Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ A Second Chance at Love ❯ The Wish ( Prologue )

A Sailor Moon, Ranma ½, (temporary) Ah! My Goddess! Crossover

Disclaimer:

A Second Chance at Love
Prologue: The Wish
By Raven Star
(rinoa_lionhart@hotmail.com)

~8pm, Ucchans~

November 15, 2002

~Ukyou's POV~

Ukyou laid curled up in a tight ball on her bed in the upstairs bedroom of her restaurant, long threads of tears running down her face, as she sobbed miserably to herself over that days events. After running upstairs, she had flung herself down onto her bed, and burst into tears, her sobs being heard all through the restaurant. Konatsu had tried to get her come out earlier with no success, but she was completely catatonic to everything else that was happening around her. All she would do was stare blankly at the wall, with tears running down her face.

'It's not fair... It's just not fair!!' she wailed silently in her mind. 'My claim to him was stronger than the Tendo's. They stole my dowry, so Ranma was obligated to marry me! Yet he chose her instead!! He was supposed to pick me as his fiancé! I'm the cute one! Instead he chose that uncute, kitchen destroying tomboy!'

Ukyou raged in her mind, as fresh tears sprung to her eyes, rolling down her cheeks to soak her already drenched pillow, as she twisted her head around to bury her face in the pillow. 'Two years wasted on him, not including the ten I wasted living as a boy, training to get my revenge on him.'

'I can't believe it. Even after I told him that the yattai didn't matter to me, anymore after all this time, that all I wanted was *him*, he still went and picked *her*.' She thought furiously as she turned over onto her back to look at the ceiling, as the tears slowed down,

Staring silently at her bedroom wall, facing the balcony as the moonlight shone into the room, 'How could he have chosen her, after everything she's done to him in the past? She can't cook even if she tried without poisoning whoever eats it.'

"*WHY*, did he chose *her* over me?! *WHY!*" she cried out as she thought back to that days events, wondering what could have gone wrong...

* * *

~Earlier that Day~

Ukyou was busy serving the mid-afternoon lunch crowd. It was almost closing time, and Ukyou already had a special okynomiyaki pizza wrapped up and prepared to be taken over to the Tendo dojo to give to Ranma for dinner. Konatsu was off for the night, and had left to go catch a late movie. After the last failed wedding attempt a few months ago after the Saffron incident, Ukyou had been trying extra hard to try and win Ranma's love for herself.

Just as the last customers left the restaurant, Ukyou was busy tallying the funds the restaurant had earned for the day before going to lock the front door, when the bell chimes rang again. Without looking up to see who had entered the restaurant she called over, "Sorry, but we're closed for the night." Ukyou said simply, and waited for the chimes to ring again to signal that whoever it was had left.

"Aw, come on, U-chan. Can't ya make an exception for a friend?" a familiar voice said teasingly.

Ukyou's head jerked up from the papers, to see Ranma and Akane standing a few feet away from the table she was seated at, and smiled brightly at Ranma while scowling darkly at Akane for being there in the first place. But as she moved to get up, she couldn't help but get the feeling that something was amiss as she stared at the couple, but couldn't put a finger on it, so she shrugged it off.

"RAN-CHAN!! You are just the man I've been thinking of! I was going to stop off at the dojo to deliver your favorite okynomiyaki when you arrived." she cried as she leaped up out of her chair to run over towards Ranma to give him a hug.

"Uchan, stop." Ranma said calmly, a note of tension in his voice as he spoke. "I need to talk to ya about something important."

Ukyou stopped in midstride to stare at Ranma in puzzlement, surprised by his actions. "What is it Ran-chan? You know that you can talk about anything to me." She said as she walked the rest of the way to snuggle up against him, while giving Akane searing looks, that almost said 'He's mine you tomboy, and you can't have him.'

Instead of exhibiting her usual anger at the attention Ukyou was giving Ranma, Akane just stared back at Ukyou silently, an almost sad, pitying look on her features as she stared back at the okynomiyaki chef.

"Wait a minute will ya." Ranma asked, paying no attention to Ukyou, as he gently pulled out her grip, and turned around to face Akane. "Akane, could you go sit down and wait this out? I want to talk to Uc-chan myself." He said calmly.

"Sure Ranma," Akane said simply as she stared back at him for a moment, before she stood up on her tiptoes, and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Ukyou's confusion doubled at the sight before her, before anger settled in, as she whipped out her battle spatula. "You hussy!! How dare you kiss my fiancé that way! Keep your nasty lips off him!" she demanded as she advanced menacingly on Akane, who got into a defensive stance.

Ranma moved quickly to block Ukyou's advance, as he stood in front of Akane. "Uc-chan wait will ya! I'll tell you this only once. I won't let you hurt Akane in anyway.."

"Ran-chan, just what is going on here! Why did she kiss you!" she demanded, just as it finally hit her as to what was wrong with the picture before.

Ranma and Akane had both been holding hands when she had glanced up at them from the table. And she had caught the faint sparkle of something glittering on their entwined hands, on the fingers that she didn't want to believe she had seen them coming from.

'No it couldn't be!!' Ukyou thought frantically to herself as she slowly realized what it was, 'He wouldn't do this to me, would he?!'

Before either Ranma or Akane could react, Ukyou dropped her battle spatula, and both of her hands lash out, grabbing the hands that she had seen the sparkle coming from, and her eyes widen in shocked disbelief at what she saw.

Around both teens ring fingers were matching gold engagement rings with a single diamonds on them.

