Prologue

Lime felt his knees buckle from the twelfth consecutive blow, the latest one having connected with his head. It was a credit to his endurance that he had withstood the amount of force that had been used against him; most mountains would have fared less well, but he was finally at the end. All of his own tremendous strength amounted to nothing, as his blows had not affected his opponent in the slightest. And the pure savagery of the man –if such a term could be used to describe the massive humanoid before him— was enough to strike fear in Lime’s massive breast, even if the huge pile of muscle was fuchsia in color.

Lime looked past his opponent to the fallen men behind him. Over seventy of the troops and Mint had fallen to the attacker. This one had proved himself far more powerful than any of the others that had assaulted the army, save the wind master calling herself Yumi Onita, and Herb had taken care of her.

The thirteenth blow effectively ended the fight, driving Lime to the ground. With the man in tiger skins down, his opponent began shouting triumphantly. "The Great Grond has won once again! None can defeat The Great Grond! Not the armies with their big guns! Not the monsters of the deep! Not the mages of Toril! And not the Chinese either!"

Seeing that he had no other adversaries, The Great Grond once again proceeded north, and unknowingly, towards Mount Phoenix.

"Does The Great Grond usually refer to himself in the third person?"

The Great Grond looked up to see who would dare speak to him that way. It was a girl, hovering in the air and wearing an elaborate suit of dragon scale armor that possessed a slit down the center, showing a V of skin that started at the neck and traveled down to her navel. A long billowing cape that seemed to possess a life of its own flowed behind her, moving on unfelt winds.

"White-haired girl pretty." The Great Grond drooled.

Herb-chan’s eyes flared red. "That’s Emperor Herb to you! How dare you attack my armies!"

The Great Grond began posturing. "The Great Grond dares anything! The Great Grond is powerful! The Great Grond is invincible! The Great Grond can move mountains!"

Herb-chan’s eyes narrowed as she drew a gourd from her belt.

"The Great Grond can stop raging storms! The Great Grond has lots of personality! The Great Grond—"

*SPLASH*

"The Great Grond is now a frog," Herb-chan said dryly as she examined what the fuchsia-colored creature had turned into. A powerful bolt of chi energy blew ‘The Great Grond Frog’ into ‘The Great Grond Tiny Pieces of Frog’.

Lime returned to his feet and stared in awe at Herb-chan. "Wow! How did you know he had a Jusenkyou curse?"

"I didn’t, but since five out of the last seven people that have tried to muscle their way past us have been cursed, it wasn’t hard to guess." Herb-chan stared at the scorched area The Great Grond had just been occupying. Why was it so many Jusenkyou cursed people were converging on the region?

A wave of dark clouds passed overhead, gaining Herb-chan’s attention. The skies had been perfectly clear less than five minutes ago. Of course, the weather had been behaving oddly for the last twelve hours. It could have been some kind of plan the Shogun had come up with. That would explain much. The Shogun had warned Herb-chan there would be some changes in the area, and with her improved chi abilities she now had a feel for the land around her. It was far from a useful ability, and she had no intention of wasting time honing it, but the subtle shift made her wonder exactly what the Shogun had planned. That lack of knowledge was disconcerting.

Herb-chan felt a rumbling and looked towards the east. About ten miles away a pillar of fire, at least four thousand feet high and five hundred feet across, rose to the skies. Rather than fading away in one burst, it remained where it was, burning like some kind of giant pyre.

Herb-chan stared at it and frowned. She really should have been more insistent in learning the Shogun’s plans, but in the end it really wasn’t any of her concern. All that mattered was that the Shogun was almost done, and all of China would soon be Herb-chan’s to control. All in just two more days.

Another dimension:
The Empire of the Five Comets:

The Seer watched as yet another possibility disappeared. There were only two opportunities for change left, and one of them was a true long shot. Should both fail, there was a distinct possibility that nothing could be done to prevent the end of the Earth.

And possibly everything else.

Chapter 35: Those Who Would Dare Dream of Tomorrow

Part II

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters and settings belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Kitty, and Viz Video.

All comments and criticisms appreciated. You can contact me at sommer@3rdm.net

Last chapter:

After a tremendous battle between the Nerimans and Perfume and her Hunt Pack, Shampoo volunteered to go back top China and home. All of the Nerimans, save Nabiki, elected to travel with Shampoo. Fortunately the group chose the vessel know as ‘The Worthless Piece of Shit’ thereby buying themselves some time, at least they hope. Now that the group is on the ship small talks break out amongst the group as relationships start to reach the points where people must now start making choices…

This: <> Indicates Chinese

{} Indicates Thoughts

[] Indicates Sign Language (Not the panda kind)

"Are you sure you no… I mean don’t want me there?" Shampoo asked.

"Oh, no! That would definitely fall under the heading of ‘Bad Idea’," Ranma assured her. He had dropped by Shampoo’s cabin to reassure her that he had not changed his mind about yesterday’s conversation, but the last thing in the world he needed when he went to talk with his parents was the perceived source of the problem with him. His hands were going to be full enough as it was without Shampoo being present and complicating matters.

"Oh, yeah," Ranma said as he was about to leave. "I thought you ought to know Kasumi’s sick."

Shampoo went from a sitting position on the bed to a standing one in front of Ranma in the blink of an eye. "What do you mean?"

"Relax," Ranma soothed. "It’s not that bad. Akane was pretty sure it was just motion sickness. Kasumi’s never been on a ship before, so that’s probably all it is."

"I’m going to check on her." Shampoo was out the door before Ranma could say anything in return.

"Well how do you like that?" he mumbled under his breath. Still, he probably should not have been that surprised. When it came to Shampoo and Kasumi, if one needed help the other was there. Kind of like him and Akane, except both of them were girls. Well, Shampoo was most of the time.

He was about to close the door behind him when a red blur rushed past and into the room. In less than a second it was in the dresser and sorting through the clothing.

"Hey!" Ranma shouted. "Get out of there, you old coot!"

Happosai continued on, unabated. "I just want to make sure Shampoo’s underwear is in order. I heard there was a panty thief on board, so I’m going to make sure all of her things are safe. You can never be too careful with such precious articles of clothing." He began tossing garments on the floor.

"Knock it off! That ain’t even her stuff. She just borrowed it from Perfume."

"Ah, ha!" Happosai shouted triumphantly and held several items up for Ranma to see. "Somehow I doubt if this is the sort of stuff that Perfume would loan out." He waved a matching set of lacy red bra and panties high in the air.

Ranma couldn’t help noticing that the material that was supposed to cover the most private of parts was missing. He pitied poor Shampoo; she had received defective clothes. Obviously they were useless.

"I thought I saw Shampoo in the lingerie shop earlier. Who did she want to impress with these, I wonder?" He waved them tauntingly before Ranma.

"Impress?" Ranma’s brain finally kicked into gear as to why Shampoo had gotten such ‘useless’ items, and exactly whom she wanted to impress with them.

"Ha, ha! Boy, you’re turning as red as my gi!"

Ranma tried to snatch the risqué underwear out of Happosai’s grasp, but was far too slow as the master darted just out of reach. "Those ain’t yours, so give them back!"

Happosai avoided another thrust. "Oh, so you want them now, do you?"

"Yes!"

"I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll give them back if you’ll wear them for me. And as a girl, not as a guy like the last set you ruined!"

"No way!" Ranma reached for him again, only to meet with air.

"No wear, no clothes." Happosai used Ranma’s head as a springboard and bounced out of the room.

"Give me those!" Ranma set off in pursuit.

Shampoo hurried to Kasumi’s cabin and burst in. Kasumi had been resting on her bed when she turned, startled at the intrusion. She relaxed once she saw who her visitor was. "Shampoo, I love having you here, but please knock first."

"Sorry," Shampoo said sheepishly as she closed the door behind her. The eldest Tendo girl started to rise, but was gently pushed down by the purple-haired Amazon. "You rest." It was said softly, but with an underlying tone of command.

"But I’m feeling much better," Kasumi insisted.

Shampoo placed her restraining hand on Kasumi once more. "Stay still. I’ll take care of you." The hand moved to Kasumi’s temple to see if she felt unusually warm.

"I’m certain it’s just motion sickness. I’ve never been on a ship before."

"That’s what Ranma told me, but I’ll stay here and make sure." Shampoo retrieved a chair and took up a position next to the bed, telling Kasumi she would get whatever was needed.

It felt odd to Kasumi that someone else should be taking care of her. It was a good feeling, but at the same time she knew part of that enjoyment was because of who was doing it. She relaxed a little bit and began talking. "Have you figured out a way to keep your people from finding out about the curse?"

"No." Shampoo was still at a loss of how to go about solving the dilemma. There had to be some way to do it. There just had to.

"Would your people really hurt you if they find out?"

Shampoo nodded. "It’s one of our most sacred laws. If it was not for our greatest leader specifically ordering the spring remain untouched, it would have been destroyed centuries ago. If my people discover my curse, I’m doomed." Shampoo bowed her head. Admitting that the people she had grown up with almost her entire life would do that to her still hurt.

"What if," Kasumi paused to moisten her lips. "What if you were in your male form? They wouldn’t have anyway of knowing it was really you, would they? You’d be safe then."

Shampoo shook her head. "It would be only temporary. For running twice, my people would always be on the lookout for me. Some would hunt me down and try to bring me back. And even if I tried to hide, the odds are someone would eventually find me."

"What if you were locked in your male form? They wouldn’t be able to find you then. You could live your life out as a man."

She considered what Kasumi proposed. "I don’t want to be a boy for the rest of my life."

"But the alternative…" Kasumi let that trail off.

Shampoo’s brow creased as she forced herself to think along those lines. She did not want to be a male, but the loathing that had first accompanied the curse was gone. She willingly switched genders back and forth like most people changed clothing, and if a situation called for it she would splash herself with cold water without hesitation. Even getting caught in the rain didn’t bother her anymore. Her hairstyle had been altered for so long she had almost forgotten what it was like before the curse. Almost all of her clothes were now unisex, like Ranma’s. She had adapted to the curse almost totally. But to lose her femininity entirely, even if it meant saving her life, seemed like too much. Even worse than that, it would also mean forsaking Ranma. He might not mind her being cursed and unable to bear children, but there was absolutely no way he would go for a relationship with someone that was male all the time, even if that someone’s soul was that of a woman.

Kasumi reached out and grasped Shampoo’s hand. "If you do, I promise you won’t be alone."

Shampoo gaped at her in astonishment.

"I remember what you said to me when I was under the effects of the love pill," Kasumi said, maintaining her handhold. "It took a while, but the memories eventually came back. You said you wouldn’t let me be alone, even though it would have meant a sacrifice for you. Well, I promise you, you won’t be alone either, and I wouldn’t think it was a sacrifice at all."

