WARNING: Swearing and violence in this chapter! Maybe a tiny bit of Ryoga and Shampoo bashing?

A/N: I know I said they'd deal with the Kuno's in this chapter but I'm already up to 12k for this one so I've delayed that until the next one. Sorry guys!

Big thanks goes out to my beta reader, pursemonger! She's just written a super new story – in case you haven't read it yet: "Tomboy no more". Read it, it's brilliant stuff!

And of course thanks to all my reviewers :) Sorry – I just realised how much my comments were giving away of the next chapter so I've quickly put them all to the end of the chapter – apologies if bits are now not quite right but everyone wanted to discuss Ryoga :(

Anyway, here's the next chapter. ENJOY!

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"Old ghoul."

"Groom."

Kasumi let out a slight tsk-ing sound and Ranma sighed resignedly, before revising his earlier statement.

"Sorry, did I say old ghoul? What I meant to say was,Elder Cologne, what a pleasure to see you here tonight."

A slight cackle came from the old woman.

"Ranma Saotome, I have been looking forward to this."

"You have?"He managed to somehow sound both skeptical and wary but the eldest Tendo spoke up, stopping him from insulting the Amazon further.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with us, Elder Cologne."

The old woman's grin disappeared only to be replaced by a solemn look and she returned the formal bow Kasumi had issued her. This time Ranma complied immediately with the unspoken request and bowed as well.

"Follow me."

Cologne led them to the back room where Shampoo and Mousse were already waiting, dressed semi-formally.

Ranma gave both curt nods of acknowledgement before taking his seat next to Kasumi. He glanced at the Elder and saw her calculating look –he'd noticed earlier she'd been inspecting the kamons on his kimono. It wasn't hard to extrapolate from there that the old witch had understood the significance of what they were conveying.

"This day has been a long time coming, son-in-law."

Kasumi smiled serenely and nodded her assent.

"Indeed it has. You know then, why we're here?"

"Not with certainty but I can make an educated guess."

Before either Cologne or Kasumi could continue their conversation, Shampoo jumped in.

"Airen here to marry Shampoo, yes?"

To Ranma's surprise Cologne smirked slightly at her great-granddaughter's words. Kasumi, like everyone else, chose to ignore the other girl's outburst and instead addressed the Amazon elder directly.

"Elder Cologne, over the last two years you and members of your tribe have attempted to kill, assault, kidnap, poison, coerce, drug, incapacitate or otherwise harm members of the Tendo family and their guests. We have repeatedly offered you hospitality and found it abused, our property damaged and have received unwanted illicit late night visits by members of your tribe. Honour is as paramount to us as it is to you and we can understand the motivations of the Joketsuzoku but you have gone too far in your endeavours to fulfill your laws and restore your great-granddaughter's honour. At this point in time we bear no grudge against you as you have also given us and our guest your help in times of dire need; however we ask that you respect our demands. Due to previous altercations I politely request that your tribe desists from visiting our family home, its dojo and its grounds until such a time as we invite you to share in our hospitality again. You would be welcome to meet Ranma or Akane at school or on outings, should that be your wish."

"Bu-But –Airen!" Shampoo seemed to be almost speechless in the face of a stern and forbidding Kasumi. Mousse was smiling widely and at Ranma's look gave him an apologetic shrug.

Cologne's staff hit her great-granddaughter over the head to everyone's surprise. Then the elder cackled.

"That's not what I was expecting to hear. Well, well, well. What do you know? You younglings are always good for a surprise. Before I met son-in-law I hadn't had this much fun in decades. Now, regarding your request–what about my great-granddaughter, Shampoo? She has given your guest the kiss of marriage. Will she be allowed to see the man who is rightfully hers?"

Kasumi smiled gently, eyes sparkling. Ranma noted that it looked as if Cologne knew exactly what the eldest Tendo would be saying before the words ever left her mouth.

"She is, of course, welcome to arrange meetings with our guest outside of our family home. But she would not be welcome to visit him when he's at home, especially not to stay the night if that is what you were referring to, elder. Should you wish to push this, I would be forced to enquire about the kisses of death you issued to not only our guest but also the youngest daughter of our family. And of course we would need to have our lawyer verify the legitimacy of your great-granddaughter issuing a kiss of marriage on non-Amazon grounds, for accidentally being knocked out during an unprovoked attack –not an official challenge. And then there would be the issue of comparing that claim to a pre-existing engagement made before birth between our family and Saotome family."

Ranma was well aware that he was staring but he couldn't help it. Out of the corner he noticed that Shampoo was worse off than he was –mouth gaping, eyes wide she alternately looked between Cologne and Kasumi. Even Mousse seemed taken aback while Kasumi looked as serene as ever, smiling softly, no sign of the fact that she had basically just challenged the Amazons.

'I really, really need to remember to never, ever piss Kasumi off, no matter what... And I thought she was scary at Ukyo's!'

Cologne guffawed after another moment of silence.

"The Elder's council always did wonder about whether it really was worth our while to send one of our best warriors and an elder to pursue a young man who never even challenged the claim's legitimacy –though admittedly his martial arts skill would have made up for anything he lacked in brains."

Her smile was wicked and Ranma responded before he could stop himself. "HEY! You-"

Kasumi's calm hand on his arm halted him long enough for her to talk in his stead.

"Elder Cologne, your precise words were'would have made up'. Are you implying that you are giving up your claim?"

Eyes wide, realization setting in, the Saotome heir whirled back around to look at the old ghoul in astonishment. Was she really saying what Kasumi was suggesting? Would he finally have one less pursuer?

The older woman looked speculatively at the eldest Tendo sister, a small grin quirking at her lips as she shook her head softly in incredulity.

"You would have made an amazing Amazon, Kasumi Tendo. I was under the impression that this was the matter you were coming to discuss today, in fact. Before I can make a decision on behalf of our tribe and my great-granddaughter I will need to talk to your guest –with your permission?"

The eldest Tendo nodded in consent.

"You may. However, it will be up to Ranma whether or not he wishes to answer your questions."

'What? Resolve this entire mess right now with a couple of questions or have Shampoo follow me like a long lost puppy for the rest of my life? Hell yeah, I'll answer some questions.'

"Ask away."

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He watched the old ghoul –she looked uncharacteristically serious. Usually she'd have that glint in her eyes, the one that told him she was planning something, but this time she was almost solemn as her eyes met his.

"Our tribe would be very grateful if you could tell us the full details of everything that took place in China."

Now Ranma was really confused. He'd half-expected to be asked about his feelings for Akane –murky situation if there ever was one –or his intentions with Shampoo –those at least would've been pretty clear. But China…? Why would the old ghoul want to know about that?

"What are you up to? Both Mousse and Shampoo were there. What more do you want to know?"

The old Amazon chuckled.

"You mean the half-blind duck was there and my great-granddaughter, neither of which have reason to embellish or downplay any of their parts in this to an elder? Not to mention the fact that Shampoo was under mind control and separate from your group for a large part of your adventure."

Blinking slightly, Ranma had to acknowledge the truth in her words at least somewhat.

"So why is your tribe so interested?"

"Well, sonny boy, I don't know if you noticed,"the old woman drawled sarcastically, "but Saffron managed to vaporize several mountain tops with one of his attacks. Suffice to say, had he decided to come after the Amazons we would have been hard pressed to give him serious opposition. We have skilled warriors –but Shampoo is one of our best and she couldn't even handle his minions. You, on the other hand, have managed to defeat him. Not only would any knowledge we could glean from you about him help in any future attacks once he's reached his maturity again but…Well, let's just say that if you were not to marry into the tribe you could be a serious enemy should you ever decided to fight us or seek dominion over our territory."

