[Ranma][Fanfic] Daigakusei no Ranma - Episode 19

[Ranma Saotome]

These walls I live inside
Protect me from hatred and lies
And these walls have made me strong
But it's not where I belong

I hear you knocking but can't let you in
I don't know how it's gonna end
But these walls, they set me free
Kept me safe and sheltered me

Here's where the road begins
Got to reach out if I'm gonna win
Gotta know how - I'm old enough now
Never gonna feel this way again

No, I'm never gonna hide behind these walls again

+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+
| Daigakusei no Ranma |
| |
| Created by David Tai and Paul Gallegos |
| |
| Based on the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi |
+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+

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-= Episode 19: Spiritual Aftermath =-
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[We see Ukyou and Makiko walking through a dark alleyway in a run-down
neighborhood. They are both carrying large paper sacks, labelled Seven-Eleven.
Makiko seems rather nervous, while Ukyou looks unworried. It is late at night.]

Makiko: [nervously] Maybe we should have just taken the bus. This place is
creeping me out. I don't think this short cut was a very good idea.

Ukyou: Don't worry, Makiko. I go this way all the time when I need to get back
from the store fast. You're safe with me.

Makiko: Ukyou, I...

[A thug with a knife steps out.]

Thug: Fork over your purses, girls, and I won't hurt you.

[Makiko starts to hand her purse to the mugger. Ukyou starts laughing.]

Makiko: Ukyou, why are you laughing? The guy has a knife.

Ukyou: [putting down the bag she is carrying] Go away and I won't hurt you.

Thug: Hey, don't laugh at me like that. What? I'm the one with the knife.

[Ukyou whips a pair of hand-spatulas out of her purse. One goes flying at the
thug, striking his hand and knocking the knife away. She darts forward with
the second, making a series of quick slices, cutting his shirt to ribbons
before he can react, then stepping back.]

Thug: I... uh...

Ukyou: Anything else you'd like to say, or should I do that with you instead
of your clothing?

Thug: Umm... Bye? [takes off running]

Makiko: I... you...

Makiko: I... you...

Ukyou: I told you not to worry. [picks up the spatula she threw]

Makiko: You're supposed to let other players react to what you are doing,
instead of assuming it automatically succeeds!

Ukyou: Well, it's what would have happened in real life.

Makiko: Well, that's another story...Why am I typing this when I'm sitting
right next to you?

Ukyou: Good question.

[We now see that Makiko and Ukyou are actually in a computer lab, and the
previous scene was actually in Ukyou's imagination. All that has really
happened is lines of text on a screen. They are sitting next to each other.]

Makiko: [laughs faintly] Sometimes you almost forget you're typing.

Ukyou: Especially when you've got a vivid imagination like I do. It was
almost real. No wonder you spend so much time doing this.

Makiko: Well, that reminds me. What is this spatula business? I mean... you
ran off in the middle of the night. I still don't know why or what
happened. You said you'd explain, but you haven't.
[pauses] You've been... umm... acting like you're a ninja
lately... I don't understand what's going on.

Ukyou: [sighs] Let's get home. I'll tell you there.

* * *

[We see Sato standing in the front lawn of Maison Sabaku, staring up into the
night sky and watching leaves on the trees rustle in a faint breeze. The front
door opens and Hitomi comes out.]

Hitomi: Stargazing, Sato-san?

Sato: Things have changed in my absence.

Hitomi: Don't things always change?

Sato: Deeper changes. In the town, our home, ourselves. [sighs] Perhaps it is
simply the result of being gone for a while. It always makes the changes
more jarring when one returns.

Hitomi: Did you enjoy your trip?

Sato: Yes. No. It did not achieve what I hoped, but it was often enjoyable.

Hitomi: Why exactly did you leave, anyway?

Sato: Since I was little, I have always been restless. I seek the peace that
eludes me. The seeking has led me to many places, but my goal still
beckons to me.

Hitomi: Then why did you come back?

Sato: For two reasons. I learned that Kurakujanen was about to finally take
his revenge. Also, I learned that the key to the peace I seek is to be
found here.

Hitomi: What is the key?

Sato: [puts his hand behind his head nervously] I have no idea whatsoever.

[Hitomi face-faults.]

* * *

[Ukyou and Makiko are home, getting a late night snack.]

Ukyou: [up on the countertop in the kitchen, rooting around in the cupboards,
trying to find where she put the raisins] Where are those stupid
things...

Makiko: [busily grabbing food from the refrigerator] Okay, so... What's going
on? [turns around] I've been hesitant to say anything... I mean, your
life is your business and all that... I just... you've been acting
different.

Ukyou: [turns her attention to Makiko] It's a long story...you see, I've
been acting kinda strange the whole time you've known me until
recently.

Makiko: [blinks] Nani? You seemed pretty normal to me.

Ukyou: Uh. I mean strange for me, not strange for everyone else. Although my
normal behavior has gotten strange for me a few times.

Makiko: [looks confused] Can we try that again? This time so I can understand
what you mean?

Ukyou: I've had an... unusual life. I... how I've been... I was rebelling
against that. Most people rebel against their upbringing by being
deviant... I was rebelling by being normal.

Makiko: Umm... maybe you'd better start at the beginning.

Ukyou: Well, rebelling isn't exactly the best word anyway... ahh, I know!
What would you consider normal? A normal childhood, normal behavior,
and so on?

Makiko: I had a pretty normal childhood. I grew up in a suburb of Osaka in an
apartment with my brother and my little sister. My dad was an
accountant, my mother had been a secretary, but she quit her job to
raise us. I attended a series of fairly average schools, belonged to a
few clubs, especially the computer club. I dated a couple of guys in
high school, but it never worked out very well. [finishes putting away
food and sits down] I studied hard, passed my exams, and started here
at the same time as you. Haven't I told you all of this before?

Ukyou: What about normal behavior?

Makiko: Do I look like a sociology major? I mean... I dunno. Normal is
normal... umm, I guess that doesn't help much.

Ukyou: My life hasn't been much like yours. Well, I did go to school and
enter college, but other than that, my childhood was very
different from yours. [sighs] For one thing, my mother died when
I was very little...

* * *

[Flashback scene of Chibi-Ukyou, age five, and her father, pulling an
okonomiyaki cart through the countryside]

Ukyou: Papa, why don't I have a Mama like the other children?

Kuonji-san: Your mama died when you were very little. [looks around nervously]
We had to leave our home and start our journeys then.

Ukyou: But why did we have to leave home? Did we have a pretty house?
Did termites eat it or something?

Kuonji-san: [smiles] It was a beautiful house. Your mother was very beautiful
too. You're going to be very beautiful one day, just like your
mother. [picks up Chibi-Ukyou and hugs her. She hugs him back.]

Ukyou: You won't leave me, Daddy, like Mama had to, will you?

Kuonji-san: I'll never abandon you, Ucchan. One day you'll have a handsome
husband who will take care of you, and he won't ever abandon you
either. You'll have a wonderful home and a loving family waiting
for you at the end of the road.

Ukyou: Are we there yet?

[Kuonji-san face-faults.]

* * *

Makiko: [staring at Ukyou] What, you spent your childhood wandering through
the countryside with your father selling okonomiyaki?

Ukyou: Well, the first part, until I was six.

Makiko: I guess you don't make it anymore because you ate it every day as a
child?

Ukyou: [blushes slightly] I'll... get to that.

Makiko: What happened when you were six? Did you settle down?

Ukyou: [sighs] I wish... you see, when I was six, I met Ranma.

Makiko: And?

Ukyou: I... fell in love with him, you see...

Makiko: I knew a guy I wanted to marry when I was little.

Ukyou: What happened?

Makiko: His friends convinced him girls were icky and he never spoke to
me again until we were both in junior high.

Ukyou: I might have been better off if that had happened to me. I tried to
arrange for us to be engaged. [pauses]

Makiko: At age six?

Ukyou: He was my closest friend... I was always alone except for Dad before he
came along...

* * *

[We see Chibi-Ukyou, dressed in her okonomiyaki-sellers' outfit, shyly
watching kids playing in a sandbox.]

Boy with glasses: Look at my sand-castle, Mai-san! Isn't it great?

[They all look at his elaborate sand-castle. The other boy, who has built
basically a big cube with windows poked in it, throws his little shovel
at the castle, wrecking it.]

Other boy: Mine's better, right?

Mai: Shin-chan... you shouldn't do that.

[Ukyou comes over nervously.]

Ukyou: Can I... play with you guys?

Boy with glasses: [looks cranky] NO! Go away! [turns and pouts]

Shin: You look like you should be in a samurai movie. Ryu... stop pouting!

Ryu: He looks stupid!

Ukyou: I'm not a guy!

Shin: Coulda fooled me.

Ryu: You shouldn't dress funny like that.

Mai: I guess your mother dressed you like that?

Ukyou: [starts crying] My mother is... is...

Ryu: A real weirdo like you, I bet.

Ukyou: [shouts] My mother was very nice! [runs forward and slaps Ryu
around with a pair of spatulas. He goes flying out of the sandbox.
She then runs off crying.]

Mai: What a mean girl.

Shin: Kinda like you, but...

[Mai turns red and knocks Shin out of the sandbox with a mighty punch.
Chibi-Ukyou runs off home to the okonomiyaki cart.]

* * *

Makiko: That's awful!

