Time to look at this at last.  To refresh our memories, in the 
previous part, Ranma fought new "fiancee" Biiko.  Apparently he got 
undiagnosed brain damage, because he developed a worsening memory, even 
more poor judgement than usual, and a tendency to emulate his father's 
problem-solving style (i.e., make snap decisions and run away.)
	As a result, he mistook an extraordinarily bad case of temper on 
Akane's part for a permanent condition, and made a number of moves that 
seemed clever at the time, but were in reality guaranteed to cause the 
maximum dishonor and heartbreak.  Since these decisions fit into Mousse 
and Ukyou's fantasy worlds, they haven't figured this out yet...And so 
Ranma went on the road with Ucchan.

On Fri, 6 Feb 1998, Zen wrote:

Ranma 1/2 - THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD
EPISODE TWO:  ROCKY ROADS

by Zen

Before long the two of them were sitting on a log by a toasty fire,
savouring rice with one of Ucchan's special sauces, baked yams and steaming
green tea.  The hot food went a long way towards chasing away the day's
accumulated chills, for which Ranma-chan was particularly grateful.

Just to drive home the notion that Ukyou can cook something other than 
okonomiyaki...

Then the real fun would begin.  The prospect of facing Kuonji-san after all
these years and all that had happened was making Ranma-chan fairly nervous,

fair enough. 

"I asked if you were okay.  It's like you're a million spatials out, you know?"

spatials?  Perhaps Zen means spatula-lengths?

"I'm sorry, Ucchan... I was just thinking..."

"Thinking about what?  You look like you just lost your best friend."

Ranma-chan had to smile at that.  "No, Ucchan... that's the one thing that
I *haven't* lost."

Yes, you have.  You traded her in for a consolation prize fiancee.

Ukyou leaned up against the red-head and sighed.  "Isn't it romantic,
Ran-chan?  Just the two of us... the fire... the stars... no one around for
kilometers..."

Ranma-chan shifted nervously.  "Uhmm... Ucchan?  Don't you think we ought
to wait til I can change back into a guy?"

Why?  And why haven't you?  You've already had the food on the fire...

"Oh."  Ukyou was silent for a time.  "She'll kill him, you know.  When she
finds out."

Maim him a little maybe.  Then forgive him, eventually...

"But he's been lying to her all this time!  Hell, you told her the *truth*
most of the time, and look how she treated you!"

Ranma-chan shrugged.  "Akane can be a surprisingly kind and forgiving
person.  She just never forgave me for being a boy.  Who knows?  Maybe if I
really *had* been 'Ranko' Saotome, we'd have been the best of friends."

Ukyou laughed.  "If you *had* been, then you never would have had all these
engagement problems."

"Don't be so sure," Ranma-chan said darkly.  "Knowing my luck, Pop would
have tossed me into the "Spring of Drowned Boy" deliberately, and I'd
*still* have been engaged to Akane..."

Cue Ranko 1/2...
clip some nice description.

The view left Ranma with a sense of accomplishment for having reached this
peak despite the ruggedness of the terrain.  At the same time it was
humbling, the raw power of the landscape making him feel small and
insignificant by comparison.  It was just the sort of contradiction that
one might expect when visiting a Zen monastery, he thought.

Boo!

Haruka turned to Ranma, his expression darkening once more into
unreadability.  "Oh, yes.  I remember Ranma.  So.  Ukyou spoke the truth."
He gave Ranma a curt nod and an appraising stare.  "I can only hope that
this time you will prove worthy of her devotion."

This Ranma?  Umm...

"Intent?!" the old man gasped, clearly taken aback.  "Intent?!  What you
*intended* is no longer relevant, boy!  What you did... what your father
did... *these* are the things that you must answer for!

"After you and your father abandoned her, Ukyou retreated into her own
isolated little world.  I could only watch as my daughter grew away from
me... watch as she grew away from herself."  Haruka launched a series of
attacks which Ranma dodged with ease.  "Try as I might, I could not console
her.  Every night she would cry herself to sleep, and every day she would
train.  She avoided the other children her age, even after their teasing
stopped."

Ranma bounced back into a ready stance.  "Ucchan was," he ducked a sweeping
kick, "my best friend!"  Coming inside the monk's attack, fast and low,
Ranma flipped up and dropped behind his opponent. "I never wanted to hurt
her."

Haruka whirled to face the boy, attacking both with blows and with words.
"Hurt her?" he asked, his tone incredulous.  "She wasn't hurt, boy, she was
devastated!  She pushed everything and everyone away from her.  She denied
all that she was, even her own identity!"

"I know that...  now," said an exasperated Ranma as he blocked yet another
series of blows.  "But at the time, I was six years old!  Back then, I
didn't know anything about engagements, or marriage!  Heck, I didn't even
know that Ukyou was a girl!"

Haruka pressed his attack.  "Your father knew!  He took the yattai that I
gave him as dowry, but he left my daughter behind!"

	Um, aren't we forgetting something here, Kuonji-san?  Namely, 
that *you* were the one who came up with the idea of bribing Genma to 
void the first engagement?  If he agreed to that so easily, you should have 
no kick coming when he turned around and violated your trust...
	And I don't buy that you weren't at least partially responsible 
for the "live as a boy" thing...Kids don't get these ideas on their own...

"I do," said Ranma.

Nodding in satisfaction, Haruka said, "It is good to see that you take your
training and your obligations seriously."

umm....

"Obligations," snarled Ranma.  "Don't get me started on 'obligations'.
Thanks to my father, I have entirely too many 'obligations', and there's no
way that I can satisfy one without breaking a lot more of them than I can
keep."

The monk was somewhat taken aback by the bitterness in Ranma's voice.  For
a moment, JUST for a moment, Haruka almost felt sorry for the Saotome
patriarch.  It seemed that Genma had lost something - lost something that
was very precious - the love and respect of his only child.  Then he
thought back over the past ten years of his daughter's life, and any trace
of sympathy vanished.  The one that deserved that sympathy was the boy in
front of him.  "What has he done to you, son?"

