This is my first attempt at a crossover fic.  If you've never 
read or seen any of the various parts of the Mermaid saga by Rumiko 
Takahashi, you're very deprived, although you should still be able to 
easily understand what's going on in the fic.

The Ranma 1/2 Universe and the Mermaid universe are all created by 
Rumiko Takahashi, who IMNSHO is a literary genius.  Please don't sue 
me.  I write as the Muses direct me, and occasionally they direct me to 
violate copyright laws.  It's not my fault, really!


< > indicates thoughts

            ------------------------------------------------

	"Nihao, Airen!  You take Shampoo on date?"

	Ranma slid the door to the Nekohanten shut behind him, and 
sighed.  He should have expected this.  But with Ucchan out of town for 
the week, and Akane cooking dinner, this was the first place he had 
thought of to come for a nice, non-lethal meal.  In his hunger, he had 
forgotten that the owner's great-granddaughter had an obsessive desire 
to marry him.  <Women!> he thought exasperatedly.

	"Saotome!  You shall not steal Shampoo away from me!"

	Ranma ducked, more out of routine habit that out of any sort of 
danger sense, and several chains went sailing over his head.  He 
quickly moved to the side as they shot back toward their source, 
disappearing into Mousse's sleeves.  Racing forward, he leapt and 
planted his foot in Mousse's face before the semi-blind boy could pull 
anything else out of his cavernous robes.

	"Relax, Mousse."  Ranma looked down at where his opponent lay 
still.  "I just came here to escape Akane's cooking."

	"Oh, poor Airen!  You no have to eat kitchen-slayer's swill!"  
She promptly glomped Ranma, who thanked whatever kami was watching over 
him that Mousse was still unconscious.  "I cook you up some too too 
delicious ramen!"

	"Thanks, Shampoo."  He tried vainly to try to pry the lovesick 
Amazon off himself, but her grip was far too strong.  Noticing that 
breathing was becoming more difficult, he intensified his struggle.  
"Gack... um... how about that ramen?"

	She jumped away immediately.  "You no worry, Airen!  Shampoo cook 
food in no time!"  With that, she skipped off into the kitchen, leaving 
Ranma to collapse next to Mousse and try to catch his breath.

            ------------------------------------------------

	In the kitchen, Shampoo was humming and skipping around the 
kitchen, quickly gathering together ingredients.  She had just begun to 
prepare her Airen's dish when her task was interrupted by the craggy 
voice of her great-grandmother.

	"I have a couple of special ingredients for you to use, Shampoo.  
I think Ranma will like them."  The old woman hopped over, and placed a 
medium-size package and a small package on the counter next to the 
young girl.  "This is a rare fish that I was fortunate enough to find 
in the market the other day.  It's very rare, though, so make sure you 
only use a small portion of it.  The other package is a bit of 
seasoning that will bring out the flavor of the meat more fully."

	Shampoo looked at the package, and unwrapped it gingerly to 
reveal a small slab of meat.  She sniffed it, and wrinkled her nose at 
the strange smell.  "What this fish called?"

	"It doesn't matter."  The old woman hopped toward the back exit 
of the kitchen, and then stopped.  "By the way."  She turned back to 
Shampoo.  "Don't eat any of it, whatever you do.  This must be saved 
for paying customers.  And, of course, potential husbands."  The old 
woman smiled and turned, hopping out of the room.

	Shampoo watched the empty doorway for a few seconds before 
turning back to the odd fish meat.  She strongly suspected that there 
was more to this than Cologne was letting on, but... Cologne had always 
looked out for her best interests in the past... oh well, she decided.  
<Cologne knows best, I suppose.>  And with that, she went about 
preparing her Airen's dinner.

            ------------------------------------------------

	Ranma had finally recovered from Shampoo's glomp, and had barely 
managed to escape another attack from Mousse with a quick explanation.  
Even Mousse had heard tales of Akane's cooking, and had decided to 
allow Ranma his reprieve... just this once.  Now, rather than attacking 
Ranma, he was glaring at him from across the room.  Ranma just sat at 
the table closest to the kitchen and ignored him, concentrating instead 
on the delicious smell emanating from the kitchen.

	"Hey, Shampoo!" he yelled.  "That smells great in there!"  <Why 
can't Akane cook more like that?> he thought bitterly.

	The door swung open, and Shampoo pranced out the door with a bowl 
of ramen balanced precariously on a tray.  She placed the bowl 
delicately on the table, and resisted the urge to glomp her future 
husband, instead electing to quickly retreat out of the feeding frenzy 
danger zone.

	Ranma noisily dug in, and after a few minutes leaned back in her 
chair and looked at the empty bowl.  "Hey, Shampoo," he turned to where 
she was standing, "that tasted great!  I didn't recognize the taste, 
though.  What was in it?"

	"Oh, nothing fancy..." Cologne entered the room, hopping on her 
cane.  "Just a few special ingredients, Ranma."

	The tone of Cologne's voice made him very nervous.  So nervous, 
in fact, he didn't even notice she had called by his actual name, 
rather than 'son-in-law.'  His mind was completely focused on the 
question of what Cologne had managed to slip past him this time.  
"Nothing much, really.  One of them I'll tell you about later.  The 
second is probably most important to you right now.  Sleeping powder."

	Ranma quickly got up and dashed for the door, but had barely gone 
three steps before he collapsed.  Cologne walked over and grabbed his 
arm, preparing to drag him into the back of the restaurant, when a 
shadow fell over her.  "What are you doing now, old crone?  I won't let 
you do this!"

	In the blink of an eye, Cologne lashed out with her staff, 
hitting a pressure point and causing Mousse to collapse to the ground.  
She looked over at her great-granddaughter, who was still standing in 
the corner with a nervous look on her face.

	"Well, don't just stand there.  Grab Mr. Part Time and follow me."

            ------------------------------------------------

	Akane stalked down the streets of Nerima, furious.  She had 
already stopped at Ucchan's with no luck.  Before, she had been merely 
angry.  Now she was a thermonuclear reaction waiting to happen.  <How 
dare he run off to Shampoo's?  I'm not that bad of a cook!  He just 
likes his 'other fiancées' better!  When I get my hands on him...>

	She rounded the final corner, and came face to face with the 
Nekohanten restaurant.  The restaurant was obviously closed, but she 
wasn't going to let something like that stop her.  The door was 
unlocked, and she yanked it open, pulling the door off its tracks and 
letting it fall to the ground.

	The lights were on, but there was nobody in the room.  "RANMA!" 
she yelled.  "GET OUT HERE THIS INSTANT!"

	Silence.  A red haze was beginning to obscure her vision.  
"RANMA!" she yelled again.  Still, there was nothing but silence.  
<Fine!> she thought angrily.  <If that's the way he wants it, just wait 
until he gets home.  I'll tear him limb from limb!>  With that, she 
angrily stormed out of the restaurant and back toward the dojo.  For a 
brief period, silence once again reigned at the Nekohanten.

	A few seconds later, Shampoo appeared from the back door of the 
kitchen.  She looked around cautiously, and moved out into the 
restaurant, followed by Cologne, who was hopping on her cane as usual.

	"I still don't understand why we have to keep Ranma tied up back 
there, great-grandmother."

	"The meat I fed Ranma is rather... volatile.  We need to keep him 
under observation for a few days, to make sure the desired effects 
happen."

	"And why did we have to use the memory-erasing shampoo on 
Mousse?  Is it really that secret?"

	"Stop asking questions, girl."  Cologne's expression flared 
angrily, and her eyes bore deep into her great-granddaughter's.  "I 
know what I'm doing.  Now get some sleep."

	Shampoo watched the old Amazon uneasily as she hopped away into 
the back of the restaurant.  Once the old crone had disappeared, she 
let out a deep sigh and collapsed into a nearby chair.  Her gut was 
telling her that something was terribly wrong, but for the life of her 
she didn't have a clue what it was.

            ------------------------------------------------

	Ranma woke with a start.  He opened his eyes, and blinked.  He 
closed his eyes and opened them again, noting with a bit of 
apprehension that it was just as dark when he opened his eyes as it was 
when he closed them.  He tried to move, but found his arms and legs 
were tied.  Heh.  If the old bat thought that any ropes could hold him, 
she was sadly mistaken.  Gathering his strength, he strained against 
his bindings,  but to his surprise they held firm.  "Old bat!" he 
yelled.  "When I get out of here, I'm gonna make you sorry you were 
ever born!"  There was no response, and the darkness silently mocked 
him and his helplessness.  He struggled again, but to no avail.  It was 
not ordinary rope that bound him.

	He wondered briefly if he would ever make it out of there alive.  
He was pretty sure that whatever Cologne had in mind for him, it 
wouldn't be pleasant.  He found himself thinking of Akane, and he found 
that his heart sank at the thought that he might never see her again.  
<I hope the tomboy is doing all right,> he thought.  He imagined her 
smile, and found himself oddly comforted, despite his cold, dark 
surroundings.  <I have to admit, she really can be cute,> he thought 
and allowed himself a slight smile.

