Since people (you know who you are) asked for it...
... I'm finally sending this out. A connection? Maybe... :)

C&C will be greatly appreciated...
... and by speed up the process.  :)

Begin Include

                          "A Hell of a Life"
                           by Shaule Sachs

                          = - = Part 5 = - =

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Version 0.2

Author Notes:
(1)	Working title of "A Hell of a Life" suggested by Louis-Philippe
Giroux.

(2)	This is a MEGA crossover, in that there are elements from other
series, both American television, anime, and comics, involved in this
story. To name a few, "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues", "Wonder Woman",
"Bubblegum Crisis", "Dr. Strange", and "Kung Fu: The Original Series".
Appendices will added to help people with non-anime/manga characters...

(3)	Chronological Note: The time frame for this fic is tentatively
after Japanese Volume 22, part 2, where the character of "Nodoka
Saotome" is introduced for the first time. It's "tentatively" because
I only have the Viz Graphic Novels up to Volume Eleven, although I
have gone to the Ranma 1/2 FAQ, and downloaded a copy of all the manga
summaries...

(4)	Font key:
	-	Italics will between two '//' and denote thoughts.
	-	Bold will between '*' and denote emphasis.
	-	Translated languages will between '<<'s and '>>'s otherwise
			everything is to be considered to be in native
			speaker's language (ie Japanese)
	-	Author notes and Footnotes are between '['s and ']'s.

 = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - =

	As Nabiki, Ranma, and Akane walked to school, Nabiki couldn't
help remembering her dream from last night since she had the walk to
her left, Ranma to her right, and Akane to his right. Although
determined not to, she couldn't help taking quick glance to make
certain she was dressed. It was one thing to be nude in a dream, it
was a whole other ball game in reality.
	Ranma was puzzled. He noticed that Nabiki would look ahead for
the most part, but would look down at herself every few minutes or
so. He also noted that Akane seemed to be on the defensive if
expecting an attack or so. As the school came within their sight,
Ranma asked, "So did you sleep well, last night? I know I did."
	The Tendo sisters as one stopped and looked incredulously at
Ranma.  Again as one, the two laughed nervously. Nabiki with a touch
of uncertainty in her voice said, "I won't say that..."
	"Are you okay?" Ranma asked puzzled. "Want to talk about it?"
	Both sisters shook their heads and said they were fine. Ranma
simply shrugged. Ranma pulled both girls to him and rested his left arm
around Nabiki and his right arm went around Akane's waist. Both
sisters, although neither would voice it, felt a lot better. Akane
moved slightly closer to Ranma with a small smile on her face. Nabiki
thought, //So this is what it's like to have a brother.//

	As they approached the school gate, both girls tried to step away
from Ranma but to their surprise he held onto them. To their further
amazement, no one seemed to notice them. Akane was surprised that Kuno
wasn't around. They continued on only stopping in front of Nabiki's
homeroom. Only there did Ranma release Nabiki. As she was heading into
her homeroom, Ranma and Akane waved to her and headed for their
homeroom hand in hand.
	As they walked into their homeroom, they could see the shocked
faces on those students already there. Because, for once, Ranma and
Akane were early and they were shocked to see them holding hands as
they walked in.
	Even though it had happened yesterday, Ranma's classmates were
still amazed that he was both participating in the class and seemed
to have most of the answers to those questions the teacher asked.
Thanks to Ranma most of the morning classes continued along without
the usual "fishing for an answer for an hour" that used to happen.
Before anyone knew it, it was lunch time.

