Am I Pretty Again Ranma�s Declaration of Womanhood

Shampoo lay in bed covered just by a silk sheet that molded itself to her gorgeous curves; she gave Mousse a seductive smile and beckoned to him. He approached the bed, took a hold of the sheet and drew it off of her to reveal her naked body to his hungry gaze. His mouth went dry as large breasts sprang into view, followed by a miniscule waist, a taut, flat muscular stomach, a plump purple furred pubic mount and then long powerful legs. Shampoo was perfect! She held her arms out to him and he joined her in the large western style bed, he sighed as perfumed female flesh pressed against his own. Her mouth met his, their kisses were deep and hungry as their tongues wrestled for dominance. His finger penetrated her sheath to find her dripping wet. He pressed her back and arched over her to settle at her entrance, the place he'd always dreamed of being. His hungry gaze met hers as he rocked his hips forward to enter her gates to heaven itself. He hissed as her hot, liquid tightness gripped him and she moved with him in the dance older than time. Their bodies heaved and rocked together in a rhythm that would have made the waves jealous at their perfect synchronicity. His lips met hers and their velvety tongues merged again, while he tried to make this last as long as possible. Her mews of pleasure were music to his ears. They came together in mutual bliss and then he cradled her sweat bedewed body close, her slick breasts nestled against him and he could hear her heartbeat. "I love you" he whispered to her.

She cuddled him closer and said "I love you too Mousse" Realizing that there was something different about her voice, he lifted his head up to stare into Ranko's happy, flushed face.

Mousse sat bolt upright in bed. He sat there remembering his dream and then said one single word "shit"

Akane was surprised to find Ranko in her room and wondered why the girl blushed and hid something behind her back. She'd tried to like the other girl, but she was a painful reminder of the missing Ranma. "What have you got there?" she asked her suspiciously.

"I'm sorry Akane, I was just admiring this picture" Ranko admitted, pulling it out from behind her back. "I wasn't going to steal it"

Akane looked at it; it was the group photo from the floating island. This caused her to smile; Ranma had bought her the frame for their first Christmas together. She stroked the glass over Ranma's face 'always surrounded by girls' she thought fondly and turned back to Ranko. "Why were you looking at this picture?" she asked her.

"He looks so handsome in it" Ranko explained.

"Ranma?" Akane asked.

"No Mousse" Ranko admitted, she blushed even darker and touched where he was in the picture. She could barely make him out as he was hidden behind Shampoo, but it was the only photo she could find of him.

Akane's eyes went wide to discover that the girl had a crush on her guardian. She didn't think her capable of those emotions. "You know that you can't have him right? It's not just because he's in love with Shampoo, but that you can't have a real relationship with anyone. Once Ranma takes control of his body then you will cease to exist" she said as nicely as possible.

Her eyes filled with tears "you think that I don't know that? Akane if it would make you happy, I would give Ranma back to you in a heartbeat. I can dream, can't I? What I wouldn't give to be a real girl" she said and gazed sadly at the photo.

Akane put her arms around the girl, feeling sorry for her desperate love. "Mousse is really handsome without his glasses on" she agreed.

"I know, and he's so kind and has the nicest smile" the other girl enthused.

"You should have seen the tiny shorts he wore on that vacation" Akane said.

"Please tell me more" the other girl begged.

"Of course, why don't you hang onto this photo for now" Akane suggested.

"You don't mind?" she said.

"Of course not" Akane assured her and told her all the Mousse stories that she could think of, Ranko listened to them hungrily.

Mousse was out walking with Ranko. She wore a dark blue flared skirt with yellow butterflies on it and a yellow sweater set that matched the yellow of her skirt. She'd whimsically pinned a blue butterfly brooch to her sweater. In the few short weeks that she had appeared, Ranko had grown as a person; she was no longer a scared, timid little creature. They had built a wardrobe for her supplied by swap meets, garage sales and even Shampoo had donated hand-me-downs that no longer fit her. She matched these pieces into a style that was uniquely her own, that drew attention to her cute figure, without displaying it too much. She would smile at people in the streets and they would smile back at the pretty girl. She was the most popular waitress in the Nekohanten, but her manner wasn't flirtatious. She just was sweet, friendly and took a personal interest in all of her customers. She had several men ask her for dates, but she just thanked them and then replied that she had a boyfriend.

