[Note: This 'fic is not mine.  It's by Joshua Stevens, whose e-mail is
currently mucked up.  Please send all C&C to Michael@fiber-net.com .]



Ranma 1/2 :
Fanfic Special :
A Otaku's Wish, a dedication to Mako.
written by Joshua Stevens.

********************************
	"There are four basic rules to being a living person 
in anime, live by those and you have a chance of actually 
having a continuing existence.  
	"Rule one - never outshine the main characters.  If 
you so that, people are going to hate you, your fic never 
gets read, and then the writer never writes you again.
	"Rule two - never bring out super powers unless for 
a higher purpose or for comedic purposes.  If you start 
flashing powers, you'll appear to powerful and people will 
hate you.
	"Rule three - Never, under any circumstances, fall 
in love.  It always looks like favoritism no matter how you 
write it.  Besides, it doesn't come out right.
	"And Rule three - never discount anything as 
impossible.  If you don't expect that something won't 
happen, it's going to happen."
		Hologram, the man with the black eyes.
[-=-=-]
	"....happy birthday, dear Christine; happy birthday 
to you!"  Everyone claps.
	"Now make a wish, that's a special candle that your 
cousin Hol brought over!"  her mom says to her.  The 
candle is perfectly clear, almost crystalline.  Though it 
seems to burn, it doesn't melt at all.  
	For a moment, Christine holds her breath.  She is 
almost regretful at having to blow out the beautiful candle.  
Finally, she thinks up the perfect wish and blow.  As the 
candle's flame goes out, the thought <I wish that I could see 
the world of Ranma for real> flows through her head.
	It was then that something snapped into place, that 
she realized something was wrong.  Looking up at her 
mother, her voice was barely a whisper as she said, "Mom, 
I don't have a cousin Hol."
	Her mom looked at those worried eyes, then ... 
everything stopped.  It wasn't that her mother just froze,  or 
that everyone in the party just quit doing things for a 
moment.  Everything just dead stopped and only silence 
filled the room.  It looked like somebody put the entire 
frame of her life on pause.
	Then she heard those quiet footsteps coming closer.  
She saw the man making his way through the crowd, but 
she wasn't afraid.  He seemed oddly familiar, though she 
couldn't remember his face.  At last, he was close enough 
for her to hear him, and he began to speak.
	"Hello Christine, I like your wish!"  the man said.  
He looked about twenty-five, but he acted like he was 
much older.
	She was confused for a moment, "My wish?  But I 
didn't do that outloud...."  and she noticed a flash in his 
night colored eyes as she said this.
	"That's right, Christine, I'm here to make it come 
true."  he continues nonchalantly, "For some strange cosmic 
reason, you are allowed, for one week, experience what it 
is like to be part of the Ranma universe.  During that time, 
you can do anything you wish, affect anyone you wish, but 
when the times up, everything will be like it was.  Is that all 
clear?"
	Christine thought for a moment.  It sounded too 
good to be true, but it was a golden opportunity.  Quickly 
she nodded her head, and turned to go to her room.  "I'll be 
right back after I get some clothes and stuff."  she said.
	Hologram giggled a bit, "You don't have to worry 
about it, Christine.  I said I'd take care of everything, and I 
mean it.  You won't even have to know Japanese!  I got 
more than enough power for this wish.  You wanna go 
now?"
	Without any hesitation, Christine says, "Yeah, let's 
start this wish already.  I don't need to worry about getting 
hurt right?  Those guys in Ranma never get hurt!"
	Hologram put a hand on her shoulder, "I don't think 
so, you are more powerful than you think there.  You 
should have more than enough power to deal with whatever 
you find there.
 	[-=-=-]
	Christine looked around and she was there ... albeit, 
it wasn't what she expected, but she was there.  Somehow, 
she imagined the place to be more, well ... perfect.  It was a 
nice day and all, but the ground felt all squishy from a 
recent rain, and the trees looked more barren than she 
remembered reading.  <I guess this is what we don't see.> 
she thought.
	Hologram removed his hand from his shoulder, and 
she could see that his clothes had changed into blue jeans 
and a T-shirt.  Looking down at herself, she discovered that 
she was similarly dressed, except she also had a backpack 
on and her T-shirt was red.
	All of a sudden Hologram pulled something from 
the air and handed it to her.  It was some sort of 
subscription to something, but she didn't get enough time to 
read it all.  Before she got through the third line, Hologram 
interrupted her thoughts.
	"It' a boarding pass to the Tendo dojo.  They'll know 
you as an exchange student who is trading places with 
Nabiki.  The map is on the back, and if you have any 
trouble getting there ... follow the sounds of yelling." he 
began to walk off.
	"Hey, wait!"  she called out, "Aren't you gonna at 
least help me get aquainted with this place?"
	"Why?  This is your wish, it's up to you to become 
aquainted with this place.  Besides, I know you'd rather 
have Ranma or Akane show you around." and with that he 
was gone.  He didn't so much disappear, as she lost sight of 
him and then ... he was gone.
	Left alone in a strange place, she didn't have much 
of a choice, she went to find this Tendo dojo.  The map was 
well made, detailing specific landmarks by how she'd 
recognize them, and leading in an all too familiar path to 
the Tendo home.  In a few minutes, she was in a place she 
recognized.
