Just a Little Time
By Douglas Helm and "Tuxedo" Will Wolfshohl
Continuing a Ranma ½ story kernel by Dark Oni

Those characters that are original and the story "Just a Little Time" are copyrighted ©2003-2004 ShoujoFiction dot com domain by Douglas Helm and Will Wolfshohl. Original kernel copyrighted ©1998 by Dark Oni.

This story and dozens of our other stories reside at ShoujoFiction dot com . Comments are welcomed.

Chapter 13 - Unexpected Delivery

Ranma's arrival on the scene broke up the battle in the furo although he became thoroughly soaked in the process. The three little girls needed a moment or two to realize who had entered the room. Once they did, each had a very different reaction. Shampoo, the oldest, squeaked in embarrassment and tried to hide under the water. It was hardly the behavior of an Amazon warrior. Kasumi, unsure if she was in trouble or not, decided to sit in the furo until she could get a reading on the situation one way or the other. And last but not least, Nabiki clambered out of the tub and hugged Ranma's leg while looking up at him with her cutest smile.

"All right, you three. Who started it?" Ranma asked, not sounding the least bit happy. The water level in the furo was noticeably lower. The purple-haired Amazon girl promptly pointed at Nabiki. Nabiki strangely did not reciprocate. Instead, she pointed at her big sister.

Caught off-guard, Kasumi rapidly considered her options. 'If I say Shampoo did, then we'll likely all get in trouble.' She dismissed that option. 'If I say I did it... But I didn't...' she whined to herself, 'It ain't fair. It really was Nabiki. Shampoo ain't fibbing.' After all, her sister had reacted badly at Shampoo for only pointing out an obvious fact - that Nabiki was still a baby. She stated firmly, "Nabiki started it."

"DID NOT!" the kindergartener howled in protest but apparently, Ranma was willing to side with the majority. The teenaged youth got a towel off the counter and commanded, "Come on, Nabiki, time for bed."

"I didn't do nothin'!" the five year old protested. The pigtailed teen caught Nabiki with his left hand and gave her bottom a firm smack with his right. "Hey! That hurt ya know!" Nabiki shouted while glaring defiantly up at Ranma.

"I ain't gonna say it again, Nabiki. You're goin' right to bed." The youngster again pronounced her innocence as Ranma wrapped her in a bath towel and then carried her from the room.

"Ranma mean to Nabsy," Shampoo observed with a frown. 'Not fair. She's just a baby.'

"Hey wait a minute... You said Nabiki started it."

"Nabiki only having fun. It 'Sumi who yell..."

"I know!" Kasumi interrupted, "But I thought you loved Ranma."

"Shampoo like Ranma. Will make good husband but Nabiki just playing." The former Amazon warrior was apparently taking Ranma's actions personally.

"Don't ya like Nabiki?"

"Nabiki okay... Be good little sister one day." A huge improvement over the arrogant teen she knew. "Shampoo still think Nabiki is baby," Shampoo admitted. "But Nabiki girl, Ranma man. Great-Grandmother say, 'Man to always look after woman.' Yes?"

At that moment, Ranma stuck his head into the room, "If you two wanna story before bed, you'd better hustle up."

"Gee, is it bedtime already, Ranma?" Kasumi wondered aloud. They hadn't been in the furo that long, had they?

"Nah, it's only 6:30," he reassured them. "But others might want to use the furo."

"We'll fill it up," Kasumi volunteered. She got out when Ranma left. "I'm glad our bedtime is eight, Shampoo. I'd hate to go to bed at seven like Nabsy." Her companion nodded her agreement.

# # # # #

Kasumi Tendo ate some of her lunch from the bento Akane had prepared that morning before glancing over at Shampoo. They were confined in their classroom that day due to the inclement weather. The little pigtailed brunette was happy to see that her new friends liked Shampoo genuinely. That made things a lot easier. Still, it was apparent that some of the other children thought she was scary but given the Chinese exchange student's typical temper, it was understandable.

