On the plains, the trees act as breakers to the winds, but even they can be blown down. Trees, plants, animals, they can all sense what we, if we listen, can hear.

Ranma had a dream that night which was similar to his previous dreams. He had been taken to the field as usual only this time the woman never spoke. She said nothing. She did not even glance in his direction. She just began her weaving. She wove a fine web with her fingers. An intricate design. Once again, she did it slowly enough so he could see and memorise the pattern. He thought that the pattern should take him at least a week or two to master. It had something to do with water this time. Water and air. Those were two of the four elements. He thought she would have stopped with that but he was wrong. Leaving the first pattern in the air, she began to weave another.

What was interesting though was that it was the pattern she first taught him that she wove. She wove it and then she did something he never expected; she attached the first spell to the second one making a more powerful spell. He knew how to do that, but the single spells themselves were powerful enough and needed a lot of control and energy to charge them. To do one of those combined spells...he would have to do that over a period of time. The more he wove the spell, the less energy it would require to charge, but that was a relative statement. It would still take a phenomenal amount of energy out of him. The only way he would gain that amount of control and aptitude for charging and creating spells was if he really applied himself to his spell weaving. To do that, he would have to set aside a lot of mental time to concentrated on weaving that patterns. It was not impossible, but it would be a very difficult road. Very difficult indeed!

He would definitely have to learn to cast spells using his mind's eye. That in itself would take some time for him to master. It was no where as esay as it sounded. It had taken Dai a whole year before she could trace the patterns without her fingers but the impressive thing was that she had been about ten or eleven at the time.

The woman stared straight into his eyes once again and once again, he could not remember her face. All he could remember was the fuzzyness around her eyes. Never her face.

"This is what you have to learn."

He nodded.

"Learn Ranma Saotome. Learn from me and learn from your friends but learn quickly."

That agitated him. Why did he need to learn quickly? Why did... He was in the darkness again except this time the pinprick of light was to his right. He righted himself and headed, or rather flew, in the direction of the light. This time though, he knew what to expect and this time, he was not afraid when he went flying into the light.

Ranma blinked and opened his eyes to find a familiar person sitting on the bed bedside him. He blinked again and shielded his eyes from the sunlight.

"You certainly seem to be getting a lot of sleep," quipped Akane. Ranma just waved his hand, yawned very loudly and tried to upright himself on the bed. He was half-successful. He righted himself but he just slowly leaned back down to the lie on the opposite side of the bed. Akane giggled at his attempt and pulled Ranma back to an upright position.

She had been thinking that night before they went to bed. Both Ranma and Dai said that nothing had happened. After careful consideration, she had to agree with them. He imagination did tend to run away a bit and early in the morning she was very susceptible to believing what her imagination told her to be true. There had been the time she woke everyone in the house up when she thought she saw a wolf moving in her room when she got up. It turned out to be a plastic bag that flew into her room when she opened the window. The plastic bag looked nothing like an animal except that it was black. It had been her imagination. She was sure of it. That time it had probably been because she had watched that horrid horror movie with Nabiki. this time was probably due to all those late night television romance movies that ended with a tragedy.

Ranma had fallen asleep last night before she had reached the house though and Akane had to be the one to change her into some decent clothes. All she did was remove those black pants of Ranma's and her red shirt and give her some decent looking pyjamas. If she wanted to sleep in men's underwear and a vest, that was fine, but Akane knew she would grasp any opportunity to change that habit. She just didn't have to tell Ranma that.

She thought those red pyjamas with the little blue birds on them suited Ranma just fine. The red always seemed to highlight her eyes and the size was almost perfect for the girl. It had been a present from one of her aunts sometime ago but Akane never really liked the colour or the pattern. She preferred the yellow one to it. She had always liked yellow. She had to admit that Ranma did look cute in those red pyjamas. It at least was something different from those conservative clothes she usually wore.