	Before her stood a clean looking, white building, its 
outside walls radiating a healthy feeling and its plaque 
telling of its purpose.  It was Dr. Tofu's office, and then she 
realized that next to her was the gate Ranma walked on.
	Much like the ones she'd seen at home, it was a 
silver colored rust dotted fence.  Its cold form bent at 
places, and there were marks all along the side.  In more 
than one place, it leaned over heavily as if somebody 
pushed it.  Christine had a good indication of who that 
somebody was.
	Knowing that it lead to the Tendo home, she 
followed the fence.  Its path was the same shown in so 
many of her comics.  It was at once familiar and strange.  
She was seeing things as she never had before, and it was a 
bit scary.  She shivered when she realized just how real this 
was for them.  While she was from the real world, and got 
a real life, they never got to know that the lived only in 
people's imaginations.  <This sounds like a Never-ending 
Story movie, yech>
	In a moment she arrived.  She stood in front of the 
aging building, much larger than she imagined.  Gathering 
her courage, she finally knocked on the door, and at the 
same instant it flew open.
	Hearing only the words, "Ranma you jerk!" as a 
warning, she didn't quite have enough time to avoid being 
hit with Ranma.  It was a few seconds before her brain 
recovered enough to let her sit up, slightly.  It was a bit 
difficult with Ranma laying on her and all.
	Ranma, finally noticing how soft his landing had 
been and feeling the movement underneath him, managed 
to turn beet red and stutter out, "Oh, I ... um ... well ... that 
is ... I'm s-sorry?" looking at her with puppy dog eyes.
	Christine managed to suppress a smile at the humor 
of the situation.  "That's alright, I guess I wasn't looking 
where I ... you ... were going.  Nice to meet you!  Would 
you mind getting off me for a second?"
	Ranma shook his head for a moment, he must have 
been hit harder than he realized.  Quickly, he jumped up 
onto his feet, and helped the girl up.  "Here you go, I really 
am sorry about that, I should have gotten off when I 
realized...."
	"Thanks."  she said and smiled, "It wasn't your fault.  
I'm Christy, I came here 'cause I'm the exchange student."  
she extended her hand.
	"Oh,"  he said, shaking her hand, "I'm Ranma.  Your 
going to be staying here?  Why are you...."
	"Ranma!"  Kasumi says as she walks into the 
doorway, "Aren't you going to at least invite our guest in?  
You must be the foreign exchange student from America, 
how nice to meet you!"  she says as she takes off Christine's 
backpack.
	Christine nods numbly, <Wow, this is exactly like 
the comic, except more ... colored.>.  "Yeah, I'm the 
exchange student.  I was told I'm going to be staying here?"
	"Yes, you'll be staying in Nabiki's room."  Kasumi 
answered, "My, you pack light!  And you speak Japanese 
wonderfully!"
	Christine responds nervously, "Um, yeah.  I love to 
travel, but I hate taking too much.  Can you show me where 
I can put my stuff?" she asks.
	The patented Kasumi smile is flashed to Christine 
as Kasumi nods her head and says, "Sure!  Ranma, would 
you show ... Christine isn't it .... would you show Christine 
to her room?  I'm sure she wants to see all of the sights, so 
you can give her a tour when she's done."
	Ranma nodded regretfully and took Christine 
upstairs.  "This is Nabiki's room.  If you find anything in 
there, you shouldn't touch it.  I think Nabiki leaves traps in 
there.  Anyway,  I'll let you get settled in, and I'll be back in 
ten minutes, okay?"
	Christine nodded and watched as he walked off.  
Sighing to herself, she slowly walked into the room.  
<Wow he *is* cute.> she thought to herself, <No wonder 
so many girls are after him!>.
	"Too bad he's engaged to Akane, right?"  said a 
voice from in the room.  Turning, she saw Hologram sitting 
on her bed, reading a Shakespeare novel.  He looked up at 
her with his extra dark eyes, and said to her, "I should have 
told you rule #3, never fall in love with a character.  You 
aren't allowed if your going to exist in Ranma for any 
length of time."
	Her eyes narrowed, "Hey, I wasn't falling in love 
with him ... I just thought he was cute.  And what are you 
doing here, I thought you said I had to get accustomed to 
this place myself?"
	"Oh, that...."  he says, closing the book, "I just 
dropped by to see if everything was alright.  You having 
any problems?"
	"Me, no."  she thought for a moment then added, 
"Well, they are all older than me ... but that can't be 
helped."
	Suddenly Hologram bolts to the window and opens 
it.  He turns to her and says, "Consider it taken care of!"  
and he jump out of the window.  She can hear his voice 
add, "Oh, and the rules are written on the locket you're 
wearing!"
	She looks down and sees that the rules are written 
neatly across its surface.  All of a sudden, her door swings 
open and Ranma walks in.  "You ready yet?  I gotta make 
sure some people aren't out ... I mean, that isn't to crowded 
out."
	She smiles to herself knowing why he was in a rush.  
"Sure, let's go." and she takes his arm.  She gets an 
unusually quick tour of the city
[-=-=-] Same time, Different place
	DING DONG!  "I get it Grandmother!"  Shampoo 
says as she rushes to the door.  Opening it quickly, she sees 
a delivery man standing outside her door with a package.  
