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Blessed Curse

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi

Author note: Thanks to Blissfull Wulf for betaing this fic.

Chapter 2

Ranma sighed as she looked at the kettle of hot water that had been set out for her by Shampoo's father Poe. The young martial artist had ended up spending a total of three days in her new female form, one more than Cologne suggested, and today she was going to spend time in her birth male form. Ranma hadn't been idle during the last couple of days. She had in that time found her center of gravity in her cursed form and could easily go through her katas again when she practiced her forms. The time spent as a female had also allowed Ranma to get use to the hormones and other feelings that her cursed form had. As such, she wasn't overrun by them and even felt more like herself again.

Which was great, now she didn't feel like she was going to almost cry when upset and wasn't overwhelmed like she had been before. Other than that Ranma had been surprised that she had enjoyed the time spent as a girl. It only served to remind her what she told Cologne that first night and had also led her to thinking about how she felt growing up. It was still all confusing to her, she was born a boy after all, shouldn't she feel like a boy? Ranma shook her head, she didn't have any answers for that. Picking up the kettle, she let the hot water inside pour over her head and down her form. The tingle that came when she changed from a girl to a boy was starting to become unnoticeable as he got use to it.

Once he was changed back to the body he was born with and put the kettle to the side Ranma stretched out his limbs as he quickly adjusted to the added height and shift in gravity. Other than the few minutes in the bath Ranma hadn't been in a male body in the last couple of days and being back in this form was a bit strange. It was familiar, it was the body he had grown up with after all, but at the same time it was strange for lack of a better word. It was like it was something he was use to but didn't feel just right.

As he left the room he had been loaned, Ranma braided his hair absently. He didn't wear it like this too often, he usually just kept it tied back into a low ponytail. The rest of the hut was empty as Ranma walked through it to the door where his almost constant companion Mousse was waiting. Shampoo did spend time with the both of them but she also had her own studies with Cologne as well as her other duties in the village.

Outside of the hut, Mousse turned to look at the odd outsider he had been forced to play tour guide too. He adjusted his glasses when he saw that Ranma was male, after only seeing Ranma as a boy once, he had almost forgotten that the other teen was originally male. It wasn't too bad, as not many people spoke to Mousse it was nice to be able to talk to someone which was why he didn't complain about showing Ranma around.

"Ranma," He said with a nod of greeting.

"Hey Mousse," Ranma said as he came to stand beside the other boy, Mousse was still taller than him even like this.

"I see that you have finally changed back," Mousse said.

"Yeah, the whole point of this thing was to see how I felt like a girl vs a boy," Ranma said. "Honestly feels a little weird."

"The curse in general or... other things?" Mousse asked. Ranma gave the long hair teen a look.

"Do you know why Cologne had me do all this?" He asked.

"I have an idea, it may have to do with one of the laws in our village," Mousse admitted. "But I think it would be a good idea for the elder to explain it to you."

"I guess.... hey Mousse, been wondering about this for a while," Ranma said as he looked up. "What's with all the satellite dishes and everything else?"

Mousse started to chuckle softly. "I was starting to wonder if you would ever ask about that, most outsiders do. We do have electricity in our village, a few outsiders married into the village years ago and introduced it to us. We do not have the amount that a city does, there use to be a power line that ran underground through the forests."

"Use to?" Ranma asked. Mousse nodded and pointed up windmill looking object that Ranma had noticed before but didn't know what it was.

"We've started to use wind generators and solar panels instead," Mousse explained. "It's surprising to the few outsiders that visit that we have these things, most see us as a primitive village. My mother would go crazy without her soap operas."

"I kinda did too, that was how the guide seemed to describe your village so it sorta shocked me," Ranma said. "So... any word on my Pop?"

"He is still locked up," Mousse said. "I'm sure he will be let go soon, he didn't get a chance to do anything, but he will be booted out of the village all the same once the elders decide to release him."

"I guess that's when I'll be going," Ranma said with a sigh. He had been enjoying his break from his father. Mousse wasn't so sure, if what he thought was going on was true then Shampoo would be free from acting out on either the Kiss of Death or Marriage and Ranma could be adopted into the village. But he still didn't say anything to the other boy as it wasn't his place. Instead he took Ranma to a central building in the village that acted as a mead hall so they could have a late breakfast.

***

Ranma breathed deeply as he tried to meditate, he was still confused about everything. While he had admitted to Cologne that first night in the village that he had always felt like a girl, Ranma was starting to wonder if maybe that was the curse talking. He had never understood the feelings in him and even now it was confusing. He had really enjoyed walking around in his girl form. It was comfortable and for a lack of a better word right while the male form he had been born with was familiar but never seemed to really be him. It confused the teen and he didn't know what to think.

