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 11: The ways of defense and moving forward.

Xian Pu looked up across the table at her currently buxom and redhead roommate, and smiled happily to herself. There had been a certain bounce in Ranma's step ever since they had gotten up this morning. Last night had even been a quiet one, with Ranma able to sleep peacefully through the night. Xian Pu hoped that the interview went well, and that she could get to see Ranma really come alive with a renewed passion once more.

Plus, the less Xian Pu thought about last night's practice session, the better it would be for her libido. Between the emotions, the adrenaline, and the nature of that sudden clinch she had been a little overheated.

Xian Pu snorted to herself in amusement. She had been like a cat in heat afterwards, to be honest.

She had waited until she had been sure that Ranma had fallen asleep before she had snuck into the bathroom to take care of her issues, and had made sure she had been the first one up to make a good breakfast for Ranma on the day that should be life changing.

She knew that for as well as they seemed to be doing, that Ranma was still far from being back in a good place. She had done a fair amount of research since Ranma had come back into her life, and she had her own experiences to draw from as well. Severe grief and depression didn't just go away, especially if you did your best to never really face it head on, and to make your life and self better. It was an opponent that Ranma was not yet ready to face, but when the time came, she would be there to stand with them.

Perhaps it would help alleviate some of the guilt that she still felt. The regrets that she would never really be able to resolve properly. The things that she had done and said, or not done and said. The people she had wronged, and had not been able to make amends with.

It was something that she still couldn't bring herself to really talk to Ranma about. Not while they had so much to deal with and to take care of. Not while they still had so much to deal with on their own.

Xian Pu looked across the table at the redhead who had decided to wage war on the breakfast that was laid out before her. Seeing Ranma eat had always been an experience, even for other martial artists. Their appetite had recovered a great deal since the training and exercise sessions had started, but there was still a long way to go.

Now, if Xian Pu could just get the feel of Ranma pinning her down, of that powerful form pressed against her in an intensely personal and intimate manner out of her head. The heat that flooded from her core, the trembling of her body in the aftermath. She had thought that she would go mad.

It had been more intense than she could have ever expected, and they hadn't even done anything.

Xian Pu wished once again that she felt like it would be okay for her to lay down with Ranma, instead of hoping that they would seek her out for comfort.

Another change that had seemed to come over her when it came to dealing with Ranma was that she had really stopped focusing on what gender they were at the moment. For one, it always had made her head hurt when she felt like she had to change her entire interactions depending on what obligation she had felt took precedence at the moment. Honestly, the more she had thought about it the more cringeworthy it became. If she had just decided to treat them the same, no matter what their current gender was, then things might have ended up much differently than they had.

The fact that Ranma seemed to not really care all that much anymore probably had helped her make the mental shift when it came to Ranma, as well. The days of practically shouting at every turn that Ranma was a man, regardless of what their current plumbing might say seemed to have passed.

Two years could change someone quite a bit, after all.

Ranma looked discreetly across at Shampoo, and tried to wash the thoughts out of her head. She had surely imagined Shampo's reaction. There was no way that the passionate Amazon she had known would not have tried SOMETHING if it had been as… Intimate… as it had seemed when Ranma had taken the time to really think about it. There was no way that what she had thought had happened could have, right? Ranma was far from an expert when it came to the more physical aspects of pleasure, if she had to be honest. There had not been a lot of privacy when she had been on the road with the old man, and with the fact that everyone just barged in at any time it meant that even in Nerima Ranma had not had a lot of time to, well, explore either form.

That was not to say that such explorations had NOT happened.

Still, Ranma's only real experience with her female body had been, well, eye opening.

And toe curling.

And how Shampoo had reacted, how she had looked… When Ranma had really thought about it, how it had felt to be pressed against her like that, how hot she had felt….

It made her really want some privacy.

Ranma was pulled out of her rather questionable train of thought when Shampoo repeated herself again. "Think we have time for a before we clean up and head out? You have the spare key, right?"

Ranma blushed and looked at the she inhaled the last of her food. "We should, if we don't mind dividing up the bathroom again?" Ranma said, while she really hoped that whatever she felt that had started her heart beating a didn't come through in her voice.

After all, there was no way she wanted to see Shampoo in the shower again, right?

Xian Pu looked at the blushing redhead and cleared her throat, weighing expediency against her control of her libido, and came to a rather sobering conclusion. "Probably not today, sadly. We will have to take turns in the shower, unless you want to share." She said the last jokingly, but the silence from Ranma made her clear her throat. "I was joking, of course. Umm, we had better hurry. Just a quick run, then clean up and head out."

