The Tales of Shampoo
Volume One:
A Change of Pace

by Rob Barba

based upon the original Ranma«
characters and storyline 
by Rumiko Takahashi
-------------------------------
Foreword: If None of This Makes Any Sense....

  This particular story--and any future ones--is an extrapolation of the
Ranma« manga (with influences from the anime series).  The basic things to
remember are that:

*  WARNING:  The events of this (and future stories) take place after the
(manga) series end.  This means that some of the details of the series
finale (plus extrapolations on the other characters) will be revealed.
There are some points that I will add of my own design, but since the
future of the Furinkan troupe is unknown at series' end, I may not be far
off.  Also, although I do like the anime (I saw that before I ever read the
English or Japanese manga), it seems to be an alternate reality of the
manga, so I used the anime sparigly.

*  This is not one of Ranma's stories, per se.  Ten years have passed; he
and Akane have moved on, as have the other characters.  This is the first
(I hope) of Shampoo's tales, and...well, you'll see.  The others will make
cameos--oh boy, will they make cameos--and I may even write a couple of
tales (again, I hope) about the others later on.  However, the Tales of
Shampoo saga is primarily the story of Shampoo and Mousse...and the chaos
that will revolve around them.  It's also about one other...but you'll find
out during the course of this first tale.

*  This is a dounshii (sans art, admittedly--I may work on character
designs when I get to that), a fanfic--not an actual Takahashi story.
Remember, the characters you know and love now have ten more years of life
on them (they are all twenty-something).  This means that there will be
some changes to each character's personality.  They retain some of their
"Furinkan madness," but to a degree (a minor degree, mind you) they have
been tempered by maturity.

  For those of you who are the purist type, I recommend some of the Ranma
fanfics that actually fit in the span of the series.  Just remember to be
open--as with you all, there are some fanfics I like, and some I do not; it
all depends.  Who knows, perhaps a fanfic out there may have/be an idea
that the Rumic One may take up if the Ranma stories begin to reappear again.

  Other than that, enjoy.
******************************
Prologue: Time for a Change...

  It was finally over.  Shampoo breathed a sigh of mixed sorrow, relief,
and happiness, watching as Ranma and Akane were pronounced husband and
wife, managing to actually get through the complete ceremony this time.
{Shampoo life over,} she thought bitterly, wiping away tears that she hoped
everyone would mistake as a sign of joy.  {At least Ranma happy,} she
mused, sadly, as she toyed with a strand of her grayish-blue (almost a soft
shade of purple) hair.  The culmination of four years down the drain; she
was a failure at twenty.
  She knew this would happen, of course--so many of Ranma's and Akane's
would-be suitors had long since fallen by the wayside.   The first, four
years ago, was that Daikoku girl that Akane'd told her about. Then about
two years ago, after the incident that caused Ranma and his cursed
companions to be cured forever, Kuno called it quits, eventually liking up
with Nabiki, of all people!  Ryoga had finally linked with Akari, then
moved on to Kobe to start life anew.  Ukyou's close friendship with Ranma
and Akane forced her to give up.   Even Kodachi gave in,
eventually--Shampoo tried to remember her new flame's
name...Sanzen-something-or-other. 
  Shampoo, however, never gave up.  Her duty as a Chinese Amazon had become
true love; she didn't want a choice, even though she didn't have one.  She
wanted Ranma.  She'd never give up.
  Until this moment.  Until Ranma and Akane kissed as a happily wedded
couple.  Suddenly, Shampoo's life changed, in more ways than one:  she
couldn't live here in Japan, not this way.  She couldn't return to China in
disgrace; her life would be forfeit.  There was just no simple way out of
this, no more hope of seducing Ranma, no more simply challenging Akane,
Ukyou, and everybody else for his heart.  Now, this facet of her life was
over, forever.
  Fortunately for her, she was a bit of a realist; even though she hoped
against the inevitable; she'd set up a plan, not the most honorable plan,
but a plan nonetheless:  she was lucky enough to be twenty years old
(having reached that peak two months ago), a college student (and an
exceptionally bright one at that); and a ton of cash she'd saved up from
working at her great-grandmother's Cat Cafe.  She'd have to rush, though:
the new semester at the transfer college she'd been accepted at started in
three months; hardly enough time to get a new life started.
  {Shampoo so foolish,} she mentally laughed.  {Shampoo have life before
Ranma; Shampoo can certainly have life after.}  Yes, she would do it.
Grandmother would certainly be mad as a demon at her for it, but it was her
life; she'd best get started on it.  Making her apologies to the Saotomes,
the Tendos, the Kunos, the Hibikis, the Onos, and all her friends, she left
before the post-ceremony celebration could begin.
  {After all,} she thought, {if Shampoo make new life for herself, Shampoo
best get started now.}