Extending the package to her, he waits for her to take it.  
As she grabs the package, she asks him, "What this?  We 
no order anything from ... No-s-s-sen-rr-o-ss, we no order 
anything from them.  What is this?"
	"Oh," the man responds in a thick accent, "That's 
some youth potion from one of them Universities down the 
way.  Said that it was goin' to a Shampoo?"
	"Well, I Shampoo!"  she squints at the package a 
moment, "Youth Potion, you say?  Maybe I use after all.  
Good bye!"  she says as she closes the door on him.
	As the man walks away, he takes off the hat that 
covered his ink black eyes.
[-=-=-] Tendo Residence, some time later.
	
	"Yes, give to Akane to say I sorry." said Shampoo 
as she walked out of the Tendo home.  A smile lit her face 
as she knew she pulled it off.
	"Kasumi, I'm home!"  called a female voice from 
the back.
	Kasumi turned around, her hands holding a tray of 
some kind, and said, "Good, Shampoo came by and 
dropped this off."  she said walking with the tray to the 
back of the house.  The tray had an assortment of Chinese 
cooking, each expertly wrought in a way Akane could 
never match, "She says this is to say how sorry she was 
about what happened."
	"Huh?" said Akane, trying to recall what Shampoo 
last did, "She must mean when tried to shrink me with that 
dust, good thing Gosunguki was playing dress up!  Wow, I 
didn't think it was that big a deal, she's done worse."  she 
said as she pushed the tray to the side.
	Kasumi gave her a motherly look and said, "Well 
Akane, you should at least give her the benefit of the doubt 
here.  Take the cookies ... to show there are no hard 
feelings."
	"Alright," Akane shrugs, "I just wasn't very hungry."  
Maybe Ranma of Ryoga would like some."  she walks to 
her room.
	"Kasumi, we're home!"  says a distinctly male voice 
from the front.
	Kasumi turns in that direction, experiencing a 
feeling of déjà vu.  "Oh good, Ranma.  Akane was just 
looking for you upstairs, something about you trying some 
cookies."
	"Ow."  Ranma groans.  He turns to Christine and 
says, "We better not go up there...."
	"....Akane's cooking is toxic, right?"  she finishes his 
thought.  She barely managed to stop the grin spreading on 
her face as she saw his expression of amazement.
	"Yeah, how'd you know?"  he asked suspiciously.
	"Relax, it the *way* you said it." she answered, a 
little guilty over lying.  "Besides, with all those sports she's 
in, there really isn't much time for her to learn to cook, 
right?"
	Accepting her explanation, he says to her, "Yeah, I 
just gotta find Ryoga now.  He'll eat anything she cooks."
	"Oh," she responds, "He's right there, sitting by your 
sofa."  she says, pointing to the piglet next to the sofa.
	"Thanks ... hey!"  his eyes go wide as he turns 
towards her, "What ... how ... I mean, what's going on?!  
How much do you know?"
	Christine realizes she's been caught, only having 
one option left, she calms down and says, "Alright, I'll tell 
you all this in my room, but you better get Akane distracted 
before we go.  I think I saw a teapot on the stove."  she 
says, then headed up to her room.  She didn't want to see 
what would occur when Ranma splashes Ryoga with that 
boiling water.
*****************************************
	Ryoga was pushed into Akane's room by the 
suddenly helpful hands of Ranma and his new friend.  It 
odd to say the least, but Ryoga just shrugged it off, it 
usually turned out better when he didn't think of such 
matters.  Instead, he let them push them into the room and 
prepared (to the best of his abilities) to see Akane.
	Almost tumbling forward, he moved into the room 
that he knew fairly well.  Of all the places he's ever been, 
none have ever came this close to home, not even his own 
home.  Of course, he was fairly surprised to find that Akane 
wasn't there.
	In a moment he recovered from the shock, realizing 
that the window was open.  He knew what had happened, 
he had seen it enough times.  Of all of the people in the 
house, he knew he was the only person, because of his P-
chan status, to know this.  Akane sneaked out, climbing out 
the window so as to not let anyone know.
	<She has her reasons> he thought, knowing that it 
always happens when she is faced with something she just 
couldn't handle.  She leaves to be by herself, and doesn't 
even tell Kasumi.  It only started a couple of months after 
Ranma arrived because this was the only way that her 
family wouldn't trace her.  <That's why I love her,> Ryoga 
thought, <She is just so delicate, but she hides it.  If only I 
could tell her!>
	Sighing, he gave up trying to figure out his many 
mistakes, and walked out the door.  He knew Ranma 
wanted him to be in there, but he had an answer for Ranma.  
Besides, nobody told him that he was the guinea pig.  
Spotting Ranma's form from around the corner, he had just 
enough time cut him off before he said anything.
	"She's not there, Ranma.  She must have left."
	Ranma looked at him curiously, "What do ya mean, 
she left?  We would have seen her come out!  Are you 
hiding something, P-chan?"
	Ryoga calmly replied, "No, I'm not hiding anything, 
so I guess you must be incompetent.  Oh, and DON'T 
CALL ME P-CHAN!"  he yelled as he struck Ranma with 
his right fist.  In a matter of moments the two began 
struggling and brawling until Ranma suddenly broke off.
