Ranma 1/2 and all of its' characters are the property of Rumiko
Takahashi and all of the companies who have licensed it. I don't own any
of it. I do not have permission to use her characters or ideas. I am
writing solely for pleasure.

Warning - this chapter is a little dark.

Alternatives - Chapter 5

************************************************************************
**

     After Nabiki left the Nekohanten, Cologne removed herself to her
room. Leaving Mousse in charge of her restaurant, she placed the tape in
a player and listened to it.  After she finished, the Amazon elder made
her way back downstairs.

     "Mousse, when Shampoo returns, I have something to discuss with
both of you,"
     Cologne told Mousse, "Put up the closed sign.  I don't wish us to
be disturbed during our talk."

     "Yes, Honored One," he replied.  After overhearing what Nabiki had
said to
     Cologne, Mousse was afraid he knew what Cologne had to say.

     A few minutes later, they both heard the ringing of a bicycle bell
announcing Shampoo's return.  Shortly afterwards, the last customer left
intimidated by the combined stares of the Amazons.

     Cologne had Shampoo and Mousse sit at a table with her.

     "I have some very good news for you Shampoo.  I think son-in-law
has found a method to fulfill all of his filial obligations."  Cologne
smiled at the young amazon woman.

     "What you mean, great-grandmother?"  Shampoo asked, not daring to
hope.

     "I mean that you may soon have your husband, child."  The Elder lay
her hand upon her great-granddaughters and squeezed it lightly.

     "Ai Yah!" Shampoo squealed in happiness.

     "NO!  Shampoo I'm the man for you!  I've loved you since we were
babies!"
     Mousse begged.

     "Hmph, You say you love me, but you never beat me.  I only love
strong man who can defeat me."  Shampoo dismissed him with a sniff.

     "You said once, that if I could defeat Ranma, you'd go out with me.
Will you hold to that promise?" Mousse desperately asked her.

     Before Shampoo could reply, Cologne interjected with cold menace in
her voice, "There will be no fighting with Ranma or Akane this week.  In
fact, stay away from both families.  Ranma needs the time to make the
right decision."

     "Honored one, I must prove myself to Shampoo!"  Mousse objected.

     "You have tried since you were two years old.  You failed.  Are you
now defying me?"  Cologne held her body completely still as she awaited
the young male's response.

     "Not now, no, Honored Elder."  Mousse said submissively.  His
thoughts were anything but docile.  He already planned on disobeying her
by finding and defeating Ranma.  If the pig-tailed boy forced him to use
unorthodox, even immoral attacks to win, so be it.  He would not fail
his Shampoo this time.

************************************************************************
**

     Several days passed peacefully at Nodoka Saotome's.  Ranma and
Akane sparred nightly in the Saotome dojo with Ranma working mainly on
Akane's defense.  He hadn't told either woman of his decision, because
he was enjoying the time alone with them too much.

     Thursday morning found Ranma and Akane running along the fence
towards Furinkan High School.  The canal could be seen on one side of
the fence.  A residential area lay on the other side of the fence.
Telephone poles were spaced uniformly next to the fence.

     "You're doing great, Akane!" Ranma said from behind her, "I think
you're ready for the next level of balance training."

     "I am?"  She excitedly asked, until a thought occurred to her,
"What's that, Ranma?"

     Ranma was already smiling in anticipation, "You know how Pop and I
spar on the run?"

     "Ye..." As Akane started to answer, her feet were knocked out from
under her. "AH!"

     Akane fell off of the fence.  Before she could hit the ground,
Ranma grabbed her in his arms.  He jumped back onto the fence as he
said, "Gotcha!" and setting the now irritated shorthaired girl back upon
the fence.

     "What do you mean? Gotcha?" Akane started angrily. "You didn't even
let me know what you were going to do!"

     "That's why I caught you.  I knew you weren't ready for an attack.
I..." A meaty thunk interrupted him as a pewter egg collided with his
temple.  He fell into the canal, dazed.

     Akane searched for who had thrown the object at Ranma.  She spotted
Mousse on the roof of a house across the street from her.  He was in his
normal attire with his glasses perched on top of his head.

     "Mousse, what did you do that for?"  She yelled at him.

     "Ranma, it's no use trying to hide from me!  I know that's you in
that skirt.  I am not going to let you marry Shampoo and take her away
from me forever.  Defend yourself!"  Mousse screamed desperately.

     Mousse jumped from the house and landed 3 meters from Akane. He
then let fly with his chains.