Shampoo panicked and tore her hand out of Kasumi’s. "Shampoo just remembered; I have to go see great grandmother about some Amazon things." She realized she was speaking too quickly and relaxed. "Do you think you’ll be all right?"

Kasumi was taken aback from Shampoo’s initial reaction, but seeing Shampoo calm down, relaxed as well. "Yes. I’ll be fine."

"Good," Shampoo said curtly and made left the cabin. Visiting her friend had certainly led to some unexpected things. If there was no other way, could she sacrifice her womanhood to stay alive? Kasumi was all but telling her she could have a life as a man with the eldest Tendo; the same thing Shampoo had done at the beach. An offer of commitment, freely given. All that was needed was to accept or refuse.

She shook her head. Taking that particular course of action would require some thought, and surely there was something else that could be done besides giving up any chance of becoming a woman ever again. There had to be some other way.

Akane sat in her room, waiting for Ranma. He was supposed to come by to pick her up for the meeting with the parents. The two of them were going to make a united front in their decision. Well, Ranma’s decision, which she was going to back.

"He’s late, the jerk." Her words held none of the anger they usually did. The phrase was used more out of habit than anything else. It had all been so simple: Get married to Ranma. Go on honeymoon. Live happily ever after, eventually. Pretty simple. Well, more like relatively simple if it involved Ranma. Nothing was ever truly simple with him. That was both a good and bad thing. He was certainly more interesting than any other boy she had ever known. He was also more frustrating than any man alive. That was the dichotomy that had compelled her to fall in love with him, even if she hadn’t wanted to admit it until yesterday.

Out of control. Something every martial artist was supposed to prevent from happening to them, but it had happened to her. Then again, nothing could corral love, now could it? It overrode everything else. Anger, jealousy, envy, frustration. All were things she had felt before and after meeting Ranma. All of them had been laid low, or at least beaten into submission momentarily, by Akane and her acceptance of what she felt for her fiancé.

Now if only the jerk felt the same way about her.

He just had to have feelings for Shampoo. How could he have not known about them beforehand? Akane had seen it. The Amazon had tried to put the moves on Ranma for months. So if he had wanted to get out of the engagement he could have run off at any time. But instead he had waited until the last minute, when Shampoo dragged him away and tried to run off with him. And he went along with her, sort of.

The jerk.

Now it was different. Now he wanted time to figure things out. Why should that be? Hadn’t he had months to try to sort out his feelings about the two of them? He should have figured out whom he cared for months ago. None of this indecision should have been occurring.

Hypocrite.

That one was not directed towards Ranma. Akane had not understood how she felt about him until confronted with the idea that he might leave her forever. She couldn’t tell him how she felt until yesterday. Oh, yes, Akane Tendo was SO much more decisive than her fiancé.

That was past her. She had made her choice. Now all she had to worry about was Ranma’s decision, and the rest of the problems life was going to throw at her afterwards.

The waiting was the worst thing of all.

A knock on the door snapped her out of her reverie. It was about time Ranma showed up. How should she react to his being late? In the past it would have been irritation and anger, and now it had been made more intense by the trepidation she felt. But might that not drive him away? Perhaps it was time to be more… understanding of his feelings. As long as he at least tried to extend the same courtesy to her. She wasn’t the only one that was going to have to change, at least a little bit, to make things truly work between the two of them. But for a change she was going to give him the benefit of the doubt, at least for a little while. It wasn’t like he was cruel by nature. It was just that they seemed to push all the wrong buttons with one another, at least some of the time. Maybe they could put the worst of those times behind them. Hopefully.

All of that went through her mind as she tried smiling to put Ranma at ease and opened the door. "It’s about time you showed up." That part hadn’t come out right. So much for understanding. Apparently she was going to need a little more practice before it became second nature to her. However, once she got a good look at her visitor’s face, she realized that offending Ranma with what she had just said was no longer a concern.

"I’m glad you were expecting me," Tarou said as he brushed past the surprised Akane and stood in the center of the room, looking expectedly at her. He appeared still somewhat beaten, despite falling asleep when he arrived on the ship and resting almost a full twenty-four hours. As great as his powers of recovery were, they were still a far cry from Ranma’s.

"Hi, Tarou. Umm, I was expecting someone… else."

Tarou appeared a little crestfallen at that. "Fem-boy?"

"Don’t call him that, please."

Tarou shook his head. "You have my heart, but not my head. I speak my mind no matter what. Sorry if that upsets you," his voice actually softened a little. "I am, but I call them like I see them."

She understood, sort of, and there was the problem with the other part of what he had just said. She wasn’t used to someone being so straightforward with her, even him. "I know why you’re here and why you said what you did at the wedding. I understand how you feel. You mean a lot to me, but I have to marry Ranma."

"You mean the guy that dumped you at the altar yesterday?" He heavily emphasized the last word.

"H… he didn’t dump me," she insisted. "He’s just confused because of what Shampoo did. It’s all her fault!"

Tarou moved from the middle of the room to stand next to Akane, placing his hands on his hips as he confronted her. "I may love you so much it hurts sometimes, but girl, you’ve got to get a reality check. She did not make him do anything he didn’t want to do. The only reason he went off with her was because he WANTED to. The only reason he called off the wedding was because he WANTED to. The only reason he’s going with her now is because he WANTS to. And if you weren’t so close to the matter, you’d see that."

"You’re wrong," she protested so softly she was almost inaudible. "He doesn’t love her. He’s just protecting her. That’s the way he is. If it were me, or anyone else, he’d be doing the same thing."

"Oh, I don’t deny he’s a sap, and would do something like that for anyone, but he isn’t doing this for her for any other reason then the urging he’s getting from his pants."

"He is not that way!"

Tarou shook his head in frustration. Akane was the only one worth the grief of trying to explain things that were so obvious. Anyone else and he would have given up on them. It was time to do something different. "He had a choice between marrying you or going with her. He made his choice."

"She just manipulated him!"

"She loves him. Do you think that if you love someone and try to win their heart, it’s nothing more than manipulation?"

"No," she said with little confidence.

"Do you think I’m manipulating you?"

Akane was caught off-guard by the question. "Of course not. You wouldn’t do something like that."

"Not to you, no. But I can’t deny I’ve got a bit of your sister in me. Sometimes I’m a little manipulative. I’m no angel, Akane, but everything I’ve said about you is true. And everything I’m telling you about Ranma and Shampoo is true. If you keep going on like this, he’s going to hurt you, and I don’t want that to happen. I want to protect you."

"Ranma wouldn’t hurt me. You don’t have to protect me."

"He won’t hurt you?" Tarou snorted contemptuously at that. "What do you call what he did to you yesterday?"

Silence was all that answered the question.

"That’s what I thought." He began grinning smugly. "He’s too busy protecting Shampoo to worry about you now. He’s discarded you, Akane. He’s an insensitive idiot that can’t see what the best thing going today is. All he’s worried about is his Chinese slut and the problems she has. Let him have her. Let go now, otherwise he’s just going to hurt you some more."

"He won’t do that."

Tarou shook his head. Why did she have to make things so hard? "Has he said anything about getting married since yesterday?"

"He said he wants to wait until this is all over."

Tarou laughed at that. "Oh, no! He’d never dream of hurting you. Just because he knows how badly you want to get married and wants to postpone the thing until whenever is no reason to think he doesn’t have your best interests at heart."

"He has to know how he feels about me first," she said softly. Why was Tarou twisting things around to make it sound like Ranma didn’t love her? What he was saying made sense, but it couldn’t be true.

"If he doesn’t know how he feels about you, then it isn’t love. With love there aren’t any doubts. I know. I don’t have any. I’ve overcome everything for you. When we first met, I managed to tell you my last name. Up until then, whenever any girl asked me that, I’d just run away. But not from you. I’ve gone out of my way to make you happy. That’s something I’ve never done for anyone. I’ve even accepted my name, to show you that I fear nothing so much as losing you. I love you."

Akane shook her head. "Don’t say things like that!"

"Why?" Tarou insisted. "Because it makes you afraid? You aren’t used to someone being open with you, or is it maybe because it makes you doubt how you think you feel about Fem-boy? Are you afraid of me?"

"No."

"Then trust me," he pleaded. "Just look at what you’re doing. You are going to China to risk your life over someone you hate, who has the heart of the man you’re supposed to marry, and all because of your fiancé. What kind of a guy does that to someone that he’s supposed to love? I know damn well I wouldn’t do that to you. Let him go."

Akane shook her head. "I can’t. I love him."

"YOU IDIOT!!!" Tarou at last snapped. For the first time in years he had lost total emotional control. "How can you say that?! I’m more handsome! A better martial artist! Smarter! More powerful! I’ve got a better personality! I’m a real man and not some gender-bending freak! He’s just a two-timing user of women! He isn’t worthy of your love!"

"Tarou, calm down." She moved closer, trying to placate him.

He seized her roughly by the shoulders. "I should just grab you and fly off this scow! If you won’t protect yourself, then I’ll do it for you!"

"Don’t you dare!" She tried wriggling out of his grasp, but the more powerful youth held tight.

"Fine." He kept his hands where they were. "For now. But no matter what happens I won’t let you get hurt."

And with that he drew her close and kissed her, pouring all of his love into it. She was too much in shock to do anything other then fall limp in his grasp. The embrace lasted but a moment before he let go of her completely.

"That’s so you realize there’s someone waiting for you that really loves you. I hope you come to your senses soon, though. Otherwise the pain of when he totally abandons you is just going to get worse." He departed out of the room with only one backward glance. "And then I’ll kill him."

Akane remained where she was, then slumped to her knees, murmuring "Tarou no baka," under her breath.

"Give me those, you little creep!" Ranma could feel the silky garments brush against his fingertips. Slowly he had been gaining on the perverted one. All he needed was another centimeter and they would be his. Of course that had been all he needed two other times, yet the old master put on a burst of speed, widening the distance between the two.

Then he did it. He grasped the end of the bra, freeing it from Happosai’s clutches. Surprisingly his second grab retrieved the bottoms of them as well.

"HA HA!" he shouted out triumphantly and waved them in the air. "I rescued them from you!"

"Boy! You have no idea of how disappointed I am in you! Following in the master’s footsteps. I thought I taught you better than that!"

"Son! Is this the sort of behavior Akane is going to have to expect from you from now on?!"

"Ranma, I truly hope those are Akane’s undergarments."

Ranma turned in fear to see that he had ‘liberated’ the lingerie right in front of his parents cabin. Apparently they had opened the door just as he had completed his jubilant declaration, missing everything that had happened before. His father and Soun were crying about Happosai now having a true disciple while his mother just looked at him expectantly.

"It ain’t like that!" He protested, waving his hands before them, the underwear still in his grasp. "It was that old co…" He trailed off as he realized Happosai was long gone.

