Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten Memories ❯ A Sudden Change ( Chapter 2 )

**** All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. This is just one of my ideas! So don't judge me just because of my imagination! ^_^ (\/) cyancat ****

Forgotten Memories

Chapter Two - A Sudden Change

It was the first night she had spent away from the place that had been her only home and now, she felt a little homesick. Mousse rolled over on the futon Akane had given her and stared up at the ceiling. Maybe a stay on the roof until the sun came up would make her feel better. Opening the window, she grabbed the edge of the roof and pulled herself up. Treading slowly, she tried to keep quiet while she sat down on the crown of the roof and stared out at the sky.

Somewhere out there was her mother, she knew it. Mousse laid back and stared up at the stars. They were always so beautiful in the early morning hours and here she could see them more clearly than at the orphanage. Closing her eyes, she envisioned having a family like every one around her. A mother and a father. Maybe even a brother or sister too. But, she knew that was every orphan's dream.

"You're not gonna sleep on the roof are you?"

Mousse's eyes popped open in shock and she quickly sat up to see Ranma sitting down on the crown of the roof also.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up. I'll get off the roof right away!" Mousse frantically apologized as she stood up and started to walk towards the edge.

"Hey, hey. Easy there. I'm not here to scold you if that's what you think. Even I come up here at times to think. It's a good place to sit and listen to the wind."

"Are you sure?" Mousse hesitated.

"Yeah, I'm sure, now come and sit down. The sun is gonna rise in half an hour. Wanna watch?"

"Sure." Mousse said smiling softly as she walked back next to Ranma and sat down.

A few uneasy minutes passed by before Ranma decided to break the silence.

"So Akane tells me that you've been training since you were young. Any certain style?"

"Nope, not really. Just regular street fighting. Master Sousuke did teach me a bit of Jeet Kune Do though. I didn't get to learn much however. I left before we really got into training."

"Your master sounds like a great teacher. If he's even gotten close to mastering Jeet Kune Do, that says a lot about a man."

"Yeah he is a good man, so what does your dojo teach?"

"Us? Well, we call it 'The Saotome-Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial-Arts', but we try to teach our students on every level of fighting. Even Martial-Arts Cheerleading if the girls wanna try it."

"Wow, you guys must have your hands full."

"At times. Though don't let it fool you, we always have time to do more than train."

"It seems like you guys have had a happy life together. Having a family and friends around you all the time."

"You think our lives have been that good since day one? I assure you, Mousse, we've had more that our fair share of bad days in our past. The past between us...well its been more than a rocky road...more like a road filled with mines, pits, traps, and snipers. Regular warfare everyday it used to be."

"So what happened to change it all to be like this?"

Ranma pondered a moment, staring out into the dark city before he replied. "I don't know really. Maybe it was when two of our friends left, that we began to see things in a new way."

"Who were they?" Mousse asked, nonchalantly staring out into the sky.

Ranma stared at Mousse for a moment before shaking his head and standing up.

"Listen, the real reason I came up here is to warn you. If you happen to see a red-headed woman, a panda or a black piglet running around, don't freak out. It's usual life here."

He then turned to walk off the roof and he was just about to jump off when Mousse called after him.

"What are you talking about? A panda? A black piglet and a red-headed woman? Just what goes on here in this house?!"

"More than you could ever guess." He paused as if to contemplate something. "Maybe you should be told though. You may be here for a while."

"Told what?"

Ranma turned back to look at Mousse. "Something that you will eventually see for yourself. You see, long ago my father, myself, and Ryoga were cursed and now we change form whenever we get hit with cold water. Ryoga turns into a black piglet, my father into a panda, and myself, I...I turn into a woman with red-hair."

Mousse blinked in surprise at Ranma and stood up. "Riiiiiight," she said sarcastically, starting to walk over to Ranma, "And I'm supposed to believe that? I mean, COME ON! You have to come up with something better than a-"

It was then that Mousse's foot made the decision to slip on the loose roof shingle she had just stepped on. Causing her to lose her balance and fall backwards towards the edge of the roof and the ground, she screamed out in a panic. Ranma saw Mousse start to fall and jumped after her, knowing he wouldn't forgive himself if he let Mousse get hurt while living in his home nor would Akane.

"Mousse! I'll catch you!" Ranma called out as he jumped off the roof and pulled her into a protecting grasp as they headed down to the ground. He noticed the all to familiar pond that he had grown to know below them and silently cursed to himself. Seconds later they landed with a huge SPLASH into the pond, causing quite a racket as it awoke everyone in the house in a matter of moments. Mousse burst out of the water, straining for air.