	Suddenly, a sliver of light appeared a few feet away.  The door 
swung open, and in the light that shone through the doorway Ranma saw 
that he was in a storage closet, probably in the back of the 
Nekohanten.  Sure enough, Cologne appeared on her walking stick and 
hopped through the door.  Perhaps the thing that irked him most was 
that at the moment, the two-foot tall living mummy was towering over 
him.  He tried again to break the ropes that bound him, but they held 
tight.

	She watched him struggle for a moment before speaking.  "There's 
no point fighting.  Those are heavy duty steel cables, and not even 
someone as strong as Ryoga could hope to break them."

	Ranma snarled and strained hard against the cables, which held 
tight.  "You're dead, old ghoul.  Whatever you want from me, you won't 
get it!"

	"Come on, Ranma."  Cologne laughed.  "You should be thanking me 
for what I've done for you."

	Ranma's eyes were defiant.  "You've drugged me, tied me up, and 
put me in a storage closet!  Why the hell should I be thanking you for 
that?"

	"Oh, please, Ranma, stop this.  That was no ordinary meat you ate 
in your ramen last night."

	Ranma ceased his struggling for a moment, and looked at her 
suspiciously.  "What do you mean?  What was it?"

	Cologne met his eyes.  "Mermaid meat."

	"Mermaid meat?"  Ranma looked at her in disbelief.  "Mermaid, as 
in 'half-woman, half-fish creature?'"

	Cologne chuckled.  "That's a rather simplistic way of putting it, 
Ranma, but yes."

	Ranma's eyes flashed anger, and he started to struggle again.  
"Get real, old ghoul.  Now tell me what it really was!"

	"Foolish boy."  Cologne leapt down from her staff, and whacked 
him in the head with it.  "By feeding you meat from a mermaid, I have 
bestowed on you the gift of immortality."

	"Okay, now I know you're crazy."  Ranma smiled sarcastically.  
"Tell you what, old ghoul.  You just untie me and let me out of here, 
and I'll call the nice men in white coats to come help you."

	"It is true!"  Cologne's battle aura flared a bright blue, 
causing Ranma to flinch in anticipation of an attack.

	"You see," she began as her battle aura died down, "the flesh of 
a mermaid is poison to most humans. Many people die within only a few 
minutes of eating it.  Those who are unfortunate enough to survive, 
transform into monsters.  They lose their humanity completely, and are 
forced to wander the Earth for eternity as terrible, misshapen beings 
called 'Lost Souls.'  She smiled wickedly.  "It's really an ugly 
sight.  You should just hope you never see one."

	The brief description had caused Ranma's suspicion to give way to 
fear, and he looked at her with a horrified expression.  "But you fed 
me that meat!  Does that mean I'm..."

	Cologne chuckled at Ranma's discomfort.  "Relax, Ranma.  Every 
once in a while, there is a very lucky human who is not harmed by the 
mermaid meat.  You, Ranma, are one of them.  And rather than hurting 
you, the mermaid flesh has given you immortality."

	"Yeah, right."  With the brief 'Lost Soul' scare out of the way, 
Ranma's skepticism returned in full force.  "And I'm also the emperor 
of China."  Ranma strained his arms, trying in vain to break the steel 
cable that bound them.

	"You don't believe me, eh, Ranma?"  Cologne produced a knife and 
before he could react, she had sliced a long, deep gash down his arm.

	"OW!!  What the hell are you doing now, ghoul?!"  Ranma grimaced 
at the pain as Cologne ripped away his sleeve, exposing a six-inch 
bloody gash on his arm.  She produced a rag from which she blotted away 
the blood, and Ranma saw to his astonishment that it had already 
stopped bleeding.  Even as he watched, the red gash on his arm faded 
away to a scar, and then to nothing.  After about a minute, there was 
nothing to indicate that there had just been a deep wound on his arm.

	"Whether you like it or not, Ranma, you are immortal.  You cannot 
be killed, and you will live forever- assuming, of course, you keep 
your head attached to your shoulders.  Of course, that is often easier 
said than done."

	Ranma was in shock.  "Why?" he croaked hoarsely.  "Why did you do 
this?"

	Cologne picked up her staff.  "I hate to admit it, Ranma, but it 
wasn't out of the goodness of my heart.  You'll learn more about it 
later.  Right now," she reached out and stabbed him in a spot on his 
neck, "go back to sleep."  Cackling softly to herself, she hopped back 
onto her stick and left the room, closing the door behind her.

            ------------------------------------------------

	Shampoo entered the hallway just as Cologne left the storage 
closet, and quickly ducked back behind the corner.  Peeking out, she 
saw Cologne holding a bloody rag in one hand and choked back a gasp of 
shock.  Exercising her patience, she waited for Cologne to go upstairs 
into her room, then darted out from her hiding place and reached for 
the closet door.

	It was locked.  She ducked into the kitchen, rummaging through 
the drawer in which they kept a spare set of keys.  They were gone.  
Whatever Cologne was doing to Ranma, she obviously didn't want anybody 
finding out.  And whatever she was doing, Shampoo didn't like it at all.

	She walked back to out of the kitchen, looking toward the storage 
closet with a concerned look.  For the first time in her life, she felt 
scared of Cologne.  Before this, Cologne had always had Shampoo's best 
interests in mind- even at Jusenkyo, the training had been for her own 
good.  Now she was not at all sure of that, and it scared her.  She 
looked up the stairs to where her great-grandmother had disappeared, 
and frowned.

            ------------------------------------------------

	Cologne tossed the bloody rag into one corner of her room, and 
looked at the mirror that hung from the wall.  It was an ornate mirror, 
and two beautiful carved mermaids supported the base.  The old woman 
marveled at how mermaids were portrayed in modern society- these 
beautiful, defenseless creatures were a far cry from the old legends 
that had portrayed mermaids as wily, almost evil creatures.  The 
mermaids of old, who had used their siren song to lure many ships and 
sailors to their death.

	Neither view came close to the truth, of course.  She moved her 
gaze from the supporting mermaids up to the mirror itself, and winced 
as she studied her reflection.  She had been beautiful once.  Of 
course, that had been long ago.  She saw no trace of her former beauty 
in the ugly, wizened hag that stared back at her in the mirror.

	She allowed herself a chuckle.  "Soon, though, I will be young 
again."  She caressed her wrinkled old face with her hand, and dreamed 
of regaining the youthful life and vigor that she had possessed once so 
long ago.  Shaking her head, she snapped herself out of her daydream 
and allowed herself a slight chuckle again.  "Ranma, my boy, you are 
going to do me a great favor.  And when you die, it will mean new life 
for me and so many others like me."  She sighed.  "It really is a 
worthy sacrifice, boy.  I wish you could understand."  Realizing she 
was talking aloud, she cursed herself for her foolishness.  She paused 
to listen, but heard nothing except a slight noise from the kitchen.  
Shampoo and Mousse were getting ready for the day's customers.  She was 
safe.

	She sat down in front of the mirror and closed her eyes, 
descending into a trance.  And she called out, sending a silent message 
to those who were listening.  <It is time.  Soon I will return with the 
human.>

            ------------------------------------------------

	Shampoo kept both hands clasped tightly over her mouth, 
suppressing any involuntary noises.  She heard Cologne chanting, and 
allowed herself to finally exhale.  Careful not to let the floor creak, 
she got up from where she had been kneeling outside her 
great-grandmother's room.  She had confirmed that whatever her 
great-grandmother was doing, it was not in Ranma best interest, and 
probably not in her own best interests either.

	She had to find help.  But where?  She didn't trust Mousse.  As 
soon as he realized that Ranma would suffer, he would probably go 
straight to Cologne asking what he could do to help.  Nor did she trust 
the spatula girl to listen to her- their rivalry was too strong to 
allow them to help each other.  That left the violent girl, or somebody 
else at the Tendo Dojo.  That was probably her best bet, she mused as 
she walked into the kitchen.

	Mousse had entered the kitchen and was busy preparing to open the 
restaurant for the day.  Thanks to the memory shampoo, he had no memory 
of the events of the previous night.  He looked over and saw her, and 
for a moment it looked like he was about to glomp her.

	"I'm really not in the mood to put up with that right now, 
Mousse."  She glared at him, and when her battle aura flared he finally 
recognized that to glomp his love now was risking serious bodily injury.

	His shoulders sank.  "Then could you give me a hand getting ready 
to open the restaurant?"

	Shampoo was about to protest, that she had better things to do 
than help him, but realized that if she left now, without a good 
reason, she risked tipping off Cologne that she knew something.  She 
had to act as natural as possible, and she couldn't afford to let 
Cologne suspect that she knew anything.  She had to play it safe, at 
least for the moment.  The Tendo Dojo would have to wait.

	She glared at Mousse one more time for emphasis, and set about 
preparing the Nekohanten to open for the day.