	As class moved into the school for lunch, Akane grew nervous as
she remembered her dreams from last night. She wouldn't even gone
outside if not for Ranma at her side. By an unspoken agreement, they
headed towards the tree they had sat under yesterday. Half way there,
Ranma gave Akane a slight push which took a few steps forward to
recover from. She was about to ask what was wrong when she heard it.
	'Glomp.'
	As Akane was turning to face Ranma, she mentally tried to decide
if she actually heard it or not. Regardless, she wasn't surprised to
see what she saw. 
	There was Shampoo 'glomped' onto Ranma. Shampoo said, "Shampoo
happy to see Airen."
	"I just bet you are," said Akane snidely to herself.
	Before Akane could say anything out-loud, Ranma said in Chinese,
<<"Shampoo, please release me.">>
	Both Akane and Shampoo blinked, Akane because she didn't know
Chinese and Shampoo in surprise since Ranma had never before spoke to
her in her native language. Happy at this turn of events, but ignoring
the message, Shampoo jumped up and down while still glomping Ranma.
	Ranma sighed and repeated in Chinese, <<"Shampoo, I'm asking for
the last time. Release me.">>
	Shampoo simply laughed and said, "Airen talking Chinese....
Shampoo so happy."
	Ranma sighed a second time and said in Chinese, <<"I warned
you.">>
	Akane watched as Ranma 'side-stepped' Shampoo. At least, that was
what it looked like to her. How Ranma did it while Shampoo was still
glomping him, she didn't know. But she giggled slightly as she saw
Shampoo fall on her face since Ranma wasn't there to be her leaning
post.
	Shampoo looked at the ground for a moment, which was only a few
centimeters away, then she looked up, blinked, and asked, "What
happened? Shampoo no understand."
	Ranma replied, "You fell."
	"But," Shampoo said.
	Ranma gave Shampoo a hand back up which she took advantage of and
glomped Ranma again. A second after she glomped Ranma, Ranma once
again 'side-stepped' her, and Shampoo fell on her face confused. Once
again, Ranma gave Shampoo a hand up which she again used to glomp
Ranma. And once again, Ranma 'side-stepped' her and Shampoo fell once
again.
	This continued for about ten minutes before Shampoo stopped
trying to glomp Ranma. Akane throughout this saw what Ranma was
trying to do long before Shampoo caught on. Actually, Akane thought
the whole thing was hilarious.
	Once Shampoo stopped trying to glomp Ranma, Ranma said, "Shampoo,
are you going to listen to me?" Ranma repeated himself in Chinese to
make sure that she understood him.
	With a puzzled look on her face, Shampoo asked in Chinese,
<<"What do you want, Husband?">>
	<<"To be left alone, Shampoo,">> Ranma replied in Chinese. In
Japanese he repeated, "All I want is to be left alone."
	"But..." Shampoo began.
	<<"Shampoo, I am *not* your husband,">> Ranma stated in Chinese.
	"But Amazon Law..." Shampoo began.
	<<"I am *not* an Amazon,">> Ranma responded in Chinese. <<"I
*don't* follow your *so-called* //Rules// or your //Ways//.">>
	Angry Shampoo replied in Chinese, <<"I'm an *Amazon* and I will
follow lov-- law!">>
	Sadly Ranma said in Chinese, <<"I *don't* love you, Shampoo. Not
the way you want me to...">>
	<<"So?">>, Shampoo replied. <<"A husband don't need to love his
wife... He just need to give Village strong children.">>
	Seeing he wasn't get anywhere with Shampoo, Ranma tried a
different approach. In Chinese he said, <<"Even if you and the old
ghoul *somehow* forced me back to your village, you'll only bring
destruction upon yourself.">>
	<<"What?">> Shampoo exclaimed.
	<<"Shampoo, it's for your own good,">> Ranma said calmly in
Chinese. <<"Go back to your village... Go on with your life... Forget
about me.">>
	Stubbornly, Shampoo continued in Chinese, <<"But...">>
	Ranma sighed, took out the drink from his lunch, and poured the
contains over Shampoo. Shampoo's curse took effect, turning her into a
small cat that had some problems getting out of the now oversized
dress that she had been wearing before.
	Ranma reached down, picked Shampoo-neko up by the scruff on
her neck, and while looking her in the eye said in Chinese, <<"I would
only be putting your village in danger of destruction. Please, just go
on with your life before it's *too* *late*.">>
	There was a flash. After Akane cleared her eyes she noticed that
Shampoo-neko and her clothes were missing. Before she could ask what
had happened, Ranma took her hand and said, "I believe lunch awaits
us, my love. Shall we go?"
	Akane was confused and she wanted answers. But Ranma had just
called her 'his love,' not wanting to spoil the mood, Akane allowed
Ranma to walk her to their tree.
	Once at the tree, Akane sat down and Ranma handed her lunch to
her, which she had dropped when Ranma pushed her out of Shampoo's way.
As she looked at the contents she remarked, "Hey! This isn't want
Kasumi usually makes for lunch..."
	In a small voice Ranma said, "Kasumi didn't have time to make
lunches today, so I did."
	"*You* did?" Akane asked incredulously.
	<<"Don't knock it, 'til you try it,">> Ranma replied in English.
In Japanese, he said, "Yes, I made it. Try it... You may like it."
	And she did. Swallowing her pride, Akane said, "It's good."
	With a bow Ranma responded, "Thank you, my lady."
	Akane groaned at Ranma's antics. But before she could comment on it
they heard a scream.
	"That sounded like Ryouga!" Ranma exclaimed as he pulled Akane up
and they heard towards the crowd.