"No…" Ukyou whispered as she dropped the hands and backed away slowly.

"Uc-chan let me explain." Ranma began, as he tried to take back control of the situation. "Ukyou I…"

"NO!!!" Ukyou shouted, enraged as a burning blue battle aura surrounded her, as she picked up her battle spatula and took a swing at Akane who was barely able to dodge in time. As the spatula came down on the spot where Akane once stood, it cleanly sliced through a wooden table heedlessly. "I won't let you have him! He's mine! Die Akane Tendo!!" she shouted as took another swing at Akane, only to have the spatula stop in midswing by Ranma.

Ranma held onto the spatula's blade as hard as he could as Ukyou struggled against his hold, as her need to harm Akane grew. With a sharp jerk of his hands, Ranma was able to yank the spatula out of Ukyou's hands, where he then tossed it as far out of Ukyou's reach as he could. "Uc-chan, I won't let you harm Akane!"

Ukyou turned around to stare in shock at Ranma's actions, as she stared him straight in the eyes. "Ranma, why did you stop me. I won't let this kitchen destroying hussy force you into marrying her!" she shouted as she pulled out her smaller spatulas.

"Look, Uc-chan nobody's forcing me to do nothing I don't want to do! I'm doing this of my own free will." Ranma insisted intensely. Seeing the disbelieving look on her face he continued quickly. "I don't know how I can say this without hurting you, but it has to be said." Ranma said quietly as he stared at Akane, who gave him a silent nod to go ahead, as she turned around to walk over to one of the empty booths. "I've made my engagement to Akane official, and I have asked her to marry me, and now I'm here to break off my engagement to you."

"WHAT?!" Ukyou shouted as she turned her attention towards Ranma in full. "You can't break off our engagement, Ranma! You are supposed to marry me. I'm the *cute* fiancé, *remember*?!!"

"I'm really sorry, Uchan," Ranma said as he only shook his head. "I can't marry you, Uc-chan. I love Akane. I love her more than anything else. And it took me until the battle against Saffron to realize it." Ranma said as he stared straight into Ukyou's eyes with a saddened look on his features. "Uc-chan. I'm sorry, but I've always seen you only as a friend and nothing else except that from the beginning."

Ukyou backed up at those words, not wanting to believe that Ranma meant a word of them, as she grabbed his arm. "You could learn to love me, Ranma. After we are married we can start all over and…" her words trail off as she sees Ranma only shake his head.

"I'm sorry, Uchan, but it's not going to happen." Ranma said as he stared at her as he broke free of her grip. "I'm marrying Akane at the end of the month, and that's the end of it."

"Don't lie to me Ranma." Ukyou snarled as she rounded on the pigtailed martial artist. "Your only doing it because of the agreement between your fathers! And I though I heard that the engagement had been called off." she shouted, her voice rising in pitch as she started to shake in anger. "I'll love you more than that hussy ever will! You can't do this to me Ranma."

"No we're not, Ukyou. And as for the engagement, the agreement made between our *fathers* was called off." Akane called over from where she sat, as she cast the other girl a pitying look.

"Wha... What is that supposed to mean?!" Ukyou demanded, incredulous as she looked between the two teens in confusion, "Are you guys still engaged or not?!"

"Akane and I decided that if we were going to get married, we didn't want to be married under the assumption that it was because of the agreement between our families." Ranma added in, as he glanced over at Akane a moment before turning his attention back to Ukyou, "We canceled that agreement and set up our own engagement with each other."

"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!" Ukyou growled, before she rounded on Akane, about to take a step towards the brunette only to be halted by Ranma's restraining hand.

Glaring at Akane for a moment, Ukyou turned back to Ranma, staring at him in silence for a few moments, before coming to a quick decision. "Come on." She demanded suddenly. "I want to talk to you in private."

Before the martial artist could react, Ukyou grabbed hold of the front of his shirt and started pulling him along with her to the back of the restaurant.

"Ukyou, what are you..." Akane demanded as she started to follow after the two.

"Stay there!" Ukyou shouted over her should, "Ranchan and I need to have a little talk." She said shooting the other girl a dark look before she dragged Ranma towards the door leading to the storage area, "I want to hear this directly from him, without you *you* in the room to interfere with what he has to say to me."

Once they were in the storage room, Ukyou let go of Ranma's shirt, turned and slammed the door behind them, "Ranma why are you doing this to me?!" Ukyou demanded as she looked at him with pleading eyes, "I thought you loved me? We could be happy together if you would just gave *us* a chance."

"Ukyou I've made up my mind. It's like I said before. I love you. But only as a sister. You're my best friend, and it just doesn't feel right." Ranma said as he met her eyes once more. "Akane's the one I want to marry."

"But you still can't cancel the engagement, Ranchan" Ukyou insisted, flinching slightly when Ranma used her full name that time, as she tried one last ditch effort to change his mind, "You *have* to marry me. You and your father stole my only dowry, causing me to loose my family honor. If it wasn't for you and your father, I wouldn't be a disgrace to my family! What about *my* honor?! Doesn't that mean anything to you!" she demanded as she stared at him with pleading eyes, 'Or, the fact that I love you more than anything else in the world, you jackass?' she silently added to herself.

"Ukyou, I'm really sorry about what happened twelve years ago, and I promise you that I'll pay you back every cent that the yattai was worth, so that you can have a new dowry, but I *won't* marry you. You'll find someone else to marry someday." Ranma said simply, looking away for a moment, not wanting to see the hurt look that he knew was going to be there, before looking up at her again, "I just hope that after this we could still be friends and...."

