The Ryoga/Ukyo Chronicles
By The Girthman

Disclaimer:
	Ryoga Hibiki and Ukyo Kuonji are not my creations and are both
 copyright of Rumiko Takahashi. I’d like to thank Takahashi-sensei for her
 great series. I once again claim no credit for their creation, however, some
 of the characters are my creations (but none are in this chapter) and I do
 claim them, so there!

                         Chapter One: Exodus
*****************************************************************************
                     "Everyone gather round now
                           sing him a song
                      just in case by tommorrow
                       it happens he's gone.."
	- "Steven's last night in Town" by the Ben Folds Five
*****************************************************************************

	Ukyo sat in the relative silence of the now-empty okonomiyaki shop.
 Her deep brown eyes glimmered with inflection. She thought about things.
 Lots of things. The whole world seemed to be spinning around her in a
 chaotic, swirlling oblivion. Everything had changed so suddenly. 

	She had just returned from the wedding ceremony. It was official now.
 Ranma and Akane were wed, for better or for worse. It was over. She knew she
 couldn’t ever possibly have Ranma now. To seek him after he was married,
 well, that just wasn’t right. Ukyo desperately wanted to do the right thing,
 too. She hardened herself, her determination and resolve holding up as best
 she could muster them.

<Well,> she thought with a hint of melancholy, <time to move on. Life goes
 on, right?>

	She smiled weakly at that thought and looked up to see Konatsu
 standing in the doorway. He was wearing male clothing for a change, and did
 in fact look somewhat like a guy. Not that that made much difference. He was
 still Konatsu, after all.

"Ukyo, are you going to be okay?" he said, absently wiping off one of the
 tables.

	Ukyo nodded, only dimly aware that her eyes had been watering.
 Konatsu’s eyes spoke his concern, but he continued cleaning nevertheless.
 Ukyo stood and turned to walk out of the door.

"Where are you going?" Konatsu said so suddenly it made her jump. She turned
 on him with a somewhat agitated expression.

"Just outside for a moment, that’s all." She said, annoyed.

"Okay then." Konatsu said motherly. "Just be careful, okay?" Ukyo scowled at
 him visibly. He shrank away. 

"I can take care of myself, thanks." She sneered. Konatsu said nothing, and
 he resumed cleaning. 

	Ukyo turned and walked out into the cold Nerima night. She shivered
 slightly as a strong wind cut a swath down the street, blowing her long,
 auburn hair behind her. She cursed herself for not tying it up with a white
 ribbon, like she usually did, and considered going back in for one. But, for
 some reason, she decidied not to. She didn’t know why, and another cold
 breeze cut her thoughts short. It was late fall, and the weather reflected
 how she felt. Cold. Her whole life had, up until this point, been guided.
 The path had been straight and the goals clear. Before she came to Nerima,
 it was revenge. After that, it was love. Now it was neither. Her whole life
 had suddenly been flipped over in one day. She found the comparison to
 okonomiyaki somewhat ironic. 

	Her mind drifted back to the wedding ceremony as she strolled down
 the street. Ranma had looked so handsome in his tuxedo. Akane looked good,
 too, as much as Ukyo had hated to admit it. Konatsu had cried. Ukyo hadn’t.
 She’d been ready for this. Somehow, distantly in her mind, she knew it would
 end like this. She supposed she'd always known. Ranma and Akane belonged
 together. She turned down the street and continued to stroll in the chilled
 night, her face to the wind.

	Nerima. She sighed as she looked at the place she’d called home for
 so long. Before tonight, it had offered her so much promise for the future:
 A handsome, strong fiancee, friends, a good school, and a thriving business.
 But now, things were different. The bleak, silent buildings were cold too.
 They only reminded her of her loss and her failure. This place wasn’t home
 anymore. Suddenly, Ukyo found herself wanting to leave very badly. She
 wanted to just go away. Away from all of this, away from the pain and
 sorrow. She felt the warm tears sliding down her cheek and she choked back
 her sobs.

"Um, excuse me, but I was wondering if you could tell me how to leave town
 from here ?" a deep, male voice said from behind, and Ukyo jerked. Before
 she even turned around, she knew who it was.

"Hello, Ryoga." She said as she turned to face him, trying her best to act
 cheerful. 