Ranma snorted. Him? Wanting land in China and be surrounded by even more Amazons? Yeah –thanks, but no thanks.

"Old gh-"A cough from Kasumi. Ranma sighed.

"What I meant to say, Elder Cologne, was that I definitely don't want any part of your land or anything to do with your tribe. Well,"he amended slightly "beyond those you are already forcing me to interact with."

The old Amazon chuckled.

"Ah, it's very rare for you to show me the respect I deserve, son-in-law.", she became serious again "The issue is not what you say you might do or might not do. The problem is that you could. Amazons are no fools. And we do need to keep an eye on you after that latest display of strength. So, what is your decision?"

Ranma glared but then chuckled slightly –he'd never thought Cologne would ever pay him such a high compliment (even if it was more of a backhanded one). And the old ghoul had said her tribe would be indebted to him (in a very roundabout way), so it would surely be easy enough to annul this kiss of marriage after he'd explained China, right?

He grimaced slightly –he still hated remembering any part of that entire escapade. The first time when he'd only had her clothes and been led to believe her entire body had vaporized and then the second timewhen he'd held her cold, still body in his hands –no heart beat, no breathing, no smile. No Akane.

"Fine, but you had better have all the kisses annulled for this. And I won't ever repeat this, ever again."

Face twisted into a blank mask, eyes cold and hard, he remembered how it had all begun.

"Another one of our fathers'ploys had just gone awry and I was on the roof courtesy of Akane's punch."

His lips quirked into a small smile, remembering his fiancée sitting there in the traditional Japanese wedding kimono, looking stunningly beautiful –well, until she'd woken up and tore strips into her dad and later him. Though that had been a different kind of stunning, he thought wickedly, because her right hook had certainly stunned him.

Knocking her unconscious, really! Their family had been getting more and more out of hand with their schemes. He was actually kind of glad that Kasumi had ended up putting her foot down yesterday; with any luck the old man and Akane's dad would actually change. Although he wasn't too hopeful about his own father; reality had long since taught him that if his dad wasn't capable of learning through near-death experiences he was unlikely to do so just because life was suddenly a little bit harder.

Shaking his head, Ranma recalled what had started off the whole thing.

"And that's when I saw what looked like a huge flock of crows heading after a young girl. She later turned out to be Plum, the daughter of the Jusenkyo guide…"

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Kasumi remained silent, listening to Ranma's words. She had heard bits and pieces about this –partly because she'd been there for the beginning and partly because her youngest sister had opened up to her a few days ago. But Akane hadn't known half of it –she'd been in Japan, in doll form and even now Ranma's anguish was clear to see when he described the moments he'd thought he'd lost her. Of course he didn't even vaguely allude to the horror he must've felt when he'd heard about the spring of the drowned Akane or when she'd had her eyes closed and he'd thought he'd lost her. Genma had taught his son well –he still believed that men should not show any emotions.

But Kasumi saw the way his hands clenched briefly, saw the way he flexed his jaws, closed his eyes for just a moment too long to be blinking. She saw –she always did. That was her job in the family –to know before they themselves knew what they felt. She anticipated their needs and wants –and Ranma was a part of her family. And at the moment he was horrified, scared, lost and very much in pain. But right here, right now, she couldn't help him. Not in front of these people –here was not the place to allow his weaknesses to show.

Having gotten to know the man who was supposed to marry into their family quite well over the last two years, she could say with almost certainty that he blamed himself for his inability to protect her sister. She'd have to talk to Akane about that –while his worry was sweet just now, in the long run it would not only damage their future relationship but also affect Ranma negatively.

It really was amazing what these two had gone through in the last two years together. Even on those occasions where the disaster had unrolled itself right before her eyes, in their home, it still seemed surreal. She still remembered a time when her biggest worry had been if she could manage to cook both the dinner and hang up the laundry in time before it would start to rain.

Now rain brought the implications of cold water, curses and people turning into other genders, ducks, pandas, cats or monsters like Taro. Suddenly, magic was real and martial artists weren't just a word for fighting but she'd been exposed to fine dining martial arts, ice skating martial arts, food-related martial arts –it was insanity.

That's why she was doing this, taking these steps, going outside her own comfort zone. Because her family needed her. And family was everything to the Tendos.

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Mousse stared and unwillingly found the respect he'd already had for his longstanding rival grow even further.

Ranma did seem to have a remarkable ability to land himself in the most outlandish situations which, at first glance, seemed to have only one possible explanation –such as when they had overheard him asking Shampoo to show her breasts to him.

Mousse had been furious with the other boy, thinking that not only was Ranma taking advantage of the subjugated Amazon but he was also abandoning the youngest Tendo, even though the girl had gone out of her way to save him and nearly died. After fighting him back in Mt. Phoenix he'd finally realised Ranma had only ever been after the eggs Shampoo had hidden in her brassiere, but there had been no time to get the entire story. Unlike now –having heard the entire scenario slowly unravel was baffling; his rival had taken the only way available to him that would save both girls and him even if it would be a rather difficult situation to explain at a later date.

It was rather impressive how easy it was to mistake those circumstances for something far more illicit. Just like that time when both he and Ryoga had burst in on Ranma with what had looked like Akane (though he'd later found out it was actually Kiima), nude, in the bathroom. If Shampoo ever offered herself like that to him, Mousse was nearly certain that his first thought would not be about how out-of-character that behaviour was for her. And yet Ranma had seen his fiancée entirely naked and –from what he understood –offering herself to him and he'd resisted.

He didn't like Ranma –far from it –but for the first time he not only sympathized with him but he actually admired him. He'd fought ferociously, risked everything, nearly died and actually killed someone for Akane. He'd gone far and further than Mousse ever had in his pursuit for Shampoo.Oh, he'd talked about killing Ranma but he'd never actually been forced to act upon his words. His rival, on the other hand, had strained and struggled, fought until the bitter end and despite the odds he'd stood back up and gone out there and faced a demi-god he shouldn't have had a hope of beating. And all that for the sake of a girl he only traded insults with and that regularly beat him up.

Huh, he'd never thought of the other girl like that before –in that respect their relationship seemed awfully similar to his and Shampoo's; with the exception that Ranma insulted Akane right back.

But then, unlike in his and Shampoo's relationship –or lack thereof –Akane appeared to reciprocate the affection, or whatever was between those two. During the nearly two years since he'd first fought with Ranma, he'd noticed on multiple occasions how the blue haired girl had gone out of her way to aid her fiancé. Not only that, she'd risked her life for his on more instances than he could recall. And it looked like she'd done so again in China.

That begged the question –if Ranma was willing to go that far for Akane and she was willing to risk everything for him, did they feel as he felt for Shampoo? Was Ranma now finally not part of the equation anymore?

Though even if he wasn't, Mousse now knew that Shampoo was unlikely to give up on him. She'd refused to give up when she'd been invited to their wedding –you couldn't make a more serious declaration of intent or love and yet she hadn't wanted to listen, to believe and had turned up with meat dumpling-explosives to use on Akane.

In retrospect, Mousse was kind of glad that despite everything the explosives had ended up on Ranma –and not just because he was his rival. Now, after hearing everything about China –including Shampoo's threat to kill Akane - he wasn't sure if his rival would have been as forgiving of the girl had she actually managed to harm Akane on their wedding day.

He didn't know what it was Cologne had planned for Ranma and Kasumi –though, to be fair, he rarely ever anticipated the old woman's plans –but he could only hope that it would end up with the kiss of marriage from Shampoo being dissolved.