"Ahhh....C..c..ccold! It's freezing out here!" Mousse yelled out as she rubbed her arms for warmth.

She was followed right behind by a red-headed woman, looking to be just as cold as she was. Mousse took one look at her, the water, and then back to the girl before screaming and trying to quickly scramble out of the pond and towards the backdoor. It was then that Akane opened the door, shining light into the back yard. Shouji, Taka, and Kisa stood behind her, clinging to her robe, scared but still curious at what was making the racket. The sight they saw was a frantic and wet Mousse scrambling to get to the door and Ranma, as a girl and sitting in the middle of the pond looking very concerned with her situation.

"Akane! I was on the roof and then I fell and then Ranma caught me and then we fell in the pond, but now he's not there and there's a girl there instead!" Mousse said as she hectically moved to get up to the house, pointing behind her at Ranma in the pond.

Akane laughed softly to herself as she realized what had happened and tried to quiet the girl before her. Standing Mousse beside her, she picked a twig out of her hair. "Mousse, you need to calm down. I can see if you're shocked, but you don't need to be so frightened." Akane then turned to the children behind her, "Kisa get some water heated for your father. Taka and Shouji, go get some towels for Ranma and Mousse. Its cold enough already out here, I don't want them catching a cold."

She turned back to see Mousse with a very confused look upon her face.

"What do you mean 'I shouldn't be frightened'? And why do you need hot water?" she said through chattering teeth.

Akane looked outside to the dripping wet girl standing beside the pond. "I think thats up for you to explain, Ranma-dear."

Some time later, the whole group found themselves sitting at the dining table again. A still shaken Mousse wrapped up in towels, sat beside Akane and stared across the table at girl-Ranma. Kisa walked in and placed a huge steaming teapot in front of her. Mousse watched unblinkingly as she reached out, brought the pot above her head and poured. Suddenly there was Ranma, no girl, just a man dripping wet and looking very remorseful at her.

"You were telling the truth?" Mousse questioned, leaning farther across the table to see better.

Ranma took a towel Shouji handed him and rubbed his hair with it. "I wouldn't lie about something like this. I knew you'd eventually see it sometime and I wanted to warn you. I guess it can be a shock to anyone when they don't realize whats happening."

"I'd have never believed it unless I saw it, I have to say. It's not a usual thing to be around you know." Mousse sat back and looked down at the floor. "Sorry for the way that I acted. I feel so stupid to be so scared of something like that."

Ranma shook his head and smiled at Mousse. "Don't be that way. Everyone has moments that they regret. I have my own share of them, believe me, so don't make a big deal out of it. Just for next time, remember that hot water changes us back."

Mousse looked up to see Ranma smiling at her, not angry in any way. She smiled softly back at him, happy to be somewhere they were so trusting and not hurtful in anyway.

Akane spoke up, seeing the girl still shivering from the cold water. "Now then, since you've had a dip in that freezing pond, I want you to go and get into some warm clothes and go to bed. I will around when you wake up, so sleep as long as you want Mousse."

"Alright Akane. I am feeling a bit tired now that you say that. I haven't had much sleep for a while now." Mousse said as she stood up from the table. Walking to the stairs, she stopped at the doorway and then turned around, smiling nervously. "Though, could you show me which door it is again? I don't really remember which one it is."

"Sure Mousse." Akane said with a smirk and stood up. "Don't bother to ask if you forget again."

As Akane slid the door shut behind her, Mousse looked around the room once more. She then noticed something that she thought hadn't been there before. On a dresser sat a picture frame, containing a photo with several people in it. Mousse walked over and taking the photo, sat down on the futon and studied the people inside. She instantly recognized many of the people inside. There was Ranma with Ukyo and another girl clinging to his arms. Akane standing next to Ryoga with a weird look on his face. Some urchin of an old man jumping up. In the back, there was a boy with glasses looking very odd. Soun and Genma, she guessed as there was a large panda in the photo and she remembered what Ranma had told her, were there also. There were other people there that she recognized from photos hanging around the house she'd seen and figured that they were also family in someway.

All the girls were wearing extravagant dresses and it confused Mousse. What in the world had happened here? She thought that Akane was Ranma's wife, but in here it seemed more like Ukyo or that other girl was closer to the role. Then there was the oddity of the girl hanging on Ranma's arm. There was something about that girl's eyes that caught her attention. They looked familiar, somehow.

