The Journey is the Destination Chapter 7 By poetheather The stress is starting to get to Ranma and she is close to snapping. And problems begin to mount as the Amazons decide to get involved.

Shampoo blinked her eyes in surprise and found herself looking up at the ceiling of her room, which confused her. Hadn’t she been outside talking to Ranma just a second before? Ranma had looked funny and had said funny things to her, things she couldn’t quite remember. Hadn’t he been there with the violent girl?

“Welcome back great granddaughter.” Cologne leaned into Shampoo’s line of sight.

“What happened?” Shampoo was still trying to put pieces together about what she last remembered as she very slowly sat up, her head spinning some as she moved. She felt drained, as if she had just gone through an epic battle.

“Mousse found you and brought you back. He said you were standing in the street paralyzed. Do you remember who did this?” Cologne was concerned about who could have paralyzed her daughter and not leave a mark on her. It was a tremendous skill and one she wanted to know about. She certainly hoped that Son in Law had not learned this skill.

“Ranma…” Shampoo’s thoughts turned back to that moment there in the street, when Ranma seemed so different and so the same.

“Ranma did this to you! That cad! I will crush him for daring to get close to my beloved Shampoo!!” Mousse postured bravely and then fell over. Cologne had used her stick to strike one of the sleep points. She did not need to be bothered right now by the boy and shutting him up was the most effective way that she knew of. Well, turning him into a duck was a close second.

“Ranma… is dressed like a girl, great grandmother, with her hair down and in a dress but more than that thinks he has always been a girl. That stupid violent tomboy seems to believe it as well. Airen said… said… I was his friend but not his fiancé.” The lavender haired girl trembled some as she replied in Chinese, as the shock had worn off and the emotions hit her.

Cologne narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, “Do you think this is some plan to fool Ryoga? You know how Ranma likes to dress up for that.”

Shampoo shook her head. “They were going somewhere together. Great grandmother, Ranma really thinks he is a girl, like that time the violent girl knocked him into a rock.”

Cologne stood there and thought about things. Yes, head trauma could have done this, but Son in Law had gotten much, much tougher ever since that incident. His fight against Saffron had proved that. “So Son in Law thinks he is a girl? Hrrmmm… do not fear great granddaughter, I will find him and get to the bottom of this.”

* * * * *

“Kasumi-neechan?” The voice was sweet and cute, in the hopes that it would have a greater chance to succeed.

“Yes Ranma-chan?” The elder sister’s voice was filled with tolerant amusement.

“How much longer until dinner? I’m hungry?” whined Ranma, somewhat playfully.

“Ranma, just help Akane finish setting the table.” Kasumi kept busy with the final parts of the meal, making sure that it was all going to come out right. She was not going to rise to the bait.

Akane bopped Ranma lightly on the head with a fist playfully. “Don’t be a jerk Ranma. Let’s just finish the table and wait.”

Ranma pouted some but complied. It really felt good to be able to play as opposed to fight with Akane.

Over by the shogi table, Soun lamented, “Oh Saotome, our families will never be joined. Your daughter and mine can never have children!”

Genma rolled his eyes and took the momentary distraction of Soun’s crying to rearrange the board some. He picked up one of his own pieces and set it down confidently. “Ha, looks like I win Tendo!”

Soun looked down at the board, confused. “I could have sworn that I was ready to win.”

Once the table was set, Ranma and Akane sat down next to each other and started talking about Akane’s favorite Shoujo Manga, and the plot line. Nabiki came in while they were discussing part of the long drawn out romance and was surprised that Ranma actually seemed to know what Akane was talking about. This didn’t strike her like the kind of information you could pick up in a day and she was positive that Ranma would not have willingly gotten within a mile of girl’s manga. And to now be able to talk about character interactions… that shouldn’t be possible. Nabiki’s head started hurting again and she got up and headed into the kitchen, “Kasumi, could I get some aspirin?”

“Certainly Nabiki.” Kasumi got out the bottle of pain meds and handed it over. “A headache?”

Nabiki nodded slightly, wincing at the movement and dry swallowed the pills. They tasted nasty but it got the job done. Besides dinner would be ready in a moment and that would kill any taste that remained. “Yeah.”

“Are you worried about something?” asked Kasumi, well aware of what was giving her sister the headaches.

“Not worried so much as confused. I know there is something going on and you seem to have joined with Ranma and Akane in making it happen. I don’t know why yet, but I will figure it out.” Nabiki rubbed her temples.

Kasumi gave her sister a worried look. “Nabiki, perhaps you should go to see Dr. Tofu over these headaches?”

Nabiki sighed. Kasumi was just ignoring her and trying to redirect the issue. “Maybe I will.”

Once her sister left the room Kasumi smiled. She had a brilliant idea about how to deal with her sister. It wasn’t the nicest thing she had ever done but it would get even with Nabiki for some of the terrible things she had done to both Ranma and Akane.

Dinner was somewhat quiet, with Ranma and Akane now talking about a movie they wanted to go see and Kasumi occasionally joining in. Nabiki watched carefully to see if there were any clues as to what was going on, but there was not hint of anything that she could make heads or tails out of. Genma sat there glowering at his son and Soun fretted, still upset over the fact that it seemed as if the two families would never be joined.