     "Mousse, it's me, Akane!  You knocked Ranma into the canal."  Akane
barely dodged the chains coming her way.  She noticed with fright that
Mousse had
     added barbed hooks to the chains.  Jumping down from the fence, she
ran to
     a nearby telephone pole.  Until she could get him to acknowledge
her, she decided to try and keep something between Mousse and herself.
She wondered just what set him off this time. For once, she knew that
Ranma hadn't done anything to anyone because she had been with him all
week.

     "Very funny, Saotome, since when does Akane run on the fence?
Hiding behind a skirt or a pole won't help you."  He confidently yelled.
He ignored Akane's shout as a typical Ranma tactic of confusion.
Thinking he had Ranma within his range, the Chinese boy jumped into the
air and quickly threw a dozen explosives eggs in a circle around the
girl.

     "You can't dodge all of these!"  He said as he landed and
immediately jumped again.

     "RANMA, HELP!"  Akane screamed as the eggs exploded around her.
Trying to protect herself and disoriented by the blasts, Akane lost
sight of Mousse.  At the sound of the explosions, the other pedestrians
all ran for safety.  The few cars on the street were abandoned as their
drivers also sought shelter.  Several calls were made to the Nerima
constabulary.

     Mousse landed softly behind Akane.  "Finally, I have you!"  Mousse
crowed as he swung at her and connected with the Painiyao Chuan (Fist of
the White Swan) attack.  As he felt and heard the thwack of the metal
potty connecting with his opponent's head, Mousse felt the exhilaration
of victory sweep through his body.

     Akane crumpled at Mousse's feet, unconscious.

     "AKANE!"  Ranma arrived just as Mousse struck Akane down.  She
froze as her heart literally skipped a beat.  Watching Akane's body fold
lifelessly to the ground, the pig-tailed martial artist's battle aura
ignited.  She growled as she saw blood begin pooling under Akane's head.

     "Mousse, I swear that you will never attack anyone ever again."
Ranma yelled as she ran at him and attacked with a flying kick.

     "Huh?  Ranma?  I just beat you!"  A confused Mousse said.
Surprised by the appearance of his intended foe, he still was quick
enough to duck Ranma's first attack.  Ranma sailed through the air where
Mousse had been.  She landed and turned to face Akane's attacker.

     "You beat Akane, the woman I love, you blind idiot!"  Ranma wanted
to hurt Mousse.  She wanted to hurt him.  Yet, she couldn't use her
ranged attacks without being in danger of hitting Akane.

     "Good!  You took the woman I love away from me!  Prepare yourself
for defeat," Mousse decided that it was a good time lower the glasses
over his eyes.

     Ranma charged in and attempted to overwhelm Mousse with her greater
speed.  Mousse jumped to the top of the telephone pole regaining
separation between them so that his longer ranged weapons could be used.
Ranma ran on and rebounded off the fence.  From his position on the
pole, Mousse threw knife after knife at Ranma.  Ranma dodged them and
gathered her chi.  Finally she yelled, "Mouko Takabisha!"  A chi blast
tore through the air and destroyed the top of the telephone pole.
Having seen the preparation, Mousse jumped away at the last second.  He
landed on the roof of the house from which he had thrown the first
attack.

     "You think that your speed can defeat me, Ranma? Let's see how much
good your speed does you when you're blind."  He dropped enough smoke
bombs to obscure the area they were fighting in.  He jumped from the
roof to where he had last seen Ranma.  He hoped to skewer Ranma with his
Inchua Chuan attack.  Ranma had immediately rolled to her left when the
smoke bombs had gone off.  She knew that Mousse would try to attack from
above. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the sounds around her.
Hearing a metallic clang as Mousse landed to the right of her position,
she moved to attack only to fall back, dodging one of Mousse's
arm-swords.  Deciding to get out of the smoke, she jumped up and away to
get her bearings.  Out of the smoke and spotting the fence, she jumped
back onto it to wait for her foe.  She stood motionless, peering into
the smoke.

     Mousse was also trying to locate Ranma.  He had been unable to hear
Ranma's movements as his own covered them.  He smiled grimly, knowing
exactly what would bring Ranma to him.

     "Ranma, guess who I just found? Could it be," he paused for effect.
"Akane?" You know she could get hurt lying around in the middle of a
fight like this."  Mousse baited Ranma.  He pulled a stick out of his
sleeve and broke it. "OOPS! I think I just broke something.  It's a good
thing she's not awake."  He laughed at his little joke.