Mousse enjoyed working with her; she never failed in her duties. At the end of the night she would automatically take her place beside him and dry the dishes as he handed them to her. Then she would sweep while he put the chairs up. They worked well together and he enjoyed being with her, a lot. He spent almost every waking hour with her and looked forward to seeing her each morning. This disturbed him somewhat, and then there were the dreams....... He snuck a peek at her and she beamed back under her cute flowered sun hat.

"Ranko I have to get a key cut for you. Do you want to come in the store with me?" Mousse asked.

"It's so nice out, I think I'll just have a seat on that bench" she said, pointing to a shaded bench.

Mousse was only in the store for a few seconds when he heard a scream; he dashed out to find a struggling Ranko being clutched by Kuno while she comedically struck him over the head with her purse. Mousse sighed, he knew that they would have to see her suitor soon or later, they'd been lucky until now that he'd been away. "Let go of my fiancée" Mousse demanded before he even had a second to think. Both confused faces turned to him.

"Since when are you involved with this woman?" Kuno demanded, but released her. She ran to Mousse's side and he put his arm protectively around her.

Mousse got a really bad feeling about this, but thought of a melodramatic story that might tug at the heart strings of the delusional kendoist. Mousse lowered his head and then looked up "we were engaged at a young age by our parents" he said, slightly ripping off the real Ranma's story.

"Wait a minute, there's no way that she's Chinese. She certainly doesn't have your accent" Kuno objected.

"She's Chinese citizen as much as I am. She was spirited from our village at a young age by a childless Japanese couple who happened upon her by mistake. Taken by her unique red headed beauty, they stole her from her rightful parents and smuggled her into Japan, where she was raised as their daughter Giving up hope of every seeing her again, I sought another fiancée to replace her and tried to claim the heart of Shampoo. However it was never the same love that I had for my rightful fiancée, Ranko. This sweet, tender creature felt that she was missing someone too, so she tried to console herself with Ranma to no avail" Mousse intoned gravely and winked at Ranko.

She repressed a giggle and said "it's true I simply couldn't love Ranma"

"The cad, abusing her feelings like that when her heart belonged to another" Kuno said in outrage. "Well then tell me your happy ending" he said.

Ranko giggled "the ending is very appropriate way of putting it. I remembered that I once knew someone important to me who had a distinctive birthmark on his rear. It was quite by accident that Mousse forgot to lock the door to his changing room when we were shopping together. I went to knock on the door and it swung open. You could say that all was revealed" she said, Mousse blushed. "I recognized the birthmark right away and started questioning my darling Mousse about himself. As soon as I found out that his missing love had red hair, I confronted my parents and they admitted their deception. So now we are finally reunited" Ranko said, sniffling dramatically and allowing some crystalline tears to run down her face.

Kuno pulled out a handkerchief and mopped away his own tears "true love reunited, that's a wonderful thing" he declared. "I shall never disturb your fiancée again" he promised.

"It's okay, you just startled me" Ranko said, she still had her arm looped around Mousse's waist and didn't seem to be in any hurry to remove it. He hoped that she wouldn't either. He liked holding her this way; she was a friendly soul who loved to give hugs.

"Could I make it up to you by inviting you both to come make use my pool?" Kuno asked.

They exchanged glances that confirmed that they both liked the idea of spending a hot day in the pool at Kuno's mansion "we'd love to" they both said in unison.