Actually almost everything she wore was conservative. Only the bulges on her chest proved that she was a woman. Sometimes when she sat down with her knees covering her chest and with those clothes on, it was easy to mistake her for a boy especially when she was wolfing down her food under the branches of the trees in the school yard. The boys however, knew her by face and never mistook her for one of them.

She had to get Ranma up though. They...actually, she had planned something for the day and Ranma was essential to the plot. Now what would get Ranma up. She snapped her fingers. That was an easy question to answer!

After a quick trip to the kitchen, Akane returned to her room with a brown circular disc. She placed the disk under Ranma's nose and eeped as she had to snatch back her hand. Half the cookie had already disappeared and the teeth marks were not very far from were her fingers had been..

"Mmm...hungry," was all Ranma muttered, but Akane heard the sounds of her belly rumbling.

Grabbing Ranma, Akane scrambled down to the kitchen with Ranma in tow where Kasumi was waiting with a tray in her hand. Ranma gobbled down the food and the milk that was offered with the meal. Somewhere during her intake of food, she had gradually risen from the point past semi-consciousness to full alert. She sat there, smiling and patting her belly.

"Ranma I'm sorry for..."

Ranma waved her off. "Don't worry about it s'in the past."

Akane could not help but fell relieved when Ranma said that. She knew Ranma would forgive her, but it seemed the girl had already put it in the past. Maybe today they would have some fun.

"Ranma, would you like to go to the fair with me?" asked Akane.

"Fair? What fair?" he replied.

"The one that's in town silly, now we'd better hurry up and get there, otherwise all the rides will be full by the time we get there."

"Okay," replied Ranma,"but only if you don't try to kill any boys who ask you out. Remember the last time?"

Akane blushed. The last time a boy asked her out, she had thrown something at him. Purely by luck, the boy had ducked low enough and the object, which had been a rock, made intimate contact with a store window. Luckily, the store was due to be turned into another restaurant and the owner did not mind too much since he was going to get rid of the window anyway. Ranma and her had to stay back though and help clean up the broken class.

"Hai," replied Akane sheepishly.

"Then we'll go after I get out of these things." Ranma pulled the shoulder of the pyjama top he was wearing. He had never liked pyjamas and he doubted he ever would. For some reason he always felt them a bit too constrictive, especially when his pops decided to throw a surprise midnight attack. After a while they were not surprises any more. He smiled. He liked seeing his old man flying during the night. Usually he was able to punt his old man a reasonable distance away so that he would not be bothered by his old man's morning training attacks.

He walked up to the guestroom and pealed off the clothes. Eww...he smelled. A quick shower was just the thing! It minutes, he was back in his room donning his usual red shirt and black pants. To him, they were the most comfortable clothes to wear plus they allowed him all the movement that he needed when he got into a fight. He raised his hands in the air and allowed himself to stretch as the full glorious beams of the sun warmed his body. He would have liked to have practiced some katas but he knew they would have to catch a bus to get to the fair and Akane seemed pretty impatient.

Sighing, he thrust a small wad of bills into his pocket and exited the room. Maybe he would have fun today. He was still tired from using all that energy the day before, but he was okay for the moment once he did not have to use any special wards or spells.

He had awoken in Akane's room that morning and he knew he had probably slept there that night. It had not actually been his plan. He had wanted to go to bed on a full stomach but unfortunately, Akane had stopped his concentration and with his concentration broken he had given in to the tiredness in his limbs. He knew Akane well enough by now, and he knew that if he did not watch himself she would probably want him to move into her room with her.

He knew she liked having someone to talk to about martial arts among other things who did not have an ulterior motive behind their interest. It also helped that she was beginning to realise what life in the martial arts was really about. She could not get up as early as he did- that would rob her of some really needed sleep- but he guessed that she had asked Kasumi to wake her up early in the morning since he sometimes saw her accompanying Kasumi down the stairs for breakfast. Breakfast had turned out to be a sort of mini ritual in itself. Either he would stay there and help Kasumi with the cooking with an occasional destructive hand from Akane, or Akane and him would spar for a while until he was sure Akane had received a decent enough workout and all three of the early risers would wait for the others to wake for breakfast.

