Ranma 1/2 Fanfic 
Purple-haired Destiny 
By Ryan Anderson 
Part 2: Family and Friends 
 
Standard Takahashi Disclaimer: I don't own any of these  
characters, I'm just a poor otaku/college student! Please 
don't sue me!! I don't have any money!! 
 
What has gone before: 
Shampoo got kicked out of the Amazons, after Mousse beat 
her. She tried to commit suicide, but Ranma stopped her, 
and brought her home with him. Shampoo started going to 
school, and learned to speak Japanese a lot better, she's 
officially given up her claim on Ranma, but she still 
loves him.... 
 
Then Ukyo decided to separate Ranma from Akane, and her 
plan actually worked... a little too well. Now Akane hates 
Ranma, and Ranma isn't too fond of Ukyo for doing that, 
and he and Shampoo and Genma have been kicked out of the 
Tendos, while Ryouga has come to live with them. 
 
------ 
 
"Ha! Pop, you're getting slow!" yelled Ranma, looking like 
he was enjoying himself for the first time since leaving 
the Tendos two days ago.  
 
"Foolish boy!" Genma yelled back, picking himself off the 
forest floor and launching himself at Ranma. 
 
Shampoo, standing on a tree branch not far away, decided 
that she wasn't going to get left out of this battle, and 
leapt in. Soon, the "morning practice" of the three had 
left a clear swath of destruction through the quiet 
section of forest where they were camped. Without having 
to worry about property damage, and having a third 
participant, these morning fights had reached new heights 
of intensity, and even though Shampoo knew that both Genma 
and Ranma were holding back against her, it was still a 
lot of fun. Besides, she rather enjoyed knocking them both 
on their butts when they didn't go hard enough on her. 
 
As Shampoo flew past Ranma, she gave him an impatient nod.  
While sparring was fun, she and Ranma had planned out 
something more for this morning. 
 
As the three warily circled each other, Ranma finally 
broached the subject he and Shampoo had talked about. "Hey 
pop, you have any idea where we're going to go now?" 
 
Genma, still circling, replied. "We'll have to go on the 
road again, train... you've become lax in your training 
anyway!" 
 
Ranma grimaced, but still circled. "Do we have to? Shampoo 
and I want to stay here, finish school... We thought maybe 
we could go to mom...." 
 
"Are you _INSANE_ boy?? Do you *want* to commit seppuku?  
Have you forgotten the katana she still carries?" Genma 
looked ready to blow a synapse or two at the thought of 
his wife. 
 
Shampoo decided it was time for her to enter the 
conversation. "You really think mother would kill her own 
child? I no believe that." 
 
Genma spared her a glance. "You don't know my wife! If she 
learns of our curses its over for us! I'm not going back 
until we find a cure!" 
 
Ranma launched himself at his father, the two springing 
high into the air in an intense flurry of fists and feet. 
"That's just like you, Oyaji, always running away! Well 
I'm tired of running!" 
 
Genma suddenly did a seemingly impossible flip in mid air, 
and sent Ranma flying into the ground. "Foolish boy! I'll 
teach you to show your father some respect!" 
 
However, as he ranted at Ranma, he never saw Shampoo 
coming. With a boot to the head, she sent him to land next 
to his son. Then she landed neatly on a nearby branch. 
"Coward!" she scolded him. "If you hadn't led such a 
dishonorable life, you would be able to go back your wife 
now! Don't drag Ranma into your cowardice!" 
 
Genma leapt to his feet, glaring at Shampoo. "A coward am 
I?? You don't know what you ask! The most basic tenet of 
the Anything-goes school of martial arts is staying alive 
no matter what! Well, I ..... growlph..." 
 
Ranma set down the buck he'd just up-ended over his 
father. "What was that Oyaji? You're an honorless coward 
who can't face his own wife? Che, your pathetic pop." 
 
<sign>"Fine, go then, but I won't have your blood on my 
hands if you're so eager to die!" 
 
"We don't need him, Ranma. If he doesn't want to face your  
mother, there's no reason we should drag him along. Let 
him go off and train by himself if that's what he wants." 
 
Ranma looked at his father, considering Shampoo's words. 
While it was certainly true that his father had probably 
never done anything besides ruin his life, he had always 
been there with Ranma, always pushing him to do his best.  
 
But then again, Genma _had_ caused an awful lot of the 
problems in his life, maybe it was time to go off on his 
own. At this point in his life, there wasn't really 
anything more his father could teach him anyway, besides 
maybe how to drink himself into a stupor. 
 
Genma, guessing what Ranma was thinking, threw himself in 
front of his son, making pleading gestures at him. 
 
"Oh yeah, and why shouldn't I?" Ranma asked the prostrated 
bear. 
 
Genma whipped out  a sign, "I still have a lot left to 
teach you!" 
 
"Yeah right pop. Don't make me laugh, I don't even break a 
sweat fighting with you anymore." 
 
Genma quite begging at that, and sat down with his back to 
Ranma, waving a sign over his shoulder. "After all I've 
done for you..." he flipped the sign "...this is how you 
repay me?" 
 
Shampoo just couldn't believe Genma would actually say 
(write) that. Of all the things he could have said to try 
to get Ranma to stay, Shampoo seriously doubted there was 
anything that would help his cause less. Glancing over at 
Ranma, she could see he was thinking along the same lines 
as she, only it was making him more and more angry. 
 
Ranma's fists were tightly clenched as he glared at the 
panda. "Yeah pop, lets talk about 'all the things you've 
done for me'. Like selling me for food! Engaging me to 
half a dozen people, and then just to add injury to 
insult, giving me this curse!" he took a step forward, as 
Genma flinched under the verbal assault. "Yes, what a 
_fine_ father you've been, you worthless coward! Always 
hiding behind your curse, running from your problems! Well 
I'm through runnin! I'm going home!" 
 
Genma-panda seemed to shrink into himself, withering more 
from the anger and hatred in his son's voice than the 
actual accusations. 
 
Shampoo decided she'd better do something before Genma 
made Ranma anymore mad. Quietly stepping up behind Ranma, 
she said, "Let's go Ranma. Leave him alone." 
 
Ranma looked up at her, the pain apparent in his eyes. 
Shampoo's heart skipped a beat, feeling his pain acutely, 
and wishing there was something she could do to stop it. 
Taking him by the arm, she began leading him away. 
 
*** 
 
Nodoka looked over this month's stack of bills again. 
There weren't many, because without her husband and son 
here she'd been able to cut back on everything but the 
barest essentials, not using much electricity, and by 
growing some of her own food in her garden, she'd been 
able to make do with her small income she received from 
her work. Still, she could see that this month was going 
to be pretty tight again.  
 
She considered maybe applying for more hours at the 
antique store where she worked a few hours every week. It 
was an easy job, and one she enjoyed, where she polished 
all the old furniture, preserving it and making it look 
beautiful again. Still, it wouldn't be proper for her to 
spend too much time working, that just wasn't right. 
 
Nodoka gave a little sigh. If only Ranma and Genma would 
return, then Genma could get a real job, or even just 
teach if they saved up enough money to buy a dojo. Not a 
day past that she didn't wish for their return. Maybe, she 
thought, she should go pay a visit to the Tendos again. At 
least there she wasn't alone, and there was that adorable 
Ranko... There was something about that girl, Nodoka 
couldn't seem place it, but she was always so happy to see 
her. Still, Ranko wasn't a very proper young lady, maybe 
she should try to spend some more time with her and see if 
she could get Ranko to behave more properly. 
 
There wasn't enough honor in the world today, Nodoka 
decided, that was the whole problem. No one seemed to care 
about the traditional ways anymore. This new generation of 
teenagers seemed to have left concepts like honor and duty 
behind. Still, at least she was assured that her son would 
respect the old ways, how else could he be a man amongst 
men? Yes, Ranma must be the very epidemy of honor and duty 
by now, Nodoka thought to herself. He'll marry Akane, 
doing his duty to his family, and pass on the old ways. 
Never would *her* clan lose the honor that everyone else  
seemed to have forsaken in this age. Honor and duty had 
kept her going for 10 long years without her husband or 
son, and they would see her son wed as well. 
 
Nodoka spared a pleasant sigh at that thought, day 
dreaming about her dashingly handsome son marrying Akane, 
in a perfect traditional ceremony. Finally, when that 
moment came, she knew that everything she'd gone through, 
everything she'd suffered without her son here would be 
worth it then, to see the fruits of her dedication to 
honor and tradition redeemed.  
 
Nodoka didn't like to waste away her time in silly 
daydreams, after all, there was work to be done. However, 
she couldn't help fantasizing to herself one last time 
about how there would be a knock on her door, and she'd go 
and answer it, and there on the steps would be Ranma and 
Genma, coming home to her.... 
 
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Nodoka's eyes 
flew open, her breath quickening a bit. Could it be? 
 
Slowly she walked over to the door, almost afraid to open 
it for fear of the disappointment that would follow when 
it wasn't them. Finally she shook herself, telling herself 
not to be so silly, and opened the door. 
 
*** 
 
It had taken the better part of a day for Ranma and 
Shampoo to walk back to Nerima, and they had tried to keep 
a low profile once they got there to keep from being 
spotted by friends and enemies alike. Ranma's anger at his 
father had quickly dissipated as they got closer and 
closer to Ranma's mother's house, as he was too busy  
being nervous to be angry at the same time. 
 
Shampoo felt no small amount of anxiety over this meeting 
as well. She'd been considering what Ranma had told her 
that night they had discussed coming back to his mother's 
house, about how set his mother had been on Ranma marrying 
Akane... What if Nodoka insisted? Shampoo hoped she 
wouldn't, but she couldn't help the sick feeling growing 
in her stomach at the thought of Ranma forced to go back 
to the Tendos before he was ready... And, she realized,  
she really didn't want him to ever go back. 
 
Silently she cursed herself for being so selfish. Hadn't 
she given up her claim to Ranma? Still, the last couple of 
days had been so pleasant, not having to worry about the 
other fiancee's, just having Ranma all to herself... 
They'd had so much fun just sparring and talking, and 
generally enjoying each other's company... At least,  
she had. Ranma had seemed to, but had he really? She knew 
he was still depressed over getting kicked out of the 
Tendos, but she had tried to be there for him and cheer 
him up. Shampoo just didn't know what to do anymore. She 
hoped she was doing the right thing by suggesting they go 
back to his mother, surely she couldn't turn away her own 
son, could she? 
 
No, said a voice deep in her (which sounded kinda like her 
great-grandmother), she won't turn away her own flesh and 
blood... but what about you? And that was the heart of the 
problem, no matter what, Shampoo needed to stay with 
Ranma, and there was a fair chance that his mother would 
send her packing. Ranma had helped her regain her 
confidence in herself, and her will to live, but it had  
all been because of him that she had wanted to go on 
living! She kept telling herself all during training with 
him that all she wanted was to be his friend, help him 
whenever she could so that she could repay all what he had 
done for her, but now there was the possibility that to do 
the right thing for Ranma might cause her to have to 
leave... And suddenly it didn't seem like the right thing 
to do anymore. 
 
Shampoo thought back to Ranma's teachings on honor, how he 
had said that in order to do the right thing, you had to 
sometimes forget your own feelings and ask what was right 
for everyone else. Shampoo tried, but it was just so hard! 
Why should she give up her one chance for happiness? How 
could she let Ranma slip away from her just when they'd 
started to get really close?  
 
Shampoo looked over at Ranma, walking beside her, also 
lost in thought. It would be so easy, she thought, come up 
with some excuse to not go to his mother's house right 
now, then dissuade him from ever going back later... 
Together they could travel, laugh, have fun, and 
eventually she knew he would fall in love with her.... 
 
No, that just wasn't right, she realized. As much as she 
wanted to do it, Ranma wasn't ready to love her yet. He 
still had so much to work out here in Nermia, and his 
mother was the best place to start. As much as it hurt her 
to think it, she knew that he did still love Akane. No, 
she would do what she could to help him, it was only  
the right thing to do.  
 