Happosai continued bouncing down the corridor. The plan had gone off without a hitch. "That’s what you get for refusing to play model for me, little punk. Maybe next time you’ll learn to respect your elders." It was time to make a run down the Amazon wing again. So many cuties and so little time to give each one the attention they deserved. Still, he would try his best.

"The old goat set me up," Ranma complained.

"That’s irrelevant right now," Nodoka said, insisting Ranma make himself comfortable.

Things were not going quite the way Ranma had hoped. The plan was to get Akane and meet the parents to tell them the wedding was postponed, together. But that wasn’t going to be. Maybe things were going to work out for the best. All the disappointment would be directed at him, and it would save Akane from the protests the trio was going to make. And it was all his fault. Why should Akane suffer for his actions? He knew what it was like to suffer from his father’s mistakes. In that he could be better than the old man.

He sat down before the trio. There was a cigarette dangling from Soun’s mouth; a bad sign. Genma looked about just as pleased. Nodoka appeared the least harsh, looking over Ranma with a mixture of love and concern.

"You guys are probably wondering exactly why… ah… things turned out like they did."

"That’s something of an understatement," Nodoka said. "Right now you’re supposed to be married and on your honeymoon."

"It’s not too late to make this your wedding cruise, though," Genma pointed out. He quieted down when he noticed the glare he received from his wife that told him who would be running the conversation.

"Honeymoon. Right." Ranma tried figuring out how to explain things. Dealing with his parents was not easy. It took him a moment to settle on an explanation.

"That’s been put off indefinitely." There was something to be said for taking the direct approach…

"WHAT?!!!"

…Unfortunately, it wasn’t good. "Now let me explain."

"You had better do some explaining, and quick, son!" Soun warned, his cigarette having hit the floor upon Ranma’s declaration.

"Akane and I talked it over. We agreed it would be best if we waited a while. We’re kind of unsure about how fast everything went."

The three parents looked visibly relieved.

"And this delay has nothing to do with Shampoo, correct?" Nodoka asked.

Ranma began fidgeting. How was he to respond to that one? Maybe the slow answer approach would be used this time. Especially since he didn’t know how to explain things and his last answering technique had turned into a bust.

"Ranma," Nodoka’s voice took on a tone of warning.

He remained silent.

"This has nothing to do with Shampoo, does it?" The tone was louder than the first time she said it.

"Maybe it sort of does, sort of," he answered reluctantly. He hated doing that to his mother. Of all the things he wanted to avoid, disappointing her was the first on the list. They still hadn’t had any real time to just talk together and be a normal mother and son.

Nodoka turned to Genma and hissed. "This is all your fault, isn’t it?"

"No! I always told the boy he had to marry a Tendo."

"It ain’t his fault." Ranma surprised himself by defending his father. "For a change."

"Then why, Ranma?" Nodoka almost pleaded as she looked upon her son.

"It’s not like anyone ever believes me, but I’ll tell you anyway." Ranma felt his heart sink. He was going to disappoint all of them, but there was no other way or he would have taken it. "I’m confused about how I feel about both Akane and Shampoo. You see, just Shampoo told me how she felt about me yesterday."

"Then you’re just confused because of that," Nodoka insisted.

"Not exactly. I think I kind of suspected it, but didn’t want to admit to it cause it would have messed up everything. But now that she said it right to my face, and I can’t deny I might feel the same way about her. Except I don’t know, and maybe I lo… like Akane."

Nodoka sighed. "It’s unfortunate Akane’s not more open-minded about a mistress."

Ranma pictured that in his mind for all of two seconds. He could barely handle either of the girls as it was. Once he was married to either one he was going to have his hands more than full for the rest of his life. Put the two of them together and it would have meant the death of him within five years. He’d have to go on a training journey for at least as long as his father had just to stay alive. He cared for them both deeply, and did not want to hurt either of them, but there was such a thing as too much. No matter how much of a ‘man among men’ he was, he was still only human. "I think I can safely say not one of us would go for that."

"You have to marry Akane, son," Soun insisted.

"Yes. It’s a matter of honor," Genma agreed.

Ranma took a deep breath. "Look, Akane and I talked it over. Neither one of us wants to be in a loveless marriage. I can’t do that to her. I won’t make her miserable for the rest of her life."

"Well, there’s always Kasumi or Nabiki, I suppose." Soun and Genma began talking amongst themselves.

"I wouldn’t do that to Kasumi either, or do that to myself if you tried hooking me up to that extortionist."

"Then you’ll have to marry Akane," Soun insisted.

Genma nodded. "It’s a matter of honor and not subject to debate. There’s no way around it. You will marry a Tendo."

For all of the fathers posturing, it was the disapproving stare of his mother that bothered Ranma the most. It was her respect he wanted more than anything.

Why did the parents have to be so stubborn? Why couldn’t they just let go of the promise and let him marry whoever would make him the happiest? But then again, they agreed to marry him off to someone he had never met before he could even walk. His happiness was never a consideration of theirs.

Despite the anger he felt over that, the desire to please his mother was still there. He couldn’t bring himself to hurt her.

He cleared his throat. "Look, Akane and I talked a while and agreed to postpone the wedding. So it ain’t like it’s off or nothing. It’s just… delayed. That’s all." He was thankful Shampoo was not around to hear him waffle like that. The last thing he needed was for the Amazon to start harassing him. And if the old ghoul got involved then he’d never have a moment’s peace. No. Shampoo would not be finding out what happened in this particular conversation.

"So you’re still going to marry her?" Nodoka asked with an even voice.

"We haven’t officially called off the wedding, so it’s still on. But there’s no way anything can happen until after this whole Amazon mess is over."

The parents looked somewhat placated by that.

"Well, I got things to do to try to help Shampoo. See ya’." He hugged his mother good-bye and shot his father a cold stare, then left the cabin, feeling like a heel. Akane would probably be happy about the way things went. At least there was that.

Aki Yoshida tried following the numbers along the cabin doors once more. That was usually a pretty reliable way of getting from place to place. However, when she took her eyes off of them, even for a second, they’d change and she’d lose her way again. At the moment she was within fifty numbers of the room she wanted, and was about to cry out in joy at being so close to her goal when someone gained her attention.

"Excuse me, Miss?"

Aki reflexively answered the nasally whine. It appeared to be one of the Amazons. "You’re Condom, right?"

"NO!!!" the girl protested. "I’m Tablet! What kind of stupid name is Condom?"

Aki shrugged, "I knew someone named Trojan, once. So it ain’t that weird to me. What did you want?"

Tablet whined some more. "I can’t find any lifeboats."

"That’s because there aren’t any. The captain’s philosophy is, if he has to go down with the ship, so does everyone else," Aki explained.

Tablet wandered off, whining about how she was never going to get back home alive.

Aki watched her departing form, then realized what she had done and looked back to the cabin room numbers. She was now somewhere around three hundred rooms away. "I didn’t even move! How the hell did that happen?!" She began yelling at the ship. "Do you hate me?! Is that it?! Do you want me to never find anything on here, or is that you like to see me suffer?!"

The ship didn’t respond.

"Ah, my bandanna-clad temptress, do not weep at your misfortune." Kunou appeared and maneuvered his hands behind his back, then thrust a bouquet of red roses forward.

"For me?" Aki said quietly and accepted the bouquet, breathing in its intoxicating fragrance. "No one ever gets me flowers. Thank you!" She embraced him.

"Ah, to accept the gratitude of one… most… ah." Kunou suddenly found himself out of breath as the air was squeezed out of his lungs and pain began to shoot out from his back.

"That’s so sweet of you. Except for Ryouga, I haven’t met a gentleman around here for months. Thank—," she stopped talking as she heard a grunt of pain come from Kunou. She released him, only to see that he was nearly bent in half from the pressure she had applied. She’d done it again. "Sorry. I didn’t mean to break you like that. Sometimes I get carried away."

"It’s quite…. all right. I am… used… to it. I… shall… make my way… to my… cabin." Somehow Kunou managed to leave under his own power and headed for his cabin, leaving Aki to sigh mournfully. She was never going to find anyone tough enough to withstand her.

Once more she set upon her course until coming upon one of her fellow crewmen. She made a quick request for him to lead her to the cabin she sought, and a few minutes later ended up at the room. The crewman left as she gave a powerful rap on the door.

"Enter."

Aki went inside to see Kyoko Onamuri. She took a moment to examine her cousin’s girlfriend. "Where’d you get the cheerleader outfit?"

"The captain gave one to me and Ai. He has a whole closet filled with all sorts of outfits. There were French maid outfits, police women uniforms, airline stewardess outfits, naughty nurse ensembles, a giant teddy bear costume, and all sorts of other ones, and then he wanted me to try them on for him even though I have a boyfriend."

"That’s because the man’s a pig."

Kyoko looked suspiciously at her visitor. "What are you doing here anyway?"

Aki held up her hands. "Relax. I’m not here to kill you."

"The others told me why you tried to do that," Kyoko said. "That still doesn’t tell me why you’re here."

"I just want to meet my cousin’s girlfriend in order to get to know her better." And make sure she was worthy of Ryouga. From the brief time the two of them had met, it had been easy for Aki to tell that Ryouga was desperate for attention from the opposite sex, and would probably grab the first thing that came onto him. Someone had to watch out for his interests, and what better judge of character than her?

Kyoko nodded. "I guess it would be good to know you better. We’re going to be family someday."

That stunned Aki. "Ryouga’s proposed to you?"

"Not yet. But he will." Kyoko could not help smiling in anticipation for that happy day. "We’re perfect for one another."

"Perfect? In what way?"

"We just are. We love each other."

"Oh," Aki said. "Have you two had sex yet?"

Kyoko nearly fell over in shock. "Of course not! That’s just not proper! We’re going to wait until we get married."

"Relax! I just wanted to make sure you guys are sexually compatible. That’s a big part of marriage you know."

Kyoko gazed suspiciously at Aki. "Are you sure that’s the only reason you’re asking?"

Aki mirrored Kyoko’s suspicious gaze. "What’s that supposed to mean?"

"What were you doing in Ryouga’s bed the last time he was here?"

"What do you think I was doing?"

Kyoko’s eyes narrowed further. "Tell me."

Once more Aki mirrored Kyoko’s gaze. "Not that it’s any of your business, but I was trying to sleep with him."

"You were trying to sleep with your cousin?"

"It happened before I knew who he was. Of course, that sort of thing isn’t exactly unheard of back home, but it’s just not my thing."

"So if he wasn’t family, you would have done that sort of thing with him?" Kyoko’s voice had dropped a great deal from its usually high pitch.

Aki’s normally husky voice dropped the same amount. "In an instant."

Kyoko leaned close enough that the two were almost nose-to-nose. "Is the b-word the only thing that makes you crazy?"

Aki leaned forward so that there was no more than a millimeter between the two’s noses. "Yep."