He guessed that Akane liked talking. She would frequently fall asleep on her bed during their talks and he would tuck her into bed. When he fell asleep, which had only been three times to date, she would usually go to sleep with him. It was strange. He had known from speaking to others that sisters would usually sleep in the same bed on cold nights or when they were just feeling lonely. It was strange though that neither Kasumi or Nabiki opted to bunk with Akane any night since he had been there. They probably felt to old to do things like that. He never liked sleeping with Akane though, primarily because he was a guy even though he was trapped in a girl's body the majority of the time. He had not told her of the curse and sleeping with her was just dishonorable in his mind. They did not do anything when they slept, but he did not like the intimacy Akane treated him to. She wanted a sister, someone her age who could talk with her about things that neither Kasumi or Nabiki understood.

Speaking about Nabiki, where had she been for the last two days anyway. He had seen neither hide nor hair of the girl and she was usually the one to greet him with an offhand remark in the morning. He had grown accustomed to her regular tauntings about his unisex clothes and of the few strange things that happened to occur in his presence. Besides that, she usually kept to herself and he had the uncanny feeling that she was watching and studing him, waiting for an opportunity for something.

That did not shake the fact that Akane had slept with him in her bed that night. He regretted having lost his concentration and having fallen asleep before he could get himself to bed. However, given the way she had reacted a day ago, he was actually relieved that she did that. At least he knew that she did not blame him for anything that had happened that night and he was sure that nothing had happened that night. She was back to being the friendly spirited girl that he liked to teach and have as a friend.

"Come on Ranma. The faster we get there, the more time we have to have fun," he heard from down below.

Frowning slightly at the fact that he had allowed himself to get lost in his thoughts again, Ranma scrambled down the stairs, passing Akane on the way out of the house and into the streets. He could barely hear Akane shouting something at him as he headed towards the bus stop.
 
 
 
 
 

"Wake up sleepyhead," nudged Akane. "Time to get up."

"I don't wanna pops...it'sha too early."

Akane had to admit that Ranma did look too cute sleeping there on her shoulder. She did not actually know when the smaller girl had fallen asleep on the bus. She had the window seat while Ranma had the aisle. She had offered the window to Ranma but she said that she had seen enough already and she wanted to figure out a problem in her head. Akane had been sitting, watching the building as they passed by until she felt something warm press against her shoulder. It had predictably been Ranma, sleeping again.

That girl had some strange sleeping habits. It seemed that she slept in spurts. Some days she would sleep most of the day away, not minding where she slept, which was usually school. Other days she was, Akane knew, the first up and the last to go to bed and she had so much energy. She would not have thought it strange if one bright day was followed by one sleepy day, but that simply was not the case. It was usually some bright days followed by a few sleepy days. A very strange sleeping pattern. She had asked Tofu-sensei about it but he said that since Ranma had been living and training in the forests all this time, she might have adapted her sleeping cycles with her father's so that some days she would be alert and on days when she was not alert, her father would be.

Akane had some measure of compassion for Ranma and slipped her hands around the girls waist to support her. Somehow Ranma's hand had also snaked its way around her waist also. She sometimes wondered how Ranma kept her hair so shiny. Dai's was shiny too she observed, although the two colours seemed totally opposite to each other: red versus blue.

Akane wanted to do something with Ranma's hair though. She had such lovely long flowing red hair. Many of the girls had remarked how they would have given anything to have hair like that. However, Ranma never did anything with her hair. She never styled it. She only wore it in a pigtail or more infrequently, a ponytail. In those styles, the real beauty of her hair was always covered. All she had to do was find the right moment and she would probably be able to crack Ranma's will. Just a little time was all she needed.

More importantly though, the bus was quickly emptying and Akane had to get Ranma out of the bus. She had no food with her so she settled for the next best thing. She reached just to the sides of Ranma's breasts and started wiggling her fingers. The reaction was quite explosive. Ranma bolted up, out of her seat, and into Akane's lap, with a surprised exclamation on her face. Akane now was really amused.