Her mind told her so, and for once, she listened to the 
logic over the feelings in her heart... but she the 
emptiness welling from within her still hurt more than she 
had thought possible. 
 
*** 
 
Shampoo struggled to suppress her emotions as they 
approached the house. She needed to be strong for Ranma. 
 
Ranma, for his part, was shaking like a leaf. Shampoo had 
never seen him so nervous before, not even when trying to 
confess his feelings to one of the girls. However, as they 
reached the door, his stance firmed, and his muscles 
tensed. Shampoo recognized his stance: he looked ready for 
combat. Walking with a confidence that didn't reach his 
eyes, he reached the door and knocked. 
 
Shampoo was still standing at the bottom step when the 
door opened, with the perfect vantage point to see 
Nodoka's face transform from looking tired and weary to a 
look of pure joy as she spotted Ranma. Ranma himself lost 
all his composer on seeing his mother, whispering "Mom..." 
and rushing into her embrace. The two just held each other 
for a moment, and Shampoo looked away, feeling like she 
was invading their privacy by being there, and feeling 
even more anxious. 
 
Slowly, reluctantly, the matriarch of the Saotome clan 
released her son, and they both took a step back, sizing 
each other up. Ranma, for once, had a look of pure bliss 
on his face, as if in that moment he had completely 
forgotten all the pain and anxiety of the past few days. 
Nodoka's eyes shown with pride at the man she say before  
her, everything she had ever hoped for. Then, slowly, her 
gaze left her son and looked over the rest of the porch, 
apparently searching for her wayward husband, when her 
eyes found her. 
 
Cocking her head slightly and blinking at Shampoo, Nodoka 
asked, "Ranma, who is this girl?" 
 
Ranma, who'd been busy just staring at his mother, 
reveling in actually being able to be with her in his male 
form, suddenly snapped back to reality, remembering that 
he still had a lot of explaining to do. "Uh, Mom, this is 
my uh..." Ranma paused for a moment, obviously fighting a 
brief internal battle with himself over just exactly 
*what* Shampoo was to him. Shampoo could sympathize, their 
relationship had been anything but simple, and while she 
silently wished he would say "Fiancee" or even just  
"girlfriend", she knew he stick to a safer course. 
 
Indeed, he did. ".. my friend. Her name is Shampoo, and 
she's the one who finally talked enough sense into me that 
I came home."  
 
Nodoka looked at him funny for a moment, then asked 
another question. "But Ranma, where is your father?" 
 
Ranma was starting to look *really* uncomfortable now. 
"Uh, mom, that's kinda a long story... Can't we go inside 
to discuss it?" He said, looking warily at the dark clouds 
starting to drift overhead. 
 
Nodoka blinked for a moment, then seemed to realize that 
they were still outside. "Oh! Excuse me! I'm not being a 
very good host. Please, come in." 
 
The inside of the house was sparsely furnished, but kept 
in very neat order. The cottage was rather small, but then 
Shampoo figured that if Nodoka had lived alone for the 
last ten years, she wouldn't have needed anything fancy. 
As she followed Ranma in, she noticed that Nodoka was 
still looking at her curiously. Shampoo could guess why, 
she must be in a fair amount of shock at having her long-
lost son suddenly returned to her, along with a strange 
girl who wasn't the fiancee she knew he had, and without 
his father. Still, Shampoo hoped that Nodoka was as strong 
as the tales she'd heard of her made her out to be, 
because she still had a lot of shocks coming. 
 
The three of them sat down around the table set in the 
middle of the living room. It was a pleasant enough 
environment, though the house had a sense of coldness to 
it, like it hadn't really been lived in, although it was 
obvious that everything was well used. Shampoo spotted 
several patches on the various pieces of furniture, and 
the rug was well worn. Still, the house seemed to lack the 
vibrance of life.  
 
Looking around, Shampoo spotted the large garden just in 
back of the house. There, at least, life seemed to thrive, 
as a riot of fruits and vegetables fought for the small 
space allotted to them, all carefully pruned and taken 
care of. Nodoka brought some tea in, and as they all took 
their respective cups, an awkward silence filled the room, 
no one sure where to begin.  
 
Finally Ranma, always the impatient one, spoke first. 
"Well, ah.. it sure is good to see you again mom, I've 
ah... really missed you." 
 
"Yes, I came by the Tendos a couple of times to see if you 
were there, but every time you were gone on another 
training trip." Nodoka let out a soft sigh. "I'm so glad 
you've finally returned to me, every bit the man your 
father promised!" she said, beaming at him once more. 
 
However, Ranma looked even more uncomfortable at the 
mention of the Tendos. Unconsciously, Shampoo scooted a 
tiny bit closer to him, wishing there was something she 
could do to ease his anxiety. Still, she had been 
introduced as his "friend", so she would only  
play that part.  
 
Quietly, a tiny voice in the back of her mind asked her if 
maybe that's all she really was to him, but she quickly 
squashed it. 
 
"I uh... I know you came to visit the Tendos mom... I was 
uh... kinda... there." Ranma finally finished in a small 
voice. 
 
Nodoka's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "What? How could 
you have been there the whole time? I certainly never saw 
you there." 
 
Ranma opened his mouth to speak, and Shampoo was pretty 
sure she had a good idea what he was about to say, and she 
figured she'd better save him before he let his mouth get 
him in any more trouble.  
 
"Ah, excuse me, Saotome-sama?" Both the Saotomes looked at 
her in surprise as she spoke for the first time. Shampoo 
felt her mouth go a little dry as Nodoka gazed at her, 
realizing that any mistake she made now could permanently 
separate her and Ranma. "But really think Ranma start tell 
at beginning." Silently Shampoo cursed herself as her 
ability to speak Japanese fluently deserted her right when 
she needed it most. 
 
Nodoka looked back at Ranma. "Yes, dear, maybe you should  
start at the beginning." 
 
Ranma looked fearfully at Shampoo, wondering if she really 
meant he should tell *everything*. Shampoo gave him a 
slight nod, as if reading his thoughts, and he sighed, Mom 
was definitely not going to like this story. 
 
"Well, you remember that we went to a place called 
Jusenkyo..." Ranma began. 
 
Half an hour later, his mother was looking at him in 
stunned horror, Shampoo looked like she was trying to make 
herself very small over at her side of the table, and 
Ranma was just finishing. "So you see, Pop refused to let 
me come home, cause he was scared of you, and Shampoo 
convinced me that we didn't need him anymore, 'cause he 
hasn't really taught me anything for along time now. And  
well... here we are."  
 
Silence descended on the room 
 
Nodoka gave a little gasp, then finally regained her 
voice. "You, you mean to tell me that *you* are Ranko??" 
 
Ranma nodded slowly, picking up his now-cold tea and 
pouring it over himself. The transformed girl straightened 
her clothes a bit, then looked up at her mother half 
fearfully. "Uh, h-hi mom...." 
 
It was too much for Nodoka. Staring at her only child, 
watching his manly features blurring and resetting as 
feminine while his body shrunk... her mind gave out. Eyes 
rolling back into her head, she passed out. 
 
Ranma managed to catch her, and together she and Shampoo  
moved her into her bedroom, making her comfortable. 
 
"Well Ranma, that could have gone a lot worse..." Started  
Shampoo, trying to put on brave face. 
 
"Yeah, and it could have gone a lot better too." Ranma sat 
down on a chair next to her mother. "I don't know 
Shampoo... maybe this wasn't such a good idea... what if 
she forces me to commit seppuku?" 
 
Shampoo made a dismissive gesture. "Che... She won't. You 
saw how happy she was to see you. She might not be exactly 
happy about your curse, but I seriously doubt she'd force 
you to kill yourself!" Shampoo looked away for a second. 
When she continued, her voice was much less confident. 
"Ranma... did you really mean what you said about me? When 
you tell story? You make it sound like great-grandmother 
and I some kind of monster..." 
 
Ranma looked up, concerned. While telling the story, he 
had sort of forgotten that Shampoo was still there. "Uh... 
oh...um... well, you see..." finally Ranma gave up trying 
to find the diplomatic approach, she felt like she'd just 
fought a long, difficult battle, baring her soul to her 
mother like that, and she didn't feel up to blunting her 
words for Shampoo. "Shampoo... you're not a monster,  
but you *did* do a lot of awfully mean things to me. I'm 
sorry if I hurt you telling it like I did, but it was the 
truth. If its any consolation, I do like you a lot more 
now." 
 
Shampoo gave a small sniff, trying to fight back her 
tears. She had known that a lot of the things that she and 
her great-grandmother had done had hurt Ranma, but not 
that bad... the way he had told it, it didn't sound like 
they had ever had any good encounters... Could Ranma 
really have hated her that much? She been so sure that 
he'd secretly enjoyed some of their time together, when 
she'd hugged him or kissed him. 
 
Getting a hold of her emotions, Shampoo gave a small sigh, 
before turning back to Ranma. Well, that just meant that 
she'd have to work that much harder to be worthy of her 
love. 
 
Ranma watched her struggle with her emotions before 
finally putting on a strong face and facing her again. She 
felt sorry for Shampoo, she wanted to tell her that it 
wasn't that bad, but she just couldn't. Anything she said 
would only make her think that she was in love with her, 
and she wasn't... was she? It felt awfully bad to see  
her hurt like that.... 
 
She was saved from following that line of thought, 
however, as her mother began to stir. Turing back to her, 
Ranma-chan looked at her in concern as she slowly opened 
her eyes. As they came to focus on her, Nodoka had a 
puzzled look on her face. "Ranko? What are you doing here? 
I just had the strangest dream..." 
 
Ranma flinched at being called "Ranko", cursing her 
stupidity in not turning back to male. "No mom, it wasn't 
a dream, it's me, Ranma." 
 
"Ranma? Ranma!" Nodoka sat up straight in the bed, pulling 
back from him/her a bit. Slowly, her calm returned as she 
came to grips with the situation. Clearing her throat, she 
started again in a gentler voice. "Ranma, this curse makes 
things... complicated. The actual curse changes little, 
but how I've seen you act while in your... current form is 
less than manly. " Ranma blanched at that, fear growing in 
her eyes. Nodoka, however, continued. "Most notably the 
fact that you lied to me repeatedly, hiding behind your  
curse. That's very unmanly." Ranma began to look 
desperate, afraid her worse fears were about to come true. 
"However, as your father is obviously responsible for 
your... inadequate upbringing, I'm not going to force you 
to commit seppuku." Ranma breathed a great sigh of relief, 
as did Shampoo, though she hadn't realized she'd been 
holding her breath. 
 
"Mother..." Ranma started. 
 
"Still, despite the story you told me about how Ukyo 
tricked Akane into kicking you out of the Tendo's house, 
your engagement to her is a matter of family honor and 
must be upheld. You and I  will go back there tonight and 
explain it to them, and we will make arrangements for you 
to be married to Akane as soon as possible. This fiancee 
fiasco has gone on far too long." 
 
Ranma looked at his mother in shock, ready to protest. 
Shampoo, however, looked at her in horror, though Nodoka 
didn't see it. This was exactly what she had dreaded, and 
she felt icy fingers grip her heart, begging her to snatch 
Ranma and run far away, or challenge Nodoka for Ranma's 
hand, ANYTHING to stop what was happening in front of her.  
 
She couldn't do it though. As much as she wanted to, she 
knew this was the best thing for Ranma, this was why she 
had brought him back to his mother, now she had to trust 
in his mother's wisdom, no matter what her own feelings. 
Still, it hurt. It hurt more than she thought she could 
bare. She felt Ranma's eyes search her, and she quickly 
buried her feelings, putting on a brave smile. She would 
be there for her, she had to be. It was going to take all 
Ranma's strength to apologize and patch things up with 
Akane. 
 
Seeing her son's gaze, Nodoka turned and regarded Shampoo.  
"Shampoo, Thank you for bringing my son home to me. 
However, I'm afraid I can't let you stay, there is no room 
for you here and I can't afford a houseguest anyway. I am 
sorry. Be sure to let us know where you settle so that we 
can send you a wedding invitation." Nodoka's gaze was not 
exactly hostile toward her, but it was definitely less 
than friendly, which Shampoo could understand after 
Ranma's version of their history together.  
 