	"Oh well, " he said, "I guess I'll see her when she 
gets back.  I'd normally pound you right now, but I got a 
guest so I'll beat you up later."  Ranma got up and dusted 
himself off.
	Ryoga thinks for a moment, and then does the same.  
It isn't until a moment later that Ranma's words register.  
Looking up, he sees for the first time the guest that he 
heard about, and just stares.  Their eyes locked for a 
moment, as they both see each other for the first time, and 
the moment seemed to stretch on, but ended too soon.
	"You wanna go somewhere?"  A voice disrupted the 
mood.  Christine suddenly realized that it was Ranma that 
was speaking, and to her.  And at the same moment she 
realized she was starring at Ryoga.
	"Um ... hi."  she meekly says.  Seeing Ryoga's 
simple nod, she turns back to Ranma, "Sure, but where can 
we go around the dojo?  How about we go outside and meet 
some more of your friends?  I promise I won't cause 
trouble." she said, the tiniest bit of a smile touching the 
edges of her lips.
	"Um ... that is, uh ... I-I,"  his face turned red, "You 
sure you want to do that?  My friends are, as you have 
already see," he glared at Ryoga, "are kinda odd.  That and 
I, um, really don't have many." he looked at her meekly.
	Smiling, as she already knew that, she placed a 
reassuring hand on his arm, "That's alright, just introduce 
me to the ones you *do* have." she said, and as he nods to 
her she added, "You know, I am surprised that you don't 
have more friends, you seem like such a nice person most 
of the time."
	"Well, I try to be except with that macho...."
	"....Ego of his, he's always running his mouth and 
getting into trouble, isn't that right Ranma?"  Ryoga 
interrupted, and smirked at Ranma.  "Ranma is only a jerk 
when you get to know him."
	"Listen here, pig-boy!"
	"Yeah, why don't you make me you half-man!"
	"Your lucky there's company, otherwise I'd smash 
you piggy head all over the house!"
	"Ahem." Christine tried to interrupt.
	"Only in your dreams, Saotome!  I could beat a girl 
like you any day of the week."
	"Oh, keep dreaming you pig!  You couldn't take me 
in any form at any time!"
	"Ahem!"
	"Alright, you're asking for it Ranma!  Another word 
and I'll have to teach you the lesson in manners you sorely 
need!"
	"JUST YOU TRY IT PIG, YOU WON'T GAIN 
CONSCIOUSNESS FOR A WEEK!"
	"AHEM!" Christine screamed, her arms folded 
angrily across her chest.  Remembering her, they both stop 
and stare at the ground sheepishly, looking up only a 
moment to meet the icy glare of hers. "Are you quite 
through?  I *would* like to leave today, Ranma.  Nice 
meeting you Ryoga." she says through gritted teeth, but at 
the last moment her visage softens a bit and she gives him a 
small smile.  Grabbing Ranma's hand she leads him away.
	A few seconds later, outside of the house, Christine 
turns her attention back to Ranma and says, "So where do 
we go from here?"
	Ranma hesitates a moment, then replies, "I guess I'll 
take you to Ucchans.  Besides Ryoga, Ukyo is one of the 
few close friends I got.  All the rest are either fiancés, 
rivals, or school pals."  and he heads towards the little 
restaurant.
	[-=-=-]
	Sigh.  Akane let the air out of her lungs as she 
climbed back into her window.  "Jeez, that Ranma.  Always 
criticizing my cooking, and now he won't even try these 
thing." she quietly said to herself, "God knows he would if 
he knew I didn't cook them"
	"Oh well, no use crying over it.  It isn't as if we are 
dating ... or anything.  We're not going to get married ... he 
doesn't want to marry me anyway." she sat down on her 
bed.  Abruptly, she stood up and clenched her fist, "Forget 
this!  Why am I sitting here beating myself up when he's the 
jerk?  I'm going to go down there and straiten him out!"  
	Akane charged out the room and walked 
downstairs.  Getting to Ranma's room, she pounded on the 
door and yelled out, "Ranma!  Come out here!  We need to 
... discuss something!"  After  few moments with no answer 
she pounded harder, but still no response.
	"Akane, Ranma left already." said a familiar voice 
from behind here.  Akane turned around to see who it 
belonged to.
	"Ryoga!  You're back!  How have you been?  Better 
yet, where *is* Ranma?" she said and gave Ryoga a hug, 
much to his apparent discomfort.
	"Um, Ranma said something about finding one of 
his friends.  He's, uh, showing his guest around."  he said, 
his cheeks a bit red from embarrassment.
	"Oh, that would mean that he's headed for Ucchans.  
Ryoga, you mind going down there with me?  I have these 
cookies from Shampoo that I didn't feel like eating, and 
since I wanna say something to Ranma anyway, we can all 
share them."
	"Really, you want the whole gang to share those 
cookies?" Ryoga asked, "But wouldn't Shampoo have done 
something to them?  She usually puts some sort of magic 
on that type of stuff ... and I don't think she likes you too 
much.