            ------------------------------------------------

	Akane sat on her bed, fuming.  <I can't believe that womanizing 
pervert!  First he goes to the Nekohanten for dinner, and then he 
doesn't come back!  I can't believe he spent the night with that Amazon 
hussy!>  She was so lost in her anger that she barely noticed the 
knocking on the door.

	She looked up.  "If that's you, Ranma, I don't want to know about 
it!" she shouted angrily.

	"No, little sister," a calm voice replied.  "I just want to talk 
to you."

	Akane straightened up, and brought the anger in her voice under 
control.  "Come on in, Kasumi."

	Kasumi opened the door and stepped through, closing it behind 
her.  She walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed.  "It's about 
Ranma."

	Akane crossed her arms.  "What do I care about that pervert!  He 
can stay with Shampoo for all I care."

	"Now, Akane."  Kasumi watched her younger sister calmly.  "You 
and I both know that Ranma wouldn't do something like that."

	"What are you talking about?"  She glared at Kasumi 
incredulously.  "Of course he would!  This is just like him!"

	"Is it?"  Kasumi raised an eyebrow.  "Ranma wouldn't just run off 
like this without telling anybody.  Not even Genma knows what happened 
to him."

	"So what?" Akane's anger was unabated.  "Besides, what other 
possible explanation could there be?"

	"Think about it, Akane.  You don't think there's the slightest 
chance that Cologne or Shampoo might have done something to Ranma?  
They have been more than willing to do similar things in the past, you 
know."

	For the first time, doubt crept through Akane's anger.  "But..." 
she muttered.  "Ranma is strong.  He never let Cologne or Shampoo 
defeat him before."

	"Akane, do you remember the incident with the red thread?"

	Akane looked at her sister in surprise.  How could she forget?  
It had started when Shampoo had gotten hold of a magical red thread.  
If two people had their fingers tied together with the thread, they 
fell in love.  Shampoo had managed to trick Ranma, and tied the thread 
around his finger.  Ranma had fallen head over heels for Shampoo, and 
had almost married her.  She nodded.  "Yes, I remember."

	"How did Ranma escape?"

	She remembered that too.  They had been only seconds from 
exchanging wedding vows at the altar before she had used scissors to 
cut the red thread, thus ending its spell for good.  She gulped, seeing 
where Kasumi was going.  "I cut the thread and broke the spell's 
influence over him."

	Kasumi moved closer to her sister, fixing her with an unwavering 
stare.  "You saved him, Akane.  Ranma would never have escaped if it 
weren't for you."

	Akane couldn't meet her sister's eyes.  "So what's the point of 
bringing that old memory up?" she asked in a vain attempt to stay angry.

	"It should be obvious, sister," Kasumi scolded lightly.  "Ranma 
isn't always capable of taking care of himself.  And if Cologne or 
Shampoo did manage to trap him, then someone else might have to save 
him."  She got up and straightened her clothes.  She walked toward the 
door, and then turned back and looked back at her sister.  "You've done 
it before, Akane.  He may need you do it again."

	Akane fidgeted uncomfortably, and made one last attempt at a 
rebuttal.  "But that might not be what happened at all.  After all, he 
went to the Nekohanten of his own free will.  He might be staying there 
of his own free will, too."

	Kasumi sighed.  "I see two possibilities, Akane.  One, is that 
you're right and that he is staying with Shampoo completely of his own 
free will.  The second," she paused, "is that Ranma is in serious 
trouble.  Think about it, Akane.  Ranma's life may be depending on what 
you decide."  She looked at her sister one last time before walking 
slowly out of the room.

	Akane listened to Kasumi's footsteps as she walked away and back 
downstairs.  She tried to become angry again, but now she was worried.  
What if Kasumi was right?  <Ranma, you baka,> she thought as she lay 
down on her stomach.  She turned her head to look out the window, and 
sighed as she watched a flock of birds fly across the clear blue sky.  
<What am I supposed to do now?>

            ------------------------------------------------

	That evening, as the last vestiges of twilight were dying to make 
way for the inky blackness of night, Akane was once again making her 
way down the street toward the Nekohanten.  The anger she had felt the 
night before was virtually gone, replaced entirely with worry.  She had 
hesitated to do anything until dinnertime that day, when Kasumi was 
cooking again and the whole household was concerned.  This certainly 
wasn't like Ranma, and if he had gone to the Nekohanten the previous 
night then it was looking more and more likely that Cologne had once 
again hatched one of her Nefarious Plans to Steal Ranma (TM).  And so 
finally she had admitted to herself that she was worried and set off 
toward the Nekohanten, dressed in her typical yellow gi, to find out 
where her errant fiancé had gotten off to.  There was still a bit of 
anger lurking just below the surface, though.  It taunted her with 
thoughts of Ranma hiding at the Nekohanten, or willingly running away 
with Shampoo.  She tried not to think about that.

	Shampoo, also, had finally gotten away from the Nekohanten.  Just 
as they were closing that night, an old lady had entered asking for 
Cologne.  Shampoo didn't recognize her, but when Cologne came out the 
two had greeted each other like old friends.  The two crones had then 
gone upstairs with a kettle of tea to catch up on old times.  With 
Cologne distracted for what would likely be a long time, she had 
finally decided to leave once the Nekohanten closed, even though it 
meant sticking Mousse with the job of cleaning up.  Now safely away 
from the restaurant and Cologne, she hurried toward the Tendo Dojo.

	The two spied each other from a ways away, and began running 
toward each other, albeit for different reasons.  "You stupid hussy!" 
yelled Akane as she ran toward Shampoo.  "Where's Ranma?!"  Now that 
she had a target, her anger shone through again.  "What have you done 
with Ranma?!"  She charged forward, preparing to attack.  "I don't know 
where he is, but you better tell me or else!"

	Shampoo's eyes widened in shock at the sight of a rampaging 
Akane, but she quickly regained her wits.  She jumped up onto a fence, 
avoiding Akane's first attack, and leapt away down the street.  "Wait!" 
she yelled.  "I not do anything with Ranma!"

	"Yeah, right!"  Akane charged again, intent on attacking.

	"Wait!" Shampoo leapt away from the attack.  "I have talk to you!"

	Akane paid her words no heed.  "You coward!" she taunted as 
another attack was thwarted.

	The Amazon felt her temper flare at the insult, and it took all 
her willpower not to attack the Tendo girl all out.  She calmed herself 
down with an effort, reminding herself that she needed allies to deal 
with Cologne and save Ranma from whatever plot the old crone had 
planned.  As she dodged another attack, she decided to try a different 
tactic.

	Landing on her feet about three yards away from the irate Tendo 
sister, she waited for the attack to come.  Akane charged, and as the 
maelstrom of fury approached her she calmly stood her ground, and spoke 
perhaps her first perfect sentence of Japanese.

	"I need your help to save Ranma."

	Akane's fist stopped about six inches away from the purple-haired 
Amazon.  Her face went through a quick series of expressions starting 
at angry, proceeding through bewildered and confused, and settling on 
suspicious.  She glared at Shampoo, and lowered her fist slowly.  
"Explain."

	Shampoo took a deep breath, aware that she had to get her entire 
explanation out before Akane got mad again and attacked.  
"Great-grandmother has Ranma trapped.  She up to something very odd, 
but Shampoo not know what.  Shampoo think.." she paused and watched 
Akane anxiously, "that great-grandmother going to kill Ranma."

	Akane was flabbergasted.  "That's ridiculous!" she cried.  "All 
Cologne wants is for Ranma to marry YOU!"

	Shampoo gulped.  The girl's battle aura was flaring again.  
"No!"  She put out her hands to stave off any impending attacks.  
"Great-grandmother not doing this for me!  Shampoo not know what she 
doing!  All Shampoo want is to save Ranma!"

	"Why should I believe you?"  Akane eyed her suspiciously.

	"I will swear."  She met the cold fury in Akane's eyes with an 
even, unwavering gaze.  "Shampoo swear, on her ancestors and as a 
member of the Amazon tribe, that what she has said is true and that she 
want only to save Ranma from Cologne.  I no break promise like that."

	Akane sighed, and her battle aura died out.  "All right."  She 
looked up, and the two longtime rivals stared into each other's eyes.  
For the first time, they were united in spirit, purpose, and 
determination.  Akane stepped back, and looked in the direction of the 
Nekohanten.  "So what do we do?  How do we save Ranma?"

	"Us two cannot save him alone."  Shampoo sighed tiredly.  
"Great-grandmother has a friend with her, and Shampoo not know how 
strong she is.  We need more people."

	Akane frowned, thinking.  "I know that Ukyo's out of town, and I 
have no idea where Ryoga is.  Come on."  She turned, and started 
running back toward the Dojo, with Shampoo hot on her heels.  "Ranma's 
father will help, at least."

            ------------------------------------------------

	Soun eyed the Amazon girl suspiciously.  "Why should we believe 
you?"

	Shampoo, the Tendos and resident Saotome were gathered around the 
living room table.  Shampoo couldn't help but feel like she was in an 
interrogation of some kind, but she patiently waited it out.  She 
nodded to Akane, who was seated next to her.  "Akane is witness to my 
oath."