Mousse woke up with the sun shining on her face. Flopping over on her back, she let out a calming sigh and rubbed her eyes. She didn't even remember falling asleep, much less laying down. All she could remember was that photo she'd been staring at. She'd ask Akane about the picture today. If they were willing to tell her about the curses, they maybe Akane was willing to tell her about how they got together. From the sound of it, their lives was a story worth to be heard. And for one thing, anything was better to listen to than the old hum-drum stories that they had kept retelling at the orphanage.

There was suddenly a loud crash from below, which seemed to nearly rock the whole house. Mousse looked around, ready to see the sky fall, but all she heard was a familiar voice screaming out, "RANMA!! YOU IDIOT!!"

That was enough to spark Mousse's curiosity. Quickly she dressed and then ran down stairs, still holding onto the picture, ready to see a war happening. What she saw was Shouji, Kisa, and Taka sitting at the table, apparently doing homework. Confused she walked over to the back door, only to find no back door, but a wide and gaping hole. Akane stood outside holding some kind of hammer and was seething down on an unconsious Ranma who lay on the ground. Around them stood Genma, Soun, and Ryoga, all in dojo outfits and with mixed feelings showing on their faces.

"Umm...Akane? Is there something wrong?" Mousse said as she hesitantly stepped outside.

Akane quickly flipped around, surprised by the sound of her voice. She laughed nervously and walked towards her. "No, nothings wrong. Just had a little disagreement with Ranma, thats all." Mousse looked around Akane at the prone figure of Ranma with a raised eyebrow, "Don't worry about him. He'll be up in no time. He's just lucky I didn't knock him into the next prefecture. Come on, are you hungry? I'll make something nice for you to eat."

"Yeah, sure Akane. I'd love some food." Mousse said, still staring at Ranma while she followed Akane back inside the house, clutching the picture frame to her chest. She instantly made a mental note not to get Akane mad. If she did that to her husband, what would Akane do to her?

Back in the kitchen, Akane hummed as she pulled out a frying pan and started up the stove. "How about some fried vegetables? Or maybe some ramen noodles? Is there anything special you'd like to have?"

Mousse sat down on a stool in the kitchen and watched Akane."Whatever you make is fine Akane. I've learned to eat nearly anything I can get my hands on. " she said, amazed at how much Akane was willing to cook for her. No one had even been this close to being nice to her in all her life. "Even cold miso soup would do."

"Don't say that!" Akane turned around, astonished at the thought, "Not when you have a person here, willing to cook you a hot meal. Just wait a few minutes and I'll have something ready for you." Akane turned back to the stove and stirred the pan. "To think...I used to be so bad at cooking when I was younger. Nearly set the kitchen on fire quite a few times. My food never tasted very good and always turned out burnt whenever it got close to the oven or stove."

"Its hard to believe. From what I had last night, I'd never think you were like that."

"A lot has changed since we were young...a lot." Akane said in a recollecting tone.

"Oh, that reminds me Akane. I was looking at this picture of you guys and I was confused by a few things. Can I ask you something about the photo?" Mousse said and then laid out the picture frame down on the counter.

Akane grabbed a plate from beside her and then ladled the pans contents onto it. She then served it to Mousse and sat down beside her, "Sure Mousse. Ask whatever you want."

"Well, I was confused by a few things. In this picture, Ukyo and some girl are hanging onto Ranma's arm like they're his girlfriends while you're over to the side beside Ryoga. Why aren't you with him?"

"Oh my, this is an old picture that was taken at Togenkyo. This really takes me back, but you asked why wasn't I hanging on him, well, maybe I should just explain the whole story to you. Then you might understand. Let's see now, it was about, oh 20 years ago that Ranma first came to our house with his father. You see, before Ranma and I even knew about each other, both our fathers made a pact for their children to wed, it was an arranged marriage. When they did come by, I was picked as his fiancé because I was just about the same age as him."

"So you have sisters then? Which ones are they?" Mousse said as she inspected the picture, trying to figure them out herself.

Akane smiled warmly at Mousse as she sat eating and staring at the photo. Shaking her head she pointed out the rest of the people in the picture to Mousse. "You see here's Kasumi, my oldest sister, then Nabiki, second oldest."

"Now I see. So where are they now?"