The eight year old had been a little surprised that Shampoo had happily put on the elementary school uniform Akane laid out for her that morning. Unbeknownst to the middle Tendo daughter, Shampoo felt that the uniform did an excellent job of concealing all the assets that she was now lacking. Another fact they discovered was that even though Shampoo was nine, they were both in the same Grade 3 class.

The young Amazon for her part had planned on telling Ranma off for his treatment of her friend's baby sister the night before but somehow, she couldn't ratchet up the courage to do so. Contrary to what most people believed, Shampoo did not find school boring. Quite the opposite, some of the subjects were hard but she didn't feel any restlessness in this form as she had in her teenage one. The gap in her Japanese language and other academic skills was not so great.

Several classrooms away in the kindergarten area, Nabiki Tendo was informing her friends of the latest developments. Yuriko for her part remained quiet. She just couldn't picture being big; it scared her in a way. Yuriko really didn't want to grow up to be anything like her bratty big sister. On the other hand, being big would mean she could get some revenge.

Maki though was ecstatic and spent a good five minutes dancing about with glee, singing at the top of her lungs, "I'm gonna be big!" The youngster proclaimed she was for going out right then and there to hunt the monster down.

"Are you nuts?" Nabiki squeaked. "I'm staying put like Teacher said!"

"Don'tcha wanna be big?" Maki demanded in a whisper.

"I don't wanna be in trouble!" Nabiki retorted. "Ranma will get it." 'Then we can stay like this.' What little she remembered of the dream of her big self, she was a naughty girl especially towards Ranma and Akane. Maki looked stubborn but caved in as her friend Yuriko hugged her and burst into tears.

# # # # #

Ranma Saotome yawned and stretched before rising from his desk. "I'm glad that's over with, Akane," he grumbled as he and Akane left the classroom for the day. "Man oh man, I hate school!"

"You'll need it to be a great martial artist, Ranma-honey."

"Ain't never heard of no Martial Arts Geography."

Akane rolled her eyes but grinned. "Come on, geography is important."

"How?" Ranma demanded, almost missing Akane's exasperated tone.

"Well, we'll have to use geography to found the best place for the new dojo." 'And a home for our kids,' she added silently.

"What about our dads?"

"That..." Akane paused as they exited the main school Furinkan High School building glancing about before saying in a softer tone, "Would not be my first choice, Ranma. I mean..." She giggled. "It'd be a little hard to make love with Father around." There was a crash and upon turning around, the eldest Tendo daughter discovered her fiancé had preformed a perfect face plant into the cement. "Honestly!"

Ranma slowly picked himself up, brushed off his clothes, and gave Akane a serious look. "Um Akane... I need to drop by the Cat Café for a bit. Me and Cologne are working on a new technique. I wanna see if she's ready."

"So I suppose you'll be late for supper?" She'd have to get used to that being the future wife of a top martial artist.

"I'll try not to." His face went scarlet as Akane kissed him.

# # # # #

Ranma was mildly surprised to see Cologne waiting for him. "Knew I was coming, huh Old Ghoul?" he inquired as he approached the main entrance of the Cat Café.

The ancient Amazon grinned. "No, boy. I was just getting some air. Some of those tomes are rather dusty." She then turned serious. "Ranma, we have a problem." When the teen gave her a quizzical look, she continued, "You're going to have to fight this thing blind-folded."

"Why?"

"Well if the texts are true, this thing has a cat's head." The teenager shuddered. "Exactly... I don't want you going into the Neko-ken while you're fighting this thing. Too much is at stake."

"So you know what it is then?"

"Come inside," she indicated and led the way. Ranma followed. He was puzzled when the old woman opened a door and led him down a flight of old stone steps. Moments later, his jaw dropped in surprise as he took in what was possibly the largest dojo he'd ever seen.

"Do you like it, Son-in-law?"

"Where'd you get this?"

"Well, after the phoenix pill went away, I didn't need that large bath. The water bills were outrageous!"

"So you turned it into a dojo?"

"Well, it kept Mousse busy for awhile and besides, Shampoo will need a dowry," Cologne offered. She led him to the center of the huge room. "To answer your question, Ranma, yes, I know what it is. The tomes gave me enough clues so I went and poked about a bit."