*   *   * 

  Two days later:
  "So you're really going to do it, Shampoo?"  Nabiki asked, looking at the
young girl as if she'd gone totally off the deep end.  "Listen, I think
you're taking the wedding just a little too hard."
  "Shampoo, please don't think that you have to leave because of Akane and
Ranma," Kasumi added.  "Besides, where you're going...it's not safe for a
girl to be going by herself."
  The three of them, along with Ranko, were having lunch at Ukyou's
restaurant, which she'd closed for the week due to the wedding.  It was a
bright sunny day--at least outside.  By the looks of the people present,
you would have thought that a tsunami was moving at full speed along with
an earthquake and Mt. Fuji erupting to boot.  In short, disaster; in other
words, just another day in Nerima.
  "No, not that at all," Shampoo lied uneasily.  "Under Amazon Tribal Law,
Shampoo not allowed go back to Joketsuzoku second time in disgrace.  At
best, Shampoo exiled permanently.  At worst, Shampoo...."   She didn't even
bother to finish her sentence; the rest was plainly obvious. She heaved a
sigh.  This wasn't going well at all.  She wanted all of her friends  here
for this.  Unfortunately, Ranma and Akane had left on their honeymoon
immediately after the ceremony; Ryoga was supposed to meet them here, but
hadn't shown up (he'd probably taken a wrong turn that would probably end
in Egypt), and Akari was also absent.  Even that stupid Mousse wasn't
here--one time when she actually wanted him there!  Her great-grandmother
wasn't there either--Shampoo didn't want her to know about her plans, as
what she was about to do would disgrace the family name even further.  
  "But, Shampoo," Ukyou commented, "San Francisco?  America?"  The Chinese
girl nodded in agreement.  "Permanently?"  She nodded again.  "But you'll
be away from all your family and friends!"
  Ranko disagreed.  "Personally, I think it's a great idea.  She needs time
to restart her life, and a change of scenery would do her a world of good."
 At that commentary, Shampoo perked a little.  One good thing about Ranma
is that he was always there for her...even if he physically wasn't.  At one
time, Shampoo wanted to kill girl-type Ranma; ironically, she'd provided
the catalyst that finally separated the Saotome siblings and ended most of
the curses.  In  retrospect, it was a blessing that she never got the
chance to destroy the redhead, since Ran-Chan had become her best friend.
The red-haired girl turned to her.  "Shampoo, go for it.  This is the
greatest opportunity for you to start over."
  "But she doesn't speak any English!"  Ukyou protested.
  "She didn't speak any Japanese when I, uh, he, um, we, that is...*Ranma*
first met her.  Now she's been here for four years, and speaks like a
native; her accent's barely noticeable.  She'll pick up English in no time
flat, same way."  Everybody laughed at Ran-Chan's unwitting joke; Shampoo's
mastery of Japanese was horrid at best.  "Listen, I've known Shampoo longer
than any of you--well, sort of, anyway--and, though Ranma never admitted
this before I was around on a regular basis, he was always impressed by her
tenacity.  If she says she's gonna do it, then she can and she will."
  "Thank you, Ran-Chan," Shampoo said.  "But Shampoo mind made up.
Besides, flight in eight hours."  They were all surprised; no one expected
that.  "Backpack that Shampoo carry in, all Shampoo luggage."  She paused
for dramatic effect.  "Shampoo going, that final."  At the look of
determination in her eyes, everybody backed off, except for Ran-Chan, who
never had a problem with her leaving...and like her brother, never backed
off from anything.
  "But what about your education?"  Ukyou, showing true concern for her
friend, was not about to give up easily at this insanity.  Shampoo had
pulled some wild stunts over the years, and always had a trick up her
sleeve, but this was too much.  "Aren't you even concerned about that?"
  "Ukyou no worry."  Shampoo produced a letter from her bag.  "Shampoo
accepted at UC Berkeley.  Full scholarship, with place to live and all.
Culinary sciences major."  She smirked; this was a major accomplishment for
her.
  "Well, if I can't talk you out of it...." Ukyou threw her hands up in
mock desperation.  In actuality, she was happy for her friend.  "Just
promise me you'll come back and visit, okay?"
  "Only if Ukyou--and girl-type Ranma and everybody--come visit Shampoo."
She winked. Perhaps this would work out after all.  "Okay?"  Ukyou and the
others agreed; Nabiki had already begun to figure exactly how much a
romantic vacation to the States was going to cost Kuno.
  "Well, we can be sure of one thing,"  Nabiki commented, "Shampoo will fit
in perfectly there."
  "Well, I hear that San Francisco has a large Chinese population,"
Kasumi, ever the cheerful one, noted.
  "Not what I meant, sis."  Nabiki rolled her eyes.  "For years, Shampoo's
been living in Nerima, one of Japan's strangest wards.  Moving to
California shouldn't be much of an adjustment."

