Young Tendo Nabiki barely noticed the bustle of Naha airport as she walked with her father and two sisters. With her mother gone, the world felt so cold now. Her father was convinced this trip to Okinawa was going to cheer them up, which was a train of thought she just didn't follow. Sunshine and beaches weren't going to make a difference to the cruelty of the world. (Especially in winter, when most of the beaches were closed.)

After gathering up their luggage, Soun led the three young girls out to the taxicab waiting zone. After a short enough wait they were aboard a cab, and on the final stretch of their journey to their hotel.

Nabiki found it a bit annoying how loud the cab driver was, asking so many questions about them visiting during the off season, when there was so much less to do.

"It makes sense for cheap hotels, I suppose?" the man as saying, continuing to be too cheerful for Nabiki's liking.

"We're in mourning for our recently deceased mother," Nabiki said flatly from the back seat.

"Oh," the man replied, his mood evaporating.

"Nabiki! There's no reason to bring that up," Kasumi snapped.

"He was asking why we're visiting in January. So I told him," Nabiki replied, crossing her arms to pout.

They pulled up to their hotel a few minutes later, the last leg of the ride spent in silence. As the girls piled out of the back seat, Nabiki heard her father apologising to the driver, and was glad to hear the driver apologising back.

Her father filled out some final paperwork at the hotel's front desk, and then it was up to their rooms. Nabiki flopped onto one of the beds, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Nice and soft," she said, mostly to herself.

Absently, she noted that Kasumi and her father were hard at work unpacking. She briefly mused about helping, but then noticed Akane had wandered over and turned the TV on, so felt much less guilty about not helping.

"So, did you girls want room service, or would you prefer to go out?" her father asked as he finished hanging up some shirts.

"Room service sounds good," Nabiki said, sitting up again. She didn't feel like moving again this evening.

"Yeah! Room service!" Akane added.

Nabiki couldn't help envy Akane. Only a year and a bit separated the two of them, yet Akane didn't seem to completely grasp the magnitude of what happened.

"Isn't room service expensive?" Kasumi asked, packing away their suitcases.

"We can afford some treats on this trip, don't worry," their father replied. "I'll go find the menus."

"It's too late to go swimming, isn't it?" Akane asked, looking out at the sun just beginning to set.

"It's January. The beaches are closed," Nabiki muttered as she turned to watch TV as well.

"Mhm, it's much too cold for swimming too," Kasumi added. "You might get sick."

Akane sighed. "But it's Okinawa. You're supposed to go swimming. What else are we supposed to do?"

"There's museums?" Kasumi offered.

"Do they have dinosaurs?" Akane asked.

"Maybe? A good museum should." Kasumi replied, looking to Nabiki for support.

"I'm not sure people really think 'dinosaurs' when they think 'Okinawa', but who knows," Nabiki replied absently.

"Ah, I found the menu," Soun said. "Akane and Nabiki, I'll guess udon for you?"

"Yeah, whatever," Nabiki muttered.

"Curry udon please," Akane replied with a smile.

Nabiki had woken up briefly when her father snuck out of the hotel room in the late evening. She'd seen that the restaurant in the lobby had a bar, and knew her father had been drinking more lately, so she couldn't say she was surprised.

She was a bit sad though. It meant he'd probably sleep a lot of tomorrow.

"He's still asleep," Kasumi said softly as she and her sisters sat on the end of the other bed.

"Well, I don't want to sneak around being quiet all morning," Nabiki muttered.

"Let's go down for breakfast? I'm hungry," Akane said, not quite in a whisper.

"Sure. We can grab some money from daddy's wallet," Nabiki said, slipping over and liberating a bit of yen. "500 each for food, then 1000 each for spending money?"

"We'll just do breakfast money for now, Nabiki," Kasumi whispered sharply, pulling most of the money out of Nabiki's hand. "Daddy might have woken up when we get back."

Nabiki pouted, but relented for now.

The trio of girls headed down to the restaurant, paying up for access to the lunch buffet. Nabiki decided to try some of the more western food, though her sisters kept to Japanese foods they knew.

After eating and returning to their room, they found Soun still asleep, and a new debate broke out.

"I want to look around," Akane said. "The cartoons here are the same as home. That's not very exciting."

"Me too," Nabiki added. "Can I grab spending money now Kasumi?"

The eldest sister let out a sigh. "Alright, sure. I'll leave a note for daddy."

Nabiki smiled. It wasn't quite that she felt happy, but getting her way was nice.

With a note left behind, the girls went back down to the lobby, Akane dragging the other two off towards the beach. Whether it was closed to swimming or not, she wanted to at least see it. Nabiki wasn't sure why, the ocean was the ocean, and they'd seen it plenty of times up near Tokyo.

"Well, there it is," Nabiki muttered as the ocean came into view. "You two have fun watching the waves. I'm going to go shopping."

"Nabiki, we shouldn't split up," Kasumi said, glaring at her sister.

"I don't wanna go shopping," Akane grumbled. "I want to go explore the beach. I bet there's cool rocks."

"You can buy cool rocks," Nabiki countered.

"The fun is finding them yourself," Akane said, sticking her tongue out.

"Well, Kasu-chan, who do you think you can trust on their own more?" Nabiki asked. "Me shopping, or Akane by the water, when she can't swim?"