Ukyou: I didn't have anything else to wear... They made fun of my accent too.
If I had a yen for every time someone asked me where the costume party
was or which Samurai movie I was going to be appearing in or if people
from Kansai really... [sighs]

Makiko: Really what?

Ukyou: Trust me. We don't. I was really lonely until one day, I met a little
boy.

* * *

[Closeup of a pair of wooden heads in close proximity. One of them is attached
to a body dressed as a farmer, the other to a body dressed as an okonomiyaki
seller. Each of the bodies is being manipulated by a hand, and speaks with a
voice not its own.]

Farmer doll: Hmm. I think I'd like a pork okonomiyaki.

Okonomiyaki seller doll: Would you like some of our special sauce with that?

Farmer doll: Will you take a chicken to pay for it?

Okonomiyaki seller doll: Sure! How old is it?

[We now see this is Chibi-Ukyou playing near her father's yatai with a pair of
dolls. She has a little cart scaled to the dolls. She is having a little
dialogue between them while her father sells food to farmers in the little
town to buy things. Chibi-Ukyou looks up at her father, who is currently
taking a duck as payment for a big load of okonomiyaki. He smiles back at her.]

Kuonji-san: [smiling] Drive a hard bargain, Ucchan!

Boy's voice: But the farmer tries to cheat the cook, and only Tetsuwan
Atomu can save the day!

[Suddenly, an Astroboy doll swoops down, held by a little six year
old boy with black hair tied back in a little ponytail.]

Astroboy doll: Give him a real chicken! Not that rubber one!

[Chibi-Ukyou blinks, then smiles and grabs a handkerchief, putting it over the
farmer doll's head.]

Bandit doll: So, you think you can stop me? Take this!

[The two children try to get the dolls to wrestle each other, which doesn't
work very well.]

Kuonji-san: Hello, little one. I'm Kuonji Shun and this is Ucchan. What's
your name?

Boy: I'm Ranma! Saotome Ranma. Nice to meetcha!

Kuonji-san: Would you like something to eat? You two must be hungry from that
mighty battle.

Ranma: Yeah!

[He and Chibi-Ukyou sit down and munch out on the okonomiyaki her father
provides.]

Ranma: Where'd you get that neat outfit you're wearing?

Ukyou: You... like it?

Ranma: Yeah! It makes you look like a ninja. Are you and your dad part of some
secret ninja society?

Kuonji-san: If we told you, it wouldn't be a secret, now would it?

Ukyou: [holds up a finger in front of her face] Look, I'm invisible! I'm
hiding behind my finger!

[They all laugh.]

* * *

Makiko: [quietly] I guess he was your first friend...

Ukyou: Yeah. I fell in love with him almost from the start. We played together
every day. His father was a wandering martial artist. I thought his mom
must be dead like mine. He always cried when I asked him about his
mother.

Makiko: [nods, then pauses] Wait, you said you thought his mom was dead? She
wasn't?

Ukyou: His father had taken him away from home about a year earlier and
promised that if he failed to make a man of Ranma, they'd both commit
seppuku.

Makiko: [big eyes] HE WHAT?

Ukyou: His father... is... is... well, to be honest, Ranma's father is scum.
He's a liar...a thief, a cheat, a swindler...but he's not even good at
it. He is a decent martial artist though, and that was what he
succeeded in teaching Ranma. Not that I knew any of this but the
training part at the time.

Makiko: [gets a glass of lemonade from the fridge] Um, would you like some
lemonade?

Ukyou: Sure.

[Makiko brings Ukyou some lemonade.]

Ukyou: [sips some lemonade] This all went on for months. I played with Ranma
every day. We had a lot of fun...

Makiko: So you asked him to marry you? Did he say yes?

Ukyou: Well, I knew it was supposed to be arranged by parents... so I asked
Dad if I could marry Ranma so he could stay with us forever.

Makiko: So your Dad set it up?

Ukyou: [sighs] Yeah... Dad offered to give them the yatai if Mr. Saotome would
agree to the engagement.

Makiko: Didn't you need that to live?

Ukyou: Dad wanted to find me a good home... I guess he just didn't think he
could raise me right on his own... I don't know for sure. I think he
planned to go find a restaurant job or something once I was in good
hands. Dad was a trusting fool.

Makiko: [blinks] What happened?

Ukyou: Well, the next day...

* * *

[We see Genma racing off down the road pulling the Kuonji family Yatai, with
Chibi-Ukyou racing after it.]

Ukyou: Wait! Come back! You forgot me!

Ranma: Bye, bye, Ucchan!

Ukyou: [running desperately] Ran-chan! Saotome-san! You're leaving me behind!

Ranma: Bye, bye, Ucchan!

Ukyou: [falls down] No... Don't LEAVE ME!!!!!!

* * *

Makiko: [looks horrified] They took the cart and left you behind?

Ukyou: [has crushed her paper cup and now has spilled lemonade on
herself] I'm going to have to change into something dry now...
[thinking] I wonder how Ran-chan puts up with getting wet all the
time.

[They move to the bedroom. Ukyou goes ahead and puts on her pajamas, which are
of a plain blue design.]

Makiko: [sits on her bed] Why did they leave you behind?

Ukyou: Saotome-san only agreed to the deal so he could steal my cart. He
claims now that he asked Ran-chan if he preferred me or okonomiyaki, and
Ran-chan said okonomiyaki. It might even have really happened... but
it's still no excuse. Ran-chan had no real idea what he was chosing...
he didn't even know I was a girl.

Makiko: HE WHAT?

Ukyou: Well, Dad didn't deliberately dress me as a boy... he just dressed me
like him... and little boys and girls don't look so different...
Ran-chan's never been too perceptive, either.

Makiko: Well, Ukyou is a boy's name. Still..Ran-chan is such a nice
guy... I mean... how could his father be such a jerk?

Ukyou: How that... thing... man raised someone like Ran-chan... I don't know.
He's always been greedy...Also, he had promised Akane's father that
Ranma would marry one of his daughters. He and Mr. Tendo trained
together. My father and I were just fools he could rip off. Poor
Ran-chan, living with that monster for all those years.

Makiko: So when did you and Ranma meet again?

Ukyou: Well, you see... everyone made fun of me for being dumped like that.
They humiliated my father too. We had to move because father
couldn't find any work, because no one wanted to hire anyone who did
something that dumb. I was so angry... I swore revenge.

* * *

[Flashback time. We see Chibi-Ukyou at the park, sitting on a swing. There
are some kids nearby, huddled in a circle.]

Ukyou: [trying not to cry as she swings back and forth, back and forth] Why...
why'd you go away, Ran-chan?

Kid: Lookit that weirdo, talking to herself.

Kid #2: Didn't you hear? She got dumped by her fiancee!

Kid #3: What an idiot. Now she'll never be able to get married.

Kid: What a loser.

Kid #2: Pathetic.

Kid #3: She dresses funny too. Looks like a boy.

[Chibi-Ukyou has been listening to all of this, getting madder and madder. She
stops swinging and gets up.]

Kid: Ohh, I bet she's gonna go cry again!

Ukyou: [pulls out two spatulas and charges in, sending kids flying] Stop
making fun of me! I'm gonna get even with him for what he's done! [The
kids run away. She climbs up on top of a slide and holds her spatulas
up against the stormy sky.] Ran-chan! You and your dad have wrecked my
life! You LEFT ME BEHIND! One day I'll find you and then you'll pay!
[Lightning strikes behind her in the distance. She starts at the
thunder and slides down the slide into the dirt face first.] This is
all your fault.

* * *

Ukyou: [sighs] I swore I'd never get married, that I'd hunt them down and
avenge my family's honor. I swore to live as a boy.

Makiko: [blinks] Wasn't that... ummm... overreacting just a bit?

Ukyou: Have you ever had all of your possessions stolen and been left to rot
by your closest friend and his father?

Makiko: Umm...no.

Ukyou: I was crushed. I'd lost my only friend... my future husband, I had
hoped. He was the only person beside my father who didn't think I was
some kind of weirdo mutant. I thought... I thought he loved me.

Makiko: He was just a six year old kid! Yeesh, if I had sworn revenge on every
cute guy I knew when I was six when he did something stupid...

Ukyou: [irritated] You gonna listen, or do you want to make fun of me too?

Makiko: I... I'm sorry, Ucchan. This is just... so... nothing like this has
EVER happened in my life. I mean...this isn't some joke you're playing
on me, is it?

Ukyou: [sighs] Nevermind. I guess you don't want to hear this. [thinks] I
should have known she wouldn't be able to understand this...

Makiko: [blinks] Ucchan...I'm sorry. I just... This is so completely new to
me... you never mentioned ANY of this before...

Ukyou: [stares off into space for a moment] Does this sound like something I'd
normally want to talk about? Want people to know about? [thinks] I was
afraid you'd want to move out if you heard some of this stuff... I
don't want to live by myself... not again.

Makiko: Then why are you telling me now?

Ukyou: I... I've never really talked to anyone about it before. I've screamed
about it and cried myself to sleep about it... but I've never sat down
with someone and tried to get them to help me... help me... deal with
it, I guess. I tried to throw it all away and forget it this past
semester. I can't.

Makiko: I'd want to forget my life too if it had been like that.

Ukyou: You can see where I'm coming from, I hope. I just... need to talk
to someone sympathetic. I want you to understand... me.

