Final Duty

Part 3  'Emotions'

    I guess I should be proud that I lasted that long . One week and two days . 
that's my record for going without getting clobbered . Of course it had been 
broken by Akane . I must have gotten too comfortable and let my guard over my 
mouth down . 'Cause I really shoved my foot in it that time . 
    We had been in the Dojo , I was holding cinder blocks in the air for her to 
break . But she had gotten mad at me when I upped the challenge a bit .
' Hold them still baka !'
' Real opponents don't hold still .'
' Cinderblocks aren't real opponents !'
' If you don't treat them more like a real opponent then what's the point ?'
' The point is to work on targeting power .'
' And non stationary targets don't do that how ?'
' I can't hit them if you move them !'
' Try .'
' I am , baka !'
' Not hard enough obviously .'
' I'm trying as hard as I can .'
' Then I guess you don't have what it takes to be a martial artist then .'
    So she had taken a swing at me to the tune of 'baka!' I blocked with the 
cinderblock . It had shattered , so like a moron I pointed at it and said 'more 
like that' . That had only pissed her off even more . Now backpedaling I had to 
dodge her attacks . If I hadn't made the situation bad enough I went and made 
sure it was beyond salvaging . 
' You see , real opponents move . I thought you were tomboy enough to understand 
that .'
    THAT had done it . She really got pissed then , now she was screaming at me 
as she attacked . When the tears started coming it was over . I never could 
stand to see a girl cry . When I saw that first tear I froze . 
    She had wasted no more time pummeling me into the ground , screaming at me 
the whole time . 
    I'm a real bastard . She said so , and she's right . Only damned bastards 
make girls cry all the time . I make Akane cry , Ukyo cry , even Shampoo . 
Kasumi never even frowned before I showed up . All I'm doing is making things 
worse for them . 
    Barely paying it any mind I plunge my hand down through the boulder I had 
been sitting on a few minuets ago . It all but explodes under my fist . Oh yeah 
, I'm real good at breaking things . 
    I look at the remains of the stone and anger wells up in me . All I can do 
is destroy . 
    Looking down at my hands I see them in fists . Fists that can kill in the 
blink of an eye , fists that rend and tear metal but can not give a gentle 
caress . I feel my teeth clenched . I can not open my hands .
    The urge to hit something , someone , make something pay for my anger , my 
pain is incessant and seductive . All too familiar was well .
    That just fuels my anger into rage , impotent rage . I'm angry that all I 
can do is destroy so what does that anger make me want to do ? Destroy . For all 
of my training , all of my life , all I am is destruction . 
    The rage passes , controlling it's urges has cost me . I fall to my knees in 
a cold sweat , my hands finally relax and open slowly . 
    Behind the trees , in a secluded corner of the park , I kneel beside a 
shattered boulder , and hate myself . I can't find any redeeming qualities about 
myself . 
    I'm handsome . Yeah , the most beautiful creatures in nature are also the 
most poisonous .
    I'm an honorable person . Which means that I'm trapped with hundreds of 
contradicting obligations . Then there is the fact that if my mother ever finds 
out about the flip side of Ranko I'll have to disembowel myself before she chops 
my head off .
    I'm a caring person . Am I ? No . I'm a selfish bastard , with an ego bigger 
than Russia . I use people whenever it's convenient , and I have the empathy of 
a grain of uncooked rice . 
    I help the community . Nope , had to quit that job , remember ? 
    I'm a good marital artist . Which translates to : I'm good a turning my body 
into a killing machine . Oh that's a plus ain't it ?
    I protect the weak . Whenever it'll stroke my ego .
    People care about me . Makes it easier to hurt them don't it ? Akane is 
proof of that .
" Why ?" I hear myself ask . 
    Ever since that morning I can see so clearly now . It's only gotten worse . 
Before I was blind to my own fault in the mess that is my life . Now it comes 
crashing down on me . 
    I used to think that everyone else was wrong . That Akane's accusations and 
insults were false and without foundation . Now I can see where it all comes 
from , like evidence brought before the jury . On the same token I thought 
Ryouga was nuts . Me put him through hell ? Now it's so clear why he hates me so 
much . I turned a already miserable life into hell .