*SLAP!!!*

The force of Ukyou's hand connecting against Ranma's cheek was loud enough to wake the dead, jerking the pigtailed martial artists head to the side.

Ranma stood there looking to the side for a few moments before slowly turning his attention back to Ukyou, who was now looking down at the floor, her hands resting at her sides, now gripped into tight fists, as her body shook in anger. As he watched, he could see small droplets of her tears as they fell to the floor.

"Uc-chan," Ranma began only to be cut off, as Ukyou finally spoke up, completely interrupting whatever Ranma was about to say.

"You jackass," Ukyou said, her voice a hoarse whisper as she, slowly looked up at Ranma, her eyes burning with fury and more hurt than he'd seen before, as she stared at him, with tears pouring out of her eyes, as she fiercely wiped at them with the back of her hands "I don't care about the damn yattai anymore. Even after I opened up 'Uchans', I haven't... It doesn't matter to me anymore." She said as she turned her back on him. "The yattai doesn't matter." She repeated, her voice almost sounding hoarse when she said it.

"Look Uchan. There are a lot of guys out there, who are just waiting for a cute girl like you to come along and make them happy." Ranma said as he reached out to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, only to have her shrug it off.

"I don't want to be just *friends*. And I don't want to marry someone else!! I want *you!*" Ukyou exclaimed heatedly as she stared at Ranma in silence, her eyes misty with unshed tears, as she finally realized that Ranma really was leaving her for Akane, no matter what she did or said.

Letting out a small sniffle, she adverted her eyes and looked away from him. After a few seconds of silence, Ukyou suddenly grabbed Ranma's arm and pulled him out of the main room and into the back so that they could talk privately.

"I'm sorry Ukyou, but that's all I can offer you," Ranma said, once they were out of earshot, as he pulled out of her grip, a sad look on his features. "Like I said before. I love Akane, and I want to marry her."

"Tell me one thing, Ranma. This is something I want to know. Do you think that if you had never met *Akane* ," she spat out, making Akane's name sound like a bad word as it passed her lips, "and I had caught up to you reached the Tendo's, do you think you might have given it a chance? That you would have given our friendship the chance to go past just being friends?"

Ranma remained silent for a few moments as he thought over her question, before he reached out to pull her into her arms for a hug, and she allowed him to do it, as her arms wrapped around his waist and returned it as she let her tears fall, completely soaking his shirt.

Pulling away, she stared into Ranma's eyes, her own still filled with barely suppressed unshed tears, Ukyou searched his face for a few minutes in silence, as if looking for a sign that he wasn't fully telling her the truth, and could see it clearly. "Then why? Why not me?! I'm better than her. I'm a better cook, too! At least what I cook better than she does."

"Uchan. I don't really know. Maybe, it could have happened, but I guess we'll never find out now. I'm *really* sorry about this." Ranma said as he looked away from her, "I love Akane and... Hey!..."

Before Ranma could get any further, his words were cut off when Ukyou suddenly grabbed the sides of his face, and before he had time to react to her unexpected move, and was pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss, while wrapping her arms around his neck so he wouldn't be able to pull away from her.

For a few seconds Ranma stood in shock, as Ukyou pressed deeper into the kiss, before he soon found himself reacting to it, and started kissing back.

A moment later he jerked away, frowning at Ukyou, "What did you do that for!"

"I just wanted to kiss you, to see if you were really telling the truth about your feelings. And I think I made my point." Ukyou said as she returned his frowned, as a small smile appeared. " If you really loved that tomboy so much, then why did you kiss me back that way, if you only thought of me as a friend."

"As if I know." Ranma snapped as a small blush appeared on his face, as he turned his gaze away, "I just reacted to the kiss. Uchan, I don't know what you were thinking when you did that, but that kiss doesn't change anything. I'm still going to marry Akane. I *still* hope that we can stay friends despite what just happened..."

Ukyou just stared in disbelief as she stared at the back of Ranma's turned head, and realized then that she had truly lost him. And her heart felt like it had broken in a million pieces.

* * *

"Get out." She said quietly.

"Ukyou…" Ranma began, turning around to face her once more, wanting to comfort his childhood friend. "Things don't have to change between us, ya know..."

"What are you? Deaf? I said, GET OUT!!!!" Ukyou shouted, a battle aura rising behind her, pulling out her battle spatula as she forced him back into the dining room, where Akane waited for him, as she turned back to the couple, her eyes blazing, as tears ran down her cheeks, as she turned to face Akane who was watching the scene with wide eyes, "Neither of you are welcome here anymore! I never want to see your faces around here again, or else I'll call the police!"

"Uchan."

"I HATE YOU!! I *NEVER* WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN! AS OF THIS MOMENT YOU ARE NO FRIEND OF MINE, RANMA SAOTOME! AND NEITHER ARE YOU WELCOME HERE AGAIN! NOW GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE I THROW YOU OUT!!" she thundered ferociously. The heat from her aura was causing the room to become several degrees hotter than usual.

Akane stood up quickly to move towards Ranma as fast as she could, and starts pulling him out of the restaurant. "Come on Ranma. There's nothing you can do for her right now.." She told him. "Why don't you try back later, and try and talk to her then."

"But, Akane. I can't leave her like this." Ranma protested as Akane half dragged him out the door.

"In the mood she's in, she'd be more willing to kill you than talk, Ranma." Akane said. "Wait until she cools down before talking to her again."

"All right." Ranma conceded as they started walking down the street heading home for the evening, before giving the Ookanamayaki shop one last glance. 'I'm sorry Uchan.' He thought silently to himself, as he followed Akane home.

