Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten Memories ❯ The Real Battle Begins ( Chapter 9 )

**** 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 Nine - The Real Battle Begins

"Hey did anyone loose a cat?" Tonic questioned as he entered his home, Mousse in tow with the purple cat in her arms, hugging it tightly.

Akane smiled at the two who still carried the bright smiles they had come back with last night before the rain had started. The two had gone out early that morning to get some supplies for their trip back to Japan. They were now laden with one more item, the cat Genma had brought back.

Mousse quickly ran up to Akane, her face beaming. "Akane! Can I keep it? It's the cutest thing in the world! Please tell me I can keep it!"

"Sure, if its okay with Genma. He's the one who found it." Akane turned toward Genma, a hand on Mousse's shoulder. "Is it okay with you, Genma?"

Genma stared at the two before raising a sign that said, "I'd have it no other way."

Mousse squealed with delight and spun around, hugging the cat closer to her. "This is so great! I've never had a pet before!" She ran over to Tonic and shoved the cat into his face, forcing him to look at it. "Look, even her fur is a shade of purple! That must be rare or something, don't ya think?"

"Yeah, it must be. I've never seen that color cat before, so you must be one lucky girl. What're you going to name her?" Tonic replied with a smile.

"A name? I hadn't even thought about that." She turned the cat around so that she could also stare at it in the face. After a few moments of contemplation, she spoke up again. "How about Mao? It's simple enough, don't you think?"

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Back at the Tendo house, all four adults sat around the table staring at the object in the center of it, a dark blue bag with a squawking bird inside it making all the racket that he could.

"Well, what do we do with him now Ukyo?" Kasumi questioned while staring at the bag. It rolled around in a circle a few times before pausing once again.

"Well, we did say that we would keep him in this form until Ranma got back, but thats seeming to be harder than we thought." Ukyo turned to her husband and noticed he was intently staring at the bag. "Ryoga, what do you think we should do about him?"

Jolted from his thoughts, Ryoga looked once at Ukyo before turning his gaze back to the bag. "I think we have no choice but to talk to him and there's no other way than to let him be human. Kasumi can you heat up some water?" She nodded, stood, and headed to the kitchen. Ryoga also stood and grabbed the bag from the table. "Where are his clothes, Ukyo?"

"In my pack still, but what are you going to do?"

"I'm just going to talk to him, thats all. Man to man. Can you bring the water to the dojo when it's done? After that come back to the house and don't even think about entering the dojo."

Ukyo rose up and pointed a finger at Ryoga. "I'll bring the water, but I am not going to have you beat up on him! He doesn't deserve-"

"He doesn't deserve what, Ukyo?!" Ryoga's fists clenched impulsively, "He left behind the person that he loved the most and now he has the guts to say that he doesn't remember her or even us! I'm sorry but we need some answers and I know Ranma would do the same thing if he were here now."

He looked over at Ukyo once before turning and heading out the doorway, but as usual he turned the opposite direction he wanted to go. They heard a crash and a groan.

Soun rose from the table saying, "I'll take care of it. Don't worry yourself about him." And he was out the door and redirecting the disoriented man.

Ukyo slowly sat down and looked over at Kasumi as she entered with a boiling pot of water. "Do you think I'm being too soft on him? Ryoga's never talked to me like that. It's like I'm seeing a new side to him. I thought I knew him..."

"Dear, you shouldn't worry about that. Ryoga's only acting on his emotions. He's only acting as a caring friend would do. You do remember that Ryoga, Ranma, and Mousse did a lot together, whether it was fighting or trying to find their cure. Whatever it was, they formed a bond that was just between them. You understand?" Kasumi said with a caring arm across her shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess I do, but how is it that you understand them so much and I haven't yet?"

"Oh, well when you live with a man that is so apparent with his emotions that he still fogs up for a month after we're married and he practically blurts out everything on his mind, it's kinda hard not to understand him. As I got used to my husband, I understood Ranma and Ryoga a lot more. Well, you had better get this water to Ryoga in the dojo before it gets cold. Don't be concerned with what Ryoga has in mind. I'm sure he's doing it with Mousse's best interests at heart."