Reluctantly, Shampoo nodded. Standing and giving a bow to  
Nodoka. She started to leave, then her eyes fell on Ranma. 
The red head was looking at her with an expression she 
couldn't fathom. I have to be strong for him, she thought. 
Quickly, Before she could think about what she was doing, 
she walked over and embraced Ranma-chan tightly, feeling 
the smaller girl initially tense up as she always did, but 
gradually accepting the hug. She held her tightly for a 
few moments, wanting that embrace, possibly the last she  
would share with Ranma, to convey so much... As she drew 
back, a tear in her eye, Ranma had a shocked look on her 
beautiful face, apparently trying to understand her own 
feelings. Then, forcing a smile, Shampoo bowed to them 
both again and left. 
 
Shampoo stood on the porch for a few minutes after closing 
the door behind her, struggling to keep the despair she 
felt from overwhelming her. She had known this was 
coming... after all, she had given up her claim to Ranma, 
so she had known that one day he would go his own way and 
she'd have to go hers, right? That annoying voice in the 
back of her mind screamed "NO" at her, but she ignored it. 
She could have her own life now, a life without Ranma... 
maybe she could meet someone else, someone who'd love  
her like she loved Ranma.... 
 
Shampoo clenched her fist. She would go and make a life 
for herself... just not yet. With that, she sprang on to 
the roof, waiting to see Ramna one last time. 
 
*** 
 
Ranma didn't know what to think about going back to the 
Tendos... one part of her wanted to leap for joy, hoping 
that her mother would set everything straight, but another 
part of her felt that it was very wrong... it just wasn't 
time. She looked over to Shampoo, to see what her take was 
on this was... but she wasn't prepared for what she read 
in Shampoo eyes. It was as if Shampoo was standing at the 
cliff again, that same look of terror and pain. It hurt 
Ranma just to see it, even though she knew this time it 
wasn't her fault. The look was gone in an instant though, 
replaced by a neutral, calm, and serious face, but Ranma 
could still see Shampoo struggling to control her emotions 
beneath the mask she had just erected. Nodoka, following 
Ranma's gaze, turned to face Shampoo.  
 
"Shampoo, Thank you for bringing my son home to me. 
However, I'm afraid I can't let you stay, there is no room 
for you here and I can't afford a houseguest anyway. I am 
sorry. Be sure to let us know where you settle so that we 
can send you a wedding invitation." 
 
Shampoo sullenly nodded, obviously not wanting to leave. 
Ranma almost said something, wanting to ask her to stay... 
but Ranma's mother had just asked her to leave, and Ranma 
just didn't feel right about going against her mother's 
wishes at that moment. This was all too new, and she 
didn't want to lose the fragile bond she'd only just begun 
to build with Nodoka. 
 
Shampoo got up, gave a bow to his mother, then walked over 
to him. Ranma didn't know what to expect... a slap for not 
asking her to stay? A kiss? The simple hug came as a 
surprise to her though, it was just so unlike Shampoo to 
give anything in moderation. The hug was more that just a 
simple embrace though, it seemed like she was holding on 
to him for dear life, then slowly letting go. Ranma  
had no idea how to react to that thought, and as she 
pulled back she had tears in her eyes.  
 
Ranma had wanted to say something then too, but she was 
gone before Ranma could form a coherent thought. She had 
gotten so used to Shampoo being at her side for the last 
couple of weeks, that having her suddenly gone, with such 
a sense of finality, that it was like she was missing a 
limb. Numbly, Ranma looked over at her mother. 
 
Nodoka was watching him intently, or rather her. "Ranma, 
trust me, this is for the best. That girl would only 
distract you from doing your duty to your family by 
marrying Akane. Now come along, lets get you changed back 
into a more manly form." 
 
Ranma felt a little bit better after hearing her mother's 
words, but something still felt decidedly wrong about this 
whole situation. She didn't know how she had thought it 
would be, but somehow having Shampoo suddenly ripped out 
of her life hadn't been part of her future vision. 
Something about that thought nagged at her, wanting  
her to examine it closer, but she didn't have time. Her 
mother was leading her to the kitchen and asking her more 
questions about her travels, and Ranma didn't have time to 
consider it. 
 
*** 
 
Ukyo sat on the roof of the house across from the Tendo 
dojo, watching dinner progress inside. Her ever-so-
wonderful plan had apparently worked almost exactly as she 
had planed, as Ranma was no longer eating at the Tendo's 
table. Ukyo cursed herself for being so stupid, for not 
seeing the signs earlier. Ranma didn't love her, and he 
never had. A darkness seemed to well up within her at that  
thought, like some tangible demon waving images of those 
last few horrible moments in her face, showing her over 
and over again the look of betrayal on Ranma's face as he 
left her.... 
 
Putting her head in her hands, Ukyo let out a deep sob. 
After a few minutes she managed to control her tears once 
more and looked back to the Tendo's dinner table. This 
wasn't the first time since Ranma had left she'd watched 
them eat dinner, but this time she had a different purpose 
than just verifying that her strategy had worked... She 
had to set things right. It didn't matter that Ranma  
would never forgive her now... never love her....  
 
No, she thought, I will not think like that anymore, I 
can't help Ranma if I'm too busy grieving. 
 
Standing up, she watched Akane head up to her room to do  
homework. With a leap and a bound, she soon sat just 
outside Akane's window, trying to muster enough courage to 
go in. Finally she got to her feet, knocking gently on the 
window. Inside, Akane glanced up from her homework, 
focusing on Ukyo. Anger begin to swell in Akane's eyes as 
they locked with Ukyo's. Ukyo desperately wished she could 
at least take a step back to get out from under that 
penetrating gaze, but there was nowhere to go up  
on the thin ledge where she stood.  
 
With two long strides, Akane threw open the window, but 
she placed herself in such away that Ukyo couldn't enter.  
 
"Uh, Akane, I wanted to..." 
 
Ukyo never got a chance to finish. Akane gave a small 
guttural yell of rage. "Ukyo you bitch! How _dare_ you 
come back here! Isn't Ranma enough for you? I never want 
to see either of you again!" 
 
This was going a lot worse that Ukyo had expected. She'd 
hoped to at least be given a chance to say a few words. 
"No! Akane! Wait!" 
 
But it was too late. Akane balled up her fist, preparing 
to throw a tremendous punch. "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!" 
and with that she let loose. Normally Ukyo would have no 
problem dodge one of Akane's wild punches, but this time 
she didn't even try. Perhaps she deserved it, she thought, 
Maybe if she let Akane hit her, the violent girl wouldn't 
go so hard on Ranma... While Ukyo was considering why she 
should or shouldn't block the incoming punch, the punch 
connected solidly with Ukyo's jaw and sent her flying. 
With a small "Hmph" of triumph, Akane slammed shut the  
window and went back to her homework. 
 
Ukyo landed about a block away, smashing hard into a wall.  
Dazed, she lay slumped against the wall, trying to gather 
her wits. She couldn't believe the amount of anger Akane 
seemed to hold within her, it just didn't seem possible 
for anyone to be so hate-filled, and she hadn't done 
anything to alleviate it. Through the haze of pain though, 
one thought kept echoing in her mind: What have I done... 
what have I done.... 
 
*** 
 
Nodoka kept her posture straight and severe as she and her 
son walked toward the Tendo dojo. Ranma was following a 
little bit behind her, trying not to look worried. 
 
Nodoka's calm demeanor was only a projection, however. 
Inside she was outraged that her dreams had been dashed 
so. Her son had obviously not been taught proper honor, 
and all her sacrifice had been for nothing. One thought 
kept her going, however. If she could just get him to 
uphold family honor and marry Akane, then part of her 
dream would be salvaged. Then she could begin rectifying 
his lax view of tradition. She would make sure he learned  
his duty, she simply could not accept him as her son if he 
did not. If he couldn't uphold the family honor, then 
there was only one way for him to redeem it... seppuku. 
After all, that was the honorable thing. 
 
"Ano... Mom?" Ranma said, stopping behind her. 
 
Nodoka stopped, then slowly turned to face him. It wasn't 
that she was displeased with how he had turned out, but 
she had given up ten years of her life for the *perfect* 
son, and now to see that he clearly wasn't... It made all 
she had gone through seem like a waste. Well, she wouldn't 
let it be. If Ranma couldn't become the man she'd always 
envisioned, she'd just have to take steps to ensure that 
honor was maintained. Honor was everything. 
 
"What is it, Ranma dear?"  
 
"Uh, I'm not so sure this is such a good idea, going to 
visit the Tendos unexpected... shouldn't we have called 
first or something?" Ranma replied, not meeting her gaze. 
 
No, thought Nodoka, you are not going to destroy my 
dreams, not after all you've taken from me. Inwardly she 
seethed that her son would ever question his mother. *She* 
had certainly never questioned her parents, that just 
wasn't proper. Parents had to be respected and listened to 
at all time. However, the only sign of her displeasure 
that reached her face was a slight creasing of her brow. 
 
"Now Ranma, we discussed this. Manly men don't skulk and 
hide from confrontations, and you are a manly man, aren't 
you?" Ranma nodded. "Good, then let us continue." 
 
Nodoka faced forward again and begin proceeding at a 
stately pace, just fast enough that you couldn't walk 
casually and still keep up. After all, it wouldn't do to 
doodle. Ranma stared at his feet for a moment more, then 
quickly caught up.  
 
Nodoka felt like something just wasn't right here. 
Silently she wondered if this really even was her son, 
after all, her son should be the pinnacle of honor, and 
should have never left his father, as this boy had. And to 
top it off, this "Ranma" even showed himself to be able to 
change his form... What if this was just an impostor,  
using her?  
 
No, Nodoka thought, he couldn't have faked the emotion she 
felt between them when they'd first hugged. Still, she'd 
have to keep an eye on him.... 
 
*** 
 
Shampoo grew more concerned with each passing moment as 
she watched the confrontation between Ranma and his mother 
on the street. Things were definitely not going as she'd 
thought. The comment Nodoka made about Ranma's manliness 
especially disturbed the ex-amazon... Could it be that she 
was still taking that seppuku pact seriously? Shampoo 
didn't think even Cologne would be so cold as to force a 
family member, one of her own flesh and blood to kill 
themselves... though Shampoo hadn't thought she was  
capable of kicking her own flesh and blood out of the 
tribe either.  
 
Ranma had told her once that he had learned most of what 
he knew about honor from his mother, and Shampoo knew how 
much honor meant to him. Was it possible that his mother 
was even more strict about honor than he was? If so, Ranma 
could be in serious trouble. Feeling even more like 
something was wrong with this whole situation, and cursing 
herself for even suggesting that Ranma come back to his 
mother, she silently followed the retreating pair. 
 
*** 
 
One other set of eyes followed the progress of mother and 
son down the street. From the roof of a nearby building 
Ukyo sat regarding the pair, wondering what the heck was 
going on. Ranchan had once told her why he could never go 
near his mother, and now to see them together, Ukyo didn't 
know what to think.  
 
Had she driven him to this? Forced him to risk death by 
going to his mother after being kicked out of the Dojo? 
What if his mother found out about his curse and forced 
him to commit seppuku? It would all be her fault! Ukyo 
felt her stomach twisting into a knot. She had had no idea 
what a Pandora's box she'd opened when she'd started her 
plan, now it could cost Ranchan his life!  
 
Feeling sick to her stomach, the familiar refrain of "What 
have I done, what have I done..." echoed through her mind 
once more. Determined to do something to help Ranma, she 
decided to silently follow them. 
 
*** 
 
Ryouga sat at the dinner table long after everyone else 
had left. Over the last week of being here at the Tendos, 
he'd learned that there was one very important thing he 
had to do in order to stay here-- not move. 
 
So Ryouga sat at the table, his eyes closed, just thinking 
about the past couple of days. Eventually someone would 
lead him to his room, but until then he had plenty of time 
to think. 
 