Ranma gave Kuonji-san an abbreviated version of the various vows and
entanglements that Genma had entered into on his behalf.  Haruka shook his
head.  "So many fiancees!  Perhaps I should have expected such..."  The old
man examined Ranma intently.  "Yet... you are here now.  You are with my
daughter.  It *is* your intention to marry her, is it not?"

Yep.  Mostly out of spite, of course.  Not because he actually has any 
feelings towards her.

"I am.  It is.  But I can't honestly say that I'm doing it because it's the
honourable thing to do.  I'm not sure that I know what that would be
anymore.  What I do know is that Ukyou is the one that I *want* to marry."

little white lie...

The older man smiled.  "Then my daughter has indeed chosen well."  The
smile faded just a bit.  "Though what of Tendou Akane?  How is she likely
to react to this decision of yours?"

Ranma's face was expressionless, but there was a bitter tone to his voice.
"I expect that she'll be thrilled, now that she won't have to marry the
'pervert'."

Of course, since you've forgotten any contradicting evidence...

"Aahhh.  An open wound, I see." said Haruka not unsympathetically.
"Ukyou's letters indicated that you cared a great deal for her."

Ranma shrugged.  "I guess I still do... but as a friend.  There was a time
that it might have been more, but it just didn't work out."  He sighed.
"In the end, Ucchan was the one that I could talk to.  Akane... Akane never
believed in me."

Umm...

"I take it then that you did not part on the best of terms."

He ran away.

"No," Ranma winced at the memory of that parting.  "That'd be a safe guess.
I really have no one to blame for that but myself, I suppose.  I certainly
made more than my share of mistakes.  It seems that I was always making
*everybody* mad."

"Everyone except Ukyou?" the monk asked.

Ranma had to grin at that, but his tone was serious.  "Oh, no.  I made
Ukyou mad LOTS of times.  But she was the one who was willing to forgive
me. 

Actually, so did Akane, a lot, and Shampoo certainly forgave you a bunch 
of things.  Hard to tell with Kodachi.
 
 Over the past year I've learned a lot of lessons... most of them the

hard way.  But I *have* learned them."

I'm doubting it, by the way you're acting../

Ranma braced himself as Ukyou poured the water over his head.  There was a
familiar tingle and where there had been a handsome, raven haired boy,
there now stood a voluptuous, red-headed girl.  She shrugged eloquently.
"See?"

Kuonji Haruka's eyes went wide with shock, and a strangled sound escaped
his lips.  The sound became a rumble, and grew very quickly into loud barks
of near hysterical laughter.

This was, to say the least, not the response that Ranma-chan had been
expecting.  Still dripping, and now furious, the red-head grabbed a double
fistful of coarse robe, and hauled the massive monk up off of the ground.
She shook him like a rag doll, while he continued to laugh helplessly.

Gasping for breath, Haruka managed to stammer, "Ucchan... ten years as a
boy... now this... symmetry indeed!  What a sense of humour the Kami have!
Oh, the *irony*!"

"You think this... this *curse* is *funny*?" Ranma-chan growled.  Still
holding him up with one hand, she drew back a fist, ready to pound him into
the next week.

"Eh?  *Curse*?"  Haruka gasped, before dissolving once more into gales of
laughter.  "You have GOT to be kidding.  You see this as a *curse*?  Oh,
the okonomiyaki that I could have sold had I been so cursed..."

You haven't actually had to be subjected to it...

Wiping the tears from his eyes, Haruka said in a more serious tone, "Look -
I have nothing left to give the two of you but my blessings and some
advice.  Ranma m'boy - think hard on this - that curse of yours can be an
incredible asset.  You can get away with things... Ahh, yes... I see from
your expression that you've discovered that aspect of it already...  It's a
*tool*, boy.  Use it.  Don't let outdated gender stereotypes get in your
way."

"outdated gender sterotypes"?  Eh.  If anything, monastic life tends to 
*increase* your belief in this kind of thing...
 > 

Ukyou smiled.  "Should I try to beat the snot out of you next time then?"

Yes.

"I'm not.  I've been thinking about it, and I made a big mistake."

A whole bunch of them...

Ukyou could feel her heart drop into the pit of her stomach.  "You don't
mean that... that choosing me... I mean..."

No, that was after he made his biggest mistake, and after that, choosing 
you wasn't a mistake.

"NO!"  Ranma whirled to face her, eyes wide.  "It's nothing like that!"  He
paused.  "It's just that I could have handled this mess a lot better.  I
feel bad that I didn't really get a chance to say good-bye to anyone.  I
thought it would be better that way at the time, but now... I'm not so
sure."

Darn right...

"I see," said Ukyou.  She felt a bit guilty for having doubted him, but it
was still all too new.  It was still hard for her to really believe that
she had won.  That Ranma had chosen her.  It was going to take her some
time to get over that, but she was looking forward to every minute of it.
"What would you have done differently?" she asked him.

"I don't know, really," Ranma shrugged.  "I owe old man Tendou an
explanation, at least.  I'd bet that after this, his friendship with Pop
will be a bit strained..."

An explanation, an apology, and compensation...

Ranma nodded.  "Akane.  I  was never too happy about any of this arranged
marriage stuff... and neither was she.  But... there were times when she
could be very nice to me.  I'd like to think that, deep down, she was a
friend.  But now?  She'll probably hate me forever after this."

I doubt it, though your actions make it seem you hate her...

"Do you still love her, Ran-chan?"

"Yes...

true
 no...
false.
 As a friend, I'd like to.  I'm afraid that it's not possible

anymore - it might have been if I'd just said good-bye, but now I'll never
know.  But I don't love her in a way that would lead to marriage."  Ranma
turned back to the darkness beyond the wall.

Don't believe this...

"I've never thought of myself as a coward before.  I've faced lots of
things, but I just couldn't make myself face Akane.  In a way we were a lot
alike.  More like brother and sister, really, than anything else.
Dammit... why can I never think of these things at the time?"

It's the brain damage.

"Would it have helped any if you had?"

"No... likely not.  We might never have gotten this far.  I just feel like
I owed them more than that, and I've let them down."

Yup.

"So what are you gonna do?"

"I dunno.  I've been working on a letter - an explanation... and an
apology.  I owe her that much - more, really, but the way things are, it's
the best that I can do.  I can't ever go back there - even if I wanted to.
And I DON'T want to."

