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 Version 1.1
 #include <ahoal/author_notes.h>
 #include <mega_crossover/std_disclaimer.h>
 #include <alternate_universe/std_disclaimer.h>
 #include <ranma/std_disclaimer.h>

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     As Nabiki, Ranma, and Akane walked to school, Nabiki couldn't help remembering her dream from last night since they were walking in a similiar manner as they did in her dream.

     A sense of deja vu settled over her.

     Although determined not to, she couldn't help taking quick glance to make certain she was dressed. It was one thing to be nude in a dream, it was a whole other ball game in reality.

     Ranma was puzzled. He noticed that Nabiki would look ahead for the most part, but would look down at herself every few minutes or so. He also noted that Akane seemed to be on the defensive, if expecting an attack from anywhere, even from her very own shadow. As the school came within their sight, Ranma asked in a causal manner, "So did you sleep well, last night? I know I did."

     The Tendo sisters as one stopped and looked incredulously at Ranma. Again as one, reminding anyone who saw them that they were in fact sisters, the two laughed nervously in complete syncization. Nabiki with a touch of uncertainty in her voice said, "I won't say that..."

     "Are you okay?" Ranma asked puzzled. His sleep spell should have prevented any dreams or anything... just induce a full night of restful sleep. Fishing for clues, he asked, "want to talk about it?"

     Both sisters shook their heads and said they were fine. Ranma simply shrugged. Ranma pulled both girls to him and rested his left arm around Nabiki and his right arm went around Akane's waist. Both sisters, although neither would voice it, felt a lot better. They could feel a physical warmth and caring from him. Akane moved slightly closer to Ranma with a small smile on her face.

     Nabiki thought, //So this is what it's like to have a brother.//

     As they approached the school gate, both girls tried to step away from Ranma but to their surprise he held onto them. To their further amazement, no one seemed to notice them. Akane was surprised that Kuno wasn't around. They continued on only stopping in front of Nabiki's homeroom. Only there did Ranma release Nabiki. As she was heading into her homeroom, Ranma and Akane waved to her and headed for their homeroom hand in hand.

     As they walked into their homeroom, they could see the shocked faces on those students already there. Because, for once, Ranma and Akane were early and they were shocked to see them holding hands as they walked in.

     Even though it had happened yesterday, Ranma's classmates were still amazed that he was both participating in the class and seemed to have most of the answers to those questions the teacher asked. Thanks to Ranma most of the morning classes continued along without the usual "fishing for an answer for an hour" that used to happen. Before anyone knew it, it was lunch time.

     As class moved into the school for lunch, Akane grew nervous as she remembered her dreams from last night. She wouldn't even gone outside if not for Ranma at her side. By an unspoken agreement, they headed towards the tree they had sat under yesterday. Half way there, Ranma gave Akane a slight push which took a few steps forward to recover from. She was about to ask what was wrong when she heard it.

     'Glomp.'

     As Akane was turning to face Ranma, she mentally tried to decide if she actually heard the sound 'glomp' or not. Regardless, she wasn't surprised to see what she saw.

     There was Shampoo 'glomped' onto Ranma. Shampoo said, "Shampoo happy to see Airen."

     "I just bet you are," said Akane snidely to herself.

     Before Akane could say anything out-loud, Ranma said in Chinese, <<"Shampoo, please release me.">>

     Both Akane and Shampoo blinked, Akane because she didn't know Chinese and Shampoo in surprise since Ranma had never before spoke to her in her native language. Happy at this turn of events, but ignoring the message, Shampoo jumped up and down while still holding Ranma. A number of students watching the effects of gravity on Shampoo's jumping body. A number of bets on whether or not Shampoo wore underwear, and if so, what type, were settled that day.

     Ranma sighed and repeated in Chinese, <<"Shampoo, I'm asking for the last time. Release me.">>

     Shampoo simply laughed and said, "Airen talking in proper language.... Shampoo so happy."

     Ranma sighed a second time and said in Chinese, <<"I warned you.">>

     Akane watched as Ranma 'side-stepped' Shampoo. At least, that was what it looked like to her. How Ranma did it while Shampoo was still glomping him, she didn't know. But she giggled slightly as she saw Shampoo fall on her face since Ranma wasn't there to be her leaning post.