     
  The group continued to reminisce about old times, adventures (plenty of
those), fights (even more of those), and misunderstandings (only a few;
they didn't have time to go over all of that particular issue).  They
chatted about all their future plans, little secrets they all had about
Ranma (Kasumi made Nabiki promise that she wouldn't use it for her usual
schemes--especially the ones Ranko was sprouting out), and everything.
They tried for hours to make up for all the time that they would no longer
have.
  Then at last arrived the time that she was to leave.  They all stood at
the door, hugging each other, and not a single dry eye.  Throughout the
years, despite the arguments and fights (physical and otherwise), they'd
become Shampoo's de facto extended family; this had become, by far, the
hardest thing she'd ever had to do.
  "Please take care, Shampoo,"  Kasumi said.  "If you need anything, please
call us."  She held the younger girl, calm and sunny as ever. "We'll always
be here for you if you need us."
  "Thank you, Kasumi.  You always been good friend to Shampoo."  She
smiled, in order to let the older girl know she'd be okay. She pulled two
envelopes from her bag and gave them to Kasumi.  "Please give to Ranma and
Grandmother."  Kasumi nodded her solemn promise.
  "Good luck,"  Nabiki said as it was her turn to say good-bye.  "If you
need any money for your new restaurant, let me know."  She tried to smile.
"Hey, I'll even make it interest free."  Everybody looked at her like she'd
lost her mind.  "What'd I say?" she replied, a smile clearly plastered on
her face.  "In any event, take care, Shampoo."
  "Thank you, Nabiki.  May you live well and wealthy."  Shampoo winked as
another tear fell from her eye.  "Shampoo bet you will, anyway."
  "You can count on it."    
  "Be right back,"  Ukyou said, as she ran back into the restaurant. When
she returned, she gave Shampoo a red book.  "This is my cookbook," she
spoke softly as she hugged her friend.  "I've already got all the recipes
memorized, so I don't need it.  I'm sure you'll need them for all your new
customers."  Crystalline tears welled in Ukyou's face.  "Please come back
soon, Shampoo.  I don't know what I'll do without you here."
  "Shampoo be here,"  she whispered.  "Shampoo always be here if Shampoo
needed."  It was all she could say.
  Last up was Ran-Chan.  "We've been through a lot, you and I, and if it
wasn't for your Phoenix Eye, Ranma and I would've never been separated.  I
wish there was more that I--"  the redhead started to say, but was silenced
as she bear-hugged Shampoo.  "I-I'm really gonna miss ya," she sobbed.
"Come back soon.  After all, who am I going to go on trips to China with?
Not to mention shopping, skiing, concerts, nights out in Roppongi...."
  "Shampoo miss girl-type Ranma, too.  Very much."  Shampoo detached
herself from the smaller girl and held her at arms' length.  "Shampoo never
said this before, but Shampoo declare kiss of death over.  Shampoo no more
try to kill best friend."  At this, Ran-Chan broke down into tears, and had
to be gently pulled away by Kasumi.