Ryoga nodded at Ukyo as she placed the kettle down in the tatami mats of the dojo and then watched her leave. Turning back toward Soun who was holding the bag that held Mousse, Ryoga told him to let him out. Soun carefully untied the neck of the bag and placed it on the floor. It sat quiet for only a moment before the duck came bursting through the opening and into the light of the dojo. Before he knew it, Ryoga had thrown his clothes at him and placed a kettle beside him.

"Change back to your usual self. We have some talking to do." Ryoga muttered and then turned his back to the very confused duck. There was a loud splash and some sputtering coughs that came from behind him. Turning he saw the Mousse he had last seen at the circus, but still he was the Mousse he had known years ago.

Mousse straightened his clothes and looked at Ryoga, an angry look on his face. "All right, first of all I want to know why you subject me to staying in a bag like that after you kidnap me, oh and before that change me into my cursed form, kami knows how you knew that, nor why you are cursed as well. Tell me why put me through such strife and maybe then I will show you some mercy."

"You would show me mercy? After what you put everyone through?" Ryoga said with a savage grin. "Oh no, my so-called friend, there is no way that I should show mercy to you! But if I even hurt you in anyway, I know that Ukyo and everyone else is going to hate me for a while. So, tell me Mousse, what happened to you that made you forget your past?"

"Forget my past? What are you talking about? I remember every year of my youth up till now. I haven't forgotten a thing! Why would you think that I would fail to remember something like that?"

"Because you left behind the woman you loved without a second look! Sixteen years ago, you left this place without a word, without any warning and you never showed up again!"

"I what? There is no possible way! Are you sure that you have the right person? There are many people that could look like me, you know?"

Ryoga scoffed. "Yeah, I thought you'd say that. But first look at this picture." He pulled out from his shirt an edge tattered picture and shoved it in Mousse's face. "Anyone look familiar to you?"

Mousse glared at Ryoga before turning his attention to the photo. It looked simple enough to him, just a few people standing in front of a house. In the group of people there was Ryoga, as he remembered the man's name to be, the woman he had been with before, and a number of other people he couldn't recognize. Uninterested he was just about to look back at Ryoga with a rejecting glare. It was then that he suddenly noticed something. There was someone in the picture that sparked his interest and it looked like himself, only a younger version, and with glasses.

"How...Where did you get that picture?"

"What's it bother to you? Notice something?"

"That..that person with the glasses, he looks like...he looks like me..." Mousse faded off in his words, trying to figure out what was before him in living color.

Ryoga rolled his eyes in irritation. "Thats because it is you! This picture was taken over seventeen years ago when we had settled our arguments. Doesn't this spark anything in that blank mind of yours?!"

"How would it? I think you have me confused with someone else, for that boy wears glasses and if you haven't noticed, I don't wear any!"

Ryoga pocketed the photo, shaking his head with a grin. "Doesn't matter, I know that you and him are the same person. Your name is Mousse, right?"

"Well..." he hesitated in answering.

"Isn't it?!"

"Yes, but-"

"But nothing!" Ryoga cut him off. "We knew a boy that looks exactly like you, fought like you, sounds like you, and has the same name as you. Thats too many clues against your single denial! You are in every way this person in the photo and there is nothing that says you aren't. You are not leaving this house until you remember everything you forgot!" Ryoga crossed his arms and stared defiantly at the man before him.

"Then you're in for a long wait!" Mousse yelled back and turned his back to him. He then came face to face with the other man that had been in the room with them who yet had not interrupted with his own comments. "Well, aren't you gonna yell at me too? Tell me I'm this person that I have no idea who it is and threaten me? Well old man?"

Soun just shook his head at him and looked at him. "I'm just an old man caught in the crossfire. It's not my position to say that. I'm just Soun Tendo, the owner of this home. If you can't believe what Ryoga says then you don't believe a man who used to be a very good friend of yours. Could it be that you don't want to remember your past here?"

Mousse stood back, bewildered at Soun's words. "What...what are you saying!? Why would I forget my past or even how could I? It's impossible!"

"I don't know how, but even I know it's possible. Though I do agree that you stay here, if not for what Ryoga says, but for the probability that he could be right. Now if you'll just follow me Mousse..." Soun walked forward, putting an arm around Mousse's shoulders and ushering him to come along with him out of the dojo and into the house with Ryoga following behind. "We'll give you a room to stay in, so you won't be a prisoner here, but I want a promise from you that you will not leave here until we have this whole situation figured out. We have some... family that are coming back from a trip that will want to meet you."