	He looked the same as he always did. Long sleeved yellow shirt that
 opened across the left breast, green pants tied at the ankles, and an orange
 and yellow bandanna partially covered by his thick black hair. His blue eyes
 sparkled with the same sadness Ukyo imagined hers must have looked like,
 only there were no traces of tears. He grinned politely at her and she
 couldn’t help but notice his fangs.

"Oh, Ukyo, hello." He said cheerfully. "I didn’t realize it was you..."
His voice seemed to trail off. A look of either confusion or concern patched
 his face. "Have you been crying?" he asked.

She smiled weakly. "Oh, it’s nothing, Ryoga. Don’t worry about it."
He nodded. She felt he understood why she was weeping. 

"Okay," he said, "If you’re sure..."

"Positive. It’ll pass. I always cry at weddings." She said, smiling.

"Right." He said, but she detected no sarcasm in his voice. "I understand."

	She decided to change the subject. "So, where are you headed off to?"
 She asked, noting the large backpack he was carrying. Ryoga gazed out to the
 horizon, and the wind slithered by again , tussling his hair slightly.

"Oh, I don’t know." He said finally. "Somewhere. China, maybe. Or Europe. Or
 even America. I want to get out there, you know? See the world. I think I
 want to just..."

"...Get away from here?" she finished, and he turned to her. He nodded with a
 certain sense of finality.

"Right." He said sadly. "Away. This place is full of too many bad memories,
 you know?"

She offered him a slight smile. "I know. I was thinking the same thing
 myself."

"So, where are you going to go, then?" Ryoga asked, smiling at the turnabout
 of the situation. This time it was Ukyo’s turn to look away, choosing to
 glance down at her feet.

"Not really sure. I never thought about it before, you know?" she said
 distantly. Ryoga nodded.

"I live my whole life like that." He said. "You never really know where
 you’re going. You just go, and fate does the rest." 

	There was a wisdom in his words she noticed. She never knew whether
 or not it was there, but this was the first time she’d caught it. He seemed
 different, somehow. She guessed the realization that Akane really did love
 Ranma did it to him. He was definantly more mature, at any rate.

"Ryoga." She said with a sudden clarity that caught him off guard. "Wandering
 around like that all the time, does it ever get lonely?"

	Ryoga sighed. He supposed it would be, now. Plans for winning Akane
 from the womanizing Ranma and inflicting some kind of permanent bodily harm
 to him had always been enough to occupy his mind before, but what about now? 

"Yes." He said finally. "I suppose it will...er, does. Traveling out in the
 mountains or woods, there really aren’t that many people to talk to, you
 know? Animals aren’t exactly great conversationalists."

	He smiled, and Ukyo giggled a little. She could picture Ryoga sitting
 by a campfire laying on his woes to some poor wolf that had just happened to
 walk by.

"You know," she said coyly, looking up at him, "If you were looking for a
 traveling companion, I think I’d like to tag along." Ryoga looked stunned at
 first, then confused, then it shifted to a little of both.

"Y-you mean it?" He said, looking down at her. "Are you sure? It’s not a very
 fun life."

She looked up at him, and perhaps for the fist time noticed how beautiful his
 eyes were. She nodded.

"As long as you promise we’ll go away from this place. Besides, we can make
 it fun. There’ll be two of us from now on."

	Ryoga nodded to the pretty brown haired girl who now stood, smiling,
 in front of him. Could this really be happening? Why did she all of a sudden
 want to come away from here? Didn’t Ukyo live here? Then, looking at her, he
 realized something. She must feel the same way he did after he saw Akane and
 Ranma wed. She probably wanted to get away from this place and the Tendo
 dojo to forget all the things they did to get the affections of the people
 who would never really love them. She wanted to forget the person she had
 become, and become a new one. Reflecting on this, he couldn’t say no, could
 he? 

"Far away." He said. "I’m not always sure I know where I’m going, so we could
 end up here by mistake again sometime. But, we wouldn’t have to talk to
 anyone. We could just turn around and leave, or..." 

His voice trailed off again. She smiled at him, and something about her smile
 made him feel happy. He returned it.

"Come back to the restaurant with me tonight." She said. "I’ll need to settle
 a few things before I go. Say my goodbyes and all, you know?"

Ryoga nodded. "Gotcha." He replied. The two turned and began to walk back to
 Ucchan’s, the cold winds licking their backs.
 