     Shampoo looked at the ground for a moment, which was only a few centimeters away, then she looked up, blinked, and asked, "What happened? Shampoo no understand."

     Ranma replied, "You fell."

     "But," Shampoo said.

     Ranma gave Shampoo a hand back up which she took advantage of and glomped Ranma again. A second after she glomped Ranma, Ranma once again 'side-stepped' her, and Shampoo fell on her face confused. Once again, Ranma gave Shampoo a hand up which she again used to glomp Ranma. And once again, Ranma 'side-stepped' her and Shampoo fell once again.

     This continued for about ten minutes, and a hundred attempts, before Shampoo stopped trying to glomp Ranma on the hundred first attempt. Akane throughout this saw what Ranma was trying to do long before Shampoo caught on. Actually, Akane thought the whole thing was hilarious. But in a rare moment of true wisdom kept her laughter inside.

     Once Shampoo stopped trying to glomp Ranma, Ranma said, "Shampoo, are you going to listen to me?" Ranma repeated himself in Chinese to make sure that she understood him.

     With a puzzled look on her face, Shampoo asked in Chinese, <<"What do you want, Husband?">>

     <<"To be left alone, Shampoo,">> Ranma replied in Chinese. In Japanese he repeated, "All I want is to be left alone."

     "But..." Shampoo began.

     <<"Shampoo, I am not your husband,">> Ranma stated in Chinese.

     "But Amazon Law..." Shampoo began.

     <<"I am not an Amazon,">> Ranma responded in Chinese. <<"I don't follow your so-called *Rules* or your *Ways*.">>

     Angry Shampoo replied in Chinese, <<"I'm an Amazon!!! I will follow lov-- Law!">>

     Sadly Ranma said in Chinese, <<"I don't love you, Shampoo. Not the way you want me to...">>

     <<"So?">>, Shampoo replied. <<"A husband don't need to love his Wife... He just need to give Village strong children.">>

     Seeing he wasn't get anywhere with Shampoo, Ranma tried a different approach. In Chinese he said, <<"Even if you and the old ghoul somehow forced me back to your village, you'll only bring Destruction upon yourself.">>

     <<"What?">> Shampoo exclaimed. She completely missed the capitalized 'D' that Ranma had stated.

     <<"Shampoo, it's for your own good,">> Ranma said calmly in Chinese. <<"Go back to your village... Go on with your life... Forget about me.">>

     Stubbornly, Shampoo continued in Chinese, <<"But...">>

     Ranma sighed, took out the drink from his lunch, and poured the contains over Shampoo. Shampoo's Jusenkyo curse took effect, turning her into a small cat that had some problems getting out of the now oversized dress that she had been wearing before.

     Ranma reached down, picked neko-Shampoo up by the scruff of her neck, and while looking her in directly in the eyes said in Chinese, <<"I would only be putting your village in danger of destruction. Please, just go on with your life before it's too late.">>

     There was a flash. After Akane cleared her eyes she noticed that neko-Shampoo and her dress were missing. Before she could ask what had happened, Ranma took her hand and said, "I believe lunch awaits us, my love. Shall we go?"

     Akane was confused and she wanted answers. But Ranma had just called her 'his love,' not wanting to spoil the mood, Akane allowed Ranma to walk her to their tree.

     Once at the tree, Akane sat down and Ranma handed her lunch to her, which she had dropped when Ranma pushed her out of Shampoo's way. As she looked at the contents she remarked, "Hey! This isn't want Kasumi usually makes for lunch..."

     In a small voice Ranma said, "Kasumi didn't have time to make lunches today, so I did."

     "*You* did?" Akane asked incredulously.

     <<"Don't knock it, 'til you try it,">> Ranma replied in English. In Japanese, he said, "Yes, I made it. Try it... You may like it."

     And she did. Swallowing her pride, Akane said, "It's good."

     With a bow Ranma responded, "Thank you, my lady."

     Akane groaned at Ranma's antics. But before she could comment on it they heard a scream.

     "That sounded like Ryouga!" Ranma exclaimed as he pulled Akane up and they heard towards the crowd.

     Ryouga noticed the sign in front of him. It said, 'Furinkan High School.' From all the activity, Ryouga figured it was beginning of the lunch period.