Makiko: I'm sorry I doubted you. This is just... not what I expected.
Go on. I'll try not to make any more rude comments.

Ukyou: [gets herself another glass of lemonade] Get comfortable. This is
gonna take a while. [spends a minute getting herself comfortable]
For the next ten years after I swore revenge for being abandoned,
I lived as a boy. I practiced fighting, because I knew one day I'd
have to fight them. I was miserable. I lived for my revenge.

Makiko: But you're nothing like that now...

Ukyou: Hate drove me on. I hated boys. I hated girls. I was cranky all the
time. I still didn't have any friends. Well, one friend, but I wasn't
interested in him.

Makiko: Who?

Ukyou: This weirdo tranvestite, Kurenai Tsubasa, fell in love with me. We both
attended the same boy's school, but somehow, he figured out I was a
girl. I wasn't interested in him at all.

Makiko: You went to a boy's school?

Ukyou: [pauses for a moment] Yes. I chose to live as a boy. To prepare myself
for my revenge. Because... I dunno, it seemed like the right thing to
do. To beat a boy, I had to become a boy. To steal his power. [pauses]
Eventually, I got used to it. It was a way of hardening myself to my
task. [pauses] Yeah, it wasn't a very good decision. I couldn't see
that at the time. All it did was put off problems until later. [sighs]

Makiko: Why did your father give you a boy's name BEFORE this all happened?

Ukyou: Grandpa wanted a boy... and Dad was pretty dependent on him. So
I ended up with a boy's name. [pauses] Eventually, I ended up
hearing about this Saotome Ranma kid who was making scenes at
this school named Furinkan, so I transferred there.

Makiko: And he explained what had really happened?

Ukyou: He didn't even hardly remember. I tried to kill him.

Makiko: You what?

Ukyou: First I found his father and beat him into the ground. Then I found
Ranma, and when he didn't show any remorse for what had happened, I
challenged him to a duel and tried to kill him.

Makiko: But you relented?

Ukyou: He beat me. Then I found out he hadn't known I was a girl back when we
were little. I found out everything. I didn't know what to do.

Makiko: [blinks] He still couldn't tell you were a girl?

Ukyou: I was pretty good at passing as a boy.

Makiko: [thinks for a moment] I guess it just seems so hard to believe... I
mean, you're pretty feminine now. No one would ever mistake you for a
boy.

Ukyou: Ran-chan just doesn't get it sometimes. It was all his father's fault
like I told you earlier. [pauses] So then Ranma did something no one
had ever done to me before...

Makiko: He kissed you?

Ukyou: [blushes] I wish. If that had happened... maybe I'd be the one living
in Maison Sabaku and Akane might be living with you. [sighs] He told me
I was cute. No one had ever said that before, except Dad, and well...
it's a lot different when a boy tells you that.

Makiko: Now that I can relate to! So you fell in love with him again?

Ukyou: Yeah. When I saw he didn't get along with his fiancee, Akane, I was
pretty sure I could get him back easily. I was wrong, but it took me
years to figure that out.

Makiko: You chased Ranma for years?

Ukyou: There were four of us. Akane and I were the fiancees. Shampoo and her
nutcase grandmother Cologne were after him to get him to marry Shampoo.
He had beaten her in a fight, so under Amazon law, they had to get
married.

Makiko: Shampoo is an Amazon? Weren't they Greek?

Ukyou: Well, she's a Chinese Amazon. I don't know anything about their
history. [pauses] To continue, Kunou Kodachi is just nuts, but she
wanted Ranma too. I have no idea why.

Makiko: So Ranma had four women after him?

Ukyou: Well, he and Akane didn't get along at all. Their parents arranged it.
But... [takes a deep breath] they did love each other. It took a long,
long time before I could really see that. Let myself see that.

Makiko: [not sure what to say] Well, you seem to have accepted it.

Ukyou: Ran-chan is my best friend. I'm hoping... I can finally be friends with
Akane now. They love each other. They deserve to be happy. It was hard
for me to accept it, well, as much as I can accept it.

Makiko: So how did you... I mean...

Ukyou: Well, the first stage in coming to accept it was when I tried to kill
Akane.

[Makiko faints.]

Ukyou: Okay, that wasn't the best way to put that.

* * *

[Yuriko and Kasumi's apartment. Kasumi is on the phone, while Yuriko is
fishing around inside a cage, trying to grab a pair of lab rats. They are
hiding desperately from her.]

Kasumi: That sounds great, Akane! I'll see you early tomorrow morning, then!
[hangs up] Playing with your rats again, Yuriko?

Yuriko: I'm never going to finish this experiment if they don't cooperate...

Kasumi: Oh, your advisor called this afternoon. He seemed to be unhappy about
something.

Yuriko: [frowns] I never should have talked his son into testing my power
drink.

Kasumi: If you keep this up, you're going to get into a lot of trouble, Yuriko.

Yuriko: [gives up on the mice] I just... I have so few resources. There's so
much I want to know. I've always been too curious for my own good.

Kasumi: If you get thrown out of medical school, you're not going to get
to learn any of it.

Yuriko: Dr. Yamazaka has spent his entire life testing to see if fish react to
human body odor! All these people with their whacky research
projects... why am I getting singled out?

Kasumi: Because you violate scientific ethics on a daily basis?

Yuriko: [winces] You didn't have to be that harsh.

Kasumi: I'm just repeating what your advisor said. [sighs] Sorry, I'm a bit on
edge from preparing for finals. It's been so long since I was in
school. I'm just not used to this kind of stress. Having the house
leveled, hai. [Yuriko nods as if this was not an unusual thing
to say at all, causing Kasumi to blink before she continues] That
wasn't pressure on me, though. I'm sorry I sniped at you.

Yuriko: You're right. No more power drink experiments on the public until I
work all the bugs out better.

Kasumi: [smiles] Want to come shopping with us tomorrow?

Yuriko: No, I need to study. I'd better go talk to my advisor too.

* * *

[Akane and Ranma's room. Ranma has borrowed one of Choji's VCRs and is
watching some rented martial arts movies. Akane is half-watching the movies,
half-writing a letter home.]

Akane: [writing] I have been doing some typing for some of my professors
lately. It feels good to have a source of income other than relying on
Nabiki. I'm saving up some money for our trip home during break. Ranma
is watching TV right now. Some silly martial arts movie. [pauses,
speaking] Aren't you ever going to write your father, Ranma?

Ranma: Hey, I wrote him last week. It's not like he ever writes back.

Akane: You get a letter from home every week!

Ranma: I get a letter from MOM every week. There's a difference.

[There's a knock on the door.]

Akane: I'll get it.

[She opens the door. Sato is there with a large wrapped package.]

Sato: May I come in?

Ranma: Are you here to tell us there's a mystic threat we have to fight?

Sato: No.

Ranma: Come on in.

[Sato smiles faintly and comes in, sitting down at the table, putting the
package nearby.]

Akane: What brings you here, Sato-san?

Sato: I attempted to find you on campus today, but I attracted too much
attention and ended up spending most of the morning trying to evade
my... umm...

Ranma: Fans?

Sato: Hai.

Akane: What did you need to see us about?

Sato: I wish to apologize for my joke about Mizukama, the black wind. I did
not realize it would cause so much trouble and consternation. [unwraps
the package. It is a picture of Akane and Ranma. The phoenix blazes in
the background behind them, as they stand in a forest clearing near a
clear pool.] I hope this may find some place in your home.

Akane: [smiles] Wow, this is beautiful!

Ranma: [gets up, comes over, looks] That's a really good likeness of us.

Sato: I am glad you like it. I painted it myself. [pauses] The phoenix
seems to favor you, Akane. Do you perhaps have any idea why?

Akane: [smiles] We raised it from an egg.

Sato: [blinks] Can you tell me more?

Ranma: Well, it all started with...

* * *

[Makiko wakes up on her bed. Ukyou is sitting at her computer desk, playing a
solitaire game on Makiko's computer.]

Makiko: Ucchan. I had such a strange dream-?

Ukyou: Where I told you I tried to kill Akane?

Makiko: ...

Ukyou: To be precise, I helped wreck Akane and Ranma's first wedding with
bombs. The really scary part was that Kodachi was acting sane in
comparison to us. If... if there was one thing I've done I would
undo... that was it.

Makiko: I... why did you do it? [thinks] Bombs? Am I dreaming this?

Ukyou: I... this is going to be tricky to explain without giving away... a few
secrets that some people don't want anyone to know. [takes a deep
breath] Ranma and Akane's first wedding was when we were in our second
year of High School. Ranma had saved Akane from being kidnapped for the
umpteenth time and...

Makiko: She got kidnapped a lot?

Ukyou: Princes, martial artists...aliens. Okay, no aliens. Princes yes, aliens
no.

Makiko: Like that Ill Luck fellow?

Ukyou: Yeah. So Tendo-san and Saotome-san decided it was time for Ranma and
Akane to finally get married. They set up the ceremony and hustled them
into it. Shampoo found me and told me about it. She asked me to help
stop it. I said yes. I thought Ranma didn't want to marry Akane. At
least, I was able to tell myself that. Deep down, I think I knew. I
didn't want to believe it.

Makiko: Their parents forced them into getting married? [thinks] That
makes a lot of sense, actually, of how they act sometimes.

