Well, this is going better than expected. Thank you for the wonderful review. Let me just answer what I can.

Kou Shun'u - I am pretty sure that Nabiki would have expected this exact kind of argument. You in business/finance/economics/accounting by any chance? She would have considered operating profits and would have counted them in - she even added the good will, I m sure she didn't forget about revenue streams. The Ranma eating everything obviously is different - and no, probably not. She would argue that they were gifts or advertising, and Nodoka is offering so much more for the cart than anyone else would, it would be stupid of Ukyo's dad to delve into every penny when there are legal cases hanging over him.

Riniko22 - thank you for the spelling correction, I ll do that as soon as I figure out how... And Ukyo's dad, at least in my universe, is an opportunistic bastard, who will escape justice right now by claiming that Ukyo was kidnapped by Genma, and the girl was too ashamed to come home, so she followed them and made up a story about an engagement. I see this guy will only take actions that benefit him - such as accept a settlement that is least problematic to him, and will sell his daughter for a profit, and treat her as he sees fit in the interim.

Richard Ryley - completely right. Ukyo is so traumatised, she can't fight. Everything she has done is in order to be loved by her father, her only remaining relative. She is broken, and I will get her out, but for that she will need to break even more, I think. All in all, being indebted to Nabiki is the best possible situation for her now - Akane will have to trust her, Ranma will be free from her claim and they can work on being friends, Shampoo is a strong woman who is no longer out to kill every one. She would feel indebted, but she would also be surrounded by people who wouldn't want her to be abused or who could teach her how to become stronger.

*catches breath* On to the chapter!

Chapter 6

Nabiki was not at all surprised when, as she was about to leave the building and accompany Nodoka and the lawyers back to their offices, Ukyo pulled her to the side, having somewhat recovered from the shock of the earlier revelations. "What is the big idea, mercenary?"

Both girls could see the Ranma's mother look at them apprehensively, holding the door open for the middle Tendo to follow her. Nabiki disentangled herself from her new debtor's hands and went to the door. "My apologies Aunty, gentlemen, but Ukyo would like to discuss the business possibilities now, before opening time. I hope you don't mind if I don't accompany you to our next meeting. I trust that everything here has been resolved to all our satisfaction, and my presence is not necessary."

Ukyo, remembering her manners, made her excuses as well, doing her best to not look too angrily at Nabiki as she promised that they would only be discussing business, and as soon as the others were out of sight, dragged the middle Tendo into her restaurant by the scruff of the neck.

"What the hell are you playing at?"

Despite the fact that she was being practically strangled by a woman holding a very sharp object in her hands, Nabiki remained cool and composed as ever. Instead of being intimidated, she straightened her collar, and casually sat at the grill, hands resting together in front of her. She assessed Ukyo with a professional eyes, and spoke.

"Before you fly off the spatula, let me ask you a question. What does Ranma want in life more than anything?"

Ukyo paused for a second, allowing Nabiki to relocate the stool to be facing the confused girl. "He wants to spend his life with me of course, helping me run the restaurant! It's what he always wanted." The standing girl looked to the sitting one for confirmation, not realising that the second part of that had come out a lot more like a question than a statement. Nabiki smirked lightly, knowing that she had already won.

"Alright. Now, I am going to ask you to consider the impossible for a second. Imagine that that is not entirely what Ranma wants from his future." Expecting protestations, Nabiki cut the chef off with a raised hand. "Just imagine. Imagine that he works with you, and discovers that while it is nice, he may want to work in another industry. Or he might want to travel. He could decide to spend his time travelling up and down Japan without you, leaving you for months on end, to learn some new technique somewhere. Or, he decides to please his mother and have you give up work to be a proper, stay at home mother and wife. Would you agree with him? Would you become a Nadeshiko for his sake, with no hope of a career, spending all your time churning out dozens of children?"

For another moment Ukyo gaped at her, uncomprehendingly, before becoming white. "Of course not! These are my dreams! Why should I give them up completely? Sure, I would like to make him happy, and I d go travelling, but it would be his job to help me provide for the family. It would be ok if he taught in his dojo, but me not being a chef? How could you even suggest that?"

Nabiki was impressed for a moment that the girl had even considered that there could be some other aim in Ranma's life – the words were of someone who expected to be uprooted regularly. However, the idea of forcing herself didn't seem to ring the necessary bells yet.

"Then how could you even suggest Ranma give up his dreams?"

Still nothing. "He wants to be with me and maybe teach! He could do that at his dojo! I am not asking him to give up on any dreams! I am asking him to let me follow mine and have it work!"