Unseen by them, a longhaired figure hid in shadows across the street, watching everything that was going on, before stepping out of the shadows, once Akane and Ranma were gone. The figure is revealed to be Konatsu, back from the movies early. He had arrived in time to hear Ukyou shouting at Ranma and Akane telling them never to come back, and had hid his presence when the couple came out of the restaurant.

"Poor Ukyou-sama." Konatsu thought miserably. Konatsu made his way back to the restaurant to find the entire front room was a mess, with chairs lying scattered around the room, tables turned over, etc. Ukyou sat hunched over a table, her loud sobs filling the dark restaurant, as she buried her face into her arms, as they rested on the tabletop.

As he stepped into the room, his foot causes the floor to creek under his weight, alerting his presence to Ukyou, though she didn't react to the sudden sound, as she continued to sob.

Stepping closer to where Ukyou was sitting, Konatsu knelt down next to her on her left side, and placed a hand on her shoulder consolably, "Ukyou-sama…" he began.

Suddenly before Konatsu could react, he suddenly found himself pulled out of his kneeling position by Ukyou, and was being held closely by Ukyou who held onto him tightly in a bear hug as she cried harder, into his chest.

Konatsu awkwardly put his own arms around her body to hug her back, as she wept, rubbing her back gently as he just let her cry, rocking her gently in his arms, "It'll be all right, Ukyou-sama. I swear to you it will be all right." He said, softly.

"Konatsu..." she sobbed as she stared up at him with red tear-stained eyes. "He... he... left me. He left me for that *bitch*! I can't believe he did this to me. I thought he loved me..." She cried as she buried her face back into his chest. "What's so *wrong* with me that he can't even love me as *more* than just a friend or a sister?!" her muffled voice asked tearfully.

Konatsu didn't say anything for a few minutes as he just held the crying girl in his arms, gently rubbing her back as he simply held her as she cried into his shirt, as he walked her over to a nearby booth so that they both could sit down, "It'll be okay, Ukyou-sama, you'll see. It'll be okay.."

* * *

Later on that night, around eight-thirty-five, Ukyou finally left her room to head downstairs to find something to eat, having heard Konatsu go to bed 2 hours ago. As she stepped off the last step and into the kitchen, she saw all the dirty dishes had already been washed and stacked up into the cupboards, and everything in the front room that she had thrashed had been put to rights all ready. 'That Konatsu,' She thought silently to herself, as a slight fond smile spread over her lips. 'He's always trying so hard to help me even when I don't ask for it.'

Silently making her way towards the kitchen, she could catch the faint scent of cooked okynamayaki somewhere in the room, and followed the scent to the counter where she discovered the forgotten okynamayaki pizza that she had prepared for Ranma, still lying where she had last left it, all neatly wrapped up in paper and a bow tied around it. Without giving it another thought, she grabbed the pizza and unwrapped it, taking it into the kitchen and popped it into the microwave for one minute, to heat it up so thatf she could eat it."

'I've got to get away from here, at least for awhile until I can decide what to do,' Ukyou thought silently to herself as she stared off into space, as she sat at the counter quietly eating her pizza. Her eyes were still red from her crying, 'Ranma doesn't love me, and I have nothing else to live for if I stay here, it'll be just too painful.' She thought as a new bout of tears started to well up in her eyes, as determination set in, before she angrily brushed them away with her arm, 'I won't cry again for that jackass. Konatsu can run the restaurant until I get back. *If* I decide to come back, that is.'

'But where can I go? Who'd be willing to take me in even for a short while?' she wondered silently as she stared returned to staring off into space fro a few moments.

As she took a bite out of her pizza, her eyes wondered over to the bulletin board where she usually kept menu the listing for the day's specials listed, and her eyes stopped on a neatly folded up piece of paper that had been tacked up to the board, that had her name printed on it, written in Konatsu's handwriting.

'Wonder what Konatsu wanted,' she thought as she reached out to pull off the paper from the board and unfolded it to read the message, as she stopped to stare in surprise at it, 'Mako-chan called while I was asleep? I haven't spoken to her in a long time, wonder what she's doing now...' she thought as she reread the note for a moment.

"I wonder what she's been up to in Juban since I last heard from her, especially with all those monster attacks I've heard that have been going on over there. What time is it anyway." She said thoughtfully to herself, as she glanced back down at the note, then up at a nearby wall clock to check the time.

'It's not too late yet, maybe I can still call her if she hasn't gone to bed yet. I could ask her if she wouldn't mind if I came to stay with her for awhile,' She thought as she reached over to the wall phone and dialed Makoto's number.

Reaching over the counter for a paper towel to use wipe her tears as she waited for Makoto to pick up the line, and as she dabbed at her eyes, the other line was finally picked up. "Hello? Mako-chan are you there? This is Uk..."

"Hello! You've reached the Goddess Technical Help Line! We will be there in just a moment to grant your access request!"

"Hey, wait a minute! I think I have the wrong number I didn't..." Ukyou exclaimed, after hearing the strange voice, as she tried to voice her objections, when...

'Click.'

Ukyou stared down at the receiver in confusion for a few seconds as she heard the dial tone on the other end. "That was weird." She said, she thought to herself as she put the phone down, then picked it back up to dial Makoto's number again, when the entire room was lit up with a bright light coming from behind her.

"Good evening, Kuonji-san." an unfamiliar voice called out from somewhere behind her.

