First Strike

 Shampoo was delivering her ramen and as usual she 
was doing her best to ignore Mousse as he trotted along 
beside her.  She kept quiet through his inane 
proclamations of love and did her best to think.  When 
Mousse had first appeared and challenged Ranma, she had 
kept silent but had been secretly impressed by Mousse's 
tenacity.  However, he was always hounding her, never 
giving her a moment's peace,  This incessant hounding 
had nearly driven her insane at the age of three and it 
had similar affects thirteen years later.  Despite all 
of her rejections he never  relented.  When the chance 
came to chase after girl-type Ranma, Shampoo had gladly 
accepted the challenge for two reasons, first was her 
sense of duty and the second was to put distance 
between Mousse and herself.
 When she had discovered Ranma's secret and had 
fled home in shame, Cologne had taken her to Juskenyo 
to train.  It was here that Shampoo learned the true 
nature of Ranma's curse.  A new determination had come 
over her to return to Japan and make him her husband in 
accordance with the laws of her village. With her great 
grandmother with her she seemed ordained to triumph.
 Shampoo was undeterred by the notion that Ranma 
did not love her.  She knew that with time he would 
grow to lover her, besides the customs of her village 
did not allow for failure.  She had been shamed once, 
she would not be shamed again.
 But Mousse had found her and had complicated 
matters.  He seemed utterly devoted to her and this 
touched her heart.  Yet, he still persisted in his 
claims of love for her, though she doubted he knew what 
love was.  But he never the less confused her and she 
needed peace and space to think things through.  
However, in Nerima peace and space were never to be 
found.
 Right now, once again, Mousse was denying her the 
privacy she craved.
 "Shampoo,"  Mouse said in a serious tone, "There 
might be hooligans about."
 His whiney voice grated on Shampoo's already 
frazzled nerves, "Shampoo already tell Mousse," she 
replied as calmly as she could manage, "Shampoo no need 
protection.  Shampoo take care of self."
 "But my love," he persisted, "What kind of a 
husband would I be if I wasn't there to protect you?"
 One who would respect his wife, she thought.  She 
was about to tell him this when a shadow fell across 
the them.
 Shampoo looked up to see a girl dressed in 
traditional Chinese clothes descending towards her, a 
bo staff extended past her legs and aimed at Shampoo.  
Shampoo reacted instantly and dove to the side to avoid 
the attack.  The bicycle was crushed by the force of 
the girl's attack.
 Shampoo picked herself up and faced her attacker, 
bonbori maces already drawn.
 Mousse who had been caught off guard reached for 
the girl, "How dare you attack my beloved Shampoo."
 *//Shut up Mousse//* the girl replied in Mandarin 
Chinese, *//You always did talk to much and whine 
incessantly.//*  The girl then pressed a button on her 
staff and water erupted from the tip of it drenching 
Mousse.
 Mousse quacked in outraged surprise.  With a 
casual flick of her staff the girl silenced his 
quacking and returned her attention to Shampoo. *//Long 
time, Shampoo,//* she grinned ferally.
 *//Not long enough, Hue.//* Shampoo replied 
gathering her courage, the green girl before he did not 
look much like the girl Shampoo had defeated in a 
tournament years ago.  That girl had looked treacherous 
and potent, this girl looked like a killer.  *//Why did 
you hurt Mousse, when you came for me.//*, she stalled 
for time in order to assess her opponent.
 The two amazons began to circle each other warily, 
weapons ready.
 *//Actually, I came for him, you are just a tasty 
side bonus.//* Hue lashed out with her staff.  Shampoo 
dodged to the right and swung her bonbori mace, Hue 
ducked underneath it.  *//I owe you for getting me 
thrown out of the village.//*
 *//You cheated in an honorable tournament, you 
deserved to be exiled.//*  Shampoo ducked underneath 
the bo staff as it swung around and struck with her 
bonbori causing Hue to skip backwards to avoid being 
hit.
 *//I am willing to do what it takes to win,//* Hue 
winked at her and launched into a flurry of attacks.