"So you saw it, Cologne," Ranma stated. The old woman nodded. "So I have to be blindfolded?"

"I would prefer to cure you of your cat phobia but that would take too long." He sighed internally, which caused her to grin nastily. "So," Cologne said firmly, "We'll begin. Mousse and I will attack you. Once we get this bit out of the way, it'll be onto the hard stuff."

"The hard stuff?" Ranma asked, not liking it a bit.

"Yes, you know how to fight. The first part will only be an extension of what you know. The next part will be new and that will be very challenging." Ranma sighed, not looking forward to what was coming and vaguely wondering if this reality wasn't so bad.

# # # # #

At first, Akane was only mildly annoyed that Ranma did not come home. Her annoyance grew though as first one and then another hour slipped by. She really didn't start to worry until Kasumi and Shampoo had gone to bed. Worry turned to anger at her fiancé for making her worry. She tried to tell herself that she was being silly. Ranma was nearly a grown man and he was more than capable of looking after himself in any situation.

Anger sputtered as weariness overtook her allowing fear to come into play. The eldest Tendo daughter tried to stay awake but eventually gave in to fatigue and went to bed, falling into a sleep that brought a strange dream.

The dream was of Ranma, the girl form of Ranma to be precise. That Ranma though was neither young nor cute, but rather a busty teenage bombshell. Akane felt unease at this. Things began to turn weird when Kuno entered the scene and proclaimed his love for both of them. She produced a large mallet and was about to pound Kuno on the head with it when her alarm clock rang.

A short time later, Akane moved along the hallway, dressed if not yet prepared for the day. She became distressed after she discovered that Ranma's bed had not been slept in. 'I wonder, did Ranma spend all night at the Cat Café?' Deciding to phone the restaurant first before raising the alarm with her father, she made her way quietly to the stairs.

It was only then that she saw Ranma sprawled on the floor by the front door, his shoes still on, and he was snoring. As she moved down the stairs, her initial panic melted away into puzzlement.

"Ranma?" Akane called, shaking her fiancé. "Ranma-honey, wake up." The snoring stopped and then his left eye slid open the slightest bit. "What are you doing down here?" His response was incoherent. "Honestly, did you stay out all night?"

"No, I was training," he replied slowly while trying to stretch. "Oh!" he moaned as a kink developed in his back. "I just couldn't pull myself up the stairs." By the time he had dragged himself home from Cologne's underground dojo, he hadn't even had enough strength to take his shoes off. 'The Old Ghoul's really serious about this.' That worried Ranma. Cologne was always relatively calm and collected. 'She knows something more... but what?' He couldn't think; he didn't want to think.

"You sit up, Ranma-honey," Akane suggested. "I'll go make sure the furo is still warm. You can soak in it before breakfast."

"Thanks Akane," Ranma mumbled and set about getting up in the least painful way.

# # # # #

Nabiki, already wearing her kindergarten uniform, sat at the breakfast table and sulked. Her "boyfriend" was not paying her the slightest bit of attention. He was instead talking with his own and her father about some new martial arts technique. Kasumi and Shampoo were listening as well. She kept shooting dirty looks at Ranma while she ate.

"Fighting without vision, you say," Genma exclaimed, "That would be an advantage, especially against Kodachi or another opponent who uses substances that can get into the eyes."

"And on dark nights too, Saotome," Soun threw in.

"I think it's dumb!" Nabiki put in.

"Eat up, Nabiki," Akane interjected. She was wearing an apron over her high school uniform. "It's almost time for school."

"Yeah," Shampoo chimed in, "Nabiki too little to know it good style."

"Don't be a baby," Kasumi chimed in.

Sniffing loudly, Nabiki stood up and declared, "I'm going to school!" Making a gesture as if to flip long hair over one shoulder, the kindergartner stomped out of the room.

"Kasumi..."

"I know, Daddy. Sorry," Kasumi answered. Sighing, she got up, and left the room trailing her sister.

"Well Ranma-honey," Akane announced, "We should get ready for school too."