He loved her and he still held out hope that at some point in the future she'd reciprocate the feelings he had for her. But even if Shampoo were to never love him, he still wouldn't want her hounding Ranma for the rest of her life. He greatly suspected his rival had made his choice –and Shampoo would not be happy when she found out it wasn't her. Even worse, he hoped she didn't fall back into the 'kill obstacles'mindset because even if Ranma did not in fact love Akane the way he loved Shampoo, his rival had already proven on too many occasions just how protective he was of the youngest Tendo.

As usual, Mousse decided to remain quiet and not share his thoughts –Shampoo would never listen anyway and he suspected that Cologne already knew. He stayed where he was and observed –watching his rival's body language as well as the Elders. Men in their tribe were not usually allowed to speak their thoughts as freely as he'd been permitted to do here in Japan and Mousse had learnt a lot. Men, more often than not, were almost invisible –especially him. He'd become remarkably good at it and learnt far more than the other Amazons gave him credit for by simply remaining silent and listening to them rant, watching what their bodies were saying when the words didn't match.

And this –this was important. Something was happening and everything was on the verge of changing.

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Shampoo stared, stunned, at the spectacle unfolding in front of her eyes. When great-grandmother had said her Airen was coming over with the oldest Tendo, she'd presumed it was to give up their claim, finally admitting just how much better a real woman would be for Ranma rather than the violent girl.

So she'd taken the time to get ready. After a lot of deliberation and some judgements on Mousse's part (completely speechless, eyes bugged out and speechless, babbling gibberish –all different stages from 'stunning'up to 'a bit too dazzling'), she'd selected a semi-formal dress. It was conservative enough for the greeting but once she'd sit down –opposite of her Ranma of course –the side slit would split, giving him a nice glimpse of her soft, creamy, smooth thighs. And the dress would hug her figure perfectly, showing off her ample bosom, slim waist and curvaceous body–just to emphasise to her Airen he was making the right choice, of course.

But somehow, nothing had gone to plan.

Though, admittedly, since living in Nerima none of her plans had ever really worked the way she'd intended them to –maybe they were living on cursed grounds? Dismissing the thought for later discussion with her great-grandmother, she focused back on the proceedings.

Cologne had not only rapped her over the head for her interruption earlier but had also made it rather clear that she thought her suggestion that Ranma and that housewife were here for anything even remotely related to fulfilling the kiss of marriage was ridiculous.

Shampoo had never handled it well when her pride had been injured, but this time it was her Elder –so she'd quieted, though mutinously she'd thought Ranma would show them all. He would certainly agree to marry her and she'd return home with the strongest male at her feet; everyone would admire her and she would've once again proven just how much better she was to all the other women in the village.

Up until then she had been able to ignored how much control the pervert girl's sister had over her Airen–she'd tsk'd and he'd immediately started being polite to Cologne; a respectful Ranma –at least when faced with the Amazon elder –was unheard of. But it hadn't mattered, she thought, because while the housewife was unfailingly polite to everyone –even enemies –she had no backbone.

And then she had started speaking. Suddenly Shampoo remembered her name –Kasumi.

Gone was the compliant almost submissive housewife she remembered; in her stead was what could only compare to an Amazon. A woman who knew her place in the world –and it was at the very top. She'd challenged them, Shampoo abruptly realised –she'd stared directly at them, held eye contact, back straight and head held proudly. There had been no hesitation, no sign of weakness or meekness.

And for a split second a part of Shampoo had felt a slight amount of pride on behalf of this woman; after all, that's the entire culture her tribe was built on. That women should take the lead instead of submitting to males. But they all learned martial arts, learned to defend themselves –Kasumi didn't. She had no martial arts training or knowledge –to challenge two experienced fighters –three, if one counted Mousse –was foolishness. At least that's what she'd thought.

And that's when her great-grandmother acquiesced; well, not quite but Shampoo knew that tone of voice, knew what Cologne was saying even if she hadn't done so outright yet.

There would be no fight, Shampoo realised as she sat there in stunned silence. All they were intending to do was talk –Kasumi would not be challenged on her claims or assertions. And her great-grandmother had as good as admitted that Shampoo's claims on her Airen would be voided.

Well, she wouldn't allow it. She'd remain quiet for now, listen to what was being said, but she wouldn't allow them to leave like this. Ranma was her Airen–hers alone. He didn't belong with the violent perverted girl, the chef that dressed up as a boy or the poisonous flower girl. Her body was that of a woman, her cooking was far superior and her fighting skills far outclassed the other girls.

Shampoo didn't understand why Airen had let this go on for as long as it had –she was clearly far superior in everything to the other girls, she thought derisively. She, on the other hand, was a woman. And Ranma was the only one worthy being seen by her side –not that stupid Mousse. Unlike her childhood friend, her Airen was strong and she just knew he belonged to her. By the end of this night, she would make sure that everyone knew it and acknowledged it.

Even she could hear that there was no emotion in his voice when he talked about violent girl's almost death –that just proved that she was right.

Ranma belonged to was sure she could make him see that and…well, if anyone opposed - obstacles are for killing. Ducking her head to hide her smile, Shampoo pretended to listen as Ranma recapitulated all the events that had taken place in China.

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Cologne suppressed another sigh –she knew her great-granddaughter better than most people and of her unwillingness to accept what was right in front of her face. Loss of pride, loss of face, to Shampoo were cardinal sins. But surely even she had to see at this late stage into the game just how fruitless her efforts had been so far?

Obviously not.

It wasn't as if she couldn't understand why here great-granddaughter was so persistent. She had to admit that even at her age, life was good for a surprise or two every now and then –especially ever since she'd moved to Japan and met Ranma. Never before had she seen someone so intuitive in the arts.

Shampoo was good, as was Mousse –but they learnt it, perfected it, worked at it relentlessly. Their pride propelled them forward when the bruises sent them to the ground. Son-in-law –though she probably wouldn't be able to continue calling him that after tonight –lived and breathed the arts in a way she'd never seen before. His life and everything he did revolved around martial arts.

She'd seen people dedicate their life to learning martial arts but even they didn't turn all their everyday chores into a training exercise. And she doubted that most martial artists would accomplish in eighty years what Ranma had in eighteen.

He had an unparalleled instinct for it, an intuition that simply couldn't be taught. All he had to do was see the technique once or twice and then before you knew it he would've taken your thousands of years old technique, improved it, perfected it and developed variants of it. It was incredible, astonishing and the very reason why she'd encouraged Shampoo all this time, why she, an elder, had left her tribe for two years now to live in another country; she used to want Ranma –need Ranma to be a part of their tribe.

His addition would not only grant them dominion over other warriors and halt the government from trying to encroach on their territory but he was also likely to sire some very gifted children. With him as part of their tribe they would be practically unbeatable, especially once he'd been taught all of their secret techniques.

But that had been before…Before he fought and won, no, killed a demi-god. Before he'd shown her and the world just how far he was willing to go for Akane. Now he'd also told her how he'd adapted his tactics and techniques in a split second, had created new ways of winning, new ways of fighting –all during the heat of battle. He'd used a tool he had only had hold of for a day –and he won. He'd risked everything; he had nearly killed himself –freezing to death or burning to death and the girl…

Cologne shook her head, amazed. The girl, drained of all the water in her body, had managed to take the heat from Saffron's attack and used it to unfreeze herself rapidly. Then she'd propelled herself forward to give Ranma a fighting chance–and she doubted he would have said out loud what he was planning, so even as a miniature doll she'd known, somehow, what it was he intended to do and had helped him accomplish it.

The implications were staggering. Two people who had risked everything for one another, including their lives. And she could see easily that it had left its mark on the boy –whether that was due to being forced to kill or due to thinking he'd failed to save his fiancée, she wasn't sure.

