Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, I do not claim any rights to any of the characters or concepts created or owned by Viz Video or Rumiko Takahashi. This is just the work of one fan to the others. The only characters or concepts that I claim are the ones I created or introduced. That said, I bring you:
Ranma ½: When you are lost in a sea of grief, look for a light to guide you home.
Chapter 8: Totally not a dinner date.
Ranma-chan and Xian Pu walked side by side towards the restaurant. Xian Pu had called a taxi for them trip to the restaurant so that they could make the reservation. Ranma-chan glanced to the side at the taller woman and took a breath to steady herself. She reminded herself once again that this was most definitely not a date, it was just two friends going out for a nice dinner together.
Ranma-chan still couldn't quite get her head around the fact that after everything that had happened, all that they had been through and done to each other, they had started to become actual friends. Ranma-chan was still not sure that she was ready to forgive Shampoo for all that she had done over the years. Especially when her plans had involved the people in Ranma's life.
Especially when it involved Akane.
Xian Pu glanced aside at the redhead that walked next to her. Regardless of form, Ranma was stunning. And now it seemed like that spark that had made them shine the brightest, that had cast all others into its shadow, had started to rekindle. She could still see that dark, forlorn person she had found standing in the rain just waiting to die at times. But the star that drew others in with it's light had started to flicker back to life, and Xian Pu sincerely hoped that if she could help Ranma, then she might be able to find some forgiveness.
That she might finally be able to forgive herself.
The not-couple looked up as they were pulled from their respective thoughts as the door opened before them. The lighting was soft, but we'll lit. The smell of food and polished wood filled the air. There were a few larger tables, but for the most part they were smaller, more private affairs.
This was very much a place that catered to couples.
When Ranma-chan cast a suspicious look at Xian Pu, the former Amazon quickly shook her head. They both looked at the sea of couples before them and took a deep breath before Xian Pu spoke up.
"I swear Ranma, I didn't know that it would be like this. I followed the suggestion of one of my coworkers, and she said that this was a great restaurant. I.. had no idea she meant that it would be… ummm.." Xian Pu said as she floundered.
"A great place for dinner on a date?" Ranma-chan said as she relaxed a little. She had quite a bit of experience with Shampoo when she was being deceitful, and the embarrassed mess that stood before her was not that.
It was almost cute.
Xian Pu blushed and bit her lip. "We can go… Somewhere else, or even just back to the apartment, if you'd prefer. Xian Pu is so so so very sorry…" Xian Pu said as she slid back into her old speech patterns and bowed deeply as her hair fell over her face. She looked up hesitantly at the surprisingly gentle touch on her shoulder at the blushing and smiling face of her companion.
"It's okay, Shampoo. We both know that this is just dinner between friends. Neither of us are going to read more into it, right?" Ranma-chan said as she looked at the flustered former Amazon. When Shampoo gave a shaky nod, Ranma-chan relaxed and smiled. "Then, let's have a good meal. The food smells good. And I don't see a single crazy Frenchman anywhere."
Xian Pu smiled hesitantly, then nodded and straightened her back and squared her shoulders once again. She gave her companion a more relaxed, confident smile and offered her arm with a smile on her face.
After a moment's hesitation, Ranma-chan nodded and linked her arm through Shampoo's before they followed their waiter to the table that had been reserved for them. Ranma-chan had to admit, it felt good to be able to just relax and enjoy a good meal with someone that they saw as a friend.
Maybe they could actually move on from the past.
After they had sat down and the waiter left them with the menus, Ranma-chan looked cocked her head to the side as she scrutinized Shampoo. A minute of I tense scrutiny had Shampoo blushing before Ranma-chan nodded.
"We will start training tomorrow." At the look on Shampoo's face, the short redhead laughed. "No sparring yet, though. We both need to get back in shape, then I need to see where you are. It's been two years, after all…" Ranma-chan trailed off as a morose look passed over her face, then jerked a little at the strong hand that settled over hers.
