A/N: ZOMG Jeremy got off his fat ass and wrote another chapter! I know, I know. I'm a lazy son of a mother.

Text quoted ``like this`` is spoken Chinese.

Nabiki shifted, her demeanor uncharacteristically nervous as Ranma knocked on the door. Nerves didn't get the best of her often, and she honestly didn't know why they were getting her at that moment. She'd met Nodoka more than a year ago. Heck, the woman had lived with them for a while. Now, she felt like she was meeting the parents for the first time. And she'd just seen Genma a few hours earlier…

It had been months since Nodoka's home was rebuilt and she'd moved back. While Genma technically lived there, too, he spent half of his time at the Tendo house, often spending his nights sleeping in the guest room with Ranma. Of course, these episodes usually followed a night of heavy drinking, with Ranma being the one to drag his father upstairs, so it was entirely plausible that he'd go home more if he didn't drink sake like water.

Ranma, on the other hand, had never actually moved back to the Saotome house— he and Akane weren't doing well by the the time the construction was finished, and the adults involved had agreed that keeping them under the same roof would be beneficial. It wasn't, of course. By that time, they were at that point in their failing relationship where even being in the same room caused irritation. Ranma had been thinking that getting some distance might actually help things— perhaps if they weren't around each other so often, they wouldn't spend as much time bickering.

In the end, though, his staying at the Tendo house was the best thing that could've happened. The Saotomes moved out right before the previous Christmas; in fact, they'd only been out a couple of weeks before the Christmas party. That party, in turn, was when Ranma and Nabiki first became friends. Had he been living somewhere else, he may have gone home to escape when Akane started irritating him, and their first real conversation wouldn't have happened at all.

And it was a big boost to their friendship to see each other every day. If they would have talked only once every couple of weeks, they never would have bonded enough for Nabiki to suggest taking over the engagement.

The door opened, and Genma greeted them, looking less-than-chipper. Clearly, Nodoka had put him to work before their arrival. "Boy," he said in simple greeting, before turning and walking inside. Ranma motioned for Nabiki to go in, then closed the door behind them.

They were greeted by a wave of delicious smells from Nodoka's cooking. Kasumi wasn't the only woman in Nerima that could cook, after all, and Nodoka's abilities were perfect giver her son and husband's ability to swallow entire meals whole. The Saotome matriarch was setting dinner on the table as they came in, and she gave Nabiki a warm smile. "Nabiki," she said. "Daughter." She gave her a hug, then hugged Ranma. They all sat around the table, and the men immediately started a small battle, fencing with their chopsticks to get first access to the food on the table.

"It's not every day that your son gets engaged to the sister of his former fiancée," Nodoka said sweetly, "though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I'd noticed the two of you becoming friends over the past year or so. I feel a little silly— I used to hope that the two of you becoming friends would help smooth things in Ranma's engagement to Akane. It never occurred to me that you two may fall in love. But this is better. I don't have to worry that Ranma is sacrificing happiness for honor. That did cross my mind a few times, especially when I had to witness their quarrels."

Genma paused his vacuum-esque eating. "And if it doesn't work out with this one," he said, gesturing toward Nabiki, "you've still got a third strike." Ranma's plate bounced off of his head.

Nabiki gave her soon to be mother-in-law a smile. "Yeah, well… I knew for a long time that Ranma was a great guy and Akane didn't see it. He grew up a while ago and she didn't. So, when he said he was leaving her, I made a move. I would've done the same thing if there wasn't any agreement between the families."

Nodoka glanced high on the wall, and for the first time, Nabiki and Ranma both noticed the family katana on a decorative mount. "I put that up there when we moved back in," she said. "I figured with all the work he was putting into the engagement, all the work he was doing to keep his father's honor, that he was certainly a man among men. The fact that he's with you, rather than running away to get away from everything, only confirms that for me."

Nabiki reached over and gave Ranma's hand a squeeze under the table. She couldn't have agreed more.

An hour later, Ranma and Nabiki were strolling into what had been Ranma's bedroom for the short time he'd lived there. It was sparsely decorated, though Nodoka had made a point to put a few childhood pictures of him on the walls. Nabiki glanced at one.

"Hey, Ranma?"

"Yeah?"

"How does your mother have pictures of you from when you were a preteen? Weren't you off with your dad then?"