     //Finally,// Ryouga thought. //I made it back to Akane.//

     It had taken him over a month to return to Nerima after his last fight with Ranma. But now, Ryouga was going to teach Ranma a lesson he won't soon forget.

     Just as he was about to enter the school yard, someone tapped him on the shoulder and asked, "Is this 'Furinkan High School?'"

     Ryouga turned around and answered, "Yes, it is."

     The stranger was slightly taller than Ryouga himself and from the various bulging muscle, very strong. The stranger wore a white loose shirt with long sleeves and a pair of tight blue pants. The stranger wore a sword across his back. Although all Ryouga could see was the handle which was visible above the stranger's right shoulder. The stranger had a bluish-green hair and his eyes were golden. There was a look in the stranger's eyes that left Ryouga unsettled and forced him to look away. From the way the strange stood, Ryouga took the stranger to be a martial artist like himself.

     The stranger began to laugh maniacally.

     Ryouga's uneasiness grew.

     "At long last," the stranger said between laughs. "Another world to destroy!"

     "Nani?!?!?" exclaimed Ryouga confused.

     The stranger stopped laughing and said, "But first! First, I must kill Akane Saotome... Yes, that's the ticket. Kill Akane. That will hurt Ranma. Weaken him. Then, defeat Ranma once more. Destroy another world. World go BOOM! Yes. Yes. Yes. But first! First, I must kill Akane!"

     "Nani?!?!?" exclaimed Ryouga angrily.

     The stranger calmed down for a moment, turned to Ryouga, and asked, "Can you tell me where Akane Saotome is?"

     "Who?" Ryouga asked confused.

     "Akane! Akane Saotome. Or is it Saotome Akane... I always get the order confused," the stranger repeated. "Her name is Akane! Her family name is Saotome! Or is it Tendo? Minor detail... minor detail. Do you know where Akane... Saotome... Tendo... Akane is?"

     "Why?" Ryouga asked suspiciously.

     "To kill her, of course," the stranger replied matter of factly. With a smile on his face, he calmly stated, "You can't kill someone if you don't know where they are, silly."

     Angrily, Ryouga responded, "You think I'm going to allow you to kill Akane Tendo?"

     The stranger looked unconcerned for a moment then simply stated, "Why, yes."

     The stranger began looking around the school yard himself while awaiting Ryouga's reply.

     "No one is going to hurt Akane while I'm around," Ryouga screamed as he threw a right-handed punch at the stranger's face.

     The stranger sighed, caught Ryouga's hand, and said, "You're not being very cooperative, young man."

     The stranger sighed and stated, "Very well... have it your way."

     So saying the stranger crushed Ryouga's right hand. Those near-by could hear the bones breaking, wisely, they moved away from the stranger and Ryouga. Unfortunately for Ryouga, no one thought to get seek any help for him.

     The stranger then completely broke Ryouga's left knee, right thigh, right ankle, left shoulder, and right hip, all within two seconds. Oh, Ryouga tried to defend himself, but each attempt was met with superior strength and skill.

     By the third second since the fight began, Ryouga basically crumbled to the ground, which disappointed the stranger. In response, the stranger kicked Ryouga in his side causing Ryouga to scream as a number of additional ribs were broken.

     Ranma and Akane ran toward the crowd. Once there they saw Ryouga fighting some stranger. Ranma's eyes widen slightly and told Akane to get behind him.

     Akane wanted to protest that she could take care of herself but seeing Ryouga's battered form the protest died on her lips. She quietly moved behind Ranma. Out of curiosity, she asked, "Who's that?"

     "Devos," Ranma said venomously. "Devos, the Destroyer. Devos, the Doombringer. Devos, the Oathbreaker. Devos, the Betrayer. Devos...."

     In a soft, emotionless voice he continued, "I met him a few years after I finally got out of Hell... Kloisa was the second 'stop' on my journey back..."

     Ranma laughed a bit. The laughter had an edge to it. Taking a deep breath, he said, "I took me a few months to discover the next Bridge I needed to continue with... Took me a few more months to figure out how to use that style of Bridge...

     "Having some 'time to kill' I went looking to see what this world might have to teach me... I learned the hard way that it had a lot to teach me....