The last couple of days had been pure bliss for Ryouga. 
While the rest of the family was rather indifferent 
towards him, Akane had come to him multiple times for 
comfort. Ryouga gave a small smile, remembering how it 
felt to hold her in his arms... For the first time he 
could remember, life seemed pretty good. 
 
It was true that he still hadn't really confessed his 
feelings for her, but he just felt the time wasn't right 
yet, Akane still wasn't completely over Ranma. Ryouga 
hoped she would quit thinking about that jerk soon, there 
was so much he wanted to tell her. For a moment he 
envisioned how it would go... He would go into her room, 
and she'd look up from her homework, at first slightly 
angry that she was interrupted, but then her expression 
would soften as she saw that it was him. He'd walk over to 
her, kneeling down by her side, and taking her hand in 
his. Then as they looked into each other's eyes, he'd say, 
"Akane, I love you, please, will you go out on date with 
me?" and joy would fill Akane's eyes, and she'd leap into 
his arms, saying "Oh Ryouga! I've always felt the same 
way, I was just never sure if you returned it! Lets skip 
dating and just get married!"  
 
Ryouga's smile threatened to engulf his face as he thought 
about it. It was perfect. With Ranma gone, nothing could 
stop him... Still, it was weird that Akane wasn't spending 
more time with him. She only seemed to seek him out when 
she was thinking about Ranma... Oh well, she probably was 
just unsure of her true feelings, he thought. Ryouga was 
patient, he knew that in time Akane would realize that she 
really loved him. 
 
The pleasant fantasy was interrupted however, as he heard 
a knock at the door. Opening his eyes, he saw Kasumi exit 
the kitchen carrying a cup of tea, calling out "I'll get 
it!" in her pleasant voice. Ryouga smiled at the thought 
of one day having her as an in-law, she was always so 
nice.  
 
Suddenly there was a crash, followed by a loud exclamation 
of "Oh my!" Ryouga was on his feet in a second, heading 
toward the door. As he rounded the corner, he saw Kasumi 
standing in front of the door hand to her mouth, the cup 
of tea she'd been carrying shattered on the floor. Then, 
as Ryouga looked past her, his gaze alighted on what had 
caused the disturbance, though he had already guessed as 
soon as he had heard Kasumi's exclamation. Only one person 
could be so horrible as to cause Kasumi fright -- Ranma. 
 
With a cry of rage, he sprung past Kasumi, going into a 
leap kick intent on destroying Ranma once and for all, 
ridding the world of his evil presence that had caused 
Akane so much pain. Never again, he vowed to himself, 
never again would he let Ranma hurt Akane. 
 
Ranma just looked up as Ryouga's foot came flying toward 
his head. He didn't even bother to put up a token defense. 
Ryouga's kick probably would have knocked him into next 
week if it had landed. However, he was stopped just short, 
as the second person in the doorway, whom he hadn't seen 
in his rage to kill Ranma, leveled a katana at his throat. 
 
"Good to see you too, Ryouga." Ranma said dryly. 
 
By this time the rest of the family had come running, and 
though Akane was glaring with undisguised hatred at Ranma, 
everyone else was focused on Nodoka.  
 
Withdrawing her katana from Ryouga's neck, she bowed to 
the Tendos. "I am sorry for coming so late at night, but 
there is a matter between our two families which must be 
dealt with. Now." 
 
Soun, slightly taken aback by the forcefulness in Nodoka's 
eyes, quickly buckled under her gaze. "Uh, yes, of course. 
Please, come this way, we'll discuss this in the dinning 
room. 
 
Everyone followed Soun in, while shooting Ranma dark 
looks. Ranma, for his part, kept his eyes fixed on the 
ground, trying not to flinch under the combined hostility. 
 
As they walked in, Ryouga positioned himself just behind 
Akane, sitting next to her as they sat around the table. 
Whatever dark plot Ranma had cooked up to get back in 
Akane's good graces, Ryouga was not going to let him hurt 
her again, and he had a feeling Akane was going to need 
him again very soon. 
 
Everyone stared expectantly at the Saotome's, and finally 
Nodoka elbowed Ranma in the side, prodding him into 
action. Eyes still focused on the ground, Ranma gave them 
all a deep bow, practically groveling before them. "I'm a 
very sorry for the pain I have caused this household. 
Please forgive me. I will do whatever I can to set things 
right." he said. 
 
Everyone just stared at him in shock, not believing that 
Ranma had just apologized... and what's more, had done it 
correctly, politely, and even sounded sincere. 
 
Nabiki, however, was not impressed. with a snort, she 
turned away from them. "And why should we forgive you? All 
you've done is steal our food, use our resources, and take 
advantage of our hospitality. Give me one good reason why 
we should forgive you." she said. 
 
The rest of the Tendos, all of which who had looked ready 
to forgive him (save Akane), quickly swiveled to face 
Nabiki, their faces hardening once more. 
 
Ranma looked desperately for a friendly face, trying to 
think of some way to allay their fears. Soun just looked 
confused by the proceedings, Akane still looked pissed, 
but then he facing him she rarely looked any other way. 
Nabiki looked indifferent as always, though she had 
already made it clear just how she felt about his  
return. Ryouga's expression varied between one of rage 
when looking at Ranma, and concern when looking at Akane. 
Of them all, only Kasumi looked sympathetic, but she also 
looked concerned at the same time, he would find no allies 
here. 
 
His mother, however, came to his rescue. "My son is sorry 
for what he has done, and as he has explained it to me, 
this is all one big misunderstanding to begin with. I 
suggest you at least hear his side of the story, I believe 
it, and I think you will as well."  
 
Nodoka's tone allowed for no argument, and once again 
everyone looked expectantly at Ranma. Slowly Ranma told 
his tale of how Ukyo tricked him, and how he was actually 
unconscious when she had kissed him. When he finished, 
Soun looked relieved, Kasumi was smiling in her blissful 
way again, while Nabiki still looked like she didn't 
believe a word of it. And Akane... Akane looked even  
madder than before. 
 
"You expect us to actually _believe_ that Ranma?! I was 
*there*! I saw it! You kissed her!" Akane said, barely 
controlling her urge to leap up and hit him with the 
nearest heavy object. 
 
Nodoka fixed her cold stare on Akane. "Akane, that's no 
way to treat your fiancee. As he explained, you couldn't 
see that he was unconscious from where you were, so don't 
be so quick to jump to conclusions." 
 
Soun broke into a wide smile. "Oh happy day!" he shouted. 
"This means that Ranma can still marry Akane!" 
 
Nodoka also seemed to relax a little, though Akane still 
looked like the first chance she got she would clobber 
Ranma. Ryouga, sitting at her side, just couldn't believe 
what was going on around him. Was Akane's father just 
going to believe that load of crap? He thought, I've got 
to do something to stop this! but what? 
 
While Ryouga tried to decide what to do, Nodoka spoke 
again. "Yes Tendo-san. That is the other matter we need to 
discuss. This engagement business has gone on long enough. 
Now that my son has return to me, I insist that they be 
married immediately." 
 
Ranma looked up sharply, his mouth opening to protest when 
he was fixed with a glare by Nodoka, and quickly thought 
better of it. He quickly resumed his staring at the floor.  
 
Akane, however, showed no such restraint. She quickly 
leaped to her feet, outraged. "No! I'm not marrying him!" 
 
Soun looked at his daughter, alarmed. "But, Akane..." 
 
"No! I'm not going to marry that two-timing hentai 
freeloader!" 
 
Soun burst into tears, "Akane, how could you do this to 
your poor father...." 
 
"Yes Akane, that is not the way for a proper woman to 
act." added Nodoka. 
 
Akane was working herself into a rage, however. "I don't 
care whether its proper! I don't love him! and I won't 
marry him!" 
 
Nodoka looked concerned at Akane's lack of manners. 
"Akane, please calm down. This really isn't a choice, its 
a matter of honor. You two have been pledged to wed, would 
you break your family's honor by refusing to uphold the 
marriage?" 
 
Akane was a bit taken aback by that. With Nodoka bringing  
family honor into it, it was no longer a simple matter to 
get rid of the engagement. 
 
Ryouga sat sullenly, feeling like an infinite number of 
arrows had just been shot through his heart. Akane forced 
to marry Ranma? he couldn't let this travesty go on! He 
_HAD_ to do something!  
 
Not knowing what he could do, but knowing that he couldn't 
just sit there, Ryouga leapt to his feet, and said the 
first thing that came to mind. "No! Akane can't marry 
Ranma, she's already agreed to marry me!" 
 
The room went deathly quiet, as everyone stared at Ryouga.  
Suddenly he realized what he'd just said... and the world 
seem to come crashing down around his ears as the blood 
rushed from his head. Somehow though, he forced himself to 
remain focused. This was it! This was his chance at last 
to save Akane, and get her for himself! 
 
Nodoka seemed to be the only one unfazed as everyone 
stared at Ryouga. "It matters not. Ranma's engagement was 
decided upon before either of them were born, and 
therefore takes precedence. It is matter of family honor 
that Akane marry Ranma." 
 
Ryouga felt like he was fighting a losing battle. Why was 
it that he only lost to Saotomes? Struggling to find some 
way to refute that claim, he just couldn't come up with 
anyway to get Akane out of this. In desperation, he just 
let his mouth go, hoping that whatever came out would be 
the right thing. "But... but... Akane and I have already 
slept together! And... and... and... Akane is carrying my  
child!" 
 
Now the silence that had prevailed since his last 
announcement of his was shattered by cries of 
"eeeeeEEEEHHHH?????" as everyone's eyes boggled. Ranma's 
fists were gripped so tight that his knuckles were white, 
and he looked ready to kill. Kasumi just smiled and said 
"congratulations!" in her cheerful manner. Akane had 
turned a bright red, her jaw hanging practically to the 
floor. Soun was unconscious, and Nabiki just looked at 
Ryouga incredulously, saying "gee sis, I never knew you 
had it in you..." though no one paid any attention to her. 
 
Nodoka was the first to recover. "I see... well then, we 
will withdraw and leave you in peace." No one moved a 
muscle as she and Ranma got up and left. 
 
All the blood seemed to leave Ryouga's face, and his knees 
went weak as what he'd just said echoed in his mind. 
Finally he turned to face Akane, trying to explain. 
 
As Ryouga turned to face her, however, Akane seemed to 
recover somewhat (though her face was still beet red) and 
without a word walked over and grabbed Ryouga by his 
collar and dragged him up the stairs to her room. Slamming 
the door shut, she whirled on him. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU 
THINKING!!!" she yelled. 
 
Ryouga staggered back against the door, trying to retreat 
from the heat of  her anger. "I... I just... wait... 
Akane, I can explain!" he said, throwing his arms up in a 
defensive posture.  
 
For once, Akane held her killer punch in check, waiting to 
see what lame excuse Ryouga was going to come up with. How 
dare he tell those lies about her! He was just as bad as 
Ranma! 
 
Ryouga finally opened one eye to see why he hadn't been 
hit yet. Seeing Akane still in a rage, but holding off 
hitting him for the moment, he lowered his arms a bit. 
Then he began struggling for an explanation himself.  
 
It was no use, he dropped his arms to his side in defeat. 
He couldn't think of a single excuse for what he had 
done... so instead he decided that it couldn't get any 
worse. After what he'd just said, nothing could stop him 
from getting kicked out. The certainty that he would never 
see Akane after this granted him a confidence like  
he'd never known, the same confidence and strength that 
keeps a man on his feet as he walks to the gallows, or so 
Ryouga imagined. 
 
"Akane. I... I love you." he said.  
 
"WHAT!?" 

This time Akane's yell was one of shock, this was  
obviously not been the answer that Akane had been 
expecting. Well, there was no turning back now. "Akane, 
I've always loved you, and... and I just couldn't bear to 
see you forced to marry that jerk Ranma." 
 
The anger seemed to drain out of Akane at his words. 
"Ryouga..." she said in a soft voice. 
 