Hmm...

After a time, Ranma brought his arm up and put it around her.  He was
hesitant, awkward at first, but Ukyou didn't care.  To her it felt
wonderful.  She sighed contentedly.

Ranma heard the sigh and held her just a little tighter.  "I just hope that
you know what you're getting yourself into, Ucchan."

"It doesn't matter, really.  I have what I want - what I've always wanted.
Whatever happens, I can face it now - as long as I have you."

She should be going into one of her fantasy sequences here....

"Wow!  Are you sure that you've never had any real martial arts training?"
she asked at last.  "You sure didn't seem to have any trouble breaking
those!"

Eiko stared sadly into the rubble.  "No... I've never had any trouble
breaking things," she said softly.  "It's how NOT to break things that's
been so hard for me to learn."

It's pretty clear from the movies that A-ko *has* had formal combat 
training, probably from her mother....

"Shampoo!  Please!"  Mousse ducked and another bowl shattered on the wall
just behind the space his head had occupied scant fractions of a second
before.  "Calm down!"

Why?

"Damn you, Mousse!" the Amazon princess snarled, "Why didn't you tell me
that Ranma had Spatula Girl with him?"

"I didn't see her!  Honestly, I didn't!" wailed the myopic magician as he
dodged the next volley of dinnerware.

"You LIE!" screamed Shampoo.

"No!  I swear, I've told you the truth!" protested Mousse.

For once, I believe him.

"Spatula Girl is very sneaky!"  Shampoo's voice dripped contempt.  "Ukyou
must have drugged Airen's food - there's no other way *you* could possibly
win!"

No, but there *was* a cheat.

That point had been passed when Shampoo heard about the closing of the
Ucchan.  When Shampoo realised the both Ranma *and* Ukyou were gone, she
had smelled a rat.  She was not, Mousse thought while ducking another dish,
taking it too well.

Why should she?

Some hours later, Mousse wiped the sweat from his brow as he faced the
Amazon matriarch.  He'd been lucky.  Cologne had chosen not to challenge
his story directly, so again, Mousse had managed to avoid an outright lie.
But it had been close.  Very close.

Dang,  Not one question along the lines of "where did this battle take 
place?"  "Who took the photo?"  "Which technique did you use to finish 
him?"  Odd/

For her part, Cologne was frustrated.  She knew, beyond any shadow of a
doubt, that there was more to this situation than met the eye.  Had Mousse
said anything that was untrue, she would surely have known - have sensed it
- but Mousse had believed every word he had said.

Of course, she reasoned, it was not necessary to say something that was
untrue to lie.  Word choice, and what was not said as much as what was
said, could lead an unwary questioner to misinterpret the answers that were
given, if the person was clever enough.  Until now, she had never given
Mousse that much credit.

She could get the truth, of course.  She could force it out of him.  But it

You could just ask one of those direct questions....

"I still think that there is something that you are not telling us, but,
for the life of me, I cannot imagine what it might be."  Cologne turned

"Where was the photo taken?"

Cologne nodded, her expression solemn.  "I do.  Before I can accept this
idiot's defeat of son-in-law, I must see it with my own eyes.

yup.

Cologne's voice was edged with steel.  "Now go, and prepare.  You will take
Mousse with you, to free you from more mundane chores on the road, but you

Really *bad* decision!  You *know* Mousse will sabotage Shampoo's 
attempts any chance he gets....

*must* bring back your groom.  There must be a rematch, if you want to
maintain your honour, or your standing as an Amazon warrior."

Shampoo's doomed, isn't she?

When Kasumi had heard Akane's declaration that she intended to follow after
Ranma, there had been no argument, no attempts to get her to change her
mind.  Instead, Kasumi had simply done whatever she could to see that Akane
was properly prepared for her travels.  She had even provided a number of
dehydrated meals for her... all Akane had to do was boil the water.  And
THAT she could do.

Actually, after the Shinnosuke storyline, she seems able to cook at least 
enough that it's never again a gag...
 > 

heart ache.  For a time she wondered if this had been what Ukyou had felt
all those years ago when Genma had taken Ranma and abandoned her.

Since Ranma's actions in this case are essentially the same, yes.

There had been times that Ranma could be so infuriating.  He'd make her so
mad that she just couldn't see straight.  And, on rare occasions, he could
do something so sweet and kind that it made her forget that he made her
that angry most of the time.  In those moments she had felt so alive, so
happy.  Had they been nothing more than illusions - daydreams and fantasies
after all?

Not in the manga.  Here, yes/.

She'd always thought that there would be plenty of time.  Neither of them
had been ready to get married, no matter what their fathers had wanted.
There was no rush to sort things out.  But that had been a mistake.  It had
just been so much easier not to think about it.

Actually, Ranma is still not *ready* to get married.  He's just chosen to 
ignore this out of spite.

Nabiki was sitting at her desk, staring at a number of pictures that were
arrayed across its top.  Pictures of Ranma in female form.  Looking sadly
at the images of the red-head, a sigh escaped her lips.  "I can understand
why you would be mad at me, Saotome... but I thought that you loved her.
How can you do this to her and still call yourself a man?"

He has no conscience.

"After Ranma."

"You don't approve."

"I do not.  I think that you should forget him.  He's trouble, Akane.  He's
always been nothing but trouble."

pretty much true...more trouble than not...

"I need to know how things might have been different.  Why he fought for me
all those times, and what changed that."  Taking a shuddering breath, Akane

The author.

With a sigh, she said, "I think that I may have an idea where they're
headed.  I'm not *sure* but it seems like a good bet."

Akane looked thoughtful for a moment.  "Nabiki... I don't want you to take
this the wrong way, but... why are you telling me this?  If you don't think
I should be going after him..."

Nabiki almost grinned.  "Since when has what I thought had any effect once
you had made up your mind about something?  I know you, Akane.  Well enough
to know better than to try and talk you out of this.  On the other hand, if
I help you, maybe you'll be able to put this behind you and get on with
your life."

maybe...

After a pause, Akane nodded.  "So.  What have you found?"

"I've found Ukyou's father."

You didn't already know?