	Ryouga noticed the sign in front of him. It said, 'Furinkan High
School.' From all the activity, Ryouga figured it was beginning of the
lunch period.
	//Finally,// Ryouga thought. //I made it back to Akane.//
	It had taken him over a month to return to Nerima after his last
fight with Ranma. But now, Ryouga was going to teach Ranma a lesson he
won't soon forget.
	Just as he was about to enter the school yard, someone tapped him
on the shoulder and asked, "Is this 'Furinkan High School?'"
	Ryouga turned around and answered, "Yes, it is."
	The stranger was slightly taller than Ryouga himself and from the
various bulging muscle, very strong. The stranger wore a white loose
shirt with long sleeves and a pair of tight blue pants. The stranger
wore a sword across his back. Although all Ryouga could see was the
handle which was visible above the stranger's right shoulder. The
stranger had a bluish-green hair and his eyes were golden. There was a
look in the stranger's eyes that left Ryouga unsettled and forced him
to look away. From his stance, Ryouga took the stranger to be a
martial artist like himself. 
	The stranger began to laugh maniacally.
	Ryouga's uneasiness grew.
	"At long last," the stranger said between laughs. "Another world
to destroy!"
	"Nani?!?!?" exclaimed Ryouga confused.
	The stranger stopped laughing and said, "But first! First, I must
kill Akane Saotome... Yes, that's the ticket. Kill Akane. That will
hurt Ranma. Weaken him. Then, *defeat* Ranma once *more*. Destroy
another world. World go BOOM! Yes. Yes. Yes. But first! First, I must
kill Akane!"
	"Nani?!?!?" exclaimed Ryouga angrily.
	The stranger calmed down for a moment, turned to Ryouga, and
asked, "Can you tell me where Akane Saotome is?"
	"Who?" Ryouga asked confused.
	"Akane! Akane Saotome," the stranger repeated. "Akane! Saotome!
Or is it Tendo? Minor detail... minor detail. Do you know where Akane
Tendo is?"
	"Why?" Ryouga asked suspiciously.
	"To kill her, of course," the stranger replied matter of factly.
"You can't kill someone if you don't know where they are, silly."
	Angrily, Ryouga responded, "You think I'm going to allow you to
kill Akane Tendo?"
	The stranger looked unconcerned for a moment then simply stated,
"Why, yes."
	The stranger began looking around the school yard himself while
awaiting Ryouga's reply.
	"*No* one is going to *hurt* Akane while I'm around," Ryouga
screamed as he threw a right-handed punch at the stranger's face.
	The stranger sighed, catch Ryouga's hand, and said, "You're not
being very cooperative, young man."
	The stranger sighed and stated, "Very well... have it your way."
	So saying the stranger crushed Ryouga's right hand. Those
near-by could hear the bones braking, wisely, they moved away from the
stranger and Ryouga. No one thought to get some help...
	The stranger then broke Ryouga's left knee, right thigh, right
ankle, left shoulder, and right hip, all within ten seconds. Oh,
Ryouga tried to defend himself, but each attempt was met with superior
strength and skill.
	By the eleventh second since the //fight// began, Ryouga
basically crumbled to the ground which disappointed the stranger. In
response, the stranger kicked Ryouga in his side causing Ryouga to
scream as a number of ribs were broken.