  After what seemed like an eternity, Shampoo opened the door to the cab
and climbed in.  Waving to her friends, she said her final good-bye.
"Shampoo miss you all already.  Shampoo never forget any of you, all
Shampoo's family.  Shampoo promise."  With that, she closed the taxi's
door. Shortly thereafter, the cab drove off, carrying her away from the past.
  As the cab got on the Narita expressway, Shampoo felt a simultaneous
tightening and loosening of her heartstrings.  She was finally free.  Her
great-grandmother would never forgive her, but she had to start to live her
own life.  After all, her great-grandmother would want it that way.
  As she boarded the plane, though, a thought suddenly came to mind, a
thought that she'd probably never admit aloud:
  {Shampoo wish Mousse were here.}
    
*   *   *

    A tear-stained Ukyou walked to the back of the restaurant and pushed
away a curtain.  "Okay, you can all come out, now," she sniffled.
  Out stepped an unhappy Ranma and Akane, a solemn Cologne, and an anxious
Mousse.  Kasumi handed the two their letters.  "You may want to read them a
little later, after we've taken care of the rest of our good-byes."       
  Unbeknownst to Shampoo, Cologne had discovered her plans, and made a few
of her own.  "I never thought that she actually would go through with this,
Son-in-l...I mean, Ranma," Cologne corrected herself.  "Maybe I won't ever
get the chance to say this to her in person, but I'm proud of the fact that
she is becoming her own woman."
  Akane looked downcast.  "This is all my fault.  If I didn't...if I
wasn't..."
  "Don't, love,"  Ranma assured her.  "If there's anyone to blame for this,
it's me.  I'm glad things turned out the way they did for us, but I still
wish she hadn't left."
  Cologne disagreed.  "There is no blame on anyone here.  She chose to do
this, both out of love for you, Ranma, and for her own freedom."  She
looked out the window, towards the distant skyline, the skyscrapers of
Shinjuku in the distance.  In the faraway skies, a jumbo jet was passing, a
symbol of her great-granddaughter's choice.  "This was entirely her choice,
and a correct one too, I might add."
  Ranma looked puzzled. Akane asked, "How so?"
  "From the moment Shampoo met Ranma, her destiny was set.  She may be a
Chinese Amazon by birth, but I don't think she was truly meant to be one.
The events surrounding your sister-in-law's "birth" confirmed that in my
mind.  The village is too small for a person like her.  She needed to get
away, to find out where in this world she truly belongs."
  Meanwhile, Ran-Chan was on the phone with Ryoga.  She turned to Mousse
and said, "Ryoga says your flight to San Francisco will leave an hour after
hers does.  He and Akari'll wait at the terminal, so he won't take another
day and a half to find it."  There was a steady, harsh stream of words
directed at Ran-Chan coming from the phone.  "Okay, okay, I was only
joking, can't you take a joke?  Jeez," she retorted back.  "He says he
didn't take *that* long--only 15 hours."
  "Well, here's your chance, Mousse," Ranma said.  "She's a special girl,
and you only find one like that in a lifetime."  He put his arm around his
bride for emphasis.  "You and Shampoo were made for each other.  Go to
her."  Ranma stepped up and shook his hand.  "May you finally get what
you've been wishing for."
  Akane smiled, then kissed Mousse on the cheek.  "She's waiting for you,
Mousse."
  "Go get her, champ!" was Ran-Chan's reply as she hugged him.
  "I hope you find all that you're looking for," was Kasumi's farewell.
  Ukyou gave no speech, only hugging Mousse and wishing him well.
  "Thank you all, my friends," Mousse softly spoke, a note of eternal
gratitude etched firmly in his voice.  "I can never repay you for all
you've done."  With a joyous vigor, Mousse went through the good-byes to
his friends; true friends that would help him realize his greatest and only
dream.
  Nabiki shouted from outdoors: "Your cab's here, Mousse."
  Before he sprinted to the cab, Cologne stopped him, and handed him a box.
 "This is for Shampoo.  Give it to her when the time is right.  I trust you
to know."  She then handed him a sizable billfold with several $100 bills.
"This is the money from the sale of the Neko Hanten.  It's for you and my
great-granddaughter."
  Mousse was aghast.  "*You sold the Cat Cafe?!?!*"
  "My job here is done.  She's an adult, now, and she's moved on.  I'll be
staying at the Tendo-Saotome dojo for a few weeks, then returning to the
village for good."
  Ukyou winked.  "Well, I was considering moving to a bigger place, and..."
 A conspiratorial look was shared between Ukyou and Cologne.  "Besides, the
old owner is planning to teach me all of her skills so the Cat Cafe can
prosper."
  Cologne smiled, a look that, for once, made the "old troll" look
absolutely like an angel.  "Shampoo needs someone in her life, someone to
make her happy.  I thought that it would be Ranma.  I saw as she pursued
him with all her heart.  But I never really noticed that someone else
pursued *her* equally as hard."  She hopped on her cane and stared at
Mousse eye-to-eye.  "Since your childhood together, you have always been
there for her, even when you were the least person she wanted around.
She's spurned you, mistreated you, and taken you for granted, even chasing
other suitors in front of you.  But in the end, she truly loves you, even
if she won't admit it--not even to herself."
  The cab honked its horn, and Nabiki called out, "C'mon, Mousse, or you'll
miss your flight."
  Mousse couldn't help smiling as he got in the cab.  Cologne, for so long
against, had finally admitted the inevitable.  The final words he heard as
his taxi drove off confirmed it:  "Go to her; she needs you now more than
ever, Mou...I mean, *Son-in-law.*"
  The sun may have been shining in Nerima that day, but its brightness
paled in comparison to the joy in Mousse's heart.