"What are you doing child?" Ranma opened his eyes and saw Cologne's feet standing in front of him.

"Meditating," Ranma said as he turned so he was no longer standing on his head but sitting up instead. "I was trying to sort out everything from the last few days."

"Has it helped any?" Cologne asked. Ranma sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"Yes... No... I don't know," Ranma said. "I can't seem to wrap my head around everything. It's just so confusing!"

"I have a suggestion," Cologne said making Ranma eye her, her last suggestion was for him to go around as a girl for a couple of days and he was still confused about what he felt. "I can place you in a hypnotic meditative state, it will place you within your own mindscape."

"Do you really think that would help?" Ranma asked.

"It may, you might be surprised by what you find there," Cologne said. Ranma sighed then nodded his head.

"Alright, I'll try it," He said. Cologne motioned for him to follow her back to his room and had him lay on the bed to get comfortable. The elderly woman left for a moment then returned with incense which she lit while Ranma watched her. Lazy smoke started rise from the stick of incense, twisting in the air as it drifted. Ranma felt himself relaxing slightly as the soothing scent hit his nose.

"Now concentrate on my voice," Cologne said in a slow even tone. "You are finding yourself relaxing... your eyes are closing and your mind is turning inward..." Ranma found himself relaxing under Cologne's voice, his breath becoming even as his mind started to calm down and he felt himself drifting....

***

Ranma blinked as one minute he was back in the room in Cologne's house then the next he was standing in... a forest?

'Is... is this what my mind looks like?' He wondered as he slowly stepped forward looking around. He would have thought his mind looked like a dojo or something, not a calm, quiet forest. It reminded him of growing up on the road and the forests he and his Pops would camp in at night.

As Ranma looked around he realized that it wasn't just trees, grass and rocks. How he missed it at first he didn't know but there was also a small building that appeared to a small dojo. And as he looked around, more things started to come into view. Uneven poles used to practice balance, a punching bag hanging from a tree, and even a practice dummy not far from that. Something caught Ranma's attention out of the corner of his eye and when he turned to see what it was he shivered in fear. A part of the forest was dark and he could just make out a pit... a pit that reminded him of the one Genma used during the Neko-ken training. He almost swore he could hear the hissing and spitting from ca-cats.

Ranma shivered again and quickly turned away from The Pit and looked around again. He blinked as he suddenly saw a small lake close to the dojo in his mind.

"I swear that wasn't there before," Ranma said as he walked over to the lake. In the middle of the water sat a boulder and Ranma could see lily pads and lotus petals along the edge. He leaned over to get a better look into the water and frowned as he was unable to properly see his reflection as the water rippled over the image.

"It's not going to clear up," Ranma blinked as a familiar sounding voice spoke. He looked up and saw in the middle of the lake on the boulder was his girl from. She was sitting with one leg drawn up to her chest looking back at Ranma. To Ranma she looked like a ghost, he could see the trees behind the lake through her body.

"Wha?" Ranma asked. "Who are you?"

"I'm you," Girl-Ranma said. "The inner you so to speak, I'm what your soul looks like."

"My soul?" Ranma asked.

"Yes," Girl-Ranma said with a nod.

"But you're a girl," Ranma pointed out.

"Yes but you already knew I would be," the other Ranma said. "We've always been a girl."

"But we were born a boy," Ranma pointed out.

"That doesn't change who we are," Girl-Ranma said. "Yeah outside we were born a boy but inside... inside this is what we are."

"So what does that mean?" Ranma asked softly. "Doesn't that change everything?"

"Why should it?" Girl-Ranma asked. "We've always known deep down that we were a girl, that the body we grew up with wasn't right."

"But we would have to do girly stuff," Ranma said. The other Ranma's words made sense and as he accepted the other's words rang with truth, Girl-Ranma's body seem to become a little clearer though it was still very faded looking.

"We have before and we enjoyed it. Remember when we played with Usagi or Miko or even Junko? We played with their dolls and even played dress up, Kaya had that really pretty blue dress that we liked," Girl-Ranma said.

"Then Pops found out about it and we ended up leaving, he was so mad," Ranma said.

"Pops has always wanted us to act like a boy but that doesn't change that deep down we're not," Girl-Ranma said.

"But..." Ranma started to say.

"How did you feel during the days you stayed in your girl form?" Girl-Ranma asked, cutting him off.