	Ranma and Akane ran toward the crowd. Once there they saw Ryouga
fighting some stranger. Ranma's eyes widen slightly and told Akane to
get behind him.
	Akane wanted to protest that she could take care of herself but
seeing Ryouga battered the protest died on her lips. She quietly moved
behind Ranma. Out of curiosity, she asked, "Who's that?"
	"Devos," Ranma said venomously. "Devos, the Destroyer. Devos,
the Doombringer. Devos, the Oathbreaker. Devos, the Betrayer.
Devos...."
	In a soft, emotionless voice he continued, "I met *him* a few
years after I finally got out of Hell... Kloisa was the *second*
//stop// on my journey back..."
	Ranma laughed a bit. The laughter had an edge to it. Taking a
deep breath, he said, "I took me a few months to discover the next
Bridge I needed to continue with... Took me a few more months to
figure out how to use that *style* of Bridge...
	"Having some 'time to kill' I went looking to see what this world
might have to teach me... I learned the *hard* way that it had a lot
to teach me....
	"Anyway, Devos was once one of the Dragonguards, an Order of the
Imperial Army. The Dragonguards were responsible for protecting the
Empire of Kloisa from the Darkness. 
	"And they had for the last two thousand years until Devos
betrayed the Order and the Empire. Because of Devos, the city of Gem
fell, its defenders killed from within. But Devos wasn't satisfied
with that. Oh no. He proceed to slaughter one million helpless women
and children. And... and... I couldn't do a damn thing to stop him! He
was too good, too skilled, too powerful for me, back *then*....
	"I've learned *a lot* since then... But even conquering Kloisa
didn't satisfy his battle-lust, so for sport, he destroyed *his* very
*own* world. And now, since I, *alone*, opposed him, not that I could
have done much back then, he has been trying to find me ever since. He
plans to destroying *our* world too... As a *price* for defying him."
	Ranma took a deep breathe, calmed himself, and stated, "But I
will *not* let him, *this* time. *Today*, Devos, the *Oathbreaker*,
pays his dues."
	Upon seeing Ranma in the distance, Devos smiled, kicked the
unconscious Ryouga again, and began to charge at Ranma from ten meters
away.
	Ranma remained calm.
	Devos closed the gap by a meter.
	Ranma motioned the various students still around to move away from
Devos and himself.
	Devos drew his sword when he was five meters away from Ranma.
	Ranma looked into Devos's eyes.
	At three meters, Ranma raised his right hand, palm perpendicular
to the ground, and pointed it at Devos as he moved closer. A huge ball
of energy, two meters wide, appeared in Ranma's hand.  The ki-ball was
predominately light blue, Ranma's ki-color, but one could see other colors
existing separately within the ki-ball, mostly white, some greens, and
a few spots of red, giving the ki-ball an exotic look.  Power seemed
to erupt out of the ki-ball only to fall back into itself.
	A two meter wide beam leapt out of the ball hitting Devos dead
on. The beam pushed Devos back. It deepened into a sky blue color.
Still pushing Devos back. Devos's clothes caught on fire.  Devos paid
the flames on his clothing no mind as he tried to reach Ranma. The
ball and beam of ki changed to a green-blue color. Devos's skin caught
fire, and yet Devos fought on.  The ball and beam of ki energy changed
colors again to a reddish-blue color. The beam consumed Devo's flesh,
then his bones and sword, leaving only ash, and then that too was
consumed by the energy burst.
	Everyone was shocked.
	Calmly, Ranma walked over to Ryouga unconscious body, knelt down,
and whispered, "Ryouga... Ryouga... I've *avenged* you, *old* friend."
	Ranma placed his right hand just a few centimeters over Ryouga's
stomach. Ranma closed his eyes and his right hand began to glow a
bright golden-white color. He stayed that way for five minutes all the
while his hand became brighter. Then he set the hand on Ryouga's
stomach and the glow spread throughout Ryouga's body obscuring it.
After another five minutes the glow faded, Ranma stood up and said,
"Hey, Ryouga! How are you?"
	Ryouga groaned, blinked, and jumped to his feet screaming,
"Where's that crazy man?"
	"Ryouga, Devos's gone. Take it easy," Ranma said in soothing
voice. He was trying to calm Ryouga down.
	"Shut up," Ryouga screamed as he punched Ranma. Ranma went
flying in the direction of the school pool, of course. Akane watched
Ranma's flight path and she noticed that Ranma was actually laughing
in delight.
	Puzzled but angry at Ryouga, Akane called him, "Baka! Ranma just
*saved* your *life*. And you thank him by punching him?!?! Baka!"
	"Akane!" Ryouga exclaimed in surprise. "But... but..."
	Akane grabbed Ryouga's left ear and started to drag Ryouga to the
pool as she said, "You *are* going to *apologize* to Ranma."
	"Ouch," Ryouga complained. He tried to interrupt her with another
"But..."
	"No buts, Ryouga," Akane continued on.
	At the pool, both pulled up short. There in the pool was Ranma.
Both Akane and Ryouga was stunned. There was Ranma, male, in a body of
cool water treading water as if it was the most natural thing in the
world. Puzzled, both Akane and Ryouga began saying, "But... but..."
	Ranma still laughing and said, "Come on in.... The water's fine.
Okay...  It's cool. But it's not freezing... Nope... Not freezing.
Come on in..."
	Both Akane and Ryouga could only stare at Ranma.
	"Fine, I'll come out then," Ranma replied. Ranma swam to the edge
of the pool, lifted himself out, and walked over to Akane. Along the
way, Ranma shook the excess water off of himself. Some of it landed on
both Ryouga and Akane. Akane screamed, "Ranma! That's cold."
	Ranma just smiled and said, "Sorry."
	"How did..." Ryouga began but was interrupted by the bell
signaling the end of the lunch period.
	Akane continued to look at Ranma, so he said, "Akane, we need to
get back to class. See ya later, Ryouga."
	With that Ranma took Akane's hand and lead her back to class.