Nabiki sighed, and leaned forward onto her hands. Help was needed, though she had appeared to have underestimated Ukyo – the girl had at least through of making sensible plans."You fail to see the obvious. If you were married to him, you would have to be added to his family scrolls. As a result you would be subject, not just to his will, but to that of his family, and not following their wishes would be dishonouring not only your name, but his as well. Now, we both know who leads the family and makes the decisions – his mother. She would probably see your various spatulas as 'not womanly' enough, and she would expect you, like a traditional woman, to give up your occupation and be a mother. I won't be surprised if, if you have a boy, he and Ranma leave home for training, and leave you behind, if his parents wish it so. And the other thing. Where do you suppose Ranma will find a dojo to own. They tend to be expensive to maintain, and heavily taxed. Do your family possess one?"

Ukyo was looking a bit green and unsteady, eyes glazing over. "But why would they do that to anyone?" She shook her head, trying to clear it, and fear entered into her eyes for the first time. To distract herself from it, she asked about the last point Nabiki made. "Does the heir of Anything Goes not inherit the dojo?"

Nabiki scoffed, frankly insulted by the idea. "Akane is the only one in our school who will get a dojo, since it was always going to be given to the heir of Anything Goes of the Tendo branch. Ranma has no claim to it, even if they are married. I am disappointed in you, Ukyo. The Saotomes never contributed a yen to the dojo, it's upkeep, the taxes, even the general maintenance. Moreover, it was my mother's so Father never had any say in what happened in it beyond teaching there." She saw another question and cut it off. "And no, I am not suggesting that this is the only reason that Ranma may want to marry Akane. I am simply pointing out that if he can't teach in a ready made dojo, you would have to sacrifice time, money, resources to build one with him, or expect him to travel, or expect him to be away from home in general, teaching at another dojo, potentially far from you. Most dojo's here are either private or have a long line of potential heir lined up – Ranma would likely have to go to a far away location to be able to do what he wants to, and it may not be viable for you to follow. And would you really be away to be a birthing machine, whose children were taken away almost as soon as they could walk?"

For the first time, it seemed like a fog was lifting from Ukyo's eyes. Horrified, she whimpered. "Did I really not see this?" For the second time in her existence, her life came crashing down around her. For the first time ever she considered what would happen if, when married, something went wrong with the marriage. She could see a cold and resentful Ranma, she could see herself resenting her husband and his family, and sitting on her own in an empty building, child and husband gone, with no one to talk to, just like she knew Nodoka had felt for years.

And Ukyo saw, clearly, why he never outwardly chose her. Not just because he didn't love her, and loved Akane instead, or the possibility of death if anyone's honour was compromised, but because he knew that he would grow to resent her, his only friend. Love here didn't matter – it really was a case of Ranma being an idiot. He simply wanted to protect everyone by not openly choosing.

And now, she realised that he was protecting one of the things that had been the most precious to him since the age of six – their friendship. He had never lied to her about caring about her, and he never meant to marry her.

Just so that she, his oldest friend, the one person he claimed to have always remembered, to have been special to him following the horrors of the road, could be free.

And she slid to the floor behind the counter, and wept.

It was perhaps 20 minutes later that Ukyo became aware of the world again. Konatsu could be heard in the back, cleaning and going through the ingredients for the day. With surprise, the girl noted that the soon-to-be graduate was still there, diligently sweeping the floor.

"What are you doing?" With astonishment, she noticed that she had spoken, and winced at her snappish tone.

Nabiki looked up, grinning. "What does it look like, Ukyo-chan? Cleaning, of course. Normally, I would get the help to do this, but your kunoichi already had his hands full prepping the ingredients and the batter, so I figured I could not overstrain myself by doing some sweeping. We need to get the store front ready for the opening in," she checked her watch, "just over an hour. You were indisposed, so I stayed back to help. I do have a personal interest in this place doing well, now, and we can't afford to lose any money. I hate waiting for debts to be repaid, especially such large ones, and any lost time is lost profits, and therefore lost interest. I doubt you want to be involved with me for longer than you have to."

This made more sense. Nabiki, even a kind one, could be counted upon to think of the profits first. The girl did look down kindly for a second."Do you feel better?"

The cook started nodding, then shook her head. "Not really. I ll probably get over it, because everything you have said makes sense, but right now I can't help but think you ruined my life."

Nabiki laughed – a real laugh that Ukyo was suddenly sure that very few people heard any more. "You are so obviously Ranma's best friend. Realising your mistakes, but not in their entirety. Making plans which are reasonable, but fail to account for everyone's feelings. Ukyo, really, don't you realise I saved you? And not just from heart break."

Ukyo looked stunned. "Saved me?"

"Obviously. Did you forget that you tried to kill my sister?" Seeing the girl about to protest her innocence, she waved at her. "Oh, I know you only wanted to scare her, but really? What were you expecting? If one of you maniacs had actually killed someone from my family, or one of the innocent, civilian, non-martial artist bystanders and guests, what would you have done? The police mostly ignore what happens here, but this would have been manslaughter or even murder, depending on the outcome. As it is, I have had to jump through hoops and get Daddy to refuse to press any of the more serious charges in your case, to make sure that you didn't have any attempted murder charges brought to you. How would you have fared in prison? Breaking out would have dishonoured you, staying in and fighting would have resulted in severe punishments and extension of your sentence, not to mention the possibility of death row."