*****************************************************************************

"Leaving?" Konatsu wailed. "No, Ukyo-sama, you can’t go away!" 

	Ukyo frowned at the feminine boy in front of her. She knew this was
 going to be hard before she even began. She had considered not even saying
 anything to him, but she had a feeling that Konatsu would probably come
 looking for her if she were to just leave. Knowing her luck, he’d probably
 find her.

"Was it something I did?" he cried pathetically, on the brink of tears. "I’m
 sorry! I’ll make it up to you, I swear!"

	Ukyo shot a glance at Ryoga, who stood silent in the doorway, arms
 folded across his chest. He said nothing. Apparently he felt this was
 something she could handle. She made a mental note to get him back for that
 later.

"No, no, it’s not that." She said, trying to sound sympathetic. "I just need
 to get away for a while, that’s all. I need time to clear my mind."

"I’ll come with you." He said suddenly, with great determination. Ukyo
 frowned inwardly. She definantly didn’t want to be traveling with Konatsu
 for what could be a very long time. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Konatsu;
 He was a great employee and a sympathetic friend. But, the fact that he felt
 a certain way for her always made her...uncomfortable. She just didn’t see
 Konatsu as a boyfriend. She shook her head and thought she could hear the
 boy’s heart drop. Then, her eyes brightened. She new exactly how to get him
 to stay behind.

"No, you have to stay here." She said softly, yet sternly. "Watch the
 restaurant. I worked very hard for it, and I’m not going to see it just fade
 away. It’s yours now, Konatsu. Please, do that for me." She looked him dead
 in the eyes, waiting for a reply. He seemed shaken, but nodded.

"I will." He said meekly. "I want you to be happy, Ukyo-sama. If this is what
 you want, I’ll do it."

	Ukyo smiled and hugged him. A friendly hug. And, perhaps for the
 first time, Konatsu knew that was all that it was. He accepted that she
 didn’t love him like he loved her, and now he was sure. He’d always held a
 little hope in the back of his heart that maybe someday she would. But he
 was smart. He’d seen what that type of thing had done to Ukyo regarding
 Ranma on many occasions. As always, he adapted.

"Thank you. You’re a true friend, Konatsu-san." She said, releasing the hug.
 He smiled at her.

"Will you come back to visit, then?" He said, and his voice sounded somewhat
 stronger. Less,.... well....less like a girl. Ukyo glanced at Ryoga, who
 bowed his head. She smiled at him and then turned back.

<Note to self,> she thought, <scratch that revenge note from earlier.>

"Of course." She said happily. "After all, I have to check in on my
 restaurant to make sure you haven’t driven it into bankruptcy."

Konatsu grinned. "Of course." he said smugly. She gave him one last hug and
 then walked back over to Ryoga.

"I need to get a few things." She said. "Money to buy supplies, things like
 that."

He frowned. "We don't need money." He said. "We have more than we could ever
 need in the wilderness."

	She shrugged. Ryoga had seemed to stay healthy out there, so he must
 know what he was talking about. Smiling slightly, she turned and scurried to
 her bedroom at the back of the restaurant. Ryoga walked over to where
 Konatsu was still standing, and put a hand on the ninja’s shoulder.

"That was quite a thing you just did, Konatsu." He said. "I know how hard it
 is to let go of someone you love." Konatsu looked up at him with tearing
 eyes.

"Just be sure to take care of her, or I’ll find you and kill you." He said,
 sniffing. Ryoga smiled.

"I promise." He said. "Besides, she’s a pretty good fighter. I’m sure she can
 take care of herself." Konatsu glanced back at the back of the restaurant. 

"Indeed," he agreed. "She’s quite a woman, Ryoga."

Ryoga reflected on this for a moment. Come to think of it, Ukyo was a woman.
 He’d never really noticed before. 

<Well,> he surmised, <I guess it’s good I realize that now, since we’re gonna
 be spending so much time together.>

"I suppose she is, Konatsu." He said finally. "I suppose she is..."

	Konatsu shot him a concerned glance. Ryoga noticed it, but put his
 hands up defensively.

