::snip C&C; all I can say is Great Story, Gary!... even if it feels like you
were _deliberately_ going out of your way to counteract Ranma's-a-girl fic
conventions at some points::
EPILOGUE
A year had passed since P-Chan's death, and Ranma still couldn't
quite get over the loss. Sometimes, on mornings like this when the
sun was so bright and the sky was so blue, he couldn't shake the
feeling that all he'd have to do is pick up the ball, and his friend would
come trotting out to greet him, ready to play their ever-evolving game
in the park.
Ranma sipped his tea thoughtfully. He'd considered getting another
pet, but it wouldn't be the same. After all, how could he ever hope
to bond to another animal like he had to P-Chan? <Face it,> he
thought. <Where am I gonna find a pet who's really a person trapped
in an animal's body?>
With that thought in mind, he slid open the door to get a better look
at the day.
An immense figure loomed before him, blotting out the sun with its
vast, grotesque bulk. Octopus tentacles flailed on its back, horns
protruded from its head. In one mammoth hand it held a steaming
kettle.
Ranma watched as the figure emptied the hot water onto its head. The
creature's form did not change. "Moo?" Pantyhose Tarou said plaintively,
his gigantic bovine eyes full of confusion. "Moo?"
Ranma considered him for a long, thoughtful moment.
"Nah," he said, closing the door again. "It'd never work."
Much as I hate to rain on a hilarious idea, Taro's not only Chinese but
comes from a village close enough to Jusenkyo for his mother to walk there
while in her third trimester. And he's had the curse for his whole life, as
opposed to the couple years it took Ranma's to go all wonky.
--G. Falconar
But if you ignore that... WHAHAHHAHAHAHAH!