"Slut," Kyoko said, not in anger, but as though she was stating a fact.

Aki backed off and gave one of her cutesy smiles. "We seem to be getting off on the wrong foot. Why don’t we do something together?"

Kyoko’s expression did not change as she continued to stare flatly at Aki. "Like what?"

"How about I take you fishing?"

Ryouga wandered about the ship, asking everyone if they had seen Aki. He tried to make certain he stayed above the decks, lest he become lost and never be seen again, but after an hour the best he had come up with was a crewman that said he had seen Aki going fishing with Kyoko. That was a pleasant thought. The two of them were getting along after the misunderstanding from the other day.

As Ryouga searched he took notice of the weather. It was behaving so abnormally one would think they were still in Nerima. It had already rained five times and hailed twice in two hours, which would not have been so odd save that the sunlight showed in-between each time, as though it hadn’t rained at all. It was just plain weird.

Ryouga was still in the middle of his search when two girls sprang out from around the corner ahead. An ambush. It took only a moment for Ryouga to recognize his two opponents from the other day: Foam and Soap.

Ryouga dropped into a defensive stance. "What are you two doing? Are you trying to get revenge?"

The two Amazons began talking to one another in Chinese. Eventually Foam spoke up. "We no want to fight. We only fight because we need Shampoo. Now we have Shampoo, so no need to fight."

"What do you want then?"

"What name?"

"Ryouga Hibiki."

Foam nodded her head in approval. "Like name. It strong name. Ryouga impress Foam and Soap very much. Take much punishment and very strong. Ryouga would no beat Foam and Soap, but put up good fight."

Ryouga became embarrassed by the praise, placing his hand behind his head as he began laughing nervously. "Thanks."

Ryouga suddenly became aware of the fact that the Amazons had suddenly moved next to him, one in front and one in back.

"Ryouga is very strong. Foam and Soap want to…" Foam rubbed her body against his. "…see how strong Ryouga is in bed. Ryouga strong in bed, yes?"

"In b… b… bed?"

"At same time. Is opportunity many mens would want. We make, how does Ryouga say, Amazon sandwich."

Soap moved her hands along Ryouga’s backside. That, along with the blood he felt rushing to his nose was all it took to snap him out of his trance. He took off running in some random direction, leaving the duo to watch the dust cloud he had left behind.

"<What a tease,>" Soap said, disappointed. Foam simply nodded her head in agreement.

Ukyou barely got out of the way of the fleeing Ryouga in time. He was more than ten feet past her before she shouted at him to stop. "Hey, what’s going on?" She asked as he caught his breath.

"Amazons," he gasped.

"Did they try to attack you?" Ukyou drew her spatula. "Don’t worry. I’ll help."

"It’s not that."

Ukyou’s eyebrow shot up. "Oh? What was it then?"

Ryouga paused as he tried to figure out what to say next. Ukyou had reacted badly to the revelation that he and Aki had slept in the same bed, so there was no way he was going to tell her that two of the Amazons had just tried to jump in the sack with him together. "They just wanted me to give them a hard time."

"What?!"

"I meant they were just giving me a hard time!" Ryouga panicked. He had to change the subject "Where’s Ai?"

"Got me."

"You don’t know?" That was a surprise. The two girls did nearly everything together any more.

"I’m not her keeper. The last thing she told me was that she was going to try to find a cheerleader outfit. Her dress was pretty trashed from the fight. Not that my suit’s that much better." She fingered the clothing. It had a couple of holes in it and needed to be cleaned and pressed badly.

"Yeah. It’s a good thing I had a couple of spare sets of clothes left over from the last time I was here." Aki had been kind enough to sew some and save them for him in the hopes Ryouga would return someday.

"I’ll get by," Ukyou said. "I’m sorry I was angry with your cousin. I’ll make it up to her later."

"Thanks." That was a relief. Now Aki would get along with both of his friends.

Ukyou became pensive. "Ryouga, why are you here?"

"Do you mean why am I helping Shampoo, or do you mean in a metaphysical sense?"

Ukyou almost said the latter just to see if he really could explain it. "Why are you helping Shampoo?"

"Originally it was because you were coming, but now I think I’d have come anyway."

"Why? You don’t even like Shampoo."

"Well," Ryouga let out reluctantly. "Just because I really don’t care much for her or Ranma doesn’t mean I want them dead. And it’s not like I hate Shampoo or anything, even if she did knock me into one of the springs. And if nothing else, there’s no reason why she should be killed just because she’s been cursed. It’s just wrong. I have to do something."

Ukyou nodded. "I just wanted to make sure you weren’t doing it for me."

"I’d be here anyway for you, but it’s not the only reason."

"Good. Now I have to do some more thinking, so if you don’t mind I’ll be going." She turned to go, but paused before going too far. "Ryouga?"

"Yes?"

"I’d have come along for you, too."

He felt himself blush as he looked to the ground. "Thanks."

"Take care."

"You too." Ukyou continued on.

Ryouga again began his search for Aki, finally discovering her leaning next to a rail, fishing over the side with a large pole.

"Hey, cuz!" She waved to Ryouga.

"Hi. Where’s Kyoko? I heard she was fishing with you."

"Nope. You heard wrong. I’m fishing with Kyoko."

Ryouga scratched his head. "Umm, Aki, that’s what I just said."

"No. It isn’t." She returned her attention to fishing.

"Yes it is." He began to wonder of yesterday’s incident had a more lasting effect than what he originally thought. "Aki," he said slowly. "I just said Kyoko was fishing with you."

"And I told you I’m fishing with Kyoko."

Ryouga was about to correct her again when something about the way Aki phrased that clicked. "Oh, no! Don’t tell me you’re…"

Aki smiled and reeled in the line. As it was reeled up to the top, the bait Aki was using finally became visible. Kyoko was wrapped up in chains on the end of the line.

Aki examined her closely. "I see you haven’t caught anything yet. You just don’t seem to be getting the hang of fishing. Back you go." She began to release the line once more.

"WWWAAAAHHHH!!! Save me Ryouga-kun! She’s trying to feed me to the sharks!"

"KYOKO!!!" Ryouga rushed over and snagged the line before Kyoko was lowered any further. Quickly he brought her back onto the ship and snapped her bonds. Kyoko immediately embraced Ryouga, sniffling mightily.

"Just what do you think you’re doing?!" Ryouga was surprised to find his anger building at his cousin.

"Oh, relax." Aki said nonchalantly. "If I was seriously trying to feed her to the sharks I’d have chummed the waters first."

"That’s no excuse." Ryouga dried a few of Kyoko’s tears. "You all right?"

"Yes," Kyoko sniffled.

"Why don’t you go back to your room? I’ll take care of this." He turned to Aki.

"But Ryouga—" Kyoko started to say.

"Go back. Please."

Kyoko gave him a hurt look, but did as she was told. Once she was gone Ryouga turned to Aki. "What was that all about?"

Aki became angry. Ryouga was stepping way out of line. "It was a private matter."

"She’s my friend. It is my business."

Aki tried to control her temper. "She called me a slut! There’s no way I was going to let that pass. And if you think just because she’s your girl, that makes her off limits, think again. I deal with people on the basis of who they are, not who they know. If she’s going to shoot her mouth off, she pays the price. And if you got a problem with me defending myself, then I got a problem with you, family or no."

Ryouga was somewhat taken aback by Aki’s intensity. "She called you that?"

"She did."

That was different. Aki was more than entitled to defend her honor. "I apologize for her, then. She shouldn’t have said that. She just gets defensive sometimes."

"Let her do her own apologizing. Maybe I’ll accept it." But that wasn’t likely. Something about the cheerleader rubbed Aki wrong. "Look, my problem’s with her, not you. I don’t want to let something like this spoil our reunion. As long as she keeps her mouth shut, I promise to not fish with her again. Will that make you happy?"

"Yes. As long as you don’t try to show her the floor of the ocean by tying her to the anchor and throwing her overboard."

"Aww! You spoil all my fun."

"I know you too well."

Aki gave him a wide smile. Things were back to normal.

"<I think the Japanese boy is cute,>" Boudoir said to her companions.

Rei Za and Shi Fan shook their heads disapprovingly. "<I’m telling you, Xian Pu has an interest in him. You’d better leave him alone,>" Shi Fan warned.

Boudoir waved the warning off. "<Ah, I’m not afraid of her. She’s lost her touch. I could see that Akane Tendo girl was hitting on him and Xian Pu did nothing about it. She didn’t even smack the girl around. I’m telling you, Xian Pu’s spent too much time among the Japanese and inherited their soft ways. I’ll take that Ranma boy for my own and she won’t… what’s wrong with you two?>" Both Rei Za and Shi Fan backed away fearfully from Boudoir. She was about to reproach them when she felt the presence behind her. Boudoir turned.

"<Oh. Hi there, Xian Pu,>" she said haughtily. After saying all of those things in front of her companions, Boudoir was not about to back down because Shampoo looked a little angry.

When Shampoo did nothing more than stare at her, Boudoir began to go on. "<How much of that did you hea— >"

Boudoir suddenly found a hand clamped around her jaw. Before she could react Shampoo rammed her head into the metal wall four times in rapid succession, giving Boudoir a major concussion as a metal panel on the wall buckled with the fourth blow. Everything became hazy for Boudoir, and she was only dimly aware of being dragged along by her hair somewhere.

Shampoo continued towing Boudoir out to the rear deck as Rei Za and Shi Fan followed. It seemed a little rough, but Boudoir had been shooting off her mouth, and it was within Shampoo’s rights to answer such a challenge.

Shampoo stopped at the railing on the end of the ship, releasing Boudoir’s hair and grabbing her by the ankle. With hardly any effort Boudoir was suddenly dangling over the side, right above the propellers. All it would take was Shampoo to release her grip and the suspended Amazon would plunge to her death.

"<This is a message to all of my sisters,>" Shampoo told Rei Za and Shi Fan, who were taken aback by the anger on Shampoo’s face. "<Akane Tendo is tolerated by me for a number of reasons that I will not explain to you. It is not your concern. No other will be allowed to make contact with Ranma Saotome in any way, or they will answer to me. I may have been gone for a while, but I have not ‘lost my touch,’ as Boudoir so delicately put it. I am still the champion, as Boudoir would kindly attest to, and I will eagerly prove that to any that wish to challenge me.>" Shampoo shook Boudoir back and forth. "<Let this one serve as a warning.>"

And with that Shampoo threw Boudoir back on board, the nearly unconscious girl landing at the feet of Rei Za and Shi Fan. Shampoo walked off, leaving the others to deliver the message.

It was not long before Shampoo came across Aki, who was looking over a railing at the water below. Ryouga had left only a short while ago, but she wanted to continue enjoying the air, and the peculiar weather. If she didn’t know better, she would have sworn there was a dark bank of clouds that was moving against the wind and in the direction of the ship.