Ranma sighed and nodded as she got up, then stopped when she felt Shampoo's hand on her shoulder. "But, I think after you get the job today, someone might have earned a reward. I will let you decide what you would like!" The former Amazon said, and smiled when Ranma smiled nervously and nodded.

Ranma and Xian Pu ran side by side, falling into single file every time the pathe narrowed with a word being said. Xian Pu felt so much more she had in years, and the changes that the two weeks that Ranma had been staying with her had made in the aquatransexual never ceased to be a pleasant surprise to her. They had started to put some of the lost weight back on, and seemed to have regained a portion of the spark that they had always shown before.

Xian Pu reminded herself once again that the pit of Ranma's grief and depression was still there, waiting to swallow them back into its depths. She had to be there for them, to support them and help them when they needed it.

Like she should have been back then, when it would have mattered most.

Ranma slipped back into line behind Shampoo and watched her run smoothly along. The enigma that Shampoo had become had only deepened the more time that Ranma spent in her company. She had never been so aware of Shampoo's body before, as she dragged her eyes from the tight, shapely rear before her once again.

And it wasn't just her body that had started to linger in Ranma's mind. It was also the surprisingly keen mind that she had. Ranma had always been aware of how devious she could be, but not how adaptable and insightful she was, or how compassionate. That was one of the most confusing parts of her. She had never once tried to take advantage of Ranma, not in the couple of had passed since that might. Not even when Ranma had been at her most vulnerable and defenseless. Opportunities that a couple of years ago Shampoo would have jumped at eagerly.

Back when Ranma had been so many people wanted.

Ranma shook her head as she moved up beside Shampoo as they neared the former Amazon's apartment once more. When Shampoo gave Ranma a questioning look, it had been met with a smile and the shake of Ranma's head before they made their way into the apartment.

Xian Pu looked at the clock on the wall and sighed before she looked at Ranma with a sheepish expression. "It looks like I am going to have to steal the shower first, sorry Ranma."

Ranma hesitated then nodded and smiled. "That's fine, I will go ahead and get my clothes laid out and ready to go. Enjoy your shower, Shampoo."

Xian Pu nodded and hurried towards the bathroom as she pulled her shirt off, quickly followed by her sports bra as Ranma stared for a moment before she started to turn to get her outfit for the interview ready. The last thing she saw before Shampoo pulled the door closed with one hand was the other pushing her running pants down to expose her panty clad rear.

Ranma knew that she would keep that particular image in her mind for some time.

Ranma shook her head as she quickly laid out her clothes for the interview. She debated for a moment, then selected a nice pair of pants that she could move in, one of the sports bras that Shampoo had made sure were included in their purchases, and a nice button up shirt. She knew that she needed to look nice, but should make sure that she could move as well.

Ranma looked over when she heard the door bathroom open, and caught sight of Shampoo as she walked out and finished wrapping her robe about herself. She caught a glimpse of a lot skin than she had expected, and looked away with her face red to her ears. Ranma hurried past Shampoo and into the bathroom with barely a sideways look as she shut the door and left a blushing and flustered Shampoo in her wake who had suddenly realized the view she had just given Ranma.

Without a backwards glance, Xian Pu hurried into her room and changed into the work clothes that she had laid out in advance as she tried to get her racing heart back under control once more.

Honestly, Ranma would be the death of her one of these days. Just, hopefully a long time from now, and with them still at her side.

The pair went their separate ways with an exchange of awkward, shy smiles. Xian Pu lingered for a moment to watch the form of her roommate as they walked with a renewed sense of purpose that she had initially doubted she would ever see again. It made her smile and walk with an extra bounce to her step as well.

Hinata looked up from the paperwork that she had started to work on to see who had walked .front lobby. A short girl with red hair dressed in a nice pair of pants and a conservative button up shirt looked around, then smiled at Hinata and walked over. Hinata noted that besides the red hair, she also had a very familiar shade of blue for her eyes.

"You must be Ranma's sister? My name is Hinata, and I'm the director here." Hinata said as she stepped out from behind the counter and smiled at the young redhead before she bowed politely.

Ranma smiled back and dipped into a quick bow. "I am. I'm Ranko, and it's a pleasure to meet ya." Ranma said while barely keeping from reaching for her pigtail which was not there since she had instead decided to change out her usual style for a high ponytail.

"I've been expecting you, would you like to go talk in my office?" Hinata asked as she looked at the young woman before her. It seemed impossible that this buxom young woman could be the martial artist that her brother claimed her to be. Plus, there was the matter of her hair. She wasn't sure that she approved of the impressionable young women that came here to be influenced by someone who dyed their hair such a vibrant shade of red.