     "Anyway, Devos was once one of the Dragonguards, an Order of the Imperial Army. The Dragonguards were responsible for protecting the Empire of Kloisa from the Darkness.

     "Or they had, for the last two thousand years. Until Devos betrayed the Order and the Empire. Because of Devos, the city of Gem fell, its defenders butched from within. But Devos wasn't satisfied with that. Oh no. He proceed to slaughter one million helpless women and children. And... and... I couldn't do a damn thing to stop him! He was too good, too skilled, too powerful for me, back *then*....

     "I've learned a lot since then...

     "But even conquering Kloisa didn't satisfy his battle-lust, so for sport, he destroyed his very own world. And now, since I, alone, opposed him, not that I could have done much back then, he has been trying to find me ever since. He plans to destroying our world too... As a price for defying him."

     Ranma took a deep breathe, calmed himself, and stated, "But I will not let him, this time. Today, Devos, the Oathbreaker, pays his dues."

     Upon seeing Ranma in the distance, Devos smiled, kicked the unconscious Ryouga again, and began to charge at Ranma from ten meters away.

     Ranma remained calm.

     Devos closed the gap by a meter.

     Ranma motioned the various students still around to move away from Devos and himself.

     Devos drew his sword when he was five meters away from Ranma.

     Ranma looked into Devos's eyes.

     At three meters, Ranma raised his right hand, palm perpendicular to the ground, and pointed it at Devos as he moved closer. A huge ball of energy, two meters wide, appeared in Ranma's hand. The ki-ball was dominately light blue, Ranma's ki-color, but one could see other colors existing separately within the ki-ball, mostly white, some greens, and a few spots of red, giving the ki-ball an exotic look. Flares of Power seemed to erupt out of the ki-ball only to fall back into itself.

     A two meter wide beam leapt out of the ball hitting Devos dead on. The beam pushed Devos back.

     It deepened into a sky blue color.

     Still pushing Devos back.

     Devos's clothes caught on fire.

     Devos paid the flames on his clothing no mind as he tried to reach Ranma.

     The ball and beam of ki changed to a green-blue color.

     Devos's skin caught fire, and yet Devos fought on.

     The ball and beam of ki energy changed colors again to a reddish-blue color.

     The beam consumed Devo's flesh, then his bones and sword, leaving only ash, and then that too was consumed by the energy burst.

     Everyone was shocked.

     Calmly, Ranma walked over to Ryouga unconscious body, knelt down, and whispered, "Ryouga-kun... Ryouga-kun... I've avenged you, old friend."

     Ranma placed his right hand just a few centimeters over Ryouga's stomach. Ranma closed his eyes and his right hand began to glow a bright golden-white color. He stayed that way for five minutes all the while his hand became brighter. Then he set the hand on Ryouga's stomach and the glow spread throughout Ryouga's body obscuring it. After another five minutes the glow faded, Ranma stood up and said, "Hey, Ryouga! How are you?"

     Ryouga groaned, blinked, and jumped to his feet screaming, "Where's that crazy man?"

     "Ryouga, Devos's gone. Take it easy," Ranma said in soothing voice. He was trying to calm Ryouga down.

     "Shut up," Ryouga screamed as he punched Ranma. Ranma went flying in the direction of the school pool, of course. Akane watched Ranma's flight path and she noticed that Ranma was actually laughing in delight.

     Puzzled but angry at Ryouga, Akane called him, "Baka! Ranma just saved your life. And you thank him by punching him?!?! Baka!"

     "Akane!" Ryouga exclaimed in surprise at Akane's defense of Ranma. "But... but..."

     Akane grabbed Ryouga's left ear and started to drag Ryouga to the pool as she said, "You are going to apologize to Ranma."

     "Ouch," Ryouga complained. He tried to interrupt her with another "But..."

     "No buts, Ryouga," Akane continued on.

     At the pool, both pulled up short. There in the pool was Ranma. Both Akane and Ryouga was stunned. There was Ranma, male, in a body of cool water treading water as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Puzzled, both Akane and Ryouga began saying, "But... but..."

     Ranma still laughing and said, "Come on in.... The water's fine. Okay... It's cool. But it's not freezing... Nope... Not freezing. Come on in..."

     Both Akane and Ryouga could only stare at Ranma.