Ukyou: Hai. That's why I thought Ranma would want me to help stop it.
So I went to the wedding with Shampoo and we started throwing
bombs everywhere. Including at Akane. I wasn't thinking clearly.
It was stupid. I could have killed Akane. I could have killed
Ranma. I might even have killed myself if I wasn't careful.
[buries her face in her hands] All I could think about was how I
couldn't let Ranma get married, because then I'd be alone for the
rest of my life. He would have left me again...

Makiko: [gets up and gives Ukyou a hug] Don't cry, Ucchan.

Ukyou: I'm not going to cry. [tears up a little] Much. I was so desperate
because I kept imagining that I'd never see him again. That I'd have
wasted my entire life if I couldn't marry him, since I couldn't kill
him either.

Makiko: So then what happened? I take it the wedding didn't go through?

Ukyou: When Shampoo and I actually work together... not many people can stop
us. The wedding was wrecked totally. Tendo-san and Saotome-san couldn't
afford another disaster, so they didn't make any real effort to get
Ranma and Akane married for about two more years. That didn't help
me... Ran-chan almost never spoke to me again.

Makiko: He was so angry about you wrecking the wedding?

Ukyou: He was furious. I couldn't understand why. I thought he didn't want to
marry Akane. I hoped he wanted to marry me. You see...

* * *

[We see Ranma sitting on the roof of the dojo, staring off at the sunset.
Ukyou approaches him.]

Ukyou: Ran-chan? [Ranma remains silent.] Want to come over to my place for
dinner tonight? [silence] Ran-chan, are you okay?

Ranma: No.

Ukyou: [sits down by Ranma] What's wrong, Ran-chan?

Ranma: You are.

Ukyou: [nervously] I... what, Ran-chan?

Ranma: Why'd you do it?

Ukyou: Do what, Ran-chan?

Ranma: [angrily] Wreck the wedding, Ukyou! What, you've forgotten already?

Ukyou: I thought... you... didn't want to get married.

Ranma: If I'd wanted you to wreck the wedding... I'd have ASKED! [turns away
from Ukyou]

Ukyou: I... but... I... did you... I mean... did you want to marry Akane?

Ranma: What I wanted isn't the problem here! You threw bombs everywhere! You
almost killed Akane! You could have killed everyone! You all treat me
like I'm some kind of prize to kill each other over and it doesn't
matter who gets hurt as long as YOU get what YOU want. No one cares
what I want.

Ukyou: [unsure what to say] I... Ran-chan, I'm sorry... I...

Ranma: Yeah, right.

Ukyou: Ran-chan?

Ranma: I want to be alone.

Ukyou: [backing up] Umm... okay... see you tomorrow?

[Ranma does not answer. After a while, Ukyou leaves.]

* * *

[Ukyou and Makiko are now both sitting on Makiko's bed with their backs
to the wall.]

Ukyou: I decided to let him be alone for a while. After the first few weeks,
though, I started to get lonely. I thought he would be ready to see me
again. I wanted to apologize. I was afraid I'd made him hate me.

Makiko: What happened?

Ukyou: I apologized... he said it was okay. It wasn't. He never came around
anymore. When I came to see him, he'd find an excuse to go do something
else. I spent a lot of time alone trying to figure out why he was still
mad at me.

Makiko: Yeah. I've lost friends like that. They say they've forgiven you, but
deep down, they're still angry and it wrecks your friendship. I lost
my best friend in high school, 'cause this guy asked me out who she
liked. I said yes, even though I knew she liked him, 'cause I liked him
too, but I'd never said anything. We had a big fight. We made up
eventually... but she never really trusted me again.

Ukyou: Yeah. It was like that. I tried everything I could think of. I was
desperate. I couldn't stand to lose him because of what I had done. I
cried myself to sleep at night wishing I could somehow go back... stop
myself from doing that.

Makiko: But you can't. I haven't even seen Aiko in months now. We hardly
talked the last year. How...how did you patch things up with Ranma?

Ukyou: I tried to kill myself. [Makiko gets really big eyes.] Okay, that's not
exactly accurate. You see what happened was...

* * *

[We see Ukyou running Ucchan's. She looks tired and unhappy. Konatsu is busy
serving customers, while Ukyou cooks. There is loud shouting outside.]

Ukyou: [goes over to the window and looks] Now what?

[She sees Ranma running down the street, with Ryouga chasing him. Ryouga is
glowing purple. Happosai is running down the street, laughing maniacally.]

Ukyou: [turns to Konatsu] Take care of everything. I'll be back soon.

Konatsu: Hai! [speeds up and starts cooking and serving]

Ukyou: [sprints outside, finds Mousse nearby talking to a telephone pole, and
grabs him] What's going on?

Mousse: Oh, there you are, Akane!

Ukyou: [sighs] What is going on, Mousse?

Mousse: Happosai was harrassing Ranma to wear some magical bra he found. Ranma
got mad and set Happosai's panty collection on fire. Now Happosai is
out for revenge.

Ukyou: [sees the people racing out of sight and grabs Mousse, dragging him
after them] Talk while we run. So where does Ryouga come into this?

Mousse: Happosai is using him as the tool of revenge. He applied the Navigator
point to Ryouga so he doesn't get lost and the Atlas point, which
doubled Ryouga's strength and endurance.

Ukyou: No wonder Ranma's running away.

Mousse: Normally I'd just cheer Ryouga on or help him, but the old troll has
offered to undo the points on Ryouga if Ranma will marry Shampoo
formally.

Ukyou: [growls] And neither of us wants that.

Mousse: Exactly. I'm worried about Ryouga, though...

Ukyou: Why?

Mousse: The Atlas point has a major drawback. You start going crazier and
crazier the longer you are under the influence of it. You become more
and more destructive. Eventually you go on a rampage until you use up
all your stored energy and pass out. If you're lucky, you never wake
up.

Ukyou: If... you're... lucky.

Mousse: Shampoo didn't want to talk about what happens if you're not lucky.

Ukyou: Why did she tell you this?

Mousse: Cologne taught us about this a long time ago, but she told Shampoo
more than she told me. Also, Shampoo feels a little guilty about this,
so she...

Ukyou: Shampoo? Guilty about something?

Mousse: [grimly] She's not a monster. I know you all don't like her, but I
won't stand for her being treated like...

Ukyou: Okay, okay! I'm sorry! We can't afford to fight if we're gonna stop
this.

[They run around a corner and spot Ryouga and Happosai chasing Ranma down an
alleyway. As they reach the corner, they see it is a blind alley. Ranma
prepares to bolt to a rooftop, only to get clipped by a thrown bandana from
Ryouga that wraps around his legs and trips him. As Ukyou and Mousse run
forward, Kodachi leaps down from the roof and interposes herself.]

Ukyou: Ran-chan!

Kodachi: Get back, Ryouga.

Ryouga: [laughs very loudly] Like YOU could stop me!

[He shoves Kodachi out of the way. She rolls back and whips her ribbon at
Ryouga's legs, tripping him, while Ranma disentangles his legs.]

Kodachi: HOHOHOHOHOHOHOH!!!! [pelts Ryouga with thrown clubs]

Ryouga: Why, you!!!! [swipes at Kodachi, who dodges a little too slowly and
gets swatted into a wall. She crumples and passes out.]

Ranma: Hey! You wanna fight, fight me! I didn't realize you beat up girls for
fun!

Ryouga: Big talk from the half-girl pervert!

Ranma: [dodges a hail of blows from Ryouga] Look, P-chan, why are you helping
this pervert Happosai, anyway? Whadda you care if I wear some stupid
bra for him anyway?

Ryouga: This isn't about him! It's about my revenge for all the abuse you've
heaped on me!

[Ukyou and Mousse finally get close enough to fight. Happosai turns around.]

Happosai: [waggles a finger] Now, now, no interfering in a man to man fight!

Mousse: Well, I'm a man, so...

Happosai: [bounds off down the street] We'll see about that.

Mousse: Quickly, Ukyou, distract Ryouga while I apply the technique!

Ranma: [still dodging blows] Get out of here before he clobbers you two too!

[Ukyou nods to Mousse and charges in. Ryouga turns and strikes her spatula
with his umbrella. The spatula shatters into two halves. Ukyou stands and
stares at it.]

Ukyou: My... spatula.

[Mousse charges in to poke Ryouga's chest, only to get his feet swept by
Ryouga, who then pounds Mousse into the ground. Mousse whips out a long pole,
then gets water tossed on him by Happosai. Instant duck.]

Ranma: I said, get out of here! [kicks Ryouga in the back, knocking him down.]

Ryouga: [gets up] Now, I'm REALLY ANGRY! Bakusai-tenketsu! [He strikes the
ground and it shreds to rubble, pelting MuuMuu-chan, Ukyou and Ranma.
Ranma leaps up to avoid the worst of it and as he comes down, Ryouga
throws his umbrella at Ranma's legs. With a loud crack, Ranma's legs
break and he collapses to the ground.]

Ranma: [picks up Ryouga's umbrella] Now, I'M really angry!

Ryouga: Die, RANMA! [closes in on Ranma, who raises the umbrella to defend
himself]

Ukyou: RAN-CHAN!!!! [She charges Ryouga with a pair of spatulas in her hands
and stabs them both into Ryouga, who turns and glares at her]

Ryouga: [angrily] You'll die too, then. [unleashes a hail of blows on Ukyou,
who desperately blocks them, a spatula breaking with every block.
Soon, she is down to just two of her hand spatulas]

Ranma: [struggling to stand] Run, Ukyou! You CAN'T beat him! You've got to get
out of here! You can't beat him!