     Hearing the words coming out of the fog of smoke, Ranma raged.  She
jumped down from the fence and began walking to where she heard Mousse's
voice come from.  Her aura was burning so brightly that it cleared the
smoke away from her.  She said, "Let's end this Mousse. You have more
honor than to threaten innocent people like this."

     As Ranma came close, Mousse heard the other before she sensed him,
giving him a welcome advantage.  "I'm ready Ranma." Mousse struck out
with his chains.  Ranma never saw them.  When Mousse pulled back, he
found a pig-tailed girl in his chains.

     "Bwahaha, Finally, I've beaten you."  Mousse kept the chains taut
as he cautiously moved forward.

     With the barbed chains were wrapped around her torso and arms,
Ranma felt her flesh being ripped as she struggled to escape.  Barbed
specifically to enter a body and stay, the hooks seemed to be
everywhere.  Already, she knew the blood loss was too great for her to
continue to fight much longer.  Frantically, she realized that she had
to escape, finish the duck-boy off, and get help for Akane before she
went into shock.

     As she saw Mousse's figure looming towards her in the smoke, Ranma
made her move.  She jumped forward towards Mousse, loosening the chains.
She quickly ripped them off.  Her blood and flesh spattered the ground
as the chains flew away.  Surprising Mousse, she closed with him and
kicked his left knee breaking it.  Mousse fell down with a cry of pain.
Taking advantage of this, Ranma jumped onto his chest and used the speed
of the Chestnut Fist technique to batter him unconscious.  She wasn't
worried about hurting him; she wanted him out of the way, period.

     Once she was sure that Mousse was not getting up again, she began
searching for Akane.  As the smoke cleared, Ranma found her body.  She
gently sat beside Akane and checked her head.  It was bleeding from
where she had been hit.  She wasn't bleeding from her ears, eyes or
nose, so Ranma was slightly reassured.  She took off what was left of
her shirt and wrapped it around Akane's head.  Hearing police sirens,
she decided to wait for them to come and help them.  She laid Akane's
head in her lap and held her hand.  To be honest, she was feeling weak
and a little cold.  After a few moments, she slumped over next to Akane.

     When the police arrived, they found a disturbing sight.  There was
one body lying in the middle of the street.  There were bloody chains
hanging from his arms.  As they inspected him, they could see that his
jaw and cheekbones had been broken in multiple places.

     There were two girls lying a short distance away.  One was a girl
who had suffered a serious head injury.  The other had taken her top off
to help the other.  Judging by the bleedings wounds all across her
torso, it looked to them  as if she had been the one in the chains.

     They immediately called ambulances.  Luckily for Ranma and Akane,
there were plenty of witnesses who attested to the fact that Mousse had
attacked them for no reason.

************************************************************************
*

     Pain.

     That was the first thing Ranma felt when she woke up.  As she
slowly opened her eyes, she saw her mother sitting in a chair next to
her on her left. Her mother was asleep.  She had a novel in her lap and
Ranma assumed she had fallen asleep while reading.  She continued
looking around the room.  She noticed an IV stand on her right side.  It
was feeding blood and fluids into her.  There was a curtain wrapped
around her bed preventing her from seeing anything else.  She looked at
herself.  She was wrapped in bandages from her waist to her neck.  Her
arms were bandaged to her wrists.  'Mousse has either gotten better or a
lot more dangerous,' she thought to herself.

     "Hi, Mom," she managed to croak.

     Nodoka didn't stir.  Ranma reached out with her left arm.  The IV
needle in her right arm pinched as her arm moved. "Ouch!"  She tapped
her mother until Nodoka woke up.

     "Hi, Mom," she whispered again.

     "Ranma, I'm so glad you're awake!"  Nodoka reached forward to hug
Ranma lightly.

     "Mom, how is Akane?"  Ranma asked with worry in her voice.

     "She's fine, dear."  Nodoka answered, "in fact, Akane is in the bed
next to yours.  She woke up a little while ago.  She asked how you
were."

     Now that Ranma's immediate worry was taken care of, she looked at
herself again and asked, "Why am I still a girl?"

     "They didn't know of your curse when you arrived at the hospital.
They had bandaged you by the time anyone who knew of your special
problem could get here.  I talked with your doctor and she said that it
would be safer for you to stay this way anyway for now.  You lost a lot
of blood and need to build your strength back up."

     "Oh," Ranma was unsure what to make of that.

     "Is Akane awake now?" Ranma asked Nodoka.