No, the council of the Elders had to hear this –even with only the preliminary reports coming in they had already made the decision. Unless Ranma came absolutely, one hundred percent willingly, there was no way the Amazons wanted him anywhere near their village –or even China as a whole. They had no illusions; the Amazons had exceptional warriors and given time and woman power they would be able to overwhelm Ranma eventually should he decide to wage war against them for whatever reason. But the sheer amount of people they would lose if they were to fight would be astronomical –and would make the entire initial reasoning pointless. They would be left nearly defenseless and no one was willing to risk losing their greatest warriors. Not even for someone of Ranma's caliber.

She vaguely wondered whether Shampoo had ever actually had a chance. Cologne had always noticed the attraction between what should have been her son-in-law and the youngest Tendo –it wasn't something you could miss. But the constant fights had even fooled her to an extent –for quite some time she had actually believed that Shampoo could potentially convince him to come along with them.

Cologne sighed –surprisingly, considering who it was that had raised the boy, Ranma had ignored Shampoo's attempts to seduce him with a frightening consistency and never shown sign of even being tempted to give in; well, other than his temptation to run in the opposite direction. His only downfall had always been his ego –especially when it came to the broach, when he had wanted Shampoo to confess her love to him out of sheer male pride. Foolish boy.

But then again, if he had no flaws he would be a truly scary martial artist. As it was he had a lot of them holding him back. But then again he had repeatedly demonstrated he was quite capable of turning his weaknesses into strengths when the situation called for it. Yes, truly a frightening opponent and an invaluable ally to have at his young age. Age and maturity would only serve to strengthen him further –she hoped to live long enough to see his skills surpass her own one day.

Well, Cologne could only hope that Shampoo would take the rejection with some dignity and, most importantly, accept it. Knowing Ranma though he'd never be able to say the words outright and her great-granddaughter would keep following him.

She'd need to get word to her tribe soon to end this farce. The kiss of marriage needed to be dissolved, officially, so that Shampoo could return to China without fear of repercussions.

It looked as though for once she'd be in Ranma's corner without any ulterior motives. How intriguing. But then again, life always seemed to take on an interesting twist around that boy.

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He hated it, hated it, hated it.

A part of him wanted to never remember it, push it aside as just another one of their adventures, even though he knew that this last time everything had been different. Akane had always managed to somehow scare him to death; in one way or another she seemed to end up in life threatening situations without fail.

At one point he'd actually checked all the dates things happened and referenced the weekdays, just on the off chance that Akane was cursed to always get kidnapped on Tuesdays or always on the 16th and 23rd of every month. And maybe death threats happened on a Friday, with Engagements or love declarations from lunatics on Saturdays. Of course no such pattern had emerged.

So there was no schedule, no discernable way to foretell when he needed to be extra careful of another heart-rending moment where he could lose everything in one fell swoop. If Akane ever died again…he didn't want to think about it. Those moments in China had been hard enough. If it wouldn't be so counterproductive he'd strangle his fiancée for always getting into trouble. And she said he was the chaos magnet –it was obvious to him at least, that she'd not paid close enough attention during last few years.

Shaking those thoughts off, Ranma watched as everyone sat silently lost in their own thoughts after he'd finished recounting what had happened in his fight against Saffron.

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"Thank you, Ranma."

The boy paused momentarily before nodding at Cologne.

"As elder of the Joketsuzoku we accept your proposal, Kasumi Tendo. Shampoo, Mousse or I will not enter the Tendo dojo, house or grounds unless it is with your express invitation."

Kasumi smiled graciously.

"Thank you very much, Elder Cologne. May I ask about the kiss of marriage?"

The elder chuckled, but her eyes were steadily fixed on Ranma's.

"Ah yes, the kiss of marriage. Tell me, sonny boy, are there any circumstances under which you would consider marrying my great-granddaughter?"

Exhaling loudly, Ranma smiled wryly at the old Amazon and took a gamble.

"What, like you don't know already."

He saw Cologne's face twist into an answering smirk and he knew it that moment that she did indeed know that he'd already chosen. Well, one down…

"Now, groom, this is not for my benefit. There are some people who will not understand unless they hear it from you directly."

His eyes narrowed at her before glancing at both Mousse and Shampoo. The boy at least seemed to appreciate what they were talking about while the purple haired girl only frowned. Ranma sighed.

Maybe Cologne wasn't that far off the mark with her words but there was no way he'd make a love declaration in front of them. Mousse embarrassed himself often enough that way.

"I can't think of any way that you could get me to marry her."

That was, of course, a blatant lie. If they involved Akane he was pretty sure there were some schemes they could potentially come up with which would end up with him and the Amazon together – however temporarily.

To his surprise, Mousse simply remained quiet. Usually whenever someone attacked Shampoo's desirability as either woman or a wife, he'd attack them. Ironically, he also attacked them when they were attracted to her. At Ranma's questioning look the other boy simple shook his head gently to his confusion.

"What? But Shampoo much better-"The purple haired girl shut up when her great-grandmother rapped her over the head with her stick again.

"Shampoo, be quiet. I am talking. You will listen and be silent."

Cologne shook her head at the slight pout on the girl's lips. Japan had made her weak –it would never have occurred to her before to pout at the words of an elder directed at her before. Their society was a strict one and so were its punishments. Well, she supposed that could be dealt with once they were back in China –now was certainly not the time.

"Eld-"

Kasumi stopped herself when she felt Ranma's hand on her shoulder. He shook his head minutely, eyes flicking over to Cologne. The eldest Tendo hesitated only for a brief second before acquiescing. It was clear that this needed to be sorted now rather than later.

"Ranma, how would you react if we followed the letter of our law?"

Frowning slightly the pigtailed martial artist cocked his head sideways.

"The letter of your law?"

Cologne smirked slightly, studying him and Shampoo, eager to see how he'd react and then, more importantly, how her great-granddaughter would handle Ranma's reply.

"To paraphrase Shampoo 'Obstacles are for killing'."

Almost immediately the martial artist straightened, his eyes narrowed and his fists clenched slightly. It took Cologne a moment to realise that he'd moved his body so he could fight any of them at a moment's notice. Impressive –she had been barely aware of any movements on his part. Ranma's blue eyes had become glacial and she could feel the temperature in the room drop rapidly as his battle aura was just shy of emerging.

"I don't think you'll like my answer to that question, old ghoul."

For once Kasumi didn't reprimand him for not using the proper title. Ranma's voice was icy but he didn't allow any of his anger show beyond that, eyes still intent on the elder.

When she simply smirked, he glared at her before glancing at the other two Amazons in the room, silently assessing and judging them. Instead of lingering on them his eyes focused back on Cologne, dismissing both Shampoo and Mousse as low level threats should the Amazons dare to challenge him.

"I would kill you before you could lay a finger on her. And the same goes for anyone else who threatens my fiancée. I will kill you before you get the chance to try. It's not a joke, empty words or a threat. That's a promise. You have all seen or heard what I'm capable of, what I did to Saffron."His eyes glanced across all three, face set in a firm mask, conveying the intensity and the truth behind his words even without word. "Threaten Akane and you'll be dead before you can take a step."

To Ranma's surprise, Cologne's chuckle ripped him out of the red haze of anger he'd been under. He stared at her, feeling his shoulder relax ever so slightly when he noticed it was not a dismissal of his threat but rather an acknowledgement of it.

Shampoo was alternating between glaring at him and fluttering her eyelashes in an attempt to sway him towards her. He barely refrained from rolling his eyes.

"You have nothing to worry about, sonny boy. We won't harm your precious fiancée."