Ukyou: [now dodging desperately] You'll just hurt yourself if you try to
stand, Ran-chan! [thinks] I wish I'd taken the time to let Mousse show
me the counter technique. [notices MuuMuu-chan trying to get Ranma's
attention, thinks] Ahh, he's gonna show Ranma. I've got to keep Ryouga
distracted.

Ryouga: Give it up, Ukyou. Not even Ranma can beat me now! [Ukyou spits at
him, but he instinctively dodges it.] NO ONE IS GONNA TREAT ME LIKE
THAT ANYMORE! [He charges Ukyou, who runs. He chases her around the
alleyway for a while, then Happosai trips her.]

Happosai: Nothing personal, but Ryouga needs to get back to punishing Ranma
for me. Also, it lets me do this! [He glomps onto Ukyou's chest...
right as Ryouga aims a crushing blow at her chest. Happosai gets
clobbered and drops off of Ukyou, who rolls and gets up.]

Ukyou: I never thought I'd be happy he did that.

Ryouga: Well, it won't save you twice! [slams Ukyou into a wall. She falls to
her knees, then staggers to her feet.]

Ukyou: I won't let you hurt Ran-chan, Ryouga.

Ryouga: Yeah, yeah, you love him, blah blah blah. [closes in on Ukyou who is
fighting to stand] Are you nuts or what? It ought to be clear by now
he doesn't give a DAMN about you or anyone else! He's made my life and
YOURS a living hell! You ought to be helping me pound him flat!

Ukyou: He has not made my life a living hell! [weakly raises her spatulas to
defend herself] He's my fiancee! I care about him!

Ryouga: [raises his fist] Too bad he doesn't care about you.

Ukyou: [blocks the blow and her last two spatulas shatter] That's not true!
[starts crying] It isn't!

Ryouga: [cocks his fist for the final blow] If he didn't hate you before, he
certainly hates you now after what you did at... the wedding. [His
face turns red with rage.] I'd almost forgotten! You TRIED TO KILL
AKANE!!!!

Ukyou: [terror stricken] I made a mistake! I didn't want to kill her! I just
wanted to stop the wedding! I didn't think about what the bombs could
do to someone! I thought Ran-chan was being forced into marrying Akane!
I'm sorry!

Ryouga: [swings his fist at Ukyou] Sorry doesn't cut it!

Ukyou: [quietly] I know. [takes the blow and slams into the wall again. This
time it shatters. She lies amidst the rubble and tries to stand up.
Ryouga kicks her and she falls down again.]

Ranma: [hobbling over using the umbrella as a cane while MuuMuu-chan tries to
prop him up] Ryouga, you bastard! Fight me, you coward!

Ukyou: [crying] Ran-chan, I'm sorry...

Ryouga: [doesn't even notice Ranma] Now you DIE for what you tried to do to
Akane! [gathers his energies for his depression-bolt attack]

Ranma: [throws the umbrella at Ryouga's feet, knocking him down and breaking
his concentration. Ranma then falls down again.] Now, Mousse!

[MuuMuu-chan flies forward, and as Ryouga stands back up, he pecks Ryouga in
the chest, neutralizing the Atlas point. He pecks Ryouga a second time
and neutralizes the Navigator point as well, then quacks loudly. Ryouga
swats him away.]

Ryouga: I'm still strong enough to deal with all three of you!

Ukyou: [pulls out a small bag of flour] If you can... find us. [hurls it at
Ryouga, who spins about, then charges off the wrong way back towards
the street.]

Ranma: Nice thinking, Ucchan. Maybe one of us will be able to walk by the time
he finds us again.

Ukyou: [crawls over on hands and knees] It'll be me, I think. Maybe in a
little while, I'll be able to get you to Dr. Tofu's house.

Ranma: Ucchan... I...

Ukyou: [smiles faintly] You don't have to say anything, Ran-chan.

Ranma: Yes, I do. I'm sorry about how I've been treating you. I...He could
have killed you.

Ukyou: [stands up] Well, he didn't. [picks up Ranma] Come on, Mousse. We'll
find you some hot water.

Ranma: You sure you can manage carrying me?

Ukyou: [heads off down the street with Ranma on her back] Just like the time
you fell out of that tree on your head, eh, Ran-chan?

Ranma: I thought you were the one who fell out of the tree onto MY head! Pop
had to carry both of us to a doctor!

Ukyou: [laughs] My memory must be getting as bad as yours, Ran-chan.

Ranma: Dr. Tofu probably won't give us a lollypop, either.

[They both laugh.]

* * *

[The present.]

Makiko: Why'd you say you tried to kill yourself? I mean, you risked your
life, but...

Ukyou: Well, I couldn't figure out the best way to say it. I tried to let
Ryouga kill me towards the end. I felt so guilty and I hoped maybe if
he killed me... Ranma would be able to get away somehow. I was afraid
he was right, that Ranma did hate me.

Makiko: He sounds like a really hateful person. Ryouga, that is.

Ukyou: He's not normally that nuts. The Atlas point really made him just...
go berserk.

Makiko: Can a simple pressure point really do something like that? I mean...
I've seen Ranma fight... I know he can do amazing things, but it just
seems... so much like something out of a Hong Kong film.

Ukyou: It gets much, much weirder than that.

Makiko: Like what?

Ukyou: Like Ju...I can't talk about that. Not all of it. Let's just say that
magic is real and there's more of it around than you think.

Makiko: Magic? Only children believe in magic!

Ukyou: I've seen people turn into panda bears, fly, get their minds warped by
magic and grow dozens of feet tall. I've seen people toss around chi
bolts like they were going out of style. I've seen...

Makiko: [rolls her eyes] Whatever! I'm not gonna believe it until I see it!

Ukyou: What, you think I'm lying? [thinks] She must think I've gone nuts.

Makiko: I... umm...

Ukyou: Right. You want proof? I'll show you proof! [picks up Makiko and heads
for the window]

Makiko: I... hey! What's going on?

Ukyou: We're taking a little trip. [leaps out the window carrying Makiko, then
starts leaping rooftop to rooftop across town.]

Makiko: Couldn't we just have taken the bus?

* * *

[Ranma and Akane are getting ready for bed. Right as Ranma gets ready to douse
himself, there is a knock on the door.]

Akane: I'll get it.

[Ranma puts down the bucket as Akane answers the door. Ukyou and Makiko are
there.]

Akane: Oh, hi. Uh...come on in. [Ukyou and Makiko step inside.] What brings
you here at this hour? [stares at Ukyou] In your pajamas, no less?

Ukyou: Oops.

Makiko: Ukyou has decided now is the time to try to prove to me that magic is
real.

Ukyou: [drags Ranma off into the bathroom] I need to talk to you real quick.
[closes the door] Makiko and I were having a big talk, you see, and I
think, well, she thinks I'm nuts... You know some of the crazy stuff
we did in high school.

Ranma: [laughs nervously] Yeeah. I wouldn't believe half of it if it hadn't
happened to me...

Ukyou: Would you mind telling Makiko some stories about some of the... well,
more fantastical stuff that happened to us? I need some backup. I
mean... I know it all happened, but I don't want my roommate to think I
need therapy.

Ranma: Yeah, sure. Wait... does she know about...?

Ukyou: Not unless you want to tell her.

Ranma: Right. So why'd you drag me in here to ask me this? Couldn't you have
just asked me in front of her?

Ukyou: [pauses, laughs faintly] Well, you were about to douse yourself when we
entered. I wanted to make sure you didn't do that in front of Makiko.

Ranma: Good point.

Ukyou: Why were you about to douse yourself, anyway?

Ranma: [laughs nervously] I... umm... we...

Ukyou: [blushes] You were going to...

Ranma: [blushes] No, no! Not like what you're thinking!

Ukyou: What, she makes you...

Ranma: Umm. I'd really rather NOT talk about this.

Ukyou: Okay, sorry to bother you, Ran-chan.

Ranma: Let's just go tell some stories!

[They step out of the bathroom.]

Ranma: Well, I think you're going to have an interesting night, Makiko...

* * *

[The clock now reads 1 am. Makiko, Ranma, Ukyou, and Akane are all still
sitting around the table.]

Akane: So then I blew the mongoose's horn and the dragon fled. I just wish I'd
thought of that earlier, though. We were able to heal Shinnosuke, and
Ranma and I went home. [thinks] I think that was the first time Ranma
and I ever held hands. [glances over at Ranma, who smiles back at her,
thinks] I wonder if he'd mind... if I... [slowly, under the table, her
hand creeps closer to his]

Ranma: Man, that was what... three years ago? Two? [wistfully] We had so many
adventures in high school. I won't mind not ever seeing the principal
ever again, though.

Makiko: Lemme guess, he wanted to marry Akane? [laughs]

Ranma: He wanted to shave my head. [starts as Akane takes his hand]

Makiko: Makes you jump just to think about it, eh?

Ranma: Umm... yeah, something like that. He liked really, really short hair,
you see. [glances over at Akane, who smiles nervously at him. He
relaxes.] Like Akane's but much worse.