"I'm sorry Akane... I'll leave your family in peace..." 
Ryouga started to turn to go, but Akane reached out and 
grabbed his shoulder, spinning him back to face her.  
 
"Ryouga... Thank you." Ryouga couldn't believe he'd just 
heard that. Could it be that Akane actually did care for 
him? He felt his heart start to hope a little. Akane 
continued, "Thanks Ryouga for saving me from that... 
fate." 
 
"Oh Akane..." he whispered, holding her close to him. His 
heart began to soar, at last, at last, he thought... Akane 
loves me! 
 
As he held her close though, he wasn't able to see the 
silent tears she was shedding into his chest. 
 
*** 
 
Akane watched Ryouga turn to leave, sorrow and love etched 
in his face. His words came back to her, "Akane, I love 
you." and suddenly a million small things about him seemed 
to fall in place. She couldn't believe she'd never noticed 
it before, how he always got all nervous around her, even 
back when she hadn't known he was P-chan. 
 
Then it hit her... That was why he had done what he had, 
and revealed that he was P-chan to her. Happosai had 
kidnapped her and held her hostage in a bath house, trying 
to force Ranma to model a bra for him. While the two had 
fought, Ranma had summoned up a Hiru Shoten Ha, and it had 
headed straight for Akane. Ranma, still busy with 
Happosai, hadn't been able to get to her in time, but 
Ryouga had leapt in and saved her, but as he carried her 
off, he had absently stepped in a puddle of cold water...  
and she had watched as he transformed into her P-chan.  
 
Ranma had finished with Happosai by that time (not that 
he'd beat him, but the old leach had gotten distracted and 
Ranma had booted him into the stratosphere.) and had come 
running. Akane, still being tied up, had never been so 
pissed in her life as she struggled to kill P-chan even 
through her bonds. Ranma, seeing what had happened, had 
picked both of them up and carried them home, then  
at the same time he changed Ryouga back, he untied 
Akane.... 
 
Akane still felt a little ashamed of how she had treated 
him after that, Ryouga had spent a few days in the 
hospital because of her reaction, but she had to admit 
that he had saved her. At the time she had thought it was 
just stupid of him, that he had rushed in to save her just 
because he hadn't wanted to lose his sleeping partner, but  
now she saw that he had really loved her...  
 
As Ryouga got out of the hospital, Ranma had explained to 
Akane (in a rare moment of kindness) that Ryouga had never 
had anyone care for him before, and that when Akane had 
held him, the lost boy had just wanted to keep that 
affection, and that was why Ryouga hadn't told her. She 
had grudgingly forgiven Ryouga after that, and Ranma also 
explained (after getting a few lumps himself) why he 
hadn't told her himself. Ryouga had avoided her for  
sometime after that incident, but when she saw him again 
she had made it clear that, though she wasn't happy about 
what he had done, she would forgive him. Ryouga had gone 
ecstatic over that, in ways that only now made sense to 
her, and he and Ranma had gotten into a fight again, and 
basically everything had gone back to normal. 
 
Still, she had always just thought of him as one more of 
Ranma's eccentric friends, but now, to hear this... Ryouga 
_had_ always been such a dependable person, always helping 
out, always there for her to talk to when Ranma made her 
especially upset... She couldn't just let him walk out of 
her life now. 
 
Suddenly Akane realized she'd had missed what Ryouga was 
say, and that he was turning away from her, preparing to 
leave. No! Don't you leave me too! She thought. Quickly 
she reached out and grabbed him, spinning him back to face 
her. "Ryouga..." What could she say? All she knew was that 
she needed him to stay. With Ranma gone, he was the only 
one there to provide her with any comfort. Finally, she 
decided that she had to at least thank him for keeping her 
family from forcing her into marriage. "Thank you." 
 
Ryouga's eyes seemed to light up at that. "Thank you for 
saving me from that... fate." She finished. 
 
Ryouga, emotion choking his voice, whispered "Oh Akane..."  
and drew her to him, holding her close. This just didn't 
feel right to Akane though, this wasn't how it was suppose 
to be. Ranma had never held her like this... Ranma had 
never told her he loved her. Baka, she cursed herself, 
hadn't she already proved that a million times over? 
Still, it still hurt so much to think that she had...  
had loved him and he'd never returned the feeling. 
 
Slowly she dried her tears on Ryouga's shirt. Maybe she 
could love Ryouga, Ryouga was twice the man Ranma was 
anyway, always willing to be there for her, never fighting 
with her, and *he* had told her he loved her. Yes, she 
didn't need Ranma anymore. Still, they needed to go clear 
this mess up with her family, it wouldn't do for them to 
think she'd been seeing Ryouga on the side. 
 
*** 
 
Ranma followed his mother out the front gate of the 
Tendos. Everything was wrong, he just couldn't figure out 
how things had gotten so completely out of hand. He 
clenched his fists in impotent rage, thinking of Ryouga 
and Akane... together... It sent a shiver down his spine. 
It couldn't be true, could it? Akane and Ryouga had 
certainly slept together when Akane thought Ryouga was 
just a pig. but after she had found out? The idea seemed 
incomprehensible to Ranma, and yet... Akane _had_ forgiven 
Ryouga awfully fast... Ranma shook his head. It was truly 
over now, Akane was pregnant and he would never get her  
back.  
 
Ranma felt bitter tears well in his eyes at that thought. 
He had always held some hope that some how, he'd be able 
to get back with Akane, but now that was impossible. It 
hurt more than he'd ever thought possible, especially to 
think that, in the end, Ryouga had beat him after all. 
 
No, that's not it, he realized. It didn't matter that 
Ryouga had won Akane's heart, it was that Akane didn't 
love him. He felt sorrow begin to enter his heart as he 
thought about how much Akane had come to mean to him, yet 
he'd never been able to tell her how he felt... Of course, 
he'd never really known how he felt till now. And now it 
was too late. Akane loved Ryouga, not him.  
 
Trying to swallow that bitter pill of truth while keeping 
back tears proved to be a difficult feat, and as Ranma 
struggled to come to grips with this new reality, Nodoka 
led them back toward the house. 
 
*** 
 
Nodoka felt cold all over, like some winter chill was 
blowing through her heart. Damn these horrible children 
and their lack of respect! she thought to herself. How 
*dare* they mock the values that had kept the Saotome line 
strong from centuries, the same virtues and traditions 
that had allowed her to struggle through so many difficult 
times. Now it seemed that all that she had believed in was 
being thrown in her face, her son hadn't even been manly  
enough to keep his fiancee, and she would not let this 
travesty continue. She had been forced to live alone for 
ten long years, and there was no way she was going to let 
a failure ruin the long and illustrious line. 

There was just no way this could be her son. Yet why would 
someone want to impersonate her manly son? Nodoka tried to 
fathom some motivation... She remembered that one time 
when she had visited the Tendos, they had told her how, in 
his many travels, Ranma had picked up a few enemies, 
people who were jealous of his abilities. Perhaps it was 
one of these, Nodoka thought, someone trying to ruin her 
families good name! Yes, that must be it! She thought. 
 
Suddenly, she whirled on Ranma, stopping the boy in his 
tracks as he backed up a step, startled at her sudden 
change in demeanor.  
 
"Ranma, you disappointed me greatly today." she said, 
watching as terror began welling in her son's eyes. "You 
and your father swore that when you left me, you would 
return as a true man amongst men. Well, why then are you 
not manly enough to even keep your own fiancee?" 
 
Ranma took another step back, looking around as if seeking 
escape. He began gibbering, trying to find something that 
would make his mother satisfied that he was manly. "uh.. 
I-I... that is... " 
 
Pathetic,  Nodoka thought. There was just no way this 
could be her son. No, *her* son was a man amongst men, 
this was just some impostor, she was sure of it. Well, she 
would see just how far this impostor would take his act. 
And if it really was her son, than he would be honorable 
enough to redeem the family's lost honor. 
 
"You have dishonored the Saotome family, you lied to me, 
you failed to honor the marriage arranged for you, and you 
cannot even face your own mother without gibbering. 
Obviously you are not the man amongst men I was promised 
would return to me, therefore, in order to regain the 
honor of the Saotome family, you must commit seppuku, 
tomorrow at dawn." 
 
All the color drained from Ranma's face. Nodoka truly did 
feel sorry for him, it can't be easy taking one's life 
now, when he was just reaching his prime years, but honor 
must prevail over all, or all is for nothing, she thought.  
 
"I will await you in the garden at sunrise, and there you 
can redeem the honor of our family once and for all, your 
spirit free from dishonor as you travel to the next life." 
With that, the matriarch of the Saotome clan turned and 
walked home, leaving her son behind. 
 
*** 
 
Ranma just watched his mother's back retreating from him, 
unable to come to grips with the sudden, final, turn 
things had taken. Slowly he felt tears begin to roll down 
his cheeks, tears he had fought his whole life, held in 
check by his fight to be a "man amongst men". But he could 
hold them back no longer. All the pain, all the suffering 
he had endured was nothing, he had failed his mother, and 
now reality was crashing down around his ears. 
 
Slowly he slumped to his knees, feeling the first drops of 
rain triggering his changes. But she didn't care, the 
tears just kept coming, pouring down her face as she saw 
over and over again the look of disappointment in her 
mother's face as she told him that she was not a manly... 
and that she had dishonored her family.
 
As that image faded, the pain only increased. Clutching 
her stomach, Ranma-chan fell on her side, balling into her 
arm, thinking of all the things that she'd never be able 
to do, never be able to tell, never make up with Akane, 
never discover how she felt about Shampoo, never talk with 
Ukyo.... 
 
Crying in anguish, Ranma slowly picked herself off the 
ground and ran. She had no idea where she was going, but 
she had to keep going, exhaust herself totally so that she 
wouldn't be able to feel the pain anymore.... 
 
*** 
 
Shampoo felt horror nearly overwhelming her as she 
listened to Nodoka's speech, not believing this was 
happening. As Nodoka walked away, and Ranma fell to his 
knees, Shampoo felt like she would throw up. Everything 
she'd thought was wrong, horribly wrong. 
 
Why? Why? she wanted to scream. Why can I never do 
anything for Ranma that turns out right? she screamed to 
herself. She tried to think of some way for Ranma to get 
out of this, but it was like her mind had locked up in 
terror of the events going wrong around her. This wasn't 
how it was suppose to be! This wasn't supposed to  
happen... she slumped down behind the bushes she was 
hiding behind miserably.  
 
No, she thought. I must be strong for Ranma, he'll set 
things right, he, always does. However, just as she was 
about to go to him, the rain began. Looking down at her 
cat form, Shampoo cursed every god she knew. This was the 
worst possible moment for her to be a cat, in this form 
she couldn't even approach Ranma, much less try to comfort 
her.  
 
Watching Ranma-chan run off into the distance, Shampoo  
screamed her frustration as best she could with her small 
lungs. 
 
*** 
 
Ukyo hugged her knees to her chest, rocking back and 
forth, tears streaming from her eyes. "All my fault, all 
my fault, all my fault!" the mantra pounded through her 
mind, making her want to curl up in a small ball and just 
close her eyes forever. It would be so easy, she thought, 
just close her eyes, pretend she hadn't heard what she'd 
heard, and dream of her and Ranma together forever, forget  
this horrible place where her Ranchan was going to die.... 
 
She gave a small wail at that thought. No, no surely he 
would figure some way to get out of this! Ranchan always 
won, he *couldn't* lose now! she just had to have faith in 
him. Forcing herself to get to her feet, she looked back 
over the roof, hoping that she could go and comfort Ranma, 
but it was too late, he was already disappearing into the 
distance. 
 
*** 
 
Ranma-chan ran and ran, but no matter where she went, the 
pain was still there. Every one of her muscles felt like 
it was on fire, but still she ran on. Nothing made sense 
anymore, surely this couldn't be happening, mothers didn't 
just do this kind of thing to their sons. 
 