     "Ranma, is that you?" Akane answered her question.

     Nodoka chuckled, "Does that answer you, my son?"

     Nodoka opened the curtain between the two beds.  Ranma looked to
her left and saw Akane.  Her head was wrapped up in a bandage that
looked like a turban.  She saw Nabiki sitting with Akane.

     Akane smiled at Ranma when she saw her.  "I was so worried, Ranma.
They told me that Mousse had been able to get his chains on you.  He had
hooks on them!"

     "Yeah, I know," Ranma managed a weak smile as she motioned at her
bandaged body. "I'm glad that you're awake."

     "Oh, all Mousse did to me was to knock me out with that silly
training potty of his.  The bill of the swan must have hit me on the
back of the head.  It kind of split my scalp open." Akane demurred.
"But you!  You're covered in bandages!  What did he do to you?"  The
youngest Tendo's voice broke with worry as she took in the sight of her
betrothed.

     "Aw, It's nothing.  He just pinched me in a few, make it a lot, of
places.  How come your father isn't in here?  I'd think that he would be
in here crying all over you."  The boy turned girl tried to lighten the
tension with a joke.

     "That happened three hours ago, Ranma." Nabiki interrupted, "I
finally got
     Kasumi to take him home.  He was upsetting the rest of the
patients.  Oh, the police came by and told us that Mousse was under
arrest."

     "Good.  I wonder what set him off?" Ranma rhetorically asked.
After a few moments, she continued, "Mom? Akane? You know that decision
I need to make?"

     "Yes, Ranma?" Nodoka and Akane answered.

     Nervously looking between the two, she licked her lips and
continued, "I've come to a decision.  I didn't tell you earlier because
I was enjoying being with you both too much.  I'm not going to let this
happen again."  Resolve showing from every pore, she spoke to her
mother, "Mom, I want to go to Jusenkyo and make a copy of me for each of
my fiancees."  Ranma stopped and looked at Akane, "Akane, I love you. I
want live my life with you and I don't want you hurt because of me
again.  I, I hope that you'll forgive me for this?"

     "Yes, Ranma, I will." Akane said, "Really, what is there to
forgive?  It's not like you attacked Mousse or anything.  And, if you
think that I have to forgive you for wanting to protect me, well, I am a
martial artist and I resent when you try to keep me out of fights, but
I'm also a girl and it's nice to know someone loves me enough to want to
protect me."

     Ranma smiled, "Yeah?  Good."  She settled back as the nervous
tenseness left her.  It was only then she that remembered who was
sitting next to Akane.  "Uh, Nabiki?  You're not going to tell everyone
about this are you?  I'm not up to it yet."

     "How do you want to tell your paramours, Ranma?" Nabiki asked
without emotion.

     "Uh, just tell them, I suppose," he said, "I certainly ain't going
to charge them for it."

     "Why not have a party at your mother's and announce it?" Nabiki
asked innocently.

     "That's a wonderful idea.  I'll get to know all of them that way."
Nodoka took charge, "Nabiki, will you see to it that they all are
invited to my house this Saturday evening?"

     "Yes, Aunt Nodoka, I'll be happy to.  Will 6:00 p.m. be a good
time?"

     "Yes, dear."

     "Um, Mom?" Ranma asked, as she became aware of a need.

     "Yes, son?"  Nodoka noted the tone in her son's voice and was all
attention.

     "Can you walk me to the bathroom?  I've gotta go bad."  She
squirmed on her bed. "They must've put ten liters of water into me."

     "The doctor advised against your getting up today.  With the extent
and severity of the gouges, she advised that you move as little as
possible to help heal and minimize scarring."  Nodoka answered.  Akane
and Nabiki exchanged knowing glances and began giggling.

     "Well how am I supposed to go then?"  Ranma asked in exasperation.
"Am I just supposed to go in the bed?"  Blanching a little at the
thought, she gasped, "Or are they going to put one of those tubes in
me?"

     "Actually," Nodoka bent over and pulled a metal bedpan from under
her son's hospital bed,  "you are going to relieve yourself in the bed.
All you have to do is sit on this and wipe yourself when you're done."
The giggles became guffaws.

     "In front of everybody?"  Her face was now shining red from
mortification.

     "Of course not, I'll close the curtain for you."  Her mother stood
and began to close the curtain.  When she had the curtain almost closed,
she turned and looked at her stricken child, "Will you need my help?"

     "NO!"  yelled Ranma.  In a quieter voice, she added, "I can handle
it.  Give me that thing."

