BITTER END - PART TWO

*****  ##  ***  ##  *****

Akane sat alone in the darkness of the training hall, thinking.  The 
shattered remains of a large number of concrete blocks were arrayed 
around her, like some surreal landscape - all hard, unforgiving lines 
and broken edges.  It matched her mood perfectly.

Ukyou's words had stung, more than she cared to admit.  More to the 
point, since she had brought him home, there was something wrong 
with Ranma.  Something was missing.  He was still as much of a jerk 
as ever, but some of the vitality was gone.  He would still declare his 
innocence, but there was no more force behind those protestations.  
It was almost as if he didn't care anymore.  As though he no longer 
expected her to trust him.

Trust Ranma.  Hah!  That was a laugh.  Did everyone think that she 
was stupid?  Did she have 'moron' tattooed across her forehead or 
something?  It was infuriating!  Nabiki had almost convinced her - 
almost had her believing that Ranma really did love her.

Though something Nabiki had said was still bothering her... about 
fighting...  Was it true?  Was she fighting with Ranma too much?  
How could that be?  He wouldn't fight her!  Nabiki was imagining 
things.  Of course it was all Ranma's fault.  Everything would be fine, 
if only he'd fight back!  If only she could show him that she was 
more than some doll for him to protect.  She, too, was a trained 
martial artist.  She, too, was a fighter.

Akane almost could not remember a time when she had not been 
fighting.  Fighting had come to define a part of her - it was what 
made her feel truly alive.  She thought back over the span of years, 
and let the memories wash over her.  Some of the most intense 
images were here - of this place.  There were others, but her mind 
shied away from them, nervous, in the dark.

Whenever she had come upon a problem that she could not solve, 
whenever she had to deal with the frustration of things she could not 
control, the dojo had been her sanctuary.  She had come here to vent 
that frustration;  to feel the surge of power as the adrenaline coursed 
through her;  to strike back, however symbolically, at a world that 
didn't seem to care about the needs or the desires of Tendou Akane.  
She came here a LOT.  It had been so ever since...  ever since she was 
a little girl.

Occasionally, she had slipped.  A new and unfamiliar technique, or 
perhaps just her impatience getting the better of her as she rushed 
through her exercises, and there would be pain as her body betrayed 
her, unable to keep the pace that her mind and heart demanded of it.  
When that had happened, Kasumi had sent her to see the doctor.

The first time, she had refused.  The injury had made her angry 
more than it really hurt, and it seemed silly to go to the doctor over 
such a little thing.  It made her feel weak.  Besides.  What could a 
doctor do?  They had no power...

But Tofu sensei had made her feel better.  He had listened to her 
account of the injury, and after just a few moments he had made the 
pain go away.  He had even told her a secret to help her master the 
technique she had been trying.  From then on, when she had hurt 
herself, she had gone willingly.

Tofu sensei had always made her feel better - made the pain go 
away.  He had a strength that astonished her, yet he was so calm and 
so gentle.  It was as if he could channel that peace into her, soothing 
her troubled spirit and washing away the embers that burned deep 
in her soul, leaving her feeling cool and refreshed.  She had loved 
him for it.

As she grew older and her skills had grown, so had the number of 
things that caused her frustration.  She had thrown herself into the 
Art with a vengeance - earning a reputation for being tomboy in the 
process.  Akane wouldn't have minded so much if it hadn't been for 
the mildly disapproving feeling that she got from Kasumi.

At least Kunou-sempai and the boys at school were easy to deal with.  
If she thumped them in the morning, they would leave her alone for 
the rest of the day.  A sort of balance was achieved, and life fell into 
a routine.  But when Ranma had come, she had lost her balance - the 
routine had been shattered.  In an instant, her entire world had been 
turned upside down.

Ranma had a strength and a skill that left her in awe - but he had an 
attitude that drove her to distraction.  He could be so nice, but 
always in such a backhanded way that she was often unsure whether 
he had complimented her, or insulted her.  She had usually felt safer 
in assuming the latter.  Had that been fair?  She didn't know.

Strangely, Ranma had also come as a relief - When something went 
wrong, she never had to look far for the reason.  He was always 
there, at the center of the chaos.  Gradually, her anger had begun to 
find a focus.

Before her rage had been spread among the many would-be suitors 
that attacked her in the mornings.  As they had given up the chase in 
the face of Ranma's arrival, Akane had put more and more of that 
energy into her feud with her would-be husband.  Every time he 
won a fight, every time he learned a new technique, her drive to 
beat him grew - she poured more of her anger out against him.

Ranma had become a symbol of sorts.  It was now almost a religion 
to her - to defeat the chaos - to finally win against the forces over 
which she had no control, she had to defeat Ranma.  But lately, even 
that hope had been denied her - how could she defeat someone who 
refused to fight her?

*****  ##  ***  ##  *****

Ranma decided to go down and see Ucchan again.  Whenever he was 
particularly depressed, he'd go to see her.  He'd been going to see her 
a lot lately.  He knew that Akane didn't like it, but he had made a 
vow.  He had sworn that he would never abandon his friend - that he 
would never neglect her.  For Ranma, friends, real friends, were 
entirely too hard to come by.  Ukyou was always there for him, and 
she always listened.

When he wasn't in the mood to talk, she would.  She'd tell him about 
how business was going, or about a new technique she'd learned.  On 
occasion, she'd tell him about the last person she'd gone on a date 
with, and why it was never going to work.  She was always so bright 
and friendly, so full of life and optimism that spending time with her 
never failed to make him feel better.

She was also one of the only people that he would trust to ask for 
advice in dealing with Akane.  Her suggestions were usually good 
ones, and worked well, as long as he didn't tell Akane where he got 
the ideas.  It was a pity, really.  Ranma was certain that Akane and 
Ukyou could have been really good friends, if only things had been 
different.

Yes, it was definitely time to pay Ucchan a visit.

Ranma's train of thought was derailed, as Akane caught sight of him.

"Where in the hell do you think you're going?"

"OUT."

"You're going to the Ucchan again, aren't you?"

"What if I am?"

"I don't want you to!  I don't like it when you go to see Ukyou!"

"But Akane!  Why?  Ucchan is my best friend!"

"Yah, sure!  She's the 'best friend' who tried to kill me!"

"No, she didn't!  Those little flashbombs of hers were harmless.  They 
didn't even make as much noise as Shampoo's nikuman!"

"Well, she certainly tried to ruin our wedding!"

"And she apologised for that!  She was even my best man when we 
did get married!"

"Ha!  You're the only pervert that I know who would choose a girl to 
be your best MAN."

Ranma clenched his fists in frustration.  Why was Akane doing this?  
A dozen angry replies raced through his mind, each more acerbic and 
sarcastic than the last, but, mindful of his promise to his mother, he 
bit them all back.  Instead, he just glared at his wife, and fought to 
keep the hurt from making him say something that he would regret 
later.

"I'll see you later." he snarled as he turned and walked out of the 
room.

"Ranma!  Don't you *dare* walk out on me!  I'm not done with you 
yet!"

Ranma paused for a moment, his back ramrod straight.  Mentally, he 
ran through a series of exercises that were designed to reduce stress, 
and, once he was sure that he was in control again, he resumed his 
stalk out the door, and out of the house.  He did not look back.  
Akane's angry shouting followed him down the street.

"Dammit, Ranma, I'd better not find out that you've been seeing 
*her* again!"

Ranma kept walking.

****  ####  ****

Friend.  Ukyou was just his friend, he had said.  Nothing more.  But 
how could Akane be sure?  For over a year, that friend had done her 
best to take Ranma away.  She had failed, hadn't she?  Akane wasn't 
so sure.

When Ranma got home that night, Akane was waiting to tear into 
him.  "And just where have you been?  Out on another date with 
Ukyou, no doubt!"

"No," said Ranma.  "I wasn't."  He started up the stairs.  "I'm going to 
bed."

As Ranma entered the bedroom, Akane was right behind him.  "Are 
you telling me that you *didn't* go to the Ucchan today?"

"I didn't say that.  I said that I hadn't been out on a 'date' with her.  
Let alone 'another' date."

"Yeah?  Well, what would you call it when she brought you home the 
other night?  At five in the morning, no less!"

"I'd call it very nice of her," Ranma said.  "I'd never have made it 
home at all, otherwise."

Akane harumphed.  "So what *did* you do then?"

"Ucchan's was really busy today, so I made a few delivery runs for 
her.  She needed the help, and I wanted the exercise."

"Oh, is *that* what you're calling it now..."

"Akane, don't.  It's not like that!"  Ranma took her hand in his.  "Why 
is it so hard for you to believe that I..."

Snatching her hand away, Akane snapped, "Don't touch me, you 
philanderer...  don't you ever touch me like that again!"

Ranma looked as if she'd struck him.  He backed slowly away from 
her, his expression darkening, hardening as he hastily rebuilt his 
defences.  "Fine.  If that's what you want."

Ranma snatched a pillow and a blanket.  "I," he said tightly, "will be 
on the roof."  He strode through the door, pulling it closed after him 
with exaggerated care.  There was a decisive 'click', and he was gone.

Swearing under her breath, Akane got ready for sleep.  The bed felt 
wrong though.  As a place where so many of their early arguments 
had been resolved, the void at her side reminded her of just how 
many arguments they had been having lately - and just how few 
resolutions.  What had once promised to be warm and inviting was 
now desolate and cold.

Akane spent the night tossing and turning, sleeping fitfully at best.  
Images of Ranma poured through her dreams, memories that she 
treasured for their warmth and yet also managed to intensify her 
sense of loss:

Ranma, perched on the fence by the canal, trying in his own way to 
tell her that she was cute, after Ryouga had cut her hair...

Ranma, confronting Sanzenin Mikado and declaring for all the world 
to hear that she was *his* fiancee... and his refusal to let her go in 
that dreadful spin...

Ranma after he, Ryouga and Mousse had returned from the battle 
with Herb, and the Musk...  The tender look in his eyes as he had 
hugged her... *really* hugged her for the first time...

Ranma on Togenkyou, using the last of his strength to destroy the 
spring and his own cure... to save her.

Ranma on the plateau at Jyusendou - his tortured scream echoing 
through the mountains when he had thought her dead...

Ranma in his tuxedo at the wedding, looking nervous and scared, but 
with a light in his eyes that had warmed her heart...

Ranma as a girl on the beach at the ryoukan where they had spent 
their honeymoon - laughing and free, reveling in the wind and the 
surf as the two of them ran until they had collapsed in a heap...

Ranma hunched over the edge of the veranda, heaving as he threw 
up the special dinner that she had worked so hard to prepare...

Ranma *finally* telling her that he loved her - and then walking 
dejectedly into the rain...

Ranma stalking out of the house as she had been shouting at him, 
forbidding him to see his friend.

Akane awoke with a start as the slam of the door in her dream 
echoed through her mind.  There was a flash of lightning outside the 
window, and another peal of thunder shook the house.  The clock on 
the desk said it was six in the morning, but it was so dark out that it 
might as well have been the middle of the night.  Rain was coming 
down in sheets, and from the look of the garden pond, it had been for 
most of the night.

Akane dressed slowly and headed downstairs for breakfast.  Ranma 
was already there, in girl form, eating rice and miso soup.  For once, 
she was eating in a civilised manner.  Akane had long wished that 
Ranma would learn proper table manners, but faced with the reality, 
it was somehow chilling.  As if on cue, Ranma cut loose with a sneeze 
and a shiver.

Remembering Ranma's words from the night before, Akane's eyes 
widened.  "You were on the roof the whole night?  In the rain?  
Baka!"

Ranma just gave her a look.

Akane's temper started to rise.  "Damn you and your male pride!  
What is it with you anyway?  Why?  Why won't you ever tell me 
what you're feeling?"

Ranma shook her head wearily.  "What'd be the point?  I tried - but 
it didn't help... you didn't believe me."

"That's not fair!"

"Maybe not.  But it works both ways, you know.  What about you?  
Tell me what you are feeling right now."

"Angry!  I'm feeling angry!"

"Is that all?"

"YES, dammit!"

Ranma almost smiled, though the tone of her voice carried a sadness 
that was all but tangible in its intensity.

"Is there nothing more?" she asked.  "No regret, that we spend so 
much of our time arguing?  No frustration, that neither of us will let 
the other get close?  No fear, that it will never change - that it will 
always be like this?  No despair, at the thought of the pain that could 
be avoided, if only your stubborn husband would admit his true 
feelings?"

The redhead got up, yawned and stretched.  "I'm going to take a 
good, hot soak."  Gathering her breakfast dishes, she headed for the 
kitchen to give them to Kasumi on her way to the bath.

Akane watched Ranma go in a state of shock.  He'd done it to her 
again.  Again he had opened up to her - shown her exactly what she 
had wanted to see - what she had ached to see.  And again, she had 
spoiled it.  Akane didn't know if she wanted to cry or to scream.

Ranma had been right about every single thing that she had been 
feeling - feelings to which she could never confess now.  Not after 
having denied them so stoutly.  She hated him when he did that.  It 
made her feel so inadequate - so... weak.  It just wasn't FAIR.

"Shit."  Akane said to no one in particular.

*****  ##  ***  ##  *****

It was a quiet afternoon in the Ucchan.  Ranma and Ukyou had the 
restaurant to themselves at the moment.  Ranma was watching as 
Ukyou worked at the grill, spatulas flying.

"Here Ran-chan - give this a try and tell me what you think."

Ukyou passed a plate across the counter.  Ranma took the plate, 
sniffed at it, and smiled.  "Smells good, Ucchan!  What is it?"

"New recipe - I'm experimenting a bit.  So, go on, try it!"

Ranma popped a bite into his mouth, chewed carefully, and 
swallowed.  The rest of Ukyou's experimental okonomiyaki 
disappeared in a single gulp.  Ukyou grinned.  "Right.  It passes the 
Ran-chan test..."

Ranma nodded enthusiastically and held the plate out for more.  
Ukyou was pouring the batter on the grill, when the front doors to 
the Ucchan exploded off their hinges.  Instantly, Ukyou had her 
combat spatula in her hands, and Ranma had dropped into a crouch.  
Konatsu appeared from the back room, also at the ready.

Akane stood in the doorway, seething.

"What the *hell* did you do that for?" cried Ukyou.

Akane ignored the okonomiyaki cook and glared at her husband.  
"Go.  Home.  Now." she said.

Ranma looked toward Ukyou.  She smiled at him, and shrugged.  He 
gave her an apologetic look and moved toward the door.  Pausing on 
the threshold, he waited for his wife to follow.

"Go on."

"It's okay, Ran-chan."

Ranma left the little restaurant, but he did not appear to be happy 
about it.  Once he had gone, the tension built like a static charge.  The 
air all but crackled with the power of barely controlled emotions.

Turning on Ukyou, Akane snarled.  "Stay the hell away from him.  
Ranma belongs to *me*.

"He's your husband, not some kind of pet, Akane.  You don't own 
him."

"That's right.  He's *my* husband.  Don't you ever forget that."

"Oh, I won't.  But he's also *my* friend."  Ukyou glared at her 
nemesis.  "I'm not going to abandon a friend, just because you say 
so."

"We've fought over Ranma before.  I won.  You lost.  I don't have to 
be nice to you anymore.  So stay away from him, or you're going to 
get hurt."

"A challenge, eh?  You come into my restaurant; you threaten me; 
you harass one of my regular customers - give me just one good 
reason that I shouldn't put you in hospital right now!"

"Because then Ranma would hate you, wouldn't he?" said Akane 
nastily.

Ukyou tightened her grip on the handle of her combat spatula.  "Push 
me any farther, and I just *might* take that chance.  Now.  Get.  Out.  
Ran-chan is always welcome here - but until you can learn some 
manners, *you* are *not*.

Akane glared at Ukyou for a moment longer, eyes flashing.  Then, 
with a contemptuous toss of her head, she spun on her heel and 
stormed out of the little restaurant.

Ukyou watched her go, torn between the desire to rip Akane's head 
off, and the fear that Ranma really would hate her if they had fought.  
After a few moments and several deep breathing exercises, she was 
able to calm herself somewhat.  She turned toward Konatsu.

"Get a crew in here to fix that door," she said.  "You know where to 
send the bill.  Address it to Nabiki."  Konatsu turned to do as he was 
asked, and Ukyou once more regarded the shattered door.  "One of 
these days," she muttered, "that girl is going to go too far."

*****  ##  ***  ##  *****

P-chan sat on the veranda of the Tendou home, staring into space, 
trying to sort out his feelings.  He had come, recently, to some very 
unsettling conclusions.

He didn't love Akane anymore.  He liked her.  He respected her.  But 
he didn't love her.  The thought troubled him.  She had been the 
focus of every waking thought, and of every dream for a very long 
time.  His entire reason for living had been to make her happy - to 
love her and care for her.  Even if it had to be as nothing more than 
her pet pig, he had been committed to her happiness.

He was not quite sure when, or how he had come to the realisation, 
but the conclusion was inescapable.  Perhaps it had begun when he'd 
met Akari.  Akari even knew about his curse, and still she loved him.  
In an odd way, he had Ranma to thank for that.  It had been Ranma 
that had fought so hard to bring the two of them together.  Between 
his own sensitivity to his curse, and Akari's devotion to all things 
porcine, it had been a hard fight.

Perhaps it had started when Ranma and Akane had finally gotten 
married.  He had always known, deep down, that it was Ranma that 
Akane loved.  As her pet, he had been privileged to share her 
innermost secrets - her hopes, her dreams, her joys and her sorrows.  
At the heart of them all was Ranma.  She was forever beyond his 
reach.

And so, he had contented himself with being her pet, and her friend, 
on those occasions when 'Ryouga' could manage to find the dojo.  He 
was willing to accept that fate, if it meant that Akane would be 
happy.

But Akane did not stay happy.  For the first few weeks after she and 
Ranma were married, she had been almost delirious with joy.  Not 
that she let Ranma know it, but P-chan knew, and was happy for her, 
even as his own heart broke.

As time passed, Akane started to get angry again; mostly at Ranma.  
She still loved him, of that P-chan was certain.  However, nothing 
that Ranma could do would please her.  Obviously it was all Ranma's 
fault - Ranma's ability to put his foot in his mouth was second only to 
his skill as a martial artist.  Lately, though, Ryouga was not so sure.

He was beginning to see a much darker side to Akane... a side that he 
had never really noticed before, blinded as he had been by his own 
anger with Saotome.  Akane was kind and loving, but beneath that 
surface there was steel - steel with a hard temper.  Brittle and cold, 
that steel lent Akane's anger a sharp cutting edge.  It frightened him.

The pig stiffened as his senses alerted him to approaching footsteps.  
It was too late to run.  He turned to see Ranma coming toward him 
along the veranda.  Ranma did not look very happy.  Ryouga's fight 
or flight reflex locked up, and he froze.