Jumping in surprise, Ukyou dropped the phone, and immediately started to spin around to face the intruder, instinctively reaching for her battle spatula at her back, only to find nothing there. 'Damn! I didn't get it when I came down,' she cursed, as she turned to glare at the intruder and give whoever it was a piece of her mind, only to have her jaw drop open at the sight before her. "What the hell?!"

Floating several feet in front of her was what looked to be a twenty three year old girl, with long pale, brown hair, with half of her body hanging out of the wall mirror, dressed in blue and white robes, that had gold bangles hanging from her sleeves. As the rest of the woman's body emerged from mirror, she touched down to the floor, with her arms folded neatly in front of her, as she smiled warmly at Ukyou who still stood staring in shock at her.

"Who... What... Where... How?!" Ukyou stuttered, finally finding her voice as she stared at the stranger in front of her, stunned beyond belief at her entrance.

"Hello, Ms. Kuonji. My name is Belldandy, Goddess First Class." Belldandy said cheerfully as she bowed, before meeting Ukyou's stunned gaze, "I have been sent here by the Goddess Relief office to grant you a wish and..."

*CRASH!!*

"Oh, my." Was all Belldandy could say as she stared down at Ukyou's passed out body, then let out a small sigh, "I should have expected this..."

* * *

~Awhile Later~

"So, basically what your saying is that you are here to grant me my heart's desire, Belldandy-san?" Ukyou demanded incredulously as she stared at the other girl that sat across the counter from her, as Belldandy took moment to take a sip from her cup of tea.

It didn't take long for Ukyou to recover from her facefault, and still awhile longer to calm down, and get over her shock at Belldandy's entrance, long enough for Belldandy to speak with her on the matter at hand, as the two sat across each other, drinking hot tea and eating a quickly prepared okanamiyaki pizza.

"Yes, Ukyou-san," Belldandy said calmly as she delicately nibbled on the okananmayki pizza that Ukyou had made for her as they talked, savoring the taste, 'I must remember to ask her for the recipe. Keichi and the others would truly enjoy this when I return home,' she thought silently to herself, as she gave Ukyuo a warm smile before she continued. "As I said before, it was decided by my superiors, that you are deserving to be given a chance to be granted a single wish."

"I must warn you, that once the wish has been made, you can't change it. So you should word it exactly the way you want it to be." Belldandy warned as she patiently stared back into Ukyou's brown eyes.

"Okay then," Ukyou said, deciding to play along for the moment, not knowing whether or not to believe her, but seeing all the things, as she looked thoughtful, "If your telling the truth about this wish thing, then the only thing that I would *truly* wish for is..."

"Yes?" Belldandy asked expectantly, before she saw the sadness start to appear on the young chef's face, as her looked away from the goddess for a moment.

"My one and only wish, is to be given a second chance. A chance to win Ranma Saotome's love for myself alone, and marry him." Ukyou said unhappily with a sigh, before her attention immediately turned back to Belldandy, when the room suddenly was filled with a blinding light.

As Ukyou watched in surprise, a beam of light shot to the dining room ceiling from Belldandy's forehead.

"Your wish is granted." Belldandy said as she floated back to the ground and landed on the floor, just as the phone started to ring. "Excuse me please, I believe this call is for me.

"What do you mean wish granted?!" Ukyou exclaimed her eyes nearly widening completely out of their sockets as she stared at the goddess before her, as Belldandy stood back up and walked over to the wall phone, and picked up the receiver.

"Yes? ... Are you sure? ... It won't cause any trouble? ... That's very good news indeed sir, thank you." Belldandy spoke on the phone for a few moments, "Yes I understand. I will have her prepared for transportation, when the time comes. Good-bye." She said, before hanging up, turned around and sat across from Ukyou once more, a bright smile on her face.

"Who was that?" Ukyou asked, her voice sounded a bit strained as she suddenly got a bad feeling about that entire phone call. "And *who's* getting transported *where*?!"

"It's good news, Ukyou-san. Your wish has been accepted into the system, and now I have to prepare you for it." Belldandy said calmly as she reached down and picked up her cup of tea to drink

"What wish?!"

"Your wish to be given the chance to win Ranma Saotome's heart for yourself, and marry him." Belldandy said simply, the smile still apparent on her serene face, as she reached across the counter and cupped Ukyou's hands within her own in a reassuring gesture. "Not to worry, everything will be fine, Ukyou-san." Belldandy said, as her smile brightened, as she relayed the news, "And as for where you are headed, I've just been informed that you will be sent back two years into another dimension, where you will take over your younger selves life, and you will arrive on the day before Ranma Saotome would have gone to the Tendo's. There you should take on the matters of trying to see your wish fulfilled."

"Your serious?!" Ukyou exclaimed as she searched the goddesses' face, and saw that she was serious, her expression brightened, but then became crestfallen once more a few seconds later. "But will I remember anything? What if I fail?"

"You have nothing to worry about. You will find a way. And with the help of the wish you made this way, you just might succeed in getting what you want." Belldandy said reassuringly.

"Okay." Ukyou said, as a the smile reappeared, "So, when do I have to leave?"

"That's easy. You will be leaving now," Belldandy said cheerfully.

Ukyou's eyes widened in surprise at the news, "Now?! But wait, don't I need to take anything with me?" a strange tingling sensation cursed through her body, causing her to look down at her hands, only to find they were starting to fade away. "If you are still around when Konatsu wakes up, tell him I'm leaving the restaurant to him!" her fading voice called out, just before she completely faded from view.