	Suddenly Akane smiles, "Of course I thought about 
that!  That's why I snuck out." she said, biting her tongue 
for lying to poor Ryoga, "I went to Dr. Tofu's and had him 
look at the cookies.  Surprisingly Shampoo is playing this 
one strait, the cookies are fine.  Maybe she really is 
apologetic." she shrugs.
	Ryoga nods his head, trusting Dr. Tofu's knowledge 
to identify anything amiss, "So I guess we better head to 
Ukyo's place with the cookies.  Um, why *do* you want to 
share them?"
	Akane looks thoughtful for a moment, then looks 
into Ryoga's eyes, "I guess I can trust you, you've always 
been a good friend.  It's that girl.  She and Ranma have 
been spending quite a bit of time together, and ... they're 
friends, aren't they.  I just got to thinking that Ranma never 
sees anything but my bad side, and maybe if I show him 
how friendly I can be, he'd talk to me a bit too."  her eyes 
unglazed, "Oh, never mind, let's just go to meet them." 
	Ryoga found himself being dragged through the 
hallways, but he couldn't seem to snap himself out of 
shock.  
	"Kasumi, we're going to Ukyo's to meet Ranma!  
We're going to split up the cookies there.  Be back in a few 
minutes."  she said, halfway out the door.  She was only 
halfway out the door, cause she found her path blocked by 
Kasumi, who was the other halfway through the door.  
Akane thought, <How does she do that?>.
	"That's nice, Akane!  Here, you should put them in 
this tray, and carry them drinks like this.  Have a good 
time!" she said arranging the cookies on a tray with several 
glasses of lemonade around the outside.
	Akane found herself with the unenviable task of 
carrying a huge unbalanced tray several blocks.  Thinking 
to herself, <How does Kasumi make this look so easy?>, 
she didn't notice right away when the weight drastically 
decreased.
	Ryoga, holding up most of the tray with his left 
hand, for the most part enjoyed walking down the street 
with Akane.  It was cut too short for his pleasure though, 
when he saw Ukyo's sign a few blocks away.
	[-=-=-]
	"....and so Ranma-honey told me that I was cute, 
and I'm not sure how, but I became Ranchan's cute fiancé, 
while Akane was Ranchan's uncute fiancé." Ukyo giggled 
at the predicament they were in.
	For the last half-an-hour, Christine listened to 
Ranma and Ukyo telling stories of their lives.  It was 
interesting how they were different than the ones that she 
read, and how many of their more valued experiences 
weren't even in the comics or movies.
	Ranma added to Ukyo's story by saying, "Later on, I 
went with Ukyo to an off section of Nerima park and just 
talked.  It was amazing, but after all those years we were 
still friends.  You know, we both changed since our 
childhood, but Ukyo is still one of the best friends I have, 
fiancé or not.  That is important to me." he gave Ukyo a 
little hug, something Christine was sure she never seen in 
Ranma 1/2.
	Ukyo squeezed back a little, then cooked up another 
okonomiyaki.  "Yeah, it was pretty important to me too.  I 
really have that many friends around here, and I had to start 
my life over again.  After all those years of hunting after 
this guy, I finally caught up, and I needed a new purpose.  
Well, lo and behold, he *is* the new purpose, and that's 
pretty much why I'm here.  I'm not sure what I'd do without 
Ranchan." she smiled, but Ranma looked a little 
embarrassed by it.
	Christine interrupted the couple, asking Ukyo, 
"Doesn't it bother you to have to share your fiancé with two 
other girls ... and a lunatic?"
	Ukyo's mouth quirked a bit, and she looked at 
Ranma really thoughtfully, "You know, I didn't plan on 
saying this in front of Ranma, but I guess he'll have to 
know anyway.  Yes, it bothers me.  I don't *want* to share 
the man I love, and I love him because of who he is, not 
because of some stupid arrangement between our fathers.
	"It is just that I had to ask myself one day, am I 
doing what is best for Ranma, or myself?  I do love him, 
and I want him to be happy.  Believe it or not, none of us 
fiancés are vindictive or out for revenge, I believe that they 
too want what is best for him, and this is the only way we 
know to find out.
	"Me, I figure from knowing what is like to be 
unloved, love is what is best for him.  The way I see it, the 
minute Ranma decides who he loves most, the contest is 
over and it is either time to get married, or pack up and 
leave.  More than you know, each of us fiancés have our 
good sides and bad, and Ranma will have to be the one to 
decide which one, if any, he wants to spend his life with."
	Ranma's hand had taken a hold of Ukyo's 
somewhere during her speech, and Ukyo definitely needed 
it.  Christine could only look in wonder at the two, who 
were completely different from what she expected.  Never 
in the entire series did Ukyo ever seem to be this 
thoughtful, nor had Ranma ever seemed affectionate to 
anyone before.
	 Christine wanted to say something, but couldn't 
quite figure out what.  She wanted to meet Ranma's 
fiancés, and she wanted to solve his love triangle, but it 
wasn't that simple anymore.  Destiny made it seem, in her 
comics and movies, that Ranma would have to end up with 
Akane, and at the end of the series he does.  But the series 
never showed any of this, they were much more 
complicated than Christine imagined.
	Finally, she opened her mouth and said, "..." 