They walked through the house in silence. Mousse noticed as they walked past the living room, there were two women inside along with three children. The women stared at him intently with wide eyes as they walked past the doorway. Walking up a flight of steps, Mousse sighed heavily. Evidently there was something going on. The way they looked at him, it had seemed almost familiar in a way, like he should know them. Maybe Ryoga was right. Maybe he was this person they had been looking for, but then why couldn't he remember them? He realized that they had stopped in front of a doorway, most likely the place were Soun wanted him to stay.

"Now do you promise that you won't leave this house? You'll stay here until everything is cleared up?"

"I promise you sir. I won't leave your home." He turned to Ryoga. "I'm sorry that I don't know the past that you believe I was a part of. Since you believe so much in this, I'll try my best to remember anything from the past that you say I had here. Though I still believe that you have the wrong person, I can do nothing else."

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"You're really pretty for a cat, Mao." Mousse said as she lay on her stomach on the bed of the room she had been given. Kicking her legs in the air and holding her head in her hands, she stared at the purple cat that also stared intently at her. "You know, you're the first pet I've ever had. There were mice in the orphanage, but they weren't real pets. It seems like I'm getting everything that I wanted. I have a boyfriend that says he actually loves me, I have you for a pet, and I'm going to actually have a family once we find my mom. Isn't it great?" Mousse stroked the cat's head, scratching behind the ears. "Too bad you can't talk back to me though. You've probably seen my mom as you prowled around the streets. I don't know if she's changed or not, but from a picture I saw of her, I think she's beautiful. With long purple hair, a loving smile, and violet eyes, she seems perfect to me."

Shampoo looked up at Mousse surprised. 'Perfect? How could she think I was perfect? I left her behind in Nerima as a baby, how was that perfect? How was abandoning your child perfect? Why doesn't Mousse hate me for doing this to her?'

Mousse sat up and looked out the window. "Almost sunset, we'll be going to see the elder council soon, Mao. Tonic is going to tell the council that he wants to train in Nerima with Ranma and he'll be able to come back with us. Then we're going to find my mom and tell her everything and bring her back home to Nerima where she belongs. What do you think Mao?"

Mousse turned to look at the purple cat, but found an empty bed. "Mao? Where'd you go, Mao?" Mousse began to search her room. "Come on stop hiding, where are you? Here, kitty kitty..." Her bottom lip began to tremble and she ran down the stairs toward Akane who was in the kitchen cooking. "Akane! Mao is gone, she's gone!"

Turning from the stove, Akane saw a very stricken Mousse before her. "Well Mousse, sometimes cats like to go to a hiding place where no one can find them. Thats how they are, don't worry about it. I'm sure when we come back from the council she'll be sitting in plain sight and very happy to see you."

"You sure, Akane?" Mousse replied, her voice teetering on the brink of crying.

"Yes, I'm sure." Akane handed Mousse a plate and pushed her toward the counter. "Now you can help with our supper, so we all can eat something before we meet the council. No telling how long we'll be there."

Shampoo peeked around the corner at the two in the kitchen. Silently she apologized to Mousse for running out on her, but hearing that they were meeting the elder council in so sort of time, there was something that she had to do. The council alone would never let Tonic out to just train in Nerima with Ranma, even she knew that. Although if she, his teacher, allowed it they may actually let him go and with his recent feelings for Mousse, maybe even possibly over look the fact the he wasn't going to marry Po Mai. Never really did think that girl was right for him anyway. With a second look at the pair, Shampoo turned tail and hurriedly ran out an open window and down the street.

Arriving at the training hall, Shampoo noticed that Po Mai hadn't done her morning or afternoon duties. Bird feeders hadn't been filled, floors of the training hall weren't cleaned, and equipment hadn't been put away. Was there something that she was missing or what? It was never like Po Mai to leave the training hall with duties still to carry out. Was it because of her disappearance last night? Shampoo shook her head. Now was not the time to dwell on the subject. She still had to change back to her normal form and figure out a way to change the council's mind about Tonic and also find a way to finally talk to her daughter.