	Akane nodded her agreement, and scratched P-chan behind his ears 
as she spoke.  At the moment, she was desperate for comfort, and 
grateful her pet pig could offer it.  "Please, Dad, there's not time 
for this.  Ranma could be in serious danger."

	Soun was not the only skeptic in the room.  Nabiki quirked an odd 
smile, and looked toward her younger sister.  "It's funny how just four 
hours ago, you were ready to rip Ranma's head off and now you're ready 
to run off against terrible odds and try to save him.  I'd almost think 
you cared for him."

	Akane's battle aura flared, causing everyone to flinch away from 
her and P-chan to jump from her lap.  "Maybe I do care about him!" she 
shot back.  "Yes!  Yes, I care about him!  Maybe I even love him!  
Okay?!"  A brief flicker of uncertainty crossed Shampoo's face at her 
confession, but Akane missed it.  She turned back to her father, 
desperation in her eyes.  "Please Dad, I believe Shampoo this time.  
Ranma could die if we don't help him."

	Soun sweatdropped at Akane's reaction.  "Well, daughter," he 
stuttered, trying not to let his fear show through, "I just don't know 
if we can believe her..."

	"I'm going."  Akane stood up, and stared in turn at each person 
seated around the table.  "According to Shampoo, Cologne has a friend 
of hers with her, too, so the odds are even worse."  She rested her 
eyes on Genma.  "I don't care.  I'm going to save Ranma, even if it 
costs me my life.  Anyone who wants to come with me, I welcome."

	Shampoo stood up.  "I go too.  Nothing matter right now but 
saving Ranma's life."

	For a few seconds, there was silence.  Akane turned to leave, but 
was interrupted by a voice.  "He is my only son.  I cannot forsake this 
responsibility."  Genma stood up, and crossed his arms.

	"I will go too."  Akane smiled as her Dad stood up.  "One last 
adventure, eh, Saotome?"  Genma's only response was a nod of his head.

	A new voice from the doorway caused Akane to start.  "I will go 
as well."

	Akane looked up at the new voice, and saw Ryoga standing in the 
doorway.  His hair was dripping wet, and he cracked his knuckles.  "Not 
even Ranma can handle everything that gets thrown at him.  Besides," he 
smiled, "I can't just desert my greatest rival, can I?"

	Akane was too happy to wonder where he came from, and she 
smiled.  "Thank you, Ryoga."

	"As heartwarming as this show of solidarity is," interrupted 
Nabiki, "I feel it's my duty to inject a healthy dose of realism into 
your little campaign."

	"What you mean?"  Shampoo frowned angrily.  "You no stop us from 
going!"

	"Hey," Nabiki raised her arms in defense, "I'm all for this 
mission.  Even I have to admit I've got a little soft spot in my heart 
for the twerp.  But how exactly do you plan to accomplish this little 
commando raid of yours?"

	There was silence.  It was obvious that nobody had thought that 
far ahead yet.  Nabiki sighed an exasperated sigh; it was the sigh of a 
lone genius in a swirling sea of idiots.  "Look.  Cologne is there, and 
apparently she has an ally.  You're going to have to get her friend out 
of the way first.  Create a distraction.  Get her out of the 
restaurant, somehow.  You don't know how strong she is, so better safe 
than sorry.  You should avoid fighting her at all costs."

	"But that still leaves Cologne," Akane pointed out.

	"So you'll have to get her out of the way, too."  Nabiki smiled.  
"What's the quickest way to get everybody out of a building?"

	It was Ryoga who answered.  "Yell 'fire'."

	Nabiki smiled.  "Or even better.  Start one."

	"Set Nekohanten on fire?"  Shampoo frowned.  "I not sure I like 
that idea."

	"Forget it."  Nabiki's voice was firm.  "You said yourself that 
saving Ranma's life was the only thing that mattered."

	"All right."  Shampoo nodded reluctantly.

	"A fire will create confusion, and will make it harder to fight 
well.  Because Cologne is the best fighter, this should work to your 
advantage, right?  Especially if you already have a well-formed plan.  
You can use the chaos created by the fire to get Ranma away, and 
hopefully Cologne will be too distracted to stop you."

	Genma nodded.  "That is a risky plan, but an acceptable one.  
However, if we are to save my son, we must hurry.  Come."

	The tone in his voice left no room for argument.  Ryoga, Akane, 
Shampoo, Genma and Soun left hurriedly, leaving Nabiki and Kasumi alone 
in the room.

	Nabiki just shook her head.  "You know, I was sort of hoping 
they'd develop more of a plan than just 'start a fire.'  That's not 
much of a plan by itself."  She sighed, and prayed silently to whatever 
kami was watching that nothing happened to her family.  <And Ranma, 
well, he might as well be family, for all he's been through with us.  
I hope he gets through this all right.>

	"Don't worry, sister," Kasumi said with optimism that she didn't 
feel.  "I'm sure they'll be just fine."

            ------------------------------------------------

	Shampoo led the group to the back entrance of the Nekohanten, and 
went in first.  She looked around, and saw no one.  She snuck toward 
the kitchen, and peering in the kitchen, she noticed that Mousse was 
just finishing cleaning up.  Sneaking by the doorway, she listened 
upstairs, where she heard voices chanting.

	Finally she reached toward the storage closet, expecting the door 
to still be locked.  To her surprise, the door opened, but the closet 
was empty.  Ranma was nowhere to be found.  She let out a brief squeak 
of surprise before closing the door quickly, and ran back outside to 
report what she had found.

	"This is not good," Genma muttered.  "It would make sense that 
they have Ranma upstairs with them.  Our mission just got more 
difficult."

	"Great," muttered Ryoga, "How are we going to get Ranma away from 
them now?"

	Akane spoke up.  "I think we can still stick with Nabiki's plan.  
The Nekohanten does have smoke alarms, right, Shampoo?"

	Shampoo looked taken aback.  "Of course it does. Japanese 
government would shut down Nekohanten if it didn't."

	"So we can set a fire in the kitchen, and still be sure that it 
will bring the old crones down from upstairs.  And presumably they'll 
have Ranma with them.  I think that'll be our best chance."

	"We have problem there." Shampoo frowned.  "Mousse is in 
kitchen.  I not trust him to help Ranma."

	"So splash him."  Akane shrugged.  "That'll get him out of the 
way."

	"No, Mousse can still fight as duck.  We have to knock him out."

	"Heh."  Akane hefted her mallet, which she had pulled from 
nowhere.  "Leave that to me."

	"Okay."  Genma moved toward the door.  "Here's the plan.  We'll 
head into the kitchen, take out Mousse, and set the fire.  We must also 
try to generate as much smoke as possible with the fire, in order to 
make things even harder for Cologne and her friend."

	Silently, the group moved in.  Soun hesitated.  "Maybe I should 
stay here and guard the exit, just in case they try to escape."

	Akane sighed.  "Dad, please don't tell me you're chickening out."

	"No," Genma shook his head, "it's actually a good idea.  In fact, 
I'll go around to the front, and that way we'll have them trapped."

	The three teenagers sighed, and looked at each other, and 
silently decided not to protest the adults' cowardice.  It wasn't worth 
it.  Besides, every moment they argued was a moment in which Ranma 
might be killed.  They entered the Nekohanten; Shampoo, followed by 
Ryoga, followed by Akane.

            ------------------------------------------------

	WHAM!

	"Violent girl should try being less noisy."  Shampoo looked over 
to where Akane was putting away her mallet, standing next to a 
flattened Mousse.

	"Hey!"  Akane protested.  "It's not like I can exactly make a 
mallet impact quiet or anything!  You think it comes equipped with a 
'Mute' button or something?"

	Ryoga dumped out a trash can around the kitchen.  "This'll work 
as fuel for the fire.  Shampoo, do you have any matches?"

	"Shampoo got matches, and something even better for starting 
fire."  She rooted around a drawer for a minute and pulled out some 
matches, and then reached into a cupboard by the stove and pulled out a 
bottle of cooking oil.  She took off the top and sprayed it over the 
trash Ryoga had dumped, and then sprayed some along the back wall for 
good measure before dropping the empty bottle on the floor.  She then 
moved around back toward the door they had entered in.  "Come on.  We 
have to get out of here quickly once fire started."

	Akane and Ryoga moved over to where she was standing.  "Wait!" 
muttered Akane.  "What about Mousse?"

	Shampoo cursed, and handed the box of matches to Ryoga, moving 
over to where Mousse lay.  "I take him out to the main restaurant.  
Then meet up with you.  Ryoga, light fire now."

	As Shampoo left the kitchen, Ryoga opened the matchbox and 
grabbed a match, striking it on the side of the box and lighting it.  
He hesitated for only a moment before throwing it onto the cooking oil, 
igniting it.  The fire flared up, and began to spread immediately.

	"Come on!"  They ducked back out into the hallway, and ran 
quickly toward the corner at the far end of the hallway. Just as they 
reached it, the smoke alarm went off.