Kasumi let out a tired sigh. "Fine. Just... be careful, okay Nabiki? I don't want you to get hurt."

"You're acting like I'll run into a murder scene or something, yeesh. I'm just planning to buy some cool souvenirs," Nabiki replied, giving a wave before running off towards the city.

After jogging a couple blocks, Nabiki found her way to a street with a lot of tourist shops. Wandering from store to store, there wasn't much that caught her eye. Postcards didn't make sense when she had nothing to say about the trip yet. The shells were pretty, but they were just so expensive.

After a few shops, she found a couple of shells for cheap enough, and managed to buy them after only a little failed haggling.

Not as happy about her purchase as she'd hoped, Nabiki wandered over to a park, sitting down on a swing. Swinging back and forth in the wind, she looked through her bag and sighed. It didn't feel like it really helped. She still felt lonely.

"Hey, tourist girl," a boy called out, his voice sounding aggressive.

Nabiki looked up, not intimidated. "What?"

The boy had two other (slightly smaller) boys to either side of him.

"You've got some nice stuff there. Parents must have given you lots of money. Willing to pay for a bit of a guided tour?" the main boy asked.

"No," Nabiki replied, pulling her bag a bit closer.

"That's not very nice. We can give you a discount, since you're cute," the boy said.

"I only have money for lunch," Nabiki replied.

The lead boy leaned forward, putting a hand on the chain of Nabiki's swing. "Well, I'm kinda hungry. So—"

Suddenly an empty pop can hit the boy in the face.

"You're just a buncha bullies," a rough voiced kid shouted from behind Nabiki.

"That hurt, you little twerp," the lead bully said, rushing past Nabiki.

The Tendo girl turned and watched as the large bully ran over to the new arrival. The kid was quite a bit smaller than the bully, and Nabiki found herself holding her breath, worried what might happen to her would-be saviour. And then the new arrival dropped down and tripped the large bully.

The two cronies charged forward to help out, the one getting flipped by some sort of judo grab. A small part of Nabiki's mind could tell that her defender's form was sloppy, but for kids it was more than effective enough.

The other crony got a punch in the gut, and then a knee to the chin when he doubled over.

The main bully was up at this point, and managed to grab the gi clad kid who was fighting them, lifting the smaller kid off the ground.

"Little monkey, ain't—" the boy started, before the gi clad kid kicked him in the groin.

The large boy doubled over while the mysterious rescuer rushed over to Nabiki and grabbed her hand. Caught up in the moment, Nabiki ran alongside them, realising as they ran how her heart was racing for the first time since... well, the first time in a while.

As the adrenaline faded, Nabiki finally took in her rescuer's appearance. The kid had long black hair pulled into a loose ponytail, was wearing a gi (which she'd noticed earlier), and had a round baby face (or might have just been tall for his age, but seemed to know too much about fighting for that).

"Phew, that was fun," the kid said as the pair finally stopped running. "Always like beating up bullies."

"Th-thank you," Nabiki said.

"No problem. It's just the right thing ta do."

"I, uh, I'm Tendo Nabiki by the way."

"Saotome Ranma, though my friends call me Ran-chan," the other kid replied with a warm grin that made Nabiki's heart skip a beat. "You okay?"

"Yeah, he didn't actually do anything but be rude," Nabiki replied.

"Nah, nah. Not talkin' about bruises. I was walkin' by before that bully showed up, and I saw ya just sittin' there on the swing not swingin'," Ranma said.

"I... I'm just lonely," Nabiki replied, not sure why she suddenly didn't want to tell Ranma why she was upset. She'd not been reluctant with anyone else... but saying anything sad to this little ball of sunshine seemed cruel.

"Oh, yeah. It's no fun, bein' lonely. Daddy and I travel a lot, so I don't really got too many friends," Ranma said. "Sayin' bye ta Ucchan wasn't—Oh, but I met this really nice old granny though. She makes the best cookies, and her home ain't too far from here. Wanna meet her?"

Nabiki found herself smiling a genuine smile. "Sure, that sounds nice."

To her surprise, Ranma grabbed her by the hand once again and began hurrying off down the street. Nabiki found it a bit tricky to keep up, despite Ranma's shorter legs the kid could move. When they finally came to a stop outside a small old fashioned home, Nabiki was panting.

"Granny! Are ya home? I brought a friend!" Ranma called out.

Nabiki grimaced a bit at the boldness of it, but the old woman who appeared was smiling despite the brashness.

"Oh a young lady. I suppose it's no surprise a charming young man like you would find a girlfriend," the old woman said with a bit of a giggle.

Nabiki felt her cheeks going a bit warm, embarrassed at the implication.

"What's it matter if she's a girl? A friend's a friend?" Ranma asked.

"You'll understand that those differences matter later, Ranma-kun," the old woman replied. "Well, what's your friend's name?"

"Tendo Nabiki," the girl in question replied with a quick bow.

"Do ya have any cookies? I told her ya make the best cookies," Ranma said, sounding a little worried his promise might end up being hollow.

"Oh, I don't have any yet, but I'm almost done gardening. I can bake some cookies afterwards," the old woman replied.

"Ooh, that sounds good! Do ya need any help?" Ranma asked.

"No, no. You and your friend can watch some television, if you'd like," the woman replied.