It was just as the sun slipped behind the horizon that Tonic and company arrived at the doors of the elder council hall. The two guards in front of them glared at them as they passed by as if they carried with them a deadly disease.

Ranma leaned toward Tonic and whispered to him. "Do they look at everyone like that when they enter the hall?"

"No, just outsiders. Not many people here like to deal with outsiders, they think they bring bad luck." Tonic replied nonchalantly.

"Oh, thats reassuring." Ranma said rolling his eyes. "So what part do we have in this talk with the elders?"

"All you have to do pretty much stand there. I'll have to translate for you if they ask you any questions, but I'll try my best to tell you what they're saying. All right?"

"Yeah, all right, just make sure you tell us the important stuff. Just so you know, this was all your idea and-" Ranma gasped for breath as Akane's elbow collided with his gut. "Why do you keep doing that?" He said through clenched teeth.

"Because you never learn when to shut your mouth!" Akane said with a forced smile.

Ranma was just about to respond to Akane's comment but was quickly silent as he realized they entered the main room where all the elders were gathered. They all looked haggard and old, staring at them from the dark recesses of the cave-like room with the same glaring eyes that the guards had.

Tonic stepped forward toward the group of elders and bowed to them. "Thank you High Elders for hearing me at this time. It is much appreciated."

A woman that seemed to be the leader, as she wore a headdress that made her stand out from the crowd, stood up and addressed Tonic. "Well, I hope that you will bide your time wisely. We have much to deal with. Now, what is the reason that you wished for these people to be here?"

"Because I wish to be trained in this man's dojo," he motioned toward Ranma. "He has asked me to be an apprentice at his own dojo in Nerima, Japan as I traveled on my trip. I also wish for this apprenticeship for I feel this will help me in my training to become a better Amazon warrior."

"I see and at this dojo, how long will the training take?"

"I...I do not know. Maybe five years or more."

"Five years!? How can training at some dojo, in Nerima nonetheless, take more than five years? I'm sure any Amazon could complete training there in under five months! I mean, what training could be so hard to an Amazon that it would take so long. Nothing is as hard as the training our warriors take on every day."

"High Elder, I highly disagree. The training this man teaches is intensive and learning all the techniques take much time to perfect. You can even ask him yourself." Tonic motioned for Ranma to step up next to him. "Ask him anything and I will translate for you."

The elder eyed Tonic and Ranma warily, biding her time as she chose her questions. "All right then, ask him this. How old was he when he started training?"

Ranma scoffed laughingly at the translation that Tonic gave him. "My father started training on me as soon as I could crawl. We spent all our lives training together and traveling around the world. We were even here once before, though you may not remember us."

The elder stared at Ranma taking in his words as Tonic translated. "How old were you when you inherited your dojo? I suspect that you did inherit it, right?"

"Yes I did, though it was through marriage. I was 22 when Akane and I were married and we inherited the dojo from her father. Even though I was young, I was already a master in nearly every type of fighting that we had encountered. I have beaten countless enemies, many worth the fight and some not worth it, but still I have won over them all. If you think that I am unqualified to teach this boy the techniques of my dojo, then you don't know how to really see a fighter at heart."

"And you want to teach this boy your techniques?"

"Yes." Ranma cocked an eyebrow at the elder, trying to figure out what she was trying to point out.

"Why him?"

"I don't understand."

"Why do you want to train Tonic? Why not some other local boy from your area? I'm sure that it's more of a hassle for you to come all the way to our village just for him."

"I would like to train Tonic because he has the skills and he reminds me of myself at that age. He's quick witted, strong mentally and physically, and once he has an idea, he won't let go of it. I don't mind traveling if that means I will gain an able-bodied student to my dojo."

The elder paused in her questioning and sat back in her chair. Suddenly there appeared beside her a figure clad in a cloak that covered the entire body, even the head. The High Elder seemed surprised at the cloaked person and started to ask why they were in such a get up. The group stood in a confused state as they watched the High Elder fall silent and lean her ear closer to the cloaked figure to more clearly hear whispered words. After the cloaked one finished talking and received a nod of the head from the High Elder, the person slowly backed away and headed out a back entrance. Ranma looked questionably at Tonic, but he only shrugged his shoulders, saying that he too didn't know what was going on.