"Hey, we’re just friends." He said. Konatsu nodded, although he seemed
 unconvinced. Plus, there was this strangely unsettling deviousness in the
 shine of his eyes that Ryoga didn’t care for. He shook the feeling off as he
 saw Ukyo emerge from the back room with a moderately sized backpack on. The
 large combat spatula she used as a weapon was strapped onto it, as was
 a portable okonomiyaki grill. She wore a traveling outfit not unlike the
 clothes Ranma wore, but hers were more tailored to her (now that he actually
 looked at it) slim yet well-proportioned body. Her shirt was dark blue, too,
 instead of Ranma’s usual red color. She grinned at the two men in front of
 her.

"Well, I’m ready." She said. "Shall we?"

	Ryouga nodded. Ukyo walked over to Konatsu and gave him one final
 hug. He wanted to hold her tightly, but he let her release him without
 resistance. Dully, he noted Ryouga was right. Letting go was hard.

"Goodbye, Konatsu-kun." She said.

"Goodbye, Uyko-sama." He said. "Take care of yourself."

"Oh, don’t worry." She said. "Ryouga’s with me. If worse comes to worse, I’ll
 just push him in the way."

Ryouga frowned. "Hey, wait a minute-"

	She turned and smiled deviously at him. Then she walked out into the
 Nerima night. Ryoga scowled and then extended his hand to Konatsu, who took
 it and shook.

"Goodbye, Konatsu." He said. Konatsu nodded.

"Sionara, Ryoga-san." He said in a very male voice, somewhat uncharacteristic
 for him. "Good luck."

	Ryoga disengaged the handshake, and, with a final look, turned and
 walked out after Ukyo, careful not to get lost. Konatsu sighed as the door
 closed behind them. He looked around the restaurant, his hands on his hips.

"Konatsu’s." He said with some small self-satisfaction. "I like it."

	And, with that, Konatsu let go. And he felt free. It was a wonderful
 feeling. He began to wipe off the counter, whistling to himself. 

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

	Ranma struggled to snap out of the sea of sleep he had been swimming
 in only moments ago. It was a warm, nice, happy place. No tomboy wives tried
 to hit him with extradimensional mallets there. He wanted to be back there
 very badly. He stood shakily, then checked to make sure he was still a guy.
 With his luck, one never knew. He took one uncertain step forward, then
 another, nearly kicking the panda sleeping beside him. He was at least glad
 Pop hadn’t forced he and Akane to sleep in the same room yet. He figured the
 old man wanted to give them time to adjust before pulling a stunt like that.
 Then, he remembered what had gotten him up in the first place. Someone was
 knocking on the door.

<Geez,> he thought absently as he headed downstairs, <who the hell could that
 be at this time of night?>

	He got to the door and rested his head on it for a moment before
 opening it up. Today had been a living hell for him. Luckily, the wedding
 ceremony hadn’t turned into a gigantic brawl, as Nabiki had predicted. That
 was good, at least. Plus, Akane had looked good in that wedding gown. No,
 not just good, he thought. Beautiful. She looked very beautiful. He told
 her, too. That was definantly weird, given that he generally wasn’t very
 good at that kind of thing. But, he’d done it, nonetheless. 

 And she’d blushed.

	He smiled at the thought of that. She really liked him. A lot. And he
 liked her. 

<No, wait,> he thought, <that isn’t right.> 

	He considered it for a moment, then his mind pulled the curtain of
 doubt away. He liked her a lot.  He’d have to remember to tell her that
 sometime, like when there weren’t any heavy objects around. When he tried to
 say things like that, those objects seemed to have a knack of hitting him.
 His thought train, still desperately trying to pick up steam, was
 interrupted by another knock, hammering at the headache he already had. 

"Ranma, who’s at the door?" He heard Kasumi’s voice drift down from the
 stairs. Ranma sighed and rolled his eyes. He slid the door open angrily.

"Yeah, what the he-" He began irritably, but stopped when he saw Ukyo there. 

	She wasn’t wearing her okonomiyaki chef’s outfit, though. She wore a
 dark blue shirt like his and some form-fitting black pants. Her spatula was
 attached to a backpack. Ryoga (of all people) stood behind her, a stone cold
 look on his face. Ukyo, however, smiled cheerfully. Ranma groaned inwardly.
 Here it came. The brawl Nabiki had predicted. He braced himself.

"Ucchan?" he said stupidly, at a loss for any other words. "What’s wrong?"

"I...we...just came by to say goodbye, Ranchan." She said sweetly, but
 sternly. Ranma paled, somewhat shocked by this. He had expected a fight, not
 this. Ukyo was leaving?