     As Nodoka crossed onto Akane's side of the curtain, the three women
heard Ranma yell, "Ah! Where did they have this thing stored, in a
freezer? It's cold!"

     Unable to control themselves, Nabiki and Akane began crying from
their laughter.  Laughter being infectious, Nodoka joined them within a
few moments.

     "Mom?"  A plaintive voice came through the curtain.

     Nodoka contained herself and asked, "Yes, dear?"

     "You forgot to leave me any paper!" Ranma complained.

     "Oh!  I'll bring you some." Nodoka quickly moved towards the
restroom, whilst the two Tendo sisters broke out laughing again.

     "Uh, never mind.  I found some."  The three women continued their
gigglefest much to Ranma's embarrassment.

************************************************************************
**

     The next morning, and much to the staff's surprise, Akane and Ranma
were both released.  Akane was almost fully recovered while Ranma looked
as if she had the chicken pox.  Their conditioning and training helped
them heal.  When Nodoka got them to her house, they found Cologne
waiting for them.

     "Mrs. Saotome, may I talk to you privately?"  She looked at the two
teen-agers and saw the mistrust on their faces.   She smiled in a n
attempt to mollify their suspicions.

     Nodoka looked at her visitor for a few moments before answering.
This was the great-grandmother of one of the girls who had helped
destroy her home not so long ago during the aborted wedding.  She stole
a glance at her charges and saw that neither looked happy at seeing
their visitor.  Since it would be very impolite not to hear what the
woman wanted to say, she turned to Akane and asked, "Akane will you help
Ranma to his room?  I don't want to see him reopen any of his wounds and
I trust you to keep him calm."

     As the two were heading for his room, Akane giggled out, "I brought
the bedpan home for you if you need it, Ranma.  Where would you like me
to store it, the freezer maybe?"  She giggled even more when she noticed
the glare Ranma gave her.

     "I see that they are getting along much better.  You must be proud
of them.  However, discussing their merits is not the reason I've come
her today.  Mrs. Saotome, I wish to apologize for Mousse's actions.  He
acted against my strict orders," Cologne let some of her anger show, "He
will never disobey an elder of his tribe again."

     "Why are you apologizing to me?  Shouldn't you be apologizing to
Akane and Ranma?" Nodoka asked.

     "I am apologizing to you because as the elder of this family, I can
speak to you as an equal.  I specifically told Shampoo and Mousse to
stay away from both the Tendo family and yours.  I know what decision
son-in-law is struggling with.  I also know that leaving son-in," she
coughed diplomatically as she caught here gaffe, "Ranma alone right now
will give Shampoo her best chance at getting him as her husband.  Mousse
believes that he is in love with Shampoo.  He thought that he knew what
Ranma would do and decided to stop him beforehand," Cologne then smiled,
rather cruelly to Nodoka's eyes, "Mousse will be punished under tribal
law when he is allowed back.  I promise you, he won't enjoy it."

     "I don't know what to say.  I accept your apology."  Recovering
from her surprise at the apology, bowed to Cologne as one would to an
equal.  Remembering her duties as a hostess, she asked, "Would you like
some tea?"

     "No thank you, I need to get back to the Nekohanten, we're
short-handed right now." Cologne dryly finished, "Goodbye, Mrs.
Saotome."

     After being told of the apology, Ranma and Akane decided not to
press charges against Mousse.  They both knew Cologne's justice to be
harsher than anything that the Japanese Court system could lay upon him.
Upon his release, Mousse was sent back to the Amazon village.

************************************************************************
**

     By Sunday morning, Ranma and Akane finished healing.  Akane was
returning from a jog when she found P-Chan in front of the Saotome home,
dragging a box.

     "P-Chan!"  She immediately hugged her pet.  "Did you miss your
Momma and came looking for me?"  The little pig tried to shake its head
yes, but couldn't as it was squeezed between the girl's breasts too
tightly.

     As she excitedly entered the house, she yelled, "Ranma, you'll
never guess what I found outside.  P-Chan!  He must've wandered away
from home looking for me."

     Ranma looked at the piglet with poorly disguised irritation.
"Geez, he must've gotten lost again going to the bathroom."

     "Ranma, why can't you be nice to him for once?"  Akane's feelings
were hurt by his lack of enthusiasm.  "Anyway, I'm going to make sure
that he doesn't wander away.  I'm always afraid that someone will see
him and either try to keep him or eat him.  Remember Azusa?"