  The remaining group, looking at each other, didn't know what to say.  A
shared part of their lives, a pair of people who had become family, were
now out of all their lives. As the sun set, on cue, an uncomfortable
silence surrounded the group, and minutes dragged as each of them searched
for the right words.
  It was Akane who finally broke the silence.  "How do you think that
little tale will end?"
  "Married, for sure," Ukyou stated as she went to the kitchen to begin
cooking dinner for the group.  "Despite what we all went through, our lives
and loves were already set--you and Ranma, Ryoga and Akari, and Shampoo and
Mousse.  The rest were just the trials and tribulations that have made us
as close as we are."  She neglected to mention her lop-sided, questionable
relationship with Konatsu and how it tragically ended, but none bothered to
mention this.
  "Well, if that's the case, Mousse is in for a lot of bumps and bruises
before she'll finally cave in,"  Ranma noted, then looked fondly at his
bride.  "Not unlike another girl I know."
    Akane tenderly held on to him.  "But in the end, it was worth it,
wasn't it?  And, I believe it was *you* that was the stubborn one, dummy."
She used the last word as a term of endearment. 
  "Yeah, I guess you're right.  On both counts.  But," he smiled, "I still
think that you are soooo uncute."
  "Ranma, I truly love you, and nothing will change that."  She kissed him
very lovingly.  "But why do you have to be...such...an...IDIOT!!!!!"  With
that, she backhanded him through the nearest wall.
  Ran-Chan looked at her brother and sister-in-law, then shrugged.  "The
more things change, the more they'll always stay the same."

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