Finally Ranma could run no more, and when she finally came 
to a stop, breathing hard, she stood in front of her 
mother's home. How she had come here, she had no idea, but 
seemingly fate would not allow her to just run away from 
this. She *had* to redeem her honor. Honor meant 
everything to her, just as it did to her mother.  
Without her honor, everything she did was a lie. How could 
she face another monster if she couldn't face this? If she 
didn't do this, her family would be forever disgraced. 
Breaking with her father had been nothing, everyone knew 
that he knew no honor, but her mother... her mother's 
morals had always been a guiding light to Ranma, if she 
betrayed those rules now, not only was every one of  
her beliefs in jeopardy, but it meant that she was 
thumbing her nose at everything that had kept the family 
together, that had made her what she was. 
 
Trying not to think about what obeying her mother and 
redeeming the family honor meant would happen to her, 
Ranma-chan went inside.  
 
*** 
 
Shampoo watched as Ranma-chan slowly climbed the steps of 
the house. Damn her, and damn her honor too, thought 
Shampoo. She had known that Ranma would come back, though 
secretly she had hoped that Ranma would just keep running 
and never return. If she did that, it meant that Shampoo 
could go and find her, that she was alive. But Shampoo 
also knew how much honor meant to Ranma. If Ranma-chan had 
not come back to face her fate, it would be like she was 
giving up everything she had lived for up until that  
point.  
 
Shampoo understood her reasoning, but she certainly didn't 
agree with it. She *HAD* to find a way out of this mess. 
She had gotten Ranma into it by sending him home, now she 
had to get him out of it. Ranma always did the right 
thing, but this time Shampoo knew that what he considered 
the right thing was to keep his family's honor, and 
Shampoo just could not allow that course of action.  
 
Screw honor, she thought. While honor was a nice luxury, 
and it had helped her make friends, be a better person, it 
was not worth the price of one's life! Shampoo didn't care 
if it made her a bad person, she *would not* let Ranma 
die. His honor and hers be damned, it just wasn't worth 
his life.  
 
But how? she wondered. Ranma would fight her if she tried 
to stop him outright, and she had no illusion about her 
ability to beat him. She might be able to hold him off 
during sparring, but in a real battle there was no 
question who would win. Could she convince Nodoka? No, the 
matriarch had already shown that she would not be budged, 
and Shampoo couldn't just attack her, she was only going 
to be Ranma's second, and Ranma would probably go through 
with it even if his mother wasn't there.
 
Damn this honor thing, she thought again. Honor was trying 
to take away the person she loved more than life itself, 
the one who had given her life meaning... Wasn't honor 
suppose to uphold life? To protect those weaker than 
yourself, that had been Ranma's first lesson. Ranma had 
never, in his entire life, hit someone who didn't  
deserve it, he had never attacked anyone without 
provocation, all because of his honor, and it was that 
same honor that Shampoo wanted him to discard. Shampoo 
knew he would sooner die himself than kill an innocent, 
how could she ask him to do the equivalent of that by not 
killing himself? 
 
Would sooner die than kill an innocent... that thought 
stuck in Shampoo's mind. Slowly a plan began to form, one 
which she knew would save Ranma's life... but at what 
cost? If she went through with it, Ranma would almost 
certainly hate her. It didn't matter, she realized. 
Nothing else mattered. Ranma would live, that was all 
there was to it. 
 
*** 
 
Ranma, having changed back to his male form, lay in the 
darkness of his room, staring up at the ceiling. His 
mother had locked herself in her room, and he knew she 
would not emerge until sunrise....  
 
Ranma shied away from thinking about what would occur at  
sunrise. It didn't matter, he thought. All that mattered 
was honor, as his mother had taught him. He would go down 
and do what he had to do in order to preserve the family 
honor.  
 
Still, despite his brave thoughts, he was trembling 
beneath the sheets. Ranma did not want to die, especially 
not now, when he had so much left to do, so much 
unresolved... But this was the way it had to be. Things 
would probably be better off without him anyway, he 
thought. This way Akane would be able to marry whomever 
she wanted, Ryouga would finally have his wish, though 
Kuno would probably be saddened to hear that his pig- 
tailed girl was never coming back, but then Ranma could 
care less what Kuno thought. And Shampoo, Shampoo 
could.... 
 
Ranma stopped that line of thought, images of the 
beautiful exotic Chinese girl filling his mind, seeing her 
smile as he came to pick her up for a date during the 
instant nanniichuan incident, being hugged by her at the 
beach, even though they were both girls, the way the  
sunlight glinted off her hair as she walked away 
victorious after dumping him in the pond that time 
sparring.... 
 
Ranma felt his resolve slipping, as tears began to cascade 
down his cheeks. He'd never get to see her again, never 
get to talk with her, and never get to find out where 
their relationship could have gone. That last part was 
what hurt the worst, the feeling that he would never get 
to know what would happen if he had stayed with her, never 
get to discover how he really felt about her, and never  
get to find out if they really could have a real 
relationship.  
 
That was what he had wanted all along, why he had pushed 
Akane away at first, why he never let himself be forced 
into an engagement. He had never had a girlfriend, never 
gotten a chance to discover what love felt like. If he had 
let his parents make those decisions for him, or anyone 
else for that matter, he would never know. And now, it 
looked like he never would anyway.  
 
It felt like the tanto blade was already working its way 
around in his innards, twisting and scraping his stomach 
around in knots. Curling into a fetal ball, Ranma clutched 
his hands over his stomach and tried to make the hurting 
stop, but nothing seemed to help. Only one thing would end 
his pain, he realized, when that tanto really did silence 
his pain forever. 
 
Lost in his thoughts, he never heard the door open, never 
sensed the presence that crept up behind him. All he knew 
was that suddenly he was wrenched from the floor and 
thrown over someone's shoulder, and that incredibly fast 
they were launch out the window and into the night. 
 
As Ranma struggled to figure out what was going on, he 
realized that he knew his assailant... It was Shampoo, he 
could tell by the purple hair bouncing on his face and the 
rather shapely... um, nevermind. 
 
Now that he was sure who it was, anger began to grow in 
him. Had Shampoo just reverted back to her amazon ways of 
kidnapping to get what she wanted? Had all her progress 
just been an act? Ranma tensed his muscles to leap out of 
her grasp, when suddenly he realized that they weren't 
moving anymore. Slowly, Shampoo stood him up, looking him 
in the eye. 
 
Shampoo seemed to be searching for something in his face, 
and apparently she found it, as her countenance began to 
fall. Ranma was pretty sure he knew what it had been... 
She had been trying to tell if he had actually intended to 
go through with it. Ranma had been aware that Shampoo had 
been following them, indeed, he had known she would as 
soon as his mother kicked her out of the house. It was 
exactly what he would have done. 
 
Silence reigned as the two stared at each other, a street 
light flickering in the background. Shampoo had brought 
him to the park, which was absolutely deserted at this 
time of night. 
 
"Shampoo, you know that I have to do this, don't try 
to..." Ranma started, but Shampoo cut him off. 
 
"Ranma, Shampoo know what you have to do. Shampoo come for  
one last lesson in honor." 
 
Ranma was a bit taken aback by that. A lesson in honor? 
What was she talking about? However, all he managed to 
choke out was "W... What?" 
 
"You hear Shampoo. Shampoo want to know, which more  
important, life or honor?" Shampoo's eyes boared into him, 
as if trying to strip away his skin and see the answer 
written underneath. Absently, he wondered why she'd 
reverted to her old speech mannerisms, but he realized 
that she was barely able to contain her emotions, and 
wasn't bothering to concentrate on her speech. 
 
Ranma felt the small amount of anger he had felt at being  
kidnapped leave him. His shoulders slumping, and he sat 
down on the bench just behind him. "Shampoo... that is not 
an easy question. It would be easy to say that life was 
more important than honor, but if one isn't willing to 
give one's life for honor, than one's commitment to 
maintain honor no matter what is moot. I was willing to 
die to protect those I fought for, those weaker than  
myself. That was a matter of honor, and so is this. I 
don't like it, goddess, I don't like it Shampoo, but what 
else can I do? I have faced death a million times before 
for my honor, and now its time to pay the price. I've 
always known that one day doing the right thing might get 
me killed, now I've just got to face it."  Ranma felt  
tears... tears he hated and had tried his whole life never 
to shed, falling down his face. His voice was shaky, but 
what he said held a deep conviction, and he knew he was 
strong enough to do this. 
 
Shampoo looked down at the ground, but she refused to give 
up. Looking back up and meeting his gaze again, her eyes 
held such a passionate fire that seemed to scream defiance 
of the world around her, as if by sheer will she could 
change what was about to happen. Ranma's heart went out to 
her, knowing that his own face had held that same look a 
million times as he went into a battles he couldn't  
hope to win... but somehow always did.  
 
Shampoo slowly reached down to her waist, where tied into 
her belt was a dagger Ranma hadn't noticed before. Slowly, 
she drew the grim blade, moonlight reflecting off its 
razor sharp edge. Holding it before her, pointed at him, 
Ranma for some reason felt very wary. 
 
"Ranma..." Her voice was cold, though her eyes still shone 
with inner fire. "I have another question for you." 
 
Ranma was getting tired of this. Shampoo could ask him all 
the questions about honor she wanted, it was not going to 
change the fact that he had to commit seppuku tomorrow. 
 
Shampoo turned the tanto so that the blade was facing her.  
"Ranma, if you die tomorrow, I will too." Ranma's eyes 
widened in shock. "Now, is it honorable to kill me as 
well?"  
 
"No, you won't do it!" Ranma leaped to his feet, desperate 
now, this just couldn't be happening. 
 
"What, you no remember that it *you* who save Shampoo from  
killing self before? Shampoo ready to do it again if Ranma 
give up on his life." Shampoo's shoulders finally slumped, 
emotion pouring out of her. "Ranma mean everything to me. 
I... I got you into this, and if my actions cause you 
death, then they will cause mine as well. Is that not the 
`honorable' way?" 
 
Ranma tried to find something, anything to say, but his 
mind was completely locked up at the horror of what was 
unfolding. Some small, detached part of his mind admired 
the trap Shampoo had lain for him, forcing him to choose 
the death of an innocent or the death of his honor, and 
everything he held dear.  
 
He was saved from having to answer though as a new voice 
spoke up. 
 
"I too, pledge that if you die tomorrow, I will follow 
you, Ranchan." said a very disheveled Ukyo, as she stepped 
from her hiding place among the bushes. Both Ranma and 
Shampoo just stared at her in shock, not knowing how to 
react. 
 
Ukyo, whose face was red and puffy from crying, collapsed 
to her knees in front of Ranma. "Please Ranma..." she was 
crying again, "Please, I was so wrong, I'm so sorry for 
what I did... please let me make it up to you! If you 
don't live to let me make it up to you through life, then 
I'll have no choice but to make it up to you by committing 
seppuku as well! Please Ranchan... I can't live knowing  
that I let you die after I betraying you! Please Ranchan,  
please..." her voice was high and nearly hysterical, but 
the look in her eyes was one of utter desperation.  
 
Shampoo seemed to have regained a little of her composure 
at the entrance of her long time rival. Looking back at 
the distraught Ranma, she walked over and helped Ukyo back 
to her feet. "Ranma, you don't have to make your decision 
now. We will wait for you at the canal, If you're not 
there by two hours after sunrise, we'll know what your 
decision was." And with that she turned her back on Ranma, 
dragging Ukyo behind her off into the park. 
 
Ranma just sat on the bench, his mind an absolute mess. He 
just couldn't think, this couldn't be happening... All the 
events of the last few days seemed so surreal, like a 
weird dream or nightmare. Picking himself up, he slowly 
walked back home. 
 
*** 

Ukyo tried to get a hold of her emotions as she felt 
herself dragged off away from the park, away from her 
Ranchan. Snarling at the girl trying to separate her and 
her love, she wrenched her arm out of Shampoo's grasp and 
leapt back, battle spatula at ready. 

How dare this girl try to take Ranchan away from her 
again, Ukyo thought, We never did get a chance to finish 
our fight.... 