"Hey, Shamps. What’s happening?"

"I beat up one of my sisters to warn the others what would happen if they tried to hit on Ranma."

"Good for you." Aki clapped Shampoo on the back. She could appreciate brusque gestures of intimidation. "Hey! I want to ask you something."

"Go ahead." Shampoo liked Aki. She was blunt and to the point, something Shampoo could respect.

"Now, none of the others told me, but you seem to be in some kind of trouble with your people. I forgot to ask Ryouga, but I heard Ranma’s dad talking about you getting killed if something happened. What’s up with that?"

Shampoo sighed. It was true that the fewer people that knew about her situation the better, but Aki was aware of the curse and could be trusted. Their trip to Pangea proved that.

"It has to do with my—" Shampoo didn’t get any farther as a sudden downpour from the clouds Aki had noticed earlier hit the ship. The rain lasted for all of ten seconds, then stopped, leaving a soaking wet Shampoo-kun and Aki.

"Weird weather we’re having, wouldn’t you say?" Aki said as cheerfully as she could as she brushed back her wet mop of hair.

It was at that moment that Tablet, Sash, So Fu and Lin Fhall came upon the duo. The group was still about thirty feet away, but even from there could make out Shampoo-kun’s features.

"<He is gorgeous.>" So Fu practically went into heat.

"<You got that right,>" Tablet moaned in agreement. Maybe she wouldn’t mind sharing his germs.

"<He’s nowhere near as good-looking as my husband. Oh, Mamoru, I miss you so much. WWWWWAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!>" Sash ran away, crying.

Tablet smiled as Sash ran off. There was one less in the competition to bag that handsome male.

*ACHOO*

Tablet turned slowly to the person that had sneezed on her.

"<Sorry about that,>" Lin said as she wiped her nose. "<This cold has been bothering me for the last couple of days now, and the sneezes just sneak up on you.>"

Tablet shook for exactly two seconds before screaming about being contaminated and how she had to get to her antibiotics before it was too late.

Lin smiled at the retreating form. "<That takes care of her. What a sucker.>" She stared at So Fu. There was no easy way to get rid of her. "<We could fight this out,>" Lin offered.

"<Or we could let the male choose,>" So Fu suggested, not wishing to expend herself in a fight.

"<Agreed. May the best warrior win.>"

The girls shook hands then approached Shampoo-kun, each trying to look as seductive as possible. "<Hello,>" So Fu began, hoping the boy spoke Chinese. "<What’s your name?>"

Aki began to laugh. "<Don’t you recognize him? It’s Xian— >"

A hand was clamped over her mouth. "< —Sheng.>"

"<Mister what?>" Lin asked.

Shampoo-kun shook his head. "<Not Xiansheng. Xian Sheng.>"

"<Oh. Well your name sure is cute!>" both girls said simultaneously.

Shampoo-kun tried to keep from retching. This was exceptionally bad. He recognized an all too familiar look of lust in their eyes. It was the same one most Japanese girls gave him, but it was made all the worse that these were girls he had grown up with. Something had to be done before one of them tried luring him into a fight and really messed things up.

Aki was trying to figure out why Shampoo-kun would be hiding his true identity from his fellow villagers when an arm wrapped itself around her waist.

"<Have you met my girlfriend, Aki?>" Shampoo-kun hoped she would pick up on the hint.

"YOU SICKO!!!"

*WHAM*

Shampoo-kun slowly peeled himself out of the wall. Aki was not quite as quick on the uptake as he had hoped.

"Just because I stripped you without realizing your problem is no reason to think I’m some kind of pervert!" Aki stomped away to some other part of the ship. The incident where she had discovered the handsome, and unconscious man in the river in Pangea was not something she would soon forget. She had stripped the unconscious Shampoo-kun and built a fire to warm him up. When he came to she started hitting on him unashamedly, nearly straddling him while he was recovering, at least until Shampoo-kun explained about the curses and how they worked. It took a demonstration to convince her of the truth. It didn’t matter how handsome Shampoo’s male body was; Aki was not interested in women, thank you very much.

The other two Amazons examined Shampoo-kun’s form. "<It looks like the two of you broke up.>" Lin Fhall smiled.

"<Too bad,>" So Fu said without a trace of sincerity .

Shampoo-kun just sighed. His luck was running true to course.

The mess hall of the ship was rather crowded when Ukyou arrived. She noticed there were a large number of crewmen and Amazons that were enthusiastically eating. Ukyou sat down with a tray of food. Before she got a chance to try it, a seal sat down next to her. As little as a year ago that sight might have disturbed her, but not anymore. She simply turned to it and said, "Let me guess, you’re a navy seal?"

The seal shook its head vigorously as one of the nearby crewmen began explaining. "Nah! Otto quit the navy a long time ago. He was in one of them experimental animal training programs. The ones where they teach animals to strap explosives on themselves and blow up stuff. Otto got himself dishonorably discharged for blowing up an admiral’s yacht."

Ukyou would have sworn the animal laughed at that.

"Anyway, he’s our underwater demolitions expert now. He works for beer."

That made sense. Ukyou shrugged and began to eat. The dish was a surprisingly favorable mix of seafood in some kind of sauce.

One of the other crewmen shouted into the galley. "Hey, Swede! You’ve outdone yourself. What is this stuff?"

Ukyou turned to one of the crewmen nearby. "You have a Swedish chef?"

"Yeah! He cooks up weird stuff that tastes good, but looks nasty. Things like kelp pasta, fish head surprise, tongue soufflé. Now this stuff looks okay and tastes great."

"Well," Ukyou said reluctantly, "It’s not okonomiyaki, but it’s pretty good."

"Okonomiyaki?" The crewman made a face at that. "I wouldn’t feed that crap to my dog!"

*WHAM*

The crewman slumped to the floor after his close encounter of the spatula kind. From the direction of the galley a tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed gentleman made his way out to the dining area. The Swede smiled at the people enjoying his cooking. It wasn’t often so many of the crew ate his food. They were they the most finicky bunch of eaters he had ever met.

"What’s in this stuff?" one of the crewmen asked.

The Swede smiled. "Blue marlin, crab meat, a lemon dill sauce, and the most important ingredient that gives it its unique flavor: mermaid’s flesh."

Forty crewmen simultaneously spat out their food. "What are you, crazy?!" one of the crewmen choked out.

"Hey, hey, relax. I was just kidding. I know what mermaid’s flesh does to a person."

The crew began eating once again.

"Besides," the Swede continued. "How can you possibly mistake sea horse intestines for mermaid flesh?"

Forty crewmen spat out their food once more.

Ukyou decided she would be making some okonomiyaki in a little while and pushed the plate away. A moment later an octopus sat down next to her. "Let me guess, you’re the engineer."

A familiar head popped out from the mouth. "No, it’s me."

Ukyou recoiled. "What are you doing here, Tsubasa?"

Tsubasa held all eight tentacles to his lips. "Shh! There’s an ugly Amazon that’s trying to date me. But don’t worry, I’ll stay faithful to you. And I’m going to protect you too."

Ukyou shook her head. "Thanks, but no thanks. This doesn’t concern you and I really don’t want you around."

Tsubasa gave Ukyou a starry-eyed gaze. "You’re worried about my well-being."

"No. I don’t want you around because you really annoy the hell out of me."

Several tables away, Cabinet watched Shelf eat. The girl was having difficulty since she held an arm over her still sore breasts.

"<Maybe Perfume’s just not interested in you,>" Cabinet offered.

"<She’s just playing hard to get,>" Shelf insisted, causing Cabinet to shake her head in pity. "<But you know something?>"

"<What?>"

"<When Perfume twisted my breasts, even though it really hurt, it kind of turned me on.>"

Cabinet gave a disgusted look. "<I don’t want to hear this.>"

Shelf continued on. "<I’ve never had anyone deal with me like that before. I’ve always thought I wanted to be treated like a queen, but maybe I’ve secretly wanted to be treated like a slut. Do you think that’s what’s missing from my life? Masochism?>"

Cabinet held up her hands in defeat. "<That’s it! I’m out of here! You can discuss your twisted little fantasies with someone else.>" As Cabinet got up to leave, she spotted the octopus next to Ukyou. "<Hey!>" she grabbed Shelf’s attention. "<Isn’t that— >"

"< —the ugly Japanese girl in a stupid octopus outfit.>" Shelf drew her cudgel and headed towards Tsubasa. The cross-dresser was so wrapped up in his conversation that he never saw Shelf approach. She raised her cudgel and was about to strike when her target was snatched out of the way.

Shelf turned to Tsubasa’s savior. "<Perfume! Don’t interfere! I’ll show you this one is unworthy of you!>"

"<I told you, I have no interest in you!>" Perfume snapped. "<Go hit on Cabinet or something.>"

"<HEY!!!>" Cabinet shouted indignantly.

Shelf wouldn’t stop. "<You’re the only one for me.>"

"<Do you want me to do to you what I did last night?>"

"<YES!!!>"

Perfume felt more than a little nausea at that disclosure.

While Perfume was distracted, Tsubasa ran and hid behind Ukyou. "I already have a girlfriend."

"<Isn’t that a shame?>" Shelf ‘tsk’ed. "<Looks like it’s just you and me.>"

Perfume scowled at Ukyou. "Are you Tsubasa’s girlfriend?"

A "No," and "Yes," came from Ukyou and Tsubasa respectively.

Perfume looked suspiciously at Ukyou. "Well which is it?"

"I can answer that!" Ai had just entered the mess and walked over to her chef. She proclaimed, "Ukyou’s my girlfriend!" and gave Ukyou a passionate kiss.

Ukyou was too shocked to do anything, even when Ai’s tongue darted past her lips.

After several tense moments Ai broke off the kiss. "There! Satisfied?" The question was directed at Ukyou as well as Perfume.

Ukyou stood there, dumbfounded and uncertain whether to be offended for Ai being so forward, or grateful for trying to get her out of the situation. She settled on just remaining motionless and staring off into space.

Tsubasa was not so indecisive. "You molested my Ukyou! I’ll teach you!" Tsubasa’s tentacle attacks were for nothing as Ai deflected them all.

Perfume continued gazing suspiciously at the trio. Instincts told her something was wrong about the whole situation. "I have a way to settle this once and for all. I challenge you to a duel for Tsubasa’s hand." She pointed her naginata towards Ukyou.

Tsubasa gave a pleading look to Ukyou. Surely she wouldn’t let him down.

"You’re on!"

Ai stared in surprise at Ukyou while Tsubasa hugged her with all eight tentacles.

All of the Amazons and most of the crew in the mess followed the group outside, pausing to allow a hailstorm that showed up out of nowhere to pass. Once it was over, the group went to the foredeck, where the combatants would have room to maneuver. The crowd quickly became anxious as the fighters squared off.