But Ranma didn't attack.  The only sign that Ranma had even noticed 
him had been a listless wave, and a mumbled, "Hey, Ryouga.  How's it 
goin'..." as he walked past.  Ryouga watched him go.  Ranma had not 
been himself lately, and the pig found it disturbing.  Depression had 
been his territory - not Ranma's.

Ryouga let out a startled "Buki!" as he felt strong hands lift him from 
the ground.  A panicked instant later, he realised that it was Akane.  
He had been dreading this moment.  He struggled to maintain his 
resolve.  He had made his decision - it was the right decision, and he 
had to stand by it.  No matter how much it tore his heart to do so.

"P-chan!  Where have you been?  I've been so worried about you!"  
She turned the pig around, kissed him on the nose and hugged him 
tight.  He squealed softly as the air left his lungs.  Akane loosened 
her grip and started petting him.  "At least I can always count on 
you, can't I?"

Guilt washed through Ryouga.  Oh, Akane, he thought.  I'm so sorry.  
But I can't stay with you any more.  You don't need me, and I need to 
move on.  I can't stay sane like this.  Maybe one day, you'll be able to 
forgive me...  Tears streamed from the little pig's eyes.

"P-chan!  You're crying!  What's the matter?  Don't be upset, baby, 
everything's going to be all right.  You'll see!"  Akane's expression 
darkened.  "I'll bet it was Ranma, wasn't it?  That big bully's been 
picking on you again, hasn't he?  Well, don't you worry.  Mommy will 
take care of *him*!"

NO, Ryouga wanted to scream.  Ranma didn't do anything!  But of 
course, pigs can't talk.  Akane interpreted her pet's frantic 'bwees' as 
confirmation of her suspicions, and a wave of anger poured through 
her.  Her grip on P-chan tightened ever so slightly.  Oh, no, thought 
the pig.

Tucking her pet into the crook of her arm, Akane stormed off in 
search of her husband.  She found him meditating in the dojo, sitting 
in lotus position, his eyes closed.  If he was aware of his wife's 
arrival, he gave no sign.

"RANMA!"  Akane set P-chan down and stalked toward the silent 
figure.  Ryouga watched, transfixed as Akane reached her target, and 
hauled him unceremoniously to his feet.  "RANMA!" she cried again.

Ranma blinked, evidently surprised, and more than a little confused.  
"What is it *this* time?" he asked her.  There was a weariness in his 
voice that suggested that the question was little more than rhetorical.

"Just what have you been doing to poor P-chan?"

Ranma blinked again.  "P-chan?  I haven't done anything to him."

"Don't lie to me!"  Akane shook Ranma by his collar.  "How would you 
like it if somebody was always picking on you?"  She let go of his 
shirt and drew back her fist.

Ranma barely had time to bring his arms up to block before Akane 
was pummeling him for all she was worth.  Ranma had the 
advantages of strength and speed, but Akane was driven, and 
gradually began to wear him down.

"Akane!  What are you doing?  Why are you so mad?"  Ranma was 
slowly trying to back away, but Akane was not letting him escape.  
"What did I do this time?"

Finally, one of Akane's blows got through Ranma's defence.  P-chan 
winced as her fist connected.  Ranma just grunted and kept trying to 
block her attack, until another blow got through.  The second punch 
dazed Ranma and he fell back, dropping his arms and his defences 
for a moment.  A moment was all it took.  Akane moved in to the 
opening with a vengeance, as blow after blow connected with 
Ranma's head.

Ryouga couldn't stand to watch anymore.  With terrified squeal, the 
little pig turned and ran from the dojo as fast as his little legs would 
carry him.  He had long wanted to send Ranma to hell, but this was 
too much, even for his hated rival.

Hearing P-chan's distressed cry, Akane dropped her attack on Ranma 
and turned to see her pet streaking for the door.  "P-chan!" she cried.  
"Wait!  Don't run!  He's not going to hurt you anymore!"  With a last 
kick towards her dazed husband, Akane was off in pursuit.  But by 
the time she got into the yard, the little black pig was nowhere to be 
seen.  "P-chan!  Come back!  Where did you go?" Akane cried.

Ryouga watched from under a bush as Akane searched.  Finally, she 
gave up, and headed dejectedly into the house.  He felt his resolve 
waver at the slump of her shoulders, the air of defeat that hung over 
her.  He hated to cause her such pain.

But it would be worse for her if he stayed.  He had to go.  It would be 
easier this way, in the long run.  Eventually, she'd get over the loss of 
her pet.  Good bye, Akane, he thought to himself.  I hope that you'll 
finally find the peace, and the happiness that you deserve.  Ryouga 
turned his back on the Tendou home and started walking.

****  ####  ****

Akane took the disappearance of her pet badly.  For several days 
after P-chan had run off, she circulated flyers with his description, 
and offered a modest reward for information leading to his return.  
She also made regular checks with all of the regional offices for 
animal control.  Results had been negative.

Ranma was annoyed with the whole thing, but said nothing about it.  
Still, he could do little to hide his irritation from his wife, and Akane 
was not pleased.  A little over a week after P-chan had vanished, 
Akane had evidently had enough.

"Ranma, will you stop sulking and help me find P-chan?"

"Who's sulking?"

"You are!  I can't believe that you're still jealous of a pig!"

"I am *not* jealous of that pig!  I just don't like him sleeping with 
you!  It's just not right!"

"He's just a little pig.  It's not like he's a pervert like you!  You're 
anthropomorphising again!  How can you be so clueless?"

Ranma gaped at his wife.  Images of the times Ryouga should have 
been caught but wasn't flashed through Ranma's mind.  He almost 
laughed.  "I guess it's just my way.  You know I'm totally oblivious."

Akane glared at her husband.  There had been a suspiciously sassy 
note to his voice.  It set her teeth on edge.  "You've never liked my 
little P-chan!  All you've ever done is pick on him!  It's your fault 
that he ran away!  The least you could do is help me find him!"

"For the last time, Akane, I didn't do anything to the pig!"

"Then where is he, eh?"

"How the heck should I know?"

"See!  If you actually cared..."   *Ring*   "...dammit, wait here.  I'll 
finish with you in a minute."  Akane left the room to answer the 
phone.  After a few moments she came back into the room, and 
plopped down by the table.  She looked badly shaken.

"Akane!  What's wrong?  Who was that?"

Akane looked up, tears filling her eyes.  "That," she said slowly, "was 
the Animal Control Office in Tomobiki Cho.  They've found the body," 
she choked back a sob, "of a little black piglet.  It had been hit by a 
car.  They think it might be P-chan."  Akane's control shattered, and 
she started sobbing uncontrollably.

Ranma paled.  Had Ryouga really been killed by a car?  Ranma felt a 
little sick.  Despite their fights, Ranma had always thought of Ryouga 
as a friend.  At least they understood one another.  To Ranma, that 
counted for a lot.

Ranma looked over at Akane.  He hated to see her cry.  He hated to 
see her unhappy.  "Maybe it wasn't him, Akane."

Akane looked up through tear-swollen eyes.  "Of course it was him!  
How many black piglets have you seen in Nerima?  It had to have 
been him!"

"You don't know that.  You can't know that, until you check!  P-chan 
is pretty smart for a pig you know... I can't really believe that he'd 
let a car get him."  Ranma reached out and put a hand gently on 
Akane's shoulder.  "C'mon, Akane.  Let's go make sure, okay?"

"You're just saying that 'cause you know that it's your fault," Akane 
sobbed.  "You chased him off, and now he's...  he's..."  She pulled out 
of Ranma's reach and cried harder.

"Akane, don't do this to yourself.  Please.  You have to be sure!"  And 
so do I, thought Ranma darkly.  If it is him, someone will have to find 
a way to tell his parents.  He stood up and went to get a light jacket 
for Akane.  "Here, put this on.  Tomobiki isn't that far - we can go 
and see for ourselves, okay?"

Finally, Akane nodded.  She took the jacket, and she and Ranma left 
the house, and walked to the bus stop.  The trip to Tomobiki was 
made in silence - both Saotomes lost in their own private worlds.  
Ranma longed to be able to comfort his wife, but she was still sure 
that her pet was dead, and that Ranma was somehow responsible.  
Ranma just hoped that she was wrong.

Once they arrived at the Animal Control office, they were led into a 
small room and asked to wait.  After a time, an attendant came into 
the room pushing a small cart, the top of which was draped with a 
sheet.  Carefully, the attendant pulled the sheet back.  Under it was 
indeed, a small black piglet.

Akane gasped, and started to sob.  Ranma felt a little green, but he 
had to know for sure.  Carefully, he turned the body over, looking for 
anything that might reveal the pig's identity.  After several moments 
he sat back down and sighed in relief.  He turned to his distraught 
wife.

"It isn't him, Akane.  It's not P-chan."

"Yes it is!" she cried.  "It looks just like him!"

"Akane, it's not!  Really!"

"Then prove it!"

"Well, for one thing, it's not wearing P-chan's bandanna..."

"That doesn't prove anything!  He could have lost that!"

Not bloody likely, Ranma thought, he had thousands of 'em.  "AND," 
he continued deliberately, "This pig is a female.  P-chan was a BOY."  
Ranma put a bit of stress on the word 'boy,' but Akane didn't notice.  
"It's okay, Akane.  It's not P-chan, I promise it isn't."

"Really?" Akane sniffed.  "You're not lying to me, are you?"

An expression of pain flashed across Ranma's face, followed by 
resignation.  "No, Akane, I wouldn't lie to you about this.  Check for 
yourself, if you like.  This is a girl-pig, and P-chan was definitely a 
boy."

Akane looked uncertain for a moment, and glanced toward the 
attendant.  "Your husband is right, miss..." the attendant said kindly.  
"This pig is definitely a female."

"Oh, thank God," Akane sobbed.  Ranma reached out to comfort her, 
and this time, she accepted.  Resting her head on his shoulder, she let 
the relief wash over her until she felt like she was ready to make the 
trip back to the dojo.  Ranma held her and savored the moment.  He 
would always be there for her, if only she'd let him.

****  ####  ****

The next morning, at the breakfast table, Akane was back in worry 
mode.  She had been surprised by Ranma's understanding the night 
before - he had never seemed to care about P-chan that much.  But it 
had been... nice.

"Ranma, will you make the rounds of the shelters today and see if 
you can find P-chan?"

"Aw, Akane... I had stuff I wanted to do..."

"Ranma!  Please!  Something terrible might happen to him!  He's just 
a defenceless little pig!"

"Okay!  Okay!  I'll look for him!  Geez!  What are you so worked up 
about, anyway?  P-chan's gone missing for weeks at a time before - 
he's always gotten back eventually."

Akane started to boil over.  So.  It had all been an act.  Ranma didn't 
really care about P-chan at all.  "Don't you have any feelings, Ranma?  
It's probably your fault anyway - you're always picking on the poor 
thing.  Only you could be low enough to make a pig cry!"

Ranma almost dropped his chopsticks.  "P-chan was *crying*?"  He 
sounded shocked.

Akane took Ranma's amazement as evidence of his guilt. Her eyes 
narrowed in suspicion.  "You know something about P-chan that 
you're not telling me, don't you?  Don't you?"

Ranma looked liked a trapped animal.  He could not - WOULD not lie 
to his wife - but neither could he break his word to Ryouga.  "I...  I..." 
he stammered as his brain searched desperately for a way out - any 
way out of the trap he was in.

"I *knew* it!" Akane stormed.  She grabbed Ranma by the front of 
his shirt and shook him.  "Where is he?  What have you done with P-
chan?!"

Those questions, at least, Ranma could answer.  Unfortunately, "I got 
no idea where that pig is!" and "I didn't do *anything* to him!" were 
not the answers that Akane wanted to hear, nor were they answers 
that she was going to believe.  At least, not until she had applied a 
little 'persuasion'.

****  ####  ****

Ukyou was just finishing with the lunch crowd when Ranma came 
into the little restaurant.  He smiled and waved at her as he took a 
seat at the far end of the counter.  Ukyou waved back, and returned 
her attention to the customer she was serving.  After filling his order, 
she bounded down to where Ranma was waiting.

Ranma was wearing one of his trademark Chinese style shirts, but for 
once he had the sleeves turned down to their full length.  That 
seemed a little odd to Ukyou, considering the weather, but she let it 
slide.  She smiled and started to ask him what he would like to eat.

The smile froze on Ukyou's face as Ranma looked up at her.  His left 
eye was covered with a huge purple bruise, swollen so that he could 
barely open it.  It looked like it hurt a lot.

"Whoa...  Ran-chan...  Where'd you get the shiner?"

Ranma grimaced.  "It's nothing, Ucchan, really."  Gingerly he felt the 
side of his head and gave her a sheepish grin.  "I just... ahh... tripped.  
Hit my head."

Ukyou blinked.  "Tripped?!  You *tripped* and did that?  I find that a 
bit hard to believe, Ran-chan."  She leaned forward to examine his 
eye more carefully.  "If I didn't know better, I'd say someone popped 
you a good one.  But there's no one around here that's good enough to 
have done it.  No one that could get past your defences like that..." 
Ukyou trailed into silence as a nasty suspicion began to form in her 
mind.  Unless maybe...

"Really, Ucchan, it's nothing."  Ranma seemed uncharacteristically 
nervous; his expression was almost fearful.

Ukyou's eyes narrowed a bit as she started to make one of her 
special okonomiyaki for him.  As she cooked it, her attention 
wandered back to Ranma's arms.  It was hot outside today.  Now why 
would he be wearing long sleeves?  She did not like the feel of this... 
did not like it one bit.

Whatever else may have been bothering Ranma, there was nothing 
at all wrong with his appetite.  He devoured the okonomiyaki that 
she prepared for him in a flash, and the second followed in short 
order.  As he finished it he sat back and smiled at her.  "Thanks, 
Ucchan.  That was delicious!"

Ukyou smiled back, but her smile did not reach her eyes.  There was 
something wrong here, and she did not like the directions that her 
thoughts were taking.  Something about Ranma's cheerful attitude 
just rang false.  It was like he was trying too hard.  Ukyou decided to 
play on a hunch.

"I'm glad you liked it, Ran-chan!  So tell me, how did you get all those 
bruises on your arms?"

Ranma froze.  "Bruises?  What bruises?"  There was panic in his eyes.  
Almost unconsciously, he tugged his cuffs down over his wrists.

Ukyou winced at his reaction.  She had been hoping that she would 
have been wrong.  "Ranma...  What's going on?  Are things... okay... 
between you and Akane?"

"Nothing!  There's nothing going on!" he snarled.  "Why do you keep 
asking me these questions?"

Ukyou looked at him wide-eyed.  Ranma had never snapped at her 
like that before.  The hurt must have shown on her face, because 
Ranma seemed to wilt as he looked at her.

"I'm sorry, Ucchan..."  He stood up slowly.  "I shouldn't have barked 
at you like that.  Please... please forgive me..."  He started toward the 
door.  "I'd better be going... thanks for the food..."

"Ranma, wait!"

He paused, and turned to look at her.

"Ran-chan, please!  Let me help!  I'm your friend, remember?"

Ranma smiled a bit.  "I remember, Ucchan; and thanks.  But it's okay.  
Really it is."  With that, he was gone.

She looked after him for a time, before turning back to her grill, 
muttering as she did so.  "No, it's *not* okay, Ran-chan.  Not by a long 
shot it's not."

##  ***  ##

Ukyou spent the rest of the day cooking okonomiyaki with savage 
efficiency.  She was operating largely on automatic, as in her mind's 
eye she replayed Ranma's visit, over and over.  All the signs were 
there, but she was loathe to believe them.  This was Ranma Saotome!  
The best martial artist in Japan, maybe even the world.  To think 
that he might be... it was absurd!  But the evidence, while not totally 
conclusive, left little else as a viable interpretation.

Finally, the last customer left the shop, and Ukyou closed up for the 
night.  Once the doors were locked, and the griddle had been cleaned, 
she went upstairs to her room to think, leaving Konatsu to straighten 
the dining area.

Ranma and Akane had been fighting since before she had come to 
Nerima.  There had been no secrets there.  Indeed, it had been one of 
the things that had led her to believe that she could win Ranma's 
heart after all - but it hadn't worked that way.  Ranma had loved 
Akane despite the fights and the bickering.

There had been plenty of fights.  It seemed that Akane was always 
mad at him about something - usually relating to his other fiancees.  
It had been almost comical back then - Ukyou had even started 
thinking of Akane as 'mallet girl' because of the way she was always 
hammering poor Ranma.  She had never taken it seriously - after all, 
Ranma never seemed to mind it too much, and he never seemed to 
be seriously hurt.  Over time, she had come to regard it as almost 
normal.

The Tendou girl had always been something of a mystery.  Ukyou 
had never really understood just what had drawn Ranma to her.  
Sure, she was cute, but Shampoo was proof that cute wasn't enough 
to hold Ranma's attention.

Understandably, Ukyou and Akane had never really become friends.  
They were, after all, rivals.  A truce of sorts had evolved, and, for the 
most part, they had tolerated one another.  But that was as far as it 
went.  In a way, Ukyou had been glad when Ranma and Akane had 
married.  She had hoped that it would put an end to the tension that 
had existed between all of them - between Ranma and Akane, and 
between Akane and herself.

Again, it hadn't worked that way.  It had looked as though it might, 
for the first few months of their marriage; but Akane had grown 
distant again, keeping to herself most of the time.  Old patterns 
reasserted themselves as Ranma and Akane fell back into the habits 
that had evolved during their turbulent courtship.

But this time, something was different.

She had not seen the bruises on his arms, but she knew they were 
there.  His reaction had proven that.  As fast as Ranma healed, the 
force that would have been required to cause such persistent 
bruising was considerable.  It would also have to be applied on a 
regular basis.  Coupled with the black eye that he had been sporting, 
the conclusions that she was reaching were not at all pretty.

If what she suspected was true... how was she going to find out?  
Ranma would never volunteer the information - and it wasn't like 
she could just go and ask Akane...  This had to be handled delicately.

Reaching into a desk drawer, Ukyou took out a small spiral notebook.  
She had a small stash that she normally used for tracking her supply 
orders for the Ucchan.  Opening to the first page, Ukyou wrote the 
date, and the time that Ranma had come in, as best she could 
remember.  Then she wrote a brief description of Ranma's condition, 
starting with his eye, and ending with her speculations about the 
bruises on his arms, and the evidence she had to support those 
guesses.

Reading over the entry, she nodded to herself.  This would help.  If 
she could prove that there was a pattern, she might be able to 
convince Ranma that he needed to get help.  Sighing, Ukyou put the 
notebook away, and got ready for bed.  She still hoped that she might 
be wrong, but she didn't think so.  She just couldn't believe that it 
was happening to Ranma.

That night was the first of many that Ukyou would cry herself to 
sleep.

*****  ##  ***  ##  *****
*****  ##  ***  ##  *****

Ukyou was nervous.  After three months of careful note taking, she 
had finally decided that she had enough data to prove to Ranma that 
there was a problem.  She had spent the last week working up the 
courage to do something about it.  This was going to be difficult; the 
future of her relationship with Ranma would hinge on the events of 
this evening.  If she could not convince him - if she could not get him 
to accept the fact that he needed help, she would very likely drive 
him away from her completely.