	They looked back toward where they had come from.  The fire was 
already engulfing the door, and flames were beginning to lick at the 
hallway.  If Cologne and her henchwoman didn't come down soon, they 
would be trapped upstairs.

	Finally, with all of them peeking around the corner, Cologne came 
down the stairs.  She and another old woman were carrying Ranma with 
them.  All of Ranma's clothing was on, and she didn't have any visible 
wounds, but she was unconscious and in her female form.

	Suddenly, the fire burst through the back wall of the kitchen, 
sending ashes and cinders across the hallway.  The fire, roaring, 
quickly crossed the hallway, cutting Cologne and thus Ranma off from 
any escape routes.

	Akane couldn't stand it any longer.  She pushed Ryoga's hand off 
her shoulder and burst around the corner.  "RANMA!" she yelled.  
Cologne's head snapped around, and their eyes met through the wall of 
flame that separated them.  "Come on!" Cologne shouted to the figure 
behind her.  "Through the kitchen!  We have to save the mermaid meat!"

	<The kitchen?!  They'll die!>  Akane started to run forward, not 
even noticing Cologne's strange comment.  Suddenly, though, two strong 
arms stopped her. "No," said Ryoga firmly.  "You can't do anything for 
them.  If they make it through the kitchen, they'll come out in the 
main lobby of the Nekohanten.  We have to get there first."

	Akane nodded.  Cologne and Ranma had already vanished into the 
kitchen.  With the target of her concentration gone, she suddenly 
became aware of the intense heat and light rolling off the fire.  She 
winced and turned her back to the fire, running back toward the corner 
from which another hallway branched off.  They rounded it, trying to 
find their way to the front of the restaurant before Cologne.

            ------------------------------------------------

	Genma and Shampoo were waiting in the main dining area, which had 
not yet been touched by the flames.  They saw the kitchen door open and 
gulped as a wave of heat hit them from the door.  Two old women 
staggered through the doorway, carrying Ranma.  All of them were badly 
burned.

	The flesh of their skin was red and blistering, yet somehow the 
old women managed to walk.  Akane and Ryoga burst through a side door, 
and gasped in shock as the women bent over in pain, and as they watched 
the burns slowly began to recede from their bodies.

	Ranma, however, was unmoving and silent.  "RANMA!" cried Akane, 
running toward where the women had dropped her prone form.  They were 
in too much pain to notice her pick up Ranma and carry him several feet 
away to safety.

	"Ranma!" Akane cried, hugging her badly burned body to her.  She 
started to cry, but all of a sudden a cough distracted her.  Ranma 
suddenly curled up, coughing, and to Akane's surprise the burns on her 
body visibly shrank, soon fading away to nothing.  She rolled over and 
coughed again, opening her eyes and looking at her.  Ranma smiled.  
"Sorry.  I guess I'm still new at this immortality thing."

	"Immortality?  What are you--"

	"Step away from her, Akane."  It was Cologne.  She moved forward 
and stood over Ranma, with the other old woman behind her.  They 
appeared to be fully recovered from their trip through the fire, with 
not even a singed hair to mark their passage through the fire.  Ranma 
coughed and tried to stand up, but collapsed again.  "You stay away 
from Akane, you withered old crone."

	"Or else what, Ranma?" Cologne frowned.  "You're in no condition 
to stop me.  You never were."  She lashed out with a finger, poking a 
pressure point and sending Ranma to sleep.

	Akane stood up and backed away, suddenly more afraid than she had 
ever been.  When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet and shaking.  
"Who are you?"  She paused, and looked at the old woman fearfully.  
"No.." she said in a quiet voice, "what are you?

	Cologne smiled.  "I believe the term you're looking for is 
'mermaid.'"

	"Mermaid?" Ryoga stepped forward.  "I guess you've finally gone 
senile, you old bat.  Mermaids are legendary.  Besides, they live in 
the ocean, even if they were real."

	Cologne barked out a loud, short, laugh.  "You ignorant fool.  
Mermaids do exist.  You should listen to legends.  They often have more 
truth than falsehood in them."  She paused, and gazed at them 
steadily.  "As a matter of fact, I am a mermaid.  It just so happens 
that some mermaids have two feet, while others live in the ocean."

	"You not Cologne."  Shampoo's battle aura flared, and she stepped 
forward.  "You is no Amazon."

	"That's right, child.  I'm not Cologne.  Now," she looked back to 
where flames licked the edges of the kitchen door, "I'm afraid I don't 
have much time.  All I will tell you is this."  She smiled wickedly.  
"Mermaids are immortal.  You have seen this with your own eyes, and the 
way the burns on our bodies healed.  Now-" she looked at each of the 
humans, "if a human eats the flesh of a mermaid, as Ranma did, he also 
becomes immortal.  I will give you each a piece of mermaid flesh-" she 
held up a package- "if you let my fellow mermaid and I continue on our 
way."

	"What?  Why would we do that?  Do you really think our honor is 
that cheap?"  Ryoga's battle aura flared.

	Genma was in turmoil.  Despite everything he had put Ranma 
through during the course of his life, he truly loved his son.  Even 
when he had thrown him into the pit of cats, he had been firmly 
convinced he was doing the right thing for Ranma.  His concern for his 
son had been strong enough, in fact, to overpower his usual cowardice, 
and thus he had joined this rescue mission to save him.  However, 
Cologne had now introduced another powerful force into play: greed.

	In his mind, greed was now wrestling with his love for his son.  
It was tough, but like so many other times, it was greed that won the 
struggle.  "I think we should listen to the old crone."  Genma stepped 
forward, pushing Ryoga out of the way.  "We accept your deal."

	"Mr. Saotome!"  Akane glared indignantly at the cowardly old 
man.  "How dare you do that to Ranma!"

	"Every man must at some point think about his future," Genma 
muttered sagely, "and this could secure my future forever.  Give me the 
package, Cologne, and you may pass freely."

	Cologne chuckled, and handed Genma the package.  "Eat up, sonny 
boy."

	"NO!"  Akane, Ryoga and Shampoo moved to attack Genma and 
Cologne.  Akane lunged to knock the package out of Genma's hands, but 
only managed to catch a piece of it before Cologne knocked her away.  
She looked at the strange piece of meat in her hand for a moment before 
putting it into a pocket in her gi and moving to attack again.  Genma 
knocked away Shampoo and managed to bite a chunk out of the block 
before Ryoga attacked him, sending him flying into the side wall with a 
roundhouse kick.  Genma got up slowly, and chuckled.  "YES!  I ate it!  
Now I'm imm-"

	He suddenly fell over, spasming, as his skin turned a sickly 
green color.  He struggled to his feet, and when he looked up his eyes 
were bulging halfway out of their sockets.  His skin was now completely 
green, and what appeared to be blood vessels bulged out from underneath 
his skin.  "What's happening to me?!?!?"

	Cologne cackled.  "Did I forget to mention?  Only those humans 
who are very lucky become immortal.  The rest either die, or become 
monsters.  Congratulations, fool... you're now a Lost Soul."

	The monster roared as the last of its humanity was sucked away in 
an instant of horrible, blinding pain.  It slowly turned toward them, 
hunger flashing in its alien eyes.

	"I'll leave you all with your new playmate."  Cologne cackled 
evilly.  "Meanwhile, I've got to run.  I have an appointment with the 
fountain of youth!  Well, ta ta!"

	Just then, a fiery beam crashed down from the ceiling, crashing 
down on top of the woman who stood next to Cologne.  "NO!!!" Cologne 
yelled.  "Tomiko!  Damn it!"  She turned back to Ranma's unconscious 
form.  "I don't have time for this.  She'll be all right eventually," 
she muttered.  "Time to get out of here."

	Meanwhile, the Genma-monster attacked, forcing Ryoga, Shampoo, 
and Akane to turn their full attention to that fight.  "Come back 
here!"  Akane yelled as Cologne hoisted Ranma's still form over her 
shoulders, and grabbing a walking stick out of seemingly thin air, 
hopped out of the restaurant.

	Her devotion to her fiancée was rewarded with a hard swat from 
the Lost Soul that sent her flying across the room.  She hit the wall 
hard and crumbled to the ground.  Struggling to her feet, she saw Ryoga 
look toward her anxiously before being picked up by the Lost Soul and 
slammed to the ground as well.  Two more ceiling beams collapsed with 
the impact, setting the rug on fire.  The Lost Soul roared 
triumphantly, just as a terrified yell sounded from the far side of the 
room.  The monster turned toward the source of the sound angrily, 
before a spiked chain shot across the room and through the monster's 
head.

	The monster collapsed to the floor, as Mousse rose from where he 
had been laying and dusted himself off.  "What in the world was that?"  
He took off his glasses and rubbed them with his robe, looking back at 
where the monster lay.  Realizing that his glasses were not faulty, he 
looked around and noticed with his usual astuteness that the Nekohanten 
was currently on fire.  Shampoo picked up Ryoga from where he lay 
still, and looked over at Akane to make sure she was all right.  "We 
have get out of here!" she yelled.