 Shampoo was hard pressed  to block them all, she 
was forced on the defensive.  Her bonbori maces did not 
have the reach of Hue's staff.
 *//I might have won that tournament if you had not 
exposed my secret.//* One of Hue's thrusts penetrated 
Shampoo's defense striking the purple haired girl in 
the stomach.
 *//You were using poison, to weaken your 
opponent,//* Shampoo replied outraged, *//It was not an 
honorable way to win.//* Suddenly, Shampoo felt her 
knees weaken and she collapsed to her knees.
 *//Guess what you silly fool,//*  Hue loomed over 
Shampoo, a grin stretching from ear to ear, *//I still 
do.//*  She brought her staff down crashing against 
Shampoo's head and rendering her unconscious.  
 Screaming in delight, Hue brought her bo staff 
down on Shampoo's body three more times before she 
stopped. *//Honor, who needs it?//*, she looked at 
where Mousse lay, *//Don't you watch television?  
Winning is everything.//*  
 Chuckling at her wit, Hue kicked Shampoo again 
smiling in pleasure at the whimper
that came from the unconscious girl.  She proceeded to 
scoop up the duck and whistling a happy tune she made 
her way into the sunset.

 Ryouga landed in front of Ukyou's door, 
interrupting the girl's quiet reverie.  Night was 
falling and she had already closed up shop for the day.  
She did most of her busincess during the morning and 
afternoon hours and today's thunderstorm had caused 
most of her patrons to flee home early. Sometimes it 
was tough to manage the various aspects of her  life, 
and sometimes she wondered how she managed to hang on,  
but when she reminded herself she did it all for Ranma 
she realized that it was worth it.  
 But today had changed everything.
 Ukyou, lost in her reverie, nearly jumped out of 
her shoes when Ryouga landed in front of her.  It 
looked like he landed painfully; on his head.  He fell 
over with no sound and lay still.  However, she 
accepted strange events, such as people to falling out 
of the sky, as part of living in Nerima. 
 Ukyou looked at Ryouga's prone form and wondered 
idly if he was all right.  Considering his thick head 
she decided he would be fine and dragged him into her 
restaurant.  Ryouga was probably hungry and she had a 
soft spot for the idiot.  Anyone as lost as he was,  
was conceivably as lonely as she was at times.  
 Ukyou dragged Ryouga to the center of her 
restaurant and left him lying there, going behind the 
grill to cook him some Okonomayaki.  She touched her 
lips every so often and smiled to herself.  Secrets 
were sometimes worth keeping too, she thought.
 Ryouga stirred as Ukyou finished her cooking and 
set the Okonomiyaki on the counter.  "Are you up, 
sugar?" she inquired of the groaning Ryouga.
 "Uh." was the only answer she got as he picked 
himself off the floor and tried to take in his 
surroundings.
 "I made you some food, I figured you would be 
hungry." she waved at Ryouga to get his attention, 
hoping that he would not wander off.  She didn't feel 
very much like spending another lonely night and hoped 
that Ryouga might provide some conversation.
 Ryouga seemed to slowly realize where he was, 
"Ukyou?" he asked softly.
 "Yep, come and get it.", she replied, he seemed 
more dull witted than she remembered, maybe the landing 
did more damage than she had thought.
 Suddenly, Ryouga sprang into motion and in one 
leap had jumped over the counter and confronted Ukyou.  
"What happened Ukyou?  I saw you kiss Ranma today?"  He 
grabbed her shoulders.
 At his words, Ukyou's habitual smile faded 
suddenly, her eyes narrowed and she replied in a steady 
voice, "I did no such thing."
 "That's what Ranma said also, but I saw it with my 
own eyes."  Ryouga's eyes grew distant, "You just wait, 
Ranma, I'll get you for what you've done to Akane."
 Ukyou looked into his eyes, her eyes narrow and 
angry, "Hello, you jackass", she waved her hand in 
front of his face to get his attention, "I said I 
didn't kiss Ranma"  She forced herself to smile, "Are 
you going to eat your food before it gets cold?"