"Thanks!" Ranma replied before hurrying off into the woman's home.

"I, uh, thank you," Nabiki added.

Ranma hadn't been lying about the quality of the cookies the old woman baked. While the woman's television being barely able to pick up channels with it's bunny ears was less enjoyable in theory, Ranma's excitement about even reruns was a bit infectious.

Eating cookies and watching old cartoons, Nabiki completely lost track of the time.

"Excuse me, Tendo-chan, but, do you need to tell your parents where you are?" the old woman asked as she looked up from her knitting.

Nabiki looked up and realised it was almost 3pm. "Oh no. My big sister's going to be so worried! I... I should probably go back to our hotel."

"Ooh, I'll walk you back," Ranma offered, hopping to his feet. "You never know, those bullies might still be around."

"Thanks," Nabiki replied, standing up a bit less energetically. She briefly felt like she was forgetting something, until she remembered her bag of shells and grabbed it.

Ranma smiled as the pair walked. Nabiki quietly enjoyed his presence. Having someone around who didn't treat her like a fragile antique was nice. Someone who saw she was lonely and sad... and answered with a smile, instead of 'condolences' and apologies.

Her thought was interrupted when Ranma suddenly hopped up onto a concrete ledge and began to walk along it.

"What are you doing?" Nabiki asked.

"Balance practice. I can't go for real thin stuff yet, but I'm getting better... do you wanna try?"

Nabiki wanted to say no defensively. It seemed like the sort of boyish nonsense Akane would get up to, but... Ranma seemed to be having fun balancing along. Maybe there was something to it?

"Alright," Nabiki replied, trying to climb up and getting a little help from Ranma.

While the ledge didn't look too thin from the ground, keeping up with Ranma's pace proved a bit tricky. He was acting like he was just walking on the sidewalk, even if he had his arms out for balance.

Nabiki felt herself falling behind, and tried to rush forward to catch up to the young boy, but ended up going a little too fast, and started to lose her footing. Fear of the scrape that was going to follow flared into her mind when she suddenly found she wasn't falling. She realised Ranma had spun around and grabbed her around the torso.

"If I was goin' too fast, you shoulda said," the black haired boy said with his warm smile.

"I... I was embarrassed," Nabiki replied.

Ranma shook his head with a tut. "Don't be. I do this every day. You gotta learn your... ah man, what's the word. It's a music thing..."

"Rhythm?" Nabiki offered.

"Yeah! That's it," Ranma said with a smile. "You go in front. Then you won't know if I'd be goin' faster or not."

Nabiki nodded, and traded places with the ponytailed boy. She felt a bit nervous about being watched, but moved forward carefully. It was going quite well... until they got to the end of the block, and the drop seemed rather too big thanks to the hill they'd been walking along.

"What do we do know?" Nabiki asked.

"Ooh, that's a bit of a drop. Lemme try it first," Ranma said, before hopping down and landing with a roll. "Not too bad... wait, but you ain't in a judo gi. Uh... Oh! I'll catch ya!"

Nabiki stared down at him. "I'm taller than you."

"I've caught my dad's pack before, and it probably weighs way more than you do," Ranma replied. "Come one!"

Nabiki took in a deep breath, before leaping. Ranma caught her, though the boy then tumbled onto his bum as a result.

"Are you okay?" Nabiki asked Ranma, sitting more on his lap than in his arms.

"Fine! I'm dressed ta fall and roll and stuff," Ranma replied.

Nabiki got off of him, and the pair started walking again. Nabiki couldn't help giggling a bit at just how dirty Ranma's gi had gotten, but the boy didn't seem to care.

The hotel wasn't too much further, and Ranma happily walked her into the lobby. Unfortunately, his dirty gi got some less than thrilled looks from the employees.

"Well, I don't think they want me wanderin' around the hotel, so... bye then," Ranma said, waving as he turned to head out towards the door.

"Wait, Ranma!" Nabiki called out. "Uh, do you wanna hang out again tomorrow?"

"Yeah!" Ranma said, stopping and spinning around to look at Nabiki again. "I'll come by after breakfast tomorrow?"

Nabiki nodded. "Sounds good."

"Cool! Bye then! Oh, and I said, my friends call me Ranchan!" Ranma said, sticking his tongue out before waving and heading out the door.

Nabiki felt herself smiling as she watched him run off. Then she remembered how late she probably was and rushed off to the elevator. When she finally reached floor 7 she ran out and off to her room.

She began to knock, and hoped she wouldn't be in too much trouble.

Her father opened the door, looked at her a moment, before dropping to his knees to hug her as tears ran down his face.

"Where were you?" Soun finally asked as he backed away to face her.

"I... I made a friend?" Nabiki offered.

Her father let out a relieved sigh. "I was so worried."

"You could have phoned," Kasumi muttered as she walked up beside their father.

"I didn't realise how late it was," Nabiki replied, glaring back at her sister.

"I'm glad you're home," Akane said as she rushed up. "I wanna show you the cool shells I found!"'

Soun smiled, before pulling all three girls into a hug and beginning to cry once more. "You're all the best girls I could ask for. Thank you!"