Hinata led Ranko into her office and shut the door behind them before she sat behind her desk and regarded the young woman intently for a moment before she sighed. "First I have to ask… Will the dye you used in your hair wash out?"

Ranko blinked, once as she looked at Hinata with a confused look on her face before she took a hold of her ponytail to examine it before she let it go and looked at Hinata. "What dye? Or did someone do something to my hair where I can't see it?"

Hinata took a slow breath and looked at the young woman again. "That shade of red you used. Will it wash out, and are you willing to let it go back to its natural color?"

Ranko creased her eyebrows and looked at Hinata. "But, this is my natural hair color." She stated in that same confused tone of voice.

Hinata shook her head and sighed as she reached for a cup and poured herself some hot tea, before she offered some to Ranko, who oddly seemed to be rather careful when she took the offered cup. "I find that hard to believe, young lady. I'm willing to believe that your eyes are naturally blue, since your brother's were, but I have only ever seen a very few foreigners with hair like that."

Ranko self consciously ran her fingers through her hair. "It is the truth, though. My mother had the same color of hair when she was my age." Ranko fretted pensively for a moment, then stood up and offered her hair to Hinata. "It's natural, I swear. You're… Not going to send me away because my hair is red, are you?" Ranko asked, and was shocked at just how scared her voice sounded. She hadn't even really thought about not getting the job, and what that would mean for her. If she couldn't work, if people didn't need her. If she was in some way truly worthless, defective and unwanted.

Hinata stopped for a moment as she looked over the young woman in front of her, and remembered the conclusions she had made before, from talking to Ranma and cursed herself for a fool as she came around the desk and gently hugged the distraught young woman. "No, I'm not. If you say it's your natural hair color, then I believe you. I shouldn't have doubted it, and I'm sorry." She said softly as she felt the young woman stiffen in her embrace, then slowly, very slowly, relax into the hug. Once she felt Ranko had relaxed somewhat, she gently broke off the hug and smiled down at the surprisingly short young woman. "Feeling any better? Do you need some time to calm down and pull yourself together before we start the interview?"

"You… You still want to give me an interview, after…. After I started to break down in your office…" Ranko said as she found the ground very interesting.

"I do. Your brother impressed me, you know. I would have happily interviewed him on the spot, but… Well… I have to watch out for some of the girls that come here, that have found a safe refuge here." Hinata said as she guided Ranko back into her chair, and placed the cup of warm tea in front of her again. "Drink some tea, it's a blend one of the doctors we work with recommended. I find it very relaxing… And some days, I really need it." She said as she sat back behind her desk, and watched Ranko slowly take a few sips before she cradled the cup between her palms and seemed to finally relax again.

Hinata smiled and refilled Ranko's cup before she cradled her own and took a sip as she watched the young woman in front of her for a moment. "So, your brother said that you are both quite talented and well versed in what we would want to teach our ladies here. I don't imagine you have any certifications, though? If you do, that would help a great deal. And what are you able to teach, and have a good enough background to pass along?' Hinata asked, just like she had asked the others that she had interviewed for this job.

Ranko smiled and shrugged. "What certifications we had… Well, we had to leave those behind. What I do have is a list that my brother and I, along with our roommate, worked on. It's the styles we know, and the years we have practiced, along with the belt or dan equivalent we held." Ranko placed the folder that Shampoo had helped her put together in front of Hinata, and sat back as she drank some more of the tea, and smiled as the warmth seemed to just seep into her very bones.

Hinata had expected a short list, maybe one or two styles that the twins had familiarity with. That was not what she found herself looking at, though. She hesitated to call the surprisingly fragile redhead out on it, but bit her lip as she considered what to say. "This…. Is quite surprising, I will be honest. For the ones that would be useful, would you be opposed to testing with an established dojo so that we can have some form of certification? It will make it a lot better for everyone, and protect the center, as well."

Ranko blinked and smiled suddenly, an expression that made her blue eyes shine. "We can do that? You would help us do that?"

Hinata had not expected quite that reaction, but laughed and nodded. "I have some connections with several local dojo's, and they have connections with others. The ones that would be most relevant, I think we can see what they have to say. Now, that said, what ones do you think would be the best to draw from?" Hinata asked as she watched the young woman across from her intently, as she shifted into a different part of the interview.