"Ranma!  There you are!"  Christine realized that she didn't 
say that, yes, she was certain of that.  Turning her stool to 
face sideways, she saw Akane and Ryoga pulling through 
the door ... with a plateful of food?
	Laying it down on the table, Akane merely smiled 
while Ranma blanched.  Christine could see the sweat 
pouring from his forehead, and the pale color he was 
taking.  She knew from the anime that Ranma was afraid of 
Akane's cooking, but she had her first chance to see it like 
this.
	"Um ... that is ... uh," Ranma babbled for a few 
moments.
	"Shampoo made them." she calmly announced, and 
as an afternote she added, "And she didn't do anything to 
them."
	Almost immediately a calm took over him, that is 
just before she whacked him.  Then the calm returned over 
Ranma.  With a smile, he looked a the plate of cookies in 
anticipation.  Slowly, he reached out towards the plate, his 
hand coming bare inches from the precious treats before 
getting smacked away.
	"Guests first, Ranma!  And I didn't bring them just 
for you."  Akane smiled at Ukyo and Ryoga, "I think you 
guys should have some, too!  Please, I insist, each of you 
take some!"
	Shrugging their shoulders, Christine followed by 
Ukyo, then Ryoga, then Ranma, and finally Akane, each 
took a couple of cookies and brought them to their mouths.  
As Christine bit into her cookie, she noted that though quite 
well made, it was a bit dry.  Spotting the glasses of 
lemonade on the outside of the tray she reached out ... and 
was stopped by a hand from behind.
	"Excuse me, maam, you're under arrest." the coal-
eyed, police officer said.  But before she could protest, all 
hell broke loose.  Jumping into the restaurant were three 
shapes, each inspiring more terror in the bunch then the 
last. 
	First came the buxom shape of a woman, whose 
thick accent and beautiful figure gave her away as being 
Shampoo.  "Why you all eat cookies for Akane?!  I give to 
pervert girl only, not for you people to eat.  If airen want 
cookies, I make special for you!"
	Akane simply smiled and finished off the cookie 
and a glass of lemonade.  "Oh Shampoo, I appreciate the 
cookies, but I couldn't finish them all by myself.  Here have 
one!"  she said tossing a high speed cookie into Shampoo's 
mouth.  In an instant, Shampoo pours a glass of lemonade 
down her throat to ease down the overly dry cookie.
	And though Christine herself felt about to die of 
thirst, she couldn't lodge her hand away from the officer, so 
she was forced to pay attention to the next figure to barge 
into the door.
	"Saotome, you cannot continue to have my love's 
cooking.  These cookies are mine!"  Mousse said, scooping 
a handful into his mouth ... only to grab a glass of 
lemonade to wash it down as well.  Gasping, he coughed 
out, "Too ... much ... baking soda!"
	Of course, none of them suspected that Happosai 
would show up next.  He jumped into the room, managing 
to ogle every girl in the room twice before diving at the 
cookies.  It was unfortunate for them that the cookies 
caused such a thirst in him that he downed all of the rest of 
the lemonade, four glasses and the pitcher that Akane 
brought.  And then Shampoo screamed.
	Christine found a glass of water shoved roughly at 
her and saw the fleeing form of Hologram leave the room.  
Drinking it down, she was surprised by Shampoo who was 
screaming, "Oh no, now all us drink!  I no want to be 
younger!"  
	At that a series of things happened.  One, everybody 
in the room looked at Shampoo, then Akane, then Shampoo 
again.  Two, everybody began to grow a bit younger.  
Three, everybody tried to speak at once.  The effect of one, 
two, and three caused four, which was the sudden 
explosion of a chi blast by Ranma followed by an angry 
expression that stopped everyone in their tracks.
	Ranma, belaying his extremely angry look, calmly 
and slowly asked, "I thought the cookies weren't tainted.  
Akane, Dr. Tofu said the cookies weren't tainted.  Then 
how did we end up like this?!"  he said, pointing to his 
apparently fourteen year old body.
	Shampoo, who looked about twelve herself, said, "It 
no was cookies, it the lemonade!  Oh, I drink more than 
you and now I much younger!"
	Akane, angry and looking to be about fifteen, said, 
"So the more we drank, the younger we are!  And I thought 
you were being nice!"  A mallet came into her hands.
	Ranma stepped between the two women, stopping 
Akane's blow to a much smaller Shampoo and pointed out, 
"We got bigger problems than that.  Happosai drank most 
of it!"  he turns to face the once old man, as does everyone 
else.
	All eyes fell to on Happosai, each surprised by what 
they saw.  Before them stood the same three foot tall man, 
but with dark black hair and an energetic look in his eyes.  
He smiled at them, "At last, now I can find my bride!  With 
my experience and abilities, and this body, I can be 
unstoppable!  Wahahaha!"  he flew out the door.
	Christine turned to the rest of them and said, "I 
guess I get to do the other thing I came here for, beat up 
Happosai!  I think I better tell you about where I'm from, 
though."  She told the entire tale to this point, at least the 
important stuff.  Then she went to see somebody.
	[-=-=-]
	"....yeah and the delivery guy too. So?"  Hologram 
responded to her questions.  So far, he admitted causing the 
whole mess, but didn't seem the least concern.