# # # # #

Cologne glowered at the three children. "WE don't have time to play," she told Ranma. He and the three girls had arrived at the Cat Café shortly after supper that day.

Akane had been happy that he had come for supper before going off for this special training. However, she had an ace up her sleeve this time. "I couldn't leave the house without them, Cologne." His fiancée insisted it would be good for them to watch him train.

"They can watch IF they remain quiet," Cologne agreed. "Are you ready?" Ranma nodded. "All right, first center yourself, and relax. For the moment, you are safe. No combat yet." He tried to follow the elder's instructions but it was easier said than done, namely because he didn't trust her.

"Ready?"

"Yes." Ranma's mind noted that Nabiki had shifted restlessly. Kasumi and Shampoo were sitting cross-legged on the mat watching with anticipation, however.

"You remember we discussed the difference between Chi and Ki?" He nodded. "What I want you to do, Ranma, is put a ball of Chi, a SMALL ball of Chi, right there." She jabbed a finger to a spot about a foot out from Ranma's stomach.

"How?" Ranma asked, trying to puzzle out how he was supposed to do what she wanted.

"You've used some Ki attacks before, boy," Cologne explained, "Those were external. You want to move a tiny portion of your own spirit, your own being, outside."

The pigtailed youth frowned slightly. He raised his hands cupping them to outline a sphere around the point Cologne had pointed to. He imagined not his Ki, not his life, but his very being flowing out of him forming a perfect ball. Time seemed to creep by as Ranma concentrated and then after several minutes, something happened. It was a strange feeling at the tips of his fingers.

He wasn't sure at first anything was happening, and then watched with stunned amazement as something akin to liquid sunlight slipped from his fingertips in small bluish-white rivulets. They ran together, forming a small shimmering sphere.

The martial artist glanced towards the old Amazon to see if he was doing it right and was more than a little unsettled to see pure amazement on the old woman's face. "What, what does it feel like?" Cologne asked, her voice soft but still sounding harsh after the silence.

He considered this before saying, "Like I jumped up into the air and I was never gonna touch back down again."

Silence fell again. It did not last long though as Nabiki spoke up after perhaps thirty seconds. "This is so boring!" she whined. "Can't we go home?" Startled, Ranma turned and as he did so, the ball of Chi vanished. He felt somewhat disappointed as the strands of his life ebbed back into his body.

# # # # #

"Hang on... I'll be back in a few minutes, Cologne," Ranma told the old woman as they herded the three children toward the front door of the restaurant. "Just as soon as I get these guys home."

"We can go alone, Great-Grandmother," Shampoo whined, "We not babies."

"Yeah!" Kasumi agreed, "I'll look after them."

"Shampoo look after YOUNGER girls." The nine year old remarked. The little pigtailed brunette stuck her tongue out as her new friend.

"I want Ranma to..." Nabiki began but she was cut short as Kasumi poked her rather hard. "Ow!" She rubbed her arm and glared angrily at her big sister.

"Come on, Ranma. You're busy," Kasumi pleaded, "We'll go right home. We promise." She looked to her friend and was happy to see Shampoo nodding her head. It didn't take much more prodding for Ranma to concede and let them walk to the Tendo Dojo unaccompanied.

So, the young trio set off down the sidewalk in slightly different moods. Kasumi was annoyed with her little sister for getting them kicked out. Shampoo though was more than happy to be headed back to the Tendo house and away from the restaurant and its many chores. "Training was boring," Shampoo stated.

"Yeah," Nabiki agreed. The middle Tendo daughter scowled. As they turned the corner, the five year old let out a squeal of delight and ran ahead down the sidewalk.

Kasumi and Shampoo were baffled at first and then Kasumi declared, "Oh, it's Ukyo." She was a little worried that the toddler was out and apparently alone. Hurrying forward, she observed that Ukyo had a small pig she recognized as Akane's pet in her arms. 'P-chan?'

"Ukyo?" Shampoo questioned as she studied the youngster who was looking more than a little worried.

"Who's your friend?" Kasumi asked the toddler.