Akane: [starts to get irritated] Not like my... oh. [thinks about what Ranma
actually said] Bowl cuts for all. Luckily, Ranma saved us from that
awful fate. You see...

* * *

[It is now 2 AM. Everyone is starting to yawn. Ranma and Akane are still
holding hands.]

Ukyou: We'd better go.

Makiko: [still perky] I could talk all night!

Ranma: I'm game.

Akane: [yawns] I'm getting tired.

Ukyou: [gets up] I need sleep. And we need to go while I still feel up to
carrying you, Makiko. The buses have shut down by now, so we're gonna
have to go the way we came. [yawns]

Ranma: You sure you're up to it? Maybe you ought to sleep here. It's a long
way to go.

Ukyou: [smiles faintly] I think it would get a little crowded on your futon,
Ranma.

[Ranma and Akane blush.]

Ranma: I can sleep on the table or something.

Akane: Why don't you walk them home, Ranma? Or leap them home or whatever.
I'm sorry we don't have something you two could sleep on.

Ukyou: Well, we wouldn't be able to put you two up at night either. Don't
worry about it. Come on, Ran-chan, let's go while I can still stay
awake.

[Ranma and Akane get up, then realize Ukyou and Makiko can see them holding
hands. Makiko giggles. Ukyou smiles faintly. Ranma and Akane start and
spring away from each other.]

Makiko: Don't worry, Akane. We won't keep your loverboy away from you for too
long.

Akane: [starts] He's not my LOVERBOY!

Makiko: [giggling moderately hysterically as the others start to laugh
involuntarily] I must be getting tired... this happens to me
sometimes. C'mon, loverboy Ranma, take us home.

Ranma: [blushes] Will you stop saying that?

Makiko: [giggling more] But it's fun! Loverboy Ranma, loverboy Lard-kun,
loverboy Mousse... whee, I've got almost as many as Ranma! [laughs
hysterically]

[Ukyou and Ranma drag Makiko off as Akane simply watches them go. The door
closes. Akane stares at it.]

Akane: Maybe... I ought to wait up and talk to Ranma. Hai, that would be a
good idea.

* * *

[Ranma and Ukyou leap in through Ukyou's still open window, with Ranma
carrying the still giggle-maniacal Makiko.]

Ranma: Does she always do this late at night?

Ukyou: Usually, we're asleep by this point, but yeah, she's done this a few
times. Just put her in her bed and she'll be okay.

Ranma: [takes Makiko to her bed] So why did you need to tell her about our
high school adventures, anyway?

Ukyou: I hadn't gotten that far. I was trying to explain to her about me...
what I'm really like. Um, I mean...

Ranma: Why you've been acting so funny this whole semester?

Ukyou: Yeah.

Ranma: I've been worried. You get depressed so much and you dress funny...
umm, I mean you don't dress like you used to... ahh...

Ukyou: [lightly punches Ranma on the shoulder] I'm not your wife. I don't blow
up every time you say something that could be taken wrong. One of
these days, I'm gonna give her a piece of my mind about that...

Ranma: [blushes] I dunno if that would be a good idea... she'd just explode on
you... I mean, you two are finally starting to get along. I'd like to
keep it that way.

Ukyou: You shouldn't have to be afraid to speak your mind, Ran-chan...
although being more polite wouldn't hurt either.

Ranma: [clears his throat] So... why have you been acting like this, Ucchan?

Ukyou: [smiles faintly] You really don't know much about relationships, do
you, Ran-chan.

Ranma: [sweatdrops] Uhh...what's that supposed to mean?

Ukyou: After you told... after you and Akane got married, I didn't know what
to do with myself. I had spent so long hoping to... you know.

Ranma: [faintly] Yeah.

Ukyou: So I decided I had to make a fresh start. I was sick of moping around,
sick of myself, what I had done with my life. I had wasted it. Almost
all of it. I didn't think I'd done anything right since the day your
father took you away. So I decided to toss it all out... to be the girl
I could have been if none of that had ever happened.

Ranma: ...

Ukyou: No more boys' clothing. No more fighting. No more okonomiyaki. No more
lo... no more chasing after... [pauses] I took my life out in the
woods, shot it, and left it to die. [Ranma winces at the image] I
deliberately didn't say anything about my past to my new friends,
except for being one of your friends from school. I tried to wipe it
all from my mind.

Ranma: I... that... I... err, I mean... I'm sorry.

Ukyou: It's not your fault, Ran-chan. Maybe if I could have really forgotten
all of it... then I could have been happy. But I couldn't. My past
crawled out of the woods, found me, and just wouldn't go away or stay
dead. I couldn't forget and it made me get depressed a lot. I kept
thinking about what might have been... I've always had a vivid
imagination, and it kept getting the better of me.

Ranma: I... maybe you'd be better off if you'd never met me.

Ukyou: That isn't true, Ran-chan. [gives Ranma a hug] Don't feel bad about
it. It won't help. Trust me, I've tried that.

Ranma: Is there anything I can do... to help you with this?

Ukyou: I feel a lot better now. The whole business with the Guardian and
Kurakujanen made me really think about all this. The Guardian... forced
me to think about it.

Ranma: He was pretty hard on me too...

Ukyou: What was your test like, Ran-chan?

Ranma: [sits down] I had to fight a monster to keep it from eating you and
Akane.

Ukyou: That doesn't sound so bad... I mean, you're a great fighter.

Ranma: I was stuck as a girl too. I couldn't beat it and save both of you at
the same time because I was a girl...

Ukyou: Hey, girls can fight well too!

Ranma: Well, my girl form is weaker than my boy form. It made fun of me about
that. You both cried because I couldn't save you because I was a
girl...

Ukyou: Ran-chan, you know we don't care about your curse.

Ranma: Maybe you don't... I finally managed to beat it and save both of you...
I thought I was gonna die in the process, though. [pauses] It was
making fun of me just 'cause I was a girl! It made me so angry.

Ukyou: [murmurs] Sounds like someone I know and his wife...

Ranma: What?

Ukyou: Maybe it was trying to tell you something about your life... I think
that's what it does... really. Do you have any idea what Akane's test
was like?

Ranma: I dunno. Sato wants to talk to us about our tests. He apologized for
his practical joke too.

Ukyou: [yawns] I guess I had better get to bed. I'm really, really tired.
Thanks for talking with me, Ran-chan.

Ranma: Anytime, Ucchan. [leaps out the window. Ukyou gazes off after him.]

Ukyou: [plops down on her bed] I guess I'll finish telling Makiko all about
this... [yawn] tomorrow.

[She turns out the light and goes to sleep.]

* * *

[The next morning. Ranma-chan wakes up before Akane does.]

Ranma-chan: [mutters] My turn to fix breakfast.

[She fixes breakfast, then goes to wake up Akane. She shakes Akane gently, and
Akane rolls over and whaps Ranma-chan on the nose in the process.]

Akane: [mutters] Left turn...

Ranma-chan: [grumpily] Rise and shine, Akane.

Akane: [starts awake] Hey, where'd my car... [shakes her head] Never mind.
[smiles] How are you this morning, Ranma? [sniffs the air] Breakfast.
I'm hungry! [gets up and goes over to the table]

Ranma-chan: [blinks, thinking] She's in a good mood... [smiles faintly]

Akane: [starts eating, smirks slightly] Nice cooking, loverboy.

Ranma-chan: [starts] A-Akane?

Akane: [laughs] Makiko is such a nut sometimes.

Ranma-chan: Umm...you're in a really good mood. [sits and starts eating]

Akane: I had fun last night and had pleasant dreams. It's a beautiful day. Why
shouldn't I be happy?

Ranma-chan: [calms down] Good point. [starts eating in her usual manner,
rather than slowly and nervously as she was before, thinking]
I've got to stop being so jumpy...why am I so jumpy around her
these last few days? I guess I must just still be tense from the
whole Kurakujanen business.

Akane: Ranma... about yesterday...

Ranma-chan: [nervously] About what yesterday?

Akane: You know... we...

Ranma-chan: [stares blankly, then realizes] Oh, that...

Akane: I... I hope I didn't embarrass you.

Ranma-chan: [smiles faintly] Nowhere near as much as Makiko would have been if
she'd really known what she was doing. She just about flipped out.

Akane: She probably won't even remember it...

Ranma-chan: Ukyou will, though...

Akane: [finishes eating] Wanna take a walk with me after we finish eating and
get dressed? My morning classes got cancelled. They have to fix some
water damage in the building and it's gonna block the hallway the
classes are in.

Ranma-chan: Sure.

[They finish eating, shower, and get dressed. A bird sings outside the window.
Akane smiles.]

Akane: [looks out the window] What a beautiful day. A bit cold, but nice.

[The door opens. Nabiki and Kasumi walk in.]

Nabiki: Hiya, sis! I tried to knock and the door swung open.

Kasumi: You really need to lock your door, Akane.

Akane: Hi... what brings you here so early?

Nabiki: We're going shopping! You called us yesterday to plan this, remember?
I don't have much to do, since all the preparations for that movie are
done. Well, all the preliminary preparations, anyway. I need to relax.

Akane: You're helping set up a movie?

Ranma: [quietly] Well, I guess I'll see you later, Akane.

Akane: Why don't you come with us, Ranma?

Ranma: I think I left something at Ukyou's last night... I'd better go check.
[vaults out the window. Akane's face sinks.]