"Now? Well, Kasumi got married to the local doctor, took him forever to get up the nerve to ask her. Then as for Nabiki, she's...she's more married to her money than anything else. Anyway, I am happy that they were there for me when I needed them most. Especially glad that they didn't choose to be engaged to Ranma."

"Where you happy to have a fiancé like Ranma?" Mousse said after another mouthful of noodles.

"Me, oh no. I was not happy at all, because at the time, I hated boys with a passion. My reason for that, a certain older classmate of ours by the name of Kuno decided out of his own stupidity and then announced to the whole school, that if any one wanted to go out with me, they had to beat me in a fight first before school started. You see my problem?"

"Yeah, I kind of see it. So a lot of boys attacked you while at school?"

"Yeah, but it was more like an army of them, everyday to say the least. But then Ranma came, and everything kind of settled after that."

"So these girls are hanging on Ranma's arm why?"

"OH! I went off track, didn't I?" Akane laughed at herself, "Okay then, umm, it was about maybe two years or so that Ranma had been here. I still wasn't ready to be pushed into a marriage yet, you realize. Then out of the blue comes Ukyo one day. She had been an old childhood friend of his, but the thing was, her father and Ranma's father made a little pact for them to marry. Well it never got off the ground, because Genma left suddenly and with Ukyo's fathers vending cart for the food he sold. Genma was always a glutton. Well, after she arrived announcing she was Ranma's fiancé, she never left. She always called him 'Ranma-honey' and defied anything that got in her way to be with Ranma and in so, hung on his arm at any opportunity. Understand a bit more?"

"I think so. So who's this other girl hanging on him? And this boy in the back with the glasses. I haven't seen any pictures of them around." she said pointing to the photo.

Akane turned to look at Mousse, concern showing in her eyes. "Why are you so curious all of a sudden about this picture?"

"Me? I guess it's because all of you look so happy, like a big family." Mousse leaned back and looked down at the floor, feeling a bit uncomfortable, "I just wanted to know what it was like to have friends and family like that. Sorry if I'm prying too much into your life. You've already done so much for me, I shouldn't be prying into something I know nothing about..."

"No Mousse, I'm sorry...I think I've been keeping something from you, that you should have known from when we first met." Akane put an arm around Mousse's shoulders and sighed heavily.

Mousse looked up in surprise. "You're sorry? For what? You've been nothing but nice to me!"

"Mousse, when you first came here you told us that you had been given up fifteen years ago and then you traveled here from an address you found which led you to a little café shop down the street, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"You see, this girl here," Akane pointed to the one with long purple hair. "She was another of Ranma's so-called fiances because he accidently beat her in a fight. She was an Amazon woman from China and in their beliefs, that means the girl who lost is to wed the man that beat her. This other boy," she said and pointed to the one with glasses, "He followed her soon after, as he too was from the same Amazon village, saying he was in love with her and that he was supposed to marry her. She didn't feel the same as he did and usually beat him up for it. Understand?"

"So far, yes. What does this have to do with me?"

"They both left here suddenly for no reason that we could think up. We were all surprised by their leaving and at times we still miss them. Mousse, the reason I feel so bad about this is because...I never really figured it out until now. You see, this girl, her name was Shampoo and that boy's name was...it was Mousse."

"So that's why Ranma spit out his soup last night after I told you my name! That's cool to find out that someone else has a name like mine. Thought I was the only one with a weird name."

"That's not all Mousse, there is more to the story. We haven't seen this Mousse in sixteen years and its been about fifteen years since Shampoo suddenly left with her grandmother. They even owned a small eatery called the Cat Café that was located right where you first made a trip to yesterday."

Mousse could only blink at Akane in disbelief. Everything that she'd been wanting to hear for years was suddenly spilled out in front of her. She couldn't believe it all, it was happening so fast, almost too fast. "You-you-you mean..."

"Yes, Mousse. I think that they are your parents."

Well, how do you like it so far? This was just an idea that came to me one night while listening to the song 'Rain' by Dana Glover. Yes, I have a love for the Mousse and Shampoo pairing, but you have to admit, they would look really cute together as a couple. I'm a stickler for favorite pairings- so thats why Ryoga and Ukyo are together. Chapters will be usually long because I like a lot of detail and talk to invoke feelings and emotions.

Please don't flame just because of the pairing. I don't flame people when they write fics between characters that would have NOTHING to do with each other and I ask you not to do that for me. If you don't have some thing nice or at least helpful to say, then don't say anything at all.

Thanks for reading though and hopefully I will finish both my fics soon.

^_^ (\/) cyancat