    An hour ago I did the math with the help of a calculator . Ryouga spends 
roughly sixty percent of his time alone . As in no human contact at all . Twenty 
percent he spends in other countries , most of which he doesn't speak the 
language . The rest is what he spends here in Japan .
    None of that is my fault . But his curse is . I knocked him into that pool 
because I was too damn focused on beating up Pop . I cared about hitting my 
Father more than I did about someone else's life . What if he hadn't fallen into 
a pool ? Ryouga wasn't that tough back then , the fall could have broken his 
neck . If water finds him as often as it does me then Ryouga spends at least 
half of that time not even as a human . Kami-sama , I took part of his humanity 
from him .
    Why don't I just go off and commit seppuku ? That ain't a new thought . The 
problem there is that I'm an honorable person and I still have obligations . 
    So why not fulfill an obligation with seppuku ? Just take a thermos with 
cold water and one with warm , the family tanto , and skip off to Mom's place .
    But I don't want to put Mom through that . Damn clarity let's me see what'll 
happen there .
    She'll be overjoyed at first . Finally meeting me and all . Then she'll be 
confused when I calm her down and explain the curse . Most likely she'll be in 
denial until I demonstrate . After a quick faint she'll have the sword drawn in 
no time . After that it's pretty quick . Of course then she'll go off to hunt 
Pop down . Whether or not she gets him doesn't change the fact that she'll break 
down about me the next day . From there I guess she'll basically head downhill , 
maybe even following me in death . 
    My life was just as complicated now as it was before , but before I was 
blind . Before I couldn't see how much pain I was responsible for or just how 
hopeless it was trying to get out of it all .
    Now I wake up from the bad dream into the nightmare .
" Are you alright ?" A voice calls to me from the walkway beyond the trees .
" No ." I reply honestly , I'm amazed at how tired my voice sounds .
" Ran-chan ?" 
    On no . " Ucchan ?" I lift myself from the ground and come to my feet .
" Ran-chan ? What's wrong ?" She's pushing through the trees to be at my side , 
distress rings in her voice all the more clear to me now .
    Once more I grow angry . I ruined the last ten years of this girl's life by 
having the Father I have and she only shows selfless devotion to me . I don't 
deserve that from her . That devotion only hurts her as I cannot marry her and 
Akane , both equally valid engagements .
" Ran-chan ," She repeats . Her hand on my shoulder , a feather light touch 
banishes the anger in an instant . But the anger leaves only a tired void behind 
it . " please tell me what's wrong . I haven't seen outside of school for nearly 
a week ." 
    I'm used to being tired , but this isn't like fighting for hours or going 
without sleep for days . This is more of a worn feeling , like my emotions are 
tired . It's like my brain's been hitting the 'Angry' and 'Guilt' buttons so 
much and so hard that they don't want to work anymore . I'm not numb , it's more 
like a phantom emotion . 
" Don't worry Ucchan ." My words sound hollow even to myself .
" Sit ." She guides me down to the ground with a gentle hand . " Now tell me 
what's going on ?" 
" What do you mean ?" I'm staring at the ground now . 
" Are you avoiding me ?" The before I would have missed the hidden fear in her 
tone .
" No . Not you , I guess I was kinda avoiding everyone ." 
" Why ?" Relief slides into her simple question , but so does concern . How did 
I miss these things before ?
" Well I was under Kasumi's orders not to get hit for a week ." 
" Huh ?" That spoke for itself .
" I'll give ya a summary . I had just bought a necklace for Akane ," I feel her 
tense up . " I thought it would get me on her good side for a while ." While not 
wholly satisfied that explanation placates her . " Long story short , on the way 
I got jumped by Mousse . He slices my chest open so I knock him into this week . 
Then I have to get the necklace from Kodachi . On my way to Tofu-sensei I run 
into Pantyhose . He somehow got it into his head that I'm hiding the freak . I 
finally shake him , but the necklace took a beating . Finally I get to the 
clinic . Tofu-sensei patches me up , but then I had to go and tell him that 
Kasumi wanted to keep the book she borrowed for another week ."
    I hang my head at my own stupidity .