"It's okay, Ranma. We will take however much time you think we need." Xian Pu bowed slightly to Ranma-chan. "I am in your care, Sensei."
Xian Pu smiled as Ranma-chan laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head and messed with her pigtail. It had always been one of the oddly cute and awkward habits of Ranma, one of the few moments of vulnerability under all the bluster and noise. Lately, Xian Pu had started to really wonder what Ranma would have been like without the lazy panda and the crazy, katana wielding woman that had raised him. She had no doubts that he would still have been exceptional, the spark of greatness had obviously always been there regardless of what his parents had done to him. He might not have been the martial arts prodigy that he had become, but she was certain he would still have made waves. People like Ranma never were comfortable in the background, they cast too large of a shadow.
Xian Pu was once again pulled from her contemplation by the soft, nervous chuckle of Ranma-chan. She looked down at where her hand still rested on the cursed martial artists and hurriedly pulled her hand back as they both blushed nervously for a moment, before Ranma-chan cleared her throat and looked at Shampoo with a serious look on her expressive face.
"We will start tomorrow, if that is okay with you? I plan to do as much of the training as I can in my normal form. That said…" She hesitated, then pushed ahead. "Some of it I will do in this form.. Since some of it will be more relevant for you when I'm female.. And I want to see how well I can teach some of what I know, to see if I should try what you suggested…" Ranma-chan trailed off with a nervous little chuckle, then looked at the smiling face of Shampoo, and relaxed a little. She didn't see anything in the happy expression that the former Amazon wore to make her think that her statement had caused any problems.
The pair settled into quiet contemplation before Ranma-chan looked up at Shampoo. "Are you ready to order? I know what I want."
Xian Pu looked over her menu one more time and nodded. "I do." She said and then motioned over the waiter.
Once they had placed their orders, they settled into a comfortable silence, broken occasionally as they discussed the plans for their training going forward. Not for the first time, Xin Pu wished she could go back and kick herself when she had first arrived in Japan, or even when she had started to chase after Ranma those years ago. She had missed out on what kind of friend Ranma could have been, and she knew that all that baggage still hung over both of them. Perhaps in time it would truly be a wound that healed, but she knew that it still weighed on both of their minds, and threw doubt into many of their interactions.
Hopefully, with time the trust could be built up, and Xian Pu would truly get to see the real Ranma more often, instead of just these tantalizing little peeks from time to time.
Ranma-chan watched her companion covertly whenever Shampoo looked away. It still was hard to believe that the reserved young woman who sat across from her was the same ditzy, rude and unreasonable girl who broke through the walls on a regular basis. The disconnect was a little baffling, if Ranma-chan was going to be honest with herself. It just didn't make sense at times just how much she had changed.
Unless this was the real Shampoo, that had hidden under all that weight of rules and traditions and ingrained superiority. Of course, if it was really time for honesty, then Ranma had not been any better. He had always been so set on being the best, being a true 'Man Amongst Men.' and a worthy heir. He had pushed others away, used them and taunted and teased the people that he should have been cherishing. It was what he had just kept doing until it was too late, and he had lost the chance to do better, to be better, forever.
Ranma couldn't help but wonder if a second chance was deserved or not, what had they done, really, to deserve it? And if they did deserve a second chance… Didn't the same apply to Shampoo, then? Should her sins and failings be held against her if their own were to be forgiven? Or were they both irredeemable, forever tainted by the choices that had been made?
Ranma-chan looked across the table at Shampoo as she looked out the window. Her face in profile was cute, pretty even. There was an oldness to her eyes, if you knew what to look for. Proof of scars that had been left on her soul, just like the ones that covered Ranma's as well.
They were surprisingly alike, but perhaps that wasn't that much of a surprise. They had both had their lives laid out for them even before they were born. A fate not of their own, built out of the expectations of those who came before them. Both were chosen to be the ones to carry on a legacy, regardless of what they wanted.
Ranma-chan made up her mind and smiled over at Shampoo. When the former Amazon hesitantly smiled back, the smile on the red head's face grew broader as she decided to say what was on her mind.