     "Yeah, I remember her.  I bet Ryoga remembers her even better, huh,
P-Chan?"  He rhetorically asked the little pig nestled within Akane's
bosom.  "What did she try to rename him, Charlotte?"

     "That girl had some real problems."  Akane shivered at the memory
of the cute kleptomaniac.  "Will you help me keep P-Chan safely here?"
She looked at him trying to get him to answer yes without having to beg.

     Ranma looked at her pleading eyes and his stomach dropped in
defeat.  He could never tell her no when she looked that way at him.
"Yes, I'll help," he said nonchalantly.  "You'll need it, knowing the
little pig here."

     "Ranma!" Akane shot him a warning glare.

************************************************************************
**

     Looking into the mirror, Nodoka frowned with disapproval at her
reflection.  The kimono she currently wore was very formal, but she felt
it was too severe for the occasion.  Sighing, she looked at the rack of
discarded options.  For the most part, her outfits tended to be too
severe for the impression she wanted to give tonight.  She wanted an
outfit that stated that the occasion was serious, but that the wearer
was also open and caring.   It was imperative that the right impression
was made with all of Ranma's fiancees.  She had several friends who had
lost their sons to spiteful or angry daughter-in-laws.  She looked over
her remaining selections and finally found exactly what she needed.  A
very modest, light blue kimono with a pattern of falling cherry blossoms
over it and at the bottom, koi jumping around.  As she tried it on, she
proudly thought on all of the strong, young women, who wanted her so, so
manly son.  Even with his curse, he still had to beat the girls off.

     Since more people could fit comfortably in there, Nodoka decided to
have the party in the dojo.  Wanting to help, Kasumi, who had agreed to
help Nodoka set everything up and needed to be there early, arrived at
9:00 a. m.  Tagging along with her were Genma, Soun, and Nabiki as none
were willing to trust the others cooking skills.

     Too nervous to wait any longer, Ukyo arrived early at 5:30 p.m.
She wore a black satin dress that had a V-front and swoop back showing
her figure off nicely.  It hugged her hips, but was flared at the bottom
to allow her to easily walk.  She had matching black flats on her feet.
Her major accessory was a long strand of pearls. It contrasted well with
her raven hair.  The string looped so that it looked as if she had two
strings on, one short and one long.  She was even wearing earrings.
Each was a little silver spatula with a pearl set into the middle of
each blade, like a small okonomiyaki.  Her hair styled so that it flowed
around her face, making her look far more feminine and showed off her
gracefully long neck.  The butterflies in her tummy had morphed into
condors as she stepped into the dojo, she had spent the better part of
three days in preparation for this and was still deathly afraid of what
was to come.  She had thought long and hard, but had left her battle
spatula at her restaurant.  The young chef didn't want anything
offensive in nature to mar her appearance.  Unconsciously her hands kept
sweeping behind her trying to find it, Ukyo felt naked without it and
definitely needed the reassurance it normally gave her.

     Cologne and Shampoo arrived promptly at 6:00 p.m.  Cologne was in
her usual garb while Shampoo appeared in a silken full-length red silk
sleeveless dress and matching top.  The gown was slit up the side to
mid-thigh allowing for easy movement.  Her upper body was covered snugly
yet conservatively.  The top was long-sleeved, without a collar, and
hung vest-like to her waist.  It was emblazoned with a black stallion
rearing over a defeated Chinese dragon.  The dragon's multicolored body
wrapped around the top and was mirrored on the upper part of her gown.
Where the dragon's tail ended, there was a stylized pool.  Her shoes,
flats, had been dyed to match.  Shampoo had not changed her hairstyle,
but did have new earrings on.  They hung on straight, silver stems that
ended in golden balls, similar to miniature bon-boris.  She had a silver
necklace on with a ruby held in a setting in the center and also was
wearing matching bracelets.

     Kodachi arrived last and the most dramatically, amid a storm of
black rose petals. Surprisingly, her brother, Tatewaki, was with her.
Kodachi was wearing an outfit that looked as if it had been made from
her gymnastics outfit.  It seemed like it was made out of velvet, or
black rose petals.  It was long-sleeved and the neckline achieved a
simple, modest V.  The material hugged her body until it was just past
her hips where it flared into a full skirt.  If you looked at it
closely, one could see a black on black pattern on the main body of the
dress.  It showed black roses and stems.  This pattern extended to the
arms but didn't carry past her thighs.  She was wearing golden hoop
earrings.  On her neck was a diamond studded gold necklace.  Lastly, she
was wearing matching black pumps.