"After receiving some advice from your teacher Tonic, I will grant you this request to train in Nerima, Japan. This man seems to have a good effect on you and training with him will further improve your knowledge on the skills of fighting."

Tonic smiled broadly at the elder and turned to the group, his face beaming with joy. As he told them the translation, Mousse's smile spread across her face and she equally matched the look that Tonic had. As she looked at Tonic, she suddenly remembered something.

"But Tonic, what about the arranged wedding?" she asked scared of what the answer may be.

"I don't know. They haven't said anything yet. I guess I should ask, shouldn't I?" He smiled apologetically at her and turned back to the group of elders. "Urm...Excuse me, but I meant to ask, what about the arranged marriage that you had for me? What is to become of that?"

The High Elder, who had been talking to another, snapped her head back to look at Tonic. Realization flowed over her face as it seemed that she too had forgotten about it. She looked around the hall, looking to the faces of the other elders. "Well, my boy, actually we weren't even going to mention about that. It has become void since Po Mai herself came just this morning and told us that she wished to marry another. I thought that she might have told you about her decision. And since you still do have a arrangement with us, we can choose another for you to marry, that is, unless you have someone else in mind...Tonic, do you?"

This is were that huge lump in Tonic's throat started to grow. He tried to swallow and found it hard to do. He unconsciously looked back at Mousse before turning back to the High Elder. He began to stammer and stutter an answer but he had trouble answering her on the subject. For some reason he couldn't find the words to say what he wanted.

The High Elder, who had been trying to make sense of the boy's stumbling words, sighed to herself and leaned back in her chair before she realized something. Tonic had looked back at the group before he began his stammering and she had just figured that he was looking back to the group for reassurance. Though now it was clear for her to see, he had looked to them because of the young girl with them, more likely at her! She peered over Tonic's shoulder at the girl, trying to figure out why it felt like she had seen her before. That face was familiar, very familiar indeed. Tired of the boy's stammering, she cleared her throat, causing him to quiet.

"Tonic, follow me please." She stood from her seat and quietly padded toward a doorway to the left of the hall. Everyone else looked perplexed at the High Elders' action's but no one dared ask why. Tonic gulped once more before following after the High Elder's hunched figure. Entering a small room that seemed to be a place of meditation, Tonic closed the door behind him. The elder beckoned him to sit down in a chair across from the one she had chosen.

"Tonic, there is no need to be afraid. It's just me here." Tonic nodded in understanding. "Now tell me, the girl that came with you, is she the one?" She asked expectantly. "And I don't want you stammering anymore. Tell me yes or no."

"I...well what I mean to say is.." Tonic sighed. "Yes, she is."

"And why is it so hard to tell me that?"

"I didn't think that you would approve. I mean you don't even know her and she's not from here...I just didn't want to pull her into anything that might hurt her."

The High Elder chuckled. "You shouldn't have worried. I'm happy to see that you've actually found someone that you care enough for to act like this. She is very lucky to have gained your attentions."

"Really? You approve? But what about the other elders?"

"And what about them?" She put her hands on her hips. "Who's the High Elder here? I cared for you after your mother died and I promised her then that I wouldn't let anyone treat you the way that she was treated. It was not right and if I had been High Elder then, I could have done something to stop it." The High Elder closed her eyes and paused for a moment. Turning to look at Tonic, she started again. "But that is behind us. So this girl, does she have a name?"

"Mousse."

"Mousse, eh? That name...it couldn't be...could it?" The elder furrowed her eyes in thought..

"High Elder? Is there something wrong?"

"No, no there's nothing to worry about. Just tell me one more thing and you all may go. Do you love this girl?"

"Yes, Auntie Fa Li. I love her with all my heart. I don't know why, but I just do."

"Now that is the answer I wanted to hear! Just make sure that she knows you do! And if you feel like asking her to marry you, do not worry about us." She said with a smile and watched Tonic leave the room. After the door closed behind him, she let out a sigh and shook her head in disbelief. "Since she may already be an Amazon, it doesn't really matter."

Tonic strolled along the pathway with Mousse beside him, a smile on his face that he couldn't get rid of any time soon. Ranma and the rest followed behind him, yet were still confused at what had happed between him and the High Elder.