The very possibility that she might lose him altogether was like a 
lump in the pit of her stomach, dense and heavy.  But she had no 
choice.  She could not simply stand aside and watch as her friend, as 
the man she loved, was torn apart.  She had to at least try.  If she 
succeeded, then Ranma could be happy again.  If she tried and failed, 
she would at least know that she had done all she could.

By the time Ranma was supposed to arrive at the Ucchan that night, 
Ukyou had everything ready.  The little restaurant was closed to the 
public - the notices she'd posted for the past week mentioned a 
family holiday, and her regulars had all been good sports about it.  
Konatsu was waiting by the door to let Ranma in while Ukyou stood 
behind the grill, fidgeting with her spatulas.  The minutes raced by 
like hours as the appointed time approached.

By the time Ranma was five minutes overdue, Ukyou was starting to 
climb the walls.  With every minute that he was late, Ukyou was sure 
that he would not come.  That Akane would not let him out of the 
house.  That something terrible had happened to him.  Every sound 
from outside had her whirling towards the door to see if it was 
Ranma.  She tried to force herself to be calmer - to still the trembling 
of her fingers, and the quaver in her voice.

So wrapped up in her meditations was she that when Ranma did 
come in a few minutes later, it was all Ukyou could do to keep from 
jumping out of her skin.  "Ran-chan!  Thank god!"

Ranma seemed a touch taken aback by the vehemence of Ukyou's 
greeting, but he recovered quickly enough.  As he was taking a seat, 
Konatsu gathered up a duffel bag and left the shop, locking the door 
behind him.  Ranma watched him go curiously.

Sensing the question that Ranma was about to ask, Ukyou said, "He's 
going to spend the night at a friend's house.  He's got a line on a 
second job that's more... in his field."

"You mean as a ninja?" Ranma asked.

Ukyou nodded as she started to prepare the first batch of her Ran-
chan specials.  Ranma turned back to watch his friend as she worked 
her magic on the grill.  Within moments, two fresh, hot okonomiyaki 
were staring up at him from his plate.  Ranma moved in for the kill.

Ukyou smiled to herself as she watched Ranma eat.  At least there 
were some things that never changed.  Her expression sobered once 
more as she considered her purpose in asking Ranma to come - she 
still had no idea how she was going to broach the topic that she 
wanted to discuss.

"What's the matter, Ucchan?  You seem... I dunno, distracted, I guess."

Ukyou started.  Well, an opening was an opening after all.  She took a 
deep breath and said, "Some of my regular customers have been 
having sort of a rough time lately.  It's been getting me down.  It's 
kind of frustrating, not being able to help."

"Anyone that I know?"

Damn, Ukyou thought sadly to herself.  It's no wonder that subtlety 
never worked on you, Ran-chan.  "Yah, I think that you might know 
one or two of them.  One you've seen in here before, I'm sure.  Her 
name is Miyuki.  Manabe Miyuki."

"Manabe... no... wait a minute...  slender girl... brunette... wears her 
hair in a really long braid?  The one who likes cars?"

"Yes, that's the one."

"So why can't you help her?"

"Actually, she's getting help.  I'm a lot more worried about the other 
one, though their problems are similar."

"Hmmm.  Sounds like maybe you need to introduce the two, if their 
troubles are so much alike."

"I had hoped to do just that.  But there's a problem."

"There always is," said Ranma knowingly.  "Do you want to talk about 
it?"

Ukyou looked at Ranma carefully.  This was going to be the hard 
part.  She had to play her cards just so, or the fight was lost before it 
started.  "Well, okay.  But you have to make me a promise, Ranma."

Ranma was a little startled by that, but this was Ukyou - she was his 
best friend, and if he could help her, in any way, it was his duty.  "Of 
course, Ucchan."

"You have to promise me that you will hear me out - you must listen 
to everything that I have to say tonight."

"Is that all?"

"It won't be that easy, Ranma.  Now, give me your word."

Ranma looked up at Ukyou solemnly.  "I swear, Ucchan.  I'll listen to 
whatever you have to say.  So what is the 'problem' that you were 
talking about?  What's stopping you from helping this friend of 
yours?"

"He won't let me."  said Ukyou simply.  Her gaze was level, betraying 
nothing.

"He won't... won't let you?  Why not?"

"I'm not entirely sure that he realises the depth of his problem.  I've 
never gotten a chance to talk to him about it, really.  Whenever I get 
close to the issue, he leaves."

"Sounds like a stubborn fellow," said Ranma, as something about her 
last statement was nagging at his subconscious.  He had the distinct 
impression that he had walked into a trap, but for the life of him, he 
couldn't see it.  Shrugging mentally, Ranma took the plunge.  "And 
just what *is* his problem?"

Ukyou's eyes locked with his for a moment before she answered.  "He 
is being abused.  His wife is beating the tar out of him on a regular 
basis.  She's almost killed him once, and he's too stubborn to admit it, 
or to get help."

Ranma's eyes opened wide as the connections were made, and the 
trap was sprung.  "You... you think that Akane... me...  You *tricked* 
me."  Ranma started to rise.

"Sit down!"  Ukyou's tone was firm.  "You promised that you'd hear 
what I had to say!"

"But..."

"No 'Buts', dammit!"  Ukyou slammed a small notebook onto the 
counter in front of Ranma.  "Read it!" she commanded.

"What is this?" Ranma asked, eyeing the notebook.  He was obviously 
angry, but he sat back down.

"It's a catalogue, Ranma.  A list of all the injuries that you've had 
when you've come into this shop over the past three months.  Ever 
since you walked in here with that black eye that you got when you 
'tripped'.  Go on, READ it!  Or would you prefer that I read it to you?  
I have the whole damned thing memorized."

Ranma was shocked at the bitterness in Ukyou's tone.  "What are you 
so mad about, Ucchan!?"

"You idiot!  I gave up my life's dream - because you loved her.  And 
now she's tearing you apart!  She's beating the life out of you, and 
you just take it!  You won't do anything to stop it!"  There were tears 
in Ukyou's eyes.  "That wasn't part of the bargain!  When was the last 
time that you really smiled?  Do you even remember it?  You were 
supposed to be *happy* together!"

"Ucchan..."  Ranma was gaping at his friend.  "It's not like that!"

"Do you think that I can't see?"  She slid the notebook toward him.  
"READ it!" she commanded him again.  "There's a pattern there, Ran-
chan.  And what's scaring me now is that it's getting worse!  She's 
hurting you more every time!"

Ranma made no move to take the little book.

"Fine!  I know every line in there by heart!  Three months ago it was 
just a black eye and some bruising.  Two months ago you had what 
you called a twisted ankle, and multiple sprains.  Six weeks ago, you 
couldn't even bend your right knee, and your left arm was in a sling!  
Last month you had at least two cracked ribs, judging from the way 
that you were breathing.  Two weeks ago, you were in here dizzy, 
disoriented, and just about ready to puke your guts out.  Right NOW, 
looking at your eyes, I'd bet every yen I have that Tofu-sensei would 
tell you that you had a concussion!  And you've had those bruises on 
your arms the whole damn time!"

"No!  That's not true!"

"Then prove it!  Roll up those sleeves, and show me that I'm wrong!"

"Ucchan..."

"Dammit, Ranma!  Do I *look* stupid?  Don't lie to me!  You're not 
very good at it."

Ranma froze, like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming 
semi.  He twitched, and Ukyou was afraid that he was going to bolt 
and run.  She could not let that happen.  In a much softer voice, she 
said, "Ranma... please..."  She longed to be able to reach out to him, 
but she dared not.  This was her one chance; there would likely be no 
other.  "I'm your friend.  Let me help."

An eternity passed - the silence was absolute.  Ukyou could feel her 
lungs beginning to strain against the breath she was holding.  Would 
Ranma run - or would he answer her?  Would he be able to admit 
that there was a problem?  Would he trust her enough to let her 
help?  Then, suddenly, Ranma was collapsing, and she was hopping 
over the counter and catching him, hugging him to her as she gasped 
her relief.

Ukyou hugged Ranma as months of repressed pain and frustration 
were finally allowed to break free.  It was as close as he would ever 
come to crying in his male form.  Ukyou, on the other hand, had no 
problems with crying, and the tears were flowing freely from her 
eyes.

"What's wrong with me, Ucchan?  I love her so much that it hurts - 
and I just can't seem to avoid making her angry!  One minute she's 
all sweet and nice, and the next minute she's pounding me into the 
floor, and I don't even know what I've done to set her off!"

"There's nothing wrong with you, Ran-chan.  You have to believe 
that."

"Then why can't I make her smile anymore?  Why is she always so 
angry?  Why is she always hitting me?"

"I don't know, Ranma, but there has to be some cause, some reason 
behind it.  Just," she added, "not a good one."

Ranma shook his head sadly.  "But if I can't figure out what I'm doing 
to cause this, then how can I fix it?"

"Hey, whoa there, Ran-chan!"  Ukyou looked Ranma in the eyes.  "It 
may not be anything that you are doing!  It may have nothing to do 
with you!  You can't just assume that it's your fault!"

"Can't I?"  The despair in Ranma's voice cut through Ukyou like a 
razor.  "Everyone else thinks that it's my fault... Kasumi, Tofu-sensei, 
Pop, even Mom thinks so."

"I don't."

"Thanks, Ucchan... that means a lot to me."  Ranma grimaced.  "But I 
don't think that I can use that to convince Akane."

"No, I suppose not.  Still, it can't go on like this.  I know how you feel 
about Akane, but this isn't healthy.  You have to do something."

"But what?  I've tried everything I know.  I've gotten ideas from you, 
from Mom, from Tofu-sensei; nothing seems to work - at least not for 
very long."  Ranma spread his arms.  "I'm fresh out of ideas."

Ukyou smiled.  "Well, you're not alone, you know.  There *are* others 
out there with similar problems.  There *are* answers out there, and 
I think that I have an idea where we can get some help in finding 
some of those answers."

That surprised Ranma.  "Really?  Where?"

"Remember I mentioned Miyuki earlier?"

"Hey, that's right, you did.  You said that their..." Ranma trailed off as 
the meaning of what Ukyou had said hit him.  "You mean... Are you 
saying that Miyuki's husband is... is beating her?"  Ranma was 
horrified.  "But she's so... so *nice*."

Ukyou nodded sadly.  "Yes.  But I also said that she was getting help.  
Miyuki joined a help group for battered spouses that meets down at 
the Civic Centre.  She likes them a lot."

Ranma looked skeptical.  "But how can that help?  Wouldn't it be 
more effective if I just went over and had a little 'chat' with Miyuki's 
husband?"

Ukyou sighed.  "Ran-chan... do you think that Akane would be less 
angry with you - less likely to hit you - if I went to the dojo and beat 
the stuffing out of her?"

"You wouldn't!"

"Of course not!  But if I did, do you think it would solve the problem?  
Do you think that it would calm Akane down?"

"No... I guess you're right.  It just galls me to see someone as nice as 
Miyuki is get treated that way."

"Believe me, Ran-chan," said Ukyou earnestly, "I know *exactly* what 
you mean."

Ranma gave her an odd look.  "So.  What is it that you're suggesting?"

This was it.  "I talked to Miyuki, and she told me when her group 
meets.  It'll be on Monday.  Monday at six in the evening."

"So?" Ranma asked, obviously dreading the answer.

"So," Ukyou said evenly, "I've arranged for us to go."

"What?!"  Ranma yelped.  "You planned this!  You planned this from 
the start!"

Ukyou sighed.  "Yes.  Yes I did.  What else could I do?  Akane is 
tearing you apart, bit by bit.  Even with your rapid healing, you're 
injured more often than not anymore!  Something has to be done!"

"But Akane is my *wife*... I can't betray her!"

"No one is asking you to betray anyone!  I'm asking you to get help!  
Get help before it's too late!  Before something terrible happens!"  
Ukyou paused to collect her thoughts.  "Look.  I know how much you 
love Akane.  And I know how much it hurts you when she treats you 
like she does.  I can see it in your eyes!  I just want to see you smile 
again.  I want you to be happy - I want... I want to know that when I 
gave you up I did the right thing."  It was Ukyou's turn to cry.

Ranma was a little startled by his friend's outburst.  Hesitantly he 
put his arms around her and hugged.  It all sounded like nonsense to 
him... how could talk solve this problem?  But Ukyou seemed to think 
that it could help - and Ukyou was his best friend.  He trusted her 
implicitly.  For her...

Ranma took a deep breath.  "I hope you know what you're talking 
about..." he began.

"Then you'll go?"  Ukyou asked, sniffling a bit.

"I'll go.  I promise.  I don't know what good it can do, but I don't see 
how it can hurt either.  And I don't know what else I *can* try."

Ukyou tried not to let too much of her relief show.  "It's a place to 
start, anyway."  She let Ranma go, and moved toward the grill again.  
"How about another round?"

*****  ####  *****

When Monday night finally came, Ukyou was ready and waiting.  For 
once, Ranma showed up on time.

"Ready to go, Ran-chan?  Or would you like something to eat first?"

Ranma sat down at the counter and sniffed appreciatively.  "Smells 
like you have a 'special' on the grill right now." he said.

Ukyou grinned.  "I thought that you might like a little something 
before we went off to the meeting."

Ranma sobered.  "Yah.  About these meetings.  I'm really not so sure 
that this is a good idea..."

Ukyou had been afraid of this.  "Look, Ranma.  I know that this is not 
going to be easy for you... but I know that you need help, and to be 
frank, I don't know where else we could get it."

"Yes, I know, but..."

"Ran-chan, if you have any better ideas, I'd certainly like to hear 
them."  There was an uncomfortable silence, broken only by the 
gentle sizzle of the okonomiyaki on the grill.  "That's what I thought."

Ukyou flipped the 'Special' onto a plate, and passed it to Ranma.  "Eat 
up, Ran-chan.  We've got a meeting to get to."

Ranma poked at the food for a moment, before looking back up at 
Ukyou.  "Are you sure...?"

"Ranma... you promised.  I won't make you go, but if you won't do it 
for yourself, would you do it for me?"

Ranma sighed and started in on his okonomiyaki.  "Okay, Ucchan.  
You win.  I'll go."

##  ***  ##

In room 101 at the Nerima Civic Centre, Miyuki looked at her watch 
for the dozenth time.  Ukyou was late, and the meeting was about to 
start.  She had promised that she would be bringing Ranma tonight.  
Miyuki had only met Ranma a few times, but he seemed like such a 
nice person.  When Ukyou had told her what was happening to him, 
she had been appalled.  Well she knew what it was like when the 
person you loved had... temper problems.

Miyuki could not even remember how the topic had come up, but she 
and Ukyou had spent many hours since discussing domestic violence.  
At first, Ukyou's interest had been mostly academic.  But as she had 
learned more, her suspicions had been aroused about Ranma, and she 
was learning all she could.  Miyuki had been only too glad to help.

Then, when Miyuki had found this support group, Ukyou had gotten 
very thoughtful.  Miyuki liked these people - they had helped her 
tremendously so far.  She had a much better understanding of what 
was happening in her life, and what she could do about it.  It was a 
wonderfully liberating feeling.  And now she had a chance to pass on 
that feeling - to share her good luck.  If only Ukyou and Ranma 
would make it on time!

Finally, Ukyou walked in, wearing a determined expression, followed 
closely by Ranma.  Their arrival drew a few curious looks and Ranma 
one or two hostile stares.  Ranma looked acutely uncomfortable.  
Miyuki heaved a sigh of relief, and waved them over.  She smiled at 
Ranma.  "I'm glad you came," she said.  "Come over here.  There's 
someone that I want you to meet."

Miyuki led the two over to an older woman, who was standing by the 
refreshments table.  She was a little shorter than Ranma, and looked 
to be in her mid thirties.  Of medium build, and reasonably fit, she 
had thick, straight black hair that fell just past her chin.  She wore 
wire rim glasses with round lenses over bright, piercing eyes.  Hers 
was a face that was used to smiling.

"Kimiko, these are the people that I mentioned." Miyuki said.  "This is 
Kuonji Ukyou, and this is Saotome Ranma."  Turning back to Ranma 
and Ukyou, she continued the introduction.  "This is Takahashi 
Kimiko.  She's the moderator for this group."

Kimiko smiled and addressed Ukyou.  "I trust that Miyuki has told 
you how this group works?"

"More or less," Ukyou answered.

"Well, don't worry too much.  It's really easy to fit in here.  There 
won't be any pressure on you - just sit and listen, if you like.  Some 
of the girls will want to ask you questions - you can answer them or 
not; whatever makes you comfortable.  Feel free to ask a question, or 
to jump into the discussion any time you like."

Kimiko started moving toward the ring of chairs in the center of the 
room.  She clapped twice.  "Time, ladies!" she called.  While the others 
moved in, Kimiko led the newbies into the circle, and waved them 
into seats.

The members of the group all started to gather in the circle of chairs, 
taking their seats and making last minute grabs from the snacks on 
the table.  As soon as everyone was seated, Kimiko opened the 
meeting.  "Ladies, we have a new member here tonight.  I'd like you 
to meet Miyuki's friend Kuonji Ukyou, and her friend Saotome 
Ranma."

There were general greetings and good natured utterances from 
around the circle, though Ranma was still getting a few suspicious 
stares.  "So, tell us, Ukyou was it?  How long have you been having 
trouble with your husband?"

"No, no, you've got it backwards!" Ukyou laughed.  "I'm not even 
married!  It's Ran-chan here that needs your advice!"

The room went dead quiet, almost as if Ukyou had thrown a switch.  
There was a brief clatter as Kimiko's teacup hit the floor.  Finally, one 
woman, a slender girl with short brown hair, broke the silence.  
"What is this, some kind of joke?"

"Joke?"  Ukyou was confused.  "No, no joke.  What would make you 
think a thing like that?"

"You mean that you expect us to believe," another woman spoke up, 
her tone openly hostile, "that some woman is beating up on *him*?"

"You have *got* to be kidding us, right?" asked the brown haired 
woman again.

Miyuki was scandalized.  "Natsumi!  She is *not* kidding!"

Another group member sneered.  "Don't be naive, Miyuki.  Can you 
honestly say that you believe that men get abused by their *wives*?  
It just doesn't happen that way."

Miyuki sounded defensive.  "I believe Ukyou!  And besides!  There 
are more ways to abuse someone than by hitting them.  What's so 
hard to believe about that?"

"Because that's not the way the world works!" exploded another - a 
redhead.  "Look at history!  Show me an example where any woman 
was in a position like that!  Men beat on women, not the other way 
around.  Look at him!  Can you honestly say that you can imagine a 
woman that could get away with thumping someone with *his* 
muscles?"