 "You didn't?" Ryouga's self assurance faltered, 
"But I saw-"
 "Whatever you saw, sugar, it wasn't me."  The 
okonomiyaki chef shrugged off Ryouga's hands and 
stepped away, "Now are you going to shut up and eat or 
am I going to have pound some sense into you."
 Ryouga looking confused moved around the counter 
and started chewing slowly on the okonomiyaki.  "But I 
was sure."
 "Look, I didn't kiss Ranma today, sorry to 
disappoint you, I'm sure you were just dying to protect 
Akane's honor and all but it just didn't happen." She 
hoped she had not sounded bitter. Ukyou pulled up 
alongside of Ryouga and sat down.  "You want another?"
 Ryouga declined and the two sat in silence, the 
only sound was Ryouga's chewing.
 Ukyou had hoped for conversation, but Ryouga's 
accusation had caught her off guard, however the 
silence between them was maddening.  Ukyou rubbed her 
eyes, they itched fiercely.
"You let go of that idea pretty quick.", she commented.
 Ryouga looked numbly at her, "Ranma denied it 
pretty fiercely too.  Not that I believed him in the 
first place but the two of you both denying it.  Well, 
I'm not so sure of myself anymore."
 Ukyou sighed inwardly in relief, she was sure with 
time Ryouga would forget what he had seen, but Ranma 
and Akane would not be so easily diverted.  Ukyou 
needed to steer the conversation away from what Ryouga 
had seen.  Something nagged at Ukyou's eye still, a 
tugging and an itch.  "Do you ever get tired Ryouga?"
 Ryouga looked up from his meal and looked blankly 
at her, "Sure I do, usually I go to sleep then," he 
said in a sarcastic tone..
 Ukyou sighed, she hated having to explain herself, 
"Do you ever get tired of fighting and hating Ranma so 
much?  I mean sometimes you lose, sometimes you win, 
but in the end what's the point?"  By the door there 
was a long shadow gathering. "I mean don't you get 
tired of all the fighting?"
 Ryouga looked at her dourly and solemnly answered, 
"Don't you?"
 Not as dumb as she thought, she smiled bitterly to 
herself. The shadow was moving forward, but her eyes 
refused to focus on it.  "Of course, I do.  Why do you 
think I am asking?  Sometimes I just want for something  
final to happen, something to end all this waiting, all 
the fighting, sometimes I just feel tired."
 Ryouga was about ready to reply when Ukyou 
clutched at her eye and screamed.  A shadow off to his 
right burst into motion and something pricked his neck.  
He fell face first onto the counter and lay still.
 Ukyou clutched at her eye with her hand, blood 
dripping past it.  Trying to focus her eyes on the 
moving shadow, she reached behind her to grab her 
spatula forgetting that it wasn't there.  The shadow 
glided effortlessly across the room.  Ukyou fell out of 
her chair trying to avert her eyes and pushed herself 
into the corner.  Her head ached horribly and she tried 
to make herself as small as possible.  She felt 
paralyzed and helpless to move, fear gripped her very 
soul.  
 The shadow slid across the restaurant coming to a 
stop before the sink where it filled up a pot of water.  
In a hoarse voice, the shadow uttered, "Now, don't you 
move sweet thing, and you won't get hurt."
 Ukyou  cound not have moved if she wanted to, her 
nerves had lost all feeling and the best she could do 
was try to look at the shadow out of the corner of her 
eyes.
 The shadow glided back across the room and dumped 
the water onto Ryouga transforming him into a little 
black pig.  
 Ukyou had started to shiver in fright and didn't 
notice the transformation.  She averted her eyes as the 
shadow moved into her field of vision.  Suddenly, the 
shadows cleared and a face appeared.  The face was 
blurry and Ukyou's eyes refused to focus on it, but it 
was one Ukyou would remember in nightmares for month's 
to come, the face loomed out of the shadows and grinned 
at her.  Then it turned and slid back out of the room 
carrying P-Chan  Unable to bear her fright any longer, 
Ukyou started to scream and didn't stop until she 
passed out.
If all good things come to an end, then I pray what 
we have between us isn't a good thing.