Almost on command Ranma blushed. He knew what he'd said but that had been in the heat of the moment –in defense of her, always her. Somehow he frequently ended up saying things like this when someone dared to threaten Akane. He hadn't intended for it to sound so…Oh god, shoot him now.

Cologne simply laughed harder and even Kasumi giggled at his embarrassment when he hid his face in his hands.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"As the only elder in Japan I intend to hereby dissolve the kiss of marriage between Shampoo and Ranma Saotome. He has proved to my satisfaction that he would under no circumstances be willing to marry her and that removing any women that stand in our way will not work to our benefit. Mousse, as member of the Joketsuzoku tribe, will you bear witness to the dissolution of the kiss of marriage?"

Mousse, glasses for once on his face, nodded solemnly.

"I will bear witness."

Cologne acknowledged him with a sharp nod before turning back to Kasumi.

"And will you, Kasumi Tendo, as the only current adult representative and as host of Ranma Saotome, bear witness to the dissolution in his parents stead?"

Kasumi's voice was firm as she responded, eyes meeting the elder's in approval.

"I will."

"Before we proceed any further - are there any objections?"

"I object, Elder Cologne."

To no-one's surprise the voice belonged to Shampoo.

"Very well, child. As the affected party please bring your concerns to us for judgment."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The purple haired girl jutted her chin forward, narrowed her eyes and looked haughtily at Ranma and the old Amazon.

"Shampoo is much better wife too than violent girl, insane flower girl or the one that dresses like boy. Shampoo is real woman –can cook, fight and-"

Cologne merely waved her hand dismissively but her eyes were narrowed and her voice was sharp as she replied, making Mousse instinctively flinch as he'd been subjected to that particular stare multiple times before.

"This is an elder you are addressing, child. Have you got any objections that would invalidate Ranma Saotome's earlier statements? If not, keep your mouth shut and your head down, girl, unless you want to be punished for questioning your elder."

Shampoo stared at her great-grandmother, aghast. She knew she'd been pushing the boundaries somewhat, but Cologne hadn't seemed to care that much about propriety and rules since they moved to Japan. It was still a startling realization to have just how lax she'd gotten in her behaviour –she hadn't needed to be reprimanded like that in public since she was ten years old.

Flushing dully, the purple haired girl tried to think fast. There must be something, some sort of sign that Ranma chose her over the other two fiancées and that lunatic. She recalled the run for the hot springs –Ranma had chosen her then…but it had been chance not choosing her as a bride or a partner. He'd even worked side by side with the violent girl half-way through. No, that wouldn't do.

After another few moments of frantically searching her memory, Shampoo was forced to concede that to her surprise there were no examples –nothing that would convince her great-grandmother at least. Some circumstantial moments where Ranma had chosen her, but she knew those would simply be dismissed by Cologne.

There was…nothing. He had never acknowledged her as superior to the other girls. The rejection stung more than Shampoo would like to admit. She was superior to the others, surely…but then why? What did they have that she didn't?

Holding back tears that her pride wouldn't allow to fall in the presence of the very man who had rejected her, she slowly lowered her head until she was staring at her own hands crossed in her lap. It was a clear sign of defeat for her great-grandmother who released the breath she'd been holding.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Then with my powers as elder the kiss of marriage between Ranma Saotome and the Amazon warrior Shampoo is hereby dissolved. No future kisses of death or of marriage may be issued to him by anyone of the Joketsuzoku."

There was a momentary silence after Cologne's words before Ranma spoke up.

"What, that's it?"

The elder laughed.

"What did you expect, sonny boy? Three hundred pages worth of contract?"

"Well, no. It's just…After all this time, this seems a bit too easy. You always seemed so obsessed with the idea. I find it hard to believe it'd be over just like that, with a couple of words. What's your angle?"

Cologne almost laughed –Ranma was unusually suspicious of her. Though, admittedly, he might have a point with all the times they had successfully pulled the wool over his eyes until it was too late –or at least almost too late.

"Believe it or not, there is no angle this time. You defeated the demi-god Saffron. You have made a lot of people high up very, very nervous in doing so, including the Chinese government. Instead of demanding anything in return for your services –which is something everyone can understand and accept - you were content to simply return back to Japan. Now everyone is in limbo because you have done all of us a huge favour, not asked for anything in return and therefore haven't declared any of your intentions or alliances. No one is sure quite what to make of you, sonny boy. And that makes you a potentially very serious threat."

Cologne chuckled at Ranma's flabbergasted expression. She'd known it was unlikely to have occurred to him –he never seemed to be aware of the wider implications beyond the fight. To him, Saffron had challenged him personally and he'd probably seen it as his duty at first and then, once his fiancée was involved, as a personal matter. He would've never considered what other people thought of in regards to him defeating someone they'd been afraid of.

"That is not someone that even the Joketsuzoku are willing to force or otherwise coerce –that would be like putting the wolf right into the middle of a flock of sheep. Our tribe has decided to adopt a live and let live policy in regards to you. After they have heard the details you have told me today, I will make sure that it will be enforced. No one from our tribe will pursue either you or your fiancée. The punishment for going against a ruling such as this one would be death."

Ranma stared at her in surprise before shrugging slightly to Kasumi. The eldest Tendo nodded and took over again.

"Thank you very much for all your aid in this matter as well as your clarification, Elder Cologne. You have proven to be invaluable during today's discussions."

"I assure you that the pleasure was all mine." Cologne's wicked smirk made sure no one doubted that statement for even a second.

"Well, thank you very much, Elder Cologne. Shampoo, Mousse, pleasure to see you again. Kasumi, I'll be outside for a bit of fresh air."

Bowing courteously under Kasumi's strict eyes, Ranma gave a short nod to all three before hopping out of the Cat caféat maximum speed. He'd never felt quite so claustrophobic before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God, that had been hellish. Some fresh air might help before he'd have to meet with Kuno and Kodachi. In some ways it had gone better but also much worse than he'd expected. Rolling his shoulders in the hope of releasing some of the tension that had gathered there during the meeting he stared up at the stars.

It took him another moment before he felt calm enough to acknowledge the other boy who'd followed him out.

"Mousse."

"Ranma."

"So, whatcha want? Cause if you're here to have a fight I'll have to say no for once in my life. Kasumi scares me one heck of a lot more than you do."

Mousse chuckled slightly.

"Yeah, I can see how. I think there is a reason why our tribe is working so well and it's not the strength of our warriors. We have got a few leaders like Tendo-san. You just don't cross them, ever."

Relaxing, Ranma leaned back against the tree beside the other boy, sniggering. Noticing the other boy's curious look he quieted down.

"What's up Mousse?"

"I've been wondering…what are your feelings for Akane?"

Blushing, the pigtailed boy raised his eyebrows, challenging the Chinese boy.

"And what business is that of yours?"

"None…It's just…I fear that before Cologne will receive word back from the tribe, Shampoo will have done something stupid. I know her and she's not given up –not yet."

Ranma sighed, tempted to shout denials but forced himself to calm down. This was not something he wanted to do, ever. Not with Mousse or anyone else.

"Mousse, you love Shampoo, right?"

The other boy didn't hesitate and Ranma vaguely wondered how he didn't feel any embarrassment whatsoever for confessing his feelings so openly. According to his dad a man didn't talk about his feelings and yet here was Mousse practically shouting it from the rooftops.

"More than anything else in the world."

The pigtailed boy sighed slightly, eyes fixed on the stars, contemplative.

"Have you ever thought about it? How far you'd go for her? …Would you give your life for hers? If it came down to her or someone else, whom would you choose? Would you hesitate? And would you…kill for her?"

The Amazon leaned back, unconsciously mirroring Ranma's pose as he too stared at the stars.

