Captured!

Akane Mu was doing her homework, it had now been three years and she was still in China with her husband and children. She’d wanted to take it slow at first, but couldn’t handle the idea of their children being born illegitimate and had sent Mu Tzu out to find a priest to marry them the day her water broke. It had been a highly rushed affair before her contractions had set in and most of her wedding night was spent giving birth to the twins. That part she hadn’t much cared for, but once she saw her son and daughter, she fell in love with them.

It was odd having an almost boyfriend-girlfriend relationship with Mu Tzu at first, the strangeness of their beginning as a couple made it a little awkward. But as parents they had grown closer, until one day she’d said that she loved him and he said it back just as shyly.

In the three years that they’d been together Mu Tzu had thrived, totally gone was his geeky demeanor and air of desperation. The bitterness caused by their mutual captivity melted away to be replaced with confidence and a maturity beyond his years. He had known nothing but words of encouragement and soft caresses because he was surrounded by people who loved him. This had caused him to heal and now he'd not only graduated high school at the top of his class, but had been accepted into a highly prestigious university. Marriage agreed with Mu Tzu.

Akane was jarred out of her musing by a pair of dark haired whirlwinds. She smiled down at her children; they had pale Asian features and their skin tone was just slightly darker then their father’s. Akane's and Mu Tzu's genes had blended well together to form two adorable faces that they could see their own features in. It was fun for them to watch them grow and identify Mu Tzu’s ears or Akane’s smile. Identical green eyes stared up at her from beneath matching red hats with cat ears on them. The hair beneath was black with blue highlights. She looked at Mu Tzu “I see your mother’s been knitting again. Why does she always have to put animal ears on their hats?” she said fondly. “I see she made you one to” she observed noticing the matching hat on his head.

“She thinks it makes them look cute” he said drily. “They insisted daddy had to wear his also, the little tyrants” Mousse said, his now perfect eyes sparkling with good humour. Akane laughed when Mei Ling told her how she got her brother, Fu-han in the butt with a snowball. They had decided on traditional Chinese names to make it easier for their friends to them pronounce later on in life.

Unlike Mousse had predicted, Akane loved living on the farm, yes it was in the middle of nowhere. But people were friendly and there was always a doting grandmother or aunts to lend a helping hand with the children. Then there was the other benefit, Akane was training to be an Amazon warrior. Once they’d married and Akane no longer considered to be a threat, Cologne had written to Shampoo’s old sensei to tell her about the newly married outsider who’d showed so much potential in Nerima. She went to visit Akane and a training schedule was worked out. It was a quiet life, yet a happy one. Mousse was a natural father and husband, not to mention lover, but that was another story.

Akane’s life wasn’t all fun and games; there had been some hard moments too, especially when Ranma had sent her a letter through Shampoo, who had returned to China when Ranma went missing. He had sent it with no forwarding address to the Neko Hanten and oddly enough, Shampoo had put it into Akane’s hands unopened when she came to meet her oldest friend’s children, she’d become Aunt Shampoo on the spot. Sensing Akane needed time to read her letter, Mousse had insisted that Shampoo and Cologne come to the house for drinks, leaving Akane before the reflecting pool. She opened the letter and read the final words from the man she thought that she’d once loved.

‘Dear Akane,

I heard that you married Mousse and I wanted you to know that I’m happy you gave him a chance, none of this was anymore of his fault then yours. Neither of you should have been blamed for this. I’m sure that you’re a wonderful mother to your children and love them dearly despite the circumstances of their conception’ she smiled at this; Ranma knew her so well.

‘I thought I would explain why I seemed so distant at the time that you left. I found out that my father wasn’t Genma Saotome and it shattered me. It seemed that I worked so hard for a life that was never was meant to be mine. I suddenly wasn’t the heir to the school and I was never meant to be your fiancé and I didn’t know what to do. I felt torn between wanting to seek out my real father and wanting to help you. But you made that decision for me when you left with Mousse. That inspired me to seek him out. He’s a business man who owns a car factory and he’s invited me to visit him. I won’t include his name incase people try to seek me out. I want a clean start in life, free of the past just like you’ve done. I wish you luck in all endeavors and you’ll always the first girl I ever loved. Sorry I never told you that tomboy.

Ranma X’

Akane cried some tears over this letter, it was yet another thing that Mommas had stolen from her and then she rejoined the family that she’d stolen from Mommas. Seeing the two female Amazons laughing with Mousse, all on equal footing for once, made Akane happy. Especially when he looked at Akane and gave her a smile akin to the sweet dopey one he’d always reserved for Shampoo. She just smiled at the man she loved and took his hand.

“So Shampoo, Mu Tzu told me that you two used to play doctor together” Akane said wickedly in perfect Mandarin.

“Yes, we did” she responded.

“Well isn’t that nice to know?” replied his mother.

“Yes indeed” Cologne agreed coldly while Mu Tzu went pale.

The visit turned out to be a long one and Shampoo and Cologne were invited to dinner.

“Sure would you like me to cook?” Shampoo volunteered.

Mu Tzu shook his head “no its Akane’s turn to cook” he replied.

Shampoo looked somewhat queasy and asked” kitchen wr-Akane can cook?”

“Yes we’ve worked on her cooking skills over time, she’s a good cook now” Mu Tao Lee soothed.

Akane walked into the kitchen and opened the recipe book that Mu Tzu had modified for her, including notes such as ‘this means one teaspoon full, not the entire box’ and ‘the sugar is in the bin with the red top and the salt the one with the green’ and set to work. Knowing full well that Mu Tzu was going to come and help her any second now ‘just in case’

She loved her new life and her new family, there was never a dull moment living with Amazons. She reflected on what brought her here and decided that she didn’t regret a thing, not even THAT. In the end she’d won and it was all because a guy named Mousse had stalked a girl named Shampoo to Nerima.

Btw, her father did come around and was a proud grandfather. He managed to pay off all his debts when he sold the dojo to Ranma Fujimoto and still runs it in his absence when Ranma has to oversee his real father’s factory. He’d done much soul searching and had decided to combine his old life with his new. He’d also returned to Nerima married with a pregnant wife in tow, eliminating all of his remaining fiancées at once.

FIN