	"So?! So you let a pervert loose on Nerima with 
more power than he ever had *and* the people who 
normally stop them are way too young!  Why'd you do it 
for?"  she asked, exasperated.
	Hologram smiled at her and tilted his head, "Why 
because you asked.  I asked you if anything was troubling 
you, and you said the age factor, and now that I fixed that 
you're bothered by Happosai?  I'm sorry, you have to fix 
this one on your own." 
	"What? How? I can't beat the old man, well I said I 
would, but I figured you would help.  Couldn't you give me 
superpowers or something?  You said that I'd have 
everything I needed to deal with this place!"
	"Yes," he nodded, "You *do* have everything you 
need to deal with this, you just have to use what you got.  I 
can't go and give you super abilities everytime there's 
trouble, now could I.  I'm have perfect faith that you can 
handle this ... on your own.  Bye."  he disappears with a 
flash.
	"Dammit, don't go.  Oh man, now what am I going 
to do.  'Use what you got' he says.  Yeah, what do I got?  
Absolutely...." 
	"You have us." calls a voice from above.  Christine 
looks up to see Ranma standing on a tree limb.  She isn't 
sure how long he's been there, but for some reason his 
presence is reassuring.  "We dealt with Happosai before, 
we can do it again."  
	Dropping down from the tree, he took one of her 
hands in his own and said, "You might have only been here 
for a few hours, and I know it's strange, but I consider you a 
friend.  Maybe it's because you know me so well, either 
way, we are all behind you on this one, and we'll have to all 
work together to beat Happosai."
	"Sounds like you have a plan." 
	"I do, and it seems to me that it might be easier 
done than we think."
	[-=-=-]
	"So that's it?" asked a unbelieving Ryoga, "That's 
what you think it will take to beat him?  I thought he was a 
really powerful martial artist."
	Ranma sighed for the fourth time in this discussion, 
"He *is*, and we're not underestimating him.  I know it 
doesn't seem like this would work, but I think it is worth a 
try.  Heck, if any of you don't feel up to this, you can leave, 
I just feel that we need your help to pull this off."
	The now fourteen-year-old Ukyo instantly put her 
support behind Ranma saying, "I trust Ranchan's judgment, 
I for one will go!"  This caused Shampoo to go in order to 
keep up with Ukyo and the twelve-year-old Mousse to be 
with Shampoo.
	Surprisingly, Akane agreed quickly as well telling 
the group, "Ranma does know the old lecher better than 
anyone.  If anyone else told me this plan, I'd laugh in their 
face, but I think Ranma knows what he's doing for once.  
I'm in."
	Finally, Ranma turned to Ryoga and asked, "Well, 
are you in or not?"
	Ryoga had six sets of eyes focused on him.  This 
was something he had to consider carefully.  While he 
didn't have confidence in Ranma like the others had, he 
didn't want to look like a coward in front of Akane, and 
strangely the other girl.  It took him a few moments to 
make up his mind, but in the end, he nodded his head.  It 
wouldn't be the first time he risked his life on a bad hand.
[-=-] Some time later, in a havoc filled Tokyo
	"Okay, we're all in position." said Ranma's static-
filled voice over the walkie talkie.  Christine put her walkie 
talkie back in her pack and waited for the fireworks to start.  
Ranma had them all on various part of Tokyo in order to 
fulfill the plan.  She was going to be the first one to move, 
as long as she found the lecher.
	Abruptly, the young lecher came into view, his 
hands busy groping the flesh of all those in his path (as 
long as they were women).  Readying herself, Christine 
stepped out of the shadows right into Happosai's path.  As 
usual, his hands shot out to grope, but found a surprise.
	Half an inch from her chest, his hand stood 
suspended.  Attached to his wrist was the reason for the 
unfulfilled grope, Ryoga.  Ryoga grabbed Happosai just in 
time to stop the grope, and held him in the air for a 
moment.  As expected, a moment later Ryoga went flying 
through the Tokyo air, followed by a surprised Happosai.
	As was part of Ranma's plan, Christine had booted 
the distracted Happosai far enough to put him in position.  
Ranma suspected that Christine would know karate here, 
and luckily this proved correct.  Stage one of their plan was 
a success.  Christine ran through the crowded streets so she 
could catch the rest of the show.
	Happosai found himself landing near the east side 
of Tokyo, recovering just fast enough to avoid the talons 
aimed at his face.  Mousse knew he would miss, and 
already had a chain flying when the pervert bombed him.  
A second later Happosai avoided another kick from the 
side, he wasn't going to fall for the same thing again.
	Turning towards his new opponent, he saw the 
beautiful, though all be it young, amazon, whirling her 
bonbori towards his head.  Seeing an opportunity for an 
easy grope, he was again caught unsuspecting by the ready 
spatula of Ukyo. 
	Flying, and experiencing a feeling of déjà vu again, 
he found himself landing in front of a large mansion with 
Ranma about to kick him.  Dodging to the side, he noticed 
that Akane too was attacking, and they were both working 
together.  
	Happosai had the knowledge of old age, and the 
body of his youth.  Of course, in his youth his body wasn't 
anything special anyway, and when a black piglet (part of 
the plan Akane didn't know about) entered the fray, he 
knew he had to find an escape.  Suddenly, as the black 
piglet streaked towards him, Ranma and Akane found 
themselves facing two P-chans.