	The four teenagers quickly fled the building, even as it 
collapsed around them.  Sirens sounded in the distance as Akane ran out 
of the restaurant, gasping in the fresh air and coughing to rid her 
lungs of the smoke.  Mousse was helping Shampoo carry Ryoga out of the 
building.  As soon as they were safely away, Shampoo collapsed, leaving 
Mousse to tend to them both.  Akane looked for some sign of Cologne, 
but seeing none, she ran around to the side of the building and looked 
down the street, where she saw Cologne fighting someone.  It took her a 
moment to realize it was her father.

	She gasped in surprise.  She had had no idea that her father 
could still fight that well.  His fighting was strong and quick, and 
his attacks and defenses flowed together in a smooth kata.  It was 
fascinating to watch, but his life was still in great danger.  Akane 
saw that, despite his skill, Cologne was forcing him back.  He wouldn't 
last much longer.  Then she saw Ranma's still form lying to one side.  
She was torn- should she run to her fiancée or her father?  Both were 
in desperate need of help.

	Suddenly, Cologne's aura flared, and she sent a ball of ki flying 
toward her father, who was hit and thrown back against the chain-link 
fence separating the street from the canal.  His body slumped and lay 
still.  Cologne turned back toward Ranma, and prepared to throw her 
over her shoulders again.  Feeling her courage build up within her, 
Akane yelled loudly, charging toward the old woman.  "Stop!"

	Cologne turned her head towards Akane, and suddenly rage flared 
up again in her eyes.  "ENOUGH OF THESE DISTRACTIONS!  I WILL BECOME 
YOUNG AGAIN NO MATTER WHAT!"  So saying, she bent down and sunk her 
teeth into Ranma's flesh.

	Aghast at the sight, Akane stopped and watched as Cologne lifted 
her head and swallowed.  Even as the old woman did so, she suddenly 
began to grow in height.  Her hair turned from white to red, and her 
wrinkles disappeared, leaving only smooth skin.  After only a few 
seconds, Akane found herself staring in shock at an exact duplicate of 
Ranma-chan.

	"You like that little trick?"  Cologne wiped her bloody mouth 
with the back of her hand.  "You see, humans can become immortal by 
eating mermaid flesh, but when mermaids eat human flesh... 
specifically, the flesh of an immortal female human... they regain 
their youth."

	Akane was in shock.  "And they take on the form..."

	"Yes."  Cologne smiled evilly.  "They take on the form of the 
human whose flesh they ate.  Oh, Akane," she struck a cute pose, "it's 
me, Ranma, you one true love and fiancée.  Come make sweet love to me, 
my darling girlfriend!"

	Akane's battle aura flared, and she felt herself growing angrier 
than she ever had in her whole life.  "YOU STOP THAT, YOU PIECE OF 
SHIT!"

	"Oh, fine."  Cologne pouted.  "Reject me, then.  It doesn't 
matter.  Now, if you'll excuse me... I have to take Ranma's body back 
to where others of my kind are waiting.  It's really a worthy 
sacrifice, you know."  She smiled.  "Ranma will die, but so many others 
will prosper because of it.  I think if she were conscious, she'd 
approve."

	"Wait a minute!"  Akane cried.  "Whatever happened to 
Ranma-will-marry-Shampoo, where-is-my-son-in-law, and all that?  Was 
that just an act?"

	"Of course."  Cologne shrugged.  "You think I give a damn about 
the Amazons?  I first took human form fifty years ago.  I was searching 
for someone with a special aura, someone who would be able to withstand 
the changes brought on by eating the mermaid flesh.  I knew it would 
take a long time, so to live among humans I killed a certain Amazon 
warrior... Cologne.  It was a simple bit of magic to assume her form 
and take over her life, and there I bided my time and quietly performed 
my search.

	"It took me fifty years.  I was beginning to give up hope of ever 
finding someone suitable.  But when I found Ranma... things changed.  I 
waited for the right moment, and fed him the mermaid flesh.  Now Ranma 
is immortal, and thanks to his Jusenkyo curse, a female."  She 
chuckled.  "After half a century, my quest has reached an end.  Now," 
her aura flared brightly, "will you stand in my way?  If you do, I will 
kill you."

	Akane screamed loudly, a cry of desperate frustration.  She knew 
she couldn't defeat Cologne, but for the sake of the man she loved, she 
had to try.  <I love him,> she thought suddenly and clearly.  <It's 
clear.  Now that I'm going to die, and we'll never be together, I can 
admit it.  I love Ranma.>  Through her tears, she turned her attention 
back to the evil woman standing in front of her, and assumed a fighting 
stance.

	Cologne just eyed her coldly.  "Well, then, Akane.  I'm going to 
have to kill you."

	Akane prepared to attack, but suddenly a voice interrupted her.  
"Not on your life, ghoul."

	Cologne snapped her head around in alarm and quickly tried to 
move out of the way, but it was too late.  "MOUKO TAKIBISHA!"

	The massive ki blast slammed into Cologne with the force of a 
hurricane, sending her screaming through the chain link fence that 
separated the street from the canal.  She fell into the canal, 
screaming all the way, even as it ended in a distant splash.  There was 
a brief pause before suddenly a massive ball of energy burst forth from 
the canal, drenching Akane, Ranma, and everything else within a 
fifteen-foot radius with a blast of heated water.  There was one final, 
horrible scream that wavered up and down in pitch before fading away 
to nothing.  Then it was silent.

	Ranma, once again in his male form, slumped back to the ground in 
exhaustion.  With the ki blast had gone his last ounce of strength.  He 
looked at Akane and smiled before closing his eyes.

	She rushed over to him and wrapped her arms around him, crying.  
"Ranma, please don't die. Please!"  She shook him.  "I love you," she 
whispered into his ear.  "I love you, Ranma.  Please..." she sniffed 
and wiped away a tear, "please don't die."

	For a long moment she held him, and suddenly she became aware 
that he was breathing again.  He coughed and opened his eyes slightly.  
They looked at each other for a moment.

	"Dummy," said Ranma.  "I won't be dying anytime soon.  I haven't 
told you I love you yet."  He smiled at her.  "I love you, Akane.  I'm 
sorry I couldn't say it before."

	Akane smiled, and tears streamed down her cheek.  "Baka.  I've 
always loved you."  She kissed him hard, and Ranma reached his hand 
around her and returned the kiss.  For a long moment they were content 
to lie there in each other's arms.

	Ranma's smile suddenly quirked.  "Besides, did you forget?  I'm 
immortal."  His smile widened.  "Heh... even if I weren't, it takes 
more than a ki blast to stop Ranma Saotome."

	Akane laughed, relieved by the cocky tone in his voice.  "Yes, 
you're definitely going to be all right."  Suddenly, she remembered 
where she was.  "We have to find the others, Ranma.  Make sure everyone 
else is all right.  Starting with-" she suddenly remembered.  "Dad!"  
She spun around to where she had seen him fall.

	He lay still against the chain link fence, battered and bruised 
incredibly.  She rushed over, with Ranma close behind, and knelt down 
next to him.  "Dad!" she yelled.  "Don't die!"

	Soun coughed, and a line of blood trickled down his chin.  "I'm 
sorry, Akane," he rasped.

	"No, Dad, you'll be all right.  Don't talk.  Ranma, go get an 
ambulance!"

	"Right!"  Ranma jumped up and ran toward the Nekohanten, where 
firefighters had arrived and were slowly bringing the flames under 
control.

	"Like I told Saotome..." he suddenly smiled, "it was one last 
adventure."  And with that, Soun Tendo closed her eyes and his head 
rolled back to rest against the fence.

	"DAD!!" Akane shook her father's still body.  "Dad!  You'll be 
all right!  Don't die!  Please!"  She sobbed into his shirt, and felt 
strong arms pull her away.  She turned, and looked into the face of a 
paramedic.

	"We'll take care of him now.  Don't worry."  He gestured, and two 
other paramedics ran forward with a stretcher and lifted her father 
onto it.  The first medic guided her toward where several other people 
were sitting with blankets wrapped around them, while the other medics 
loaded her father's stretcher onto one of two ambulances parked out 
front.  She saw the doors shut and the ambulance speed away, and numbly 
sat down with the others.

	She felt a blanket get wrapped around her shoulders, and felt 
someone sit down right next to her.  An arm wrapped around her.  "It'll 
be all right, Akane."

	She looked up into Ranma's deep blue-gray eyes, and finally let 
herself lose control.  She broke down, sobbing, into his chest, and 
clung to Ranma tightly, a life preserver in the middle of her emotional 
torrent.

            ------------------------------------------------

	Three days later, Akane sat at the living room table.  She had 
just finished a short workout, and was dressed in her gi as she sipped 
a cup of tea as she idly read a manga.  Nabiki was out of the house, 
and Kasumi was visiting their father at the hospital.  His condition 
was listed as 'serious', but he was expected to make it out of the 
hospital in a few weeks.