	Once back in the classroom, Akane's stomach grumbled since she
didn't get to eat lunch. Everyone looked at her, so she buried her
face in her hands in embarrassment. She only looked up when Ranma
said, "Here."
	Ranma handed to her a pealed orange, similar to the one he had
given her yesterday.
	"Where?" Akane began but Ranma smiled and simply patted his large
pouch at his side for answer.
	As Akane ate the orange, she tried to remember if Ranma had left
home with it. She didn't think so, but where else could he have gotten
it from. She knew he didn't have it during lunch when he....
	Akane didn't want to think about it.

	Class went on as usual. Or as usual since Ranma's return. Ranma
fully participated in the classes. The only minor surprise was that
Hinako-sensei was still in her adult form, but no one truly commented
on it.
	When the last bell rang, Ranma told Akane that he was going to
check up on Ryouga and that he would meet her at home.
	Akane sighed and went. She found Nabiki heading out, so she
joined her sister. While walking home, Nabiki asked Akane, "I heard an
interesting rumor today about Ranma, is it true?"
	Not wanting to talk about it, Akane replied, "Is what true?"
	"That Ranma killed someone today," Nabiki answered. "With a huge
ki blast..."
	"It wasn't a ki-blast," Akane replied. "Ranma's ki-balls are
blue... This one had other colors in it too..."
	"Huh?" Nabiki asked.
	Akane knew that her sister didn't understand. She tried to
explain, "Someone's ki is... //unique// to that person. As such, it
must, by definition, be a single color... But Ranma's ki-ball, today,
if it was a ki-ball, had, in addition, to his normal blue coloring,
had some white, some green, and a few reds in it..."
	"Meaning?" Nabiki wondered.
	"Meaning," Akane answered. "That Ranma must have combined his ki
with something else..."
	"Such as?" Nabiki asked as if she was afraid of the answer.
	"I don't know," Akane replied honestly. "Maybe... magic or
something, I guess."
	"Still, if the story is *true*," Nabiki stated. "Then Ranma
*killed* somebody today...."
	Defensively Akane said, "Devos deserved it."
	"Was that his name?" Nabiki asked.
	"Yes, Ranma said his name was Devos.... He also called him, the
Destroyer, the Doombringer, the Oathbreaker, the Betrayer."
	"Oh?" Nabiki asked interested.
	"He said that Devos used to be a 'Dragonguard of the Order of the
Imperial Army," Akane continued.
	"Imperial Army?" Nabiki commented. "What army? We haven't had an
army since..."
	"The army of the Empire of Kloisa, I guess," Akane replied
off-handedly.
	"Kloisa?" Nabiki asked confused. She had never heard of such a
place.
	"Yes," Akane said simply. "Ranma told me a little about it
yesterday. It was one of those worlds inbetween that Ranma had to go
through in order to get home. He said it was a beautiful world. He
said it was a primitive world, full of swords and sorcery."
	"There's no such thing as *magic*," Nabiki replied coldly as she
remember the incident involving Gosunkugi as she and Ranma walked home
yesterday.
	Akane simply *looked* at Nabiki. After a moment, she continued,
"He said that Devos betrayed the Order and the Empire. And that Devos
killed all the city's defenders and its inhabitant's of one million
people. You didn't hear the frustration in his voice when he said he
couldn't stop Devos back then."
	"So this 'Devos' guy's a bastard," Nabiki stated. "Still it's not
like *Ranma* to *kill*...."
	Akane thought about it and then said, "He also said that Devos
destroyed his own world and that he planned on destroying our world."
	"Nani?!?" Nabiki replied. "Destroy a whole world? That's
impossible... Isn't it?"
	Akane shrugged and said, "I don't know.... I do know that before
fighting Ranma, Devos beat Ryouga, broke a number of his bones, and
basically left him for dead right outside of the school."
	Nabiki's eyes got wide at that but they returned to normal as she
said, "If that's so, where's Ryouga's body? We didn't exactly walk
over his corpse on our way out..."
	With a smile on her face, Akane replied, "Ranma healed all of
Ryouga's injuries."
	"How?" Nabiki asked.
	"I don't know," Akane answered truthfully. "First, Ranma's right
hand glowed a golden-white, he touched Ryouga's stomach, and the glow
covered him completely. When the glow faded after ten minutes, Ryouga
was completed healed."
	"It takes him ten minutes to heal Ryouga," Nabiki asked. "But it
took only a few seconds to kill this 'Devos' guy...."
	"Yep," Akane replied. "And the baka punched Ranma into the pool
for thanks."
	"Ranma-chan must have loved that," Nabiki remarked with a smile
as she pictured onna-Ranma in the pool.
	"But he didn't change," Akane stated.
	"Was the pool heated?" Nabiki asked incredibly.
	"No, it was freezing," Akane answered. "I guess he found a cure
for his curse before coming back."
	Nabiki shook her head and said, "I saw Ranma-*chan* give
Kuno-baby the performance of a lifetime yesterday."
	"Nani?!?" Akane exclaimed.
	For the rest of the trip home, Nabiki told Akane about
Ranma-chan's performance for Kuno.