Soun was awake for breakfast this time, and the four of them were eating in the hotel restaurant together. Akane was getting quite excited about visiting an aquarium as they talked. Then, suddenly, Nabiki felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped a bit.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that," Ranma said, wearing a cleaner gi than the last time Nabiki saw him. "I just saw ya here eatin' and thought I'd just come over to say hi."

"Is this your friend?" Soun asked.

"Ah, yeah. This is Ranchan," Nabiki said.

Soun gave the gi clad child a quick once over before smiling. "I heard about how you helped my Nabiki with some bullies. Thank you for that. It was quite brave of you."

"They deserved it," Ranma replied with a grin. "So, Nabiki, are you almost done eatin'?"

"Almost," the brunette replied, finding herself getting a bit excited.

"What about the aquarium?" Soun asked.

"Aw, come on daddy. There's aquariums in Tokyo. I can only hang out with Ranchan while I'm here," Nabiki replied, giving her best puppy dog eyes.

"I... alright. Just stay out of trouble," Soun said, pulling out his wallet. "Here's 2000 yen, for you and Ranchan to get some lunch and whatnot."

"Thanks!" Nabiki replied with a grin as she grabbed the bill, before hurriedly finishing off her breakfast. "I'll try to be home for dinner."

"Not very proper manners," Kasumi muttered just as Nabiki was leaving earshot.

Nabiki just ignored her however, following Ranma outside. She was excited by what the plan might be for today, and... she liked being around Ranma. Even better, he seemed to like being around her (though she wasn't sure why that felt like it mattered more... but it did).

"Where are we going?" Nabiki asked as Ranma marched ahead of her.

"We're going to one of my favourite spots. Its a forest up on a hill. There's lots of trees that are really good for climbin'," Ranma said, with that infectious grin.

"Oh," Nabiki replied, not really sure how to respond.

Climbing trees wasn't really something she did these days. She considered herself more mature than that.

"Your dad's a martial artist, right?" Ranma asked.

Nabiki blinked. "How could you tell?"

"The way he sized me up. My daddy does that when he meets people too."

"We've got a dojo. Mom and dad tea-er, taught classes," Nabiki explained, suddenly feeling terrible that she'd forgotten her mother wasn't with them anymore.

"You okay?" Ranma asked, turning and walking up to Nabiki's side.

"I... I miss her," Nabiki said, feeling tears starting to run down her cheeks. "I wish that man hadn't decided to drive when-when he was... or mom had decided we-that we didn't need more snacks for New Years. Or... I don't know. I just want her back."

Nabiki suddenly found herself in a hug from Ranma. There were no words, just the reassurance of the closeness and... somehow it helped her feel more comfortable with it. She kept crying into Ranma's shoulder for what she was sure was an embarrassingly long time.

"I... I'm sorry," Nabiki said as her tears subsided.

"Hey, it's okay. I... I ain't the best at words for this stuff, but... you, uh, you won't always feel like ya always gotta cry, so... that's somethin' ta look forward too?" Ranma said, stepping back a little, but keeping a hand on her shoulder.

"How do... is your mom-?" Nabiki could bring herself to actually say it, but hoped he'd know what she meant.

"Honestly? I dunno. Daddy and I, well, we left. No one said why, but mom was cryin' a lot and-and now daddy doesn't talk about her. Maybe she was sick?" Ranma said. "But daddy said I gotta be strong. Grow up ta be the sorta man she'd want me to be."

Nabiki nodded. "Kasumi says we need to grow up now too... but, I don't know if I'm ready. I... I kind of want to hide from the world. So much of it's just so mean."

"You can't grow up until ya grow up?" Ranma said. "It's like martial arts. When you're a kid you're a kid and when you're startin' out you're startin' out. Trying ta do katas with moves ya don't know how ta even try ain't gonna teach ya nothin'. Might even get ya hurt."

Nabiki blinked, before smiling softly at Ranma. "You're really smart, you know that?"

"Heh, I ain't smart. I just learned that one the hard way," Ranma replied while awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.

Nabiki found herself giggling a little. "Well, let's keeping going up to this forest of yours. I want to climb a tree again."

Sitting as high as she could get on a tree that was itself on the top of a hill, Nabiki just took in the view. She could see so much of the cities and towns that covered Okinawa, and even out to the ocean.

She never would have seen it all if she'd kept trying to act like a grown up and pretending she was too mature to climb a tree.

"Thanks," she said, turning to the ponytailed boy beside her.

"Fer what? You climbed up pretty good without any help?"

"For reminding me I could... hey, do you want to go get ice cream? We're in Okinawa after all. We should go to a Blue Seal," Nabiki asked.

"Ice cream? Do you... do you think they'd be okay? I know fancy ice creams are for girls, but... maybe if we shared?" Ranma replied.

"What? Ranchan... what are you talking about?" Nabiki asked.

Ranma stared at her, visibly confused. "Dad told me fancy ice cream if for girls only?"

"I think you dad just didn't want to buy you any," Nabiki replied with a grin. "We're definitely going for ice cream then. Come on!"

The nearest parlor was a bit of a walk away, but both children were excited enough by the prospect of Okinawa's famous ice cream that they were quite willing to endure the trip.

Finally arriving, Nabiki was annoyed to see there was a bit of a line, but Ranma's indecisive excitement needed the extra time to figure out what flavour to get.

