Ranma was leaning over the counter, filling out a medical form. Shampoo drew her fist back and released. Before her fist collided with Ranma, she felt something hot between her shoulder blades. What? Her fist made contact, but nothing happened, except for Ranma scratching the spot Shampoo had struck as though a fly had landed on her.

Shampoo turned to see a wrinkled old woman, who winked at her and waved a moxa roll between her fingers. There was no way the old midwife was going to let those Amazons interfere with her plans.

Ukyo gasped in shock when she saw Ranma and Shampoo's destination. She had decided to follow the pair to discover what they were up to. A midwifery clinic? Why would they... unless... Her eyes widened. Is Shampoo pregnant with Ranma Honey's baby? "No!"