" It took me twenty minuets to reposition my joints after escaping the joyful 
lunatic . So I start for the Dojo again . Then I run into Ryouga .  Not too much 
of a problem normally , but he learned a new technique when he was last in Korea 
. He'll spin around throwing spin kicks and back fists just as fast as my Kachu 
Tenshin Amaguriken . I wasn't prepared for it . I got smeared all over the alley 
by that damn thing . But he's still working on it . It still makes him dizzy so 
he screwed up and kicked me into another alley and got lost before he could 
finish me off . 
    Once I could walk I started off for the Dojo again . This time it was the 
freak who found me . I was walking one second and then splash-glomp he's on me . 
But when I changed my breasts growing snapped the stitches on my chest . That 
ticked me off real good . I clobbered him but the damage was done . Then the old 
ghoul moved in . She had been watching me since Ryouga . It seemed like a good 
time to her to test how well I fought when wounded . I guess I passed , 'cause 
she left after a few minuets of slapping me around . Finally I thought I was in 
the clear . I thought too soon . Some stupid spirit of household appliances 
summoned by Gosunkugi's stupid magic came after me . It zapped me a couple of 
times before I finally punted it out of Tokyo . 
   " By this time the necklace is beyond ruined . The chain's snapped , the 
sapphire is gone , the silver body is twisted almost in half . So I'm feeling 
pretty damn low . Right before I get to the door my danger sense goes nuts . 
Then I hear Kasumi talking Akane out of ambushing me for being late .
    " Thank Kami-sama Kasumi convinced Akane to go to bed . I was about to faint 
right there . So after Akane leaves Kasumi lets me in and cleans me up as best 
she can . Then she told me that I better avoid being beat up by Akane for at 
least a week ." 
    The whole time Ukyo had been listening she had gone through a whole range of 
emotions . Anger , at the repeated beatings , pity for the ruined gift , and 
gratitude to Kasumi . 
" So why avoid me too ?" 
" Not just you , just about everybody . I mean I get near any of you and the 
rest jump me ." I give her a pleading look . " If I'm around Akane we fight and 
I get beat up . If I'm around Shampoo , Mousse attacks . If I'm around you the 
other three come looking for me . It just goes on like that ." 
    A shadow falls over her face . " So I just get you hurt do I ?" 
" No !" I quickly interject . " Not you , the others ." 
    She is silent .
" I'm trapped Ucchan . I can't marry all of you ." 
" Then why not just marry me !" She is suddenly incredibly close to me . Our 
faces almost touching .
" Honor demands that I marry you ." I concede . " But it also demands that I 
marry Akane . I can't do both ." 
" So you have to do one !" She presses her point . " If the others coming after 
you is the problem then why not elope with me ?"
" And run for the rest of our lives ? I hate running ." Her proximity stirs 
other parts of my mind , and my heart . I fight to remain in logical control .
" They'd give up sooner or later ." 
" No they wouldn't ." I shake my head , if just to break eye contact with her 
pleading , earnest , loving eyes . " Shampoo can't return without me , Kodachi 
is nuts , and the Tendos are just as honor bound as the Saotomes ." 
" Ran-chan ." She pleads . " It'd be so simple-"
" It's not simple ." I cut her off . " that's the problem , there is no simple 
answer . I have too many obligations to keep them all ." 
    Finally she sits back , now at a less intimate distance once more . " I'm 
not asking you to keep all of them . I'm just giving you a way out , Ran-chan . 
A way out of this mess , so you can be happy . I just want you to be happy ."
    I just wanna kill myself when I hear her say that . 
" I know Ucchan . I know ." No more words come to mind . 
    Even though I don't look at her I can tell she's staring at me . And that 
she's trying not to cry . 
    I've done it again . Damn it to hell . I've made another person I care about 
cry .

                           *         *         *

    He was not depressed for once . He was quite puzzled , a but angry , but 
more puzzled than anything . 
    Ranma had been able to beat him easy before . Like before Cologne had taught 
him the Bakusai Tenketsu . But this was beyond that , this time it was like 
fighting an entirely different person . Ranma usually overcame him through sheer 
speed and dodging skill , slowly wearing him down . But there had been none of 
that this fight . Ranma had never gone on the offensive once , and that was just 
not Ranma . It had almost been as if Ranma had not been really fighting , as if 
he posed no threat to him . 