"Now Ranma. If you would kindly get off my lap, I would like to go to the fair."

Akane could see the colour rising in the girl's cheeks and she jumped off Akane, cart-wheeled across the floor of the bus and then out of the bus. Akane could not help but smirk. Ranma had always been a bit of a show-off, even if she did not realise it.
 
 
 
 

Ranma and Akane had been at it for hours. They had roamed all over the fair, had been on many rides. Akane could not believe how many times Ranma had just made her go on the Crazy Teacups. She said it had been for training and Akane could actually see the logic in that. It was to make sure that you could control your vertigo when spinning around and around. Akane thought she had got some measure of revenge when she forced Ranma to go with her. Ranma had had the last laugh though. Ranma had not been phased by the spinning and twirling and whirling-even thinking about it almost got her upset- instead, she had been the one who had been bent out of shape. She did get revenge though. Ranma had had to pop back in her shoulder. At least Ranma was not invincible, her revenge had come from her crushing hugging of Ranma during the spins. Ranma was still massaging her supposedly sore shoulder and ribs.

The fair was finally coming to a close. Besides the Crazy Teacups, there had been the Bumper Car racing where she actually managed to get the better of Ranma, not to mention the water pistol fights and Ranma's obsession with catching the fish in the pirannha tank.

Akane was still trying to control her nausea when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. A slightly purple shape on the top of a building. It was closing in fast in the dimming light. Ranma was not facing the blur but Akane had to tell her somehow that danger was approaching. She had to do something to warn Ranma.

Akane mouthed one syllable, but one syllable was enough to capture Ranma's attention. The redhead followed her gaze and barely saw the blur before it was upon her. Ranma seemed to have all the time in the world as she bent backwards and twisted slightly to the side. Akane knew that Shampoo had only missed her by mere millimetres.

The girl twisted slightly as she passed Ranma and executed an impressive array of rolls and flips that allowed her to stop less that ten meters away from Ranma. Akane's concentration switched from Ranma in her always aloof but ready stance to Shampoo's poised stance. Shampoo's face was one of slight shock that she had missed but Akane saw a smile creep to the girl's face. Was she enjoying this?

Akane saw the tension ebb out of Shampoo's body and her stance suddenly shifted from the poised shoulder length apart battle stance to one where her left foot was slightly in front of her right foot and hung partially suspended on her front toes with her heel off the ground.

Akane stared at the girl and her dress which was entirely too short for her tastes. She could also see what this new stance did to those clothes too. In her normal stance, the slits at the side were hidden, but like this with one foot slight in front of the other and with her thigh slightly raised. Akane could see that the slit ran straight up the dress almost reaching where there should be a hemline except that there wasn't.

There was no hemline on the short dress which meant that either Shampoo was not wearing any underwear, or that the underwear part of the clothes was sewn into the dress. Akane hoped it was the latter. Akane could visibly see that Ranma was becoming more uneasy as time progressed. Akane knew why too. Shampoo had to be up to something. Akane only hoped that Ranma could handle whatever Shampoo was attempting.

Ranma stood there unshaken while Shampoo cat-crawled her way towards Ranma. Akane saw Ranma flinch but she held her cool.

"Ranma, Xian Pu sorry she chase and try to kill. Xian Pu only hear of Ranma's condition few weeks ago. Amazons have Law for those who defeat Amazon woman. You given great honour to be airen of Xian Pu." Shampoo was now not very far away from Ranma by now. "All Ranma have to do is accept kiss."

Shampoo leaned forward to kiss Ranma, but she met with air.

"There's no way I'm gonna let you kiss me Xian Pu," shouted Ranma, who had leapt halfway across the clearing..

Shampoo smiled. "Hope not. Xian hope to have lots of fun with airen before return to village yes."

Shampoo took off trying to catch Ranma as the lithe redhead bounded about at fantastic speeds and angles, most of which defied all the laws of physics.