     Kuno arrived wearing a full tuxedo with a red rose in the
boutonniere.

     Kasumi, Nabiki and Akane all wore their formal kimonos.  Genma and
Soun were also wearing formal robes.  With his usual lack of social
grace, Ranma was wearing his usual outfit. P-Chan lay in Akane's lap.

     After all of the guests arrived, they party moved into the dojo to
start.  Ranma, with his mother on his immediate left, sat in the center
of the dojo. Akane sat on his right with Kasumi and Nabiki following.
Next to his wife, Genma sat with Soun on his other side.  He was
pleasantly surprised that no fights had broken out.  It was almost as if
everyone knew what was going to be said.  How could they know?  He
dismissed the thought as ridiculous.

     Separating the guests from the combined Saotome and Tendo families
was a heavily laden dinner table.  Ukyo sat directly across from Ranma,
nervously fiddling with her hands.  Shampoo sat on her right with
Cologne.  On The okonomiyaki chef's left, Kodachi had demurely placed
herself putting a polite distance between them.  Tatewaki sat beside his
sister.

     After dinner, Kasumi and Nodoka cleared away the dishes and sat
back down.  Looking relieved that everything had gone well so far,
Nodoka gave a small bow to her guests as she spoke, "Thank you for
coming to my home tonight.  I'm sure that most of you have been
wondering why you were invited here."  She looked at her son proudly.
"My son chosen a path to solving all of the commitments of honor he has
become entangled within.  Please, before saying or doing anything, hear
him out."  She smiled and looked expectantly at Ranma.

     As four pairs of eyes followed his mother's lead, he felt the
palpable sense of pleased ownership each of his fiancee's felt when it
came to him.  Unused to social interactions of this type, his palms
suddenly became very warm and sweaty.  He picked up a napkin and wiped
his brow before he bowed to the room.  Straightening he looked at each
girl before ending with his gaze on Akane.  Each smiled brightly as his
sight passed over her; yet each also glowered slightly at the other
girls once he had moved on.  As he held Akane's gaze, his hesitancy fell
away.  Moving his eyes from girl to girl, he spoke in a strong resolved
voice.  "I came to my mother last week and asked her for some help.  I
wanted to find a way to honorably end the problem we all have.  You four
want to be my wife and there is only one of me.  Three of you have
family or personal honor at stake. Also, I don't want to hurt any of
you."

     He stopped.  Soun looked confused and ready to get angry.  Kasumi
nodded at him encouragingly.  Nabiki smiled her knowing smile, but she
surreptitiously threw him a good luck sign.  Genma looked wistfully at
the empty table, obviously wishing for more to eat.  Nodoka was sitting
and looking at him proudly.  Akane, Shampoo, Ukyo and Kodachi were
watching him closely.  Kuno had his usual look of bored superiority on
his face.  Cologne, being Cologne, was unreadable.

     "Most of you know I'm cursed.  I was cursed at a training grounds
in China called Jusenkyo.  Now cold water turns me into a girl and hot
water back to myself."  Undisguised anger now on his face, he stared at
the Kuno siblings.  "Kuno, Kodachi, I'm the pig-tailed girl.  I don't
know why you've never figured it out." Ranma stopped.  Kasumi prepared
for his nod, stood up and brought over a pot of warmed water and a
thermos of cold.  She proceeded to pour first the cold and then the hot
over Ranma demonstrating his curse.

     As she moved to sit back down, he continued on, "Mother had written
the Jusenkyo Guide asking how the curses could be taken off.  Basically,
he said that there are two ways, live with it or take a swim in the pool
of Drowned Twins.  If I was cursed as a say, pig, cat or duck, I would
have to live with the curse for the length of that animal's normal
lifetime.  A pig can live 26 years."  Ranma looked hard at P-Chan,
P-Chan shuddered and looked away from him.  "A cat can live to around 20
years old and a duck can live between 12 and 18 years old.  However, in
the case of a curse changing you into another person, ridding yourself
of the curse is a little more difficult.  In my case, I would have to
marry a man and bear a child by him.  Only after that, would I have the
choice to choose to lose the curse."  Seeing Tatewaki opening his mouth,
he held up his hand and said,  "Can it Kuno, I ain't taking any
volunteers for that job.  Anyway if I jump into the pool of Drowned
Twins, a cursed person is split into himself and his cursed self.  I
would become a male and female Ranma Saotome.  According to the guide, I
could jump in repeatedly and create multiple copies of myself."