Ranko stopped and considered that for a moment, then looked at Hinata. "That would depend on how many sessions, and how long I have to work with them. The biggest problems I have seen with some of the women's self defense courses is that they just teach them enough to get themselves in trouble, not to be able to really get themselves out of trouble. Against someone who doesn't expect anything, some of what they teach is very helpful, but some of it isn't. I've always found that awareness of a situation can often get you out of one faster than knowing how to properly kick a guy in the groin and hopefully smash their nose in. That said, some striking would be good, but throws and joint locks can often be a better route to go."

"Do you really think that someone who is your size or smaller and not fully trained could learn to throw someone your brother's size?" Hinata asked as she found herself surprised once again.

Ranko smiled as she pulled out the phone that Shampoo had given her, and brought up a video on Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. The one that she had chosen beforehand was of an older practitioner who would have made Ranko look tall, and the video spoke for itself as the woman demonstrated a few of the techniques that were best suited for self defense against larger opponents with more mass and longer reach.

Hinata nodded and smiled as she handed the phone back to Ranko. "I see." She laughed. "I will have to defer to the master on this one. I've only had some basic self defense lessons myself."

"I'd happily teach you, and the rest of the staff, as well. You can never be too prepared." Ranko said earnestly as Hinata found herself on the receiving end of a rather intense gaze.

Hinata laughed and nodded as she pulled out a folder. "Well, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself and your experiences for my folder, then I will expect a written lesson plan from you. Say, a ten week, and a twenty-four week course, and then we will see about getting you some sort of certifications."

Ranko smiled and nodded as she found herself sitting on the front of her chair and actively engaged with Hinata. Several hours, and a few demonstrations later Ranko started to make her way back to the apartment with a happy smile on her face and a bounce in her step. Hinata had listened to everything she had to say, and made several requests and asked a lot of questions. It had been very nice, to feel like she was being taken seriously again. Like she had value still.

Perhaps Shampoo had been right when she insisted that there were still things that Ranma could still do, ways to put her talents to a good use.

Ranma looked at the clock as she walked in and nodded as she locked the door behind her. She had a few hours until Shampoo would be home, and she felt like today had been a success. Hinata had said that she should expect a call tomorrow, or the day after at the latest so she wouldn't know right away. But, it still felt like a reason to celebrate, and she had more than a few ideas of what she might ask Shampoo for, if the former Amazon had been serious about being willing to do anything, within reason.

She just hoped that the idea that kept flitting through her head since this morning was reasonable.

With a bounce in her step, Ranma set about getting a meal ready for her roommate to celebrate what felt like a good day.

Ranma hesitated for a moment, as she thought about something to make, then squared her shoulders as she started to see if they had what she would need to make the meal.

"Just like Shampoo said, gotta start making things my own, and make good memories for them." Ranma said as she got a determined look on her face and started all of the prep work.

Luckily, she had seen Ukyo do this hundreds of times.

Xian Pu walked into the apartment and called out her greeting, and smiled when she heard the reply come to her from the kitchen. She walked in to see Ranma look over her shoulder at Shampoo and smiled before she turned back to the griddle she had laid out and heated on the burners.

"And what are you cooking? I figured you would have gone guy as soon as you got back, Ranma." Xian Pu said, then froze as she realized what it was that Ranma had just started to prep once she had gotten home.

"Okonomiyaki, Shampoo. An' it's easier to duplicate what Ukyo used to do all the time like this, I hope you like pork and shrimp? I didn't have everything to go all out." Ranma replied as she kept working away on the two circles of dough.

"That sounds good to me, Ranma. I take it that the interview went well, hrm?" Xian Pu asked as she leaned over the shoulder of the shorter woman to take a deep sniff, ignorant of the shade of red that Ranma turned at the close contact.

"The interview? Oh yeah, it went well. She said that she will let me know in the next day or so, and that she thinks she can find a dojo or two to give me a certification! It'll be as Ranko, but at least it's a start right?" Ranma said as she made sure not to look directly at Shampoo, at least until the heat faded from her skin. She must have gotten too close to the stove or something.

Xian Pu gave Ranma a little squeeze and started to head for her room to change. "That is amazing, Ranma! It's a great start, and I feel that things will only get better from here. Now, I'm going to change and get the table set, then we are going to watch movies and relax." Xian Pu said, then paused and leaned back out to look at Ranma. "Oh, and Ranma? Let me know what you would like as a reward. As long as it's within reason and something I can do, I will do it for you. So, think about it!" That said, she disappeared into the room to change while a decidedly redder than normal Ranma looked at the dish she had decided on.

She already knew what she wanted to ask, now it was a matter of whether she COULD ask for it.