"Goodbye?" He whispered. "We?" Ukyo nodded. 

"Ryoga’s going to travel the world, and I’m tagging along. I don’t know when
 I’ll be coming back, or if I ever am. I gave the restaurant away, to
 Konatsu. He’s not as good a cook as I am, but I’m sure he’ll do okay. Be
 sure to throw your business his way." She said, looking down at her feet.

"I hope you and Akane are very happy together." She blurted out, as if it
 were a rehearsed line. Ranma stood stupefied, only vaguely noticing Ryoga’s
 hand squeeze Ukyo’s shoulder comfortingly. She reached up and laid her own
 hand on his, glancing at him and smiling in gratitude. She was glad he was
 here. He certainly was a lot nicer than she thought. Sweeter, anyway. More
 sympathetic. She’d assumed he was more...shallow than that.

"Are you sure about this, Ucchan?" Ranma said, his face stern. She nodded.

"I’m letting you go, Ranchan." She said softly. "I want you to have a happy
 life. This place...this town...is full of bad memories. I want to get away.
 I don’t like the person I became when I tried to make you love me. I want to
 be someone else. Someone...better. I hope you understand."

Ranma nodded wordlessly. Then, he looked over to Ryoga.

"What about you, P-Chan?" he said. "You coming back?"

"I thought you heard, Ranma," Ryoga said, a slight twinge of annoyance in his
 voice. "We don’t know."

	Ranma nodded. Ryoga returned it. Distantly, Ranma felt as if a great
 weight were suddenly lifted from him. Maybe he wasn’t going to have as many
 gray hairs as he thought he would. 

"Take good care of Akane, Ranma." Ryoga said.

"Same to you, P-Chan." Ranma sneered. "You better make sure nothing happens
 to Ucchan, or else."

"Understood." Ryoga said. There was a moment of silence. Ryoga swallowed
 hard, preparing himself for what he wanted to say next. What he had to say.

"Thanks." he choked out finally. Ranma looked at him quizzically. Ryoga
 continued, undaunted.

"Thanks for...everything. You always made me so mad, I'd never be as good a
 martial artist as I am if it weren't for you, Ranma."

	Ranma was silent, letting this sink in. Ryoga was actually thanking
 him for something?

"You know, Saotome," he said, looking Ranma dead in the eye, "You may not
 realize it, but you were one of the closest things to a friend I've had.
 I...just wanted you...to know that." 

"No problem." Ranma said, grinning. "Thanks to you, too. You kept me on my
 toes. Hell, I actually enjoyed it, sometimes."

Ryoga nodded in agreement. "Sometimes." He extended his arm, and Ranma took
 his hand and shook after some hesitation.

"Geez," Ukyo giggled, breaking the somber tone of the moment, "Isn’t this
 sentimental? Why couldn’t we have all done this sooner?"

There was silence. No one really knew the answer. Finally, Ryoga spoke up.

"Ranma, tell Akane goodbye for me."

Ranma smiled. "Sure thing, P-Chan."

Ryoga grinned a little, showing his fangs. "Damn." he muttered, in a slightly
 ironic tone, "I’m actually gonna miss that nickname."

"I’ll call you P-Chan every once in a while, if you really want me to." Ukyo
 said. Ryoga shot her a menacing glare, and she smiled.

"Later, Ranma." Ryoga said. Then, he and Ukyo turned and walked off into the
 night. Ranma watched them until they disappeared into the cold, inky black,
 and then slid the door closed with a heavy sigh. He turned to see Kasumi
 standing on the stairs.

"Ranma, who was that at the door this late?" she said sweetly.

"Just someone looking for directions." Ranma said with a twinge of sadness.
 Better not to bring this up tonight, he thought.

"Oh." Kasumi said cheerfully. "You should have invited them in. It’s very
 cold tonight." Ranma sighed. He often wondered how she could be so nice and
 still be sane.

"Well, I hope they find what they’re looking for." She said sweetly as he
 began to climb the stairwell.

Ranma smiled. "So do I." He said softly.

	Distantly, he hoped whatever had come over the two of them was
 affecting Shampoo and Mousse similarly. He dismissed that thought. After
 all, he didn’t want to press his luck.