"Thank you, Ukyou," Tsubasa gushed. "I knew you wouldn’t let me down."

"Don’t thank me yet," Ukyou warned as she hefted her spatula.

"Soon we shall be together, my dear." Perfume winked at Tsubasa, who stuck his tongue out in response. He knew Ukyou would win.

Both fighters faced off. In unspoken communication both nodded their heads and the contest began. Perfume came in high with her naginata. Ukyou deflected each blow and retaliated with several high strikes of her own. Perfume easily blocked those, then switched tactics, bringing the blunt end of her weapon low and struck Ukyou in the calf. Ukyou dropped her weapon and crumpled to the ground in a heap, holding her leg as though it had been nearly cut off.

"Argh! It’s my old okonomiyaki injury," Ukyou gasped. "I… I can’t go on."

Ai was at her side in an instant. "You poor, poor dear. Let me take care of you." She picked Ukyou up and gently cradled her in her arms as the two exchanged a conspiratorial wink.

"It looks like you won." Ukyou surprised herself at how crestfallen she sounded. "Take good care of him."

Off to the side Cabinet sadly shook her head. "<That was the worst thrown fight I have ever seen.>"

Perfume didn’t seem to mind. "Tsubasa dear, we’re together at last."

Tsubasa did seem to mind. "Ukyou, save me! You have to keep fighting!"

Ukyou stared at him. "Do you remember all the times you disguised yourself and grabbed onto me even though I asked you to stop? Do you remember all of those times you tried to attack Ryouga, even though he was my friend and I asked you to stop?"

Tsubasa nodded his head as he discarded his octopus costume.

"Payback’s a bitch, isn’t it?"

Tsubasa began to cry, finally making Ukyou feel sorry for him. And she had hoped to scare him for a little while longer. "Oh, would you relax? She’s not going to want you."

Tsubasa stopped crying. "She’s not?"

"Nope. You’re forgetting something." Ukyou turned to Perfume. "I hate to spoil your mood, but there’s something you should know. Tsubasa is really a guy."

All of the Amazons’ and crew’s jaws dropped in shock. Shelf was the first to respond as she approached her leader. "<You see. He’s a boy, and a pervert at that. I understand you must be heartbroken, so allow me to comfort you. I’ll make you forget all about him.>"

Perfume stared curiously at her. "<Of course he’s a guy. What kind of a weirdo do you think I am?>"

All of the Amazons now looked in shock at their leader. "<Y… y… you knew?>" Shelf managed to stutter out.

"<Yes. Why do you think I was coming on to him?>"

"<But I thought you liked women. He’s only a cross-dresser.>"

Perfume was indignant. "<I am not a weirdo that likes girls! That’s just wrong. Now, guys that cross-dress are what really turn me on.>"

Cabinet shook her head in disbelief. "<I am soooo disappointed in you.>"

Shelf could not quite accept it either. "<You mean you’ve known he’s a male the whole time?>"

"<Of course. From the moment I laid eyes on him in that cute, frilly dress, I knew it was love. I admired his long flaxen hair and the cute bow in it, as well as those shapely legs. He’s simply perfection.>" Her demeanor became more serious. "<Besides, do you know how difficult it is trying to find a guy willing to wear a dress?>"

 "<No. And if I did, I’d want my head examined first,>" Cabinet said. "<I knew you had a thing for weak males, but this is just too much!>"

"<Who the hell wants a strong guy? I got more than enough power for any three Amazons. Give me a guy that looks good in a dress any day.>" She looked for Tsubasa. "<Hey! Where’d he go?>"

Shelf suddenly tackled Perfume to the ground and began crying. "<I don’t care if you like cross-dressers. I still love you!>"

Perfume tried prying the glomping girl off, but to no avail. "<Get her off! Get her off!>" The Amazons moved to obey.

As the struggle to remove Shelf went on, Ai and Ukyou decided to take the opportunity and depart. Once away from the chaos, the pair began to talk.

"How long do you think Tsubasa will elude her?" Ai asked.

"For his sake, hopefully a very long time. She comes across as the persistent type. At least it’ll keep him out of our hair."

Ai gave a little snicker, then became more serious. "Ukyou, if you reject me, I won’t be like that girl back there. I’ll go away quietly."

Ukyou became tense. "Who said you’ll have to go away? We can still be friends."

Ai shook her head. "I don’t think so. It’ll hurt too much."

"Oh." Ukyou began staring at the deck, lost in thought.

The duo said nothing for some time.

Ryouga allowed himself to be led to Kyoko’s cabin by one of the crew. As he entered he saw that she was sitting on her bed, her arms wrapped up around her legs. She gave him a sad look and turned away. "You’re mad at me, aren’t you?" The usual energy that was in her voice was missing.

That solved the question of whether or not Kyoko had been calling Aki names. "Yes. Why did you call her that?"

"She said she wanted to sleep with you if you weren’t cousins, even after she found out I was your girlfriend!"

Ryouga gave a nervous laugh at that. Somehow he didn’t really find it possible to picture himself as an object of sexual desire. His reaction, however, was not viewed favorably. 

"Why are you laughing?! Do you think it’s funny that someone told me to my face that they want you?!"

Ryouga stopped laughing immediately. "No! No! That’s not it!"

Kyoko continued on. "Do you want to fool around on me too, just like all the other guys?!"

"Of course not!"

She began crying. "You’re just like Flex and all the others. IT’S NOT MY FAULT I’M DUMB!!!"

Ryouga was startled by Kyoko’s reaction. In all the months he had gotten to know her she was always in one of two moods: Happy/energetic or jealous whenever other girls showed interest in him, which seemed to happen a lot more often lately. But now she was… well, she was now a lot like he was a great deal of the time, depressed. That he didn’t like at all. It just seemed wrong. "You’re not dumb."

"Yes I am!" she sobbed. "I hear all of the snide little comments people say about me when they think I can’t hear, or even when they know I can. They say I’m an airhead or I don’t have brains and things like that."

"They’re all wrong," Ryouga soothed.

"NO THEY AREN’T! THEY’RE RIGHT!!!"

Ryouga nearly backed up from the force of the shout. Now Kyoko was bawling her eyes out. Part of him wanted to run instead of being forced to confront a girl he made cry, but somehow he managed to stay in place. He did remain silent, fearful of saying the wrong thing again.

Eventually she regained enough control to speak through her sobs. "I have to work really hard just to get barely passing grades. I don’t always understand things that everyone else does. I miss obvious things around me, and it’s easy for people to trick me and make me do things. And all of the guys were like Flex, well, none of them were as bad as Flex, but they all did the same thing. They’d go out with me and then go out with other girls behind my back. And if I tried to confront them with it they’d trick me and make me think they weren’t going out with them, but then I’d find out from other people they really were cheating on me and eventually I’d find proof. It was like a big joke.

"I know I’m eager to believe in people, but it’s just so easy for them to lie to me and I can’t see through them. Ranma did that in our cheerleader fight when he said I was prettier than Kaede. I know I’m not, but I believed him. Everyone does things like that. And then you came along, and you weren’t like that at all. You were kind of shy and never tried to trick or lie to me. You were sweet and kind and you always tried to make sure I was happy. I tried to do that for you, too. I really don’t know what you want, but I tried to do things I thought you would like, and you seemed to like them. But girls kept coming on to you and I thought I’d lose you to them or you’d try to trick me and go out with them behind my back, like everyone else. So I tried chasing them off so they wouldn’t take you away. I’m sorry I get jealous so easily, but I’m afraid of losing you."

Ryouga didn’t have the faintest idea of what to say, and whatever he would come up with would probably be wrong. And there was something about her that he had never realized before. In the past he had treated her like, well, like an object. She was the thing he went out with, not a person, not exactly. In all the time he had known her he had never even tried to understand her. Now he was getting a glimpse, and it struck a chord inside of him. She really did care for him, probably loved him, and trusted him fully enough to put her heart on the line. He had not really sacrificed anything for her. He had just gone through the motions of what he thought he should do with a girlfriend and pined away after Ukyou, ignoring what he had. And he did have her, even if he had not really tried. He had a feeling that if he had tried, he probably would have pushed her away by accident, knowing how his luck usually went with women.

Insight crystallized, as he at last understood what decision had been really made when he chose to go out with Kyoko instead of Ukyou. He had not made a choice at all. He just pretended to and kept on going exactly like before, and would have continued to do so, or at least he would have if everyone around him had not been changing. Ukyou grew distant from him while Kyoko tried to become closer. No matter how hard he attempted to keep the two balanced, it couldn’t be done, but that would not stop him from trying. However, the harder he pushed the more likely he was going to break it, and end up hurting everyone instead of no one. No matter what he tried to do it would just become worse.

He had slowly become more miserable as Ukyou seemed to become farther away from him, and eventually would have done something terrible to try to win her over. Once more he was going to allow himself to fall into the cycle of depression which he would not get out of, and now it was for no other reason than because it was familiar to him. However, that could all change. At last there was a chance to really get some things settled in his life instead of having it all wander away, like he had all of his life. But he was going to have to make a choice as to what course to take. That scared him. What if he chose wrong? He’d lose everything then, and be alone the rest of his life, regretting that he made the wrong choice. So which way would he go? Which girl would he choose?

Looking into his heart he was surprised to discover they were actually in even standing. At first he cared about Ukyou more, but Kyoko had unquestionably grown on him with her unfettered caring. So which one would last? There was Kyoko, who it would probably work out with, and then there was Ukyou, who it could work out with, but it wasn’t so certain. Still, they had spent a great deal of time together and he thought it might work out. It could.

Both girls needed him, though until today he had not realized Kyoko apparently did. If he had not been made aware of it he would have chosen Ukyou, and would have ended up making a mistake in misunderstanding Kyoko. But Ukyou needed him to keep from falling in Ai’s clutches. He needed to save her. It was obvious she was miserable.

Or was she? Now that he really thought about it, she seemed to become more and more relaxed around Ai. And even when the cheerleader wasn’t around, Ukyou seemed a bit happier than she used to be. NO! That couldn’t be true. Ukyou did not like girls and could never be satisfied with Ai. He had to save her. But hadn’t he offered to before? He asked her to the wedding, but she refused. If she did not like Ai wouldn’t Ukyou avoid her? She could, but it didn’t seem like she wanted to. Could Ukyou really have been happy with Ai?

A sniffle interrupted his thoughts. Kyoko was still crying. She definitely needed his help, now. And there was something that Ukyou told him which solidified his thoughts. It seemed like it was from a million years ago, but he remembered it well.

{Ryouga. I want you to go wherever your heart leads you. That’s what I want you to do.}

"I hope you meant that," he whispered under his breath.