She stared balefully at the pictures of the two girls.  What power is it
that they have over my beloved? she snarled to herself.  What black art,
what manner of evil magic could make him choose to be with the likes of
you, when he has me?  Savagely, she slid the pictures into the envelope and

Both the original author, and the one doing this story...

"I swear to you, Ranma, I will free you from their spell.  I will follow to
the ends of the Earth, if need be, and I *will* make you mine once more...
no matter what the cost!"

This must not be one of her more lucid days, on which she knows Ranma 
doesn't love her...

"Master?"  A pause.  "Mistress?"  Another pause.  "Anyone?"  There was no
answer.  Sayogakure Sasuke smiled to himself.  For the first time in his
life, things were looking up.

Actually, no...

"No you don't!  You can do what YOU want to do for a change!" burst
Shinobu.  "You're free now, don't you see that?  Why do you have to go
running away?"

Akane sighed.  "But I'm NOT free.  Somehow... somehow I don't think that I
ever was."  She gazed into Shinobu's troubled eyes.  "This is something
that I just have to do.  I can't let it end this way.  You KNOW that I
can't."

"Why not?" asked Shinobu sullenly.

Akane had to smile at that.  "Why don't you just give up on Ataru?" she
countered.  "Let that Oni girl have him?  After all, all he does is make
you angry..."

"That's not the same thing!" Shinobu began hotly.

He actually comes on to me every so often!  Besides, she's a violent 
maniac, and I'm his childhood buddy, and I can cook better!

It was hard to tell who was the more surprised, Shinobu or Akane.  Akane
was the first to find her voice.  "What the heck is that?" she asked.

Eiko looked levelly at her.  "It's a pack.  I'm going with you, if you'll
let me.  I can pay my own way."

Akane was shocked.  "Eiko-chan, that's... that's *insane*.  My reasons for
doing this are crazy enough, but why would *you* want to get involved?"

Eiko shrugged.  "You're my friend.  You need help.  I've already got
permission from my parents."

Umm, I know Eiko isn't the best student, but she's a very concientious 
one.  Has she made arrangements with her school?
	(Apropos of nothing, I like Kagome because she goes back to the 
present to keep up with her homework...)

Akane stared at the red haired girl as if she'd opened a third eye in her
forehead.  "Eiko-chan... I appreciate it, really, I do.  But it's okay.  I
don't need you to defend me."

"Who said anything about defending you?" asked Eiko.  "All *I'm* saying is
that you don't need to be alone.  Believe me, I've lost people close to me
before, and the LAST thing that you need is to be all on your own."

"What's wrong with being on my own?  I *like* being on my own!" said Akane.
"And I can take care of myself."

"I know you can take care of yourself." Eiko sighed.  "You didn't need
Ranma to defend you either.  But, deep down, weren't you glad when he did?"

	I still don't think eiko is the best travel companion for Akane.  
Despite what she says, she *does* have the tendency to be 
reflexively overprotective, and does outshine Akane in most of Akane's 
strong points.  (Yes, Akane may be a better student, but how important is 
*that* on a trek?)

"But Akane said it might be years..."

"Might be, Shinobu-chan... *might* be," said Akane soothingly.  "I'm hoping
that it won't.  I'm hoping that this can all be settled in just a few weeks
at most."

I want to pass finals, after all...

Eiko nodded emphatically.  "You bet we will.  Besides!  Without us in the
way you can finally land that boyfriend of yours."

"Ataru-kun?" sighed Shinobu.  "I'm beginning to be afraid he'll never grow up."

Not if he stays in his own series...

"No, not that lecher," Eiko grimaced.  "And I don't mean that pompous
blowhard Mendou, either.  I'm talking about the sweet one.  You know, the
one who's always wearing that weird bunny suit."

Shinobu looked startled.  "Inaba-kun?"

Eiko nodded.  "He's cute and he's devoted...  Oh, he's not perfect, I'll
admit, but Lord, show me the man that is..."

"Why not?" agreed Akane.  "He *is* kinda nice.  And he treats you better
than any of the others."

He has a job that prevents him from making a home...

Shinobu looked at Akane.  "Following THAT logic, you'd be going out with
Kunou, or that guy with the bandanna fixation."

Kunou doesn't treat her nice, and Ryouga is a hypocrite...

Akane rolled her eyes and looked to Eiko for help, but the red-head was
sniggering.  No sympathy there.  Finally, she sighed and grinned.  "Maybe I
should have done, Shinobu-chan... maybe I should have done."

Nope, you should've stayed out of this fic altogether...

That made Kodachi nervous.  Was she still in the monastery?  Had Ranma and
Ukyou left her elsewhere while they had come here?  If she *was* in the
monastery, then surely Ranma would come back for her... and that was when
Kodachi decided she would make her move.

whoops.

Maybe the people in the monastery knew where they had gone.  At least one
of them would have to.  She would just have to find him and 'persuade' him
to give her the information.  Then a better idea came to her.  Akane would
be asking the same questions, even now.  And she'd likely be getting the
same answers that Kodachi would.  Rather than tipping her own hand, she'd
follow Akane.  The Tendou girl would lead her right to her beloved Ranma.
And no one would be the wiser.

Go, Ko-chan!

"Young Saotome's departure from your domicile was, I take it, rather abrupt?"

He stole away like a thief in the night.  In fact, his last act was 
raiding the kitchen...

"Relax, child," he said, "I will not bite you."  He stared at her for a
moment and Akane was sure that he could see right through her.  "You cared
a great deal for him."  It was not a question.

Akane felt her instinctive denial coming to the surface, but fought it back
down again.  "I did."

and do...

Akane nodded.  Ukyou had what she wanted now, and her father would be a
fool indeed to help someone who might be trying to take that away from her.
Still, she had one more question to ask the monk.  "And Ranma?  Is Ranma
happy?"

The monk paused.  Finally, he said, "Yes.  I think that he is.  He still

No.

has issues to deal with, to be sure, but I sensed about him an air of
relief.  As though a burden had been lifted from his shoulders."

An illusionary sense of relief caused by tearing his heart out.

Another answer came to mind, but it was not one that she liked at all.
Ranma's mother lived in Tokyo.  Could he really be going to see her?  It
was impossible.  Not even Ranma was that stupid.

Oh yes he is...