"Ryouga go piggy," Ukyo announced with a pout. She had been promised an ice cream and he wasn't going to get to weasel out of it if she had anything to say about it.

'Ryouga? No, it can't be...' "Ryouga has a Jusenkyo curse?" Kasumi blurted out in shock. Both Nabiki and Shampoo nodded yes. "How did you know?"

"Well duh!" the kindergartener remarked before adding to her little friend, "Akane can change him back, Ukyo."

"No."

"What about Doctor Tofu?" Kasumi suggested, "We ain't far from his place."

"Kasumi promise go straight home, yes?" Shampoo remarked.

"It's not far and we can't leave poor Ukyo like this."

"Let's go to ol' Doc Tofu's!" Nabiki seconded, "We can score some candy."

"'Kay," Ukyo agreed after a moment's thought.

"Well, let's hurry," Shampoo urged, "It getting late."

# # # # #

Sometime later at the Cat Café, Cologne clamped down on her rising temper. She glared at her pigtailed student who was sitting on the floor looking slightly winded. "You're not paying attention, boy," she snapped at him, "If you keep putting so much CHI into the ball, you'll DIE!"

"I'm havin' trouble telling these two things apart," Ranma mumbled in a sulky tone, which reminded the old woman strongly of the new Shampoo. This martial arts technique was proving to be the most challenging one he had attempted to master yet.

"Let's try it again... When you see Happosai's battle aura, you are not seeing his CHI," Cologne explained, "You are seeing what we are, for the time being, calling KI. The Kanji characters are completely different and mean different things."

"I know!" he shot back while clambering to his feet. "I don't see what the point is, Old Ghoul. How is this stupid thing going to defeat the monster?"

Cologne sighed and stared at the ground for several seconds. "Ranma," she began, lifting her eyes up to regard him, "We're going to make it sick. Your Chi is camouflage... a sweet covering. It's hiding a bad tasting, if not poisonous core."

"Huh?"

"Think of swallowing a delicious-looking octopus ball, only to find out that Happosai had hid his old toenail collection in the middle of it." The pigtailed youth immediately turned green about the gills. She nodded. "See, Son-in-law, not pleasant, and you'd probably want to get rid of it fast, right?"

"You got that right!" Ranma agreed, still feeling queasy.

"Well, your CHI ball will look like the most mouth-watering octopus ball it's ever seen. Your hidden KI though will be very foul tasting. The thing will want to expel it, or if we're lucky, maybe its body will."

Ranma scratched the back of his head for a moment and then said, "Sounds okay I suppose but I keep confusing the two."

"I know, Ranma. You'll have to find some way to keep it straight in that pea brain of yours. I suppose it really comes down to, do you want things to stay the way they are or not?"

Ranma frowned. "Why can't you just do it?"

Cologne cackled for a moment. "I was wondering when you'd ask that, boy. I was thinking about it."

"But..."

"I have too much of the one and not of the other. I probably smell like a rotten egg to it." The teenager grinned at that, which prompted the old woman to whack him over the head with her staff.

"Whatcha do that for, Ghoul? I didn't say nothin'."

"You were going to," the Amazon countered.

"So what do you think I should do?"

"Well... think about what it feels like to have Hinako drain you, Ranma. She's not taking your life spirit; you aren't shrinking. Your little girl half knows what that feels like."

"Yeah," he replied and suppressed a shiver.

"Hinako is taking your battle aura. Your battle energy."

It took Ranma some time to sort through the feelings he held in his memories. It helped though that his smaller cursed self placed the feelings of the monster as fear whereas he thought of being drained by Hinako as anger. Both negative but distinctly different.

"I think I got it," Ranma declared and resumed his combat stance, "Just one question."

"What?"

"What happens when I do get this thing filled?"

"Frankly, Ranma, I have no idea," the old woman admitted. "Now BEGIN!"

# # # # #

It was nearly midnight by the time that Ranma got home from the latest training session. He found Akane asleep in an overstuffed chair in the living room, her head resting on her folded arms. He smiled slightly, and shook her awake.