Kyoko felt an arm embrace her. She turned to see Ryouga had his arm around her in an unusual gesture of affection, at least for him. She gazed through her tear-filled eyes at him.

"You’re not dumb. I’ve been with you long enough to know that, and I’d like to think my opinions matter."

"Of course they do," she sniffled.

"Thanks. I know I haven’t been a good…" He took a moment to bolster his courage and forced himself to say the unfamiliar word. "…boyfriend. You always seemed so happy, I never thought you might be hurt by anything I’ve done, but I’m going to be more responsible from now on. If I’m talking to girls, it’s just because they’re my friends. I promise not to trick you or lie to you about going out with them and I promise to pay more attention to your needs. And if anyone tries to say you’re dumb, they’ll answer to me." He cracked his knuckles for emphasis.

She threw her arms around him. "Thank you. No one has ever been this nice to me before." At last she stopped sniffling. "Ryouga-kun?"

"Yes."

"We’ve been going out for months now. Maybe we could… kiss. I don’t want to rush you or anything. I know you like taking things slow, but I thought it would be nice."

Ryouga laughed nervously. He supposed he should get used to that sort of thing. After all, he finally had made a choice.

So they kissed.

And kissed.

And kissed some more.

And ended up doing it until the pleasure became too much for Ryouga, and he passed out about ten seconds in. He was getting better around women.

Ranma paced back and forth through the ship’s corridors. He had tried walking along the railing around the ship once, and nearly ended up in the ocean when the section he was standing on broke off. The worst part about wasn’t almost falling into the water, it was the giant tentacles that reached up and tried to grab him. Once he pulled himself back on the ship they disappeared back into the water. He had no desire to know what they were attached to. There were more important things to worry about.

So he settled for pacing about the deck, like a normal person. He had been doing that for several hours when his meandering was interrupted.

"Hey there, Fem-boy."

Ranma immediately brought his fists up. "You want some more, Pantyhose?"

Tarou resisted the urge to beat the crap out of Ranma. "I’ll pass on proving how lucky you were yesterday by beating you senseless. There are more important things at hand."

"Like what?" Ranma asked suspiciously. Whatever Tarou was up to, it was bad news.

"Protecting Akane."

"What?!"

"You heard me." Tarou smirked. "Since you don’t give a damn about her, I’ll do it for you."

"I can look after her just fine. I don’t need or want your help, and neither does she!"

Tarou held his hand to his temple. How could one human being possibly be so irritating? "You’re going to go to China to try to keep your boyfriend from being killed by the hundreds of his people that are going to be there when you couldn’t even take twenty of them. Now that sounds like a wonderful plan, and I think it has a really good chance of success." Tarou tried to keep from snickering, and failed. "But I suppose there’s an offhand chance you’ll get everyone killed. Now personally, I hope you bite it in some pathetic gesture of idiotic heroism. And I don’t give a damn about your friends, they can drop dead too. But Akane is a different story. I won’t let her die in some vain attempt to keep you from getting killed, which is exactly what’s going to happen to you once you get there and those Amazons try executing Shampoo. You’re predictable, and that’s going to be your undoing."

"I won’t let Shampoo get killed!"

"Save your breath, I don’t give a damn about who you’ll let get killed or not. What I’m trying to do is save Akane, and I know just how to do it."

Ranma wanted to feign disinterest, but couldn’t. As despised as Tarou was, he did have a devious intelligence. "What do you have in mind?"

"You admit to Akane you love Shampoo and leave her to me. I’ll get her out of here and to safety." Tarou barely evaded the swing at his skull.

"I’d never leave Akane in your slimy hands!"

Tarou tried mustering all of the self-control he had. A fight would be unwise at the moment. "Are you planning on marrying both of them?"

"NO!"

"Then you have to make a choice, hermaphrodite," Tarou hissed. "Who do you abandon? Akane who you don’t even get along with, or Shampoo, who needs you now more than ever? Akane, who has someone to turn to, or Shampoo, who’ll be left all alone without anyone to care about her?"

"Shut up!"

Ranma threw a punch that was caught by Tarou. Rather than counterattack, Tarou backed off. "Don’t blame me for the mess you got yourself in, or for telling the truth. Just because you aren’t woman enough to make a decision is no reason to take it out on me."

"It’s not my fault!"

"No, it never is, is it? It’s always someone else’s because you are oh, so perfect. Forgive me for not acknowledging your greatness before." Tarou gave a bow towards Ranma.

"Knock it off! I don’t got time for this, Pantyhose."

Tarou felt his face twitch, then let it pass. "I’ll make a deal with you."

"What sort of deal?"

"I’ll help you save Shampoo. Right now I won’t lift a finger to help her, but with me on your side the odds go up in your favor."

Ranma scowled at Tarou. "Let me guess. All I have to do is choose Shampoo."

"You got it. Isn’t the life of the woman you love worth that? I mean, it’s not like you have a plan to get her out of this, is it? This is her only chance, and everyone comes out a winner."

"Except Akane," Ranma retorted. "Listen to me closely. Even if I choose Shampoo, I will never let you go near Akane. I won’t allow her to end up shackled to a monster like you."

"You call me a monster?" Tarou’s temper was at last reaching the breaking point. "Say what you will, but I don’t try to pull the heartstrings of women like you, Fem-boy. There’s only one I want, and I’ll have her one way or another, because unlike you, I won’t let her be hurt, even if it means taking matters into my own hands." Tarou turned to leave before he lost his temper and tried crushing the life out of Ranma, which was becoming more difficult by the minute.

"Stop!"

Tarou slowly turned. Ranma’s voice sounded different. There was an intensity there he had never heard before. Some subtle hint of warning that made Tarou pay extra attention. "What?" Now that Tarou looked at him, there was something in Ranma’s eyes that made him feel even greater caution.

"If you think of getting around all of this by revealing Shampoo’s curse to the others, like you did with my mother, you won’t leave this ship alive."

Tarou’s eyes narrowed. "Was that a threat?"

"No. A fact."

Tarou had to congratulate Ranma. He was capable of a greater degree of intimidation than Tarou had believed. It would have even worked against someone that was less experienced at it than him. He made certain to maintain eye contact with Ranma for a few more seconds and smirked, showing he wasn’t the least bit concerned about the threat, then left.

Ranma watched carefully as Tarou walked off. Now there were more complications he didn’t need. And what was worse was that he wasn’t sure if his threat was sincere or not. The anger he felt over finally figuring out who threw the hot water, which almost got Shampoo killed, made him want to attack Tarou on the spot. But he held himself in check. Beating the crap out of Tarou again would be therapeutic, but it wouldn’t actually solve anything, and there was no telling when he was going to need his strength. Anything could happen now.

Shampoo-kun burst from around a corner and grabbed Ranma, dragging him down the hall.

"What’s going on?!" Ranma shouted.

"We need to hide. My sisters saw me in my male form and are trying to come on to me. I’m going to hide out where they’ll never think to look for a handsome young man."

"Where?"

"Great grandmother’s room."

Ranma couldn’t argue with that. Besides, there were more than a few things he wanted to go over with the old ghoul.

The two made their way to Cologne’s cabin without further incident; something of an accomplishment considering how much chaos seemed to regularly envelop the ship. Once safely inside the three sat down and began to talk.

"Have you two come up with an idea yet?" Cologne took charge of the conversation. Uncharacteristically, Ranma deferred to her.

"No. Nothing." Ranma said, depressed. He was sure the shifty old Amazon would have come up with something by now.

Cologne sighed. She was no closer to a solution than at the start of the voyage. What she needed to do was take a step back from the problem for a little while, then attack it with a renewed vigor later. There were other things that could be done to fill in that time. "There is something I wish to talk to both of you about. Shampoo has been asking me some questions about Jusenkyou curses. I would assume you are curious as well."

That caught Ranma’s attention. Maybe there was some way to cure curses or keep from changing. "Yeah, go on."

"I can tell by the look in your eye you hope I know of a cure. Well, the only one I’m aware of that works is Jusenkyou water with the sex you want, and I don’t have any with me. All I have is some of the instant varieties, and they won’t prove useful for what we have to do."

"Damn!" He should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. "I’m going to have to try to get to Jusenkyou, grab some girl water, and get it to Shampoo before you guys get back to the village. Do you think you can stall long enough for me to do that?"

"I could, and your plan might be worth a try, but I doubt it will work."

"Why? What’s wrong with it?"

"It’s a question of whether or not you can get the water."

"Of course I can!" He wondered how the old ghoul could think that someone as competent as him could mess up something as simple as that.

"Can you?" She loomed up next to Ranma and looked him squarely in the eye, perched atop her staff. "Haven’t you ever wondered why you didn’t simply jump in the Spring of Drowned Young Man when you first got cursed? The guide was there. He explained how the curses worked. Why didn’t you and Shampoo simply cure yourselves?"

Ranma tried to explain what had happened, and why he didn’t seek the cure, but found he could not.

"I can’t explain it either," Shampoo-kun said. "I already knew how the curse worked and how to cure oneself, but I didn’t think about it either."

"That’s the way it is in almost all cases," Cologne said as she backed away from Ranma, hopped off her staff and began pacing the cabin. "I know of only a handful of people that were able to cure themselves right after becoming cursed. No one knows exactly why that is. Perhaps it is related to the curse itself, though exactly how it determines how long a curse remains with a person is unknown. I am now personally convinced that a curse won’t be cured until the recipient fulfills something. Maybe some kind of destiny."

"What kind of destiny, great grandmother?"

"I don’t know!" Cologne snapped, then felt ashamed at her behavior, though she refused to show it. Her inability to divine what destiny Shampoo, or even Ranma, had was not their fault. "I’m sorry, child. I could not begin to tell you what it might be. Suffice to say, I’m operating under the assumption your destiny is not to be killed before our people." She turned to Ranma. "I have no idea what yours is either. I would tell the two of you that there have been people that lived with their curses their entire lives never gaining a cure."

"Never a cure?" Ranma repeated softly. He had never considered being cursed for the rest of his life. Always he was certain a cure awaited him at some point; it just might take a while.

"There’s something else I need to mention," Cologne paused in her pacing. "Tell me, boy, have you been feeling different?"

"Different?"

"Yes. In your cursed form. Have you felt any changes, especially emotional ones?"

For a brief moment Ranma remembered being on the rooftop with Shampoo-kun, and more importantly, what he had felt at the time. "No!"

"Ranma," Shampoo-kun said softly. He placed his hand on Ranma’s shoulder, trying to comfort him.

The instant Shampoo-kun made contact, Ranma shot out from out of the grasp. "I said no! And don’t touch me!"

Shampoo-kun drew back, giving Ranma a pained look.

"Relax, boy. It’s perfectly natural. It just means you’ve started to accept the curse."

Ranma glared at Cologne. "I’m not accepting the curse! I want a cure! I’ll never accept it!"