Ranma grinned.  "You told me that I was running away.  That it wasn't like
me to solve a problem by running away from it..."

even though that's exactly what you;ve been doing...

"I'm sorry!  I didn't mean it like that!  Besides, I was afraid that you
were running away from me too!  Dammit, Ranma, we're free!  Let's just GO
while we can!"

Ranma shook his head sadly.  "But we're NOT free.  Not yet.  You were
RIGHT, Ucchan... I WAS running, just like my pop always did."  Ranma paused
for a moment as a thought struck him.  "Maybe... I've always been
running...  Well, I'm not going to do that anymore, at least not from my
mother."

We'll see...

"And what about the others?  Shampoo?  Tatewaki?  His twisted sister...
Are we going to go deal with all of them, too?"

eventually, or they'll come to you.

"Look... I didn't object to going to see your father, did I?  You know how
nervous I was about that.  But I went... because it was important to you."

"Yah, but it's not the same.  Dad always *liked* you.  Your mother... your
mother might want to kill you."

Dad is liked by the author, your mother...

"I'd have to, wouldn't I?"  Ranma turned haunted eyes to his fiancee.
"D'you think that I *want* to die?  This is the hardest part of this whole
mess.  I can't really believe it will come to that.  The person that has
visited the Tendous has been so kind and caring.  But at the same time, she
has a peculiar sense of propriety.  I just don't know what she'll do for
sure!"

Work out some kind of compromise, if she's the one from the manga...

Looking down at herself Ranma-chan sighed.  This was not the way she had
planned this, but fate apparently had other ideas.  In the long run it

Go back at get the hot water, you ninny!  5 minutes!

"Ranko-chan!  Thank the Gods that you're all right!"  Nodoka grabbed the
red-head in a fierce hug.  "Where have you been?  Everyone has been so
worried about you!"

That took Ranma-chan by surprise.  "They... they have?"

"Of course they have, dear.  Akane was very upset when she called."

"Akane... called here?"

"They've been looking for you everywhere.  She said that you'd had a fight..."

and she wanted to marry you after all!

Nodoka felt it and let her go.  "Come in, child.  You must be freezing."
Noticing Ukyou standing there, she asked.  "And who's your friend?"

"My name is Kuonji Ukyou," said Ukyou, as she followed Ranma-chan and
Nodoka into the house.

"Kuonji... that name sounds familiar... do you know my son, Ukyou-san?"

Ukyou and Ranma-chan exchanged glances.  "Yes ma'am.  It would be safe to
say that I know him..."

But not as well as the author seems to think....

"Please!" Ranma-chan said, "Don't."

"But Ranko-chan!  I must let them know that you are all right - you
wouldn't want them to keep worrying, would you?"

Yes.

Nodoka turned back toward Ranma-chan, an expression of surprise on her
face.  "Why... yes, that's right.  But... how could you know...?"

She's been here before, remember?  During the Kumon Ryuu affair.

She took a deep breath.  "The second possibility is that you will hear what
I have to say, and you will reject it... and me.  I will leave this here.
I will renounce my family, and I will never darken your door again."  Her

Don't do that, Ranma....

voice was starting to shake a bit as she concluded.  "The third is that
when you hear my story, you will find my dishonour to be too great, and I
will have to use this..."

uhoh...

For the second time that afternoon, Nodoka fainted.

*** x_X ***

Like this change...

"What I *have* to do!" the red-head sobbed.  "What honour demands that I
do.  What I promised you that I would do if I failed to become what you
wanted."  Ranma-chan tried to bring the blade toward her abdomen, but she
had no strength and Nodoka's grip was like iron.

"Where in God's name did you get *that* idea?"

"Pops promised!  *I* promised...  promised that I'd be a real man, or we'd
commit seppuku..."

"NO!!  Ranko... Ranma... This was never what I wanted!  You have to listen
to me.  That promise was meant to keep Genma on his best behaviour.  It was
never meant to apply to you!  You weren't even five years old!  There's no
way that you could have understood what your father was doing!"

"But honour demands..."

"Demands nothing of the sort," said Nodoka firmly.

Then why did you always whip your sword out towards *Ranma*?
	And Ranma, explain curse first, *then* demonstrate, baka!

Shaking herself out of her daze, Nodoka took refuge in taking charge.  "No
matter.  The important thing is that you're back home, with me, where you
belong.  Thank you, Ukyou, for helping him... for bringing him back to me.
You are a good friend for my son to have."

Ukyou tensed, but said nothing.  Ranma started to look even more
uncomfortable.  He did not like the feel of this.  "Mother..."

"Tomorrow we'll go back to the dojo and collect the rest of your things,
*and*," Nodoka added darkly, "I'll deal with your father..."

"Mother... no."

"It will also give you the chance to make up with Akane...  I'm sure that
she's been worried sick about you..."

"Mother... listen..."

"...and then we'll all come back here and live together like a family
should.  It is my fault - I never should have let your father take you away
as I did..."

true...

"Mother, Please!"

Nodoka ground to a halt, an expression of puzzled concern on her face.
"Yes, Ranma?  What is it?"

"Mother...  I'm not going back."

A leaden silence descended on the group as Nodoka stared at her son.  "I
beg your pardon?" she managed at last.

"I'm not going back to the dojo."

"Of course we're going back!  We must collect your father, and you must set
things right with your fiancee..."

Explain the fiancee mess *before* rejecting, baka!

found out that I really *was* a boy, she was ... upset.  I don't think that
she's ever forgiven me for it."

Only in this story...

Ranma sighed.  "Since then it's been a constant battle.  It seems that all
I can do is make her angry, and I don't want to do that anymore."

memory loss again...

voice.  "I wish it were really that easy, but it's not.  Besides that,
there are other... complications."

Should of mentioned this better...

"'Complications'?  What do you mean, 'complications'?"

Ranma took a deep breath.  "Mother," he said, "I'd like to introduce you to
Kuonji Ukyou.  She's my fiancee."

There was a terrible, ghastly silence.

Nodoka blinked.  "Excuse me.  Could you repeat that please?  It almost
sounded like you said that Ukyou was your..."

"My fiancee.  Yes.  She is."