Shampoo, seeing the desire for battle light in Ukyo's 
eyes, hissed at her. "Not here. Follow me!" and with that 
she sprung into the air, leaping away at a phenomenal 
rate. Ukyo had no choice but to pursue. As the girls raced 
through the night, Ukyo felt her anger fading, realizing 
that Shampoo had something besides fighting on her mind.
 
Shampoo finally came to a stop and Ukyo stood across from 
her, Ukyo's battle spatula held at ready, the moon 
silhouetting the two girls where they stood next to the 
canal. 
 
"Did you mean it, Ukyo? Would you die for Ranma?" asked  
Shampoo. 
 
Ukyo slowly nodded. "I... I know that he doesn't love me, 
but... but I just can't help it. I love him Shampoo, and I 
can't leave him. I tried, I really did, to move on, pick 
up my life and try again. I was all set to move back to my 
family in Kyoto, but I just couldn't stand that thought 
that bad blood still existed between Ranma and me. Its 
true that I wasn't planing on making that vow, I thought 
that if I could just find Ranchan and talk to him, get him 
to forgive me... I thought maybe then I'd be able to talk 
him out of this seppuku thing. Before I could get to him 
though, I saw you sprint off into the night with him. Once 
I caught up to you two, and heard what you said... It just 
seemed to make sense. Ranma would never be persuaded not 
to go through with it..." Ukyo looked down, lowering her 
spatula. "I never knew just how important honor was to 
him." 
 
"So, when you heard the final part of my plan, you just 
decided it was the only way to save him?" Ukyo nodded, and 
Shampoo sighed. "I hope you know what you are getting 
yourself into... will you go through with it... if he 
does?" 
 
Ukyo looked up sharply, thinking maybe she had misjudged  
Shampoo again if she still thought there was any danger of 
Ranma going through with it when the their lives were at 
stake as well... However, Shampoo kept her face an 
unreadable mask, and Ukyo finally had to look deep into 
herself to find the answer... Would she really give up her 
life for Ranma? Did she love him that much? 
 
For the first time she thought about actually doing it, 
taking a tanto and cutting deep into herself, feeling the 
blade slicing around in her insides... Ukyo couldn't 
suppress a shudder. Shampoo saw it too.  
 
"Ukyo... it doesn't matter. Ranma won't do it... and I am 
grateful for your support in this. He might have been able 
to rationalize my death, since it was I who sent him back 
to his mother, or he might just think I might not go 
through with it... but since we both swore, I don't think 
he'll even dare take that chance." 
 
Ukyo slowly nodded, still trying to come to grips with the 
fact that she couldn't actually conceive of going through 
with it. Looking at Shampoo though, she could see that the 
ex-amazon had meant every word of what she'd said to 
Ranma. If he died, so would she. 
 
Shampoo gave her a small smile. "Ukyo... We've never 
gotten along. But... after this, Ranma no going to be 
happy with us. Me especially. We forced him to give up his 
honor, put him in a position he could do nothing about. If 
there is one thing Ranma hate, it being forced into 
anything..." 
 
Ukyo hadn't realized that, but she could see Shampoo was 
right. Even though they were saving his life, he was not 
going to be happy about it. 
 
"Ranma is going to need all the friends he has... and we 
no can stay here any longer... Would... Would you come 
with us, Ukyo?" 
 
Ukyo's jaw dropped, and Shampoo just gave her a small 
smile. The ex-amazon probably had planned this out from 
the beginning, she thought. Ukyo just couldn't believe, 
though, that Shampoo was not only willing to travel with 
her, but was willing to share what would have been time 
with just her and Ranma!  
 
Such generosity Ukyo had just never seen from the Chinese 
girl before. As she looked over Shampoo in the darkness, 
she could see that the girl was much changed. No longer 
were there hard lines of pride etched into her face, but 
now those lines had been replaced with lines of worry, and 
sorrow. Shampoo was still gorgeous, but now she seemed to 
have a more mature beauty, as though the innocence of 
younger life had left her. Ukyo found the changes in  
her both fascinating and scary, for Shampoo to have aged 
so fast, it just didn't seem possible. Throughout her time 
in Nerima, Shampoo had been the great constant, always 
chasing after Ranma, never admitting defeat, always bubbly 
and full of enough energy and good looks to make every 
other girl envious. Now, not only did she still have her 
good looks, but the intelligence and wisdom that  
only seemed to come from intense pain.  
 
Finally closing her mouth, she nodded. It didn't matter if 
Ranma didn't love her, and never had. It didn't matter 
that now she'd have to share Ranma with Shampoo, all that 
mattered was that she would be there for Ranchan, and 
would be a part of his life. She felt like something in 
her was dying though... maybe it was her own innocence, 
gone with the knowledge that her carefree days of fighting 
in the streets of Nerima were at an end, and that they had  
ended not in the joy and happiness she had always 
envisioned, but with such pain and sorrow that it made the 
seppuku Ranma even now contemplated not look so bad.  
 
At last she raised her gaze to meet Shampoo's again, 
marveling at the Chinese girl's spirit, and realized that 
while her carefree days were over, nothing had been 
decided yet. She would still be with Ranchan, even if not 
in the way she had always expected, and that there were 
new adventures waiting just around the corner.  
 
Life was going to be anything but boring. 
 
*** 
 
As the sky began to lighten in the east, Ranma slowly got 
to his feet. He hadn't slept at all that night, but then 
no one could blame him for that. He had tried to think all 
night about what he was going to do, and his choice seemed 
obvious, but could he do it? Could he really just throw 
away his honor? But then, if he didn't, Shampoo and Ukyo 
would die, and he couldn't allow that, no matter what... 
But then, what if they were just bluffing, what if they  
had never intended to go through with it? He knew they 
were both just trying to save his life, but if his life 
was already over, would they actually go through with 
ending their own even though they'd already lost? 
 
Ranma just didn't know. He continued to mull it over as he 
stepped into the bath. Somehow, he didn't think Ukyo 
would, she just didn't seem the type. She would be deeply 
hurt by his death, but surely she was level headed enough 
not to kill herself over it. But Shampoo... she had been 
ready to do it before, and he had seen the look of intense 
determination on her face, she probably would. 
 
Standing up again and beginning to dress in the 
traditional garb, he wondered if it really mattered. He 
was just upholding his honor, if Shampoo felt the need to 
redeem her own, what concern of his was that? Maybe the 
gods would be lenient and he'd be able to meet her  
on the other side.... 
 
Slowly, stately, he stepped out into the backyard, making 
his way over to the place in the rear of the garden where 
his mother waited for him. Nodoka also looked like she 
hadn't slept at all last night, her eyes were very sad as 
she saw him walk toward her, but also proud that he would 
not let his family be dishonored. On the ground in front 
of her lay the tanto, the first rays of sun hitting it  
and making it shine with a wicked brilliance. 
 
Slowly, as if savoring every second of life, Ranma knelt 
in front of his mother, a single tear cascading down his 
cheek. Slowly he picked up the blade, pressing it against 
his abdomen. 
 
There was nothing to say, no pleading for forgiveness. If 
he had, it only would have disgraced him more. As he held 
the blade against his stomach, his mother just behind him 
raising the honor blade of the Saotome clan above her head 
for the killing strike, the world seemed to come to a 
stop. No birds chirped, no wind ruffled the air, it was as 
if the world was holding its breath, waiting for Ranma to  
go through with it, with just a simple push he knew that 
the ultra-sharp blade would bite deep into him.... 
 
Yet as the world held its breath, Ranma felt something 
stopping him, though every part of his being seemed to 
scream at him to do it, to get it over with, something 
nagged at him, something he'd always ignored, something of 
infinite value to him... his heart. Suddenly it was like 
something burst inside him, and he began trembling all 
over, realizing how close he was to death, and how  
much he wanted to live, how nothing, not honor, not the 
mother he had never known, nothing could change the fact 
that no matter how much pain it would bring, Ranma wanted 
to live. 
 
With a cry, he threw the blade from him, feeling both 
exaltation that he was going to live and horror that he 
had betrayed his family warring within him, threatening to 
rip him apart. However, a sound invaded his inner turmoil, 
a sound that seemed to capture all his attention and focus 
it to a sharp, painful point that made all other thoughts 
of honor and betrayal flee his mind. It was the gentle  
swish of a sword descending. 
 
Gathering every ounce of speed that years and years of the 
most rigorous martial arts training had given him, Ranma 
threw himself to the side, feeling burning pain rip 
through his shoulder as the blade struck home, missing 
severing his head by inches. 
 
Screaming in agony, Ranma rolled to the side, clutching 
his left arm as blood rolled down his side. Shakily 
getting to his feet, he faced his mother, her sword 
covered with his blood, as she prepared to strike again, 
her face twisted into one of rage. 
 
Leaping back out of her range, Ranma tried to hold onto  
consciousness and calm down his mother at the same time. 
"Mom, please..." 
 
Nodoka would hear none of it. "Never! You are not my son! 
My son would never have dishonored his family! My son is a 
man amongst men! He holds honor above everything!" and 
with that she charged him yet again, and he barely managed 
to dodge her lightning fast strike.  
 
Landing on the roof of the house, he looked back at her 
sadly. "I'm sorry mom... I love you." and then he was 
gone. 
 
Nodoka collapsed amid her garden, the blood from her sword  
slowly dripping on the dry earth. Tears cascaded down her 
face and dropped to mix with the small red pool. 
 
*** 

Ukyo stared at the sun as it slowly ascended higher in the 
sky, feeling panic welling within her. Shampoo sat cross-
legged next to her, the tanto resting on the ground before 
her.  
 
Anxiously Ukyo began pacing. Almost two hours had passed 
since sunrise, and still no sign of Ranchan... "Ergh!" she 
growled, barely able to contain her frustration. "I should 
have been there!" she said, talking more to herself than 
to Shampoo. "I mean, what if something's gone wrong? If 
I'd been there, I could have saved him at the last 
moment...." 
 
Shampoo continued to look straight ahead at the rising 
sun. "There would have been nothing you could have done, 
had you been there. Ranma must make own decision." 
 
"But... but where could he be? He knows where we are! He 
should have been her by now!" Ukyo was starting to get 
really scared... could Ranchan really have killed himself? 
Were they wrong about him? 
 
Shampoo finally gave a deep sigh. "It's time Ukyo, He... 
he not coming." 
 
Ukyo felt the implications of Shampoo's words sink in. 
"No! Nooooo... this can't be happening!" 
 
Shampoo gave Ukyo a scathing glance. "Get grip, Ukyo. I... 
You no have to... but, would you... be Shampoo second?"   
 
Ukyo looked back at Shampoo, shocked that she was even  
considering actually going through with this. "What! No!  
Shampoo, not you too!" tears began to well in Ukyo's eyes.  
"Please... please don't leave me all alone!" 
 
"I... I no want to die... " Shampoo said, tears in her own  
eyes. "But Ranma...." 
 
Ukyo sank down on her knees in front of Shampoo, grabbing 
her by the shoulders and shaking the Chinese girl back and 
forth. "No Shampoo! I need you! Your the only one who 
hasn't turned away from me! Please... please, stay with 
me!" 
 
Shampoo was gripped with indecision, hearing the 
okonomiaki chef's heart-felt plea. She and Ukyo had never 
been anything resembling close, but there always had been 
a sense of camaraderie between them, as they were always 
the put-out fiancees. She had been willing to follow Ranma 
in to the great unknown, but now... She had wanted Ranma 
to stay and be with her, would she now make his mistake 
and leave Ukyo alone? 
 
Shampoo realized she'd already answered her own question. 
Her heart had never felt lower, knowing that Ranma had 
been stupid enough not to accept the out she had given 
him, and now she was going to make the same mistake... 
suicide just wouldn't fix anything. 
 
"Shampoo! Wait... don't...." 
 
Both girls looked up, startled, to see Ranma slumped 
against the canal's fence, his face pale and blood soaking 
one of his shoulders. Both girl turned to him 
simultaneously, feeling joy fill their hearts. Both leapt 
to their feet in unison and ran to the injured Ranma. 
 
