Akane jogged along the footpath, back towards her home.  The sun had just
set, and she needed to be home soon, to make her children dinner and help
them with homework.  Her evening jog tonight had been along a route she did
not usually take, and she paused as she laid her eyes on a semi-collapsed
building which might once have been a restaurant or cafe.

	{The Nekohanten.} she thought to herself.  {I'd almost forgotten it was here.}

	She stopped jogging, deciding to look around, see if she could bring back
memories of her crazy teenage years, before she and Ranma had been married,
before Shampoo, who had once made her home in this place, had returned to
China.  

	There was a narrow alley to the side of the cafe, which Akane turned into
and slowly walked along.  As she reached around midway down, she noticed
something that was possibly the last thing on Earth she would have expected
- a light shining through one of the windows.

	Leaning against the wall opposite and looking into the window, Akane saw a
woman of her age, with shoulder-length purple hair and a pale blue headband,
standing with her back to her, cooking something on a stove.

	{I thought I'd seen the last of that bimbo.} she thought angrily.  {Doesn't
she know when to quit?}

	Akane continued watching, as a bespectacled man of about the same age,
obviously Mousse, came into view.  He was followed by a girl about six or
seven years of age, with burgundy hair in a ponytail that hung over her
shoulder.  She then saw Shampoo turn around, and noticed a scar running
diagonally across her right cheek.

	Shampoo noticed her, too, and before Akane could react, the Nekohanten's
side door was open, and Shampoo was standing in the doorway.

	"Youkoso! Irrashaimase!" Shampoo said pleasantly, in accented Japanese.
Akane considerd turning and going home, but decided to accede to Shampoo's
invitation.

	Shampoo sat down on a chair, and invited Akane to do the same.  After Akane
had taken her seat, Shampoo spoke.

	"I did no say you when I left, 'congratulations on defeating me'."  Akane
observed that Shampoo's Japanese, while still having a few flaws, has
improved markedly.

	"You're supposed to kill any woman who defeats you, right?  What are you
playing at?"

	Shampoo untied the headband she was wearing, revealing a kanji tattooed on
her forehead - the kanji for "outcast".

	"After I return to China, many Joketsuzoku felt I could not be forgiven for
my fail to win Ranma, some want me put to death.  Great-grandmother opposed
them, but their influence become too great.  She was forced cast me out from
tribe, I went lived elsewhere in China.  Mousse helped me, and I very
greatful to him."

	"And then Great-Grandmother died, I think maybe not of natural causes."
Shampoo said sadly.  "Faction that took control wanted me put to death for
my failure.  And almost succeeded."  She touched the scar running across her
cheek.

	"Me and Mousse were forced to flee China.  And we decide to come back here."

	"There also another reason why I come back to Nekohanten."  Shampoo said.
Putting her hand on Akane's shoulder, she spoke slowly, ensuring that she
used proper grammar.

	"Akane Tendo, I would like to be your friend." 
_______________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Dynon
- Eternal champion of the Iczer series
- Fan of Sailor Moon, Devil Hunter Yohko, 
     Teknoman, and many other anime series 
- RPG Player of Mekton-Z, Fuzion, AD&D and more
- Writer of fanfiction and original Sci-Fi/Fantasy
- Loyal supporter of the mighty Essendon Bombers (Australian Football League)

"I can't tell you how thrilling it is to be admired by a deranged maniac."
	- Blade to Axe, Teknoman (ep. 36)

HE WHO FLAMES BURNS HIMSELF THE MOST