Mousse kept peeking glances at Tonic as they walked. He hadn't said much after he exited the room and told them they could leave. He just kept that odd grin on his face and he seemed to be a lot more untroubled. As they neared his house, Mousse finally broke down and had to ask him. "Tonic? What happened in that room?"

Tonic turned to look at her and at seeing Mousse's confused face, it softened his expression as he remembered what he had told the elder. "Everything's fine. There's no marriage and they're going to let me travel back to Japan with you guys. Everything's great."

"You sure?" Mousse replied, squinting her eyes to see if he was lying.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You shouldn't worry so much, everything's all right. Now, how about we go look for Mao? You said she went into hiding right? We can look through the whole house tonight and I'm sure we'll find her. Okay?" Mousse could only smile in reply as Tonic took her hand and they both hurried to the house ahead of everyone else.

Mousse burst into the house with Tonic right behind her, throwing the door open and hurriedly looked around the room. "Mao? Mao, come out kitty, kitty!" She called out as they began to search around the room. Tonic strolled over to the living room of his house to look there but stopped as he saw a figure sitting in the shadows, illuminated only by the light of the fire. Immediately he became angry that someone would have the guts to break into his home. "You! Intruder! Why are you in my home?!" he yelled out.

The figure slowly turned and Tonic noticed that it was the same cloak clad figure that had been at the elder council meeting. "I mean no harm to you or anyone else. I only mean to speak to the girl. That is all."

Tonic snorted. "Yeah right, like I'd let you get anywhere near Mousse! You aren't talking to anyone and you are leaving my house immediately!"

The figure shook their head. "This coming from you, Tonic, I'm surprised. You are very much like your mother. Strong and stubborn at the same time."

Tonic stood there mesmerized at the figure's words. "You..you..how do you know about my mother? Just who are you?" He stared at the figure who stayed silent and when Mousse put a hand upon his shoulder, he jumped in shock.

"What's wrong Tonic?" Mousse spied the dark cloaked figure in the room and squinted her eyes for a better look.

Tonic put an arm in front of her. "Stay back, this person was at the elder council and now he wants to talk to you. I don't trust him. Sitting here in my home in the dark. Not a very fitting way for someone to have a visitor I think." Tonic's words formed into a low growl as he stared ahead.

"Me? Why would they want to talk to me?" Mousse said, captivated that someone wanted to talk to just her, not Tonic. She pushed past Tonic's arm and walked into the room. Tonic began to protest and sputter about how dangerous it could be but all it took was one look from Mousse to silence him. She turned back to the figure and studied him. "So I'm here. What do you have to say to me?"

"I wish for our talk to be private. Can you convince Tonic to leave first?"

A moment later, a sputtering Tonic was pushed out of the room by Mousse and the doors quickly slammed shut behind him. He glared at the doors, knowing he couldn't or at least shouldn't go back in without some good reason, so he stood attentive at the door, waiting for any reason to come inside.

"So what is it you have to say to just me?" Mousse questioned as she sat down on a chair. The figure still stood from where he had risen and was fixated on Mousse.

"I need to ask you some questions. If you can answer me truthfully, I will answer any of your questions truthfully. You are searching for your mother, correct?"

"Yes...how did you know?" Mousse raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"It doesn't matter. Why are you searching for her?"

"She left me behind in Japan as a baby more than fifteen years ago. I want to know why she left me, why she didn't want me!"

The figure turned from Mousse and paced around the room. "The answer to that might not be as simple as you think it is. Maybe she doesn't want to be found."

"Then it's too bad for her. She had me and she can't leave that behind her. I'm her daughter, a part of her, and...I just want to see her once in my life. Even if she hates me, I just want to meet her once to see what kind of person she is." Mousse looked down at the floor and sighed heavily.

"And what do you know of your father? Have you met him?"

"No, I don't know a lot about him, just that he loved my mom very much and that she felt the same way about him."

The figure whirled around and looked at Mousse in surprise. "How do you know that?!"

"Because Ranma, and Akane and everyone else told me. They said that my mother really did love my dad but she hid her feelings from him because of these stupid laws the Amazon have. They all saw it with their own eyes how she felt for him."