"I have. And I know Shampoo doesn't realise this, despite my words to her, but there is nothing I wouldn't do for her. That's why I made her look into the mirror when she came out of the egg. I want her –Shampoo. Even if that means she'll never be mine. An obedient slave with only her face and body would…lose its appeal, don't you think? No challenge, no one to fight…"

In spite of himself, Ranma found his lips quirking into a grin. Yeah, that described his own relationship with his tomboy down to a T.

"Yeah."

Mousse looked over, eyes searching as they scanned the other boy.

"Shampoo is very attractive, don't you think, Saotome?"

The other boy froze slightly, sending him a curious look before shrugging and leaning back again.

"She is. I mean, she doesn't exactly hide her body, ya know. But…she's missing that spunk. She's not a challenge. Plus, I don't think I could ever live in a society where men are below women. 'sides, man, she turns into a cat. That's just never gonna happen."

Mousse laughed quietly when his rival shuddered at the mere thought of cats.

"Yeah, I suppose not. Akane is rather attractive as well, don't you think?"

Ranma was glaring at him before he realised the other boy was taunting him. Smiling wryly he shook his head at his own reaction, blushing.

"Hmm. I s'pose she does clean up well when she wants to."

The other boy laughed and after a moment Ranma joined in. Yeah, somehow he and Mousse were actually quite similar. Head over heels in love with stupidly independent female martial artist who wouldn't back down and kept running headfirst into danger.

Kasumi came out at that moment to meet up with him and Mousse parted with a small nod of acknowledgement towards him. Maybe there was something to this sort of male camaraderie after all, Ranma acknowledge. He did feel just that bit more relaxed now.

Smiling lightly he jumped until he was beside Kasumi again, casually strolling in direction of the Kuno compound.

"Soo…Now off to see the nutjobs?"

"Ranma…"

Strange, just a threatening tone in her voice and he found himself ducking his head at the admonishment. He was glad that none of his enemies had ever acquired that stern tone of voice that somehow always managed to make him feel four inches tall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah, Ryoga."

Nabiki winced visibly at the controlled rage she could hear in her sister's voice. She wasn't surprised to see the lost boy simply look at her younger sister with relief. Somehow he had always managed to divert Akane's anger to her fiancéand thus escaped ever seeing her truly mad. Although even Ranma had only ever succeeded, on very few memorable occasions, to have her quietly seething with rage.

Nabiki shuddered involuntarily, taking a step back into what she hoped would be a safe zone. She wasn't going to leave her sister alone with the pig (Ha! How fitting!) but she also didn't want to be within reach of her sister punches and kicks.

"Ah, Akane, I knew you'd understand."Ryoga gave Nabiki a sharp glare at this and she stared at him incredulously. No one could be quite this oblivious, surely?!

"See, this is all Ranma's fault."

Nabiki blanched, looking at Akane. She still had that eerily calm smile pasted on her lips. But there were advantages to being observant and to living for this long in the same house with her. The veins on her neck were tight and Nabiki knew Akane was gritting her teeth. The pulsing near her left temple was a clear sign of just how angry she was and her hands kept clenching and unclenching periodically. Oh dear, Ryoga was going to die. Slowly and painfully judging by her sister's state.

"Oh, Ranma's fault?", Akane's voice had a velvety steel like quality which still escaped the boy's notice to Nabiki's astonishment. She continued in a sugary voice that served to only set the middle sister further on edge.

"Oh no, how could he? Please, do explain to me Ryoga, how you sleeping in my bed, watching me undress and putting your face in my breasts is Ranma's fault."She gave him a cold smile even as her voice became hard. "I'd really like to know."

Cringing, Nabiki took another step back. No matter how good Ryoga was, with her sister in this state he wouldn't stand a chance. She doubted even Ranma would win against Akane when she was this livid.

"Of course, Akane-chan!" Ryoga smiled happily, missing the narrowing of the blue haired girl's eyes at his affectionate term. "I mean, I was in China because Ranma wasn't there for our duel. I mean, a real man would never run from a fight. Though I suppose it's kind of fitting now that he turns into a girl." He gave a low chuckle, somehow still missing the way Akane's hands were clenched tightly enough the white was showing on her knuckles. "Anyway, Ranma in his cursed form was chasing after his pop and hit me –that's how I ended up as P-Chan."

Uh-oh. Akane's glare had only hardened and her mouth was now pressed into a firm line. Ryoga still seemed happily oblivious, smiling widely at her younger sister.

"Uh-huh. And what does that have to do with you sleeping in my bed, looking at me naked or burrowing your face in my breasts?"

"We-Well, you loved me and took me in."

Wow, this boy was really digging himself in deeper and deeper with every word. She wouldn't have thought that was possible after all his transgressions so far.

"No! I loved a house pet–which you are definitely not. Now, one last chance, Ryoga. WHAT the FUCK does Ranma have to do with everything YOU have done to me?"

Eyes wide, Ryoga finally seemed to be cognizant of the danger he was in –too bad, the realization had come far too late.

"I- Well- He was angry and jealous whenever I-"

Whoops, it seemed as though the infamous Saotome open-mouth-insert-foot disease was contagious.

WHACK!

Ryoga slammed to the ground with the force of Akane's slap. Unfortunately for him it didn't seem to have soothed any of her ire. Her foot collided with his ribs before she placed it on top of the most sensitive area on a guy's body.

"Let me get this straight,"Akane's foot pressed down, eliciting a slight squeak from the pale boy,"you did all this to make Ranma jealous and angry?"

"Ah, well…You were always kind to me and no one had ever-"

Akane had taken her foot away, pulled Ryoga up in one sharp move before her hand blurred and repeatedly landed in his stomach. Said boy curled up slightly protectively, wincing in pain, eyes wide as the girl he thought he loved advanced on him again.

"Well, boo hoo!"

Nabiki stared, now wide eyed herself, at the menacing form of her younger sister. Whoa, maybe she should call Kasumi back…or maybe just wait until dark; that way Ranma could help bury the body.

"I have news for you –If someone is nice to you, you don't go around abusing their kindness by lying to them, betraying them, being a pervert and a stalker, sleeping in their bed and watching them when they are unaware! You're a creep! And since that's how you behaved I'm not surprised I was the first person to be nice to you!"

Nabiki almost flinched back when Ryoga was stupid enough to speak up again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Bu-But Ranma-"

WHACK! SMASH! CRACK!

Akane was now holding the boy plus umbrella by his neck up at the wall. Nabiki stared momentarily –wasn't that umbrella alone unbelievably heavy? Never mind lifting both umbrella, boy and pack one-handed. This really wasn't going to end well.

"RANMA is honourable! He would never ever do what you did you perverted pig! He tried to save me! And YOU! You dare preach to me what a man should be like! You've got some nerve!"

She glared, stepping closer until her face was barely separated from his, eyes narrow and hateful as she gazed at the boy who had abused her trust.

"A MAN would not sneak into a woman's bedroom! A MAN wouldn't sleep in a woman's bed without her consent! A MAN wouldn't watch her naked without her permission! A MAN wouldn't abuse any curse of his for his own perverted pleasures! And A MAN would certainly not try to shove off his own responsibilities –instead he would face his victim and confess his crimes! You, Ryoga Hibiki, disgust me! Never before have I ever hated someone but I'll make you the exception!"

With another knee in his stomach and three punches, Ryoga was once again on the ground, groaning in pain. Akane did have to admit that at least he had yet to attack her or defend himself.