	"*There* you are," Ranma said as he spotted Ryouga. Ranma had
spent the last fifteen minutes looking for Ryouga. He found him in
park, just outside of Tokyo. The same park Ranma had came home from.
	Ryouga spun around and exclaimed, "Where's the cure?!"
	"Gee, happy to see you too, Ryouga," Ranma remarked.
	"Ranma!" Ryouga growled. "You have the cure! Give it to me!"
	"Cure?" Ranma asked surprised.
	"Yes, you're *cured*," Ryouga stated. "I saw you in pool and you
didn't change... That... That means, you're *cured*!"
	Ryouga blinked and onna-Ranma was leaning on his arm and
whispered seductively, "Miss me, big boy?"
	Ryouga jumped back and exclaimed, "Ranma!"
	Onna-Ranma pouted and said, "What?"
	"But," Ryouga began. "I saw you in pool and... and... you were
*male*!"
	"Oh, that," onna-Ranma said dismissively. "That's just one of
Laws in action."
	"Laws? What law?" Ryouga asked confused.
	"Law of Knowledge," Ranma, once more male, stated matter of
factly.
	"But..." Ryouga sputtered. He stared as he noticed that Ranma was
male now and he didn't use any water to change.
	"Law of Knowledge," Ranma explained. "Knowledge brings
understanding. Understanding brings control. After how long I've
studied Jusenkyo, in it's various forms in various universes,
controlling my curse is easy... don't even have to think about it
anymore for the last, oh, twenty years or so."
	"Twenty years?" Ryouga asked. He was extremely confused now.
Ranma was a few months *younger* than he was.
	Ranma snapped his fingers and said, "You didn't know about George
and Happosai-sensei..."
	"George?" Ryouga asked in a confused voice. Incredibly, he
exclaimed, "'Happosai-*sensei*?' That old *pervert*?"
	"Happosai-sensei was under a *curse*, P-chan," Ranma stated
calmly in Ryouga's face. Ryouga noticed there was some blue lightning
were Ranma's eyes should have been. Ranma continued in Ryouga's face,
"You can understand that, right, P-chan?"
	"Ranma!" Ryouga exclaimed both in anger at being called 'P-chan'
and also because Ranma was scaring him.
	Ranma backed off, walked slightly away, stopped, reached into his
pouch (which Ryouga didn't notice before), and threw something at
Ryouga who caught it easily. 
	Ranma remarked, "At least, you still got a good reaction
time...."
	Ryouga looked down at his hand, there was a bottle labeled
'Nannichuan Water.' He looked back at Ranma and said, "But you said
you weren't cured."
	Ranma sighed and replied, "By the time I found some Nannichuan
water I could use...." Ranma shrugged and continued, "The curse was a
part of me... It's came in handy a number of times. Once I accepted
it, my curse wasn't so bad."
	//Ranma accepted his curse,// Ryouga remarked to himself. Ryouga
shuddered at the thought.
	Ranma shrugged again and said, "Up to you."
	Without hesitation Ryouga opened the bottle and poured the
contains over himself. Looking down, he didn't see anything different.
So he walked threateningly towards Ranma as he said, "Saotome! Prepare
to die!"
	Ranma sighed and said, "You would think that in all this time,
you would get some new lines, Ryouga."
	Calmly Ranma asked, "What is it, this time?"
	Ryouga came to an abrupt stop, sputtered, and said, "You tricked
me!"
	"How?" Ranma asked calmly.
	"Your so-called 'Nannichuan' water didn't *do* anything!" Ryouga
exclaimed in righteous fury.
	Ranma changed and said gently, "You're really a baka, Ryouga."
Onna-Ranma continued, "Look at yourself."
	"I did! I'm the same," Ryouga shouted.
	"Baka-sama," onna-Ranma remarked. "True, but you're also wet."
	Ryouga blinked, thought about it for a moment, and finally
nodded.
	"What were you expecting? Thunder and Lightning?" onna-Ranma
asked.
	Ryouga replied, "Well.... yeah."
	"Well," onna-Ranma said, "Watch."
	Ranma, changed back, placed his hands in front of himself as if
summoning a ki-attack.  Instead a ball of water formed. Gently, Ranma
tossed cool ball of water underhandedly at Ryouga. The water ball
spattered against Ryouga, who shivered at the contact but he noticed
that his curse didn't activate.
	Ranma said, "See... You *didn't* change. You're *cured*."
	Happy, Ryouga started to dance. After a few steps, he swept
Ranma into his dance. Onna-Ranma giggled and said, "Why, Ryouga,
you're such a lovely dancer."
	Ryouga blushed, looked at his feet, then remembered this was
Ranma and yelled, "Ranma!"
	"What, dear," onna-Ranma asked.
	Ryouga looked up at onna-Ranma and he noticed that she was
wearing a ballroom gown and he remembered the ball of water he had
formed... magically. He took a few steps away from onna-Ranma.
	Onna-Ranma sighed and changed back. Ranma, now male and wearing
his usual Chinese outfit, said, "Boy, Ryouga, you have no sense of
humor."
	"Ranma," Ryouga growled.
	Ranma stroke out his right hand and said, "Friends?"
	Ryouga shool his head, took Ranma's hand which was stronger than
he remembered, and agreed, "Friends."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