	Ranma had been oddly silent.  He had comforted her after the 
initial incident, and then also throughout the next day, but after that 
he had grown distant even from her.  He spent a lot of time sitting on 
the roof and thinking, and Akane didn't know what to make of it.  She 
didn't have the energy or the will to be angry about it, and so she 
waited to see what would happen.

	She had to admit, she wasn't expecting Ranma to walk downstairs 
with his pack fully loaded and strapped onto his back.  She looked up 
at him curiously.  "What are you doing?"

	Ranma sighed, and put down the pack.  He walked over and sat down 
across from her, carefully avoiding her gaze.  "Akane, I... I have to leave."

	"Leave?"  Akane felt her stomach sink.  "Where are you going?"

	Ranma shrugged, and looked at her sadly.  "I don't know.  I 
really don't.  But I can't stay."

	Akane felt anger and concern clash inside her.  How could he 
leave, when they had finally confessed their love to each other?  It 
was a new beginning!  How could he do this to her?!

	"Why not?" Akane asked with an edge to her voice.  "Why do you 
have to leave all of a sudden?"

	"Akane, I've been thinking."  Ranma hung his head.  "I'm not like 
you anymore.  I'll never die, I'll never grow old... hell, I don't even 
know if I'll even be able to have kids!" he clenched his fists and 
Akane saw a tear run down his cheek.  "I'm terrified of myself, Akane.  
I don't know what I am, and I can't ask you to marry me like this."

	"Ranma..." Akane felt her heart soften.  "I don't care.  Really.  
I don't.  You're still Ranma, and I still love you.  Nothing else 
matters."

	Ranma looked up, and finally met her gaze.  His eyes were 
watering with tears, and she felt tears well up in her own eyes.  "But 
it would matter eventually.  Either to you or to me."  He slowly got 
up, and walked back over toward his pack.  "I'll go look for a cure.  
If I find one, I'll come back.  I promise."

	"There's not much chance of that, is there?"  Akane looked up 
sadly.  "Mermaids have been nothing but legends for hundreds of years.  
The chances of you finding them are virtually zero."

	Ranma sighed.  "You're right.  I may never find them, no matter 
how long I search.  But... I have to try, Akane."

	Akane sniffed, and looked at him sadly.  "Is finding a cure even 
more important than love?"

	Ranma turned away and reached down to his pack.  "I have to do 
this, Akane.  I love you, and I always will.  But I can't stay."

	<No!  I can't let him get away like this!>  Akane stood up.  
"Then I'll come with you."

	Ranma looked at her, and shook his head.  "No, Akane."  His voice 
was firm.  "You can still live a fulfilling life here in Nerima.  Go to 
college.  Find someone to marry who can make you happy.  Have 
children."  He smiled.  "Grow old happily.  That's something I couldn't 
share with you now, Akane."

	Suddenly, Akane remembered her attack to intercept Genma, and how 
it had failed.  She reached into her gi and found the pocket, and 
pulled out the small bit of meat, clenching it in her fist.  "Ranma?" 
she asked.  "If I were like you... if I were, you know... immortal... 
could I come with you?"

	Ranma shook his head angrily.  "Don't bother with that line of 
thought, Akane.  It couldn't happen, so there's no point in bringing it 
up."

	"Actually, Ranma," she held up the piece of meat, "it could 
happen."

	"NO!" he yelled.  "Don't eat it, Akane!  Remember what happened 
to my Dad?  You'd probably die!"

	Akane looked at him sadly, and raised the mermaid flesh toward 
her lips.  "In that case.." her will suddenly strengthened, and she 
looked at him with a fiery determination.  "I'd rather die now than 
live the rest of my life without you."  She raised the mermaid flesh to 
her lips.  "I love you," she whispered.  Before he could snap out of 
his shock and do anything to stop her, she chewed quickly and, tossing 
her head back, swallowed it.

	"NO!!!!" he was at her side in an instant as she suddenly doubled 
over, coughing up blood.  A vein suddenly bulged out on her forehead, 
and one of her eyes popped halfway out of its socket.

	"AKANE!!!" he cried, hugging her tightly as she writhed in pain.  
"Please.." he willed with all his might for her to live, and hugged her 
as though by being close to her he could share his own strength with 
her.  He watched in horror as her skin turned a sickly shade of green, 
and he realized with a terrible, gut-wrenching pain that she was 
becoming a Lost Soul.  "Please make it through this, Akane.  I love 
you.  I love you.  I love you."  He repeated this like a mantra to 
himself, holding her tighter even as her body writhed and twitched in 
his arms.

	As he closed his eyes tightly, tears running down his face, he 
suddenly felt another presence in his mind.  In his mind, he saw it as 
a point of light, far away yet at the same time very close.  It seemed 
to him like it was calling for help, for in his mind he saw a blood red 
shadow slowly obscuring the bright point of light.  Every once in a 
while, the light would flicker brightly, but it was quickly getting 
dimmer.  He reached out, and let his aura flow toward the point of 
light.  To his surprise, he found he was not hampered by the strange 
blood red mist that obscured it, and his aura penetrated the mist 
easily.  He reached the other presence, and in his mind he let his own 
strength flow into it.  Immediately, the point of light grew brighter.

	After what seemed like an eternity of struggling the mist drifted 
away, fully overpowered by the brilliant light of the other presence.  
He pulled back his own presence, and the light dimmed slightly.  It 
winked once, as if in thanks, and as he watched helplessly, it began to 
fade away again.  He tried to reach out again, but it was fading too 
quickly.  There was no red mist, but to his dismay the light grew 
fainter and further away until he could no longer see nor feel it.

	He opened his eyes, unsure of what had just happened, and 
realized that Akane's body had gone limp.  Quickly, he took stock of 
her situation.  Her eyes were closed, and it looked like she was 
sleeping.  There were no bulging eyeballs, no popped out veins, and no 
sign of a transformation.  She was not breathing.  And she had no 
pulse.  She was dead.  The mermaid meat had killed her.

	He laid her on the couch and for what seemed like eternity, he 
rested his head on her stomach and cried.  <Why did you have to do 
that, you baka?  Why did you have to make it even harder for me?!  Why 
did you have to die?>  He looked up at her face, which had a look so 
peaceful on it that it could only have come in death.  <Oh, Kami, why 
couldn't you have been a little more lucky?!>  He sniffed, and finally 
the tears stopped.  He sighed, and raised his head.  <Oh, Kami, even 
though she's dead she's still the most beautiful thing I ever laid eyes 
on.>

	He watched her for a long moment, when he suddenly became aware 
of a slight shift in her position.  Looking down, he saw her chest rise 
and fall almost imperceptibly.  He suddenly laughed, and the tears 
started flowing again as her eyes fluttered and she coughed, struggling 
to sit up on the couch.

	After a few seconds she succeeded, and looked at him.  She looked 
at him, and suddenly smiled.  "Come on, now.  It takes more than a 
little thing like death to stop Akane Tendo."

	Ranma laughed, and immediately they embraced each other, laughing 
and sobbing and laughing and sobbing.  Finally, they released each 
other and it was Ranma who asked the question on both their minds.  
"Did it work?"

	Akane pulled up the sleeve of her gi to study a nasty scrape on 
the back on her arm that she had received during the fight with the 
Lost Soul.  She pulled off the bandage, just in time to see the last of 
the wound shrink away and heal.  She smiled.  "Now we can stay 
together, no matter what."

	Ranma smiled.  "No matter what."  He leaned forward and kissed 
her on the forehead.  "Just keep your head attached to your 
shoulders."  He smiled, and kissed her again, this time on the lips.

	When they finally came up for air a couple minutes later, Akane 
looked at him with an odd look.  "I died, didn't I?"

	Ranma met her gaze, but did not speak for several seconds.  "I 
don't know, Akane.  It certainly seemed like it."

	"It's the weirdest thing.  When I was..." she paused and 
shrugged, "dying, I guess, at first it felt like something was 
overpowering me... almost as though I was drowning under its pressure.  
Then I felt something else, as if someone had thrown me a rope."  Her 
expression took on a haunted look.  "It took all my strength to pull 
myself up that rope.  And then I was so exhausted, that I thought I was 
dying again..." she looked at Ranma, and gripped his hands tightly in 
her own.  "I don't know what happened... maybe I never will.  But..." 
she looked at him and smiled, "I'm glad I did it.  I don't regret it 
for an instant."

	Ranma sat beside her, and for several minutes they held each 
other closely, neither saying a word.  He thought back to his own 
experience, and the presence he had felt in his own mind.  Akane was 
right, he decided... they might never truly understand what had 
happened.  When it came down to it, though, it wasn't really 
important.  She had survived with her humanity intact, and that was 
what really mattered.  For that, he was willing to let go of his 
questions- at least for the moment.

	It was Akane who finally broke the silence.  "So..." she said 
quietly, "now what?"

	He hesitated for only a second before responding.  "I meant what 
I said when I said I wanted to find a cure.  I want to live a normal 
life, Akane."