"Ahhh," said Nodoka intelligently.  After a moment's contemplation, she
said, "Ranma, you place me in a very... awkward position.  I have no wish
to be rude to Kuonji-san here, but surely you realize that such a marriage
is quite out of the question.  You are honour bound to marry a Tendou.  If
you and Akane cannot get along, Tendou-san has two other daughters.  You
will simply have to marry one of them."

explain the mess before rejecting the daughters, baka....

"You're right, she would," Ranma said, "but for someone else, not for me.
Mom, she already has someone that she likes - even if she hasn't yet worked
up the nerve to do anything about it."

"But she is a dutiful daughter.  She would certainly marry you if her
father asked it of her."

"That's true.  She would.  She wouldn't even hesitate."

"There.  You see!  There is a Tendou solution that will enable us to keep
our family's honour intact."

"No.  There isn't.  First of all, even if I wanted to, there's no way that
I can honourably break my engagement to Ucchan either.  But more to the
point, Kasumi has already given up her life for that family.  I'll not ask
her to give up anything more."

"But son, honour demands..."

"Demands that I destroy the happiness of someone that I care about?  Of
someone who was kind to me?  Does honour demand that I bring her pain and
loneliness as a reward for her kindness?  Is THAT what you are telling me?"

yup.

"Ranma!  I am your mother, and you will not speak to me in that fashion!
The matter is closed.  You will marry a Tendou, as was arranged by your
father.  You must understand that the promise he made takes precedence over
any preferences that you might have."

"Oh, I understand that perfectly!" Ranma shot back.  "No one *ever* asked
me what I thought about any of this!  The first I even *heard* of the
Tendou engagement was the day that Pop and I arrived at the dojo!"  Ranma
made an effort to calm himself before continuing.  "That's a part of the
problem!  Pop is also the one that promised that I would marry Ucchan here!"

There was another one of *those* silences.  Finally, "I beg your pardon?"

"Remember I told you earlier that there was no way that I could keep all of
the promises that had been made in my name?"

Nodoka nodded.

"Well, now you know why!  Just how many women do you think that I can marry?"

"Are you trying to tell me, Ranma, that your father has engaged you to
*two* girls?"

"No, I'm not..." Ranma began.

"But you just said..."

"...by my count, there have been six, to date."

"Seven," supplied Ukyou helpfully.

"Seven?" asked Ranma.  "Are you sure?"

"SEVEN?!" squawked Nodoka.

Ukyou nodded her head.  "Yup.  Seven."

"Let's see," Ranma started counting off on his fingers, "There's Akane, and
there was Kaori, and then there's you, and there was that Mano girl..."

Actually, in that fic, it was Nodoka that did it...

"Wasn't she the one with the really strange grandmother?"

"Yeah, that's the one all right... she *was* weird.  Lessee, after Yohko,
there was Tomoko, and finally Biiko.  Nope.  That's just six."

Tomoko?

"You're forgetting, Ran-chan, there was that ditzy blonde girl with the
buns and the really long pigtails."

I don't buy this one at all.  Neither Kenji nor Ikuko seems the type to 
make an arrangement like that, nor to have something Genma wanted that 
badly.  Now, Queen Serenity, maybe, but that engagement would then date 
back to the Silver Millenium, making it first in line...
	(there's a fanfic Idea there...)

"Oh, right... I remember now.  You're right.  It was seven."

"Seven!" said Nodoka again.  "Your father has engaged you to *seven* girls?"

	Actually I think I've finally figured out what's been squicking 
me about this story, ever since Biiko showed up.  The boatload of 
fiancees is funny, and it makes it easy to write off Genma's intentions 
and the family honor questions, *but* it's a distortion of Genma's 
character to make him even more slimy/stupid than the one in the manga.  
	Which kind of destroys the underlying plausibility of the story 
for me.  As I understood it, this story was supposed to be using canon, 
except for the last few volumes.  But with this and the "Saint Ukyou" 
who's been appearing so far, I'd say it's more like one of those 
Weisenberger-era Superman "Imaginary Stories" where there'd be a 
clear-cut change to the background, then the writer would paint himself 
into a corner, and *poof* "Oh, by the way, Kryptonite works differently 
in this story for no other reason than plot convenience."
	In other words, the canon is omitted or ignored wherever it's 
inconvenient to the premise, most notably in these two characterizations, 
and in the treatment of Ranma's past relationships with Akane and Ukyou.
 

"Then you must keep the arrangement with the most valid claim.  Your father
had promised you to Tendou-san even before you were born.  That grants the
Tendou claim seniority."

Ranma just looked tired.  "Does it?" he asked.  "And what did Pop and
Tendou-san do to seal the arrangement?"

"It was a verbal pledge, and as such, is quite binding.  Why do you ask?"

"Well, you see, when Kuonji-san arranged with Pop to engage me to Ukyou, he
put up his yattai as a dowry.  Pop took it, and me, but he abandoned Ukyou
here."

Oh, ye of little memory...You, Ranma, claimed the Tendou dowry *before* 
an engagement to Ukyou was even *discussed*!  And considering your 
physical abuse of said dowry, your abandonment of its other heir and 
despoilage of its future potential, I'd say you've equalled the value of 
the yatai several times over...

"No."  A pause.  "He did once, I think.  But not anymore."

umm....

"Akane, on the other hand, was always angry.  Ranma gave her an easy target

Only when you were around...

"Ran-chan and I talked a lot when he was upset."  Ukyou shrugged.

Not supported in the manga.

*** z_z ***

cute...

"And you seem determined to follow in his footsteps!  You have an
obligation, a debt of honour, to your family and to the Tendou clan, and
one which you tell me that you have no intention of fulfilling.  You have
allowed other, more... persistent entanglements to interfere with your
judgment.  More is at stake here than just your future, you know.  You
carry on your shoulders the future of the school - the future of the Art!
That is not a responsibility that you can discard lightly!"

nope.

Making a visible effort to calm herself, Nodoka went on.  "You have left me
at a loss, Ranma.  I cannot accept your solution to these problems.  I
cannot support your decision to marry Kuonji-san, and yet, try as I might,
neither can I condemn it.  It saddens me that you and Akane-chan could not
work out your differences.  I cannot help but feel it might have been
otherwise had you really tried."

could be...