Akane was left to watch in wonderment as the two disappeared from her sight. Whatever Shampoo had said to Ranma must have been worse than she thought. Akane did not understand what the girl meant since her Japanese was badly broken, but she was sure that Ranma was running away faster than she had ever seen her run before. Akane knew about the Kiss of Death. Was this another one of those kinds of kisses?

She hoped not, but she knew that even though she was worried, Ranma could handle herself. She was better in martial arts and if anyone could beat Shampoo and her schemes, it would be Ranma. She could hear Ranma and Shampoo's trail and though she had full confidence in her sensei, Akane did not think that Ranma would mind if she followed their trail. And was it a trail! She did not have to keep very close behind the pair as they wove their way across the town.
 
 
 
 

After a long escapade across the city, Ranma was finally certain that he had lost Akane. He needed to speak to Shampoo alone. He had to try and reason with the girl. Maybe there was a way out of this tricky Amazon situation. He stopped in a place where he knew that no one would find them and where he would have enough room to manoeuvre should Shampoo get aggressive again.

Ranma stopped in the clearing and waited knowing that any second later, Shampoo would be arriving. What he failed to anticipate was Shampoo's trickiness as the girl appeared from behind a tree and grabbed Ranma. Fortunately for Ranma, he was able to bend his head forward a little so that Shampoo's lips missed him by quite a way and ended up on his forehead. He used the leverage of the girls arms coming around his waist to pull her body over his as he tucked his head down into a rolling position. The act caused him to roll below Shampoo's feet and Shampoo to be raised above him where from her mid air position she tucked herself into a roll and landed gently not five feet away.

"Why airen no like Xian Pu?" she asked as she rose off the ground with her best puppy dog expression.

Ranma faulted for a little. He had always had a soft spot for girls, but having been around so many, especially Akane, the effect of those eyes were not as profound as they would have been the first day he arrived in Nerima.

"That's probably because you were trying to kill me," retorted Ranma. Xian Pu faced showed that the remark had hurt her a little though he could sense that she was hiding it under her Amazon bravado. "I am not your airen though. I'm not marrying anyone. Not yet. And I certainly ain't marrying anyone because of some stupid law!"

The Chinese girl was silent for a few seconds before she replied.

"Then why airen stay with clumsy girl. Airen marry clumsy girl?"

"Hey its not like that. Me and Akane are just friends," defended Ranma.

"Hmm...Oh, you no tell that you boy. Xian Pu sure clumsy girl like if you boy."

"Don't you dare tell her Xian," threatened Ranma.

"Xian think Ranma afraid clumsy girl like Ranma too too much yes. Xian think that Ranma too afraid of marriage. Xian always hear that men too weak to face woman."

"Hey!" shouted Ranma. "Take that back! I'm not weak!"

"Oh? Then prove Xian wrong. Xian challenge. If Xian win, Ranma marry Xian."

"And if I lose?"

"What if Ranma lose?"

"Then you don't tell anyone my curse."

Xian suddenly smiled and the colour came to her cheeks. This was perfect.

"Xian accept. Now Xian fight."

Ranma barely dodged the Amazon's first attack since he was not fully prepared for it. She attacked with a whole range of combos that he was unfamiliar with. She had never used these in her fights with him. He was excited at the prospect of learning some new moves from Xian, so much so that he let his guard down for a moment. A moment however was all it took for Shampoo to slip in a blow that had him reeling.

Ranma shrugged it off as he flipped onto his feet and back into a ready position. He had momentarily forgotten the importance of this fight which was his personal freedom. Shampoo attacked again. He wondered why she was not using her traditional weapons of a sword or those bonbori. He had never seen her fight without them before and he had to admit that she was just as good without them if not better, but not good enough to get the better of him.

This time, he would see what all that previous training was good for. He was not as strong as he was before he had tried those spells and he could still feel the twinge of tiredness in his limbs but he had more than enough energy for this fight, more than enough to defeat Xian.

They clashed again, but this time he was more wary of Xian than he had been before. After all his sparring with Akane, he had almost made the fatal error of not putting all his concentration on the fight when he saw her new technique. His mind was fully focused on the fight now. He would win.