     Pausing to take a breath, Ranma looked at his audience.  The only
ones who looked as if they didn't understand what was going on were
Genma and Soun.

     "What it boils down to is this.  I'm going to China to remove my
curse.  I will then jump into the pool enough times to make a copy of
myself for each of you.  Ukyo your honor will be restored.  Shampoo, you
will have your husband.  Akane will have me.  Kodachi, I ain't making no
promises.  You must prove yourself to me without resorting to poisons or
powders.  I also ask all of you to be the friend of my girl side," Ranma
finished.  All four girls were looking at him with happiness.

     Hearing only that his beloved goddess in pigtails would be freed,
Tatewaki Kuno turned and bowed to Nodoka, "Mrs. Saotome, I crave the
honor of being allowed to court your daughter when she returns.  I have
worshipped her since I first met her and I wish but a chance to prove my
love to her."

     Nodoka smiled and quizzically looked at Ranma.  He looked as if he
had just eaten a lemon at the mere thought.  Chuckling at her son's
reaction, she responded, "Kuno, when we come back from China, why don't
you ask again." Letting him down nicely, or so she thought.

     "So, son-in-law, when are you planning on going to China?" Cologne
politely changed the subject.  "Will you need any help getting there or
do you plan on traveling there the same way you did last time?"

     Ranma hadn't thought this far, "I want to go leave as soon as
possible.  Yes, I'll need help getting there.  I don't want to go there
the way Pop had us go. The Sea of Japan is a big stretch of water to
swim."

     Cologne continued, "I assume you'll be wanting all your fiancees
along.  What about the rest us?"

     "I don't know.  I was thinking of just going and coming back by
myself.  Or selves.  Whatever." The boy in question shrugged as he
answered.

     Kuno interjected "I will personally fly all who want to go in my
personal
     plane."

     "Thanks, Kuno, but we've seen your navigational skills. Remember
that
     little boat trip we took?" Nabiki said.

     "..." Kuno stared at Nabiki with anger.

     Within minutes, the entire assemblage had invited themselves along
to China.  It was decided to let Cologne make the travel arrangements
with the Kunos funding them.  The departure date for China was set two
weeks from that night.  This allowed everyone to get what the supplies
needed for an overseas trip.

     As everyone else was leaving, Nabiki made an excuse to stay and
later caught Ranma alone.

     "Ranma, have you considered what names you want your other selves
to have?"
     Nabiki asked.

     "Uh, Ranma?" he adroitly answered.

     "Are you sure that you want to have five Ranma Saotomes running
around? One of them a girl?" she asked again.

     "I hadn't thought about that. I like the name Ranma. I've had it a
long time." He said.  He was uncomfortable talking about new names.  He
had yet to really consider what he would do if he wasn't the one to
marry Akane.

     "Well, you are going to have to decide what names you want to
have," she persisted.  Changing the subject, she brought out a small
package, handing it to him, "I brought a gift for you, Ranma."

     "What?" Ranma said brightly.  "It's not my birthday or nothing."

     Rolling her eyes, she opened the box, pulling seven passports from
within it.  "These are your new passports, Ranma. Seeing how happy Akane
is and also knowing that you will never hurt her, I decided to help
you."  Seing the distrust creeping onto his face, she sighed and added,
"for free.  Since you're almost family, it's free."  He still looked
unsure even as she placed them into his hands.  "I had a lot of fun
getting these for you.  I considered it a real challenge and I wanted to
see if I could pull this off.  You'll find five passports here for a
male Saotome born on your birth date.  Only one has the name Ranma
within it.  There are two passports for female Saotomes with your birth
date.  I didn't know how many of you, you might want to make.  I thought
you might want one Ranma completely free of everyone.  I also thought
that the girl you might need a sister." This time a look of
incredulousness crossed his face.  Exasperated with his lack of
enthusiasm, she said crossly, "Belive me Ranma, sisters are VERY good
things to have."

     "You thought I might want to make two girl me's?" Ranma asked still
dumbfounded.

     "Why not? There's nothing wrong with being a girl, you should know
that by now," she answered, "Never mind, when you decide what names to
use let me know and I'll put them into the passports.  I'll see that
your other records will also be taken care of." Smiling this time in
triumph, she added, "I love challenges as much as you do and I'll tell
you this, this was a real challenge."

     "Thanks, Nabiki! I never expected this!" He said as he looked at
the virgin passports in his hands.

************************************************************************
**