'...like fighting an empty jacket , for he was not fighting at all ..' Came the 
quote to mind .
    It fit . Somehow Ranma had reached a new level . Not just improving , but 
surpassing the level that they had both been on . Now Ranma was in a league up 
from him . So what could he do ? Who could he ask ?
" Cologne ." He answered himself aloud . 
" Yes ?" 
    Looking over his shoulder revealed the small elderly woman stilling behind 
him by the campfire . Despite the feat of jumping four meters into the air 
without the use of arms or legs Cologne did not seem impressed .
" H-how d-did you get here ?" He asked , trying to steady his breathing .
" Simple , I knew of your spectacularly underwhelming performance against my 
future-son-in-law . I assumed you would like some assistance and guidance ." The 
amazon matriarch eyed him with an unreadable expression . " Or would you wish to 
end your quest to defeat Ranma once in for all ?" 
" NEVER !" His own vehemence surprised him , but not the elder .
" You would have made a fine Amazon . It's a pity , your gender ." She said more 
to herself than him before standing . " Very well . Tell me your view of what 
happened in your last skirmish with future-son-in-law ."
    He did . The fact that it only took a few moments to retell shamed him .
" Ah , another piece falls . How many remain ?" The elder mused before looking 
him in the eye . " I will train you . You will reach this new level , but the 
training will be hard . Much harder than what you previously experienced . This 
will involve mental training , as well . You may wish to die many times during 
it , a few times you might . Are you willing ?" 
    A part of his mind told him that this was making a deal with a demon , or a 
devil . Another just told him that it was just from the firelight and the eerie 
air about the elder , nothing more .
" I am willing ." 
    The matriarch smiled . " Good . Good my boy . Know that I'll not teach you 
simply one technique as I did last time . This shall be a shaping of you , a 
tempering of your edge . Both are done by fire . The first log on the flame 
shall be to refine your body . Come ." The ancient woman hopped up to balance on 
her staff and motioned for him to follow her into the night .
    With mixed feelings of foreboding and eagerness he dutifully followed . He 
knew she promised power through pain , but pain was something he was already 
very intimate with . Now he wanted the power he was due .



    She threw the pillow into her closet in disgust . This was the second time 
she had cried her eyes out into a pillow today . Now just looking at the tear 
stained thing threatened her control . 
    Why couldn't he see that she was trying so hard to get along with him . She 
had asked him to help her train in the hopes that they could share an activity 
without fighting . It had ended up worse than she could have imagined .
    It wasn't as if he was doing anything worse . It was just that it was 
compounding now . All the insults over the last year . Yes she got angry and hit 
him , but that didn't erase the memory , the sting of the words . Each insult 
was still there , burning in her . She was like a glass full to the brim , only 
surface tension preventing a spill . But every insult broke that surface , 
causing her to lash out in increasingly greater amounts of anger .
    Ranma avoiding her had hurt , it had hurt her a lot . He may be the source 
of her pain , but he was still a constant in her life that she had come to 
depend on . 
    Now it wasn't Ranma lashing out back at her that hurt the most , it was him 
leaving . After she had beaten him nearly senseless in the Dojo today she had 
bawled into her pillow for twenty minuets in anger and pain . When Ranma hadn't 
come back for dinner she had cried again . This time in guilt . 
    She knew she wanted to get along with him so badly . To at least make their 
relationship as friends work if their relationship as an engaged couple could 
not . Then why couldn't she let go of the insults ? 
    Because he didn't . He never apologized to her . Either he won an argument 
or he threw a fit . His attempts at apologizing were like his attempts at 
complimenting her . Merely vessels for his own self tribute . Whenever he told 
her that she was good at anything he had to mention in the same breath that he 
happened to be better . That was why she could not let them go , she had nothing 
to replace them with . 
" Akane ?" Nabiki poked her head in the open door . " Kasumi sent me to check on 
you ."
    Quickly she turned from her sister , trying to hid her tear stained face .
" Akane ?" Nabiki repeated in a very different tone . " You're crying ." Her 
older sister observed .