Cologne sighed at the temperament of youth. She wrapped Ranma lightly in the head with her staff. "Would you listen to what I said? Accepting your curse doesn’t mean you don’t want a cure. It just means that you’ll pick up a small handful of your curse’s characteristics. As near as I can tell that’s perfectly normal. You won’t start going around lusting after men or anything. Just look at Sparrow. She doesn’t go around eating birdseed or chirping, if she wasn’t a mute, anyway. But she does have some unusual behaviors that are from her curse. She jerks her head around a lot, similar to a bird. And she absolutely despises cats, something you could appreciate. Now as to you, you just might behave in a slightly more feminine manner. I’ve noticed some changes in Shampoo over the last few months."

"I have not changed!" Shampoo-kun responded.

Cologne rapped him on the head with her staff. "Don’t correct your elder. You have changed, even if you don’t realize it. <At least I hope you have. I don’t recall you ever behaving that affectionately towards any of the women back home.>"

Shampoo-kun looked nervously between the uncomprehending Ranma and his great grandmother. "<I have no idea of what you are talking about.>"

"Kasumi Tendo," Cologne stated bluntly. She was pleased to see Shampoo-kun appear nervous at that. He was a couple hundred years too young to ever hope of putting something over on her.

"What are you guys talking about and what does it have to do with Kasumi?" Ranma hated it when they spoke in Chinese. He couldn’t understand a word they said. One day he was going to have to remedy that problem and try to learn the language.

"I was just saying what a great influence the oldest Tendo daughter has had with Shampoo. She’s helped my great granddaughter change a great deal. <Just how great remains to be seen.>"

"<We’re just friends. Ranma is the only one I want.>"

Cologne stared at Shampoo-kun suspiciously. "<If you say so.>" It was best to let the matter drop. There were more important things to worry about than possible romantic complications.

"Would you two start talking in a language I can understand?" Ranma growled.

"Very well. As I was telling you, accepting a curse is not a bad thing. In fact, should you try to fight it, you would end up doing nothing other than making your life miserable. More than one person has gone mad trying to fight any effect the curse may have on them."

"I haven’t accepted nothing."

Cologne raised her eyebrows at that. The boy really was stubborn and disrespectful. "Do you mean to tell me you haven’t changed at all? Do you still hate your girl’s body as much as when you were first cursed? Do you try to change back into a man as soon as the change happens, or can you get around without the alien feeling that the body isn’t yours?"

Ranma hated to admit it, but he had changed a little from those first early days.

"I’d say it’s probably gotten a lot worse lately," Cologne continued. "That could be because of that blow you took to the head that made you think you were a girl. Even after your real personality came back there was probably some lingering effects. That, combined with having to be a girl for a couple weeks, would have further helped you get used to the curse. Right now I would say that you’ve probably changed all that you will. I’d guess Shampoo’s finished too. That’s all speculation, but it’s a safe bet. You’d be having a lot more problems if you hadn’t accepted them."

"You’re wrong. I ain’t accepted anything. I’m not a girl and I don’t act like one and I never will. I’m a guy no matter what I look like and I ain’t attracted to other guys. And I’m still going to get a cure," Ranma stated bluntly as he crossed his arms.

Cologne was more than a little irritated by the boy’s stubbornness. Worse, in his agitated state he was more of a hindrance than a help. There had to be a way to calm him down.

She looked over the duo. Of course, there was an easy way to settle Ranma down and have him think of Cologne in a better light. "You two still appear to be in bad shape. There’s no telling when you’ll need your full strength. Let me show you a technique on using your chi for healing."

Ranma gained a hungry look in his eyes. "Technique?"

"Yes," Cologne said. "Both of you come over here and sit side by side and next to me." She was pleased to see Ranma now had no reservations about getting close to her granddaughter’s male body. That was one hurdle overcome. They really made a good match. Once the whole situation with Shampoo’s curse was over, Cologne would have to see what she could do to match the two up. 

But that was for later. After she was satisfied the two had learned the technique well enough to use it on their own (and Ranma’s rate of learning was nothing short of unbelievable) they switched to back to trying to figure out a way to save Shampoo from death.

They continued talking for several hours and came up with nothing. Shampoo-kun and Ranma eventually departed, leaving Cologne alone to think things through. Her solitude was interrupted by a knock on the door. The matriarch told the visitor to enter, and was mildly surprised upon discovering her identity.

"You’re Ai Konjou, yes?" Cologne asked.

"Yes honored madam. I have come to inquire about something I have only recently learned about…"

Mousse stared at Kodachi as she stood at the bow of the ship, poised next to the rail and gazing out to sea. She was as far to the front of the ship as she could go. Her trademark ponytail was missing as she had allowed her hair to hang loose; the wind fanned it back in a rippling wave of midnight darkness. Mousse noted it was unusual of her to let it hang so, though the effect was pleasing to the eye.

Slowly he approached her. "Kodachi."

She declined to turn around to answer him. "I have nothing more to say to you. If you are going to be stubborn and refuse to listen to reason, I shall not waste my breath. Do as you please." She should have left him paralyzed in their room to keep him out of trouble, but somehow it was like all those other times when she had not immobilized him, even when he acted recklessly. It felt wrong to keep him motionless in such a manner.

"Kodi-chan," he cooed. That would get her to stop being angry with him. Now that Shampoo was all but gone, Kodachi was the only one that would be on his side. Without her there would be no one.

She resisted the urge to throw herself in his arms. He was so transparent. "Go to that harridan if you wish. I won’t stop you."

"I just don’t want to see her hurt. I can’t let that happen."

She at last turned to look at him. "And if something happens to you, where does that leave me? I cannot go on without you. There would be nothing left."

"Don’t talk like that."

Was that concern she heard in his voice? Had she at last struck a chord and made him see what would happen if he should throw his life away? Perhaps taking it a step farther would show how much he really cared.

"Since you are so determined to throw your life away, I shall throw away my own as well. Right now." She placed one slender leg over the guardrail, leaving nothing but a small ledge several inches wide between her and falling into the ocean.

"STOP!!!" Mousse grabbed onto her arm as she struggled in his grasp to continue going over the side.

She was delighted at his efforts. At last he was behaving as though she was his world. She continued to protest while pretending to struggle in his grasp, enjoying his attention.

About twenty feet away, D’Amour and first mate Kawada were doing an inventory of the ship, going over what needed to be repaired. In truth, it was Kawada that was doing all the work while the captain continued to ponder what he was doing wrong with the women.

"What do you think I should do?" D’Amour asked.

Kawada told him.

"That’s not anatomically possible," D’Amour informed his companion, furrowing his brow in concentration. There had to be something he could do to get the women in bed, preferably at least half of them.

He was still speculating on what to do when he spotted Kodachi and Mousse struggling at the bow. "What are those two doing?"

Kawada looked over the duo. Mousse had both of Kodachi’s arms and was trying to pull her back on board the ship. At the moment she was winning their duel, in that she was now fully over the railing with only Mousse keeping her from falling. "It looks like they are playing out that scene from ‘Titanic’, sir."

"Oh," the captain said nonchalantly, then walked over to where the couple was struggling.

Mousse had almost won the struggle and nearly had Kodachi back over the railing when D’Amour moved up behind them and observed them for a moment. He gave a soft smile at the duo, then shoved Mousse over the rail, causing both of the participants to end up in the ocean.

"I HATED THAT MOVIE!!!" D’Amour shouted down into the water.

Minami threw up over the railing again, barely missing Kodachi and Mousse-panda as they wrapped a ribbon and chain around one of the guardrails and climbed back onto the ship, a good distance away from the bow. Minami wondered what the hell was wrong with her? It couldn’t be motion sickness; she’d been in lots of roller coasters, ocean rides, and rode the back of a rampaging Fragenyyd for three hours and never encountered a problem. It wasn’t a virus; she magically tested for that. It wasn’t food poisoning; her spells would have cured it. She had no explanation for what was wrong, unless it was magically induced.

That was why she was walking over the ship, in spite of her state. A careful examination of the deck revealed something interesting. She had walked ten more feet when she noticed it again. The deck plates were different, and it wasn’t due to repair. They were all different. It was the fourth instance of that phenomenon. If what she suspected was true, the ship itself was an aggregation of several ships. But the magic flows were uninterrupted on it, meaning the ship was still capable of absorbing parts of other ships, or, in an ideal situation, an entire ship.

That didn’t quite seem right either. Most of TWPOS was just various parts of other ships, making it more likely that it was scavenging pieces on its own to replace what was missing. That might explain the ramshackle appearance of the vessel. Either that or it was a mask to hide its true power. In either case it was something that would need a closer examination.

That was for later. At the moment she had to run to over to the railing and vomit once more. If that kept up she was going to be lucky if she wasn’t bedridden by the time they arrived in China. It was as she finished hurling up her guts that she sensed something to the north. Looking out over the horizon she saw nothing more than low fog bank gliding across the ocean. That alone would not have been so bad, save for the fact Minami sensed a magical force emanating from the fog that rivaled that of TWPOS. And what was worse, there was a subtle change in the aura of the vessel she was on, almost as though it was a buildup of energy. All of that came down to the last thing they needed: trouble.

D’Amour had returned to the bridge and looked through his spyglass at the fog bank off to port. "I’d recognize that cloud anywhere. Helm, make a left," he said with a slowly blossoming smile on his face.

Kawada began to panic. "It might just be a normal fog."

"Moving against the wind?"

"The weather has been behaving oddly."

D’Amour shook his head and repeated the order. Kawada’s second protest was cut off as the captain drew his sword.

"Do it now. And hook up the speakers while you’re at it. I have something to say."

Kawada nodded to the helmsman as they turned to the fog bank. This encounter was the last thing they needed: trouble.

Second Officer Lotus released her hold on her spyglass and stared at the approaching vessel. It was TWPOS, and that meant the last thing they needed: trouble.

The mistress always went ballistic when she and D’Amour crossed paths. Maybe there was time to change the direction of the ship before the captain came up to the bridge.

Lotus was just starting the turn when her partner, the blue-haired Blossom, and first mate of the POJ, arrived. "<What’s going on?>"

Lotus simply pointed to the approaching vessel.

Blossom recognized it immediately. "<The Worthless Piece of Shit! That’s where that cute Captain D’Amour is.>"

Lotus could have slapped her partner. "<In the name of the gods, don’t let the mistress hear you say that!>"

"<Say what?>"

Lotus turned in fear. The captain had arrived. "<I was just going to send Blossom to get you. It seems we have— >"

"<D’AMOUR!!!>"

"< — a ship off the bow.>" Lotus was afraid of this happening. The long standing grudge between Madame Lao and the captain of the scow that was before them was well known. D’Amour had recently upped the ante by saying some rather rude comments at several ports about the nature of Lao, and rumor had it, what he would like to do to her if he ever g