"Good luck Ukyou-san, and I hope you are happy," Belldandy said with a slight smile on her features, as she watched the mortal disappear from view, before turning around to face the open doorway that led towards the stairs, a warm smile on her features, "You can come out now, Konatsu-san."

A startled yelp could be heard from the next room, before the cross dresser stepped into the kitchen with a sheepish look on his face, "Gomen for the intrusion," he apologized, as he bowed respectfully to her. "I heard the commotion coming from down here, and came down to see if it was Miss Ukyou, and..."

"And you wound up overhearing our entire conversation, and the wish Ukyou-san made?" Belldandy asked, finishing the rest of his sentence for him, smiling when Konatsu blushed, then nodded his head in affirmation. "You have nothing to worry about, Konatsu-san. Ukyou will be safe."

"I have a couple of questions." Konatsu said as he stared Belldandy in the eyes, worry evident in his eyes, as tears started to pool in his eyes, "Where did she go?"

"Not where, but when." Belldandy said sadly, as she saw the pain etched in the boys eyes at Ukyou's loss, "She was sent to fulfill her destiny of being with the man she loved." Belldandy said as she moved closer towards Konatsu, "You care for her a lot, don't you?"

"Hai, I do. I love her." Konatsu said a few seconds later as he looked away from her not meeting her eyes, as he sighed, "But, I already knew that it wouldn't have worked out between us, as long as she cared for Saotome. But I thought if given enough time, she'd... we'd..."

"I'm sorry, Konatsu-san, but it wasn't meant to be. At least not now." Belldandy said sadly, as she watched the cross dresser cry his eyes he, "Even if she had been able to move on, she would have spent the rest of her days in misery over the love she had lost, when Ranma Saotome chose Akane Tendo."

"Why not?" Konatsu demanded, as he dabbed at his tears as he stared, "And what did you mean by 'not now?'? Are you trying to say that if you hadn't been here to grant her that wish, Ukyou might have one day..."

"It's not my place to say," Belldandy said plainly, shaking her head as she stood up. Waving her hands in the direction of the room, a small mist covered the room, and all of the destruction that Ukyou had caused earlier in her anger, was immediately repaired. "But, all I can say is that she's needed for a greater good, now."

"Will I ever see her again?"

"Who knows? Maybe one day she'll want to return to this world to visit. But it'll be entirely up to her alone." Belldandy said, as she pulled out a small pile of papers, and held them out to him "Here."

"What's this for?" he asked as he took the papers, looking down at them.

"These documents, transfer full ownership of Uchan's to you, along with her bank account, and everything else she may own. per Ukyou-san's request." "

* * *

~Nerima, 2 years ago~

Ukyou woke up in lying face up on her back on the soaked grass of Nerima's city park, her back lying against the wooden planks of the dock, to the sensation of pounding rain hitting her. As she opened her eyes, she had to cover her face with her hand to keep the rainwater out, as she took in her surrounding.

Looking down at her appearance, she noticed that she was dressed in a familiar navy blue boys schools uniform that she hadn't worn in two years, with her hair tied back into a familiar ponytail, instead of it hanging loose as she now wore it in the future. Her battle spatula lying a few feet away from her in reach.

As she looked around at her surroundings, confusion filled her over how she had gotten there in the first place. "What the hell is this?! How did I get here, and why am I wearing my old Juban High uniform?" she wondered just as the memories of the next two years suddenly hit her in full force, she holds her head in pain caused by the onrush of memories.

"Damn! Now I remember, that wish I made to Belldandy. But why did they deposit me in the park?! My whole body aches in places I didn't think was possible to ache in." she groaned as she struggled up to her feet painfully. As she walked off the soreness out of her body.

"So if this is Nerima two years ago, then that means that this is the night Ran-chan would have met the Tendo's and that witch Akane." Ukyou said to herself, as she picked up her battle spatula and strapped it onto her back.

As she looked around the park before making her way towards the entrance, and quickly exited the park, and heads in the direction she knew that the Tendo dojo would be in. "All I have to do is intercept Ranma and Genma before they make it to the Tendo dojo and get Ranma away from that jackass father of his. I just hope I'm not too late..."

~Not Far from the Park~

A familiar red head girl carrying a large backpack on her back was fighting with a large panda, as a large crowd of people watched in awe over the battle, while the panda held up signs as it fought with the girl.

{Ranma, you're acting like a girl. It's a matter of family honor, and for the sake of the school that you marry one of the Tendo daughters!!} the panda's signs exclaimed as he waved it in front of the redheads face in irritation, as he took another swipe of his paws at his impudent son.

"BACK OFF OLD MAN! I told ya already, that I ain't getting engaged to nobody! I'm going back to China to look for a cure for this curse!" Ranma-chan shouted as she dropped kicked Genma, sending the oversized furball flying into a stop sign. "That'll teach ya," Ranma-chan said, flicking a wet lock of red hair out of her face as she stared disdainfully over at the panda, Ranma turned around to pick up her backpack.

Just as Ranma turned around to leave, Genma-panda stood up, and yanked a stop sign out of the ground and clobbered Ranma over the head with it, knocking him out cold with one blow.

{Sorry son, but this is for your own good. I can't allow you to mess up all of my hard laid plans. What do you think one of the reasons that I've been training you all these years for.} Genma panda signed to his unconscious child, as he first picked up Ranmas backpack and slung it over one furry shoulder, then slung the redhead over another, and started walking away, making its way through the crowd, trying hard to ignore the loud whispers from the gathered crowd.

"Is that a real panda? What's it doing in Japan? I thought they're supposed to be endangered?"