As they were about midway through the meal, Genma pounded his fist on the table, making the several fish bounce. “Damn it boy, stop acting like a damn sissy! Get out of that dress and turn back.”

“So, you want me to sit here and eat in my underwear?” snarked Ranma right back, not wanting to give in to her father.

“Fine, if you want to act this way…” Genma’s cup of hot tea was tossed into Ranma’s face and nothing happened. The three who were not aware of the plan gasped while the others reacted as if it were simply thrown tea and not a major mystical mess up.

“Mister Saotome!” Both Kasumi and Akane called out in shock.

Ranma grew red faced and angry. The anger built and just when everyone expected Ranma to launch into an all out fight with her father it spilled over into something else, which left everyone at the table surprised. Ranma began to cry. Between sobs, Ranma choked out, “Pops, why do you treat me like this?”

“You are my son and you have been acting disrespectful! You need to shape up before your mother comes and we have to die! Did you forget that?” Genma’s anger was slowly getting replaced with some nervousness. His boy… crying? His boy would never cry but then again his boy didn’t look like a boy right now.

“Dad all I have ever done is to try and do what you wanted me to do and now you give me grief because I am doing something I want. I am just trying to have a life outside the Art and you won’t let me. I am trying to stay friends with Akane but you won’t let me. You just want me to be unhappy and practically your slave! Why do you hate me!? Why do you hate me?” Ranma turned and ran upstairs. They all could hear the door to Akane’s room open and slam shut.

Slowly all eyes turned to Mr. Saotome, angrily looking at him. His mouth was open like a hooked fish’s and it was clear that the words had some sort of an effect on him. He gaped there like the idiot he was. “I… uh… I… uh…”

Akane glared at him and if looks could kill, and Genma had heard of training where you could learn how to do just that, he would be well and truly dead right now. She stood up from the table and stated. “I’m going upstairs.”

Kasumi shook her head sadly as her younger sister raced upstairs to console her fiancé. Parts of this plan seemed harder than others and this outburst had been unexpected. “Mr. Saotome, that is no way to treat your daughter.”

Genma was still shell shocked and staring at the empty space where Ranma had been sitting. “B… b… bu… but… I ha… ha… had a son.”

“I think your daughter just might disagree with you.” She began to get Ranma and Akane’s food, taking it into the kitchen to keep it safe, in case they were hungry later. When she came back in and knelt down to finish eating she said, “Maybe you just need to give your daughter some space right now.”

He nodded dumbly, his mind frozen with what had jut happened, repeating softly, “But I had a son.”

Nabiki was flabbergasted. Ranma was nowhere near that good of an actor, so that outburst had to be genuine. However, if it was, what did it all mean? Did it mean that Ranma really was a girl and not a boy? How could it, since she had pictures of Ranma’s male form and had made a nice profit with them? Was this some sort of Amazon trick? Had Shampoo used some sort of potion on people to make them all think that Ranma was a girl? Moreover, why hadn’t hot water worked? And since when did Ranma and Akane care about each other? Nothing was making any sense and all that told her was that she didn’t have all the pieces she needed to figure out what was going on. This certainly didn’t help her headache. Maybe some more aspirin after she ate?

Meanwhile, upstairs, Akane was holding a crying Ranma in their shared bedroom. While surprised by Ranma’s reaction to her father, she could understand where all the stress and frustration that had gone into that outburst had come from. Ranma had been barely dealing with it for years and it had only taken just a little more to set it off.

Akane ran a hand down Ranma’s red hair, soothing her, whispering to her over and over, trying to reassure the petite girl. “It’s alright.”

After a while, Akane succeeded in calming the girl down and Ranma continued to sit there, holding Akane. “Do you want to take a bath? It might help you relax more.”

Ranma nodded and Akane helped the girl up. She grabbed their pajamas and they walked to the bath, with one arm over the smaller girl. Ranma mostly sat there as Akane washed her hair and back, taking the puff and washing her front when it was offered to her. The cold water of the rinse helped to bring her back some. She looked so sad and lost that Akane’s heart went out to the girl. She leaned down and kissed her fiancé.

Ranma returned the kiss and the girl relaxed more. Akane pulled back and smiled, “Can you wash my hair?”

Ranma nodded and rubbed the shampoo into the tomboy’s hair. After a quick rinse, the two of them found themselves in the tub, luxuriating in the warmth that penetrated their bones. Akane pulled Ranma between her legs and began to knead the girl’s shoulders, her strength enough to work the tension out. “Thank you ‘kane.”

“You’re welcome. You know I think your father is smarter as a panda than as a man.”

Ranma giggled. “You’re probably right.”

“Don’t let him bother you. We are taking care of you right now so don’t let him get to you.” Akane held her comfortingly, her eyes closed and letting the hot water work its magic on her as well.

“I’ll try.” The response was hesitant and worried. “Oh, ‘kane, I just wanted to say thank you.”

Akane kissed the redhead on her head. “For what?”

“For helping me with this.”

“No problem. How could I not help you? You are my fiancé and I love you. After you admitted that to me I would do anything for you.” It felt nice to hold the slender girl in her arms and Akane was happy.

“Two days, two days without a fight. I don’t really know how to deal with that. I hoped it would work, but this…” Ranma was amazed by how well it was working but she was still worried.

“Hush, Ranma. You worry about relaxing, we’ll let the days take care of themselves.”