"I... I liked it," Ranma said softly. "Once I centered myself it was like walking normally."

"And now, as a boy?" Girl-Ranma asked.

"It's familiar but... it's not the same. It's like an uncomfortable outfit, I'm use to it but... I don't really like it," Ranma admitted. "But I'm afraid... that we won't be us as a girl. And what will other people think? What will Pops think?"

"Who cares what other people think? Pops pushed us to be a boy but we're miserable so he doesn't count. If Pops really cares he'll accept that we are who we are. Everyone else can accept it or leave us alone. We can find people who like us for being what we really are," Girl-Ranma said then with a smile added, "We're still us even with really being a girl, we still love martial arts."

"Yeah... I'm not going to let anything stop me from being the best martial artist in the world," Ranma said with determination. "So... nothing really changes?"

"Not if you don't want it to," Girl-Ranma said. "But we have the chance to be what we should have always been. We have a girl's body now! It felt right didn't it? When you walked around as a girl, it felt like we've always been that way."

"It did... it really did. I've never felt so at peace with myself like I have since we got that curse," Ranma said.

"Is it really a curse? That's our body, the one we should have always had," Girl-Ranma pointed out. "We're still us, we like the same things we did before."

"Yeah, we... I do don't I," Ranma realized. The light seemed to go off in his head. "I'm still one of the best damn martial artist in the world, I'm still... me. I'm just really a girl."

"That's right, we're still us," Ranma looked back at Girl-Ranma. She was standing up on the boulder, her body now solid. She stepped off the rock onto the water, walking across the surface to where Ranma stood. "We'll always be us. We're just... a girl."

"I'm a girl, I always have been deep down," Ranma agreed softly as Girl-Ranma reached the edge of the lake. She smiled up at him and wrapped her arms around Ranma, engulfing him in a hug. Girl-Ranma began to glow, becoming so bright that Ranma had to close his eyes. He felt a warm sensation all over and when he opened his eyes, he was alone once again. But now something was different and when he leaned over to look into the lake he saw what it was. His reflection was now clear, and looking back was herself. Inside her own mind her body now reflected how she saw herself. "I'm a girl," Ranma said softly again... and she felt better and content with accepting that.

**

Ranma could hear the birds outside tweeting and chirping in the morning sunlight as he slowly woke up. For the first time since he could remember Ranma felt relaxed and at peace with himself. He stretched his arms above his head, his back arching off the bed, as he remembered the dream the deep meditation Cologne had put him in brought. Who knew that admitting to himself once and for all that he was really a girl would make him feel so much better.

'Don't know how Pops is going to take this,' Ranma thought to himself as he opened his blue eyes and looked up at the ceiling. 'Who am I kidding, I know just how he'll take it. Pops is going to freak.' He sighed as he sat up, pushing back his hair from his face. Ranma may have admitted and made peace with what he really was but he knew Genma would have nothing to do with it.

Ranma sighed again as he got up, he was feeling the need to find some cold water and turn himself back to his real form. In the main room of the hut sat Cologne and Shampoo at the low table, seemingly waiting for him.

"Errr, hey?" Ranma said in a questioning tone as he sat down at the table.

"How did you sleep?" Cologne asked. "Did the meditation help?"

"Ah yeah, it did," Ranma said.

"And?" the elder woman hedged.

"I really am a girl," Ranma said in an almost soft one. "Inside I mean. I saw myself and it was the form of a girl."

"As I expected," Cologne said with a nod of her head. She pushed a glass of water she had sitting next to her to Ranma who gave her a small smile and poured it over his head.

"How did you know?" Ranma asked once she was back in her female form. "Why did you have me go around as a girl for a few days then as a boy? Why the deep meditative state?" This had been bugging her for the last few days. "Mousse said it had to do something with some law?"

"Did Mu-Tsu tell you what the law was?" Cologne asked.

"No, he said that you would tell me," Ranma said with a shake of her head. Cologne nodded her head satisfied with the answer.

"As I said the first night you arrived in the village, I believed that you are transsexual. Somebody born as one gender but identifying as the other," She started to explain. "I recognized the signs. You see, every now and then one of the villagers is born transsexual. Our ancestors did not understand why some boys would rather be girls, in fact our history archives states that the elders back then thought these men were simply trying to improve their standing in the village but then some of the village sisters claimed that they were really men."

"I guess that would be pretty confusing," Ranma said, knowing from experience. Cologne nodded in agreement.