Mousse sat in a lounge chair while Ranko went down the waterslide. She squealed at the cold water, she shared Ranma's love of swimming and did so like a fish. She wore a yellow bikini that Mousse suspected belonged to Akane, as it seemed to be tight on Ranko's chest, and then blushed that he'd noticed. As far as pool party went, it was a little one sided. Ranko could only swim in cold water to stay a girl and Mousse could only go into the hot tub or become a duck. So they couldn't really swim together, but they both were having fun doing their separate activities.

Ranko kept on sneaking admiring looks at Mousse's exposed chest and legs. He wore baggy swim trunks but they still allowed enticing glimpses. He lay back in a deck chair and seemed to be snoozing. Quick as wink, she snuck up behind him with a bucket of cold water and poured it over his head. Then there was a damp duck quacking angrily at her. She laughed as he flew after her, until she managed to dodge him and he landed in the hot tub. She laughed when an irate looking Mousse surfaced and then she threw his swim trunks into the water with him.

"I'll get you for that" he threatened when he emerged. He scooped her up and ran into the pool to cannonball them both, then tickled her with his bill. He had found by experience the best places to tickle a girl as duck and suddenly didn't mind being a duck.

When they got back to being themselves, Kuno joined them "are you having fun?" he asked.

'Yes thanks so much Kuno-kun" Ranko said brightly.

"Are you two planning to attend the dance?" he asked.

"What dance?" Mousse asked, he was new to their high school and had only attended the school activities that Ranko wanted to, which included the embroidery clubs, flower arranging and the future homemaker's society. The other members thought that Mousse was 'just a doll" to join with her.

"The spring dance at the finest hotel in town?" Kuno asked not believing that they hadn't heard of it. "The theme is China this year

"Good theme" Mousse muttered in irritation. He noticed Ranko looking at him in anticipation. "Would you like to go with me?" Mousse asked, he felt shy because he'd never really been on a date before.

"I would love to go" Ranko replied with a shy smile.

"Great, you both can sit at my table then" Kuno said.

They were invited to stay for dinner and all opted to barbeque rather then formal dining. Ranko immediately took over grilling the chicken and steak with the help of Sasuki, then went into the kitchen to locate the fixings for three different types of salad and made a pitcher of fresh squeezed lemonade. She poured out some glasses and took them to the boys, and then Sasuki. She'd changed back into her clothes and wore a frilly apron over these. Her hair was still damp from the shower and she looked adorable. She joined the ninja at the grill and said something that got him laughing.

Kuno could only look on with envy at the obvious affection between them. "You're a lucky man, she's gorgeous, a great cook and really charming" he said.

Mousse was really enjoyed his day as her fake fiancé "yes I am" he replied as she started towards him with a plate of food.

They thanked their new friend and walked towards the Tendo home "are you sure you want to go to the dance with me? I can't dance" he admitted.

"It's pretty easy, usually the girl's fast dance together and the men only tend to slow dance" Ranko explained. "Please, it'll be fun" she pleaded.

"Okay, okay I'll go" he said rolling his eyes.

"I'm glad" she said flinging her arms around him and giving him a swift hug that caused him to blush. She wore a perfume that smelled like violets he realized.

They continued to walk and then she blushed and asked "Mousse how do you check if a girl's a virgin?" She was embarrassed to ask him this, but he was the only one that she trusted.

"The biggest indicator is if her hymen's intact" he said with an answering blush. He couldn't see her not being a virgin, but Ranma did play kind of sexy with her form so there was a slim chance she wasn't.

"How do you do that?" she asked.

"The best thing would be to go to Dr. Tofu's clinic, he could check for you" Mousse suggested.

Ranko turned red at the idea of Dr. Tofu examining her privates "I don't think that I want him poking around down there" she responded.

"Why do you want me to check?" Mousse joked.

Ranko turned even darker at the memory of touching herself and imagining Mousse watching "no" she said hastily.

"Perhaps you can ask Cologne to? She's normally the one who examines new brides before marriage to bear witness to their virginity" Mousse suggested.

"Do you think she would?" she asked her hopes blossoming.