Helplessly, Ukyo shrugged, feeling as though she was waking up from a very long dream, and was finally living in the real world. "You are right, not well. What do you want from me now?"

Nabiki laughed outright, seemingly pleased. "Two things. First, I believe that there is the small matter of proving to society that you are safe to be around. You probably noticed that your business has dropped significantly since the wedding. If I am involved in a business with you, some of the people who no longer visit will come back. And I really like making profit, and by extension insuring that it is being generated in the most efficient way. Second, what Ranma needs someone is a friend. Not Akane, not his mother – he needs a friend who will not pursue him, and will listen. I asked you what he wanted most in the world, and it's not wealth, or comfort or even recognition, and you recognised that much, at least. It is the ability to make his own choice, without death threats and pressure from a myriad of sources, all of which want to exploit him. Before you ask – chaos is bad for business, and particularly bad for my inheritance – you girls really did a number on the dojo. If you can find it in you to see him and apologise for what you did, and be nothing more than a friend, then at least he can hope to have a somewhat normal life, and a person he can trust without being afraid, or not opening up."

Ukyo thought it over. It was in line with what she knew of the Tendo, and her arguments made sense. Something, however, felt off – for one thing, Nabiki had never had a problem exploiting either Ranma or her own baby sister. "Be honest, you can't be doing this for Ranchan. Or does he and Akane mean this much to you?"

Nabiki grumbled under her breath, it sounding suspiciously as 'why do people keep asking me this'. Out loud, she only said, "I do care, Ukyo, despite what I act like. Akane is a bit spoilt, but you can't blame her or us entirely for that. Did you know that she is the one who was with Mother in the moment when she passed away? We came in to find her clothing her dead body, aged only a little over six. We coddled her as a result and maybe made her the way she is, but you have to agree, that is a lot of trauma for anyone to face – and you understand trauma, betrayal and upheaval better than anyone but Ranma. And while I care for her and Ranma's happiness, I worry about Kasumi and what would happen to her the most."

The chef's eyes flew wide open. "KASUMI? But, but she is lovely. No one would ever intentionally hurt her! Not even Kodachi!"

"Tell me, Ukyo, what do you think my sister's dreams are?" came from the middle Tendo with a sign, as she once again pulled a stool up and sat on it.

Knowing this to be a trick question, the chef carefully considered her answer. "I think that she wants a family of her own, to take care of, rather than caring for all of you all the time?"

Nabiki looked visibly impressed this time round. "That is probably a better answer than most people would give, and they know a lot more about my sister than you. Yes, Ka-chan wants a family, but she also wants a career. She is waiting for all of us to leave home, before she can start on the nursing courses she has been wanting to do ever since she graduated. An extra four years is a long time to put dreams on the back burner, would you not say?"

Ukyo nodded, before finally rising off the floor. All her life she had been convinced that she had been the only one wronged and thus deserved respect and revenge. As it happened, the Tendo family had not asked for the misfortunes that befell them, but bravely ploughed on, just like she had, when her father abandoned her by the side of the road aged six. She determined to made amends to Akane, staring the next day in school, and be the best friend she could be to both Ranchan and the bluette. After a second, plans suddenly started appearing in her head, letting her see a new life – one where she was accepted and had friends. She had overheard that Shampoo would be going to school soon as well, and knew the other rumour of her giving up on Ranma to be true now, so maybe there was a friendship to build there.

But not with Kodachi. The chef shivered – nothing could entice her into a friendship with that mad girl.

Plans whirling in her head, Ukyo grabbed the broom out of Nabiki's hands and twirled, ignoring the incredulous look on Nabiki's face. "Alright! I ll give Akane proper cooking lessons! Maybe between the two of us Kasumi can start school or at least cram school after the holiday is over! Now, Na-chan, yes, Na-chan, we are partners. Let me know your ideas on bringing money in. And don't tell me you don't know. You ALWAYS have an idea."

Leaving the stunned young woman sitting on the stool, Ukyo proceeded to turn into a cleaning whirlwind, while Nabiki resumed her earlier position at the grill and started to lay out the repayment and business plans for the coming months using some paper that Konatsu had graciously brought her. She thought that maybe she needed to work on getting the girl away from her father – the ease with which he decided to accept his loss and immediately talked of an engagement that sounded more like a cattle sale told her not of a good business man, but of someone who either lived in the past, or was a bastard (though not a conman) on part with the panda.

Ukyo, however, did not yet have such sad thoughts.

For the first time in almost twelve years her dreams would be allowed to change, and she was on the road to acceptance and belonging.

But she would be damned if Nabiki would ever find out.

AN: Yes, as mentioned, Ukyo is OOC, but her world is broken. And I think she needs to fixate on something. Repaying Nabiki and getting on her good side by helping Kasumi would be as good a target as any.