"Can I get two flavours?" Ranma asked, practically vibrating with excitement.

"I think so?" Nabiki replied, pointing over to another menu section. "They've got the sundaes options too."

Ranma's eyes lit up when he saw that. "What's a 'parfait'? It looks so fancy. Wait... and that's a mountain of ice cream!"

"We've only got 2 000 to spend, it's too expensive," Nabiki replied, feeling guilty at the devastated look in Ranma's eyes.

"Hm... I don't think my hungry orphan act could get us that much free food," Ranma said, growing lost in plotting.

"Hungry orphan? I want to know how that works, but... we're almost at the front, Ranchan," Nabiki said, nudging the boy.

"What can I get you kids?" the cashier asked.

"Can I get a banana split?" Nabiki asked.

"Ooh, and... I'll... oh, but... no, no. An American Sundae, please. Tropical Marble and Strawberry Cheesecake please," Ranma replied.

The cashier giggled a bit at Ranma's indecision, but she gave them both their ice creams soon enough. As they were walking over to a table, Ranma couldn't help grinning.

"I think I got extra toppings."

"Hm, maybe?" Nabiki replied, unsure if that pile of sprinkles, marshmallows, and m&ms was larger than in the picture or not.

Before she could study any further, Ranma gave a 'bon appetit' and dove into his sundae.

"Don't forget to breath," Nabiki said, amazed at how quickly he was going through his food.

"Hm?" Ranma asked, spoon in his mouth.

Nabiki found herself giggling as she started to eat her banana split.

After the ice cream, the pair went and hung out in a library for a while, reading manga until Ranma got a bit too noisy with his laughing and they were shooed out.

With a couple more hours to waste, they wandered around, hunting for toy stores and the like. Eventually, they found their way to a park and sat down on the swings, a bit tired from walking around all day.

"So," Nabiki said, wanting to fill the silence, "your dad's fine with you just running around all day?"

"Eh, he's busy with something. Diggin' this big hole that's supposed ta help me learn a martial art somehow," Ranma replied.

"How's that supposed to work?" Nabiki asked.

Ranma shrugged. "I dunno. Hey, but, since you've got a dojo back home, does that mean ya know martial arts?"

Nabiki gave a weak smile. "A little? I haven't practiced in a while."

Ranma hopped to his feet and gave Nabiki a grin. "Well, how about we practice a bit then?"

"My feet hurt a little right now," Nabiki replied. "Can we just sit for a little while?"

"Uh... oh! I'll show you some katas, how's that?" Ranma asked, bowing before Nabiki could reply.

Watching Ranma's grin as he showed off his martial arts skills, Nabiki found herself impressed. Ranma was at least as good as the kids Kasumi's age who used to come to the dojo. Probably better than most of them, if Nabiki was being fair.

As Ranma finished up, he turned to Nabiki with a grin. "What do you think? Pretty good right?"

"Really good," Nabiki replied. "Your dad's got to be a really good teacher."

"Yeah. But... he's really strict. So... I'm glad he's busy right now. It's more fun hangin' out and havin' ice cream and stuff," Ranma replied.

"Uhuh," Nabiki replied, feeling herself blushing a little. There was no denying that she had a crush.

"Can I see one of your katas?" Ranma asked.

"Oh, uh... it's not very good compared to yours," Nabiki muttered, feeling quite self conscious.

"I can show ya some tricks though, I bet! C'mon!" Ranma said, pulling Nabiki up to her feet.

Nabiki was starting to feel a bit hungry when she and Ranma returned to her hotel. It was getting close to evening and Ranma had been showing her martial arts moves, which certainly tired her out.

Nabiki hurried up to the front desk, waiting a moment to get the attendant's attention.

"Hi! Do you know if my family's back? We're the Tendos," Nabiki asked.

"Tendo? Hm... let me check," the man replied, picking up a phone and dialing a short number. After a moment it seemed someone picked up. "Hello? Tendo?... Yes, your daughter's here in the lobby... you'll be right down? Good to hear. Sorry to bother you."

The pair of kids gave a quick thanks and then headed over to a small potted palm to wait for Soun.

"So, we'll meet up again tomorrow?" Ranma said, while they waited.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Nabiki replied with a grin.

"There you two are," Soun's voice called out. "Did you have fun today?"

"We had ice cream!" Ranma announced.

"Was that all you two had for lunch?" Soun asked, some concern in his voice.

"We're on vacation, daddy. You said we can have treats," Nabiki replied.

"Er, well, yes... but... listen, Ran-chan, I don't want your parents upset with me, so how about you stay for a proper meal?" Soun offered.

Ranma nodded excitedly. "Yeah! Daddy probably was just gonna make instant noodles."

Waiting for their hamburgers, Nabiki felt like Akane was going to talk her ear off as she described everything she'd seen at the aquarium. Apparently there had been a mola mola, and Akane was utterly mystified by the giant fish. (At least this was a real animal, unlike the giant platypus Akane kept insisting she saw last summer.)

Nabiki looked over and found Ranma was trying to balance his fork on its end. Nabiki found herself trying not to giggle at the look of sheer determination on his face. Her efforts failed, and, as a result, she found herself kicked in the shin by a now glaring Kasumi.

"Akane's talking," Kasumi whispered sharply.

Nabiki glared back. "Kicking's rude."