--Sarah Leahy, All Good Things

First Strike

	Shampoo was delivering her ramen and as usual she 
was doing her best to ignore Mousse as he trotted along 
beside her.  She kept quiet through his inane 
proclamations of love and did her best to think.  When 
Mousse had first appeared and challenged Ranma, she had 
kept silent but had been secretly impressed by Mousse's 
tenacity.  However, he was always hounding her, never 
giving her a moment's peace,  This incessant hounding 
had nearly driven her insane at the age of three and it 
had similar affects thirteen years later.  Despite all 
of her rejections he never  relented.  When the chance 
came to chase after girl-type Ranma, Shampoo had gladly 
accepted the challenge for two reasons, first was her 
sense of duty and the second was to put distance 
between Mousse and herself.
	When she had discovered Ranma's secret and had 
fled home in shame, Cologne had taken her to Juskenyo 
to train.  It was here that Shampoo learned the true 
nature of Ranma's curse.  A new determination had come 
over her to return to Japan and make him her husband in 
accordance with the laws of her village. With her great 
grandmother with her she seemed ordained to triumph.
	Shampoo was undeterred by the notion that Ranma 
did not love her.  She knew that with time he would 
grow to lover her, besides the customs of her village 
did not allow for failure.  She had been shamed once, 
she would not be shamed again.
	But Mousse had found her and had complicated 
matters.  He seemed utterly devoted to her and this 
touched her heart.  Yet, he still persisted in his 
claims of love for her, though she doubted he knew what 
love was.  But he never the less confused her and she 
needed peace and space to think things through.  
However, in Nerima peace and space were never to be 
found.
	Right now, once again, Mousse was denying her the 
privacy she craved.
	"Shampoo,"  Mouse said in a serious tone, "There 
might be hooligans about."
	His whiney voice grated on Shampoo's already 
frazzled nerves, "Shampoo already tell Mousse," she 
replied as calmly as she could manage, "Shampoo no need 
protection.  Shampoo take care of self."
	"But my love," he persisted, "What kind of a 
husband would I be if I wasn't there to protect you?"
	One who would respect his wife, she thought.  She 
was about to tell him this when a shadow fell across 
the them.
	Shampoo looked up to see a girl dressed in 
traditional Chinese clothes descending towards her, a 
bo staff extended past her legs and aimed at Shampoo.  
Shampoo reacted instantly and dove to the side to avoid 
the attack.  The bicycle was crushed by the force of 
the girl's attack.
	Shampoo picked herself up and faced her attacker, 
bonbori maces already drawn.
	Mousse who had been caught off guard reached for 
the girl, "How dare you attack my beloved Shampoo."
	*//Shut up Mousse//* the girl replied in Mandarin 
Chinese, *//You always did talk to much and whine 
incessantly.//*  The girl then pressed a button on her 
staff and water erupted from the tip of it drenching 
Mousse.
	Mousse quacked in outraged surprise.  With a 
casual flick of her staff the girl silenced his 
quacking and returned her attention to Shampoo. *//Long 
time, Shampoo,//* she grinned ferally.
	*//Not long enough, Hue.//* Shampoo replied 
gathering her courage, the green girl before he did not 
look much like the girl Shampoo had defeated in a 
tournament years ago.  That girl had looked treacherous 
and potent, this girl looked like a killer.  *//Why did 
you hurt Mousse, when you came for me.//*, she stalled 
for time in order to assess her opponent.
	The two amazons began to circle each other warily, 
weapons ready.
	*//Actually, I came for him, you are just a tasty 
side bonus.//* Hue lashed out with her staff.  Shampoo 
dodged to the right and swung her bonbori mace, Hue 
ducked underneath it.  *//I owe you for getting me 
thrown out of the village.//*
	*//You cheated in an honorable tournament, you 
deserved to be exiled.//*  Shampoo ducked underneath 
the bo staff as it swung around and struck with her 
bonbori causing Hue to skip backwards to avoid being 
hit.
	*//I am willing to do what it takes to win,//* Hue 
winked at her and launched into a flurry of attacks.