"And let me tell you one more thing –Ranma is ten times the man you are! He never ran from your challenge –he waited. It's your own fault for not leaving the week before the match in the vague hope that you might turn up on time. He waited THREE FUCKING DAYS for you. I wouldn't have waited more than two HOURS! Ranma has had the possibility of sleeping in my bed but he slept on the floor instead! He could've seen me naked any number of times but he's always tried to protect my modesty and looked the other way! Ranma has admitted and apologized for his mistakes! What have you done? Oh yes, you've come here and when my sister told you you're not welcome, you used your strength as a martial artist and as a male against her. You are dishonourable to the extreme! And I would definitely not call you a real man! You blame everyone but yourself for everything that goes wrong in your life! Well, get a grip!"

Akane snorted.

"Your life is not perfect, but then whose is? Mine isn't. Ranma's isn't. You have abused my trust and me. Does that sound like something a man would do?"

Her lips twisted bitterly as she stared at the other boy. The horrible realization of what he'd done finally seemed to penetrate the Ryoga's twisted psyche. Akane gritted her teeth, staring at the cringing boy as her hands once again blurred as she attacked the martial artist.

"Before this I was actually defending you to Ranma! I actually thought you were decent –nice, kind, helpful, pleasant…genuine. I felt sympathetic towards you –on the rare occasions you did find your way home there was a good chance that your parents wouldn't be there. You had to raise yourself –often you'd be in other countries with people talking in foreign languages. You wouldn't recognize half the places you'd be in and you would simply have to keep walking until you'd somehow, at some point, find your way back home. I actually felt bad for you. I actually thought you were a good guy, rare as they are. But you were the opposite –you fooled me. I realise life was hard for you, but FUCK it's hard for others too! I've got news for you, Ryoga–you're not the only fucking person on the planet and not everything revolves around you. You're upset, I get that, believe me, but that doesn't mean the worldowes you anything."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akane smashed her fist into the ground beside his head, staring at his wide eyes, her own eyes hard and cold.

"This is life, not a fairytale. You're not entitled to anything, not even to your happy ending. And you- you sicken me. If you ever –ever–dare to come near me or my family again, I will not hesitate and that punch will land on your head."

Ryoga glanced to the massive hole she'd left in the ground just beside him and gulped, throat dry.

"Don't talk to me, don't touch me and don't ever come near me again. In return I'll let you live."

Wiping blood from his mouth, hand protectively curled around his ribs –experience told him that a couple of them were actually broken –he looked up at the girl he'd once loved and didn't recognize her.

Face twisted beyond recognition and instead of affection and kindness there was only horror, pain and hate in her eyes. Wincing slightly, he shook his head.

"I see that Ran-"

Her fist came out of nowhere, the air from the speed as it blew past him ruffling his hair even as it impacted the wall. The massive stones crumbled as if they were made of sand and Ryoga unwittingly flinched back.

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK TO ME!"

Maybe he should try another time –right now he was too injured anyway. He'd seek out Ranma and challenge him, then surely Akane would see that he was stronger and better than Ranma; plus he'd get the chance to pay him back for making Akane say all this to him. It was clear now that this was not Akane –Ranma obviously had made himself look good and lied to her about him.

With a curt nod to both Tendos, Ryoga strategically retreated. He'd better go to a doctor and have it looked at. Where was that guy again? Oh yeah –right.

Turning left, Ryoga disappeared into the distance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Breathing heavily, Akane was left staring at their broken wall, anger still coursing through her body.

"H-Hey sis…"

Nabiki felt strangely hesitant to approach her younger sister after seeing the damage she'd done to both the boy and their building. She was even more taken aback when Akane whirled around, a wide smile on her lips.

"Wow, that felt good. I think I'll go to the Dojo to practice some more, kay, Oneechan?"

Watching her sister rush off in direction of the training hall, Nabiki's lips twisted bitterly. Her sister wasn't fooling anyone with that smile but she did need some time to herself to deal with this.

With a sigh the middle sister looked at the destruction and set to repairing everything as best as she could before going back inside the house to calculate the money they would need to pay for having the property restored after the latest fight. Akane would find her if she needed to, though Nabiki couldn't help but suspect she'd be looking for Ranma instead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sinking to the floor in the dark dojo, Akane stared straight ahead.

She'd done it again –in her anger she'd hit Ryoga even though he hadn't lifted a finger to defend himself. She'd heard the crack of broken bones –likely his ribs –and still not stopped. Everything inside of her had wanted him to feel the way he had made her feel –helpless, weak, defenseless.

'God, what have I done?'

But she still felt all the anger, the fury, at him and everything he'd done. There was still the strong desire to keep beating him.

Akane winced slightly. The feel of human skin, muscle and bones under her hands was quite different to a dummy. Usually it didn't bother her because she'd been provoked, attacked and was merely defending herself…but this had been different.

'Ranma…?'

'Ah,…'kane? Everything okay?'

She chuckled slightly, feeling his hesitation mixed with apprehension flooding through her. He was nervous as he'd obviously felt at least part of her ire.

'Don't worry, I'm not mad with you.'

'I wasn't worried. I could take you any day, tomboy.'

'Uh-huh.' Akane sighed slightly.

'So…dare I ask what happened? Didn't think anyone else besides me could make you that mad.'

This at least elicited a weak smile from her, feeling his anxiousness and worry come through to her. It was…kind of nice to actually know that Ranma was concerned about her.

'Ryoga. Ryoga happened.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ranma froze, eyes wide as he received Akane's thoughts. He didn't even notice Kasumi's surprised glance backward as he gathered his ki, prepared to run back to the Tendo dojo should Akane be injured or, god help him, if Ryoga was still there.

'Are you okay? Akane? Do you want me to come back? Is he still there? Are you okay? C'mmon, 'kane!'

A sudden and confusing influx of emotions from Akane made him crinkle his forehead in bewilderment –anger, embarrassment, happiness and affection.

'I'm okay, Ranma. Really. Don't worry…On the other hand I don't think he is though.'

Relief flooded him –his own feelings this time –and he slowly started walking again. It's funny, in that moment, that flash, he forgot everything about Amazons, Mousse, Cologne, Shampoo and kisses of marriage. All that mattered was Akane. He could still feel an undercurrent of horror from her and tried to calm her down.

'It's nothing he didn't deserve. 'sides, this is Ryoga, he'll bounce back in no time. You sound off, though. You sure you're okay? Did he hit you?'

A light laugh sounded through his head and the amusement in her voice was clear.

'What, you going to find him and beat him up again if he did?'

His thoughts were too quick for him to stop even if he had tried. The same protectiveness that had risen up in him earlier against the Amazons flooded through him.

'In a heartbeat if he hurt you.'

Another wave of affection and warmth came through from his fiancée.

'Thank you…I- You…Ryoga didn't lift a finger in his defense. But I still hit him. He just –he made me so angry. He took something from me and I just…I can't stand it, can't stand him. And I couldn't stop myself; I just hit and kicked him…Oh, and, err, the wall beside our entrance may or may not have a big hole in it.'

Wide eyed, Ranma whistled slightly, ignoring Kasumi's confused glances his way with practiced ease.

'Woah. Even fighting pops and having him send me into it full strength only put a dent in it–that wall's made of granite or something. You must've been fiercely mad to actually punch through the thing. Huh. Kudos for not killing Ryoga in that state then.'

And almost immediately Ranma realised he'd hit a nerve. Anxiousness, worry, satisfaction and upset came from Akane and it took him a moment to realise what had set her off.

'You're being stupid.'

'…What?'

'You're being stupid. I'll say it more often if you like.'

He could nearly hear her harrumph at the teasing tone in his thoughts. Suppressing a laugh, he explained before Akane ripped his head off instead of pig-boy's.