Ukyou could not believe what she was hearing.  Did they just not 
understand?  Didn't they have any idea how hard it had been - how 
much she'd had to do just to get Ranma to come here?  Did they have 
any idea that they were destroying any chance Ranma had at getting 
help?  She had convinced him to come and get help once - if this was 
the response that he was going to get, there would be no chance that 
she could do it again.

More than a few hostile glances were directed at Ranma.  They did 
not go unnoticed.  Ranma looked like he wanted to be elsewhere - 
very badly.  Ukyou was sure that the only thing that kept him in his 
seat was the fact that if he moved, he would attract more unwanted 
attention.  She saw him stiffen - could feel the defences he was 
building - could feel the doors closing.  That could not be allowed to 
go unchallenged.  Opening those doors had cost too much as it was.

She gave Ranma an apologetic look, and stood up.  "Excuse me, but I 
have a few things that I'd like to say."  She paused long enough for 
some of the muttering to die down.  Once she was sure she had the 
group's attention, she took a deep breath, and started as calmly as 
she could.

"It may come as a bit of a shock to you, but there *are* men in this 
world that don't beat up on their wives.  And there are women who 
*do* abuse their husbands."

"Well, *I've* never heard of one..." muttered the red-head.

"You have now," snapped Ukyou.  "Are you all so wrapped up in your 
roles as victims that you can't see past your own noses?  A *person* 
comes to you for help, but you turn him away because his presence 
would remind you that women don't always hold the moral high 
ground..."

Another red-head, a short girl with her hair drawn back into a long 
pigtail protested "Look here!  You're not being fair!"

"No, *you* look here, dammit!"  stormed Ukyou as months of angst, 
frustration and fury spilled out.  "I'M not being fair?  Just what *is* it 
with you people?  You're supposed to be *helping* each other.  You're 
ALL here because someone abused you, right?  You're here to share - 
share your pain, share your strength, and yet you would deny 
another victim that same support and understanding?  You would 
turn that person away just because he had the bad luck to be born a 
man?"  She glared at the group of sullen women.

Ukyou turned to the table and picked up a glass.  She made a show of 
ignoring the group as she filled it from the pitcher on the table.  
After taking a sip, she turned to face them once more.  "It's easy, 
isn't it?  I mean, look at him.  He's a MAN, so he MUST be the enemy.  
Is that what you're telling me?  A man strikes you, and it's abuse.  A 
woman strikes a man, and it's no more than he deserves?"

Ranma sat miserably in his chair, staring at the floor.  If he stared at 
it hard enough, he thought, maybe a portal would open and he could 
get out of there.  He could feel the gazes of the women around him, 
like ants crawling all over his body.  It was all he could do to keep 
from bolting.

Ukyou scowled.  "Do any of you have even the slightest idea what 
you've done?  Can you possibly appreciate how hard it was for a 
man, for THIS man to come and admit that he needs help?  He's here 
in violation of EVERY instinct that he's ever been taught - to ask for 
your help - and all he finds are people that laugh in his face.  You 
people are no better than the men that have been abusing you."

Ukyou raised the glass of water in mock salute.  "Well, you can be 
proud of yourselves.  You're turning away the ONE man on this 
planet who can really look at things from a woman's point of view."

Ranma looked up in horror when Ukyou's last words penetrated the 
fog around his mind.  It was too late.  The contents of Ukyou's glass 
caught him full in the face.

A shocked silence descended on the room as Ukyou's glass shattered 
against the far wall.

"C'mon, Ran-chan.  Let's get the hell out of here.  I don't know how, 
but I swear to you, I'll make this up to you someway.  There must be 
*some* place where we can go."  Ukyou drew the dazed and dripping 
redhead to her feet, and stalked off through the door with Ranma 
following meekly behind her.

##  ***  ##

Once they had gotten a ways down the hall, Ukyou led Ranma into a 
vacant room.  Ranma followed mindlessly, still in a state of mild 
shock.  Ukyou led her to a chair, and then pulled up a second seat for 
herself.

"I am SO sorry, Ran-chan."  Ukyou's stern facade crumbled, leaving 
her near tears.  "I'm sorry that I lost my temper back there, I'm 
sorry that I splashed you, I'm sorry that I ever tried to drag you into 
this group.  I didn't know what else to do.  I thought... I believed that 
they would help..."

Ranma looked affectionately at her friend.  She had thought about 
getting angry... she had planned on it, in fact.  But when it came right 
down to it, Ranma couldn't find it in her heart to be mad at Ucchan.

After what seemed like an eternity, Ranma found her voice.  "It's...  
it's okay, Ucchan," she said quietly.  "I know that you were trying to 
help me."  Ranma paused for a moment.  "It was nice of you to try.  
I... I don't know *what* I'd have done if I didn't have you to talk to."

Ukyou buried her face on Ranma's shoulder and let the tears come.  
Ranma put her arms around her friend as she cried.

Ranma didn't know how long they had been sitting there when a 
movement by the door caught her eye.  She looked up to see a 
woman coming quietly into the room.

Ukyou stopped crying when she felt Ranma stiffen.  She wiped at her 
eyes with the back of her hand, and looked up to see the redhead 
wearing a tense, but neutral expression.  The effort it was taking to 
*keep* that expression neutral was obvious to anyone that knew 
Ranma.  Ukyou turned to see Kimiko standing in the doorway.

"What do you want?" asked Ukyou.  Her tone was cold, flat.

Kimiko flinched when she heard it, but she stood her gound.  "I 
came," she said slowly, "to apologise."  She looked toward the floor.  
"You were right, you know.  None of us had ever even *considered* 
the fact that a man might be the victim of abuse."

"Miyuki-san did." said Ranma quietly.

Kimiko could read nothing from Ranma's expression.  "Miyuki is a 
relative newcomer to this group.  She has not had the chance to 
become so jaded as the rest of us.  I hope...  I hope that she never 
will.  May I come in?"

Ranma hesitated, then gestured silently toward a vacant chair.

Kimiko walked to it, and sat down.  It took her a moment before she 
started speaking again.  "You certainly know how to make an exit.  
I'm still not sure that I believe what I saw.  Are you really... I mean 
you were a... but now you're a..." Kimiko trailed off helplessly.

"It's a *long* story" sighed Ranma.

"I'll buy that."  Turning back to Ukyou, she continued, "Your little 
speech caused quite a stir back there.  You said a lot of unpleasant 
things - one woman got so angry that she left."

"I wish I could say that I was sorry,"  Ukyou said.

"Don't.  The times when it hurts the most are the times when the 
truth most needs to be told."  Kimiko sighed.  "I am more than a little 
ashamed of my own behaviour.  I agreed to lead this group because 
it was important to me to try and help people who were facing the 
same demons that I once did."  She looked to Ranma.  "When I was 
beaten by the man that used to be my husband, there were no 
groups like this one.  I had gone to the police, but they would do 
nothing.  I was his wife, they said.  If he was beating me, I must 
have deserved it."

Ranma kept her expression neutral, but nodded for Kimiko to 
continue.

"For the longest time, I believed them.  I had no idea what I had 
been doing wrong, but it had to be my fault; and so the beatings 
continued.  To hide my shame, I wore dresses with long sleeves year 
round.  I wore dark glasses, and a scarf over my head.  I was often 
ridiculed for my lack of fashion sense, but it was better than letting 
them see the bruises that covered me."

Ranma frowned when she caught herself tugging her own sleeves 
down over her forearms.  Kimiko winced as she noticed the gesture.

"Let me see..." she said softly.

Reluctantly, Ranma gave Kimiko her hand.  With the gentle skill born 
of long experience, Kimiko pushed Ranma's sleeve back to reveal the 
purple and yellow mottling of multiple bruises.  Gingerly she traced 
the pattern of the injuries with a finger.  "You heal very quickly, 
don't you?"  Ranma nodded.  "Such force... this has been going on for 
some time, hasn't it?"  After a moment of silence, Ranma gave 
another faint nod.  "I thought so."

While she examined Ranma's arm, Kimiko resumed her story.  "I was 
lucky.  I had a friend very much like yours here who helped me.  It 
took her a long time, but she finally convinced me that there was 
something wrong in my marriage, and that it *wasn't* me."  She took 
Ranma's other arm, and repeated her examination.  "After a time, I 
moved out of my home, and in with my friend.  My husband took it 
badly and assaulted me *and* my friend.  He was arrested, and I got 
a divorce."

Kimiko met Ranma's gaze.  "After that, I vowed that as long as I 
could do anything about it, no victim of domestic abuse was ever 
again going to have to face the apathy, and the indifference that I 
had found.  Tonight, I am shamed to say, I broke that vow.  I hope 
that I can somehow repair..."

Kimiko broke off as a group of women shuffled self-consciously into 
the room.  Ukyou and Ranma looked up at the same time, and Ranma 
snatched her arm back, once more tugging her sleeve down to hide 
the bruising.  It was a moment before anyone said anything.

Finally, after being nudged forward by her companions, one of the 
women spoke up.  "We didn't know whether or not Kimiko would be 
able to convince you to give us another chance, and, well, we all 
wanted to let you know how sorry we were..."

Miyuki spoke up from the middle of the group.  "I'm sorry, Ranma.  
It never even dawned on me that people might not take your case 
seriously because you were a man..."  She glared at her companions.

Ranma smiled at her, and nodded her understanding.

"Yes," piped up another woman.  "We feel very badly about that..."  
the speaker looked up to meet Ranma and Ukyou's gazes.  "It is a 
shameful thing to realise just how prejudiced you really are.  I had 
thought myself above such behaviour.  Please forgive me.  It will 
NOT happen again."

Kimiko's expression was sober, and contrite.  "Will you give us 
another chance?  We really would like to help..."

There was a general muttering of agreement with that, followed by a 
pregnant silence, as the group waited for Ranma's verdict.  Ranma 
studied the group, looking from face to face.  She saw concern, shame 
and sincerity - hope and sorrow, but no malice, and no hesitation.

Finally, Ranma spoke.  "You understand," she began, "that I *am* a 
guy...  that this..." she indicated herself, "...this body is just the result 
of a bizarre Chinese curse..." she let the words hang.

There were nods from the assorted women.  No one even so much as 
smirked.  After another long pause, Ranma sighed.  Looking to Ukyou 
she gave a weak smile and said, "Okay.  I'm not sure that this is going 
to work, but I'll at least give it a chance."  Her expression sobered.  
"Thank you."

##  ***  ##

Ranma and Ukyou allowed themselves to be escorted back to room 
101.  While the rest of the group got settled, Ukyou went to the urn 
on the table and secured a cup of hot water.

"Tea bags are in the tin on the corner" she was told.

Ukyou grinned.  "Thanks, but this is for Ran-chan."

That got her a strange look, until she handed the cup to Ranma, who 
promptly upended it over her head.  Again, a disbelieving silence fell 
over the room as Ranma's outline blurred and shifted, growing taller 
and broader, curves flattening out, and hair darkening.  In seconds, 
the transition was complete, and Ranma, once more in his male form, 
sighed in relief.

"I saw that.  I don't believe it, but I saw it." muttered one.

"How... but...  ye gods, man... doesn't that *hurt*?"

Ranma grimaced.  "Only my pride."

Miyuki shook her head.  "Every time I see that, it still sends a chill 
down my spine."

"Miyuki!  You mean to say that you *knew* about this?"

"Of course I did!  I told you that Ukyou would be bringing in a friend 
that needed help."  Her tone softened a bit.  "I guess I should have 
made it clearer that Ranma was a man... but I honestly didn't think 
that it was important... it never crossed my mind.  I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Kimiko's voice was firm.  "It *shouldn't* make a difference 
- I think that we've all learned that lesson by now."

"But what about Hikaru?  She left!"

Ranma looked around.  The red-head with the long pigtail was 
missing.  He frowned.  "I'm sorry," he said, starting to get to his feet.  
"I didn't mean to cause so much trouble.  Maybe this wasn't such a 
good idea after all."

"Sit back down!" chorused Kimiko and Ukyou in unison.

"It's not your fault," Kimiko continued.  "I know Hikaru - she's a very 
kind and sensitive person - sometimes too sensitive.  She'll be back 
once she's had a chance to cool off."

She paused to take a sip of her tea.  "Why don't we start over, ne?  
We'll all introduce ourselves, and then you can tell us a little about 
yourself."  She set her cup down and cleared her throat.

"My name is Takahashi Kimiko.  I lead this group, though it might be 
more accurate to say I guide it.  You already know the gist of my 
story.  I've already experienced a lot of the problems that the rest of 
us are facing; the anger, the helplessness the frustration and the 
apathy.  Part of my job here is to let you know that you can get past 
this - that your problems can be solved."

"We work on a very personal level here, Ranma.  In our meetings we 
often share some of the most intimate details of our lives, so it does 
not pay to stand too hard on formality.  We are all on a first name 
basis."

Miyuki was next.  "My name is Manabe Miyuki.  I was the newest 
member until tonight..." she looked at Ranma and smiled.  "I guess 
that I'm a lot luckier than most here... my husband only really gets 
violent when he drinks.  He's never hurt me seriously... but he's 
scared me.  And, himself, I think - he's the one that suggested I join 
this group."

Ranma's eyes widened at that.  Kimiko noticed and broke in again.  
"That's one thing that you'll have to decide for yourself.  How much 
do you tell your spouse about these gatherings...  I do not advocate 
dishonesty; but there are those here that would be... punished... for 
trying to get help.  Others, like Miyuki here, are more fortunate."

Ranma nodded thoughtfully.  While he had a policy of total honesty 
where Akane was involved, he had learned that a lie of omission was 
not truly a lie.  If asked about something directly, he would answer 
honestly, but as long as no one asked, he knew better than to 
volunteer the information.

The next girl who introduced herself was Fujishima Natsumi.  She 
had short, dark brown hair that had a mind of its own, and piercing 
green eyes.  She was trim and athletic, and had an air of confidence 
and enthusiasm that was infectious.  She reminded Ranma a lot of 
Akane, they way she had been when they had first met.

Togashi Keiko was the sullen redhead that had set off Ucchan earlier 
in the evening.  Her thick mop of fire red hair was trimmed short in 
the back and longer in front and was kept out of her face by the 
headband that she wore.  Rich chocolate eyes burned with emotion, 
and Ranma got the impression that she was not one that hid her 
feelings.

After Keiko, a girl wearing a yellow dress spoke up.  Her name was 
Takachiho Yuriko, and she was lovely.  Long black hair cascaded 
almost to her waist, and bright, blue-green eyes shone under her 
bangs.  Ranma liked her almost immediately.  Her natural warmth 
and friendliness made him wonder how anyone could even consider 
mistreating her.

The next to introduce herself was Okuda Rei.  She was a slender girl, 
almost elfin in appearance, with blue hair cut just below the chin and 
deep eyes that were such a glowing brown they appeared almost red.  
Her voice was so quiet that Ranma had to strain to hear her.  It was 
also cold... all but devoid of any detectable emotion.  In a way, she 
was the one that most disturbed Ranma - There was an emptiness 
about her, but also a quiet intensity that was either determination, or 
resignation, Ranma could not tell which.

There were more... Ryouko, Misato, Makoto, Setsuna, Kyoko, Hitomi, 
the list went on and on.  Each one had a different story - each one 
made Ranma ache to help.

Ranma was astonished at the diversity of the group, and at the range 
of problems that plagued its members.  He'd had no idea that there 
were so many ways for a relationship to go wrong - or that people 
could be so determined to maintain them, to save them.  Ukyou had 
been right - he was not unique in that respect after all.  It was truly 
an eye opening set of revelations.

Kimiko smiled reassuringly at him.  "Now, Ranma... It's your turn."

Ranma took a deep breath.  "My name," he said, "Is Saotome Ranma.  
I am married to a warm, kind hearted woman whom I love very 
much.  My problem seems to be that I can not avoid making her 
angry..."

##  ***  ##

Ukyou and Ranma walked slowly back toward the Ucchan.  After a 
rocky start, the meeting had seemed to go well enough.  At least no 
one had made fun of Ranma, or his curse.  Ukyou was pleased.  If 
Ranma realised that he was among friends - friends who understood 
what he was going through - they might just find a way to solve his 
problems.

"Well, what did you think?"

"I dunno."  Ranma was noncommittal.  "It was interesting, but..."

"But what?"

"But I can't *do* those things!  Do they seriously expect me to... that I 
could file charges against Akane?"

Ukyou managed a sad, little half-smile.  "No, Ranma.  I doubt that 
anyone really expects you to do that.  But it is an option - and that's 
what this group is all about... exploring options."

"Hmph"  After a moment of silence, Ranma shook his head and 
snorted.

"Something funny?" asked Ukyou.

"Can't you just see it?  'Hi!  My name is Saotome Ranma!  I'm a 
martial artist!  I'd like you to arrest my wife because she hits me!'  
I'd be laughed out of Japan!"

"Well, what about the counseling?  Do you think that Akane might 
agree to something like that?"

"Are you kidding?  You know Akane - she hates to ask for help with 
anything."

"You mean like her cooking?" Ukyou asked snidely.

"Ucchan!  That wasn't a very nice thing to say."  Ranma grimaced.  
"But if I even suggested something like counseling, she'd *really* pop 
her cork."

The pair walked in silence for a few minutes.

"The next meeting is in two weeks."

"Next meeting?  But..."

"Ran-chan... You didn't expect change overnight, did you?  This is 
going to take time.  Miyuki tells me that this group meets every 
other Monday."

Ranma digested that piece of information.  "Just what good are these 
meetings supposed to do?" he asked.

"Well, first of all, they are to let you know that you are not alone."

"But I *was* alone... I was the only guy there!"

"They let you know that there are others who have similar problems 
- and that there are things that you can do about them.  They are 
there so that you can talk about your problems - focus on them, and 
try to find solutions."

Ranma thought about Kimiko's story.  "You don't mean leaving 
Akane, do you?"

"Perhaps.  I won't kid you - I think that you ought to consider it."  
Ukyou held up a hand to forestall his objection.  "I said 'consider'.  I 
don't expect you to leave Akane, no.  Not all of the problems are 
solved that way - a lot of these couples can find solutions that will 
work for both parties."

"Ah..."

"And when the people *do* split up, it's not always permanent.  A lot 
of them get back together after their problems are worked out, and 
end up a lot happier for it."  Ukyou paused.  "Most of these people 
married the people they loved - they don't want to throw that away.  
All they want is a way to stop the abuse - to fix their problems so 
that they can live happily together.  Divorce and such are very much 
a last resort."

Ranma looked relieved.  "Every other Monday, huh?  I don't know..."

"Don't make me beg you, Ran-chan.  You *need* these people - you 
need to find answers that you can get only from people who have 
experienced what you're going through now."

Ranma thought about that, as they approached the Ucchan.  Ukyou 
was right - he did need help.  Could these people really give it to 
him?  There was only one way to find out.

"Okay," he said.  "I'll go back.  But I have a condition."

Ukyou paused and turned to face him, raising an eyebrow.  "What 
sort of 'condition'?"

"Will you go with me?"

Ukyou smiled.  "You bet I will, Ran-chan."