He leaned over to look at the picture she was looking at. "Oh, pop used to take pictures of me and mail them to her. Had to make sure she knew we weren't dead or anything. Actually, I think the reason she came to your house looking for us was because he quit sending stuff after we moved in. He must've forgot that she knew your dad's name." He poked the photo. "I remember this one. We spent about a year living at a campground, and he got this picture of me at a fair that was going on by it. That was right before we moved to where I went to middle school."

"Well that was nice of your dad, to take you to a fair…"

"Eh… he snuck us in. Their fences weren't tall enough to keep us out."

Nabiki rolled her eyes. Nothing about Genma surprised her anymore. She turned around, and spotted the futon in the middle of the room. She walked over to it and sat at the edge.

"Hey look, there's a girl in your bed. Every teenager's dream."

He chuckled and sat next to her. "Back when I lived here, I had four fiancées that I didn't really want. Well… I did miss Akane a little. We weren't fighting that bad back then. It kinda seemed like the more we were mad at each other, the better we got along. After Jusendo, that was when things just got weird."

"But then you started talking to me."

"Yeah." He fidgeted. "Nabiki, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"What did you think of me at first? I know you didn't used to like me."

She thought for a moment. "You were cute. Beyond that, you used to be kinda immature. But so was I. I know you didn't like me back then. But we got a little older and matured a little, and I guess in the end, we wound up a lot more alike than when you first showed up."

"Yeah, I guess so."

She leaned on his shoulder and gave him a soft kiss on the neck. "I wouldn't mind making out right here a little. Then you can say you had a girl in your bed."

"It's not really my bed anymore…" She interrupted him by yanking him down onto the bed and crushing his lips in a kiss.

Outside in the hallway, Nodoka backed away from the door. "So manly…" she said wistfully, walking toward the stairs. "I'll have grandbabies soon for sure…"

Shampoo glanced around the tree she was hiding behind, and shuddered. She was not enjoying the thought of what she had to do next. She was in a bind; that was certain. Nabiki Tendo was proving to be a much stronger foe that anyone would have expected, and she needed all the help she could get. At the same time, it was becoming more obvious every day that Mousse was slipping out of her control. Maybe it was having to live in the woods, maybe it had been brewing before… either way, his once uncontrollable love had slipped into some degree of dislike.

That was a major problem. Aside from needing the help, Mousse knew enough about Amazon culture to sink any possible chance she had if he began cooperating with Nabiki. Much like Chiang Kai-Shek facing both the Japanese and the Maoists at the same time, she was balancing two fronts, and without taking the right steps in the right order, she faced the possibility of losing everything. She needed to get back on his good side, and in a major way.

She took a breath and prepared for the greatest acting performance of her life. Just keeping the vomit down wasn't enough; she needed to really sell it. She quietly stepped out into the open and approached Mousse, who was sitting on a rock a few yards away.

``Mu-Tsu?`` she asked quietly, doing her best to sound earnest.

He looked up, but seemed unable to tell which blur was her, as he looked around for a moment before answering thin air. ``Yes, Xian-Pu?``

He didn't seem hostile, at least. Maybe this would be easier than she'd expected. She knelt on the ground next to him, and gave him a kind look. ``I know you're not very happy with me. I can hear it when you speak. Mu-Tsu…`` She took his arm. ``I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you. Things aren't the way they seem.``

She looked away dramatically. This was where she had to lay it on thick. ``I don't want this arranged marriage with Ranma any more than you do,`` she said, lying through her teeth. ``It's not Ranma's fault. It's great-grandmother's. She insists upon following Amazon law. I…`` She squeaked out a sob. ``I felt so terrible when I heard the anger in your voice. I can't stand the thought of you not loving me anymore! I want to return your love. I really do.``

Saying Mousse was shocked would be like saying Jigsaw is a tad eerie. He squinted at her. ``Really, Xian-Pu?`` he asked, the wonder evident in his voice. ``This whole time I thought you hated me… But why are we still chasing Ranma? We could just run away together!``

``No, we can't. Great-grandmother will chase us to the end of the earth. The best we can do right now is get Ranma, get back to Nyuchiezu, and figure something out there. We won't have the Japanese government breathing down our necks.`` She wrapped her arms around him and held on tight. ``Help me get out of this place, Mu-Tsu,`` she whispered. ``I want to go back to Nyuchiezu.``

He lit up like a Christmas Tree. ``Oh, Xian-Pu!`` he cried, wrapping her in a bone-crushing bear hug. It was exactly the reaction she'd expected, but it wasn't enough. Once the stupor wore off, there was a chance he'd start to question her sincerity. She had one last step to go, and it was what she was dreading. She looked up into his face. 'Amazon women never back down from a challenge,' she thought to herself. Facing him, she put her arms around his neck and her lips to his.