     "Fine, I'll come out then," Ranma replied. Ranma swam to the edge of the pool, lifted himself out, and walked over to Akane. Along the way, Ranma shook the excess water off of himself. Some of it landed on both Ryouga and Akane. Akane screamed, "Ranma! That's cold."

     Ranma just smiled and said, "Sorry."

     "How did..." Ryouga began but was interrupted by the bell signaling the end of the lunch period.

     Akane continued to look at Ranma, so he said, "Akane, we need to get back to class. See ya later, Ryouga."

     With that Ranma took Akane's hand and lead her back to class.

     Once back in the classroom, Akane's stomach grumbled since she didn't get to eat lunch. Everyone looked at her, so she buried her face in her hands in embarrassment. She only looked up when Ranma said, "Here."

     Ranma handed to her a pealed orange, similar to the one he had given her yesterday.

     "Where?" Akane began but Ranma smiled and simply patted his large pouch at his side for answer.

     As Akane ate the orange, she tried to remember if Ranma had left home with it. She didn't think so, but where else could he have gotten it from. She knew he didn't have it during lunch when he....

     Akane didn't want to think about it.

     Class went on as usual. Or as usual since Ranma's return. Ranma fully participated in the classes. The only minor surprise was that Hinako-sensei was still in her adult form, but no one truly commented on it.

     When the last bell rang, Ranma told Akane that he was going to check up on Ryouga and that he would meet her at home.

     Akane sighed and went. She found Nabiki heading out, so she joined her sister. While walking home, Nabiki asked Akane, "I heard an interesting rumor today about Ranma, is it true?"

     Not wanting to talk about it, Akane replied, "Is what true?"

     "That Ranma killed someone today," Nabiki answered. "With a huge ki blast..."

     "It wasn't a ki-blast," Akane replied. "Ranma's ki-balls are blue... This one had other colors in it too..."

     "Huh?" Nabiki asked.

     Akane knew that her sister didn't understand. She tried to explain, "Someone's ki is... //unique// to that person. As such, it must, by definition, be a single color... But Ranma's ki-ball, today, if it was a ki-ball, had, in addition, to his normal blue coloring, had some white, some green, and a few reds in it..."

     "Meaning?" Nabiki wondered.

     "Meaning," Akane answered. "That Ranma must have combined his ki with something else..."

     "Such as?" Nabiki asked as if she was afraid of the answer.

     "I don't know," Akane replied honestly. "Maybe... Magic or something, I guess."

     "Still, if the story is true," Nabiki stated. "Then Ranma killed somebody today...."

     Defensively Akane said, "Devos deserved it."

     "Was that his name?" Nabiki asked.

     "Yes, Ranma said his name was Devos.... He also called him, the Destroyer, the Doombringer, the Oathbreaker, the Betrayer."

     "Oh?" Nabiki asked interested.

     "He said that Devos used to be a 'Dragonguard' of the Order of the Imperial Army," Akane continued.

     "Imperial Army?" Nabiki commented. "What army? We haven't had an army since..."

     "The army of the Empire of Kloisa, I guess," Akane replied off-handedly.

     "Kloisa?" Nabiki asked confused. She had never heard of such a place.

     "Yes," Akane said simply. "Ranma told me a little about it yesterday. It was one of those worlds inbetween that Ranma had to go through in order to get home. He said it was a beautiful world. He said it was a primitive world, full of swords and sorcery."

     "There's no such thing as Magic," Nabiki replied coldly as she remember the incident involving Gosunkugi flying and lighting candles without a match as she and Ranma walked home yesterday.

     Akane simply looked at Nabiki. After a moment, she continued, "He said that Devos betrayed the Order and the Empire. And that Devos killed all the city's defenders and its inhabitant's of one million people. You didn't hear the frustration in his voice when he said he couldn't stop Devos back then."

     "So this 'Devos' guy's a bastard," Nabiki stated. "Still it's not like Ranma to kill...."

     Akane thought about it and then said, "He also said that Devos destroyed his own world and that he planned on destroying our world."

     "Nani?!?" Nabiki replied. "Destroy a whole world? That's impossible... Isn't it?"

     Akane shrugged and said, "I don't know.... I do know that before fighting Ranma, Devos beat Ryouga, broke a number of his bones, and basically left him for dead right outside of the school in less than two seconds."