Kasumi: Ranma seems so forgetful lately. Everytime I see him, he seems to have
forgotten something somewhere.

Nabiki: [slightly irritated] His brain maybe.

Akane: [a touch of anger in her voice] Nabiki, don't say things like that.

Nabiki: [more irritated] I'm sick of him giving me this attitude! Always
running off and hiding every time I come near him, like I'm some kind
of leper or I'm out to kill him or something.

Kasumi: If you were out to kill him, he'd just fight you, Nabiki.

Nabiki: I know he knows I'm not out to kill him. Can you please stop taking
everything literally, Kasumi? [frowns]

Akane: Is something wrong, Nabiki? You seem pretty unhappy.

Nabiki: The stock market fell and I lost 50,000 yen. I got stood up last
Friday. The exterminator got defeated by the roaches. This movie will
make up for my losses, but the director is a complete fruitcake and
dealing with him is making me batty! Then this. I can't stand this.

Akane: Well, I think he's still angry about that kidnapping thing.

Nabiki: That was over three months ago. He doesn't treat you or Ukyou like
this!

Kasumi: [in a remarkably cheery voice for what she is saying] Well, they
haven't used Ranma as a money-making machine almost from the first day
they met him. He's married to one of them and the other one's his
best friend. They both apologized to him about it. [starts ticking off
reasons on her hand] They...

Nabiki: [sighs] Okay, Okay, I get the picture.

Kasumi: [continues] ... give him presents on his birthday and at Christmas.
He's fought by their side on multiple occasions. Hmm. Maybe I'd
better start writing things down so I don't repeat myself.

Nabiki: That's enough, Kasumi.

Kasumi: [gets out a notepad] Let's see. Reason one: They don't use Ranma as a
human ATM. Reason two...

Nabiki: [loudly] Okay! No need to beat a dead horse!

Kasumi: [blinks, returns to reality] What horse?

Nabiki: [strides towards the door] I can't take this anymore! Goodbye!

Akane: [runs after her] Nabiki, don't go!

Kasumi: I... I'm sorry, Nabiki-chan. I just...

Nabiki: [loudly] I don't care WHAT you just! Goodbye! [slams the door]

Kasumi: I'll try to calm her down, Akane. We'll be back soon. [runs out the
door after Nabiki]

Akane: [hears the bird singing still and the sound of running feet. She
sighs.] No walk. No shopping. Ranma's angry. Nabiki's angry. I'm
depressed. Why does this always happen?

[There is a knock at the door.]

Akane: Come on in. [thinking] Guess they got back already.

Sato: [comes in] Ready to talk?

Akane: Are you going to pitch a fit and run out on me?

Sato: [blinks] Eh, what?

Akane: [sits down] Nothing. Know any good ways to get someone to forgive a
relative?

Sato: Your sister Nabiki perhaps?

Akane: [starts] I... how did you know that?

Sato: The two women running down the stairs, one of whom seemed to be named
Nabiki from the way the other woman was calling her that. Ranma's
suspicion I was working for or was like a Nabiki earlier. Finally, your
comment as I came in. Also, I saw Ranma jump out the window a few
minutes ago.

Akane: Yeah, she... well, she and Ukyou and I set up Ranma with this fake
kidnapping scheme a while back. I was trying to help out Nabiki... she
needed someone to help her win a contest.

Sato: Why didn't she just ask him?

Akane: She needed a trophy stolen temporarily.

Sato: I can see how he wouldn't want to do that.

Akane: I never should have agreed to help her, but... Nabiki can be very
persuasive and she is my sister. I just... it was a mistake. We never
should have done it. Ukyou and I both ended up regretting it.

Sato: He's forgiven you two, but not Nabiki. [pauses] I take it this has
happened before.

Akane: Nabiki has made a lot of money off of Ranma, in one way or another, and
he's never seen a single penny of it.

Sato: I'm surprised he hasn't taken action to stop her from doing this.

Akane: Like what? Other than beating her up, which he would never do, there's
nothing he can do.

Sato: Except avoid her.

Akane: We... were going to go on a walk. Nabiki and Kasumi got here and he
fled. Now they're gone too. [sighs] This started out as a good morning.

Sato: If you would prefer to discuss your test with me some other time, I can
go. I don't want to make your morning any more difficult than it already
has been.

Akane: Well, it's not likely to get any worse, unless someone kidnaps me.

Sato: Which is unlikely.

Akane: [smiles faintly] Perhaps more likely than you think. I've had a...
strange life.

Sato: Well, tell me about your test.

Akane: Okay, it started like this. [launches into a description of the test]

* * *

[We see Ukyou and Makiko eating breakfast. Makiko looks groggy.]

Makiko: I kinda freaked out last night, didn't I?

Ukyou: [smiles] You could say that. I think you were more tired than you
realized.

Makiko: Right. [pauses] We never did finish our talk. I guess you kinda
decided to do a total self-makeover after Ranma finally married Akane?

Ukyou: [smiles] Yeah, that about sums it up.

Makiko: So what happens now?

Ukyou: Well, I won't be burning my new wardrobe. [laughs] Soon as we get past
finals, I'm going to start working more on my martial arts again. I'd
have done better against Kurakujanen if I hadn't been so out of
practice. Maybe I'll even cook Ran-chan some okonomiyaki for Christmas.
That reminds me, I've got to get a new cookbook... I still don't know
enough different dishes to keep from eating the same things over and
over.

Makiko: What about Ranma?

Ukyou: I'll clone him and keep one for myself. [laughs] Maybe Yuriko would
agree to help me with that... [laughs more] He'd probably end up with
Ranma's body and Kunou's mind or something.

Makiko: [buries her face in her hands] What a nut!

[There is a knock at the door.]

Ukyou: Come in!

[Ranma comes in, looking a little down.]

Ranma: Hiya.

Ukyou: Want to join us?

Ranma: [sits down] I already ate.

Makiko: You didn't snipe at Akane about her cooking again, did you?

Ranma: [irritated] I cooked breakfast. For once, this had nothing to do with
cooking or any of the usual suspects.

Ukyou: What happened?

Ranma: Nabiki dropped by. Right when Akane and I were about to...

Makiko: [giggles] Hold hands? Kiss?

Ranma: Take a walk.

Makiko: So what's the big deal?

Ukyou: [stares at Makiko for a moment and shakes her head softly, thinking]
Some people just don't get it.

Ranma: I ought to go work out, but I'm just not in the mood.

Ukyou: Wanna spar with me a while and work off some steam? I can use the
practice.

Ranma: Sure.

Makiko: Mind if I come watch? This ought to be better than a Hong Kong flick.

Ranma: [smiles] Those things are so hokey.

[Ukyou gets her gear and they head out the door.]

Ukyou: I wanna see Jackie Chan vs. Cologne. Now THAT would be a fight.

Ranma: I'd bet on the old troll. Even if the script said he'd win.

* * *

[Sato and Akane are still at the table.]

Akane: So then she held me in her arms and told me this old saying about the
elements.

Sato: The ring of the elements, hai. Fire dominates Metal. Metal dominates
Wood. Wood dominates Air. Air dominates Water and Water dominates Fire.

Akane: Well, it was more poetic than that. That and what you said earlier
helped me figure out how to defeat Kurakujanen. I... I might have died
if I hadn't known that. [pauses] I didn't really even think I'd have to
really fight him. Not by myself. I mean... Ranma always beats things
like that. I've hardly ever won a fight by myself since he got here. I
beat Kodachi a while back... but he had to help me train. That's the
first fight I've won totally on my own in years.

Sato: That bothers you.

Akane: Yeah. Way back, I used to always be able to take care of myself. No one
I knew could beat me, except maybe Dad, and he wasn't out to beat me.
By the time Ranma got there, I think I had passed Dad. I hated all the
fights I got into... but I liked that I always won.

Sato: And then Ranma arrived, better than you thought was even possible.
Better than you.

Akane: He just kept getting better too. There was nothing I could do about it.
I couldn't keep up. After a little while, I didn't even try. I turned
to other things, things I thought I'd be able to do better, that I'd
need to do better.

Sato: Like?

Akane: Cooking, cleaning, school, acting. Some were things I'd neglected to
learn because I'd been focused on my martial arts. Others were things I
discovered I liked once I had time to actually DO them. Like acting.

Sato: But you feel he doesn't appreciate your efforts in any of those other
things.

Akane: Well, some of them he just thinks I'm no good and the rest he doesn't
care.

Sato: Perhaps this is one of the chains that was binding you in your test.

Akane: What was?

Sato: This feeling that he doesn't appreciate your efforts. Have you tried
telling him this?

Akane: We... umm... fight about it a lot.

Sato: Which then makes you more depressed, so you fight more.

Akane: [laughs nervously] That about sums it up, yeah.

Sato: So you can't compete with him and anything else you do he doesn't take
seriously.

Akane: Yeah.

Sato: Is his approval that important?

Akane: He's my husband! I want him to respect my accomplishments!

Sato: But he doesn't.

Akane: Yeah.

Sato: Does he know you respect his accomplishments?

Akane: He doesn't need my praise! Everyone knows he's a great martial artist!

Sato: Do you ever tell him that?

Akane: ...

* * *

[We see Akane sitting on a chair by the window in Room 4, staring out at the
backyard of Maison Sabaku. Toshi is down in the yard, cutting the grass with a
lawnmower.]