	"I'm home," Ranma called out.
	In the hall, he met Akane, who had been waiting for him. She
asked him, "Where have you been?"
	"Out," Ranma stated calmly, "looking for Ryouga... Want to
check on him."
	"Ohh..." Akane replied. Out of curiosity, she asked, "Where was
he?"
	"At a park just outside of Tokyo," Ranma answered. 
	//The park you came back into this World from,// Akane thought. 
She remembered that Ranma had said that some people call it the 'Park
of Lovers.'
     With a slight smiled, Ranma added, "I'll take you there 
tomorrow..." 
	Akane's eyes widen as she realized what that implied. True, he had
said on a number of occasions that he loved her, but it still hadn't
sunk in yet. In a small voice, she replied, "Hai."
	Feeling slight off balanced, she turned to something familiar.
Although, she thought she knew the answer, she asked him anyway, "Want
to spar with me?"
	Ranma just looked at her blankly like she just spoke in another
language or something. Just before she could yell at him, Ranma
replied in a small voice, "Hai...."

	A moment later, after Akane hurriedly changed into her gi, she
and Ranma stood in the Dojo facing each other. They bowed to each
other and Ranma said, "Begin."
	Akane and Ranma's sparring match began typically. Which basically
meant that Akane tried to hit Ranma, while he simply dodged her. After
a short while of this, Akane was getting angrier by the second. She
could tell that Ranma was holding back... and it angered her.
	Everything she tried, Ranma dodged. Even a few moves she learned
in fighting Shampoo while Ranma was missing, which should have
surprised him, not only didn't surprise him but he dodged them just as
easily as her regular combinations.
	Angrily, Akane screamed, "Fight back! This *isn't* much of a
*sparring* match, if *you* don't *do* something!"
	Ranma just smiled at her. The smile didn't seem to reach his
eyes.... His eyes, though, held a sad look of one whose seen too much.
	Akane felt that he was just mocking her. Akane's anger grew...
and grew, but, because of her dream last night, she didn't give in to
it. Instead, she channeled her anger into greater speed and power.
	Something changed.
	What changed Akane couldn't figure out. But there was something
in the air. She was doing better in the Arts then she had ever had.
For a few moments, Ranma continued to dodge, but, then he struck her.
And struck her hard.
	The force caused her to fall on her butt. How he did it, she
didn't know. Only, for the first time, Ranma had hit her. She didn't
know if she should laugh or cry. She had finally gotten what she
wanted... Ranma was fully sparring with her. He was throwing punches,
kicks, blocks, and counter-moves.
	And she was hard pressed to stop him. He seemed to keep hitting
her in certain spots. It took a while but she finally realized that
Ranma was repeatedly hitting her in her weak spots in her defense.
And he continued to do so until she developed some kind of defense.
	As things went on, Akane's smile grew. The reason for the smile
was because Ranma was actually sparring with her. He wasn't simply
dodging and jumping anymore. This time, he was actually throwing
punches and kicks at her. Although, for the most part, he continued to
dodge her attacks, occasionally, he would block and counter-attack.
	Akane was short-winded, sweaty, and bruised. Her only complaint
was that Ranma still looked just like he did when they started. Not