" Go away , Nabiki ." She didn't need this .
    A slender arm around her shoulders surprised her . She looked over to see 
Nabiki looking back at her with genuine concern in her eyes .
" Sit ." Nabiki guided both of them over to sit on the edge of her bed .
" Now what's wrong ?"
" What do you think !" She snapped , instantly regretting it . " I'm sorry , I 
didn't mean that ." 
" I'd hope not ." Nabiki nodded before pressing on . " What'd the oaf do now ?"
    She thought for a moment before answering . Now because no words came . But 
because all to many sprang to her lips eagerly . Each of them insulting to Ranma 
, derogatory , partially true , and something she'd said many times before .
" It's what he's not doing , Nabiki . He's not fighting back really anymore . He 
used to insult me , I'd hit him and he'd get back up and do it again . Now he 
just leaves . It's not like Ranma , and it scares me . He's not talking to me , 
he's avoiding me . But it gets worse . I miss him , I want to talk to him again 
. But when he gets back I'm more angry that before and then he leaves again !"
" Vicious cycle ." Nabiki nodded .
" I want this to work so badly Nabiki . If we can't really be a couple then I 
want us to be friends at least . But he's not trying anymore Nabiki , it's like 
he just gave up fighting back . Ranma never gives up !"
" No he doesn't . But he does try new approaches ." Her sister pointed out .
" What ?"
" Maybe this is a new strategy of his . He might be seeing if giving you time 
and space will let you cool down , you know run out of steam ?" 
" But I'm worse when he gets back and I can't help it !" 
" Why ? Why are you worse ?" Her sister probed .
" I don't know . Maybe because I'm worried sick the whole time ?"
" Are you worried now ?" Nabiki raised an eyebrow .
" Yes ! For all I know he's out with the bimbo or Ukyo , or Kodachi's got him !"
" Oh ." 
    The two sisters sat by each other for some time before she looked off into 
space and broke the silence .
" What am I going to do Nabiki if this doesn't get better ? What kind of life 
can I have with a husband I hate ?" She said softly .
" What do you mean ?" Her older sister did not seem to understand . " If this 
doesn't get better why would you marry him ?" 
    That caused her to give Nabiki a bitter look . " Remember the day Ranma got 
here . I was the one chosen to marry him . I have to , our family's honor 
depends on it ." 
    The hidden accusation was not lost on Nabiki . The middle Tendo daughter 
looked away . " All I could think of was not marrying a girl ," She replied 
softly . " well half girl ." She corrected herself . " I know it was selfish and 
unfair ." 
" So now I'm stuck with him ." She stated flatly .
" No you're not ."
" Huh ?"
" We may have volunteered you , but none of that was set in stone ." Nabiki 
still looked off into space in much the same manner she had done . " Daddy gave 
Ranma his choice out of the three of us . Since he didn't chose before we 
volunteered you , you got him . But we can still switch it to me ." 
" You ?" She stared at her sister incredulously .
" Why not ?" Nabiki shrugged absently , still looking away . " I'm pretty sure I 
could handle Ranma . I'd save me the trouble of finding a husband . I'm also 
sure that if I married Ranma he wouldn't interfere , much less overshadow my 
business career . I'm a perfectly logical choice ." 
" Logic ?" She almost shook her sister . " But what about love ? Could you love 
him ?" 
" I doubt it ." The answer sounded forced for Nabiki , but she didn't take the 
time to consider it . 
" Then why ? You don't have to give up a chance for love just because I'm too 
stupid to make my relationship work ." 
" Do you love Ranma ?" 
    This distant act of Nabiki's was beginning to scare her .
" I don't know ..." She answered truthfully . " I do care about him ."
" Just because you love someone or care deeply for them doesn't a relationship 
make , Akane ." Her older sister shook her head slowly , still staring off into 
space . " Much less a marriage . You can fall in love with the wrong person . It 
happens . I have my dreams Akane , I can realize them with Ranma as my husband . 
Can you say the same thing , Akane ?" 
    She stared at her sister's profile for a moment before answering carefully .
" I won't let you switch the engagement unless I know for certain that it'll 
never work between Ranma and I ." 