	Shampoo was hard pressed  to block them all, she 
was forced on the defensive.  Her bonbori maces did not 
have the reach of Hue's staff.
	*//I might have won that tournament if you had not 
exposed my secret.//* One of Hue's thrusts penetrated 
Shampoo's defense striking the purple haired girl in 
the stomach.
	*//You were using poison, to weaken your 
opponent,//* Shampoo replied outraged, *//It was not an 
honorable way to win.//* Suddenly, Shampoo felt her 
knees weaken and she collapsed to her knees.
	*//Guess what you silly fool,//*  Hue loomed over 
Shampoo, a grin stretching from ear to ear, *//I still 
do.//*  She brought her staff down crashing against 
Shampoo's head and rendering her unconscious.  
	Screaming in delight, Hue brought her bo staff 
down on Shampoo's body three more times before she 
stopped. *//Honor, who needs it?//*, she looked at 
where Mousse lay, *//Don't you watch television?  
Winning is everything.//*  
	Chuckling at her wit, Hue kicked Shampoo again 
smiling in pleasure at the whimper
that came from the unconscious girl.  She proceeded to 
scoop up the duck and whistling a happy tune she made 
her way into the sunset.
	
	Ryouga landed in front of Ukyou's door, 
interrupting the girl's quiet reverie.  Night was 
falling and she had already closed up shop for the day.  
She did most of her busincess during the morning and 
afternoon hours and today's thunderstorm had caused 
most of her patrons to flee home early. Sometimes it 
was tough to manage the various aspects of her  life, 
and sometimes she wondered how she managed to hang on,  
but when she reminded herself she did it all for Ranma 
she realized that it was worth it.  
	But today had changed everything.
	Ukyou, lost in her reverie, nearly jumped out of 
her shoes when Ryouga landed in front of her.  It 
looked like he landed painfully; on his head.  He fell 
over with no sound and lay still.  However, she 
accepted strange events, such as people to falling out 
of the sky, as part of living in Nerima. 
	Ukyou looked at Ryouga's prone form and wondered 
idly if he was all right.  Considering his thick head 
she decided he would be fine and dragged him into her 
restaurant.  Ryouga was probably hungry and she had a 
soft spot for the idiot.  Anyone as lost as he was,  
was conceivably as lonely as she was at times.  
	Ukyou dragged Ryouga to the center of her 
restaurant and left him lying there, going behind the 
grill to cook him some Okonomayaki.  She touched her 
lips every so often and smiled to herself.  Secrets 
were sometimes worth keeping too, she thought.
	Ryouga stirred as Ukyou finished her cooking and 
set the Okonomiyaki on the counter.  "Are you up, 
sugar?" she inquired of the groaning Ryouga.
	"Uh." was the only answer she got as he picked 
himself off the floor and tried to take in his 
surroundings.
	"I made you some food, I figured you would be 
hungry." she waved at Ryouga to get his attention, 
hoping that he would not wander off.  She didn't feel 
very much like spending another lonely night and hoped 
that Ryouga might provide some conversation.
	Ryouga seemed to slowly realize where he was, 
"Ukyou?" he asked softly.
	"Yep, come and get it.", she replied, he seemed 
more dull witted than she remembered, maybe the landing 
did more damage than she had thought.
	Suddenly, Ryouga sprang into motion and in one 
leap had jumped over the counter and confronted Ukyou.  
"What happened Ukyou?  I saw you kiss Ranma today?"  He 
grabbed her shoulders.
	At his words, Ukyou's habitual smile faded 
suddenly, her eyes narrowed and she replied in a steady 
voice, "I did no such thing."
	"That's what Ranma said also, but I saw it with my 
own eyes."  Ryouga's eyes grew distant, "You just wait, 
Ranma, I'll get you for what you've done to Akane."
	Ukyou looked into his eyes, her eyes narrow and 
angry, "Hello, you jackass", she waved her hand in 
front of his face to get his attention, "I said I 
didn't kiss Ranma"  She forced herself to smile, "Are 
you going to eat your food before it gets cold?"