His foot gained some grasp on her shoulder and he used it to push her away as she attempted to strike him with a flower dance palm strike. It served both to force her to roll backwards and made the strike miss. He did not calculate how quickly she would recover from the strike though and he turned to face her when she shouted the words.

"Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!"

She knew about that technique! Enough thinking, after two blows passed his defence, he echoed her battle cry. He could see that Xian was visibly surprised when he countered her attack. He then formed a wry smile on his face. She might know the technique but she was not as fast as he was. Increasing his speed, he forced her back until with some delicate touches, he managed to make some of his fingertips connect with some of the few shiatsu points he knew.

Xian had called the technique, but he was faster than her. Her legs buckled and she fell to the floor. He could see it in her eyes now, the sting of having been defeated twice. The shiatsu points should hold her on the ground until he removed them. He had won.

"Xian, I have won."

Xian allowed a small smile to creep to her face.

"Ranma win yes. But Ranma win now while knowing law. Xian Pu can now call Ranma true airen."

"Huh?"

"Ranma have much pride. Ranma defeat Xian for second time. Now marriage is all but complete."

"What!"

"All Xian do now is give Ranma kiss yes."

Ranma backed away even faster than he had before until a thick tree blocked his retreat. Shampoo reached out to grab him, but he was slippery enough to evade her grasp and worm his way out of her hold. Shampoo got a good grip on the strap of his bra though, and the elastic band burst, stinging him. Ranma could also feel the draft as half of his favourite shirt was ripped off his body by the Amazons' vice grip. Not another of his Chinese shirts ruined! He loved those things because they were so comfortable. Ranma could feel the bra slipping and he reached in and threw it away while circling Shampoo. The loose straps were just begging to be yanked on and Ranma did not like cloth burns, escpecially those in sensitive areas, besides, the slipping was irritating his concentration.

Ranma knew what the stakes were and though he did not want to outrightly attack Shampoo, he would not hesitate to defend himself. The girl did not want his head anymore, she wanted him. He did not want her though. It was nice to have these girls chasing him all the time but he knew that he didn't like Shampoo that much even if she had the right assets.

He watched her like a hawk as he circled with the girl. Each attack was met with a counterattack negating any danger of that vital kiss. It was a dance. A dance filled with half chances and deception on both parties. This was before a third party showed up on the scene.

"Ranma!" shouted Akane.

Ranma was distracted for a few seconds, but a few seconds was all that Shampoo needed to launch a chestnut fist at Ranma then sieze Ranma's hand in a lock and bring him around for the final kiss. This time however, her lips were met by a fist as for the first time, the Amazon was introduced to the brutal strenght of the Tendo Dojo heir.
 
 

Akane had followed the trail which appeared and disappeared with no set pattern, finally after some time, she heard the noises of what must be some fight and she almost instinctively knew it was Ranma. Turning the bend she saw Ranma and Shampoo circling each other. Akane did not like messing in on other people's fights, but this was Ranma, her Ranma, her best friend and no Chinese Amazon girl was going to take her away. Akane saw the red fabric lying on the ground and Ranma's semi-nude disposition. With a shout she rushed to the pair and almost in time too as it seemed that Shampoo had got the upper hand. A fist to the girl's face had changed that though and Shampoo lay about twenty feet away, stunned by the blow.

Akane bent down to hold Ranma who had been dropped on the floor when Shampoo had been sent flying. Akane had been sparring with Ranma and as a result, her martial arts instinct had been honed by the son of the world's sneakiest and most underhanded martial artist. Her sixth sense had been built up to such a level that she reacted without thought. Her body bent backwards slightly and she could feel something warm and wet rolling down her breast. She ducked her head. Ranma moved from within her grasp but Akane stayed frozen in position, unable to move, unable to think.