"It was at the time. Some of the younglings started to kill themselves when denied the ability to acknowledge what they really were," Cologne continued. "We have so few in the village that the elders had to allow it, the change in those who were really telling the truth could be seen right away. It showed our ancestors that the villagers were speaking the truth and were really born in the wrong body.

"Over time the village elders were able to tell who were really what we now know to be transsexual and who was faking. Living so close to Jusenkyo we are able to use the spring of drowned man and woman to change the villagers to their proper genders.

"The law Mu-Tsu mentioned was a law created for these individuals, to protect them. Mostly the village sisters who wished to be village brothers but to be fair it was extended to the others as well."

"What does that have to do with me?" Ranma asked as she pointed to herself. "I ain't one of your villagers."

"The thing about our laws is that we are able to bend them to our liking," Cologne said with a small smirk. "As an elder and matriarch of the Joketsuzoku, I am able to extend the law to you. It will provide you the protection from other certain laws within our village."

"How?" Ranma asked.

"By adopting you into the village you will be free from all of the laws concerning outsiders," Cologne said. "I will be honest with you; you are a strong and powerful fighter, one we would love to have in our village. And I also wish to free my Great Granddaughter from the Kiss of Death and Kiss of Marriage."

"The first one means she would have to kill me right?" Ranma asked, remembering that the elder mentioned that the first night.

"Yes, and the second means that Shampoo would have to marry you," Cologne said.

"Shampoo no want marry," Shampoo said carefully, her Japanese still choppy. "Shampoo... not ready to find husband."

"Xian Pu has only just turned 16, old enough to be considered an adult within our village and to marry," Cologne said. "She would go through with the Kiss of Marriage but I know she is not ready for that step. And to be honest her Father and I would like her to grow up more before she takes that step."

"So... you get me to join your village and your granddaughter is off the hook?" Ranma asked.

"Yes, that is the gist of it," Cologne said. "I see a lot of potential in you child, I would love to mold you into a strong, powerful warrior."

"What about my Pops?" Ranma asked. She was very tempted by the offer, these people understood what she was going through and from what she saw the people here were very skilled martial artists. They could be the out she needed to get away from Genma and she had enjoyed her time here so far.

"He will not be allowed to stay," Cologne said with a cold voice, she did not like Genma Saotome, even within prison he was constantly bad mouthing the village girls. "Whatever you decide, we will be banning him from the village. Do you have any other family?"

"I think I have a Mom back in Japan," Ranma said with a frown. "But I'm not sure if she's alive or not, I can never get a straight answer from Pops about her."

"We could perhaps return to Japan if you like to see if your mother is still among the living," Cologne offered. Ranma traced her fingers over the top of the table slowly as she thought about the offer.

"I'm not going to say your offer isn't tempting, cause it is," Ranma said after a couple of minutes. "But... ahhh..."

"You feel you cannot just jump feet first into a life changing decision like this," Cologne guessed. Ranma blushed slightly but nodded her head in agreement.

"I do like it here, and if you hadn't forced me to go ahead and confront about how I feel and everything I might have spent the rest of my life calling myself a guy," Ranma said. "And I'm not really hopped up on the idea of being under Pops control again but..." she shrugged her shoulders helplessly.

"I understand," Cologne assured her. "Take your time to think about my offer." Ranma nodded and stood up from the table to head outside. She had to really think about this and decide if she wanted to spend the rest of her days with the Amazon-like warriors.

***

Ranma was startled out of her thoughts as somebody suddenly sat next to her on the roof. Wanting a private, quiet place to think over Cologne's offer of joining the village, Ranma had taken to the roof of one of the taller buildings. She hadn't thought anyone would disturb her up there. Turning her head she was only mildly surprise that it was Mousse, her constant companion in the village it seemed, that had joined her.

"I really wasn't looking for company," She said as she turned back to looking at the nearby mountain.

"That is Mt. Phoenix," Mousse said as he noticed where she was looking. "Home to the Phoenix People tribe."

"Who?" Ranma asked.

"A whole tribe of bird people," Mousse explained. Ranma snorted softly and turned to Mousse.

"You're shiting me," She said. Mousse shook his head and adjusted his thick glasses.

"I am not. I don't know much about them, they don't like to deal with us or our sister village or the Musk if they can avoid it," Mousse said. "But they live right next to Jusenkyo, rumor is they got that way because of the springs."

"Who's the Musk?" Ranma asked.

"A tribe on the other side of the jungle," Mousse said. "Ruled over by men. They have a practice of finding wives by selecting an animal and throwing them into the same spring you fell into. The traits of the changed animal passes on to the offspring, at least according to them. They'll take any other woman as a bride that they can find, including the women in our village."