He stiffened in shock at the kiss, and Shampoo had an instant change of heart. She was expecting it to be gross, but it wasn't— it actually felt really nice. It made her wish she'd got her lips on Ranma more; he was way better-looking. Still, she didn't spend a lot of time pressed close to another person, and the contact with Mousse was starting to affect her in a way that only dirty thoughts affected her on a typical day. His body felt nice pressed against hers, the feeling of lips on hers was intoxicating… he even managed to smell nice despite their dirty living conditions.

She slipped her tongue into the kiss and shoved her body harder against his. Now that she was actually feeling the touch of a man, she wanted to get something out of it. But… she knew Mousse wasn't the one she wanted. She was enjoying him in the moment, but her true love was out in Nerima. She broke the kiss and blushed— in all her preparation for a disgust that never came, she never thought that she'd end up taking things so far.

She gave him a smile. ``Great-grandmother might be around,`` she said. ``We should go easy on that stuff. But maybe we can spend some time together later.`` She made a kissy face at him and walked away, smirking at his unbelievable level of gullibility. Enjoyable or not, her purpose had been to make nice with him, and it had worked like a charm. He sat motionless for a second, a dumb smile adorning his face, before flopping over backwards in a dead faint.

Turning a corner, Shampoo was met by the eyes of her great-grandmother, who stood on her staff to match Shampoo's height. ``Did somebody forget she's engaged?`` the old woman asked in a deceptively calm tone.

``Relax, great-grandmother. I'm trying to keep him from defecting to the other side. He's right on the edge. Had to remind him that he's supposed to be in love with me.``

``Mmhmm. That looked like a little more tongue than was necessary for your stated purpose.``

She blushed. ``Yeah, well… I don't kiss a lot and it started feeling really nice.``

``Xian-Pu!``

``Hey, I'm not married yet! Besides…`` She glanced back in Mousse's direction. ``Maybe I'll want a concubine in case lying with Ranma gets boring.``

``Worry about getting married first. Concubines are for women who have their lives settled. And don't forget that marrying an outsider is a rare privilege. You're the last person who should be thinking about extra men!``

``I know, I know.`` She grinned. ``Ranma had better come around soon, though. If Mu-Tsu puts his hands on me, I don't know if I'll be able to resist…``

Cologne's staff connected with her head.

``Ow!`` she yelled, rubbing the bump. ``It was a joke! I know that I have to stay a virgin!`` She walked away, massaging her scalp while muttering a string of obscenities.

Cologne watched her go, staring warily and wondering if the girl was really joking. ``Damn teenagers with their hormones…`` she muttered.

Ukyo eased the back door of the restaurant open, stepping out into the night. Akane followed, stepping out and and wrapping her in an embrace. The two of them shared a kiss, and Akane chuckled. "You know," she whispered, "if somebody asked me a year ago what I'd be doing right now, I think this is the very last thing I would have said." She nuzzled Ukyo's neck. "But I'm glad. It's made things a lot easier with the whole Ranma thing. I was supposed to be engaged to him all that time, and he barely even looked at me. When we spend time together, I feel appreciated."

Ukyo sucked in a breath as Akane went back to her neck. "Yeah," she said, "it's nice for me, too. I went most of my life planning revenge, then decided to marry him after all, and then it all fell apart. You're the first person I've even hugged for more than a few seconds."

They found each other's lips and started kissing, their tongues clashing together as their hands roamed the other's curves. They were so lost in their necking that they failed to notice two pairs of eyes peeking at them from the end of the alley. The eyes belonged to a very shocked Ranma and Nabiki, who, as chance would have it, were walking by and happened to notice the lovers without being noticed themselves.

Nabiki slowly reached into her coat, withdrew a camera, and started snapping pictures. She had to hope that the streetlights were lighting the area enough for the pictures to come out, but the potential value of the pictures far outweighed the possibility of wasted film. Especially given the perfect view of one of Akane's hands squeezing Ukyo's rear.

The two of them finally parted, and Akane headed out the other side of the alley, a noticeable spring in her step. Ukyo retreated inside, and Nabiki and Ranma started walking. It was a moment before either of them spoke.

"That was weird," Ranma said.

"Might explain a few things."

"Yeah. It might." They walked in silence for a few seconds. "How much do you think they've done?"

A pang of jealousy hit Nabiki, as she imagined her fiancé fantasizing about two former fiancées in bed together. She looked away. "Why? Something you like imagining?"