Ranma's eyes were blazing as he held the sword in his hand between two fingers. Shampoo wanted to go for a third strike, but she saw Ranma's eyes and she yielded. That sudden aggressiveness that made her the premier warrior of her tribe vanished when Ranma broke the tip of the sword with his hand. She could see the real power that Ranma held now. The power that her great grandmother wanted for the tribe and her clan. The pale blue glow surrounded Ranma making him an even more powerful opponent than before. Normally she would have faced Ranma without a hint of fear or regard for her life except that the emotion, the anger and the hate that was emanating from Ranma's aura was causing her to cower.

"If she dies you die."

That was all Ranma told her, but it was enough. Shampoo was very glad that she had not tipped the sword in any of the poisons. Ranma turned away and she disappeared using the cloak of the night as her shield.

Ranma faced Akane. All the anger had been leached from his face in milliseconds and had been replaced by an even greater amount of worry for Akane's safety.

"Akane, are you okay?" he asked.

She did not respond.

He asked her some more times and still she would not speak to him. He reached out to her hand and felt something. He had not realised it before, but she was clutching a handful of her hair. Checking again, he realised that she had been the recepient of a nasty haircut forced by the blade of Xian Pu's sword. Turning her to her side, he saw that the side of her dress had been ripped and the blade had drawn blood. He examined the cut and sighed in relief when he realised that it had been only a flesh wound. There were worst thing to die from than wounds however.

Her pulse was still stong and her breathing was regular which was a good sign that she had not been poisoned. Aside from her inability to answer him, she seemed unhurt except for her hair and the cut at her side. He cradled her gently in his arms, lifted her and ran back to the only place he thought was safe enough to treat her. He used the surrounding darkness to his aid hiding his flight.

The window to her room was open as usual and he entered using it. He lay Akane down on her bed and rushed to his room to get the things he needed. In seconds, he returned to Akane. He tried talking to her again, but she still would not tell him anything. That was not his main concern. His main concern was to treat the wound before it got infected.

Akane seemed to move almost meachanically as he unbuttoned the top of her dress and unfastened her bra. The colour rushed to Ranma's face, but his worry suppressed it. Ranma took a deep breath and dabbed at the would with a piece of cloth, removing the blood that had seeped from it. It was not that deep, but it bled nonetheless. During the fight and his flight back to the Dojo, he had used up most of his remaining energy but besides that, any healing he cast would do no good if he did not clean the wound first.

After cleansing the wound, he applied a white balm to the cloth and pressed it against Akane's breast where the cut was. She grimaced slightly as he held it fast to her skin by sticking it down with tape. To his relief, he saw the first tear escape her eye, and then another.

She whimpered then she began to cry. Ranma held her then. He held her to his chest as she cried. The tears fell and soaked his skin but he did not care. He just held her, stroking the side of her face and offering soothing noises. Her crying quieted to sniffles and then she raised her eyes to meet his. They were still wet with tears.

"Stay with me tonight, please?" asked Akane hoarsely. Ranma did not know what Shampoo or Dai had planned for him that night but Akane's face was reason enough for him to stay here with her. He did not see the strong spirited vivacious girl in front of his eyes, instead he saw someone who was afraid, and scared, and needed someone to be with them.

He lay her down on the bed and kissed her forehead, then he walked over and closed the window. He came back to the bed and held her hand that contained the locks of hair within it. Slowly, she opened her hand and Ranma gently took the locks from her hand. He rest them carefully in a box that lay at the side of her table. Her pyjamas were on the rack she normally placed them and he helped her get into them. He grimaced as she winced when she raised her hands to put on the pyjama top. He had retrieved a vest from her room from the night before and slipped it on and then joined her under on the bed. He flipped the covers over them. He lay away from Akane, but the girl slid her hands around him and held him tightly as if she never wanted to let go.

He placed his hands around her as she started to cry again. He passed his hand through her quite shorter hair and lightly patted her back, trying to soothe her. Her crying abated again and she raised her head to look him straight in the eyes.

"I love you Ranma," she whispered. "I wish you'd always be my best friend."