*****  ##  ***  ##  *****

Akane had, as Ranma expected, chosen to go to college.  She'd opted 
to attend the same school that Nabiki did - it was a good school, and 
it was close, so she could still live at home.  That had helped to keep 
expenses down.  She was studying business management, with some 
additional concentrations in art and literature.  She reasoned that not 
only would she be better able to manage the dojo, but she'd have a 
number of other career options that she could choose from.

However, Akane was discovering that college was not quite as easy 
as she had been led to believe.  She was a month into classes, and she 
was up to her neck in schoolwork.  Research papers, essays, tests and 
other homework all conspired to keep her running.  There were 
times that she envied Ranma his relative freedom... he already knew 
what he wanted to do with his life, and was working smoothly to 
achieve those goals.

Ranma made it look so easy - made it appear so effortless.  Ranma 
wasn't spending his time tearing his hair over some obscure fact or 
formula.  He wasn't having to deal with deadlines, and busywork 
assigned by harried professors who had too little time, and too many 
students.  No, Ranma was having fun, taking it easy.  And Akane was 
beginning to hate him for it.

One afternoon, Akane came home from school to find Ranma, in girl 
form, sprawled lazily in front of the television.  She appeared to be 
watching an old episode of Star Trek.  Looking at her watch, Akane 
frowned.  Didn't the man [sic] have any time-sense at all?

"Ranma..." she said, coming into the room.  When no answer was 
forthcoming, she called out again, more loudly.  "Ranma!"

"What do you want?" asked Ranma, without turning away from the 
television.

"Shouldn't you cha... be getting ready?"

"Ready for what?"

Akane was starting to get exasperated.  "Ready for your *classes*, 
baka!  Your students should be here any minute."

"Oh.  That.  No."  Ranma lapsed back into silence.

She moved between Ranma and the television.  Ranma ignored her.  
"No?" Akane felt her blood pressure start to rise.  "No *what*?"

"No *sir*," Ranma replied sullenly.

Reflexively, Akane slapped Ranma across the face.  "None of your 
mouth," she growled.  "Now, what do you *mean*, 'No'?"

Ranma reached up to rub her stinging jaw with the back of her hand 
as she glared at her wife.  "I mean," she said deliberately, "that I 
don't have to get ready... I don't have to... to *change*."  Her tone was 
bitter.  "No one is coming; there *are* no students."

Akane was taken aback.  "What?  What happened?"  she asked.

Ranma's stare never wavered.  "Their parents canceled their classes.  
They were very nice about it, but they just didn't feel that this dojo 
could foster the 'sense of peace and discipline' that they wanted for 
their children."

"And why not?  What's wrong with this dojo?"  Akane's temper was 
heating up again.

Ranma's smile was cold.  "I'm sure that I don't know." she said 
levelly.  "But it *might* have something to do with the rumours that 
the sensei and his wife fight all the time.  Call it a hunch."

"Are you telling me that this is *my* fault?  Is *that* what you're 
telling me?"

"I didn't say that.  I said..."

"I *heard* what you *said*!  It's what you were *implying* that's the 
problem."

"Well?  Do you have a different theory?" asked Ranma, her tone 
holding a note of challenge.  "It's not like people won't notice, is it?  
The whole damned neighbourhood can hear you when you're yelling 
at me!"

"Well, I wouldn't *have* to yell at you if you didn't deserve it, now 
would I?"

"I suppose not.  Just answer one question for me then.  What did I 
do?  Why are you so angry with me?"

"You have to ask?"

"Yes, dammit, I do!  I don't know!  Do you think that I *like* having 
you angry?  Do you think that I enjoy it when you're hammering on 
me?"  Ranma shook her head in frustration.  "All I want is to see you 
smile more often!"

"You want to see me smile more often?  Then STOP PISSING ME OFF!"

"GYAAAHH!"  Ranma closed her eyes and started counting to ten.  By 
the time she had reached thirty she felt safe in resuming the debate, 
but Akane had gone.

A sharp cracking sound caught her attention.  She looked down and 
noticed the pulverised remains of the TV remote caught in her fist.  
"Damn," she sighed softly to herself.  "There goes another one..."

*****  ##  ***  ##  *****

When meeting night rolled around, Ranma was so nervous that he'd 
only been able to eat six okonomiyaki.  He was still a little uncertain 
about these things... the last meeting had come so close to being a 
disaster.  But Ucchan was optimistic, Ranma could think of no good 
reason not to go, and so they went.

Ranma was relieved to see that their arrival was greeted with smiles 
this time.  He and Ukyou found a pair of vacant seats in the circle, 
and dropped into them.  He was not exactly relaxed, but at least he 
wasn't quite so tempted to bolt and run.  Comfort and true 
acceptance would come only with time.

Sitting and watching the others gather, Ranma was relieved to note 
that Kimiko had been right.  The red-head with the long pig-tail had 
come back after all.  What was her name again?  Oh, yes... Hikaru.  
Ranma took a moment to study her.

She was shorter than most of the others, and quite slender.  Wide 
brown eyes looked out of a child's face, but it was no child behind 
those eyes.  Her pigtail hung past her hips, and was in constant 
motion as she talked.  She looked nervous to Ranma, but relieved at 
the same time.  With a start, Ranma realised that the person she was 
talking to was pointing at him, and that Hikaru was now headed in 
his direction.

Ranma managed to find his voice as she approached.  "Matsumoto-
san... I'm sorry about..." he started to say.

She shook her head to silence him.  "Please, call me Hikaru.  May I 
join you?"

Ranma nodded.

"The fault for last week was mine, not yours.  My friend Umi-chan is 
always telling me that I act first and think later."  Hikaru grinned 
ruefully.  "It looks like she might be right."

She took a breath.  "I want you to know just how sorry I am.  After I 
left here during the last meeting, I did some heavy thinking.  I was 
so angry at what your friend had said.  It hurts a lot to have your 
own prejudices rammed down your throat.  I felt awful.  And there 
was no one that I could talk to about it either... all of the people that 
I trusted were still here.  I felt so lost, so *alone*.

"Then it occurred to me that what I was feeling right then was just a 
small sample of what you must have felt, the way we were treating 
you.  If I hadn't had this group to draw strength from, I think that 
maybe I'd have died... and here I was sentencing someone else to 
that same emptiness just because he was a man."

Hikaru looked up at Ranma, and there were tears in her eyes.  "I am 
so very glad that you stayed - that you didn't let us drive you away 
before we came to our senses."

Ranma had no idea what to say.  He settled for "Thank you."  Kimiko 
spared him the need for further comment by calling the meeting to 
order.  Ranma took a quick poll as everyone sat down, and noticed 
that this time, Keiko was missing.  Ranma wondered if there was 
something wrong, or if not everyone attended all the meetings.

The door opened at this point, and Keiko walked in.  She grinned as 
she headed for a vacant chair.  "Sorry I'm late."

Ranma's eyes narrowed as he watched her move.  There was the 
slightest hesitation in her gait as she brought her right leg forward, 
and her right shoulder seemed stiff.  She detoured by the snack 
table, picked up a pastry and some coffee, and joined the circle.

Once she was settled, Ranma asked casually.  "Are you okay?"

"Just fine!" she answered, a little too brightly.  "Why?"

"Well, you've that big bruise on the your right thigh, and another just 
under the right shoulder, above the breast.  And there are at least 
two deep bruises on your upper right arm." said Ranma calmly.

Keiko almost dropped her pastry, her eyes wide.  She was wearing 
slacks and a sweater - baggy and opaque.  "How...  how the hell did 
you know that?" she stammered.

"You can tell a lot from the way a person moves, if you know what to 
look for."

Ukyou nodded in confirmation.  "He's right.  You can."  Hearing an 
odd tone to her voice, Ranma glanced up to find her looking at him 
with a sad 'I told you so' expression.  He had the good grace to blush.

"Another bad night?" Kimiko asked.

Keiko nodded glumly.  "Kyousuke lost his job the other day.  He 
didn't take it very well, I'm afraid.  I had heard about an opening 
with a company from a friend.  But when I told Kyousuke about it, he 
got mad.  He said that he didn't need my help, and that I should stop 
'interfering'..."

Kimiko winced.  Ranma was wearing a dark look.

"You seem disturbed, Ranma..."

"What kind of coward beats up on a woman - let alone his wife?"

"Well, what about that harpy that you're married to?" Keiko shot 
back.

"Hey!"  Ranma caught Keiko's sardonic grin and mentally kicked 
himself.  It *had* been a thoughtless remark.

Keiko wasn't holding it against him, though.  "He's my husband, and I 
love him.  But he's sick.  He can't help being the way he is... at least, 
not on his own."

Ranma shook his head.  "I'm sorry, Keiko.  I spoke without thinking."  
He grinned ruefully.  "It's a habit that's gotten me in a lot of trouble 
in the past.  Please forgive me.  I didn't mean to offend you."

"But what about you?"  Keiko studied Ranma.  "That's a pretty nasty 
bruise you have over your eye."

"It sure is," agreed Hikaru.  "What on earth happened?"

Ranma gingerly felt his forehead, wincing slightly as his fingers 
brushed over the injury.  "Oh, this?  This is from the stone lantern in 
the garden at home."

"Did your wife trip you or something?"

"Mmm?  No, she threw it at me.  I just didn't dodge in time."

Natsumi turned to Ukyou.  "He *is* kidding this time, isn't he?"

Ukyou shook her head.  "'Fraid not.  I didn't actually see her throw it 
in this instance, but I've seen her do so in the past."

A number of eyes around the circle widened at that, and a brief 
silence followed.  Kimiko finally broke it.  "Well.  As Ranma is new 
here, perhaps we should explain in a little more detail what we do.

"Most importantly, we try to make sure you understand that your 
being abused is not your fault.  But there *are* things that you can 
do about it.  The most obvious, of course, is to get away from the 
abuser.  Get out of the relationship."

Ranma looked mildly uncomfortable.

Kimiko went on.  "As obvious as it is, it's both the easiest, and the 
hardest thing to do."

"You'll have to explain that," Ranma said.  "It sounds contradictory to 
me."

"It's the easiest because it's the simplest.  You just leave.  Walk away.  
It's the hardest, because it's the ultimate surrender, and no one likes 
to give up.  It means that you write off a substantial investment of 
time and emotion.  It's also scary, because it's such a drastic change.  
It's a big step to give up everything that is familiar to you and to 
strike out on your own.

"Many victims are reluctant to choose this option.  Sometimes that's a 
good thing - and others, it's not.  There are a lot of reasons that 
people stay in abusive relationships, and one of the things that we 
try to determine is just why each of us has stayed in our own - and 
whether there is hope to fix it, or if we should admit defeat and 
abandon it.

"Some victims seem to need the abuse - to seek it out, almost.  Deep 
down they feel that they must deserve it - and that just isn't true."

Noting Ranma's confused look, Hikaru piped in.  "No one *wants* to 
be abused.  But for some, it's the only form of attention that they've 
ever really known - and even negative attention is better than no 
attention."

A thoughtful expression crossed Ranma's face.  What Hikaru was 
saying almost made sense in a twisted sort of way.  He knew how 
much he hated to be ignored.  Would he actually prefer abuse to 
indifference?

Kimiko took up the thread again.  "Most of us do want to save our 
relationships.  We don't take our love, or our commitments lightly.  
But at the same time, there comes a time when it is apparent that 
there is nothing more that we can do, and the time has come to get 
out.  The trick is recognizing that time - and often, other group 
members will see it before we will.  Until that time *does* come for 
each of us, there are a number of other things that we can do to help 
one another."

Yuriko nodded agreement.  "One thing we try to do is to find non-
confrontational ways of dealing with abusers - ways to talk to them 
without triggering angry responses, yet also without letting them 
walk all over us.  Also, when they *are* mad, we try to find ways to 
calm them before the abuse starts."

"It's tricky," Natsumi added.  "What works will vary considerably 
from personality type to personality type, as well as depending on 
the reasons that the people we love treat us so badly.  We try very 
hard to figure out just what those reasons are.

"We also try to find ways to convince our husb... er... sorry... spouses 
to find help.  Most abusers are not exactly receptive to the idea that 
they might have a problem, but if you CAN get your spouse to go to a 
counselor, jointly or alone, then you have a much better chance of 
stopping the abuse."

"We discuss other options too." Kimiko went on, "Agencies and 
shelters that exist to give us a place to go, if things get too bad - 
programs, and other resources that we can use when things get 
really bad."

Ranma tried to imagine himself running to a women's shelter and 
failed.  Even as a girl, it would be a long time before he would be 
ready to surrender that much of his pride.

"You'll be encouraged to share your own experiences and feelings 
with us, as we will with you.  You can never tell when another 
member will have that little bit of insight that could be the key to 
solving your problems.  What one person may be too close to see, 
another might pick up on instantly.

"And lastly, we're here for mutual support - so that you know that 
you are NOT alone, and that there are always people who care, and 
who understand.  People who know what you're dealing with, and 
can feel your pain, and frustration.  It may not sound like much, but 
it really does help."

Ranma blinked, still trying to sort out all that he'd been told.  There 
was a lot more to these group things than he had expected.  He still 
wasn't sure what good all this talk stuff was supposed to be, but he 
had promised Ucchan that he would give it a chance.  And Ranma 
kept his promises.

Kimiko gave Ranma a sympathetic look.  "Miyuki?  Shall we begin 
with you tonight?  Since this is Ranma's first meeting as a full 
member, why don't you tell him your story?"

Miyuki nodded.  "Well, Ranma, my husband is a graphic artist.  He's 
worked for one of the larger consumer electronics firms for almost 
four years now.  While most of his work was in advertising, they 
occasionally had him working on the design end - where he would 
get to use his imagination a little more.

"Everything was going our way.  We had just gotten married, he liked 
his work and we didn't have a care in the world.  But, a little over a 
year ago, things started to go wrong...

"After a poor showing on the Nikkei, his company started to make 
some management changes.  They pushed him back into the ad 
department, but they were having him do less and less.  They've 
been using a lot more 'clip-art' in their ad layouts in an effort to cut 
costs even further.  People have been losing their jobs, and he has 
never been sure from one week to the next that he would still have a 
job to go back to.

"Since then, it's only gotten worse.  He hates his job, and he doesn't 
get along well with some of his co-workers  He says that even a 
trained monkey can use clip-art, and that's how he sees a lot of them.  
The company is still in flux, and the job market in the graphic arts is 
pretty bad.

"He has no confidence in himself, though I think he's damned good.  
I'm afraid that my opinion of his talents doesn't carry the same 
weight as his employer's might, and they don't really seem to give a 
damn.  It has put him under a lot of stress.

"As a result, he's gotten progressively more depressed, and short 
tempered.  He's usually more of an optimist, and he hates being like 
that.  It becomes a cycle - he gets more depressed because he's been 
depressed to begin with.

"The real problems started when he started drinking more.  One 
night, about six months ago, he came home really drunk.  He'd come 
really close to losing his job that day... one of the few people that he 
*liked* in the department *had* lost his job.  He was feeling relieved, 
and guilty at the same time.  I was trying to comfort him when he 
snapped.  I never even saw him move, but the next thing that I 
knew, I was on the floor halfway across the room, and the side of my 
head was ringing like a bell."

Miyuki paused to take a drink of her tea before continuing her story.  
Ranma was listening attentively, though his expression had hardened 
a bit at the point where she had described being struck.  This time, 
however, he kept his mouth shut, and waited for her to continue.

"That was the first time that he'd ever hit me.  He just stood there, 
staring at his own hand as if he'd never seen it before.  I don't think 
that I've ever seen him look more frightened.  He started crying like 
a baby...  He swore that he was sorry, that it would never happen 
again.  He was begging me to forgive him.  Of course, I did."

"But it did happen again, didn't it?" Ranma asked softly.

Miyuki gave a sad little nod.  "It did.  It was almost two weeks later.  
He was drunk again, and feeling sorry for himself.  He really is a 
good man, but it's sometimes difficult to convince *him* of that.  He 
just doesn't see the good in himself that others see.  When something 
bad happens, he overreacts.  He thinks that he deserves the pain, and 
when the alcohol breaks his control, he lashes out at anyone or 
anything that tries to make him feel better.

"It just didn't get any better.  He never hit me more than once at a 
time, but it got to the point that if I tried to talk to him while he was 
drunk, he'd lose control.  He didn't always hit *me* then - sometimes 
it'd be the wall, or a table, or a door - anything to release some of the 
anger that was building up inside him.  I never got the feeling that 
he was angry with *me*, but that didn't stop him from hitting me 
when the anger came out.

"Then one day, after a particularly bad night, he locked himself in his 
study, and wouldn't come out for days.  He took vacation time from 
work, which they granted, though I suspect he'd have taken the time 
regardless.  I didn't see a trace of him for three days.  The only proof 
I had that he was still there - that he was still alive - was that every 
now and then I'd hear him muttering to himself, or a clatter as he 
dropped something.

"I was starting to get really worried.  I was almost to the point where 
I was ready to force the door, when he came out on his own.  He 
looked like he hadn't eaten or slept at all in those three days.  There 
were dark circles under his eyes, his complexion was sallow, and he 
needed a shave badly.  He wouldn't let me get close to him, but for 
once he didn't seem angry... just sad.

"His study was littered with drawings... when I asked him about 
them, he just said that he was tired of being destructive; that he 
wanted to create things again.  I didn't press him for details at the 
time, though I did ask to see some of his drawings.  I don't pretend 
to understand all of them, but they look very good to me."

"What sorts of things did he draw?" asked Ukyou.

"Characters, mostly... though there are lots of sketches of other things 
- machines, animals, buildings, places.  Even some maps and charts.  
They look like they all fit together somehow, but I haven't been able 
to make out the pattern.

"Several days later, he told me about finding this group.  He wanted 
me to come here for help.  At first, I didn't want to come.  It seemed 
to me like he was blaming me for all his trouble, since he expected 
me to go for help, but wasn't willing to go himself.  But after I got 
here, after the first couple of meetings, I learned differently.  His 
sending me here was a cry for help.  He needs the help, he knows 
that he needs it, but he has no idea how to ask for it."

Ranma was looking thoughtful.  "You say he really likes to draw?"

"Oh, yes.  Lately, it's been like a refuge for him.  The more depressed 
or angry or bitter he gets, the more he loses himself in his drawing.  
He gets very wrapped up in it.  What are you thinking?"

"Well," Ranma took a deep breath, "I know that when I get upset, I 
practice the Art to feel better.  It's what I enjoy doing, and I can 
usually find some peace in it, even when everything else is coming 
apart.  I feel like it's what I was born to do.  I was just wondering if 
maybe drawing wasn't the same thing for your husband."

Miyuki smiled.  "Well, he *is* an artist after all.  But, yes, I see what 
you mean.  The drawings that he does at home are very different 
from the sorts of things that he does for work."

"Yes, that makes sense," Ranma was nodding.  "If he is drawing to get 
his mind off of his problems, it would be.  It might be interesting to 
see some of his drawing.  It might be that it could tell you something 
about what he was really thinking or feeling."