He shook his head. "Huh uh. No way. That's just too weird. Guys are supposed to like girls messing around with each other, but… those two? No way."

Her jealousy was replaced by an honest curiosity. "Why not?"

"Because Ukyo's like one of the guys to me, even though she's a girl, and Akane… I don't really want to fantasize about her at all. She just never had a sexy side to me, you know?"

"Actually, I don't know. You're the only man I've ever met that didn't drool all over her."

"Yeah, well… I guess if you like girls that are real tough and tomboyish, she'd be fine, but that ain't my thing. Before pop dragged me here and told me about this engagement, I always wanted to marry somebody that didn't fight."

Nabiki stopped walking, the shock evident on her face. "Really?"

"Well… yeah. I mean, I had four fiancées and all of them were fighting all the time. It's kinda nice to think I won't have to deal with that anymore."

"After Shampoo is gone, of course."

"Yeah, after Shampoo is gone."

They walked along in silence for another minute. Nabiki rubbed her chin. "Even if these pictures turn out okay, I think I'm going to sit on them. As long as those two are bumping uglies, it's two fiancées you don't have to worry about. And I think Kodachi is gone for good, so you're almost in the clear."

Ranma furrowed his brow. "Do you think they're really in love?"

She shook her head. "Looked pretty physical to me. If they were in some deep relationship and she was heading home for the night, don't you think they'd be a little more sappy? I bet it's just their way of working through things."

"You aren't going to take video of them… together… are you? To sell?"

She smiled wryly. "Why? Want to buy a copy?"

"No!"

She looked away innocently. "So, speaking of selling things… You're going to need a down payment for your university admission. The only pictures I've taken of you so far were some guy pics. If we get a couple rolls of film of you as a girl, you'll have your down payment easy. What do you say?"

He reddened just a bit. "I know this sounds weird coming from me, but… I've been thinking about it, and posing actually doesn't sound all that bad."

She brightened. "Ranma Saotome! What's with the sudden change of heart?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, ah… I thought about it, and I realized that I use my girl side to get stuff from dumb men all the time. Letting you sell pictures isn't really that different."

"Awesome! We'll put something together in a day or two! Oh, and another thing… you can take pictures, right?"

"I guess. Why?"

She smiled sweetly. "I figured I would contribute, too. Give you some skin to stare at. Sound good?"

His mouth dropped open. "Geez, Nabiki… Even if I weren't posing, I wouldn't say no to that."

"Good. But remember, you are posing, you said yes, so no backing out." They walked on, a confident smirk on Nabiki's face. Getting him to pose for a camera was the last thing she'd wanted to do, but hadn't.

Kasumi walked back toward the Tendo home, walking slowly and swinging her feet as she went. She was contemplating things. There was a particular man that she'd had her eye on for some time— an older man, who was a genius of a doctor, an amazing martial artist, and very cute to boot. A certain doctor that had taken care of her family since she was a girl…

She'd been doing her best to keep herself in Tofu's company since the day she'd graduated high school. It had always involved making excuses to see him— she'd borrowed nearly every book in his library, as well as taken him leftovers constantly. Even if she were pressed for time, she'd try to have someone take food to him, just to make sure he was thinking about her.

The problem was, he just didn't seem to pay attention to her. He could be very silly, lovely to be around, but it never seemed affectionate. What was she doing wrong? Why didn't he see her as a woman? She worried constantly that it was her age— that he wanted someone closer to his own age, and only saw her as a child. It was true that he'd first met her when she was only eleven, when he'd just come out of medical school to start his own practice. That part was risky— she was throwing herself at a man who'd known her since before she'd hit puberty, and hoping that he could now see her as a woman.

Maybe he couldn't.

She didn't know when she'd first gotten a crush on him. It was too far in the past to ever pinpoint, and there had never been one instance that really knocked her for a loop. She'd just known that he was a great catch, and exactly the type of man she was looking for. And she wasn't one to spend all of her time harping on one man— she'd had thoughts about other men, too. But Tofu had always been on the short list of men that she kept an eye on, and as time went on, he was the easiest to get close to.

She kicked a piece of litter, then paused, bending down to pick it up. It was a card, presumably someone's discarded junk mail, advertising a sale at one of the area department stores. The image on the front caught her eye— a young woman, about her age, in a very chic top and pair of jeans. She paused, then glanced down at herself. She didn't exactly show herself off with her normal attire, did she?

She tucked the card into a pocket and started walking again. Perhaps a makeover was exactly what she needed…