Akane: [thinking] How'd I end up like this? Is this really what I want? Do I
even have a choice? Is the rest of my life going to be like this?

[The door opens and Ranma comes in.]

Ranma: Yo, Akane. Want to come eat lunch with me and Ucchan and Makiko?

[Ukyou and Makiko step in from the hallway.]

Akane: [turns around, trying to clear the gloom off her face] Ranma, I...
[The words will not come.]

Ranma: You okay, Akane? Did something happen while you were shopping?

Akane: We didn't go shopping.

Ranma: Oh. So you want to come eat or what?

Akane: I guess.

Makiko: What happened, Akane? Something's bothering you.

Akane: Nothing.

Ukyou: [smiles faintly] Well, come eat with us and we can talk about it.

[Akane slowly gets up and joins them.]

* * *

[We see Ukyou and Makiko at their room.]

Ukyou: [on the phone] Sure, I don't have any plans for Summer Break.

Makiko: Who is it?

Ukyou: [to Makiko] Dad. [on the phone] Sure, if you want to drop in for a day,
go right ahead. We have finals soon, though.

Makiko: Is it my turn to fix dinner?

Ukyou: [to Makiko] Yes. [on the phone] That was my roommate.
[pauses] Sure, I'll tell her she's invited too. [pauses] I need
to go now. Thanks for calling. [pauses] Love you too, Dad.
[hangs up] Wow. I haven't been home in years.

Makiko: [blinks] Years?

Ukyou: Never had time. Want to come with me?

Makiko: Well, I could come visit for a while. I live near where your
family lives. I'm... interested in meeting your father.

Ukyou: Just remember it's not polite to kill your host.

[They both laugh.]

* * *

[That night, Ranma-chan and Akane are getting ready for bed.]

Akane: Ranma... do you know... I mean... umm...

Ranma-chan: [putting on her pajamas in the bathroom] Know what, Akane?

Akane: Does anyone ever tell you... umm... I... do they...

Ranma-chan: [looks in the mirror] Do I have a wart or something? Is there
something in my hair?

Akane: [laughs faintly] No, no, not something wrong with you.

Ranma-chan: [emerges from the bathroom] Then why can't you just ask me?

Akane: Never mind. Forget about it.

Ranma-chan: [mutters] Jeez, why do women always start to bring something up,
then try to make you guess what they're thinking...

Akane: [getting angry] I'm not trying to make you guess what I'm thinking!

Ranma-chan: Don't yell at me!

Akane: [reaches for the table] I'm not yelling! [pauses, lets out a deep
breath, puts down the table] Okay, I'm yelling. [thinks] Not
another fight. Not now. Not if I can help it.

Ranma-chan: [takes a deep breath] I'm sorry I ran out on you this morning. I
just... didn't want to deal with Nabiki.

Akane: She got mad because you did that, she and Kasumi had a fight and she
ran off. I still don't know what happened after that.

Ranma-chan: [blinks] A fight with Kasumi?

Akane: I think Kasumi is finally getting fed up with Nabiki. She usually
doesn't drag Kasumi into her schemes, but...

Ranma-chan: I'm gonna go nuts over Christmas being in the same house with her.

Akane: One way or another, you're gonna have to learn to deal with her, Ranma.
She's part of your family now.

Ranma-chan: I know. That doesn't mean I like it.

Akane: You don't have a choice.

Ranma-chan: I never do.

Akane: [blinks] Ranma, that's not true.

Ranma-chan: Okay, that's an overstatement. It's only the big things I can't
control. I guess I do get to pick some of the petty details.
[sits and stares at the wall]

Akane: [kneeling near Ranma] Is it that bad?

Ranma-chan: I didn't want all my engagements. I wasn't ready to get married. I
didn't want to go to college. I have a sister-in-law I can't get
along with or do anything about. Now it seems like I can't even
fight worth a damn.

Akane: You're a great fighter, Ranma! You're the best one I know... well,
except for Cologne and Happosai, but they've been fighting for ages.

Ranma-chan: This last year, I've lost so many fights... fights I should have
won easily. Even the ones I've won, I've had a hard time with. I
even got beaten by Kunou! I used to be able to beat him in my
sleep!

Akane: You're still a great fighter, Ranma.

Ranma-chan: I know I can't win every fight... but what do I have if I don't
have that? Fighting's what I'm good at. I've spent my life being
the best fighter I can be, and it still isn't good enough, damnit!

Akane: ...

Ranma-chan: [stares at her hands] If after all that training, all that effort,
all those years I spent, I still can't win the important fights...
Then my life doesn't mean anything. How am I supposed to run a
dojo if I can't even protect... my wife?

Akane: [thinking] I've never seen Ranma like this...now what do I do?

Ranma-chan: We'll end up living off handouts from Nabiki, that's what's going
to happen. [sighs] Maybe if you strike it big as an actor, we can
travel around and I can be your stagehand or something. At least
that way we'd be able to eat.

Akane: You really think I could hit it big as an actor?

Ranma-chan: You certainly work hard enough on it to. Like for the play we were
both in. You work on that as hard as I used to work on my martial
arts. I just don't have the time for it anymore with all this
homework, even skipping some of it. Now I've lost my edge...

Akane: Won't it be worth it once you have your degree? Then you can go back to
training full time.

Ranma-chan: I still don't see why I need some stupid degree to teach martial
arts. Writing Haiku, playing soccer, dancing classes, and all that
other stuff... that AWFUL history class... I still can't do any of
it well, and now it's making me not be any good at what I used to
do well.

Akane: Well, I...

Ranma-chan: Doesn't it irritate you that you have to take all those classes
that have nothing to do with what you want to do, Akane?

Akane: Yeah, sometimes. But it's stuff we need to know.

Ranma-chan: Why?

Akane: Because... because... umm... it's good for you to know lots of things...

Ranma-chan: [laughs faintly] The reason why we have to take all these classes
not being one of them?

Akane: [laughs a little] Is this why you got so wacky over the chess thing
with Kunou?

Ranma-chan: Yeah. That really made me realize how much trouble I'd been having
with fights lately. Maybe we ought to go on a training trip during
summer break. [thinking] That would get me away from Nabiki too.

Akane: Sounds like a good idea to me.

Ranma-chan: [yawns] Well, I'm ready to sleep now, I guess.

Akane: Feel any better?

Ranma-chan: I'll feel better once I get some sleep.

Akane: [reaches over and squeezes Ranma's hand for a few seconds, then lets
go] Me too.

[They scramble into bed and soon fall asleep.]

* * *

[Makiko sits at her computer, typing away. Ukyou comes in, in her pajamas.]

Ukyou: Whatcha doing?

Makiko: Chatting with Wanda.

Ukyou: Who?

Makiko: One of my internet friends. Her real name is Satori, but she's Wanda
Wombat on the Muck I met her on. I play Wally the Wombat. They hang
out together a lot, and I've gotten to know her pretty well.
She's on that Muck I was showing you yesterday, too.

Ukyou: [thinks] Wombats? [says] Well, I'm going to sleep.

Makiko: I'm probably heading over to the Nekohanten for a little while once I
finish this. [pauses] I hope Ranma was able to cheer Akane up.

Ukyou: [sighs] I get rid of my depression, but now they seem to have caught
it.

Makiko: They'll bounce back. People always do.

Ukyou: I guess so. I just wish I could help them.

Makiko: I'm glad I was able to help you... talking to me did help, didn't it?

Ukyou: A lot. Thanks for being understanding, Makiko.

Makiko: I'm still trying to sort it all out... your life is so different than
mine was... is.

Ukyou: Not any weirder than you and Lardy's relationship.

Makiko: [blushes] We do not have a relationship!

Ukyou: That's what Ranma and Akane said all the time before they got married.
[impishly] Hmm... gonna propose to him at the Nekohanten tonight?

Makiko: We're not gonna get married!

Ukyou: They said that too. Hmm, must be destiny!

Makiko: Are you listening to anything I say?

Ukyou: [claps her hands] It is fate.

Makiko: Will you STOP THAT?

[Fade to black with Makiko yelling in the distance.]

===============================================================================
finis.
===============================================================================

There's word on the street again
The rumours come flyin'
She's up to her old ways again
And another one is cryin'

No-one understands
She's a dif'rent person now
No-one lends a hand
To listen to her now

Days going by, hopelessness in your heart
Never look back, never break apart

Somebody loves you
Now and forever
And you're not alone now
If only you'll remember
That somebody loves you
Waiting patiently
Somebody loves you
Look and you will see
Somebody loves you ...
(Somebody)
Somebody like me.

===============================================================================

Credits :

Writers..............: David Tai
Paul Gallegos
John Walter Biles
Jeffrey Paul Hosmer

Story Artists........: Anastasia Moreno
Jong Man Hwang

DnR Outsider's FAQ...: Jon K. Hayashi

Special Thanks to....: Robert DeLoura
Tanya Mundy
J.

The Tucson Animation Screening Society (TASS)

And of course Rumiko Takahashi

+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+
| Copyright (c) 1996 Digital Knight Communications |
+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+
| "Ranma 1/2" and its characters Copyright (c) 1996 |
| Viz Communications, Inc., Shogakukan, Kitty Animation |
| and Rumiko Takahashi |
+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+

===============================================================================