	She nodded.  "All right.  We'll go searching for the cure... but 
on three conditions."

	Ranma looked surprised.  "Three conditions?  All right."  He 
smiled.  "Shoot."

	"One: we stay here until high school is over."

	"But that's another two years!" Ranma protested.

	Akane chuckled.  "Oh, come on, Mister I-Can't-Grow-Old-Anymore.  
Surely a couple more years at Furinkan won't hurt you.  I've got a lot 
of friends there who I can't just leave, and anyway, I think it would 
be good to finish high school."

	"Oh, fine."  Ranma smiled.  "What's number two?"

	"I suppose this trip could get pretty dangerous, right?"

	Ranma nodded.  "Quite possibly, yes."

	"I want to be able to pull my own weight on this trip."  Akane's 
smile disappeared.  "You can use the extra two years to train me.  I 
want to be able to protect myself just as well as you can, so we can be 
a team, rather than just you always protecting me."

	"I'm not sure, Akane."  Ranma frowned.  "It would mean we would 
have to spar.  I would have to hit you, maybe even hurt you, and I'm 
not sure I could do that."

	Akane crossed her arms.  "Oh, come on, Ranma.  What are you 
afraid of?  Injuring me?  You couldn't do that even if you wanted to, 
now."  She looked him in the eye.  "I want to be a strong martial 
artist, Ranma, like you are.  Please."

	Ranma looked into her eyes, and reluctantly nodded.  "All right.  
I'll teach you everything I can."

	"That's all I'm asking, Ranma.  Condition three-"

	Ranma looked at her with a slightly pained expression.  <I hope 
this one is easier than the last two.>

	"I want us to be married before we leave."

	Ranma's face broke into a smile.  "Now that one I have no problem 
with."

	"I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Ranma... whether 
it lasts a hundred years, or a thousand years."

	Ranma just smiled, and leaned forward and kissed her.  It was all 
the answer she needed.

            ------------------------------------------------

	Two years later, Ranma and Akane stood outside the Tendo Dojo.  
Both of them were carrying matching backpacks; they had been a wedding 
gift from Ryoga.  The aforementioned Lost Boy stood nearby fidgeting, 
and carrying his usual backpack and red umbrella.  Standing just 
outside the doorway and facing them were Soun, Kasumi, Nabiki, Mousse, 
Shampoo, and Ukyo.

	Even though it had only been two years, Ranma and Akane's 
immortality was already evident.  They still looked to be sixteen years 
old, while the other teenagers were quickly progressing out of 
adolescence and into adulthood.  Ryoga had grown about ten centimeters 
taller, and his muscles had filled out his frame to match his height.  
He was as strong and powerful as he had ever been, and Ranma had to 
train hard just to stay ahead of him.

	Mousse had also grown slightly, though less so than Ryoga.  He 
had finally ditched his glasses and gotten contacts, which also made 
him look older.  Shampoo was at his side, just as beautiful as she had 
always been.  The Amazon nation had given the two warriors permission 
to return to Japan for Ranma and Akane's wedding- not like it mattered, 
since they probably would have returned anyway.

	Nabiki had returned home from college for the wedding and to see 
her sister off.  Kasumi still stayed at home taking care of her father, 
but was under increasing pressure from her family to apply for college 
and get on with her life.  She resisted, but only halfheartedly.  
Despite outward appearances, she was yearning for a life and a husband 
to call her own.  Ukyo also planned to start college in the fall, 
though she planned to continue selling okonomyaki part time.  Konatsu 
would watch the restaurant while she was away.

	Shampoo watched the group, and couldn't help but smile.  There had 
been a time when she would have laughed outright at the possibility of 
this group gathering together and being civil to each other.  Two years 
was a long time, though, and she and Ukyo had eventually realized just 
how far gone Ranma was from them.  Immortality is not a barrier to be 
overcome lightly, and she had finally acknowledged her defeat.  Akane 
had taken a incredibly huge risk to be with Ranma, and in all honesty 
she didn't think she would have been be able to do the same thing, even 
if she had been given the opportunity.

	Thinking back, it really didn't bother her all that much.  Things 
had changed, ever since that day at the Nekohanten, when she, Akane, 
Mousse, and Ryoga had put aside their differences and fought together 
instead of against each other.  The seeds of friendship had taken root, 
and after that, it had merely been the right combination of 
circumstances and maturity to bring them all together as good friends.  
In the end, it was enough for her, and she had come to value their 
friendship greatly.

	Her attention was distracted by Ranma, who shifted uncomfortably 
and addressed the group. "Well, I guess we'd better be off."  He looked 
over to Ryoga and smirked.  "After all, we can't keep Akari waiting too 
long, now, can we, Ryoga?"

	Ryoga's ears reddened, but he smiled nervously.  "Yeah, I guess.  
Thanks again for agreeing to take me there."

	"It's no problem, Ryoga."  Akane smiled at him.  "It's not like 
we're in a hurry to get anywhere."

	Ukyo frowned.  "I still don't see why you two have to just up and 
leave like this."

	"We can't really explain it, either."  Akane's expression was 
pained.  "It's just... we can't just stay here and live out a normal 
life like all of you.  We can't have normal careers or anything like 
that, and..." she sighed.  "It's something we have to do."

	"Besides," Ranma interjected.  "It won't be totally pointless.  
We can stop by Jusenkyo and I can get a cure there once and for all.  
And we'll keep trying to see what we can find out about the mermaids."

	"You'll come back, right?"  Ukyo looked at them, tears 
threatening to form.  "If you find a cure?"

	Akane nodded.  "We'll come back.  But..."

	"Yeah, yeah, I know."  She sniffed.  "The chances of finding a 
cure are pretty slim."

	"You be sure visit us when you stop by Jusenkyo," Shampoo put in.

	Ranma smiled.  "You bet.  And thanks again..." he looked at them 
all.  "For everything.  Maybe we'll stop by and visit sometime."

	Ukyo suddenly looked angry.  "You'd better, Ranchan.  Or I'll 
hunt you down myself."

	"Uh oh."  Ranma laughed.  "I think she means it, Akane."

	"You bet I do."

	"WAAAAAAAA!!"  Soun suddenly burst into tears.  "My daughter is 
leaving me and I'll never see her again and I'll be lonely the rest of 
my life!! WAAAAAA!!"

	"There, there, father."  Kasumi patted her father's back.  
"Nabiki and I will still be here, after all."

	"Yeah, Dad, it'll be all right."  Akane smiled.  She had no 
tears.  All the tears she had to shed over this moment had been shed 
long before, and now she was ready to leave.  She would be with Ranma, 
and they would always have each other, and that was what mattered to 
her the most.  Nabiki and Kasumi would be more than capable of taking 
care of her father.

	"Besides, like Ranma said, we'll come back and visit sometime.  
This isn't good-bye."  She paused, knowing it was almost certainly a 
lie.  She glanced over at Ranma quickly, looked in his eyes and saw 
that he knew it too.  It would be too odd to come back in thirty, 
twenty, heck, even ten years and to be exactly the same while everyone 
else had aged and progressed with their life.  It would be too 
difficult, for both their friends and family and for themselves.  She 
felt tears threatening to form, and decided to leave before they could 
be shed.  She didn't want to cry here- maybe later, somewhere else, but 
not here.

	"Well, so long everybody."  She adjusted her backpack, and turned 
to leave.  Ranma stepped next to her, with Ryoga standing a couple feet 
away on his side.  They looked back at the gathered party one last 
time, and began to walk away.

	"Hey, Sis."

	Akane turned back and looked at Nabiki questioningly, who 
fidgeted.  She had never been very good with good-byes, and besides, 
she didn't want to look like this was hurting her TOO much.  She had a 
reputation to maintain, after all.  Still though... this was her 
sister, who she might never see again.  Unlike the rest of her family, 
she recognized what Akane and Ranma had already realized... visits 
would be difficult, for everybody involved.  It was tearing her up, 
though.  Immortal or not, Akane was still her sister.  "Listen... if 
you ever need help... you know, if you two ever need some money or a 
favor or anything... don't hesitate to ask me."

	"Thanks, Nabiki."  Akane smiled.  "I'll remember that."  She 
looked at her family one last time, and then Ranma softly took her 
hand.  She turned forward again, and smiled at her husband.

	"Good bye, all."  Ranma waved his other hand at them, and 
together they walked toward the front gate.  "Come on, Ryoga."

	"I'm with you, Ranma."  Ryoga walked a couple feet away and 
slightly behind Ranma and Akane, giving them their privacy.  He knew he 
would be going with them for a while, but he was not- and would never 
truly be- their traveling companion.

	Ranma and Akane reached the front gate.  Ukyo watched them turn 
onto the street, and felt as though her heart was on the verge of 
breaking.  "Bye, guys!" she shouted as they waved one last time.  Tears 
suddenly welled up in her eyes, making her vision blur.  She blinked, 
and ran her sleeve across her face, wiping the moisture away.

	When she could finally see again, they were gone.


-THE END-