"Do you really think so?"  Miyuki looked surprised.  "I hadn't thought 
of that, but now that you mention it, it does sound reasonable."

"Why don't you see if he'll let you bring some of his drawings to 
show us?"  Kimiko suggested.  "Ranma's idea is a good one - maybe 
someone here can see something in them that might help.  And if we 
can't, maybe a professional can."

Miyuki looked doubtful.  "He's pretty protective of his drawings.  I 
don't know if I'll be able to talk him into it.  But it's worth a try."

Hikaru piped up, "Well, I'd sure like to see them!"

"So would I," added Keiko.

"Right then.  I'll ask him for the next meeting."

##  ***  ##

After the meeting had ended, as the group members were getting 
ready to go, Ranma approached Keiko.  "Umm... look," he started.  
"About what I said earlier..."

"Forget it," Keiko waved it aside.  "You're not the first to suggest it.  It 
may even be true.  But it doesn't change the fact that I love him."

"I know," said Ranma quietly.

"You know, I do believe that you just might, at that." said Keiko with 
a grin.

"Does he always hit you like that?"

She sobered.  "He hits me a lot."

"Actually, that's not what I meant.  Does he always hit you the same 
*way*.  Does he always use the same attack?"

"Oh, I think I see what you mean.  Well, he uses a backhand alot, and 
then he's got this... I don't know what it's called..."

"Show me."

"But..."

Ranma laughed.  "You're not going to hurt me, Keiko.  Please.  Show 
me."

"Well... okay."  Reluctantly, Keiko swung her fist at Ranma, but she 
diverted her punch at the last minute.  "Something like that..." she 
said.

"Try it again, and this time, don't swing to miss... I need to know 
where he's hitting you, as well as how."

After a moment's indecision, Keiko shrugged, and swung again.  She 
needn't have worried about hurting Ranma, she found out.  When her 
fist got to him, he wasn't there anymore.

Again and again, Ranma had her try to hit him as her husband hit 
her.  After she got over her fear of hurting Ranma, Keiko had put 
more effort into the attempts, but she still could not touch him.  She 
would have gotten frustrated if not for Ranma's encouragement and 
questions.

A number of the others were gathering round, curious and mildly 
alarmed that Keiko was trying to tag Ranma.  Kimiko moved in to put 
a stop to it, but then she realised that Keiko was doing all the 
swinging, and Ranma had a thoughtful expression on his face.  She 
motioned the others to keep quiet, and settled back to watch.

After a few minutes more, Ranma called a halt.  "Okay, I think I've 
got it now.  Ucchan?  Can I borrow you for a second?"

Ukyou had been watching with interest.  "Sure, Ran-chan.  What'cha 
need?"

"I want you to hit me like Keiko was trying to do...  Keiko?  I'd like to 
show you something."

Ukyou nodded, and Keiko looked confused.  "What are you doing?"

"Just watch.  Okay, Ucchan.  Any time."

Ukyou moved in to attack.  Mimicking Keiko's attack precisely, she 
swung at Ranma.  This time, however, Ranma didn't dodge.  Instead, 
he moved his arm up, and deflected the blow to one side.  Ukyou 
pulled back and swung a second time, and again the blow was 
diverted.  Ranma nodded, and Ukyou broke off the attack.

Keiko's eyes were wide.  "How did you do that?" she asked.

"It's simple, really.  The thing to remember is that when a punch is 
thrown, it is hard for the thrower to change its direction.  The harder 
the punch, the more effort it takes the puncher to redirect it.  It's a 
matter of momentum."

"So?" Keiko asked.

Ranma grinned.  "It's also true that the harder the punch is, the 
*easier* it is for the person being punched to deflect, or redirect the 
blow."

Keiko blinked.  "That doesn't make any sense."

"Sure it does.  The person doing the hitting is putting all that energy 
into keeping their fist going in a certain direction.  Once they start 
the attack, their own weight serves as the driving force, as well as 
muscle strength.  All it takes is a little force applied at the right point 
to push that blow off its course."

"I still don't understand."

"Okay.  Here's an analogy.  Close your eyes, and imagine that you are 
holding a garden hose.  Got the image?"

Keiko shut her eyes and concentrated.  "Okay... got it.  I still don't..."

"Don't worry, you will.  Now.  You're spraying your garden... put your 
thumb over the nozzle.  Try and stop the flow of water.  What 
happens?"

"I get wet," said Keiko.  "I can't stop the water, it just sprays around 
my thumb, all over everything."

"Right.  That's because the water is stronger than you are.  It can 
apply more pressure than you can - there is no way that you are 
going to stop it.  Now, take your thumb and press it against the *side* 
of the nozzle, against the stream of water.  What happens now?"

"The water shoots off to the side, because..."  Keiko's eyes snapped 
open.  "I get it!"

Ranma grinned.  "Now.  I want you to swing at me again, but very 
slowly."

Nodding, Keiko took up a ready stance, and swung as slowly as she 
could.  Ranma brought up his arm, crossed against her forearm, and 
pushed the punch to one side, while he moved to the other.  Keiko's 
fist passed harmlessly through empty space.

"You see?  It's easy."  After another fifteen minutes of practicing and 
demonstration, Ranma had satisfied himself that Keiko really did 
understand the fundamentals of the move he was showing her.  He 
smiled.  "Now, *this* is how you can avoid that backhand..."

##  ***  ##

Ranma, Ukyou and Kimiko were sitting in a booth in a small kissaten 
near the Civic Centre.  Once they had placed their orders, Kimiko 
turned to Ranma.  "I'd like to thank you for showing Keiko those 
moves this evening," she began.  "She's one of the girls that I worry 
about the most."

"How so?" asked Ranma.

"Of the group, her husband is one of the more violent abusers."  An 
image of a stone lantern winging its way across a garden flashed 
through Kimiko's mind.  "At least he *was*."

"You realise that the moves that I showed her tonight are purely 
defencive... there was no offencive component to any of them."

"That's a lot more than she had before.  At least now she'll have more 
of a chance, if her husband loses his control completely."

Ranma nodded.  "I suppose so.  But without a lot of training, that sort 
of thing is more of a measure of last resort.  What I showed her will 
enable her to avoid getting really hurt, but it won't stop him hitting 
her."

Kimiko looked thoughtful for a moment.  "Ranma... I'd like to ask you 
a favour, if I might."

Ranma exchanged a puzzled glance with Ukyou.  "Sure, I guess."

"The Civic Centre has a small gymnasium.  I think that I could get it 
reserved for meeting nights.  Would you consider showing some of 
those moves to the entire group?"

Ranma was startled.  "What, you mean like a class, or something?"

"Yes.  A self-defence class.  There are a number of girls in the group 
who could benefit from such a class."

"I don't know," Ranma began uncertainly.  "I'm not all that sure that 
everyone would be comfortable with the idea... and I don't want to 
disrupt things any more than I already have..."

"I know this is difficult for you," Kimiko's voice was gentle.  "You still 
don't feel like you fit in, do you?"

"Not really, no."  Ranma hesitated.  "I know that you are all trying 
very hard, but I'm still not sure how well this is going to work.  I 
mean... well, it's just that..."

"I understand.  It will take time.  We really do want to help, and I 
suspect that you will be just as much a learning experience for us as 
we are for you.  Please don't let a little awkwardness get in the way."

Ranma stared into the depths of his teacup.  He had enjoyed showing 
those blocks to Keiko... he had felt like he was really doing something 
to help.  But a class?  That implied a commitment: an obligation.  Was 
he really ready for that?  Was he so sure that they would come to 
truly accept him?  No.  But they needed, and had asked for his help 
as well.  Even if he hadn't asked for theirs, duty demanded this of 
him.  His insecurity and his conscience fought a brief battle.  "What 
sort of a class did you have in mind?"  Ranma asked quietly.

Kimiko tried to keep the excitement out of her voice.  "Nothing too 
elaborate.  I thought maybe that it could be set after the meetings, 
and anyone that wanted to could stay after to attend."

"And what would you want me to teach them?"

"You've seen what can happen; what's being done to them.  Teach 
them what will help them survive."

Ranma's eyebrow rose.  "That was an... interesting choice of words."

"It was deliberate.  Not every abusive husband will go that far, not 
*many* will, but there are those who do.  Whether it was malice or 
accident won't matter to the ones who pay the price."

Ranma closed his eyes and shuddered.  He'd had no idea.  He owed 
them this as a martial artist.  And if they helped him rebuild his 
relationship with Akane, it would only magnify the debt.  He could 
not, and would not turn his back on them.  He nodded to Kimiko.  
"There are some things that would need to be absolutely clear."

Kimiko nodded.  "Fair enough."

"First of all, I'm NOT going to teach them how to fight."

That statement caught Kimiko by surprise.  Noting her look, Ranma 
explained.  "Learning to fight well takes a long time, Kimiko.  More 
importantly, a real fight is very likely to make things worse.  If I 
understood what you were saying in the meeting earlier, then it 
would be a safe bet that suddenly fighting back is only going to make 
the abuser even angrier.  That won't stop the attack, it'll intensify it."

Kimiko nodded thoughtfully.  "You have a very good point there.  But 
surely there is something that can help!"

"Certainly.  There are a number of things that they can learn fairly 
quickly.  First of all, they can learn how to take a punch without 
getting hurt as much.  Then there are a number of ways to dodge or 
block an attack.  Lastly, I can teach a number of ways that they can 
quickly disable an attacker - at least for a short time."

"That sounds ideal, Ranma."

"One thing that I want to make sure is clearly understood though.  
These disable strikes are not lethal, but they can be very painful.  I 
can pretty well guarantee that if they have to use them that it will 
*really* piss off their attackers.  They had damned well be ready to 
run."

"But if they *were* ready to run... it could give them a chance to 
escape?"

Ranma nodded reluctantly.  "Yes.  It could give them that chance."

"I understand.  Any chance is better than no chance, Ranma.  Besides.  
Such a course can do worlds of good, even if they never have to use 
what you teach them directly."

Ranma blinked.  "You've lost me there, I'm afraid."

"Ranma, do you know what one of the biggest problems that abuse 
victims face is?  It's not the size or strength of the person beating 
them - it's the fact that these victims are beaten before the physical 
abuse ever starts."

Noting the confused look on Ranma's face, Kimiko tried to explain.  
"There are a lot of ways to stop abuse... the simplest, as I said at the 
meeting, is just to leave.  For a variety of reasons, many will never 
seriously consider this option - even if faced with life threatening 
beatings."

Eyes wide, Ranma gasped, "Are they really so determined to salvage 
a marriage?"

"It's not that simple," Kimiko shook her head.  "Certainly we'd all like 
to save our marriages.  But that's not always possible.  I tried to save 
my own, but in the end, I had to face the reality that I was the only 
one trying to make things better - and that I wasn't going to be able 
to do it alone.  Once I had accepted that, I left."

"But he came after you, didn't he?"

"He did.  But by then I was out of his reach.  I had a friend who was 
willing to help me, and a place to stay.  I was lucky.  Not all victims 
are willing to leave, even when they realise that things are not going 
to get better."

"Why not?"

"There are many reasons.  Some of them feel that they deserve to be 
treated the way they are; they don't know what they've done, but 
they feel that if they *didn't* deserve it, it wouldn't be happening to 
them.  Some are scared.  If they left it would make things worse.  
Their husbands might come after them and then the beatings would 
become more severe."

"Does that really happen?"

"It can - when there's no one around who's willing to help - to 
prevent it.  Then there are those who are just too scared to make the 
change.  They know what to expect where they are - they don't like 
it, but it frightens them less than the unknowns of really being on 
their own.  They can be the hardest to help.

"What it really boils down to is self-confidence.  They have no sense 
of self worth, no belief in themselves.  They're afraid to do anything 
because they'd only make things worse, and they don't think they 
can make it on their own."

Ranma shook his head sadly.  "So how is a martial arts course going 
to help with all of that?"

"You haven't been with us long enough to have noticed, but as you 
were teaching Kei those blocks this evening, she looked alive again.  
Like she had hope.  I haven't seen her that excited about anything 
for months.  You can give all of them what you gave her.  Give them 
some confidence in themselves - give them back their self esteem."

Ranma thought about that.  He remembered how good it made him 
feel every time he had mastered a new technique - every time he 
had learned something new.  It *was* a rush.  He also remembered 
how much he liked to teach - the satisfaction he got from sharing 
that feeling with someone else.  And it would be a chance to really 
help these people.  To do something positive, instead of just feeling 
helpless.  Slowly, Ranma began to nod.

"Then you'll do it?"  Her tone was hopeful.

"I'll do it," Ranma said.  "But I have a request."

"Anything that I can do," agreed Kimiko.

"Not of you," Ranma smiled.  He turned to Ukyou, his expression 
serious again.  "Ucchan... if this is going to work, I'm going to need a 
trained partner.  Can you spare that much more time?"

It embarrassed Ranma to see the relief in Ukyou's eyes as she said, 
"You bet I can, Ran-chan."

*****  ##  ***  ##  *****

Kimiko opened the next meeting with an announcement.  "As I told 
each of you over the phone last week, Ranma has agreed to teach any 
of us that are interested some basic self-defence techniques.  For 
those of you that have decided to take him up on his generous offer, 
we will gather in the auxiliary Gym after our meeting adjourns.  
There is a locker room where you can change into the appropriate 
clothing."

Once her announcement had been made, Kimiko turned to Miyuki.  
"Last time, you said that you'd try to bring in some of your husband's 
drawings...  Did you get the chance?"

"Yes, I did."  Miyuki pulled out a stack of drawings, and handed them 
to Natsumi, who was sitting next to her.  As she talked, the stack 
began to make its way around the circle.  "This is what he does to 
relax - sometimes he'll spend hours on it, and it's like he's in another 
world.  He might as well be, for all the notice I get out of him at those 
times."

"Was it difficult to get him to let you bring these?" asked Keiko as 
her turn with the stack came.

"That was a little strange, now that you mention it.  It wasn't as 
difficult as I had expected."

"Oh?  What do you mean?"

"He seemed a little... reluctant, but he let me bring that stack without 
too much persuasion.  It was almost as if he was hoping that I'd ask."

"Maybe he was," said Hikaru.

Keiko muttered, "I wish that *my* husband was so eager to make 
things better."

Ranma's turn had come to look through the drawings that Miyuki 
had brought.  After sorting through them, he shuffled them into a 
neat stack, and waited for a lull in the conversation.

"Miyuki-san?"

"Yes, Ranma?"

Ranma paused for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to ask 
his question.  He shrugged mentally and opted for the straight line 
course.  "I was just curious..." he indicated the stack of drawings in 
his lap.  "There are more of these, right?  More that have the same 
characters in them?"

Miyuki looked puzzled.  "Yes, I think so... There are a LOT of them.  
Why do you ask?"

Ranma looked sheepish.  "Well, I kinda got wrapped up in the story, 
and wondered where he was going with it."

"Story?!  What are you talking about?  Those are just some of his 
drawings - aren't they?"

A number of the others in the group were exchanging puzzled 
glances as well.  None were too sure how this was relevant to 
Miyuki's problem, but Ranma seemed very sincere in his question.

"You didn't know?" Ranma seemed genuinely surprised.  "Yes, these 
are all part of a story - at least I'm pretty sure that they are."

"I never really thought about it," Miyuki said.  "I just thought that 
they were pretty good.  Would you show me?"

"Sure."  Ranma got up and trotted over to an empty table, and started 
laying the drawings out in sequence.  The others started to gather 
round, as Ranma started pointing drawings out to Miyuki.

"Okay, this is the first one, I think.  See this character?  She's the 
heroine of the story.  These two are her sidekicks - or her pets, I'm 
not sure which."

Miyuki looked at the drawing and nodded.  "Go on..."

Ranma moved from drawing to drawing as he described what he 
could deduce of the story.  "The heroine here," he said, "is fighting 
against some sort of evil empire - you know, the sort that drains all 
the resources, and throws 'em away, leaving the people to rot.  Her 
sidekick here, is in love with her, but she treats him like dirt.  There 
looks to be a scene or two where she knows how he feels, and that 
she loves him too, but she won't show it.  There are a number of sub 
plots that I can't tell too much about from these drawings, but that 
much seems clear."

Miyuki was nodding slowly.  "Yes... I see what you mean.  Now that 
you mention it, there are a number of things that seem sort of... 
familiar about some of this as well."

"Really? Like what?"

Miyuki grinned.  "Well, I'd never have thought of this before I met 
you, but for one thing, your 'love struck side-kick' looks a lot like a 
male version of me."

Ranma looked at the drawings, and back at Miyuki several times.  
After a moment, he was nodding, too.  "I see that now.  So, tell me; is 
there any resemblance between the heroine and your husband?"

"Well, not in looks, no.  But if your guesses are right, then there are a 
number of attitudes that they both share..." Miyuki's tone was 
thoughtful.  "I wonder...  I am *definitely* going to have to take a 
closer look at the rest of these drawings when I get home."

"You might also try to talk your husband into publishing this," said 
Ranma.  "The artwork is very good, and I like what I've seen of the 
story.  I'd really like to know how it ends."

"So would I, Ranma.  So would I."

Standing off in the background, Kimiko smiled to herself.  She loved 
it when the group was working.

##  ***  ##

Ranma's martial arts class was to be held in a small gym off the main 
civic centre facility.  It was ideally suited for his purposes, though.  
There was matting available to cover the floors and prevent injury, 
and there was an attached locker room and shower.  It was not, of 
course, as nice as the dojo, but it was as close as he ever expected to 
get in a community facility.  He had been very pleasantly surprised.

Standing at one end of the little gym, it was all Ranma could do to 
keep from pacing like a caged animal.  He was nervous.  How had he 
let Kimiko talk him into this?  He still wasn't sure that these women 
would really accept him, or that there would be any real interest in 
what he had to offer.  Still, if there was anything that he could do to 
help these people... there never had really been a choice.  Taking a 
deep breath, he calmed himself and waited to see who was going to 
be taking the class.

Finally, people started to trickle into the room.  Ukyou led the crowd, 
and a crowd it turned out to be.  Ranma did a quick head count.  It 
looked like the entire membership was there.  Kimiko noticed his 
stunned expression and grinned.  "We may be inexcusably rude from 
time to time Ranma, but we're not stupid."

Ranma looked confused.

"She means, Ranma," Miyuki said gently, "that if you offer us an edge, 
we'll take it."

With a nod and a grin, Ranma assured himself that his new students 
were ready and began.  "In a martial art, one of the first things that 
you learn is how to fall - and how to be hit."

"How to BE hit?  We KNOW how to be hit," said Natsumi darkly.

Ranma grimaced.  "That's not what I meant.  In order to fight back 
most effectively, you have to learn how to move and absorb impacts 
to minimize their effects.  You are going to fall, and you are going to 
get hit.  If you can keep from getting hurt in the process, you'll be 
better able to do something about it."

"How do you mean?" asked Yuriko.