" Fair enough ." 
" Nabiki ?" 
" Hai ?"
" You never mentioned Kasumi the whole time ? Why ?" 
" I don't know about you , but she's already sacrificed too many of her dreams 
for us . I'm not going to let her sacrifice any more of herself ." Her older 
sister declared with determined finality .

                           *         *         *

    There was a definite change in the general ki of the Dojo . As an old Dojo 
that had seen countless battles , and decades of practice it had it's own unique 
impression of the flow of the area . 
    He was many things , few of them honorable , but none of those things 
disputed his skill in the art . Feeling the change in the flow was as natural to 
him as distinguishing between light and dark , hot and cold . 
    He lifted his head from gorging himself on the bag of potato chips . The 
change grew more pronounced by the moment . But this did not alarm him at all . 
In fact a small smile formed from the thin line of his lips .
    It was not a disturbance , it was just a change in the flow . More of an 
addition really . Like the gradual rise of a river . The current changed to 
accommodate the new shapes it flowed over as it engulfed new territory .
    He knew what was causing this addition to the ki of the old Tendo Dojo . It 
was Saotome Ranma . That fact alone swelled his burly frame with pride . Only 
absently did he continue to retrieve chip after chip and consume them .
    Before Ranma had shown little interest in training in pure ki . Little 
beyond dramatic effects such as his Moko Takabisha . It seems now Ranma has 
opened his eyes to the discipline and art of the inner balance and energy . But 
once his son had turned to the training he took to it as he had done with all 
other forms of the art , with the focus and determination of a zealot . Ranma 
had already developed a massive amount of raw ki as a side effect of his 
impressive physical and mental training . What a discovery it must have been for 
his son to look within one day and find a veritable mountain of unshaped , raw 
potential .  
    Only a few days ago Ranma had come to him asking for basic instruction on ki 
training and research . He had tried to delve into the branch of the art that 
Ranma had neglected for far to long with his usual fervor . Only to have Ranma 
verbally assault him for his ...enthusiasm .
    So , regretfully , he had given his son the basics . The meditation that 
would allow him to examine the flow of ki throughout his body as a mirror 
allowed him to see his physical stance . How to gently manipulate the flow . How 
to exercise his ki as you would flesh muscles . Finally the basic principals of 
interaction between his own ki , the physical realm outside his body , and 
rudimentary ki to ki interaction of his and the that of the natural world . Just 
enough to get him started . 
    But already his son had surpassed his expectations . He had guessed that 
Ranma would be at his point only a few months from now . It seemed that Ranma's 
learning curve had just leapt from extraordinary into the ludicrous .
    Currently , Ranma was practicing taking the flow of his ki to it's limits . 
Like forcing a river to flow faster and faster . Just the splash over , the ki 
excess ki that escapes Ranma's body like mist from a waterfall , was gently 
altering the sensitive flow of the Tendo Dojo .
    If he had not been expecting an event like this he would have missed it 
completely . He seriously doubted that even his friend Soun would notice the 
change . 
    All too soon the bag was empty . Hunger taking precedence over basking in 
his son's achievements he stood . Letting his attention drop from feeling the 
change , he focused instead on finding more to snack on . 



    This was the thirteenth time since that first incident a week after Ranma's 
recovery that she found herself in the exact same situation . After hours of 
cleaning and household maintenance she found herself at the door to the Dojo . 
Once again it was open . Apparently Ranma did not feel that he should actively 
hide his practice from the world . 
    This time she found him sitting across the Dojo , against the wall directly 
opposite her . The floor was once more decorated with scattered puddles from the 
sweat of hours of intense physical exertion . 
    Now he sat cross-legged , his eyes closed and his head slightly lowered . 
For a moment she feared something might be wrong . But his breathing was regular 
, his face calm . 
    The walls groaned softly . Anyone else would have tuned the subtle sound out 
completely . But she had learned to listen to every sound of the house . How to 
interpret them like a tracker looking at bend grass and snapped twigs . That was 
how she always seemed to have a supernatural sense of events in the Tendo home . 