"And they had sharks!" Akane said, oblivious to the argument between her older sisters. "It was so cool. You really should have come with us, Nabiki."

"Ooh, sharks?" Ranma said, suddenly paying attention. "Sharks are cool."

"I know, right? They're so sleek!" Akane replied. "Some of the girls at school are all about mermaids, but... shark mermaids would be so much cooler."

"With sharp teeth?" Ranma asked.

"Of course," Akane replied.

Suddenly Nabiki found herself worried Akane was going to steal Ranma from her. Akane was just better at hanging out with guys, most of the raven haired girl's friends at school were guys even. She had to find a way into the discussion.

The only issue was that Nabiki didn't know that much about sharks.

To Nabiki's relief, their food arrived, and it interrupted the conversation. It also meant that Nabiki got to see Kasumi's look of horror at just how quickly Ranma devoured his burger.

"Thank you for the food," Ranma said to Soun when he'd finished eating. "I... I should probably go home now. If I'm too late, daddy might get worried."

"Very well. Will you be coming around to play with Nabiki tomorrow as well, Ran-chan?" Soun asked.

Ranma nodded. "Of course! And, uh... I'll show up a little bit later tomorrow. So you'll be done breakfast."

"That sounds good," Soun said as Ranma waved and ran off. "What a cute kid."

The next day was another day of Ranma showing Nabiki around the city. They were also given a little extra spending money, Nabiki making sure to buy some postcards for the couple of friends she had back home, as well as some cute kid's shell jewelry.

They wrapped up with some light martial arts practice, Ranma doing rather more as Nabiki watched, since his dad was still too busy to get Ranma to do any training. She was a bit embarrassed to admit it, but Nabiki was starting to want to train with Akane again when they went home.

Also, they ate a proper lunch that day, on Soun's insistence (and despite Ranma's protests). Ranma did manage to talk Nabiki into buying him some candy though.

As they walked back to the hotel again, Nabiki came to a stop and opened up her bag of tropical jewelry.

"What's up?" Ranma asked. "Is somethin' missing?"

"No, no... hm," Nabiki mumbled, sorting through the jewelry options, before pulling out a simple cowry shell necklace. "This isn't too girly for you, is it? I think I've seen surfer guys where these in movies and stuff..."

"Huh?"

"It's just... tomorrow's my last real day here. We're flying home the morning after. I want to give you something to remember me by," Nabiki explained.

"Oh! Uh... I mean, dad might not like that, but... it does look really nice. Thank you!" Ranma said.

Nabiki handed the necklace over, and watched happily as Ranma put it on.

"How do I look?" Ranma asked.

"Very surfer. It suits you," Nabiki replied.

Ranma grinned before marching along to the hotel again.

Nabiki looked up at the clock. It was almost 10:00am, and Ranma wasn't there yet.

Worry taking over, Nabiki asked the attendant at the desk to tell Ranma she'd gone looking for him, if he showed up. Then she set off towards the old woman's house from her first day in Okinawa.

It was a bit of a walk, especially since she got a little lost in the city she still didn't know very well. Finally she arrived, and found the old woman working in her garden again.

"He-hello there," Nabiki said, peeking over the gate to the woman's home as best she could.

"Oh, Ranma's girlfriend. How are you?" the woman asked.

Nabiki blushed a little at the title. "Um... have-have you seen Ranchan? He didn't show up at the hotel."

"He didn't? Hm... I haven't seen him since yesterday evening, when he stopped by for a bit of dinner. He was talking about you the whole time... maybe his father finished whatever he was up to?" the old woman offered.

"Right. He did say his dad was strict... um, do you know where they're staying?" Nabiki asked.

"Unfortunately, I'm not quite sure. It can't be too far from here, but I can't really tell you much more."

Nabiki nodded. "I'll investigate then. I bet someone's seen them. Thank you."

Filled with determination, Nabiki set off. Her first stop would be a convenience store. Surely Ranma's dad would have to buy stuff sometimes?

"A boy in a gi with a ponytail?" the cashier asked, scratching his chin. "Hm, I think I've seen him once or twice, but I don't remember if his dad was with him or not."

"Ah. Thanks," Nabiki replied, probably not hiding her disappointment very well.

It was off to try to find another store. She didn't have an actual map to work with, but... she figured she had some idea where Ranma had to be staying. Sadly, the next store came up even emptier, the cashier not remember any boys by Ranma's description.

Nabiki decided to turn back and try the other end of the neighbourhood. The next store left her having to wait a while though. There was a large man in glasses trying to haggle down the price on a bunch of different fish products. What anyone needed that many sardines for, Nabiki couldn't guess, but she decided to stay away until the argument finished.

When the man finally left, Nabiki hurried up to the cash, where the poor woman looked rather frazzled.

"Hi there," Nabiki said. "I was wondering... have you ever seen a boy with a ponytail and a gi? I think he lives around here somewhere, but I'm not quite sure where."

"Ponytail... ponytai-Oh! Yeah, I remember him. Cute kid. Always trying to convince me he's a few yen short on his purchases though... I'm not sure where he lives, though," the woman replied. "He only showed up a couple weeks ago, but... there weren't any houses for sale around. Maybe they're renting an apartment? Or they could be staying with a friend. You could try asking a police officer?"