Ranma was in bad shape, both the girls saw as the rushed 
up to him, he had lost a lot of blood. "Come on Shampoo, 
we've got to get him to a hospital!" Shampoo nodded, and 
without giving Ranma a chance to say a word, they had him 
scooped up and were racing along the roof tops. 
 
*** 
 
Shampoo and Ukyo sat uneasily in the waiting room, waiting 
to hear news of Ranma. Shampoo was a pretty good nurse and 
had judged the injury not too severe, though he had lost a 
lot of blood and would be spending a couple of days 
recovering. Ukyo was fidgeting nervously, occasionally 
shooting glances Shampoo's way. 
 
Shampoo didn't know what to make of Ukyo at the moment. If 
it hadn't been for her, she wouldn't have waited long 
enough for Ranma to get there... She shuddered at the 
thought that she might have killed herself, only to have 
Ranma stumble up to her a few minutes later, and then 
being too weak to get himself to the hospital. More than 
ever, she was glad that she'd decided to bring Ukyo along, 
Initially she'd invited the cook just so that Ranma  
would have an extra shoulder to lean on, but now she had a 
feeling she might be needing that extra shoulder as well. 
 
Still, Shampoo had a feeling she was missing something 
about Ukyo, the way she had been acting... Shampoo just 
couldn't pin it down. Ranma was alive, that was all that 
mattered. Shampoo felt relief flood her at that thought. 
She had gambled and won, Ranma would live... still she 
couldn't help but think that there would be serious 
repercussions from what she had done. She had forced him  
into a position where he didn't have a decision, and he 
always hated that. Not only that, but she had forced him 
to give up his honor, the very essence of who he defined 
himself as. Still, as much as she was dreading his 
reaction to her meddling, she couldn't help but feel a 
giddy joy at the knowledge that Ranma was alive... the  
world just seemed a bit more beautiful today because of 
it. Even if he shunned her after this, he would be 
alive.... 
 
The nurse finally came out to the waiting room, announcing 
to the two anxious girls that they could go in and see 
Ranma now. As they entered, the doctor explained to them 
that Ranma had taken a fairly serious cut, but was okay 
after a few stitches, though he warned that Ranma's left 
arm would be a bit sore for the next couple of days. Also, 
Ranma had lost a lot of blood, so he'd have to stay in  
the hospital overnight.  

Finally the doctor left them alone with Ranma, who was 
sitting up in the hospital bed. Ukyo immediately ran over 
and threw her arms around him, crying in relief that Ranma 
would be okay. Ranma smiled sheepishly, patting her 
shoulder and generally trying to console her. Shampoo, 
however, hung back. She would get her chance with Ranma, 
she knew, but for now she was more than content to put off 
that confrontation for a few more minutes. 
 
Ukyo finally looked up at Ranma, tears of joy in her eyes.  
"Ranchan... I'm so glad you're okay! Oh Ranchan, please 
forgive me, this is all my fault... If I hadn't tricked 
Akane like that, none of this would have happened!" 
 
Ranma's brow furrowed a bit at the reminder of what Ukyo 
had done to Akane, but he couldn't stay angry with her. 
"Its all right Ucchan... You were only doing what you 
thought was right." 
 
Shampoo was relieved that he seemed to be in a forgive and 
forget mood. Stepping forward cheerfully she started to 
call out to him. "Ranma..." but as soon as she said his 
name his whole demeanor changed as he shot her a dark 
look, causing her to stop dead in her tracks. "Ranma..." 
this time a note of pleading entered her voice, as  
she saw that her fears had been correct, Ranma was just 
not going to let what she did blow over.  
 
Ranma heard Shampoo call out to him cheerfully, and he 
looked up at her coldly. He couldn't believe how neatly 
she'd trapped him, manipulated him... It left him feeling 
cold. How could she? he thought... Deep down he knew that 
she had only been trying to save his life, but he wasn't 
sure he should be grateful for that. She had taken away 
his family and left a deep scar on his honor he was not  
sure he could ever live down. However as he heard her call 
out to him a second time, this time pain and fear of his 
rejection plain in her voice, relief flooded into him. 
Seeing her again brought back thoughts he thought he would 
never get a chance to expound upon. Now he had a future to 
look forward to, and as deep as the scar in his honor was, 
he had life to look forward to. Still, he was not ready to 
forgive her just yet. Putting more steal in his voice than 
he felt, he said "Shampoo... I know why you did what you 
did, but that doesn't excuse it. You manipulated me and 
forced me into a situation that forced me to scar my honor 
and hurt my mother... how can I forgive that?" 
 
Shampoo turned her eyes to the floor, trying to hold back 
tears. Even Ranma's relatively gentle rebuke hurt far 
worse than she'd expected. Still, she knew it was nothing 
less than she deserved. 
 
Ranma watched her turn inward, as if trying to hide from 
his rebuke in plain sight. Finally though, he gave in, not 
wanting to cause her undo pain. "Yet, you did save my 
life... and I'm... grateful." he said with a smile. 
 
Shampoo glanced up sharply, hoping she'd heard correctly.  
 
"So what do I do with you, Shampoo? You saved my life, yet 
you hurt me too... I suppose I have no choice but just to 
call us even."
 
Shampoo's smile at that could have lit up the room, in a 
flash she leapt over on to the bed, giving Ranma a fierce 
hug of her own, which Ranma resisted... but not too much.  
 
Finally letting go, she looked into his eyes, "Ranma, you 
really mean it? You... you forgive Shampoo?" 
 
Ranma nodded. Shampoo seemed about to express her feelings  
about that in a more intimate way, but Ranma gently pushed 
her back. "I'm still not happy with you though. And... and 
I don't know what I'm going to do. Where are we going to 
go now?" 
 
Ukyo had released Ranma and stood off to one side as she 
watched the interaction between the two, but instead of 
feeling hostility toward Shampoo when she leaped onto 
Ranma, Ukyo only had a pensive look on her face... 
However, as Ranma began asking about what came next, she 
rejoined the conversation. "Well Ranchan, Shampoo and  I 
thought that if you didn't... you know... we could all 
maybe... travel together? Maybe start a restaurant 
somewhere or something." 
 
Ranma thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. "I 
suppose. You two really agreed to travel together?" both 
of them gave him sheepish grins. 
 
"Actually, it was Shampoo's idea..." said Ukyo. 
 
Ranma actually breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, I am glad 
to hear that you two are getting along... I had hoped... 
ah well, nevermind."  
 
Ranma looked out the window, his smile fading. "We have to 
leave this place though... there are too many memories 
here." 
 
Both Shampoo and Ukyo nodded in agreement, all of them  
thinking over the events of the past couple weeks, and how  
drastically their lives had changed. Ranma looked back at 
the two girls, his fiancee's, his friends... They'd all 
gone through so much, could they really just move on with 
their lives? 
 
Ranma hoped so, for all their sakes. For the first time, 
he began to hope that maybe the future might be better 
than now, and he was looking forward to it. It still hurt 
that his mother had turned on him, and had renounced him, 
the pain of that memory would be felt in his shoulder for 
a long time to come, and he'd always carry the scar, but 
in a way, being renounced by his mother was remarkably  
liberating. For the first time in his life, Ranma didn't 
feel like there was anything holding him down, no 
commitments he had to follow, no path decided on by 
someone else. At last, he could make his own place in the 
world. 
 
--- 
 
Epilogue: 
 
Mousse washed the tables of the Nekohanten, on last time. 
The old hag had finally sold the place, and tomorrow they 
two of them were heading back to China. Mousse cursed 
under his breath, in a truly foul mood. Not only would he 
be returning without his Shampoo but he'd be ridiculed 
even more for losing to Ranma and getting cursed.  
 
He hated it when they all laughed at him. It wasn't his 
fault he couldn't see, and there was nothing he could do 
about it. He'd studied martial arts, hoping that they 
would all be forced to quite their snickering when they 
realized he was the best in the tribe, but Shampoo had 
always beat him, so his quest had become to beat  
Shampoo, and with the added benefit of being able to marry 
her afterward. Then no one would be able to laugh at him 
anymore. 
 
But no, just when he'd finally won, when he'd finally 
proven he was better than Shampoo, that he was the best of 
all the amazons his generation, that damn Saotome had come 
in and not only stolen his bride from him, but turned her 
against the amazon laws of her birth! 
 
Anger swelled within Mousse, somehow, some way, he'd find  
away to get back at Ranma... Ranma would never live to 
laugh at him again. 
 
*** 
 
Nabiki thanked her informant at the hospital, even going 
so far as to give her a 10% increase on her normal price 
for this valuable piece of info. 
 
As she hung the phone up, however, she leaned back against 
the wall, trying to figure out just what the information 
she'd gained about Ranma and his two fiancees meant. 
Nabiki had the distinct feeling that she was missing some 
big pieces of this puzzle, and she hated that.  
 
Somehow, she was going to find out the truth.... 
 
*** 
 
Kodachi listened to the report made by her ninja spy, 
hearing how close her Ranma-sama had come to losing his 
life. That had cinched it, Ranma needed her to step in and 
take control of his life, after all, he didn't seem to be 
able to take care of himself... 
 
But how? Kodachi knew that Ranma was much better than her 
at straight out fighting... but there had to be a weakness 
in him somewhere. Dismissing her servant, she bounded off 
to her greenhouse. This would call for something truly 
special.... 
 
---------------------------------------------------------- 
 
fin 
 
Author's note: 
 
Okay, so ends the second installment of "Purple Haired 
Destiny", and I'd just like to say thanks to all the 
people who replied to the first part and made me feel like 
people actually liked my writing. Now, a few notes on this 
chapter: 
 
Well, as promised, Ukyo is mostly redeemed in this chapter 
for her actions in Chapter 1. I was actually pleasantly 
surprised that I didn't get flamed off my ass for that in 
the last chapter, but I hope all you Ukyo fans will agree 
that, while maybe she wasn't the driving force behind this 
one, she got some pretty good scenes... and she'll 
definitely be playing a big role in the next one. 
 
Let see... About Shampoo's speech. In the last chapter it 
was established that Shampoo went to school for a month 
and her Japanese improved dramatically from it, but she 
still has a tendency to slip back to her old speech 
patterns when stressed. After all, she did only go back to 
school for a month. 
 
And about Nodoka... I'm sure many people are going to jump 
on me for how harshly I portrayed her, and I'm sorry for 
that. I've read an awful lot of fics where Nodoka is 
treated very kindly, and I wanted to show her in a bit 
more harsh of light. The way I see it, any woman who is so 
stuck on tradition that she would exact such a vow and 
then allow her husband to leave for ten years with her son  
is probably too entrenched in tradition to begin with. 
Besides, I've never read a fic where she actually did 
force Ranma to commit seppuku. Oh, and in case you missed 
it, even though this is basically manga continuity, I left 
out a couple parts, like the fact that there is no Akari 
in this continuity, and Nodoka doesn't know yet. 
 
The next chapter in the series is going to be called 
"Three hearts on the road" so you can guess what its going 
to be about, and in it I'm going to try to wrap up the 
majority of the relationships I haven't dealt directly 
with yet (and maybe a few that I have.) there's a  
possibility that it'll be the last chapter, but somehow I 
doubt it ;) 
 
Thanks for reading it! C&C is always welcome, I hope you 
enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it! 
 
Special thanks to Wade Tritschler for his suggestions and 
thoughts on Shampoo. If any of you are looking for some 
really good arguments for why Shampoo is his and my 
favorite character, check Wade's Shampoo page at :  
http://malvm1.mala.bc.ca/~tritscwa/ranma/shampoo.htm and  
for reasons why Shampoo and Mousse are just WRONG for each  
other, check his Anti-Shampoo+Mousse Page:  
http://malvm1.mala.bc.ca/~tritscwa/ranma/moandsh.htm 
 
Thanks for reading! 
 
Ryan Anderson 
andersor@cs.colorado.edu 
http://ucsu.colorado.edu/~andersor/tenchi/ryoko.html