'First of all, pig-boy deserved it. No doubt about that, right? Okay. Secondly, you're a martial artist. Your first instinct will always be to fight. You defended yourself as far as I'm concerned. And I'm sure Ryoga will be back in no time, he seems to be a glutton for punishment. He'll defend himself against me and no worries, I'll happily beat him up on your behalf if it offends your sensibilities to hit pig-boy. Thirdly, you stopped. You didn't kill him and from what you've told me he was able to walk on his own and not even unconscious. As far as I'm concerned you went too easy on the guy.'

Ranma wished he'd figured out how to transmit emotions to her –but he'd never really dealt or thought about his own too much so it was hard to suddenly call on a specific one at will. But luckily Akane felt calmer when she responded.

'Thank you, Ranma. I- I told him not to come back or ever talk to me again but like you said, I doubt he's going to listen, if for no other reason that he appears to have no control over where he ends up. And…just, thank you. It just- I have never actually felt that…livid before. For the first time I actually wasn't sure I wanted to stop - and it scared me. How do you…?'

Ranma sighed slightly, feeling the familiar surge of protectiveness and worry as he remembered Saffron. Really –why was everyone so obsessed with the last fight and felt the need to have him regurgitate all the details over and over again? He'd much prefer never having to remember the entire thing.

'Trust me, it's different. It's weird and I can't quite describe it but…there's a limit to how far you'd go for yourself. You're upset but as long as it's only you that's affected it's something within your power to forgive or make judgment on, if that makes sense. It's different if it's someone else. I've been in a lot of fights –for me, for you, for others…'

Closing his eyes, Ranma tightened his fists minutely. Akane needed to know this just now and he could deal with it, he told himself.

'My main motivation when I fought Saffron wasn't my pride or even winning –I just wanted him gone long enough to save you. Nothing else mattered and…Well, when he refused he gave me no other choice. I didn't–You didn't have the time it would've taken to beat him into submission, never mind whether I could've. The moment Saffron refused to let me save you I knew I couldn't keep holding back. I had to go all out or risk losing you and…that just wasn't an option. If you're asking me if I'd have made the same choice not knowing he'd be reborn…I didn't know. I thought I'd killed him –and technically I have. But 'kane, that was different. It wasn't for revenge or to stop him from marrying you or something along those lines. It was your life against his and it was my call to make…And… Akane, I'd choose you every time.'

Ranma's emotions were overwhelmed by the influx from Akane –a dizzying rush of sheer, unadulterated joy, an incredibly warm, soft feeling of strong affection –love? – and admiration. He couldn't help but feel giddy at the sensations he could feel from her –the feelings she was having towards him. He blushed unable to stop himself from grinning widely at the bemused Kasumi.

'Thank you, Ranma. I can only guess how hard that was for you but- just, thank you. And… Just for the record…I'd choose you, too.'

Both teenagers smiled widely even though they were technically currently miles apart, content to enjoy each other's presence in their minds while their physical bodies were separate.

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PLEASE REVIEW! Hope you liked the fluffyness near the end.

Jabber185: Thank you for your review and your comments. You'll see some violence and of course a lot discussions up ahead. Let me know what you think!

Richard Ryley: Thank you for your review and letting me know your thoughts. I'll have to say the amazons are going to react pretty much the way you had expected them to, but I'll let you read the rest. Ryoga's inability to talk clearly to Akane is going to land him in trouble. I do agree, he's got Akari and his attitude towards Ranma and Akane does appear to have changed at least somewhat after Jusendo. But remember he saw Akane and Ranma together on a date, then as far as he's concerned it looked like Ranma exposed his curse – why else would Akane suddenly know? – and so obviously it's all Ranma's fault. Because Akane is wonderful and all things nice and she never would be angry at Ryoga unless it's Ranma's fault :) I do plan on Ryoga later on thinking about it but at the moment it's only a day later, he's still incensed and the it's all Ranma's fault is a comfortable pattern to fall back into. He will redeem himself slowly but at the moment his lack of social skills means he's simply not seeing things from Akane's POV. Anyway, hope that clears some bits up and you'll enjoy the chapter.

Linkgold64: Thank you for both your comments and yes, Ryoga is a dead man. I do hope you'll enjoy the coming chapter even with lack of head injuries :)

serenityselena: It's Kasumi's and Ranma's turn to shine again. And yes, Ryoga does need to appreciate from Akane's POV what he did... Hope you'll enjoy it!

Compucles: Thank you for your review. *lol* That's the beauty of readers – I never even thought of any implications when comparing Ukyo to a dog (I just randomly picked a pet one might have). Maybe it was a subconscious comparison *lol* Yes, Ryoga is going to be in for one hell of a welcome. And they will be chatting to both Kuno's so fingers crossed as to how that'll go down. But that won't be until next chapter. Anyway, let me know what you think!

Ryu238: Yay, thank you for your review and your compliments *blush* I hope you'll enjoy the next chapter as well!

Wingman0: Yay, thank you for your review. I'm glad you're enjoying it. Please let me know what you think of this chapter!

aLazyButSmartFanPJO: Thank you for your review. I think I just 1.5xtimes the length of chapter in this one. So hope you'll enjoy it! And thanks for noting the cliffhanger. This time I've been a bit nicer :)

own son: Hi! Thank you for your review. Sorry for the misunderstanding – she was in the dojo in Chapter three, then managed to knock herself out attempting a more Saotome aerial kata and hence why she was safely ensconced in Ranma's bed when she woke up. Hope that answers your question! Let me know what you think of the latest chapter, please!

WalkersCrown: Thank you for your review. *lol* I like RanAke :) Your idea does sound interesting... Hmmm... let me think about it. It won't fit into the plot for this one unfortunately :) but maybe I'll think of a new fanfic (because I don't have sufficient amount of unfinished ones already *lol*). I'm glad you think their relationship is advancing. I hope you'll enjoy the next chapter! It's got a bit of sweet RanAke moment near the end :)

caia-chan: Thank you for leaving another review! I do like a more forceful Kasumi. I hope you'll enjoy the next chapter as it'll be somewhat along a similar line ... Let me know what you think.

Guest: Thank you for your review. Here's another chapter which will resolve last week's cliffhanger at the very least.

Flameraven1: Thank you for your review. I pretty much agree entirely with all your thoughts but one thing to maybe clarify – they'd only receive each others thoughts if they were thinking hard about projecting them or the thought itself due to the distance between them currently. However Ranma may – or may not – receive emotions so... anyway. I'll let you read. All the other points you brought up are in the next chapter. Give me another review please and let me know if you like the way it's been resolved?

BobV: Thank you for your lengthy review. I quite like my third option but after all the reviews I'll focus on the timetravel one first :)

I know – I like how much Ranma is willing to do for her and vice versa. They have both been forced to make concessions but now with the thought-sharing they really have no choice but to resolve their differences rather quickly.

I do love Adamantine Mist – and I was re-reading the chapter by chance in the Manga where everyone thought Kasumi was angry. I loved that.

Yeah, Ryoga has trouble, like Ranma, due to a lack of social skills. He finds it hard in my opinion to emphasise or see things from another person's POV. He'll learn though – or, well, I'll make him. A bit more bashing before then, though. Hope you'll enjoy this chapter – let me know what you thought of it!

The Keeper of Worlds: Thank you for your review. I do like Ryoga too, at least sometimes. I think his problem, like Ranma, is lack of social skills. He doesn't think about how other people would feel or see things from their point of view. Don't worry – he'll redeem himself, slowly but steadily. But for the moment he's a dumb idiot who has got his head stuck up his rear ;-)

And wow, thank you! I have no idea what honor debates are but it sounds flattering either way :) Yes – the amazons. The chapter is now up - please enjoy and as always leave me a review to let me know what you thought.