"Hm... that could work. Thank you," Nabiki replied.

Sadly, the police proved no more helpful. Apparently they'd been trying to hunt down where Ranma was living, convinced it wasn't the most legal of accommodations. Yet they'd had no success.

Defeated, Nabiki headed back to the old woman's place, to see if Ranma had shown up. The answer was a no.

Next it was back to the hotel, which Ranma also hadn't been to either.

Nabiki went up to her hotel room, sat down on the bed, and told herself not to cry. Ranma hadn't abandoned her. His dad was strict, he'd told her that. It was Ranma's dad's fault.

Her efforts to cry didn't work though. She wasn't going to get to see Ranma again. She'd wanted to give him her address. He'd have been able to write her letters, and, any time he was staying somewhere for a while, she'd have written him back.

But now... there was nothing. No connection to hold—the necklace! The store had had a whole bunch of those cowry shell necklaces. She'd only bought the one, because that was before she'd decided to give one to Ranma. Grabbing her money, Nabiki took the elevator down to street level.

She made her way back to the store quickly enough, and quickly bought herself a second cowry shell necklace. It was a fit of childish belief that the necklaces would somehow bring them together again, but... she wanted to let herself hold on to some childish hope again.

Of course, as the weeks stretched into months and the months into years, Nabiki wore the necklace less and less. Now, almost 10 years later, it was mostly forgotten in one of her drawers, amongst other nicknacks and cheap childhood jewelry.

On this particular day, a now 17 year old Nabiki was in the dojo, practicing her katas with Akane. Her younger sister was more dedicated to martial arts than her, but Nabiki wasn't exactly a slouch. Still... these days she felt more and more like it was a teacher/student balance, rather than peers like it used to be.

"Nabiki! Akane!" Soun declared as he appeared at the door. "I've got great news to tell everyone. Family meeting in the living room."

"Huh? Can't you just tell us now?" Nabiki asked as she sat up.

"It's important to all three of you girls, so I want to tell you all at once," Soun replied.

"Fine. I just hope this won't take too long," Akane grumbled as she and Nabiki left the dojo.

The pair followed Soun to the living room, where Kasumi was already waiting, sipping on some tea. Soun plopped himself down at the table, while Akane and Nabiki took their seats to one side.

"We're going to be having some guests arriving soon," Soun announced. "An old friend of mine and his son. The exciting news for you girls is that one of you is going to get to marry that son."

If it had been later in the evening, one likely would have heard crickets chirping as the three sisters stared silently their father.

Soun began to sweat nervously under the glares of his daughters. "Um... they're, uh, they've recently returned from training in China. Isn-isn't that interesting? They've been training all around Japan for years."

"Do they have names?" Nabiki asked flatly.

"Oh, yes. My friend is Saotome Genma, and his son is named Ranma," Soun replied.

There was more conversation after that, but Nabiki didn't follow it very well. No, she knew that name... Saotome Ranma. Who was he?

Fiddling with the belt on her gi, the memory of a boy in a gi flashed into her mind. And then the rest of her memories from Okinawa flooded in.

"Ranchan," she muttered to herself. "It's got to be Ranchan."

"Hm?" Akane asked, the only one close enough to hear Nabiki.

"I've got to get something, excuse me," Nabiki said, hoping to her feet.

Nabiki heard her father asking a confused question behind her, but she didn't care. She had to get that necklace. She took the stairs two at a time in her hurry.

Reaching her room and digging through drawers, she eventually found the cowry necklace. Sliding it on, she was glad it still fit, even if it was basically a choker now.

"I should probably dress in something a bit nicer than this gi," Nabiki said to herself. "Hm... maybe a blouse..."

Suddenly there was a loud noise from downstairs, jarring Nabiki from her thoughts. Hurrying off to the staircase, she heard Akane yelp.

"Pa-panda!"

Nabiki hurried down the stairs, coming to an awkward pause near the base of the stairs as she took in the shear size of the panda bear in the genkan.

"Put me down you idiot," a short redhead Nabiki hadn't noticed at first suddenly shouted.

The panda stepped back and plopped the redhead down. Nabiki eyed the stranger in Chinese clothing suspiciously as she moved carefully around to stand beside Akane and her father.

"Heh, sorry about this nonsense. Panda brain here ain't good at first impressions. Anyhow, I'm Saotome Ranma. It's good to meet ya."

Nabiki's eyes narrowed. "You can't be."

Ranma turned to Nabiki, confusion written across the redhead's face. "Pardon?"

"I've met Ranma," Nabiki replied, crossing her arms.

"Wait, you did? When?" Soun asked.

"When we went to Okinawa," Nabiki replied. "Ranma saved me from those bullies, and... and was just the person I needed to meet when I felt so alone back then."

"Wait, do you mean your friend Ranchan?"

"Ye-" Nabiki began, when she noticed Ranma leaning in to look at her neck. "What are you looking at?"

"That necklace. I've got one of those too!" Ranma said, before straightening back up and undoing the top clasp on their shirt.

With the collar parted, Nabiki caught site of the cowry necklace around the short redhead's neck. It was hanging a bit loose, for some reason there was extra string tied around the back.

"You... but... how can you be Ranchan?" Nabiki mumbled, feeling a headache coming on. The person in front of her was so obviously a girl... were they really her first crush?