	"You didn't?" Ryouga's self assurance faltered, 
"But I saw-"
	"Whatever you saw, sugar, it wasn't me."  The 
okonomiyaki chef shrugged off Ryouga's hands and 
stepped away, "Now are you going to shut up and eat or 
am I going to have pound some sense into you."
	Ryouga looking confused moved around the counter 
and started chewing slowly on the okonomiyaki.  "But I 
was sure."
	"Look, I didn't kiss Ranma today, sorry to 
disappoint you, I'm sure you were just dying to protect 
Akane's honor and all but it just didn't happen." She 
hoped she had not sounded bitter. Ukyou pulled up 
alongside of Ryouga and sat down.  "You want another?"
	Ryouga declined and the two sat in silence, the 
only sound was Ryouga's chewing.
	Ukyou had hoped for conversation, but Ryouga's 
accusation had caught her off guard, however the 
silence between them was maddening.  Ukyou rubbed her 
eyes, they itched fiercely.
"You let go of that idea pretty quick.", she commented.
	Ryouga looked numbly at her, "Ranma denied it 
pretty fiercely too.  Not that I believed him in the 
first place but the two of you both denying it.  Well, 
I'm not so sure of myself anymore."
	Ukyou sighed inwardly in relief, she was sure with 
time Ryouga would forget what he had seen, but Ranma 
and Akane would not be so easily diverted.  Ukyou 
needed to steer the conversation away from what Ryouga 
had seen.  Something nagged at Ukyou's eye still, a 
tugging and an itch.  "Do you ever get tired Ryouga?"
	Ryouga looked up from his meal and looked blankly 
at her, "Sure I do, usually I go to sleep then," he 
said in a sarcastic tone..
	Ukyou sighed, she hated having to explain herself, 
"Do you ever get tired of fighting and hating Ranma so 
much?  I mean sometimes you lose, sometimes you win, 
but in the end what's the point?"  By the door there 
was a long shadow gathering. "I mean don't you get 
tired of all the fighting?"
	Ryouga looked at her dourly and solemnly answered, 
"Don't you?"
	Not as dumb as she thought, she smiled bitterly to 
herself. The shadow was moving forward, but her eyes 
refused to focus on it.  "Of course, I do.  Why do you 
think I am asking?  Sometimes I just want for something  
final to happen, something to end all this waiting, all 
the fighting, sometimes I just feel tired."
	Ryouga was about ready to reply when Ukyou 
clutched at her eye and screamed.  A shadow off to his 
right burst into motion and something pricked his neck.  
He fell face first onto the counter and lay still.
	Ukyou clutched at her eye with her hand, blood 
dripping past it.  Trying to focus her eyes on the 
moving shadow, she reached behind her to grab her 
spatula forgetting that it wasn't there.  The shadow 
glided effortlessly across the room.  Ukyou fell out of 
her chair trying to avert her eyes and pushed herself 
into the corner.  Her head ached horribly and she tried 
to make herself as small as possible.  She felt 
paralyzed and helpless to move, fear gripped her very 
soul.  
	The shadow slid across the restaurant coming to a 
stop before the sink where it filled up a pot of water.  
In a hoarse voice, the shadow uttered, "Now, don't you 
move sweet thing, and you won't get hurt."
	Ukyou  cound not have moved if she wanted to, her 
nerves had lost all feeling and the best she could do 
was try to look at the shadow out of the corner of her 
eyes.
	The shadow glided back across the room and dumped 
the water onto Ryouga transforming him into a little 
black pig.  
	Ukyou had started to shiver in fright and didn't 
notice the transformation.  She averted her eyes as the 
shadow moved into her field of vision.  Suddenly, the 
shadows cleared and a face appeared.  The face was 
blurry and Ukyou's eyes refused to focus on it, but it 
was one Ukyou would remember in nightmares for month's 
to come, the face loomed out of the shadows and grinned 
at her.  Then it turned and slid back out of the room 
carrying P-Chan  Unable to bear her fright any longer, 
Ukyou started to scream and didn't stop until she 
passed out.