	It was a moment of tension for everyone, they all 
knew that if it was going to go wrong, it would go wrong 
here.  Ranma grabbed Akane and kissed her right on the 
lips, praying to the gods that he would survive her wrath.  
At the same time a kettle of hot water was dumped on the 
pair of piglets, followed by a special strike by Mousse.  IN 
a moment it was all over.
	The second afterwards, Ryoga was dressed, Akane 
was angry, Ranma was afraid, and Happosai was 
struggling.  Struggling, mainly because he found the zipper 
was melted shut by Mousse.  In the next moment, after 
Akane knocked out Ranma, the rest of them booted 
Happosai into the mansion and closed the door.  The 
screams filled the air for hours as the gang left Shiroti 
mansion.
	Ranma's plan had worked, and the gang celebrated.  
The night wore on, and everybody began to go their 
separate ways, but Christine didn't join the festivities.
[-=-] Nerima Park, late at night
	Christine had watched the sun set over Nerima, but 
now it was over.  She just sat on the soft grass in the park 
and thought.  Not about anything in particular, just thought 
about everything.  The slow song of the nightingales, the 
smell of the dewy ground, the dark color of the night, she 
thought about all of this on this cold evening.
	A shiver ran through her, and she realized it was 
getting cold.  Not that it mattered, she planned on staying 
here for a while regardless of that.  For some reason, she 
didn't feel like celebrating, the joy that should have been 
there was replaced by a feeling of loss.  Shivering again, 
she was grateful when a warm breeze fell over her back ... 
but it wasn't a breeze.
	Feeling the soft edge of clothe, she turned her head 
around to spot the concerned face of Ryoga.  She didn't say 
anything, she just sat there and pulled the blanket closer.  
For a moment, he seemed to have trouble with the words, 
but he finally said them, "Why aren't you celebrating?  We 
won."
	Christine thought a moment, then dropped her eyes 
to hide the slight beginning of tears. "I know, but it feels 
like *I* lost.  In a few days, I won't be here anymore, and 
I'll have left this all behind.  I don't even know if I'll 
remember this, or if this is just a dream."
	Ryoga looked uncharacteristically thoughtful, "You 
can stay.  If not with Ranma and Akane ... you can stay 
with me."  It was the first time in his life that Ryoga was 
able to say this to a girl before.
	"I don't even know you!  Besides, I can't live here, I 
don't belong here.  I have to come home to my family 
someday.  I can't have it all ... as much as I'd like."  she 
softly whispered, then she leaned back against him.
	Ryoga looked down at her, his eyes lost in her own.  
"You don't know me, but would you like to?  I have a lot to 
tell, things that I never told anyone ... but I'd like to tell you 
if you will hear them."
	Christine could see the emotions in his eyes, the 
color of night sea, and could almost feel them enter her.  
She sat there quietly for a moment, letting his eyes sweep 
her away, then she whispered to him, "Yes." not sure what 
she was answering to.  For the next few hours, she heard 
about the places he's gone, the things he saw, and the man 
he was.
	He finally stopped a few minutes before dawn, his 
face turning towards hers and seeing the tired look on her 
face.  "You are sleepy, I should stop now.  My life isn't that 
great anyway.  You want to go back?" 
	Her mind was in a half conscious state, but she had 
heard everything he said.  He was more than she had ever 
suspected, more than most knew.  She shook her head, not 
wanting the moment to end, and reached her hand behind 
his neck.  For a moment, neither knew what they were 
doing, and then both knew.  
	They met in a passionate embrace, followed by an 
emotional release.  They knew what they wanted now, but 
they also knew they couldn't have it.  They fell asleep there, 
in each other's arms, and the dream ended ... or did it 
begin?
	[-=-=-]
	"Come-on Christine, are you going to blow out the 
candles today?"  her mother asked.
	Christine looked all around and saw that she was 
back at the party, feeling like Cinderella after the ball.  On 
the cake wasn't the single crystal candle that she 
remembered, but thirteen wax ones.  She would have cried, 
but she didn't want to disturb everyone.
	Summoning up the last of her strength, she blew out 
her candles, except one.  A second later that one went out 
too, and the people all clapped.  Her birthday was great as 
far as they knew, but the dream unnerved her.
	Finally, her mother came around the table and gave 
her a big hug and kiss, then set out the presents in front of 
her.  There were presents from everybody, and all of her 
friends: Gary, Mich, Joseph, Radler, Cindy, Sariah, Alexis, 
Doug, Katrina, Kimo, Olin, Quek, Martin, Ryan, Matt, and 
even a really small gift from Josh (just to name a few).  But 
something felt left out.
	The party went on for another half an hour, then 
everybody began to pack up to go home.  The day was 
over, and the party was done, until Christine's mother 
smiled at her and said, "Oops, I almost forgot!  Your cousin 
Hol got you that gift you wanted so bad.  He sent you the 
piglet from Japan like you asked.  It's pretty cute with his 
little bandanna and all."
	Christine had just enough time to smile before she 
fainted.  She knew this wouldn't be the last time she saw 
Hologram ... or Ranma.