    But this sound had no apparent cause , and meant nothing that she knew . The 
roof seemed to reply with a deep moan of it's own . The smooth boards of the 
floor creaked softly as they shifted almost imperceptibly . Looking now at the 
floor she noticed the puddles flowing . Small and extremely shallow , they slid 
silently across the floor as the boards rose and fell by measures of scant 
millimeters .
    The whole effect to her was one of quiet wonder and a bit of awe . Nothing 
about the odd happenstance scared her . Guessing that Ranma was the cause she 
looked again to the young heir to Musubetsu Kakuto Ryuu . 
    He looked at peace almost . His face was clean of the hard lines of worry or 
tension , but the expression still betrayed a burden that had not been lifted . 
The longer she looked at him the more a odd feeling grew in the back of her mind 
. It was almost like a buzzing , the quietly insistent voice of instinct . The 
nebulous feeling grew until , without warning it died the moment Ranma's eyes 
snapped open .
    At once the roof , floor , and walls groaned as each returned to their 
normal positions . Then all was eerily quiet .
" Hi Kasumi ." Ranma greeted her . " This place has is so attuned to the ki of 
martial artists ." He gestured to include the walls and floor . " Anywhere else 
and there wouldn't be such a noticeable effect ." 
" I'm sorry ." She apologized by reflex . " Am I intruding ?"
" Never ." He smiled at her and stood .
" What exactly were you doing ?" She asked as he walked over to her .
" Just some ki exercises ." He shrugged . " I feel pretty dumb , having 
neglected a branch of the art until now ." 
" How will this training help you ?" She fell into step beside him as he walked 
over to retrieve a towel .
" Umm . How can I put it ..." He dried what sweat still clung to him and 
pondered 
how to answer her . " I guess it's like up 'till now I've just been ..no ... 
Okay 
look at it like this ." He turned to her and gestured at his body . " If I'm 
like a sword . Then right now I'm a real strong blade , but I've never been 
sharpened . Alla my other training has shaped and strengthened me , but was just 
like one of Kuno's wooden toys , no edge . This hones all I've been doing these 
past ten years ."
" Oh my ." She attempted to imagine Ranma becoming much more powerful than he 
already was . Even with all she had seen her imagination balked at the task .
" Course it'll take me a while to catch up with those ten years , but so far so 
good ." 
    She watched as he took one of the floor cloths and proceeded to dash from 
one side of the Dojo to the other , pushing the cleaning cloth along the floor 
before him . Within a minuet he had the wet floor sparkling and bone dry .
    After finishing cleaning up Ranma exited the Dojo with her walking by his 
side . Their chat had turned to more mundane events and activities , but she 
enjoyed every moment nonetheless . 

                           *         *         *

    She stared at the open door to her restaurant . But no matter how hard she 
wished it he would not suddenly walk through . Nor would anyone else for that 
matter . Ever since the McDonalds opened up farther down the block she hardly 
ever picked up any impulse snackers between established meal periods . They all 
went for the damn western fast foods .
    Not that she was doing badly , far from it thankfully . But her growth this 
quarter had dropped ten percent due to the loss . Not something to just shrug 
off . 
    Still for all her other worries Ranma still stood out in her mind . He had 
changed in the last month . Ever since that necklace fiasco at the beginning of 
the month . 
    He was still her Ran-chan , still the man she loved with all her heart . In 
fact many of the changes she found she loved . But some were ones she could do 
without . Now he was much more moody . Problems that he wouldn't have noticed or 
cared about before he agonized over . His grades were up , his martial arts 
training was better than ever , and he was doing much better socially . However 
, he now avoided Akane after every beating she gave him . Once she would have 
thought that a good move , but not now . It was akin to the old adage 'never go 
to bed angry , stay up and fight' . Ranma avoiding Akane only hurt her and 
forced him to stew in his own misery when in self inflicted exile from the Tendo 
residence . 
    In her most recent letter to her Father she had brought up this dilemma . 
Her Father had came up with many insightful points and hypotheses . At the 
beginning of his reply he had stated : 'Ucchan , I do hate to say it , but isn't 
this what you were waiting for ? Isn't this your opportunity to finally show 
Saotome Ranma how happy you could make him ? Why do you agonize over your 
rival's imminent self defeat ?'