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

	Ryoga stared out at the entrance to Akari’s house, not moving. Cold
 sweat trickled down his forehead, and a lump hung heavy in his throat. He
 looked at Ukyo, who returned his glance with concern.

"Ryoga, are you sure about this?" she said. "She could just assume you
 wandered off and disappeared. She’d never know. She’d get over it,
 eventually."

	Ryoga shook his head, his resolve iron-forged. "I wouldn’t." He said.
 "She has to be told. She has to know...so she can move on and...and be
 happy." He grimaced and looked off into the nighttime sky.

	Ukyo nodded and placed a hand on his arm. He looked at her and smiled
 warmly before going up to the door and knocking. A few moments later, a
 sleepy yet cute girl with light brown hair and two pink streaks in it
 answered the door. Upon seeing Ryoga, her expression brightened and she
 leapt onto him, wrapping herself around him tightly. Ukyo giggled. Ryoga,
 unsure of what to do, blushed fiercely.

"Oh, Ryo-chan," Akari Unryuu purred. "I’m so glad you came by! You must be
 tired and hungry! Come in and I’ll cook you something nice while you take a
 warm bath."

"Um, Akari-" Ryoga began to say, but stopped when he noticed she was now
 staring at Ukyo with an unusual look. She hugged Ryoga tighter, almost
 protectively.

"Ukyo!" She said cheerfully, although Ryoga could hear something else in her
 voice. Something...unusual. Something not too nice.

"Whatever are you doing here so late? Did you guide Ryoga here?" she said.
 "Thank you!"

	Ukyo looked at her feet, unsure of what to say. Akari became visibly
 concerned. She looked up at Ryoga, still attached to him.

"Ryo-chan, what’s going on?" she said seriously. "Is there something wrong?"
 Ryoga sighed and gently detached the affectionate girl from him, placing her
 on the ground. He took her hands into his own and swallowed. Hard.

"A-Akari, I-I have...I have to go...a-away..." He said, his voice breaking
 slightly. "I...I don’t know when I’m coming back, either..." Akari’s eyes
 began to well up with tears. Her lower lip began to quiver. Nevertheless,
 Ryoga pressed on.

"...I may never b-be."

	That did it. Akari felt her knees go weak and suddenly give out, and
 she fell against the man she loved, weeping into his chest. He held her,
 afraid she may fall were he to let go. Finally, she looked up at Ukyo with
 an expression that could only be pure hatred.

"Shameless hussy!" She shouted, sniffling. "Tramp! Floozy! You did this to
 him, didn’t you?"

	Ukyo turned bright red, but with anger or embarrassment Ryoga
 couldn’t tell. He hoped it was the latter.

"No, Akari, it doesn’t have anything to do with Ukyo. I-" he began, but was
 cut off when Akari shoved him off of her. He stumbled back, but managed to
 retain his balance.

"Fine, then!" She shouted at the two of them. "You want him? He’s all yours!
 I’m not going to go on loving a man who always puts me second to something
 or someone else!"

"Akari, wait, it’s not what you-" Ryoga began, but was cut off by the
 slamming of her front door.

"-Think..." He finished in what was almost a whisper. The two of them stood
 outside for a few moments in silence. Ryoga sank to his knees, a stunned
 look on his face. He turned and looked at Ukyo with distant eyes. To her,
 they weren’t so beautiful now. She considered hugging him, but decided not
 to show so much open affection for a man she barely knew. Instead, she
 patted his shoulder comfortingly. He shrugged it off.

"Let’s go." Ryoga said coldly, starting off towards the high school grounds.
 Despite his attitude, Ukyo couldn’t help but smile. He really had no clue
 where he was going. She ran up to him and grasped his hand with her own.
 Dully, she noted that his hand was very warm, comforting. She began to lead
 him out of town, opposite the way he had been heading.

"It’s this way, sugar." She said. Ryoga, despite his emotional state, smiled.

"Uh, thanks." He said, trying not to sound stupid. "I...appreciate it."

She turned and smiled at him. "Hey, what are friends for, right?" she said
 playfully.

<Indeed,> Ryoga thought. <This is going to be very interesting.>

	As they walked out of Nerima together into the great unknown, hand in
 hand, Ukyo thought the same thing. Distantly, the cold wind eased.

*****************************************************************************
End of Chapter One.
Comments and criticisms welcome!!