only that but she knew that Ranma was still holding back. Still, she
was learning a lot. Her defenses had been improved. That was
*something*.
	Although she was getting tired, Akane was too thrilled that Ranma
was actually sparring with her that she didn't want to quit. She tried
to continue but after the second poorly-thrown punch, Ranma grabbed
her extended arm, pulled her off-balance, slightly forward, and hit
her on her back. Although the blow was soft, it was enough for her
exhaustion to catch up to her. She felt herself falling, both
literally towards the ground, and figuratively, as she felt herself
lose consciousness.  She dimly sensed Ranma catching her before she
actually hit the floor.

	Akane woke up feeling better... She didn't know where she was but
she felt safe and warm. As she moved slightly she heard some water
splashing so she figured she had fallen asleep in the tub... Only she
didn't remember getting into it... In fact, the last thing she
remembered was sparring with Ranma....
	"You're finally wake, Akane-chan," onna-Ranma said happily.
	"Nani?" Akane muttered. "Ranma..."
	"Yes," onna-Ranma replied evenly.
	"You.... You pervert!" Akane exclaimed when she realized they
both were in the bath together and more importantly they were both
naked.
	Onna-Ranma sighed and said, "At the moment, we're *both* girls... 
and even then, we're *engaged*..."
	"But," Akane began but onna-Ranma continued, "You needed the
soaking... I couldn't leave leave you in the furo in the state you were
in..."
	Akane's eyes widen as she realized that she and onna-Ranma were
in the tube and the water was very hot. She asked, "How..."
	"Oh," onna-Ranma replied dismissively, "I can control my
curse..."
	"How?" Akane asked confused.
	"Knowledge, Understanding, Magic," onna-Ranma replied. With a
slight smile, she continued, "Besides, I didn't think you're ready for
my male side...."
	He was right. She would have freaked out if she was his male
side, but she could pretend it was all right with his female side.
With Ranma female, she could pretend, slightly, that she was simply in
the public bath.
	"You know what?," onna-Ranma asked after Akane remained silent
for a while.
	"What?" Akane asked knowing she was being set up for something.
	"I know how to make this even better," onna-Ranma replied slyly.
	Something in Akane's heart and somewhere lower tingled. Hoping
she knew the answer, Akane asked, "How?"
	"Like this," onna-Ranma replied as she moved next to Akane and
began to rub her shoulders.

	Both onna-Ranma and Akane left the bathroom together and with
almost identical smiles on their faces. At the top of the stairs,
onna-Ranma changed into her male form, took Akane's hand, and together
they walked down and headed into the dining room.
	Ranma and Akane sat down together at the table where Kasumi and
Nabiki were already seated. Kasumi then passed out supper as Nabiki
asked Akane, "Imooto.... What's with the smile?"
	But before she could answer, a voice called out, "Saotome!
Prepare to die!"
	Ranma sighed and muttered, "I was wondering when duck-boy was
going to show up..."

[=== End of Part 5 ===]

End Include

-- 
"Zaxxon"  <sachss@db.erau.edu>           <http://erau.db.erau.edu/~sachss/>
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"In every Life, some rain must fall," quoted the phoenix. "Now is it that
a good thing or a bad thing? Depends on your definition of 'rain.'"