"Shampoo? Let's be friends, okay?" Ranma-chan said with a genuine smile.
Xian Pu returned the smile and chuckled. "I'd love to. But I thought we already were?"
Ranma-chan nodded then bit her lip. "We are… But I thought that maybe we should try and start over, ya know? Put all the stuff in the past, in the past?" Ranma-chan blew a breath out. "It sounded a lot better in my head."
Xian Pu smiled at the flustered redhead. "That.. Sounds good to me. I'd be glad to be your friend, and roommate. And I'm really looking forward to seeing where we go.". Xian Pu blushed and looked down. "As friends, that is."
Ranma-chan laughed and nodded. "I got ya. When did you develop the Saotome foot in mouth technique?"
Xian Pu grinned back at her companion. "I learned from the best."
The pair laughed and were pulled from their little world by the server bringing over their meals. After they thanked the server, they settled in to enjoy their food. Xian Pu noted happily that Ranma seemed to continue to develop an appetite, something that she had long ago learned to associate with the aquatransexual's mood.
Sometimes it did pay to have stalked someone. Even if that probably was not a good train of thought. Even if it had been fairly accurate.
As the meal continued, in between bouts of small talk Xian Pu noticed that Ranma-chan looked around from time to time. She chuckled as she shook her head.
"You do know that no one's going to leap out from anywhere and stick you into a metal corset, right?" Xian Pu said in a fond, amused tone of thought while she tried to get the image of the curvy redhead in a corset out of her mind.
Ranma-chan jerked and glared at Shampoo. "Is there anything that Nabiki didn't tell you about that?" She asked Shampoo in too calm of a voice.
Xian Pu shrugged and gave a smile that defined the phrase 'the cat that ate the canary' perfectly. "I know that you won a challenge that had been stacked against you, and gained a… very strange technique. I don't know the details, but it honestly never sounded like anything you would use." Xian Pu said, then had the oddest sensation of being full. She slowly looked down at her empty plate, then at the innocently smiling redhead across from her and sighed. "So… That was it, then?"
Ranma nodded as she ate her food. "The Parlay du Foie Gras. Technically, it's used to feed someone else from your own plate, but I experimented with it a bit."
Xian Pu sighed and laughed. "Of course you did. Well, I am full now, even if I didn't really get to enjoy my meal. Next time you want to feed me, ask first." She said, then blushed as what she had said really sunk in. Luckily for her, it seemed that Ranma-chan didn't quite get the context from how she laughed. For once, Xian Pu was really glad for how oblivious that Ranma could be in any form.
"Sorry, sorry. Tell you what, I will treat you from my first paycheck. Ya know, from when I get a job…" Ranma-chan said with a shy smile.
"I'd like that, Ranma. I really would." Xian Pu said with a genuine smile.
The pair settled back into quiet conversation while Ranma-chan finished her meal, and they both just relaxed in the presence of the other. They were oblivious to the looks that some of the others gave them, some fond others disapproving. It was evident to many that the pair were fond of each other, and had some sort of connection. Ranma-chan and Xian Pu left shortly afterwards as they walked side by side to the train station to make the commute back to the apartment. They once again were only mildly aware of the others around them, as they are engrossed in small talk about their plans going forward, the inconsequential minutiae of close friends.
When they arrived back to what Ranma had started to consider home, they smiled at each other once again and split off to get ready for bed, knowing that they would have an early start the next day if they were going to get some exercise in before Xian Pu had to be at work. It would be the after work session where they would start to get serious, and to begin moving towards their final goals.
Sometime after she had made her way to bed, Xian Pu felt the covers slide down, and the bed shift as a compact form slipped into the bed with her silently and without much hesitation. Xian Pu smiled sleepily at the back of the quiet redhead that almost hesitantly slipped to rest her back against Xian Pu's chest. Not a word was said by either when Xian Pu slipped an arm around Ranma-chan, and spooned the smaller woman.
The pair slept soundly until the morning.