"Did it escape from the zoo?"

"Somebody call animal control!!"

"That things a menace, attacking innocent, young girls like that!"

"What's it doing out here in the streets?"

"That poor girl! Why doesn't someone do something! That *thing* could be planning to take her somewhere and eat her!"

"I don't think so, lady. I read somewhere that Panda's are strictly vegetarians..."

"Still..."

When the whispers really got annoying he scared everyone away by snarling at them, causing everyone to scatter immediately and head off to do whatever they had been doing before.

Snorting, the panda turned around to make it's way down the street towards his destination, when he suddenly sensed that something bad was about to happen, as he heard the sound of running footsteps coming from behind him.

Just as he spun around to confront whoever it was, he saw nothing. Looking around the area for whoever it was he had thought he had heard, and seeing nothing amiss, he turned back around to start walking once more, when he a whishing sound coming from above him.

He had only a second to glance up in time to see a darkened figure come flying down on him from the air, wielding what looked to be a giant... spatula?!... just moments before his world was filled with stars and excruciating pain, before everything went black.

* * *

Ukyou stood over the unconscious form Genma's panda form, a dark look spreading across her features as she stared at the panda in disgust, as she gave him another sharp whack with her spatula.

"I can't believe this guy. So that's how the jerk got Ranma to the dojo the first time, by knocking him out and carrying him there. Well, I'm here now to put a stop to that." She thought angrily as she gave the panda one more swift kick with her foot, right to his groin, then whacked him again with her spatula for good measure, before turning her attention towards Ranma's unconscious form. 'Baka-panda is just lucky I don't decide to turn him into a panda skin rug.'

Checking to see whether or not the redhead had any more permanent damage than the walnut sized bump forming on her head and coming up with nothing. Ukyou reached down, moving her arms under Ranam's own arms and dragged her over to an abandoned building so that they would be out of the rain, then returned for Ranma's backpack. Once inside the building, she set to work to wake up the redhead as best as she could, by smacking the redheads cheeks as hard as she could.

"Ranma? Hey, Ranma!!" she shouted as she tried to get Ranma-chan to wake up. "Come on you jackass! Wake up already!" Just as she was about to smack him again, Ranma-chan's hands suddenly snap upwards to grip her wrists to stop the onslaught.

"Huh?" Ranma-chan muttered quietly as her eyes opened, staring up at the unfamiliar face, as he released Ukyou's wrists. "Ow, stop that!"

"Finally, you jerk. I was wondering when you'd wake up." Ukyou exclaimed as she sat back on her heels and put her hands on her hips as glared down at Ranma, before her expression softened considerably as she proceeded to look him over, "Are you okay? How does your head feel?" She asked, her voice filled with concern, as she reached out a hand towards his head to touch the small bump there, "That panda hit you pretty hard."

"My head? OW!" Ranma cried out when Ukyou's probing hand touched the bump, as she lifted her own hand to brush aside Ukyou's hand so that she could feel it for herself. "I'm fine. Stupid pops didn't have to hit me that hard." She muttered as she glanced up and looked around at her surroundings before settling back on the figure before her. "Where's pops? And who the heck are you?"

"If your talking about that panda, he's probably still lying out in the middle of the street out cold, after the whack on the head I gave him with my spatula." Ukyou said with a slight smirk at the memory, "I'm surprised at you Ranchan. I know it's been 10 years since we last saw each other, but you don't recognize me?" she asked in hurt tones, playing out the part of pretending that this was the first time they've seen each other in years. "It's me, Ukyou."

"Uchan?" Ranma asked incredulously as she stared up at the brunette, taking in Ukyou's appearance, as his eyes followed the long length of the spatula that was tied to the other boys back, "Hey how are ya doing pal? Long time no see?" he said with a slight grin, as he stared up at her. "Why are you here for?"

"I've been looking for you, you big jerk! And don't call me your pal" Ukyou exclaimed wincing at the 'pal' comment, as she felt herself easily moving back into the mindset that she had set for herself two years ago. "I've been hunting for you and your old man for the last five months."

"Looking for us for the last five months?" Ranma said as her eyes widened in realization as she looked down at her still female body, "so that's how you knew who I was despite..." Ranma stated as she motioned towards her body.

"Of course!" Ukyou said as she crossed her arms over her chest, "I followed you and your dad to China, and into Jusenkyo, and I saw the two of you get cursed, but then I lost your trail. Wouldn't you know it, that I'd run into the two of you here."

"Why've you been looking for me, Uchan?" Ranma asked in confusion as she stared at Ukyou, before her eyes widen in realization "What'd the old man do this time?"

"For revenge on you and your old man," Ukyou said in an angry tone, as she fiddled with the handle of her battle spatula for a moment, "You and your father have robbed me of any chance of honor by running out on me, and I plan on taking it out on the both of you in blood." She growled as she pulled out her spatula. 'I just hope that this works right.' She though to herself as she started to advance on Ranma and takes a swing at him.

Ranma leapt to his feet as he barely avoided the attack, "What are ya talking about. What did that baka oyaji of mine do *this* time?!" Ranma exclaimed, as anger and worry ran through him. "Look Uchan, I don't know what he did, but can't we talk this out first before you try to kill me? We're still best friends aren't we?"

"You don't really know do you?" Ukyou said as she lowered her battle spatula to give Ranma an accessing look, as she calmed down. "Your old man and mine engaged us to each other when we were six years old. You're my fiancé, Ranma."