"Why are you telling me this?" Ranma asked.

"Shampoo told me about the offer that Cologne gave you," Mousse said. "I thought that maybe you may like to know about some of the nearby villages."

"Did they put you up to talking to me?" Ranma asked, half curious.

"No, I honestly thought of this myself," Mousse said. "You've noticed I'm not very popular here in the village."

"I think it's because of your dogged pursuit of Shampoo," Ranma pointed out. "Who doesn't seem to like you very much sometimes."

"Shampoo and I were friends as children until I fell in love with her," Mousse said. "The point being is I have no friends within the village. I am a laughing stock at times even. You are the first person to be my friend, if I can call you that, in years. And I really don't want to see you go and neither does Shampoo."

Ranma sighed and looked over the village again.

"It's like I told Cologne, I'm tempted to say yes. I do like it here," the red headed girl said.

"But..." Mousse said, sensing there was more.

"I don't know. It's a big life changing decision. Maybe not as life changing as finding out that you're a girl in a boy's body your whole life," Ranma said, running her hand through her hair. "But still big all the same. I've lived my life on the road with Pops, we rarely stay in any place long enough to set up any kinda life. I guess I'm scared of the idea."

"Did you enjoy traveling?" Mousse asked.

"Yeah, somewhat anyway," Ranma said. "But you can imagine what it was like with Pops. He's never gonna accept that I'm really a girl in a boy's body."

"At least if you live in the village, your father cannot do anything to you," Mousse pointed out. Ranma sighed and propped her chin into her hand.

"I know, and that is a big point in favor of living here," Ranma agreed. "I'm just conflicted by what I want I think."

"Well I hope you decide to stay in the village," Mousse said as he stood up. Ranma grunted softly, eyes fixed on the far away Mt. Phoenix again as she sunk back into her thoughts. Mousse sighed and left Ranma to herself, leaping off the roof to the ground below.

***

Ranma spent the rest of the day weighing the pro and cons of letting herself be adopted by the Joketsuzoku. In the end, she couldn't see a reason why she shouldn't accept Cologne's offer. She had no home that she could remember to return to and like she told the older woman, Ranma wasn't even sure if her mother was dead or alive. Genma sure as hell was not someone that Ranma wanted to return to, while Genma had spent Ranma's whole life teaching her in Anything Goes, how Genma had taught her left much to be desired. The man was far from a good father and Ranma had very little affection or respect for him.

Ranma also knew Genma would never accept her for what she was and Ranma would have to go back to being a boy if she left with her father. She honestly didn't want to go back to that, Ranma liked being a girl and now freely admitted that it was what she should have always been.

So in the end the decision was easy.

"I want to stay," Ranma told Cologne when she returned to the hut. "I really got nothing for me to not stay."

"I'm glad you've decided to become one of our village sisters," Cologne said with a pleased smile. Shampoo was bouncing in excitement when Cologne translated for her that Ranma consented to stay in the village. The purple haired girl ran over to the shorter red headed one and picked her up in a bone crushing hug.

~I've always wanted a little sister!~ Shampoo said happily in Chinese. Shampoo was extremely happy by Ranma's decision to stay, not only was she free from the Kiss of Death and Kiss of Marriage, but now that Ranma was to be adopted into her family she gained a sister, something she had always wanted but was unable to have since her mother died when Shampoo was little and her father Poe never looked for another wife.

Cologne chuckled as she watched Shampoo and Ranma. Yes she was happy as well, she liked Ranma, the girl was quite adapt at martial arts and Cologne couldn't wait to teach her some of the techniques she knew. She would also be quite happy to finally throw the girl's useless father out of the village.

**

Genma sulked as he glared in the direction of the two female guards that stood outside his cell. He had been stuck inside the village prison for over a week and nothing he tried led to his escape. He hadn't seen his son in all that time either. Who knew what these women were doing to Ranma, what ideas they were putting in the boy's head!

He couldn't believe he was in this situation, by a bunch of women at that! He firmly believed that a woman's place was at home, taking care of the men, not pretending they were some sort of great warriors. Of course he wasn't going to say any of this out loud, he had too many bruises from the last few times he had opened his big mouth.

All this over him trying to teach a woman her proper place while looking to get some relief from the situation he and Ranma were in. You would think in a village with more women than men, they would be happy to be bedded by a fine manly man like himself.

And on top of that the food sucked. It was nothing like the feast that he had eaten the first night. All the food the guards gave him was bland and tasteless and nowhere near enough to feed him.