"You have to know how to fall without breaking your neck, and how 
to turn that fall to your advantage.  You also have to know how to 
take a blow - how to absorb the energy in the blow without allowing 
it to cause damage.  From there, up to a point, you'll be in control of 
how badly you get hurt.  Then you can best use that moment against 
your opponent, whether it be to run, or to fight."

Natsumi was scratching her head.  "But that doesn't make sense!  
How can we control how badly they hurt us?"

"You've all seen really impressive fights in movies, haven't you?"

"Well, I'm no Jackie Chan fanatic, but yes, I've seen a few brawls in 
films.  What about it?" asked Setsuna.

"When they make the movie, do the people in those fights get hurt?"

"Of course not!  Those fights aren't real!"

"Oh, but they are, to a point.  True, punches are pulled, but it's also 
true that they'll rattle your teeth if you don't know how to roll with 
'em, and they connect.  A stunt man can do these things and not get 
hurt because he knows how to fall - how to absorb impact over a 
distance to keep from getting damaged.  Martial arts use the same 
principles."

"I thought that stunt men had all kinds of special equipment to keep 
them from getting hurt," said Hikaru.  "Like those great big airbags."

"Yes, but not for a basic fight.  That still relies on skill and training."

"Falling doesn't hurt.  It's the sudden stop at the end." laughed 
Yuriko.

"Yes.  That's it exactly," Ranma nodded.  "And the emphasis really is 
on the 'sudden'.  Let's look at the mechanics of it.  When you jump off 
of a diving board, gravity takes over.  The farther you fall, the faster 
you are moving when you hit the water, right?"

"Yah, so?"

"The faster you move, the more energy that you have.  The faster 
that energy is transferred, the more damage it does to you - the 
more it will hurt."

Makoto looked confused.  "I'm not sure that I quite follow that."

"Okay - think of it this way.  When you dive into the water, how 
deep do you go?  You'll go deeper from the higher board, won't you?"

"Well, yes, I suppose so."

"The water in the pool is absorbing the energy of your fall.  It does so 
by slowing you down.  The faster you are moving, the longer it takes 
the water to slow you, so the deeper you go.  The energy in your fall 
is being transferred to the water relatively slowly."

Keiko was nodding.  "That makes sense."

"Now imagine that you have jumped off the board, and there is no 
water.  What happens to you?"

"I'll hit the bottom and break every bone in my body!"

"Right!  D'you know why?  It's because the energy of your fall would 
be transferred to the concrete almost instantly.  The concrete won't 
give, like the water does.  Instead of absorbing the force of your 
impact over a distance, like the depth of the pool, it does so in no 
distance at all.  The shock of that sudden stop - that sudden transfer 
of energy - is what makes the fall lethal.

"It's the same way with falling on the floor, or taking a punch.  The 
longer that you can draw out that transfer of energy, the less it will 
hurt, and the less damage it can do."

Light slowly began to dawn on the members of the group.  "So what 
you're saying," piped up Hikaru, "Is that if we can move *with* the 
impact, it'll hurt less?"

Ranma smiled.  "That's it exactly!  Once you know how to minimize 
the damage that you take, you'll be in a much better position to fight 
back, or, better, to run."

There were nods and murmurs from the assembled women.  Ranma 
smiled.  "Let me demonstrate.  Ucchan?"

Ukyou squared off with Ranma and they proceeded to demonstrate a 
few falls and tumbles.  Then, one by one, Ranma showed the group 
members how best to roll with a fall to absorb the impact, and how 
to use that momentum to get quickly back to their feet.  It took a 
while, but by the end of the session the pained grunts and cries had 
been replaced with mild exclamations of triumph.

Ranma watched the class finish the last few tumbles, and then called 
a halt to the evening's exercises.  Once he had everyone's attention, 
he said, "You're all doing very well.  Next time, you'll start learning 
how to defend yourselves.  We'll begin with a few basic dodges and 
blocks, and a quick disable or two.  Then, we'll add more advanced 
variants in following classes."

As the women filed out of the room, Ranma listened to their excited 
chatter and sighed in satisfaction.  He really did enjoy teaching, and 
helping people like this was one of the reasons he studied the Art.

Ukyou came up behind him and handed him a towel, startling him 
out of his reverie.  "What are you thinking?" she asked.

After a pause to consider his reply, Ranma said, "I like them.  They're 
interested in learning."

Ukyou smiled grimly.  "Some of them certainly have a reason to be 
well motivated.  C'mon, Ran-chan.  It's time to go home."

Ranma nodded and followed his friend out into the night.

*****  ##  ***  ##  *****

On Wednesdays, Ranma's father came back to the dojo to train with 
him.  As usual, the pair ignored the dojo in favour of the back yard, 
and the pond.  For hours they would leap over the water, each intent 
on trying to catch his opponent off guard and send him plunging into 
the pool.

Today, Genma was having little difficulty getting the better of his 
son.  After the third time he'd sent Ranma into the pond, he halted 
the session and headed for the house.  He was mildly surprised that 
he made it into the house unchallenged.  He'd deliberately left his 
guard down, and Ranma had made no move to take advantage of it.

"What's the matter with you, boy?" he asked the dripping girl.  "If 
you can't do any better than that, you might as well give up the Art 
and take up knitting."  Genma dropped into a crouch, ready to ward 
of his son's angry attack, but again, it didn't come.  Ranma ignored 
him completely on her way to the bath.

Genma didn't like the looks of this.  There was something bothering 
Ranma, and he meant to find out what it was.  Genma decided that 
now would be a good time for him to take a bath as well.

By the time Genma got into the bathroom, Ranma was already in the 
tub, soaking.  He washed quickly and then joined his son in the hot 
water.  Still, Ranma ignored him.

"Son," Genma's voice was surprisingly gentle.  "What is it that's so 
bad it takes your mind off the Art?"

That got a reaction.  "Is that concern I hear in your voice, old man?  
You must be slipping."

Genma sounded tired, even to his own ears.  "Is it really so hard to 
believe that I would be concerned for my son?"

A pause.  "No.  I suppose not.  I'm sorry, Pop."

"So tell me.  What is it that has you so distracted?"

"What else?  It's Akane.  I just can't figure her out.  No matter what I 
do, or don't do, I end up making her angry."

"Oh, is *that* all," Genma sounded relieved.  "I thought it was going to 
be something serious."

"Pop!  It *is* serious!"

"Ranma m'boy, you're taking things far too personally.  Women are 
always angry - it's just the way they are.  No one really knows why."

Ranma raised an eyebrow as he regarded his father across the 
steaming tub.  "I'm beginning to understand a little more about why 
you liked life on the road so much.  You don't understand, Pop.  
Akane gets *really* angry."

Genma shrugged.  "So what's your point?  She's always done that."  
He watched as Ranma stood and climbed out of the tub.  A shiver 
passed through the boy, and Genma wondered whether it was the 
sudden shock of the cool air, or the force of Ranma's emotion that 
had caused the tremor.

"Not like this, Pop.  Not like this."

The old man's eyes widened, and he gasped.  "You're afraid of her, 
aren't you?  You're afraid of Akane!"

Ranma whirled on his father, fury in his eyes.  "Is that really what 
you think?  That I'm that much like you?  You may think that the 
perfect couple squabbles all the time, but I don't.  And I don't think 
that Akane does either."

"Are you implying, son, that I am afraid of your mother?"

Ranma smirked.  "Implying it?  Hell no!  I'll say it outright!"

"I am *not* afraid of my wife!" Genma growled and reached for a 
nearby bucket of cold rinse water.  He hurled the contents at his son.  
Ranma sighed, shook her head, and resumed drying her hair.

"Is that why you wasted ten years of our lives running in terror from 
her every time she managed to track us down?  Is that why I had to 
be 'Ranko' every time she came to visit?  Or are you going to blame it 
all on your stupid promise, and my curse again?"

"Careful, boy, or I'll see to it that she finds out just how 'manly' you 
are right now, acting like a girl as well!"

"If you must," Ranma said with a shrug as she walked out of the 
room.  "Just so you remember the entirety of the promise that you 
made her.  Are *you* that eager to die?"

*****  ##  ***  ##  *****

When the next meeting night came, it was Ranma's turn on the grill.  
"So, tell us, Ranma.  How did you meet your wife?  What brought the 
two of you together?" asked Kimiko.

"Ours was an arranged marriage.  Pop and Tendou-san had agreed 
that our families were to be joined, and so I was engaged to one of 
the Tendou daughters, practically before I was born."

"Ack!  People still do things like that?"

"They do.  Of course, Pop never told *me* any of this.  Not until we 
were just a few kilometers from the Tendou house.  The curse was 
only a few weeks old, it was raining, and then Pop tells me that I'm 
supposed to marry some girl that I've never even met before.  It was 
*not* my best day."

"I guess not," agreed Miyuki.  "Why did you marry her then?  You 
could have just told your father to get stuffed."

"Oh, I had no intention of marrying anyone.  Even as we got to the 
Tendou's place, I was ready to head back to China."

"And what stopped you?" asked Keiko.

"Fate, I guess.  Tendou-san had been expecting his old friend, and a 
son.  What he got was a panda and a girl.  He fainted.  I'd never been 
so embarrassed in all my life.  It went downhill from there."  Ranma 
settled back in his chair.  "Tendou-san had three daughters.  Kasumi, 
Nabiki and Akane.  Kasumi was fretting over her father and Nabiki 
was complaining to anyone who'd listen that she didn't want to 
marry a girl.  Akane was the only one who didn't act disappointed.

"Akane treated me like a friend, and I badly needed a friend.  The 
last time that I'd had a real friend, it was Ucchan here, and at that 
point, it had been ten years since I'd last seen her.  Traveling with 
my father wasn't easy at the best of times - we seldom stayed in one 
place long enough for me to make any friends.  It was a lonely way 
to grow up.

"But when Akane found out that I wasn't a girl, she didn't deal with 
it so well.  I guess she felt like I'd betrayed her somehow.  She got 
angry, and then I got angry, and both of us said some pretty mean 
and silly things.  Naturally, our fathers decided that Akane and I 
were perfect for one another."

"Sounds like a pretty rocky way to start an engagement," chirped 
Kyoko.

"You know it.  Each of us was angry, and neither of us wanted to be 
told who to marry.  We tended to take it out on each other."

"That doesn't seem like much of a reason to stick around, let alone 
get married," Keiko said dryly.

"It wouldn't have been, except that every now and then, the friendly 
girl that I'd first met would peek out.  I didn't see her often, but I 
saw her enough to know that she was still there.  Every time I *did* 
see her, it was like the whole world went away.  Nothing mattered 
except that moment."

"Boy, you *have* got it bad." said Hitomi.

Ranma blushed.  "I guess I have at that - and you have no idea how 
hard it was or how long it took for me to realise that," he admitted.  
"But once the engagement became public knowledge, Akane ended 
up being angry with me most of the time.  After that, things started 
to get complicated."

"AFTER that things started to get complicated?!"

"Believe me, it's the truth," chimed in Ukyou.  "It'd take *months* to 
tell it all."

"I'm gonna be looking *forward* to that," muttered Ryouko with a 
shake of her head.

"Well, there's one thing that I still don't understand.  How can she do 
this to you?  You're a martial artist, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm a martial artist.  My family and the Tendous are the sole 
practitioners of the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu.  It's a highly adaptive 
style of martial arts.  The continuation of the school was the prime 
reason that Pop and Tendou-san arranged my marriage to Akane in 
the first place."

"The continuation of the school?  What, like some kind of family 
tradition or something?"

Ranma sighed.  "Very much so.  I began my study of the Musabetsu 
Kakuto Ryu when I was barely old enough to stand.  The Art was my 
father's life, and naturally, I was expected to follow in his footsteps.  
There was also the lure of getting to be the hero; fighting injustice, 
and protecting those who couldn't, for whatever reason, protect 
themselves.  Every boy, I think, likes to be proud of his father, and 
think of him as a hero.

"To truly master the Art, one must have discipline, and above all, 
control.  You must control your body, your mind, and your emotions.  
The first is the easiest - all it takes is practice.  Controlling the mind 
is just a matter of focus; developing the ability to concentrate on 
what you're doing.  You have to be aware of your surroundings in the 
most minute detail, but still be able to filter out any distractions.  
The hardest part is learning to control your emotions."

"You mean like Vulcans do?" asked one of the women.

Ranma smiled wanly.  "Sort of.  But the idea is not so much to hide 
your emotions as it is to channel them - draw strength from them, 
and yet keep them from controlling you, or your actions.  As you are 
all well aware, anger can make a person act without thinking if it is 
not controlled.  But used properly, that same anger can be a 
tremendous source of power.  'Chi', or life energy if you will, is 
amplified by strong emotion.  If you can tap into it, and focus it, you 
have a valuable tool that no one can take away from you."

Ukyou handed Ranma a soda, which he took gratefully.  After taking 
a sip, he went on.  "As I got older, I found out that there was a dark 
side to the Art."

"Beware the dark side of the Force, Luke!" quipped someone from the 
back of the room.

"My father," Ranma continued, with a heatless glare in the offender's 
direction, "did not always behave honourably, and it caused... 
problems."

Ukyou choked on her soda.  After a brief coughing fit, and a slap or 
two on the back from Ranma, she managed to catch her breath again.  
"Gomen, Ran-chan..." she gasped.  Ranma flashed her a sad smile and 
turned once more to his story.

"Pop's worst qualities were greed, and impatience.  He could control 
neither of them, and as a result, there was constant trouble.  It was 
Pop's impatience that resulted in this curse of mine."  Ranma paused 
for a careful sip of his soda.  "Of course, Pop got what he deserved on 
that front.  I may turn into a girl, but *he* turns into a panda bear."

"A... *panda*?" gasped Hikaru.  "As in those big fuzzy black and white 
bears with the bob tail and the bamboo fixation?"

Ranma nodded.  "Pop knows his martial arts - but when it comes to 
anything to do with being a person - let alone an honourable person, 
he tended to teach with negative examples.  But one of the things 
that he *did* teach me was that there was no honour to be found in 
fighting with women."

"Well, there's at least *one* point in his favour," said Hikaru.

"To be honest, in retrospect, I think that he said it because he was 
always getting into trouble with women.  He and Akane's father both 
studied under the same master - a twisted, evil little pervert by the 
name of Happousai.  In their travels they incurred the wrath of LOTS 
of women.

"Pop and Akane's dad were really close friends, despite all of that - 
or maybe even because of it.  They at least had the decency to feel 
guilty about what the master, and by extension, they were doing.  
Finally, they got away from him, and each led a relatively peaceful 
life - well, peaceful for a martial artist at any rate.  Pop married my 
mom and had me, and Soun had three daughters."

After another sip of his soda, Ranma continued.  "Their paths didn't 
really cross again until we got back from our training trip to China, 
and Pop took me over to Tendou-san's house, to seal the engagement.  
The rest, as they say, is history."

"Some history." said Setsuna.

"Well, it has one positive aspect, to be sure!" Keiko piped.

"Oh, really?" asked Ryouko.  "and what would that be?"

Keiko looked at Ranma and grinned.  "I'm willing to bet that it was 
never dull..."

##  ***  ##

Once everyone had gathered in the gym, Ranma said, "Okay.  Today I 
promised to teach some moves that you can use to start defending 
yourselves.  Before I begin, there are a few points that I want to be 
sure get made.  I'll be repeating these at the beginning of every class, 
because they are important."

After the curious mutters died down, Ranma went on.  "First - I am 
NOT going to teach you how to beat up your abuser."

"But you said..." started a voice from the back.

"I said that I'd teach you how to defend yourselves, and a few quick 
disables.  I am.  I'll get to that in a minute.  For now, though, you are 
in a position where your attacker has the advantages of strength, 
reach, mass and experience.  Those are going to be difficult for you to 
get past.  It is possible to teach you enough to fight against that sort 
of opponent, but the level of mastery required can take years to 
achieve.

"Fighting should always be viewed as a last resort.  Most people will 
assume that fighting is what martial arts are all about.  Some of you 
are probably thinking that even now - it is a reasonable enough 
assumption to make.  It just isn't true.  Martial arts are about control.  
Discipline.  Without those, a martial art means nothing.  You have to 
be able to control your body, and control your emotions.  Strength, 
and the ability to fight, comes as a consequence of that discipline.

"Second, you need to be aware that if you are put into a position 
where you have to fight back, your primary goal is escape.  If you 
resist your attacker, the chances are good that it will make him 
angrier and more determined.  You need to be not only ready but 
*willing* to get away.

"Third, the quick disables that I'll be teaching you are part of a class 
of strikes that are designed to give you the opportunity to escape.  
Some will do more damage than others; all of them will make the 
target mad.  If you use them, there are two things that you *must* 
remember.  Do NOT hold back; strike, and strike *hard*.  And when 
you've struck, RUN."

"Run?  Run where?"

"Anywhere.  A friend's house, or to your mother.  Perhaps to a 
market or restaurant, where there are people around.  Someplace 
where you can keep away from your attacker.  I cannot stress this 
point strongly enough - the MOST important part of a disable-and-
run manoeuvre is the *run*."

Ranma looked around the group.  "Are there any questions?  Good.  
Let's get started then.  One thing to remember is that an all out 
attack from your opponent can actually give you an advantage."

"WHAT?"

"Yes.  If an all-out punch misses, it leaves the attacker off balance.  
Let's start with a demonstration of sorts.  Keiko, do you remember 
when I asked you to throw that punch, but slowly?"

Keiko nodded.

"Good.  Come here and do it again."

Keiko moved into a ready pose and threw a slow motion punch at 
Ranma.  This time, Ranma caught her fist as the blow was completed.

"Now.  Think carefully.  Was it easy to punch me in slow motion?"

"Of course!  I didn't have to move very fast at all!"

"Ahh, but was it really?  For a second there, you looked like you 
were going to fall over."

"Well, yeah, but that was just because I over-balanced.  It was an 
accident."

"Okay.  Let's test that.  Try it again."

Keiko did as she was asked, and again, as her fist moved towards 
Ranma, she faltered before he caught her.

"Damn," she said.  "I don't know why I'm so clumsy today."

"You're not."

"Eh?"

"Think about it.  When you throw a punch, your whole body moves.  
Balance is motion.  Even walking is nothing more than a controlled 
fall.  When you hold back on your punch to slow it down, you are 
fighting your own body's momentum.  Without that momentum, you 
lose your balance.  Try this.  Walk toward the end of the room.  
When I tell you, stop.  Instantly.  Just freeze, okay?"

Keiko nodded and started walking.  Ranma waited till she had just 
lifted a foot and called "Stop!"

Keiko froze - but stumbled as her weight shifted forward.

"You see?  Your body was expecting that foot to be there for support 
- when it wasn't - when that motion was disrupted, it disrupted your 
balance."  Ranma turned back to the others.  "That is the essence of a 
principal basis for many martial arts.  You have to learn to use your 
opponent's motion against him.