    She hated to admit it , but he was right . Why indeed ? The answer she had 
found was that she had matured too . Once she would have grinned , shoved Ryouga 
into Akane's arms and ran off with Ranma before anyone could blink . But not 
anymore . It wasn't so simple . Her past answer even pointed to her current one 
. She did not want to win her happiness at the cost of another's . Even before 
she would have tried to make sure Akane had someone . 
    However , now Ryouga was seeing Akari for one , and Akane really did show 
that she wanted Ranma and her to work . Ranma had already demonstrated his 
loyalty to Akane . Now it seemed that loyalty was the only thing keeping him 
with her . But with someone like Ranma loyalty could remain unbroken even 
through decades of personal torture . It wasn't so much getting him to want her 
, as allowing him to . Her love was being strangled in a hopelessly tangled web 
of twisted honor , promises , and duty .
" Yo , Ucchan ." Her beloved called before entering her establishment . 
    Quickly she composed herself . Seeing her worry over him would only hurt him 
even more .
" Ran-chan !" She called happy to him , already preparing his usual order .
" Not today ." He waved her cooking preparations off . 
" Not hungry ? You ?!" 
" I am , but no time ." He looked about for a second before producing a map from 
his shirt .
" Are we finally eloping ?" She asked jokingly , putting away her cooking 
utensils .
" You wish ." He snorted with a smile .
" I do ." She answered truthfully , but with a similar smile . " So what's up ?"
" I think I've figured out a way that we can talk every day like we used too , 
but without anyone finding out ." 
" Nani ?" She glanced from the map to him . " How ?"
" Well you know that building by the park , the one with the billboard of Goku 
on it ?" He began .
" Yeah ?" 
" Well you and I can meet there , the billboard will keep anyone from seeing us 
up there . Also it's out of any of the roof hopping routes that alla us martial 
artists use ." He pointed to various marked out paths criss-crossing the map .
    She stared down at the map for a few moments , amazed . He had every major 
martial artist's usual paths marked out , and color coded for each individual . 
Her routes were lined in green . 
" This must have taken you weeks to research ." She looked up at him , 
thoroughly impressed . 
" Naw . I just crossed what I remembered with the info I sneaked outta Nabiki's 
files ."
" Nabiki's ?" 
" Yeah , ever since day one she's been keeping info files on all of us ." He 
looked at her as if she should have known . " But since I learned Umi-sen-ken 
I've been keeping tabs on what she has ."
    She didn't realize her jaw had dropped until he reached across and closed it 
for her . 
" I had no idea you ..you....I just had no idea ." Even she wasn't sure what she 
meant by that .
" Anyhow I know that Nabiki would track me and you down . 'Cause some time or 
another one of my fiancée's would realize that you and me kept disappearing 
around the same time . So they'd pay Nabiki and she'd find out . But I got that 
covered too ."
" You have Nabiki outsmarted ?" She hoped her jaw would stay put this time .
" Wasn't easy . Well , yeah it was ."
    This time she thought her eyes would bug out . Outsmarting Nabiki , easy ? 
" Y'see Nabiki's a creature of habit . So am I , but she's worse . You see she 
never expects anyone she's thinks she's got figured out to surprise her . So I 
just give her the behavior she wants and she thinks she's got it covered ." Now 
he was grinning from ear to ear . " A few days ago I started a pre workout jog 
every day after I finish my homework , about the same time the dinner rush is 
over . I knew that Nabiki would either put the two times together or wonder 
about my sudden interest in jogging . So I waited until she followed me . Then I 
waited until she questioned everybody . Finally I made sure that she had filed 
her conclusion away and forgot about the whole thing . Now just to be sure I 
waited another day until coming here to let you in on it ."
" Ran-chan ," She began . " please don't take this the wrong way , but I had not 
earthly idea that you could pull something like this off ."
" Never tried before ." He shrugged , but glad for the praise .
" I'm in ."
" Great , check the map I've got six routes for you to follow . Never take the 
same one twice in a row ." He cautioned . " What I do is I put them in a bag and 
draw a number , that'll be my route for the day if it isn't a repeat ."

         End of part 3  'Emotions'