He was still sulking and grumbling to himself when Cologne arrived sometime later. When she cleared her throat he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"You!" Genma yelled, wrapping his hands around the bars of his cell and glaring down at Cologne. "You can't keep me in here like this, I demand that you like me go this instant!"

"Sit down you fat fool," Cologne said in a cold tone while her staff struck him in the chest. Genma was knocked over onto his back and he shivered in fear as he looked up at the shrunken woman, he was greatly reminded of the master at that moment. "You are as of this moment banished from our village, the guards will escort you to the gates were you are to leave our territory and never return."

"Fine," Genma said as he stood up. "I'll be happy to take my son and leave."

"I'm afraid that will be impossible," Cologne said with an amused glint in her eyes. "Your child will be staying here with us."

"Yo-you can't do that!" Genma yelled.

"You’ll find that I can," Cologne said with a smirk then turned to the selection of warriors she brought with her. ~Throw him out of the village.~

Genma cursed loudly and struggled in the grip of the guards that dragged him through the village to the gates. Groups of women and men stopped what they were doing to watch the spectacle, some of the younger children laughing and pointing. And far in the back, hidden in the shadows, Ranma stood with Mousse and Shampoo on either side of her watching as the only family she really knew was tossed out of the gates and the doors slammed in the man's face as he screamed Ranma's name.

**

Ranma settled into life in the village pretty quickly. She’d never had a stable home that she could remember so it was a novel experience for her. Cologne had also started training her alongside Shampoo once Ranma had settled in. There were some problems there, while Ranma didn't believe the hype that women were weak she still a problem hitting another girl since she had been taught to never hit a woman. It took a bit of time for Cologne to break Ranma of the habit but soon Ranma was able to hit Shampoo when the pair spared.

Ranma also started to make other friends in the village but still spent most of her time with Mousse and Shampoo. When together, Mousse refrained from telling Shampoo how much he loved her and trying to win her hand in marriage while Shampoo cut back on beating the nearsighted boy up. Ranma was sure when she wasn't there they acted how they normally did. When they were all together Shampoo continued her lessons on how to speak Japanese, she wasn't the best at it and tended to speak in the third person and give people nicknames if she found their real names too hard to pronounce.

In turn, both teens began to teach Ranma Mandarin, the dialect of Chinese spoken in their village. Ranma felt like she sounded like Shampoo when the other girl spoke Japanese. Ranma also received new clothing, she loved how the Chinese silk tops felt against her skin. Her favorite was a red top, that thankfully didn't clash with her red hair, with a black sash tied around her slim waist and a pair of black kung-fu style pants that tied at her ankles.

It wasn't all smooth, quiet calm. Genma tried again and again to break back into the village to kidnap, or as the man saw it 'rescue', Ranma back. He never succeeded but he also never gave up. Genma often became an object lesson for many girls in training to become warriors.

It was weeks later when everything changed yet again.

Down at Jusenkyo the guide grunted as he pulled the heavy pack from the bottom of the springs. He had been doing his rounds, checking to see if any unlucky animal or person had fallen into one of the springs when he noticed the pack sitting in the bottom of the spring of the drowned fox.

'I thought that boy who fell in got his pack,' the guide thought to himself once he pulled the water logged pack up out of the spring. Of course he hadn't seen the boy since then, not even to return the hooked stick, which Plum had found in the jungle surrounding the springs, or the shirt the boy that the bandanna borrowed. He brought the pack inside of his and his daughter's home, leaving it by the fire pit to dry out. Later that night he started to dig through it in hopes of finding some sort of address or contact information so he could send the pack back to its owner. There wasn't enough room in the guide's home just to leave junk around after all.

Unfortunately the water from the spring blurred out the ink on the ID tag attached to the pack and the guide couldn't find anything else with contact information. But he did find one thing, in a side pocket on the large pack was a photo that was washed out looking but still clear enough for him to make out two teen boys in the photo. One looked much like the young man that the travel pack belonged to, the other boy in the photo took a little longer for the guide to place. (1)

'Ah! It's the young man that fell into the spring of drown girl that same day,' the guide thought as he tried to match where he had seen that face before. He heard rumors that the girl-cursed youth was still in the Joketsuzoku village. He quickly wrote out a note to take to the village, hoping Ranma would be able to tell him who the pack belonged to and where he could send it.

Attaching a note to the leg of a massager pigeon he kept to send messages to the nearby villages, the guide set about to cook dinner for himself and his daughter Plum.