"My fiancé! But… But… we're both boys!" Ranma exclaimed, as his battle arua flared up in anger. "That stupid oyaji. What was he thinking about. Engaging me to another boy and..." He began when…

*CLANG!!!*

Ranma found himself face first in the cement floor with Ukyou's battle spatula implanted on the back of his head, as his body slowly slid down to the floor with a thud.

"OWWWW!!!! WHAT WAS *THAT* FOR?!!" Ranma demanded, as he jumped back up to his feet to glare at Ukyou.

"I am *not* a boy, you jackass!! I'm a girl!" Ukyou stated firmly as she removed her spatula from his back, and placed it back on it's strap on her back.

"Aw man!" Ranma moaned as he took a better look at Ukyou, "Don't tell me, when you followed pop and me to Jusenkyo, *you* fell into the pool of drowned girl, too?!"

"I've been a girl, Ran-chan., even when we were little kids," Shaking her head in irritation, Ukyou took a steadying breath, to calm her down, before turning her attention back to Ranma, "Ten years ago, your father made an agreement with my dad that I would be your fiancé, and you guys would have gotten my families' yattai as my dowry. But instead of holding up to the agreement, your old man took both *you and* my dowry and ran off leaving me behind in disgrace." Ukyou said as she glared at Ranma for a moment, before looking downward, and keeping her eyes downcast as she tried to hold back the tears.

"Uchan don't cry," Ranma said as he tried to comfort the crying girl as best as he could.

"My father was so angry over what your old man did, that he made me give up my womanhood, and registered me as a boy." Ukyou said with a loud sniffle, as she rubbed at her eyes, "The only way I could get my honor back was to either kill you or get you to uphold the promise to marry me..."

A pained look appeared on Ranma's face as he listened to Ukyou's story about what happened since the time he and his father had abandoned her ten years ago.

"Ukyou, I'm sorry about what happened to you, but I didn't know. Pops didn't tell me about it." Ranma said softly as he ran a hand through his red hair in frustration, "But you can't really blame me for something that happened when we were six years old, do you?"

"I don't. Anymore... I don't really want to kill you. As much as I hate to say this, but this whole thing was stupid to begin with." Ukyou said with a sniffle, as she looked up at the pigtailed boy through tear filled eyes, before a small grin appeared. "But, I *can* settle for maiming and torturing your old man for a few hours because of what he put both of us through."

"Your honor bound to marry me, hold more weight than the one with your father's friend." Ukyou said, "Your father took my dowry, from me, and ruined my life. Please?"

"Ukyou, I don't know. I'm not ready to get married yet." Ranma rubbed the back of his head uncertainly, as he stared at Ukyou, "First my old man springs this engagement thing on me with his old friends that I've never even met before," he said waving his hands frantically, "and now you came along, saying that he's done the same with your family. I don't know... You're my best friend from childhood and..."

"Then why don't you at least give me a chance? You've known me longer. For all you might know, we could make the perfect couple." Ukyou asked, cutting into to what he was saying, "It could be just like old times. You could come stay with me, and we could get to know each other better, before you make a final decision. Without your old man to interfere." She added, as she gave him her best puppy dog eyed look that had always swayed him in the future, and secretly smiled to herself, as she saw him start to give in. "Ranma, please just give me a chance. I won't force you into anything unless it's really what YOU want."

"Fine. I'll give you a chance. It's the least I could do, I guess," Ranma said, a loud sigh escaping his lips, as he looked down at the ground for a moment, before looking back up at her, a smile appearing on his features, " But I wanted to head back to China to find a cure for my curse."

"Don't bother, Ranma," Ukyou said sadly, as she stared at Ranma-chan unhappily, "Before I left Jusenkyo, I asked the guide there if there were any cures to the curses, and he says that there isn't any known workable cure in existence."

"Aw man!" Ranma exclaimed, as a few choice curses escaped from her mouth, as she glanced back down, slamming a fist into the ground in frustration.

"Come on, let's go." Ukyou said as she grabbed Ranma-chan's arm and pulled her up, and started pulling her away.

"Where are we going?" Ranma asked as she grabbed her backpack along the way, as they stepped back out into the streets, and Ukyou hailed a cab.

"We are getting out of Nerima before your old man finds us. Or do you want him to force you into an engagement you don't want to his friends daughters?" Looking back at the redhead, she could see her anxiously shake her head, "Well, we are going to Juban, I've got a cousin out there who can take us in for awhile until I find my own place."

~Elsewhere~

Genma-Panda, who had recently awakened from the beating he had received from Ukyou, was limping through Nerima's wet streets, in search for his missing son, and his attacker, worry evident on his furry features.

Growling in frustration as the fifteenth pedestrian ran away from him when he tried to communicate with them with his signs, he settled down on the wet sidewalk, to think.

'Stupid boy, running out on me while I was knocked out by whoever that person was.' Genma thought angrily to himself, as he rubbed the sore spot on his head unhappily, 'IF I DON'T FIND HIM SOON, THEN THE SCHOOLS WILL NEVER BE JOINED!! And Nodoka's going to kill me if she finds out about the curses...'

'Just who was that boy that attacked me? I know I know him, but from where. And how am I going to find that foolish boy of mine now, in this weather. He could be anywhere by now...' Sitting there in silence, as he let the rain run down his body, 'Tendo! Of course! I'll need help if I'm going to find the boy, and Tendo's the best option.' He thought, as he suddenly stood up, smacking his paws together, and started to amble away in the direction of the Tendo Dojo.
==========================
Date Started: April 1, 2002
Date Ended: November 20, 2002