He was a bit shocked at what she had said, but he did not show it on his face. "I love you too Akane," he whispered back. "We'll always be friends." It sounded like the right thing to say. He smiled, kissed her on the cheek, and placed a finger to her lips. "Now go to sleep, you'll feel better in the morning."

Akane forced a smile, a weak smile but one nonetheless. "Hai oneechan," she whispered then placed her head against Ranma's chest. Ranma continued to stroke her hair, lulling her to sleep.

***************

Xian Pu stared at the door of the Nekohanten. She had the daunting task of telling her great grandmother what had happened. It had been both a positive and negative night. She had not done exactly what her great grandmother had told her to do. In fact, she had done most of what her great grandmother had told her not to do.

She was waiting, watching her new home when she felt a presence behind her. She turned around, ready for an attack but her eyes bulged insurprise at what she saw: an old woman sitting on a stick and watching her, scrutinising her face for something that Xian did not know how to hide.

"There is no need to hide what you have done great granddaughter. I saw it all."

Xian drooped her head. She wondered what tasks her great grandmother would have in store for her.

"Do not fret young one. Though you did not do exactly what I said..." There was a hint of controlled anger in her voice. "...we have learned some interesting things about son-in-law. The one plus is that he had indeed defeated you while knowing the law, unfortunately he knows we are coming. He also is angry at you. Remember Xian, we are in a foreign country, your zealousness with the sword is a commendable trait in the Village but you must exact caution when dealing with others. I have been watching son-in-law while you have been learning your Japanese. He seems to know one of our secret techniques but he is still young and he is still vulnerable. He is very attached to this Tendo girl. We can use her to get him."

Kho Lon pulled out a vial from a vestements and threw the contents at Xian. Immediately the girl's body shrank and changed form.

"Meow?" questioned Xian.

"Your punishment from the elders. Make use of it. It can get you into places where you could no go before. You can use it to get closer to son-in-law."

"Meow," replied Xian. She understood. Kho Lon left her alone on the roof.

Xian curled her tail around her body and rest her head on her paws. It had been a day of surprises. She had expected to give Ranma the kiss until the clumsy girl had warned him. She had almost got him in the park too if it was not for the clumsy girl. In a flash of anger, she had almost killed her, but Ranma had been there, protecting her. Ranma with those dark flames in his eyes that almost promised death. She shivered. She had been close to tasting death before, but Ranma was able to scare her while others were not. The boy even knew the chestnut fist and to top that he was faster than she was.

She should have listened to the elders and use the dreamscape to trap him, only that took so long and the results were not always what was desired. She was slightly afraid of him, but truly he was best warrior she had met and he would be hers. She would try everything and he would be hers. Even if it came down to plotting with that mage Dai, she would win him over. She could see the envy of the other girls in the village when she brought home an exotic and powerful husband. Yes, she would get him. She licked her paw to clean it. This body was a means to an end.

Her plan had not worked as well as she thought. She thought that the distraction of her very feminine body would have given him enough of an eyeful for him to accept the marriage. Apparently he had been impressed, but he had not been fooled. He was a fool boy for not accepting her then and there but she did not fell that much regret in his rejection of her offer. Where was the excitement without the thrill of the hunt? She would have liked to kiss him though. Then it would be sealed, if partially. She still had to get him to defeat her as a boy or to accpet the Kiss of Marriage as a girl. Either one would do.

He had surprised her. He was on eof the few boys who had not been captured with her beauty. She would remedy that situation later. She had seen the scornful gaze of the clumsy girl when she had tempted Ranma with her body. Obviously the girl did not know how to use her body as a weapon. Men were weak when it came to certain things and women had the right weapons with which to control them. All that was needed was a little application.

She was tired now. The fight had not taken a lot out of her, but tomorrow she would have to work and train under her great grandmother. The elder was not pleased with her creative additions to the plan and Xian knew it. Tomorrow would be a hard day of work and training. She only needed a couple of hours of sleep and she already knew who she would be dreaming of. Pity she had yet to see his whole male form. That truly would have made her dreams even more pleasurable.

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