"Did it never occur to you that she might not have meant it that way?  That
it might just have been her anger speaking?  That, perhaps, she would have
spoken more kindly after having a chance for that anger to pass?"

"It did.  But it was taking longer and longer for that to happen.  With

Not in the manga.

"But you didn't try hard enough.  And what of the Tendous?  How will you
make up for the dishonour that you have done them, and their family?  You
cannot unilaterally break the engagement that your father arranged - not
honourably."

"And I *can* unilaterally break the engagement to Ucchan?  Is that what
you're saying?  Pop arranged that!  What about the engagement to Kaori?  or
Yohko?  Tomoko?  Usagi?  Biiko?  Pop arranged ALL of them!"

"It was always your father's intention that you should marry a Tendou!
That the schools should be united!  It was his lifelong dream!"

"Enough!  I told you that there was no way that I could fulfill all of my
obligations...  I didn't ask for this situation, but one way or another I'm
damned well gonna end it."

"Ranma!"  Nodoka was outraged.

Ranma's voice dropped low, became intense  "There *is* a way, you know - to
save face - to restore honour.  I offered it to you once.  I will ask you
once more, will you serve as my Kaishaku?"

Ranma did not think that it was possible for Nodoka to look any unhappier,
but she managed it.  Shaking her head, she cried,  "NO!  You know that I
cannot do that.  That is NOT an option!  I will not condone it!"

"Then you leave me no way out."  Ranma spread his arms helplessly.

"Ranma, you are asking me to either stand aside and watch as my family -
watch as all that I hold dear - is torn apart, or else kill my only child!
What kind of choice is that?!"

"Don't you understand?  I'm trying NOT to tear our family apart - I'm
trying to put it back together!  Until you first visited the dojo, I didn't
even know that I still *had* a mother!  I came here because I wanted to
know you as my mother, not as 'Auntie Saotome'.  What else would you have
me do?"

"You can go back to the dojo with me!  You can apologize to Tendou-san and
to Akane.  We can still fix this!  We can still make it work!"  Nodoka was
sobbing openly.  "Please, Ranma.  If you love me - if you respect your
Mother, you will do this!"

Ranma stared at his mother, longing to be able to give her what she wanted,
to do as she asked - but it was impossible.  She was wrong; it would never
work the way she wanted it to.  Couldn't she *see* that?  "I'm sorry,
Mother," he whispered.  "I can't do that.  You know... you *have* to know
that I can't."

"Why not?  WHY?!"

"Because I don't love her, Mother.  And she doesn't want me.  She never has."

lie.

"But you ARE hurting her, Ranma... and you're hurting ME!  You're hurting
your family!  Don't you care about that?  Can't you see that what you're
doing is wrong?"

"But Mother!  You're asking me to ruin her life - to ruin mine - to ruin
Ucchan's - how is that any better?  How will that fix anything?"

Nodoka tried another tack.  "You said that Ukyou was your friend!  Your
childhood friend!  Surely she can be made to understand why she must
relinquish her claim!  If she loves you; if she is really your friend, then
she will do it."

It;'s a possibility...

Ukyou started to say something at that, but Ranma beat her to it.  "Yes,
Ukyou is my friend!  That's why I chose her!  As badly as Pop and I have
treated her, she's been there for me!  She's been a friend when I really
needed one - when no one else wanted to be!  Is it so surprising that I
might want to have that in my life?"

"You make her sound like some sort of saint," said Nodoka bitterly.

well, she certainly acts like it in this story...

Nodoka gave full vent to her pain, lashing out at her son as thirteen years
of bitter loneliness burst forth.  "Then go!  Just GO!  Leave me!  If you
won't do what you know is right, then it is up to me to think of a way to
restore our family's honour!"

uhoh.

It was all Ranma could do to keep his voice from breaking as he told her,
"I...  I understand."

No you don't!  You're making the same mistake again!

Nodoka began to wish that she had dealt with Ranma more calmly, more
rationally.  She had let her pain, and her loneliness get the better of
her, and she had said a lot of things that she didn't really mean.  She
knew that she had hurt her son; she had seen it in his eyes.  She should
have chosen her words with more care.  A sinking feeling gnawed at the pit
of her stomach, a feeling which grew in intensity as she noticed several
items that had been left on the table.  Trembling, she bent down to
investigate.

The first was a note - the handwriting was Ranma's, though how she knew
that she couldn't say.  It was short, just two lines long, asking for her

The incredibly bad kanji.

understanding, if not her forgiveness, and that she deliver the
accompanying letters, if she got the chance.  Nodoka looked, and sure
enough, there were two letters sitting on the table where the note had
been.  One, a thick one, was addressed to Tendou Akane.  The other, little
more than a note itself from the feel, was addressed to her sister Nabiki.

The last item on the table made Nodoka's blood run cold.  There, tied once
more in its silk wrappings, lay Ranma's tanto.  A snippet of the previous
day's conversation replayed in her mind.  At the time it had been said in
such a soft voice, but now it was loud as thunder in her ears.  "...the
second possibility is that you will hear what I have to say, and you will
reject it... and me.  I will leave this here.  I will renounce my family,
and I will never darken your door again..."

Her own words from the dojo followed, the way an avalanche follows a skier.
"Go!  Just GO!  Leave Me!"

And then, the expression of pain and sorrow that had crossed her son's face
as he had uttered those fateful words... "I understand."  Then he had left,
just as she had asked.

She looked back at the note, now crumpled in her fist.  It hadn't been
written to 'Mother' but to 'Saotome-san'.  "...I will renounce my
family..."  Saotome Nodoka sank to her knees with an anguished sob as she
realised that Ranma... that her son... was gone.

	Umm, no.  You do *not* have to accept this unilateral decision.  
You may have said "go", but you didn't say "forever."

Favouring the pair with a heated glare, Happousai tapped his pipe into the
palm of his hand menacingly.  "I get back, and where is my star pupil?
She... I mean he, has run off, with that cute okonomiyaki cook no less.
THEN I find that dear sweet Akane has taken off in pursuit, with no one to
defend her.

You don't know Eiko too well, do you?

  The Chinese cutey's gone after him as well, AND the crazy one

with the flower fetish.  DON'T YOU SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE?" he roared.