"Ranchan? Nobody's called me that since... wait. Tendo... Tendo Nabiki? Wow! It's been forever," Ranma declared.

"Huh, so you are Ranchan? You certainly grew up into a healthy young woman... but.. are you really also Saotome Ranma? Genma assured me he had a son," Soun said.

"What?" Ranma asked, looking confused once again.

"But Ranchan was a boy," Nabiki blurted, growing more and more frustrated about nothing lining up.

"With the long hair and everything?" Soun asked, seeming as confused as Nabiki and Ranma were.

"I, uh... I can explain that if ya give me a kettle," Ranma replied. "Is that the kitchen there"

The three Tendos present nodded, it being their turn to feel confused. They then followed Ranma as the redhead led the way. Ranma filled up the kettle and turned the stove on, waiting a few moments as it heated, but turning the heat off long before it boiled.

"Now, this is the fun bit," Ranma said with a smirk, before they poured the hot water onto their head.

The Tendos, now joined by Kasumi (who seemed to have somehow sensed people entering the kitchen), watched as Ranma transformed from a short redhead to a handsome black haired boy.

Nabiki felt her cheeks grow hot as she looked at him. Now that was what she hoped Ranma would end up looking like.

"I picked up a curse in China. Turns me into a girl. Pops turns into a panda. It's pops' fault, fer not doing proper research on the trainin' site," Ranma explained.

Nabiki walked over, noticing that the necklace was now fitting Ranma's neck far more closely.

"You look good," Nabiki said, leaning into Ranma's personal face.

"I, uh, oh... thanks," Ranma replied with a blush. "You, uh... you look good too."

Nabiki turned to her father, wrapping an arm around Ranma's shoulder. "I'll take the engagement."

"Well, that went easier than expected," Soun said.

Nabiki and Ranma sat quietly in Nabiki's room. Ranma was at her desk, while Nabiki sat on the bed. They'd been given some time alone (both fathers having gone off to celebrate fate working in their favour), but Nabiki wasn't sure what to say. It had been almost 10 years. As much as she was thrilled to see Ranma again, how did one restart a friendship after that long?

"S-sorry about the last day," Ranma muttered, barely audible. "I..."

The boy shivered, his eyes filling with a pained memory as he began to pull in with his body language. Nabiki reached out and took one of Ranma's hands in her own. He looked up, and she gave him the softest smile she could. Ranma's posture loosened again, and he gave her a weak smile.

"Sorry. I... I can tell ya that I wanted ta meet up that last day. But... well, Pops had another idea, if ya can call it that. I didn't... I wasn't able ta get out until the next night, and you'd already left. I don't really remember what happened right, but... I do know that pops had ta work as a bellboy for two months to pay off the damages, and that was pretty fun," Ranma replied, his smile starting to actually reach his eyes by the end.

"Damages?" Nabiki asked, not sure if she wanted to push, but undeniably curious.

"Pop's trainin' technique actually worked, only... not how ya'd think. I, uh, kinda lose myself if I use it, but," Ranma continued, pain returning to his eyes.

Nabiki gently placed a finger over his lips. "Shhh... you can tell me when you're ready. We don't have a time limit this time around."

Ranma blushed and nodded as Nabiki withdrew her hand.

There was a bit of silence again, but Nabiki didn't care. She had her Ranma again. The gallant hero no other boy could match up to.

"I, uh... I gotta say," Ranma began to mumble, blushing furiously. "I didn't really appreciate how cute you were before."

Nabiki joined Ranma in blushing. "Really? I... usually Akane gets all the attention."

"I'll admit that Akane ended up cuter than I expected too," Ranma said, before paling a bit as Nabiki's eye twitched. "Well-uh... y'see, I thought she was a boy when we were kids. So... uh... it wasn't hard for her ta be cuter than expected?"

"Oh. She'll just love to hear that one," Nabiki replied, her confidence returning to her. "Though, that does bring things around to your little 'souvenir' from China."

Ranma briefly fiddled with his pigtail, before realisation flashed in his eyes. "Oh, the curse?"

Nabiki nodded, mentally noting to ask about the pigtail later.

"It's annoyin'. Losin' a good 15cm of reach can decide a fight. Have ta totally change tactics depending on the weather's just the worst," Ranma replied, crossing his arms. "Oh... and sexism is more annoying than I realised."

"Well, I have to say, it is a bit odd to feel jealous of how cute my future husband can be," Nabiki said, playfully enjoying the blush on Ranma's face at the way she'd worded things.

"I... I'm hopin' ta figure out a cure as soon as I can manage," Ranma muttered.

"Aww. Where's the fun in that?" Nabiki replied, still grinning. "There's lots of mischief to be had with this."

"F-fun? Don'tcha... don't you think it's freaky and unnatural?" Ranma asked.

"Maybe a little, but freaky and unnatural aren't necessarily bad. An opportunity is an opportunity, and should be used. Whether in sparring or in life," Nabiki said.

"You've still got that cute sparkle in your eyes when you're thinkin', really reminds me why I got that crush," Ranma said, before blushing once more as he realised just what he'd said.

Nabiki felt her heart racing. She finally had confirmation Ranma had liked her just as much. She wasn't going to let anything take him away from her again.