     Nabiki's eyes got wide at that but they returned to normal as she said, "If that's so, where's Ryouga's body? We didn't exactly walk over his corpse on our way out..."

     With a smile on her face, Akane replied, "Ranma healed all of Ryouga's injuries."

     "How?" Nabiki asked.

     "I don't know," Akane answered truthfully. "First, Ranma's right hand glowed a golden-white, he touched Ryouga's stomach, and the glow covered him completely. When the glow faded after ten minutes, Ryouga was completed healed."

     "It takes him ten minutes to heal Ryouga," Nabiki asked. "But it took only a few seconds to kill this 'Devos' guy...."

     "Yep," Akane replied. "And the baka punched Ranma into the pool for thanks."

     "Ranma-chan must have loved that," Nabiki remarked with a smile as she pictured onna-Ranma in the pool.

     "But he didn't change," Akane stated.

     "Was the pool heated?" Nabiki asked incredibly.

     "No, it was freezing," Akane answered. "I guess he found a cure for his curse before coming back."

     Nabiki shook her head and said, "I saw Ranma-*chan* give Kuno-baby the performance of a lifetime yesterday."

     "Nani?!?" Akane exclaimed.

     For the rest of the trip home, Nabiki told Akane about onna-Ranma's performance for Kuno.

     Akane was not happy as her sister told her what happened.

     "There you are," Ranma said as he spotted Ryouga. Ranma had spent the last fifteen minutes looking for Ryouga. He found him in park, just outside of Tokyo. The same park Ranma had came home from.

     Ryouga spun around and exclaimed, "Where's the cure?!"

     "Gee, happy to see you too, Ryouga," Ranma remarked.

     "Ranma!" Ryouga growled. "You have the cure! Give it to me!"

     "Cure?" Ranma asked surprised.

     "Yes, you're cured," Ryouga stated. "I saw you in pool and you didn't change... That... That means, you're cured!"

     Ryouga blinked and onna-Ranma was leaning on his arm and whispered seductively, "Miss me, big boy?"

     Ryouga jumped back and exclaimed, "Ranma!"

     Onna-Ranma pouted and said, "What?"

     "But," Ryouga began. "I saw you in pool and... and... you were male!"

     "Oh, that," onna-Ranma said dismissively. "That's just one of Laws in action."

     "Laws? What law?" Ryouga asked confused.

     "Law of Knowledge," Ranma, once more male, stated matter of factly.

     "But..." Ryouga sputtered. He stared as he noticed that Ranma was male now and he didn't use any water to change.

     "Law of Knowledge," Ranma explained. "Knowledge brings understanding. Understanding brings control. After how long I've studied Jusenkyo, in it's various forms in various Universes, controlling my curse is easy... don't even have to think about it anymore for the last, oh, several millennia or so."

     "Several millennia?" Ryouga asked. He was extremely confused now. //What is a 'millennia,'// he asked himself but there was no reply.

     Ranma snapped his fingers and said, "You didn't know about George and Happosai-sensei..."

     "George?" Ryouga asked in a confused voice. Incredibly, he exclaimed, "'Happosai-*sensei*?' That old *pervert*?"

     "Happosai-sensei was under a *curse*, P-chan," Ranma stated calmly in Ryouga's face. Ryouga noticed there was some blue lightning were Ranma's eyes should have been. Ranma continued in Ryouga's face, "You can understand that, right, P-chan?"

     "Ranma!" Ryouga exclaimed both in anger at being called 'P-chan' and also because Ranma was scaring him.

     Ranma backed off, walked slightly away, stopped, reached into his pouch (which Ryouga didn't notice before), and threw something at Ryouga who caught it easily.

     Ranma remarked, "At least, you still got a good reaction time...."

     Ryouga looked down at his hand, there was a bottle labeled 'Nannichuan Water.' He looked back at Ranma and said, "But you said you weren't cured."

     Ranma sighed and replied, "By the time I found some Nannichuan water I could use...." Ranma shrugged and continued, "The curse was a part of me... It's came in handy a number of times. Once I accepted it, my curse was no longer a curse, but a blessing."

     //Ranma accepted his curse,// Ryouga remarked to himself. Ryouga shuddered at the thought.