"Now - what's better than blocking?  Dodging.  A block should be a 
back-up, in case the dodge fails.  This is especially true if you're less 
interested in counter-attacking and more into just keeping yourself 
safe.  It's easy, too - just turn your hips to one side, maybe letting 
the leg step back as you do so.  That'll give you greater stability."

Ranma had Ukyou make a few attacks to demonstrate his point.  As 
Ukyou would move in and throw a punch, Ranma would twist, or 
lean to the side, and the blow would pass through empty space.

"Now.  The arm that swings forward - raise it.  In one position, the 
hand can easily deflect a straight punch away; in another, the arm 
itself can divert a strike off towards the outside.  The most important 
thing is that a very narrow profile is presented to the attacker.  Give 
them as little to aim for as possible."

Again, Ukyou attacked, and this time, Ranma used his leading arm to 
deflect her blows as well as dodging them.  When the demonstration 
was complete, he started showing each student exactly how to move 
- to anticipate where the punch was going, and how not to be there 
when it went.

Once they had all practiced a few rounds, Ranma showed them two 
disable moves.  "Both of these particular moves assume that your 
assailant is a man," he said.  "They can be very effective, and will 
give you plenty of opportunity to escape.  Just be sure that you do 
escape, because when he recovers from these, he is going to be 
*pissed*."

After making sure that everyone understood those, Ranma called 
once more for attention.  "One more thing that I want to show you 
tonight, before we go back to practice some more.  The exercises that 
I'm going to show you are optional, but they will help.  They'll help 
you develop your coordination, and your strength.  You don't need 
any special equipment to do them, either."

Ranma ran through two basic sets of kata, slowly, so that trying to 
make sure that everyone understood the steps.  When he'd finished, 
a hand went up in the back of the room.

"What *was* that?" the person asked.  "It looked more like a dance 
than an exercise."

Ranma grinned.  "Dancing *is* exercise.  But to answer your question, 
it is called a 'kata' - and it really is very much like a dance.  It is a 
sequence of stances, of positions, that is designed to build stamina 
and coordination.  The better you are at the kata, the more fluid the 
transitions between those stances will become.  Then we'll go on to 
more complex patterns, if you're interested."

After stepping the group through the kata, Ranma declared an open 
practice session, and settled back to watch.

##  ***  ##

Ukyou came up behind Ranma.  "What's the trouble, Ran-chan?  You 
look disturbed."

"Hmm?  Oh, I was just watching Rei over there.  She hasn't quite got 
the hang of the dodges and blocks I've shown them, but she stiffens 
up and shies away whenever I try to help her."

"Maybe she's scared of you," Ukyou said softly.

"Yah.  That's kind of what I was afraid of."  Ranma sighed.  "Ucchan... 
get me a cup of water, will you please?"

Ukyou smiled warmly, and got him the water.  With another sigh, 
Ranma tipped the cup over his head, and changed.  She was just 
grateful that most of the other women were too wrapped up in their 
own practice to take much notice.

Ranma went over and tapped Rei on the shoulder.  "Here," she said 
gently.  "Let me help you with that."

Rei stiffened at the contact, and spun to face Ranma.  Here eyes went 
wide as she noticed that Ranma was no longer quite so much taller 
than she was.  She blinked, but allowed Ranma to guide her through 
the first set of exercises.  By the end of the set, the tension had left 
her, and she was starting to get the moves down correctly.

The rest of the class had broken off their repetitions of the exercise, 
and were gathering around to watch as Ranma guided Rei through 
each of the kata.  After the third repetition, Ranma was satisfied that 
Rei had gotten the idea.

"Your masculinity is very important to you, isn't it?" Rei asked.

Her voice was so soft that Ranma almost missed the question.  That, 
and Rei so seldom took any active part in group discussions that her 
asking caught her off guard.  Ranma nodded mutely.

"I thought so."  Rei turned to Ranma and bowed.  "Thank you."

Ranma tugged at her pigtail, embarrassed, and smiled nervously.  "No 
worries," she said.  Rei actually smiled.

Ranma looked around and noticed that everyone else had gathered 
around them.  She turned red for a moment, and then stammered, 
"Okay... that's enough for tonight, people.  Next time, I'll show you a 
new set of blocks, and two more disables."

Slowly the group began to disperse.  While there had still been a few 
disbelieving stares from some of the women, Ranma was relieved to 
note that no one had commented on her 'change'.  At least it was 
worth it, Ranma thought as she watched Rei leave.

"I don't know how you did it, but thank you."  Ranma jumped.  She 
had been watching Rei so intently that she had not even heard 
Kimiko approach.  It was a good thing that her father hadn't seen 
that; she'd never have heard the end of it.

"What do you mean?" asked Ranma.

"Rei.  I was beginning to despair of ever reaching her."

"What happened to her?" Ranma asked softly, after the rest of the 
group had left.

"Rei's abuse started years ago with her father."

"Her *father* beat her?"

"Not at first.  At first, it was just emotional abuse.  But as Rei got 
older, it turned sexual.  The violence didn't start until she got old 
enough to understand what was being done to her, and to say 'No.'"

"You mean... you mean..." Ranma felt sick.  "Oh my god."

"I don't think that she's ever known a truly kind man before."

Ranma looked down at herself and sighed.  "I'm not so sure that she 
knows one now."

Kimiko put a comforting arm across the redhead's shoulders. "She 
knows, Ranma.  She knows."

*****  ##  ***  ##  *****

Ranma was walking down the street towards the shopping district 
when a shout caught his attention.  "Saotome!"

Oh, bugger, thought Ranma.  Not him again.  He spun and dropped 
into a defensive crouch.  "What is it this time, Ryouga?"

Ryouga strode up to where Ranma was waiting, but he made no 
move to attack.  Ranma eyed him quizzically, and maintained a ready 
stance.  The lost boy sighed and shook his head.  "Relax, Ranma.  I'm 
not here to fight with you."

Still a bit suspicious, Ranma notched back to Defcon 2.  "You're not?"

Ryouga shook his head and tried his best to radiate an air of peace 
and good will.  "Nope.  Not anymore."

Ranma finally allowed himself to relax, and straightened up.  "Not 
that I'm complaining or anything, but the last time we spent any 
time together, you were trying to kill me.  Why the sudden change?"

An odd look crossed Ryouga's face.  He shrugged and said, "I just got 
tired of it.  What's past is past, and killing you wouldn't change it."

"Ah," said Ranma.  "So.  How have you been?  It's been a while since 
I've seen you around."

"Oh, well enough.  I was home last month for a while, and since then, 
I've been all over."

"Yah, I'll bet.  Still no sense of direction, eh?"

Ryouga shrugged again.  "It really hasn't been as important to me 
anymore.  Traveling isn't so bad when you can take the time to enjoy 
the scenery."  He paused.  "So.  How is Akane?"

Ranma's defences snapped back up.  "We're still married, if that's 
what you're asking."

Ryouga made a pacifying gesture.  "No, no...  Don't worry.  I know 
that Akane was never meant to be mine.  I learned that even before 
the two of you were married.  I was just too stubborn to admit it."

"So you've given up on her?"

"Given up on being anything more than just her friend, yes.  I still 
care about Akane, but she is not the one for me.  I know that.  So.  
How is she?"

"Well, you know how she is.  She hasn't really changed much," said 
Ranma.

Ryouga winced.  "I'm... sorry to hear that," he said.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Hey, take it easy, Ranma.  All I meant was that I had hoped that her 
temper would have mellowed a bit.  It's hard to be happy if you're 
angry all the time.  Believe me, I know."

Ranma studied his former rival carefully.  He looked sincere enough.  
"I guess you would at that," Ranma conceded at last.  "So what's the 
secret?"

"I don't really know.  I just... decided that I didn't want to be angry 
any more.  It was taking too much of my time - too much of my 
energy.  I'm sorry that I can't give you more than that."

It was Ranma's turn to shrug.  "I never thought it would be easy."

"You know, it might help if you each found someone to talk to.  If 
there's anyone that you can discuss this with, it might at least let you 
get a fresher perspective on the problem."

Ranma hesitated.

"If you want, I'd be willing to listen.  I know that we haven't always 
gotten along, but neither of you are going to be really happy until 
you get past this."

"Thanks, Ryouga.  I appreciate the offer. I'll... I'll think about it, 
okay?"

"I understand," nodded Ryouga.

"Hey!  Why don't you drop by the dojo sometime?  I know that 
Akane would be happy to see you."

"Thanks... I'll try to do that."

"Good.  Just be careful about cold water, eh?  It took Akane a long 
time to get over P-chan's disappearance.  I'd really hate to see all 
that start up again."

"I'm sorry about that.  But I had to go.  It wasn't good for her for me 
to stay."

"Yah, I know.  You did the right thing, Ryouga.  Sometimes... there are 
times when I wish that P-chan was still there, if only because it gave 
Akane some pleasure, but if she had discovered your curse..."

Ryouga shuddered.  "I know.  Look.  I gotta go now, but I'll try to get 
by the dojo soon, okay?"  He stuck out a hand.

After a second, Ranma took it and they shook.  "Take care of yourself, 
P-chan."

Ryouga turned and started walking off.  "And you Ranma.  Take care 
of Akane."

*****  ##  ***  ##  *****

When meeting night rolled around again it was raining.  By the time 
that Ranma and Ukyou got to the Civic Centre, both were soaked to 
the skin, and Ranma was, of course, in female form.  Squelching past 
the refreshment table to get cups of hot tea, they made their way to 
an opening in the circle, found a pair of vacancies, and sat down.

As Ranma was sipping her tea, she noticed that Rei was looking at 
her with a concerned expression.  She smiled at the girl and 
shrugged.  "It's okay.  I don't mind it so much when I'm around 
friends."  Rei blinked and a ghost of a smile crossed her face.

Hikaru was telling the group about the events of her past week.  "My 
husband's sister, Nanami, was in town on business, so naturally she 
stayed with us.  It was an education, I can tell you!"

"An education?" asked Kimiko.  "What sort of education?"

"Well, I learned an awful lot about my husband.  I'd never realised 
just how little I knew about him when we married."

"Ouch," winced Misato.

"Ouch is right," Hikaru sighed.  "Seems that he was a jerk when he 
was younger too.  I'm sure that some of it is just the natural bias of a 
younger sister's viewpoint, but I doubt that all of it is.

"For example, I'd known that he was president of his class in high 
school - what I hadn't known was that he bought the votes of a lot of 
the school clubs to get it - with school money no less.  And that's just 
the tip of the iceberg."

Shaking her head, Hikaru continued, "He apparently had a reputation 
as quite a bully.  Not just that he'd beat up on people that he didn't 
like, but he'd also attack them indirectly.  He'd try and ruin their 
reputations, or their relationships... he was NOT a nice person."

"Damn," said Hitomi.  "I'm sorry, Hikaru.  I guess that once the apple 
rots, it stays rotten."

"Eh?  What does fruit have to do with anything?" asked a confused 
Ryouko.

"I think she meant that you could expect an abusive husband to have 
been a bully when he was a kid."

Hitomi was nodding her head.  "Yes, that's exactly what I meant!  
What it really boils down to is that abusers are all just big bullies!

"Whoa.  I think that you're making a mistake there.  It's dangerous to 
just assume that abusers are all bullies."

"What makes you say that, Ranma?  It seems logical to me."

"Well, I can't claim any expertise about abusers, but I know bullies.  
A bully at least has the virtue of being predictable.  For example, a 
bully won't pick on someone that can defend himself."

"Why not?  I thought bullies were just mean."

"They are.  But a bully is a coward.  For whatever reason, they feel 
threatened, and the only way they can assert their superiority, the 
only way they can prove their own worth, is with violence."

"THEY feel threatened?" Makoto huffed.

"Yup.  Deep down, people who are bullies generally feel like they're 
inferior.  Whether it's true or not really doesn't matter; it becomes a 
self fulfilling prophecy.  They feel insecure, like they are trapped in a 
corner.  Like any trapped animal, they lash out.  They're scared.  But 
they'll never admit it."

"So what you're saying," Setsuna broke in, "Is that an abuser might 
have one or two specific targets, but that a bully is more inclined to 
pick on everyone that they see as weaker?"

Ranma drained her teacup.  "In part.  Bullies will push the limits too.  
The more you let one get away with, the more he'll *try* to get away 
with.  The trouble is that once he's gotten away with something once, 
he expects to be able to get away with it again.  At that point, 
resistance can make matter worse.

"The best way to stop a bully is before they start.  Draw a line, and 
then back it up.  Sitting back and taking it will only lead to long term 
trouble."

"Yes - that brings up a question that I've been wanting to ask.  YOU 
just take it from your wife.  With your training you ought to be able 
to stop her any time.  Why don't you?"

"I wish I could answer you, Keiko, but the truth is that I don't know.  
That's one of the reasons that I'm here.  To find a way to get through 
to Akane other than fighting her."

After a quick trip to the snacks table for more tea, Ranma went on.  
"I suppose that a part of it comes from the way that I was brought 
up - men should not fight women.  I realise that involves an 
'outdated gender stereotype', but it's one that is very deeply 
ingrained."

"Well, that's one stereotype that I can't say I'd mind being more 
common," said Misato.

Natsumi asked, "Have you never fought a woman?"

"Oh, yes, I have.  But only when it was absolutely necessary."

Keiko was incredulous.  "Your wife literally beats you to within an 
inch of your life, and you don't consider it necessary to fight back?"

"If I've had to fight a girl, I've never been able to fight my hardest, 
to really put my heart into it.  I just can't.  It's cost me a few fights, 
but the only times that I could ever manage to set that aside were 
those when someone was threatening Akane - or Ukyou here."

"But what if you were a girl at the time?  Wouldn't you be able to 
fight her - or at least defend yourself then?"

"Look.  Just cause I've got this body... this curse, that don't make me 
a girl!"  Ranma sighed and shook her head.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean 
to snap at you like that.  What I am at the time, be it girl or boy, 
really doesn't make any difference.  I was brought up to think that 
fighting girls wasn't honourable.

"Besides, Akane is my wife.  I *can't* fight her.  It's wrong to fight 
with a person that you love, a lesson that it took me a long time to 
learn.  Akane and I used to fight all the time - not with blows, but 
with words.  I was too stubborn to tell her how I felt about her, and I 
almost lost her several times because of it.  I can not - WILL not take 
that chance again.  She is too important to me."

"But stopping her from hitting you... can that really be considered 
fighting?" asked Keiko.

"I dunno."  Ranma shuddered.  "I tried it once.  I will never forget the 
expression on her face - I've never seen such hate in her eyes, and I 
don't *ever* want to see that look on her face again."

"You know, there may come a time when you don't have any choice.  
You'll *have* to fight back."

Ranma looked glum.  "Yes, I know.  I'm just praying that it will never 
come to that.  If it does, I'll lose her for certain."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that I can't do it."  Ranma sagged and looked away.  "The one 
time that I did stop a punch she threw, the only thing that kept her 
from breaking her own arms trying to hit me some more was the fact 
that she *had* promised to listen to me.  If I had to fight her, she 
would not stop until I had hurt her badly.  I would rather die than 
do that."  The last was a bare whisper.

After a long moment of silence, Miyuki piped up.  "Well, *I* for one, 
have some good news!  My husband is going in for counseling... He's 
going to get help at last."

"That *is* great news!  How'd it happen?" Ranma asked, glad for the 
change of subject.

"You did it, Ranma!"

"Me?  What'd I do?"

"Well, when I was telling him what you said about his drawings, I 
mentioned your name..."  She looked at her guiltily but Ranma just 
waved it aside.  Relieved, she continued.  "He said that 'Ranma' was 
an odd name for a girl.  I told him you were a boy and that seemed 
to surprise him.  He was real thoughtful for rest of day.

"Then, just last week, he told me that he had made an appointment 
with a counselor."  Miyuki's tone became apologetic.  "He said that if 
a martial arts instructor could go to a support group for help because 
his wife was beating him, then he could admit that he needed to get 
help too..."

That drew a few snickers from various members of the group.  
Ranma turned bright red for a moment, then fought down her 
embarrassment.  She even managed a good natured snicker of her 
own.  After all, she reflected, the important part was that Miyuki's 
husband was going for help.

*****  ##  ***  ##  *****

Kasumi had made a special dinner.  Ranma's parents had come to 
visit, and she was determined that the evening would go well.  She 
had already asked Ranma to be on his best behaviour, and Akane as 
well.  Still, when the families had gathered around the table a tension 
permeated the atmosphere like an electrostatic charge.

Ranma's father was as colourful as ever at the dinner table.  He ate 
like a man starved.  Ranma, by contrast,  was quiet, sedate even.  
Genma's chop sticks flashed and snagged a morsel from his son's 
plate.  Ranma didn't so much as blink - let alone move to stop him.  
Again and again Genma stole food from his son's plate, and each theft 
attracted no more attention than the last.

Finally, Genma's frustration got the better of him.  "Dammit boy, at 
least defend yourself!"  His chopsticks flashed once more towards 
Ranma's plate, but he got nothing this time.  Indeed, he only got back 
half of each chopstick - they had been sheared neatly in two.  Genma 
blinked.  He would have sworn that Ranma never moved.  Indeed, as 
far as he could tell, Ranma was still ignoring him.

"Cheeky boy!"  Genma grabbed his son by the front of his shirt and 
tossed him out of the house and into the garden pond.

As the surface of the water calmed, Ranma hauled herself out of the 
pool, and walked back into the house, pausing briefly at the table to 
bow and say, "Please excuse me."  She headed for the bathroom 
without another word.

The Tendous and the Saotomes were left to exchange puzzled glances 
over the table.  There was a sharp clack as Nodoka slapped her own 
chopsticks onto the table.  With a glare for her husband that would 
have killed smarter men, she excused herself and followed after her 
son.  The rest of the family finished their meal in silence.

##  ***  ##

Nodoka caught up with her quarry in the bathroom.  Coming up 
behind the still dripping redhead she asked gently, "Ranma.  What is 
wrong?"

Ranma tensed but did not turn to face her parent. "Nothing, Mother."

"Do not lie to me, Ranma.  It is disrespectful.  Is it your father?"

"No.  Nothing like that."

"Then what is it?  I'm your mother.  Surely you can tell me."

Ranma stood, wringing the pond water out of her pigtail as she 
considered her answer.  "It's Akane." she said at last.

"I noticed there was some... tension at the dinner table.  She seemed 
to me to be angry."

"I imagine that she was.  She's almost always angry now.  I don't 
know what to do anymore.  I've tried everything that I can think of, 
but I just can't get her to smile."

"You've been fighting with her again, haven't you?"

"No."

"Ranma..."

"No!"  Ranma turned to face her mother, a haunted look in her eyes.  
"I'm sorry, mother.  But I haven't been fighting with Akane.  I swear 
that I haven't!"

"That makes no sense, son.  Why would she be so angry if you have 
not been fighting?"

"I wish I knew," said Ranma miserably.  "Maybe then I could fix it."

##  ***  ##

END PART TWO