"Really? She probably never thought that she was that obvious to the world....My questions are done. Do you want to ask me anything?"

"Who are you?"

"Are you sure you really want to know?"

"Yes, I mean you've been prying into my life. At least I could know whom I've been spilling my guts to. So..."

The figure walked around to a chair that sat across from Mousse and sat down. Reaching out he turned on a lamp that sat beside it and then paused for a moment. "Just tell me one thing, do you hate her even after all that she's done to you?"

"No, I can never hate her. Why do you ask?" questioned Mousse.

"Because," the figure said as she removed the top of the cloak unveiling purple hair that stopped at the shoulders and violet sparkling eyes, "I am your mother."

Mousse stared in disbelief at the woman before her as she shed the rest of the cloak. This was the person from the photo, the person Akane had pointed out, aged in the years that she had been gone, but it was still unbelievable to her. This was her...her...her mother?

"Momma?" Mousse said, her chin trembling and her eyes starting to water.

Shampoo shook her head in agreement to the question. She didn't know what came over her, but she lifted up her arms and held them out to the trembling child. Immediately Mousse rushed to her and threw her arms around Shampoo. The tears that she had held back for so long were let go and streamed down her cheeks. "Momma, why did you leave? Didn't you want me?"

"Mousse, I'm so sorry that I left you behind." Shampoo said as she stroked the girl's hair, trying her best not to cry as well. "I wanted to keep you, oh how badly I wanted to keep you in my arms."

Mousse leaned back and looked her mother in the eyes. "Then..then..you don't hate me?" Mousse questioned with a sniffle. "I thought that you left me because you didn't want a child."

Shampoo looked with shock at the young girl and then pulled Mousse back into her arms. "Oh, I could never hate you. I didn't keep you because that was what my grandmother told me to do. I was just a young girl and didn't know what was right for me until it was too late. When I finally realized that I should have kept you, I started to wonder if you hated me for leaving you. And if you did, I never wanted to learn that." Shampoo felt her eyes begin to well up with tears as she realized that she was holding her daughter, her daughter in her arms.

Suddenly the doors to the room slammed open and Tonic stomped inside, wanting to know what was going on, but his angry eyes softened as he saw Mousse and Shampoo sitting there with tears in their eyes. Quickly he backtracked out of the room until he slammed up against a body. He looked up to see Ranma also looking at the scene with sympathy in his face.

Ranma walked over to the two and put a hand on Shampoo's shoulder, alerting her to his presence. "Hey, glad to see that you came by."

Shampoo smiled at Ranma and sniffled. "Sorry I acted the way I did. I should have listened to you, but I'm glad that you did come by." Shampoo looked down at Mousse. "Or else I wouldn't have been able to meet my daughter."

"Glad to hear someone was happy I came." Ranma paused a moment before sitting down. "Listen there's something I have to tell you. When Mousse came to us, we decided that we were going to help find her parents, BOTH her parents. You realize that we came after you and Ryoga and Ukyo went searching for Mousse."

"Yes, I understand that. So what happened? Can't they find him?" Shampoo asked, a little worried in what the answer might be.

"No, no, they found him all right. They brought him to our home in Nerima and are waiting for us to come back. It's just that he...kami, even I still don't believe it, but he somehow lost his memory. He doesn't remember Nerima at all and...he doesn't remember you."

Shampoo tightened her grip around Mousse at Ranma's words. "He..he what?"

******

Wow! What a blast to the face this chapter was and so long! I was amazed that it took me this long to write out the main confrontations. Hope you liked it and the end is soon to come in maybe one or two more chappies, well actually now that I think about it, it will probably be two or three before it's actually all done.

On another note, I hope that I can start on getting the rest of the story done for "When I Thought I'd Lost You". My brain has frazzled at the story arc and I can't figure out a good enough way to get out of it and end their story, But I'll make it work. And then maybe I can start on my third Mousse-Shampoo story....

Sorry to those out there that ask for a Ranma-Shampoo pairing from me. I just can't do it. I may try just a one shot, but thats as far as I could go. I have never really seen any potential way in them to have a relationship and if I even tried it would most likely turn back to a Mousse-Shampoo pairing at the end. I just think that Akane is solely for Ranma and no one else.

Thanks for reading!

^_^ (\/) cyancat