     Ranma shrugged again and said, "Up to you."

     Without hesitation Ryouga opened the bottle and poured the contains over himself. Looking down, he didn't see anything different. So he walked threateningly towards Ranma as he said, "Saotome! Prepare to die!"

     Ranma sighed and said, "You would think that in all this time, you would get some new lines, Ryouga."

     Calmly Ranma asked, "What is it, this time?"

     Ryouga came to an abrupt stop, sputtered, and said, "You tricked me!"

     "How?" Ranma asked calmly.

     "Your so-called 'Nannichuan' water didn't *do* anything!" Ryouga exclaimed in righteous fury.

     Ranma changed and said gently, "You're really a baka, Ryouga." Onna-Ranma continued, "Look at yourself."

     "I did! I'm the same," Ryouga shouted.

     "Baka-sama," onna-Ranma remarked. "True, but you're also wet."

     Ryouga blinked, thought about it for a moment, and finally nodded.

     "What were you expecting? Thunder and Lightning?" onna-Ranma asked.

     Ryouga replied, "Well.... yeah."

     "Well," onna-Ranma said, "Watch."

     Ranma, changed back, placed his hands in front of himself as if summoning a ki-attack. Instead of ki, though, a ball of water formed. Gently, Ranma tossed cool ball of water underhandedly at Ryouga. The water ball spattered against Ryouga, who shivered at the contact but he noticed that his curse didn't activate.

     Ranma said, "See... You didn't change. You're cured."

     Happy, Ryouga started to dance. After a few steps, he swept Ranma into his dance. Onna-Ranma giggled and said, "Why, Ryouga, you're such a lovely dancer."

     Ryouga blushed, looked at his feet, then remembered this was Ranma and yelled, "Ranma!"

     "What, Ryouga-chan?" onna-Ranma asked as if awaiting some important question.

     Ryouga looked up at onna-Ranma and he noticed that she was wearing a ballroom gown and he remembered the ball of water he had formed... magically. He took a few steps away from onna-Ranma.

     Onna-Ranma sighed and changed back. Ranma, now male and wearing his usual Chinese outfit, said, "Boy, Ryouga, you have no sense of humor."

     "Ranma," Ryouga growled.

     Ranma stroke out his right hand and said, "Friends?"

     Ryouga shook his head, took Ranma's hand which was stronger than he remembered, and agreed, "Friends."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

     "I'm home," Ranma called out.

     In the hall, he met Akane, who had been waiting for him. She asked him, "Where have you been?"

     "Out," Ranma stated calmly, "looking for Ryouga... Want'd to check on him."

     "Ohh..." Akane replied. Out of curiosity, she asked, "Where was he?"

     "At the park just outside of Tokyo," Ranma answered.

     //The park you came back into this World from,// Akane thought. She remembered that Ranma had said that some people call it the 'Park of Lovers.'

     With a slight smiled, Ranma added, "I'll take you there tomorrow..."

     Akane's eyes widen as she realized what that implied. True, he had said on a number of occasions that he loved her, but it still hadn't sunk in yet. In a small voice, she replied, "Hai."

     Feeling slight off balanced, she turned to something familiar. Although, she thought she knew the answer, she asked him anyway, "Want to spar with me?"

     Ranma just looked at her blankly like she just spoke in another language or something. Just before she could yell at him, Ranma replied in a small voice, "Hai...."

     A moment later, after Akane hurriedly changed into her gi, she and Ranma stood in the Dojo facing each other. They bowed to each other and Ranma said, "Begin."

     Akane and Ranma's sparring match began typically. Which basically meant that Akane tried to hit Ranma, while he simply dodged her. After a short while of this, Akane was getting angrier by the second. She could tell that Ranma was holding back... and it angered her.

     Everything she tried, Ranma dodged. Even a few moves she learned in fighting Shampoo while Ranma was missing, which should have surprised him, not only didn't surprise him but he dodged them just as easily as her regular combinations.

     Angrily, Akane screamed, "Fight back! This isn't much of a sparring match, if you don't do something!"

     Ranma just smiled at her. The smile didn't seem to reach his eyes.... His eyes, though, held a sad look of one whose seen too much.