***

"What's so special about this soap?" Ranma asked confused as Cologne handed her a bar of soap before she headed outside that morning.

"It is called 'Waterproof soap'," Cologne explained.

"Waterproof?" Ranma asked confused.

"Yes, it is a special type of soap that will stop the effects of the Jusenkyo curses," the elderly woman said. "If you wash with it as a boy, cold water will not turn you into a girl."

"And if I wash with it as a girl I won't turn back into a boy?" Ranma asked excitedly. Ranma had been happily spending time in her true girl form but every night turned back into a boy while she bathed. Unless she did so in cold water, Ranma wasn't able to experience soaking in a tub as a girl and she didn't like turning into her old boy form.

"Yes, but there is a limit," Cologne warned. "The effect only lasts for a week at a time each time the soap is used. Once the week is up and you haven’t used the soap again, the curse becomes active once again. But as long as you wash with it once a week as a girl you'll be able to stay in your girl form without fear of hot water turning you back into a boy."

"So it's not a permanent cure," Ranma said.

"No, but it will hold you over until we have what we need to lock the curse once and for all," Cologne said. She was currently in negotiations with the ruler of the Musk tribe, Dragon King of the Musk Dynasty Chili, to use the Ladle of Locking. The Ladle of Locking, or as it was also known the Pail of Preservation, was a special item that the Musk used to lock the animals they cursed in the Nyannichuan in their new human woman form so they wouldn't be able to return to their original form. Sometimes the Joketsuzoku asked to use the magical pail and ladle to lock their Transsexual village members in their true forms.

It wasn't easy, the Musk and Joketsuzoku were lifelong enemies and were currently in a feeble truce at the moment. The Joketsuzoku had to trade something the Musk wanted to get to use the Ladle of Locking for a short time. King Chili's son Prince Herb, while still an arrogant snot nosed brat, was a bit more reasonable than his father but it would still be years before Herb became the next Dragon King.

"Thanks Cologne," Ranma said with a grin. Cologne had told her she was allowed to call her 'Great Grandmother' like Shampoo did since she was now adopted into their family but Ranma just couldn't bring herself to do it just yet. Cologne chuckled and nodded before leaving to attend to some of her duties as the leader of the village. Ranma looked at the Waterproof soap with another grin and slipped it into her pocket, she would be able to take a hot bath as a girl tonight.

When she returned to her new home she found Shampoo looking at a letter at the low table in the middle of the room.

"Wha's that?" Ranma asked as she flopped down beside her new 'sister'.

"Letter come from Guide at Jusenkyo," Shampoo said. "Guide said want Ranma to come to training grounds, has something he needs help find owner." Ranma looked confused, she didn't know what in the world the Guide from Jusenkyo would need her help with. She didn't think it was anything she owned, all of her stuff was in the room she had been using since she arrived in the village.

"Haven’t got a clue what he's talking about," Ranma said.

"Can see," Shampoo suggested as she put the letter down. "If run will reach training grounds in short time."

"Yeah but what about Pops?" Ranma asked. "He's still trying to take me back."

"Not see stupid Panda-man in days, maybe tiger eat Panda-man," Shampoo said.

"Don't wish that on the poor ti-tiger," Ranma said, stumbling over the word. Shampoo gave her a quick look of pity, Ranma's fear of cats had been discovered after the girl had agreed to stay in the village. Cologne had been quite pissed when she discovered that Genma had forced Ranma to learn the Neko-ken.

"Shampoo and stupid Mousse go too," Shampoo offered. "All three too too strong for Panda-man."

"Alright I guess it wouldn't hurt to look," Ranma said with a shrug of her shoulders. The girls got up to go find Mousse, Shampoo leaving the note from the Jusenkyo guide on the table.

**

Genma grumbled as he waited outside of the village hidden from sight. Every attempt to re-enter the village had so far been blocked, he had to grudgingly admit for a bunch of girls the villagers weren't bad.

'I will have to really step it up to get into the village,' Genma decided with a nod to himself. As he leaned back to scheme a plan of attack the front gate of the village opened. Sensing something new was happening, Genma sat back up and watched with glee as Ranma ran out of the gate. /'I knew the boy wouldn't let himself be ensnared by those women for long!' /He thought happily only to frown as he noticed that Ranma was in his girl form. And that Ranma wasn't alone, he had two other teenagers, a purple haired girl and a long black haired boy, with him.