Nope.  They're really stupid.  Even more so than in the manga.

"They're all GONE!  All the pretty ladies!  And, it's YOUR fault!  Just
what is it that you plan to do about this mess, eh?  How do you plan to
atone for this?!"

They don't.  That's Nodoka's department.

"Who cares?" stormed the pervert.  "You two are a disgrace, d'you know
that?

Yup.
  What is to become of the school if *you* are the best that it can

produce?  You've let the future of the Art slip through your fingers!  And
you let him run off with a weapons user by all the gods!  What were you
*thinking*!"

They weren't.  We've already established that.

A strained silence of a sort descended on the Tendou living room, broken
only by Soun's bawling and gnashing of teeth.  In the background, a phone
rang.  This was ridiculous, thought Genma.  How had all of this happened?
What had he done to deserve such misfortune?  He shook his head.  Life on

You really want a list?

the road with the master was a harsh life indeed, given the Master's...
appetites.  What were he and Tendou going to do?

I'd recommend strychnine.

"What did she say?" asked Nabiki sweetly.  "Nothing much.  Except that
she'll be here in a few hours, and that she was particularly eager to talk
to you, Uncle."

Genma paled.

"Oh... and she sounded VERY upset," Nabiki said as she left the room.  "I
don't know what it was all about, but I think it's safe to say that she is
*pissed*."

"Tendou-kun?"

"You have a plan, Saotome-kun?"

"You heard the Master.  Let's get packed.  NOW."

tch.

Ukyou was a bit startled when the figure she was holding stiffened and
pulled away from her.  "No, it is NOT okay..." Ranma-chan said with a
snarl, "Guys do not cry, dammit!  Guys do NOT cry!"

You've cried as a guy before...

Ukyou stepped back, a pained look in her eyes.  "And you think that means
that I can't understand?  Should I stop *trying* to understand just because
my scars are different from yours?"  She turned away and closed her eyes,
not even trying to keep the hurt out of her voice.  "Do you really believe
that I'll think any less of you because you can cry?"

Yes, Saint Ukyou, i do.

Making her way to the other bed, Ukyou fell wearily into it.  It had been
such a very long day.  She turned out the light and lay for a time, staring
up into the darkness, thinking.  The worst was over, at least she hoped

no, the worst is yet to come...

Ukyou sighed.  "Oh, Ranma... you know better than that.  You did the right
thing.  It may not feel like it right now, but you know that you did."

Part one, yes.  Part two, no.

"Yeah, I do.  But I also know that it's not like you to spend so much time
feeling sorry for yourself.  What is it that you're always telling me?  'A
Saotome never *ever* quits?'"

The red-head heaved a deep sigh.  "But I'm not a Saotome anymore, am I?"

well, that's debateable.  Quitting your clan is a bit tricky...and it 
doesn't erase any of the dishonor you've caused them or the Tendos.  
	A marriage to Ukyou now would be purely out of spite...
	And since the Ukyou thing *was* your father's thing, the 
engagement that now takes precedence is the one that does not rely on 
your family name, and that you acquired all on your own.  Shampoo.

Ukyou smiled and began to recite, "What's in a name?  That which we call a
rose, by any other name would smell as sweet;  So Romeo would, were he not
Romeo call'd, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title.
Romeo, doff thy name, and for that name which is no part of thee, take all
myself."

Ranma-chan looked at her fiance� in surprise.  Noting her expression, Ukyou
grinned sheepishly.  "It's from 'Romeo and Juliet'... for some reason, I've
always liked that play."

"I knew that!  I was in the play, remember?"

It took a minute for Ukyou to make the connection, and she giggled.
"Gomen, Ran-chan, Gomen!  It's just that I never wanted you for your name."

I wanted you for my rich fantasy life!

Studying the map at one of the kiosks, Ranma finally stabbed at a point on
the display and said, "How about here?"

Ukyou looked where he was pointing.  "Are you sure. Ran-chan?"

"Why not?  It'll be a chance to make a fresh start.  There'll be lots of
people around, and plenty of work for someone with my skills.  And I'd
imagine that you could make a killing with your okonomiyaki..."

Ukyou studied the map again and considered.  Ranma just might be right.
She grinned at the thought.  It was certainly as good an idea as any.
"You're on, Ran-chan.  Let's go!

	Actually, I would more expect Ukyou to make the decision, without 
consulting Ranma at all.  Given her actions and thought balloons in the 
manga, she seems the type to just assume Ranma will be pleased with any 
decision she makes.  Heck, I bet she's already picked out the children's 
names.
	A note:  Given Ranma's new problem-solving methods, if he remains 
consistent, two or three months down the line, Ukyou will go into one of 
her towering rages (which are a lot less predictable than Akane's, and 
thus more dangerous to Ranma) and yell "I hate you!  Go away!  I never 
want to see you again!"  Ranma will assume he's blown it with Ucchan too, 
and bug out without checking back in an hour to make sure she really 
meant it.



 > *** O_O *** > > END EPISODE TWO > > *** O_O ***

Author's Notes:

If you've gotten this far, Zen thanks you for taking the time to read this!
It is Zen's hope that episode three will be out a LOT faster than episode
two was.  Zen has no plans for any more dark epics along the lines of
"Bitter End", so they should not get in the way.

okay....

What's in the future for Ranma and Ukyou?  Well, things will go wrong as
they always do... but you can be sure that these two will come out on top,
and that they will continue to grow close as their relationship develops.
Zen hopes to make upcoming episodes a little less angsty, and a lot more
warm and fuzzy.  At least for *some* of the characters.

hmm...

A number of people have started following after them - and you'll be seeing
more of them from time to time as they complicate things for the happy
couple in future episodes.

Happy couple?  Ha!  Their one chance of making a success of the marriage 
was some corrective work by Nodoka...

Thanks, also, to Scott Jamison, for numerous discussions of how Ranma nad
Nodoka might deal with matters... Large parts of the direction that this
scene took are His Fault. ^_^

As I recall, I thought, based on the manga, Nodoka would be a bit more 
amenable to compromise...provided Ranma was amenable to doing his share 
of the work...


	Good writing, for the most part, dubious characterization for 
some. 

SKJAM!