     Akane felt that he was just mocking her. Akane's anger grew... and grew, but, because of her dream last night, she didn't give in to it. Instead, she channeled her anger into greater speed and power.

     Something changed.

     What changed Akane couldn't figure out. But there was something in the air. She was doing better in the Arts then she had ever had before in her rest life time. For a few moments, Ranma continued to dodge, but, then he struck her. And struck her hard.

     The force caused her to fall on her butt several meters from where she was. How he did it, she didn't know. Only, for the first time, Ranma had hit her. She didn't know if she should laugh or cry. She had finally gotten what she wanted... Ranma was fully sparring with her. He was throwing punches, kicks, blocks, and counter-moves.

     And she was hard pressed to stop him. He seemed to keep hitting her in certain spots. It took a while but she finally realized that Ranma was repeatingly hitting her in her weak spots in her defense. Which were many. And he continued to do so until she developed some kind of defense simply to stop the pain.

     As things went on, Akane's smile grew. The reason for the smile was because Ranma was actually sparring with her. He wasn't simply dodging and jumping anymore. This time, he was actually throwing punches and kicks at her. Although, for the most part, he continued to dodge her attacks, occasionally, he would block and counter-attack.

     Akane was short-winded, sweaty, bruised and in a great deal of pain. Her only complaint was that Ranma still looked just like he did when they started. Not only that but she knew that Ranma was still holding back. Still, she was learning a lot. Her defenses had been improved. That was something.

     Although she was getting tired, Akane was too thrilled that Ranma was actually sparring with her that she didn't want to quit. She tried to continue but after the second poorly-thrown punch, Ranma grabbed her extended arm, pulled her off-balance, slightly forward, and hit her on her back. Although the blow was soft, it was enough for her exhaustion to catch up to her. She felt herself falling, both literally towards the ground, and figuratively, as she felt herself lose consciousness. She dimly sensed Ranma catching her before she actually hit the floor.

     Akane woke up feeling better... She didn't know where she was but she felt safe and warm. As she moved slightly she heard some water splashing so she figured she had fallen asleep in the tub... Only she didn't remember getting into it... In fact, the last thing she remembered was sparring with Ranma....

     "You're finally wake, Akane-chan," onna-Ranma said happily.

     "Nani?" Akane muttered. "Ranma..."

     "Yes," onna-Ranma replied evenly.

     "You.... You pervert!" Akane exclaimed when she realized they both were in the bath together and more importantly they were both naked.

     Onna-Ranma sighed and said, "At the moment, we're both girls... and even then, we're engaged..."

     "But," Akane began but onna-Ranma continued, "You needed the soaking... I couldn't leave you in the furo in the state you were in..."

     Akane's eyes widen as she realized that she and onna-Ranma were in the tube and the water was very hot. She asked, "How..."

     "Oh," onna-Ranma replied dismissively, "I can control my curse..."

     "How?" Akane asked confused.

     "Knowledge, Understanding, Magic," onna-Ranma replied. With a slight smile, she continued, "Besides, I didn't think you're ready for my male side...."

     He was right. She would have freaked out if she was his male side, but she could pretend it was all right with his female side. With Ranma female, she could pretend, slightly, that she was simply in the public bath.

     "You know what?," onna-Ranma asked after Akane remained silent for a while.

     "What?" Akane asked knowing she was being set up for something.

     "I know how to make this even better," onna-Ranma replied slyly.

     Something in Akane's heart and somewhere a bit lower tingled. Hoping she knew what the answer was, Akane asked, "How?"

     "Like this," onna-Ranma replied as she moved next to Akane and began to rub her shoulders.

     Both onna-Ranma and Akane left the bathroom together and with almost identical smiles on their faces. At the top of the stairs, onna-Ranma changed into her male form, took Akane's hand, and together they walked down and headed into the dining room.

     Ranma and Akane sat down together at the table where Kasumi and Nabiki were already seated. Kasumi then passed out supper as Nabiki asked Akane, "Imooto.... What's with the smile?"

     But before she could answer, a voice called out, "Saotome! Prepare to die!"

     Ranma sighed and muttered, "I was wondering when duck-boy was going to show up..."

[=== End of Part 5 ===]

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Last Updated: Tue Dec 23 18:53:11 CST 2003
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