Genma sneered at Mousse's long hair but at the same time had a pang of envy, his own hair had fallen out a long time ago leaving him quite bald. He noticed that all three of them were heading toward Jusenkyo. Seeing his chance he quickly followed, using the Umi-Sen ken to keep hidden from the trio. There would be nobody to stop him now!

***

Ranma, Shampoo and Mousse arrived at the springs less than an hour later. They had taken to jumping from tree to tree as they ran, only having to stop when Mousse had slammed into a couple of them because of his poor eyesight.

"Ok, let's see what the guide wanted so badly," Ranma said as she headed toward the Guide's hut.

Genma who had easily followed all three teens wasted no time. Still cloaked in the Umi-Sen Ken, Genma came up behind his daughter and used Strike of the Spitting White Snake to strike her in the back.

"Haku Dato Shin Sho!" Ranma was taken by surprise by the attack and collapsed to the ground as she was knocked clean out.

"Who there!?!" Shampoo said as she and Mousse got into stances as Ranma collapsed to the ground out like a light. Genma reappeared in front of them making Shampoo growl. "Stupid Panda-man! Shampoo not let Panda get away with that!"

"Silly girl," Genma said as he got into his own stance. Genma was overweight looking but he was far from unfit. The more experienced warriors of the village might have been able to overpower him but he was a match for Shampoo and Mousse as he was now. Shampoo yelled as she jumped to attack Genma while Mousse sent a wave of chains at the man to trap him.

Genma jumped into the air to avoid both attacks. Shampoo grit her teeth in anger and jumped up after him making Genma smirk. Mid-air combat was the specialty of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. He traded a few blows with Shampoo then used one of his own techniques that he never taught Ranma to grab Shampoo close, knock the air out of her then toss her in the direction of the springs as he moved to avoid being hit by blade tipped chains. Shampoo managed to let out a yell before she landed in one of the springs, disappearing under the water.

Mousse yelled as he tossed a smoke bomb at Genma, a cloud of smoke surrounding Genma. Usually he would follow the attack with his Exploding Chicken Eggs but this time he leapt high in the air, aiming for Genma as the smoke cleared. Both of his feet were pointed at the man as wickedly large sharp claws sprung out of the tip of his shoes.

"Takazume ken!" He was doing this for both Shampoo and for Ranma!

"Got ya!" Genma had held his breath when the smoke surrounded them and waited for Mousse's attack. He twisted in midair and grabbed the teen's legs as he missing hitting Genma. With a grunt Genma turned in midair, using the slingshot force to toss Mousse away toward the springs where he landed in one further away than Shampoo's spring had been. Landing lightly on the ground, Genma dusted the dirt off his hands then quickly grabbed his pack he had hidden in the valley then draped Ranma over his shoulder. Not sticking around to see what the other two teens were cursed as, Genma high tailed it out of the area as quickly as he could. It was a shame Ranma lost all of her things because of this but nothing a five finger discount couldn't fix.

As Genma left, Shampoo climbed out of the spring the man had tossed her into, screaming to the sky in squeaky fury.

'I will kill you Genma!' She wasn't alone in her thoughts, Mousse also vowed revenge as he dragged himself out of his spring. The two Amazon Joketsuzoku would have their revenge on Genma Saotome and rescue their village sister!

**

Cologne frowned as she entered her home and found the note Shampoo left behind from the Jusenkyo guide. She hadn't seen either her Great Granddaughter or Ranma all day since that morning nor had she seen that slacker Mousse. When she asked the gate guards, they confirmed that the three teens had left around mid morning, heading in the direction of Jusenkyo.

She felt like something was wrong, the three youths should have returned to the village by now.

'What could be keeping Shampoo and Ranma?' Cologne wondered as she looked out into the jungle. Deciding to go look for them, Cologne selected a group of warriors to come with her and headed out with the search party to look for the teens. She hoped they hadn't been killed or worse, kidnapped by the Musk.

When she arrived at Jusenkyo she got a very unpleasant surprise, her Great Granddaughter Shampoo and Mousse were cursed and Ranma taken by her father. After getting the whole story from the pair once they were turned back into their normal forms, Cologne's body glowed with chi as she became angry. So in the end she gave permission for Shampoo to hunt down and kill Genma Saotome. She also didn't stop Mousse from going with Shampoo, his own need for revenge overpowered his constant need to woo Shampoo for the time being.

***

Author Note: I'm so glad that all of you like this story so far, I hope you continue to enjoy it.

(1) Ryoga had to have some way of figuring out where Ranma went, he must of used the photo of the both of them to ask people if they saw Ranma while following him.

Edit 8-31-14: A few minor mistakes just needed to be fixed.