She blinked, yawned, and then gave Ranma a soft smile. The elder Tendo daughter reached upwards and pulled him down for a kiss. Since he was going to battle the monster in the morning, he permitted himself to return the kiss, although a part of him thought it was weird. "Did the kids get home okay, Akane?" he asked after they pulled apart.

"Yes, with Ryouga's help," Akane answered, then elaborated, "It appears that they took a slight detour today. Ukyo was wandering around with Ryouga in pig form. So the girls decided to take him over to Doctor Tofu's." He frowned. "Apparently, Ukyo didn't want to come over here."

"Funny."

"Yes, well sometimes four year olds are like that, Ranma-honey." Akane pushed herself up. "By the way, Kasumi wanted to know when Doctor Tofu was getting married." She giggled.

"Huh?"

"Well, it looks like they saw him kissing Kodachi and..." Both teens shuddered at that thought.

"Poor guy," Ranma commented through a yawn. "Well I'm off to bed."

"Me too," Akane seconded and followed her fiancé from the room.

# # # # #

Early the next morning, Ranma unconsciously cracked his knuckles as he stared at the canal a few yards away. The day of reckoning had arrived. To his left was Shampoo, to his right Kasumi. Dawn was just breaking. The two girls still looked sleepy and nervous although they were trying to conceal it. He had pulled them from their warm beds thirty minutes ago. Thankfully, Nabiki hadn't shown signs of wanting to come. Instead, the kindergartner had wandered off to snuggle in bed with Akane.

The teenager turned his attention to the old woman. She was carefully outlining a circle in the dirt with her staff. Its interior held another design. One which he was not familiar with. She had only said it would prevent the creature from going back into the canal.

"Nervous?" Kasumi asked him.

"Nah," Ranma said kneeling down to look at eye level, "I'm looking forward to some payback."

"Oh..."

"You can go home if ya want, girls." The eight year old gave him a dirty look. He would have insisted they leave had not Cologne insisted they be there.

"Ranma, no talk stupid," Shampoo commented, "Kasumi and Shampoo help you."

"I still don't like it," Ranma commented.

"Well, Son-in-law," the elder explained, "They are good enough to provide a distraction if necessary. Also, they have such low Chi levels that the creature will likely ignore them." The younger Amazon looked as if she wanted to say something scathing. "Don't worry, Ranma. I will ensure they're not harmed."

"Maybe I shouldn't wear the blindfold..."

"And enter into the Neko-ken? You'd shred it to bits and we'd all be stuck in this reality permanently."

"That not so bad," Shampoo interjected.

"You don't know what you're saying, child!" Cologne scolded. From what she had gleaned from Ranma and the others, Shampoo had a much better chance to capture Ranma's heart in the true reality.

"Shamp... I like it like this." 'Much more fun.'

"No, Shampoo," Ranma disagreed while shaking his head. It was not honorable to steal the others' lives, even if Akane was nicer here. "Things need to change. Okay, are you guys ready?"

"Yes!" Kasumi replied, nervously shifting from foot to foot. Shampoo nodded.

"Here," the old Amazon remarked as she held out a set of wristguards. They were a sapphire blue and seemed to glow with an internal energy.

He took them and inspected them cautiously. "What are they?"

Cologne gave the youth a long look. "These will magnify your Ki, perhaps a thousand-fold." The pigtailed martial artist stared at her.

"What's the catch then, Old Ghoul?" he finally questioned.

She smiled at him ignoring the sputtering noises coming from her great-granddaughter and the longing stares Kasumi was giving the treasure.

"The catch is, Son-in-law, that these may only be used once. There was once three pair. Two are gone and the wisdom to craft more has been lost over the centuries." She gave him a stern look. "This is a one shot chance, Ranma."

"Will it do anything funny to me?"

The old woman frowned. "I can only guess. Your Ki will be severely drained. You'll likely sleep for several days. Other than that... I don't know."

"Whatcha mean you don't know?"

"Ranma," Kasumi chimed in, "Can we do this? Let's hurry up. I'm getting' cold." The teenager regarded her and then at the bracelets in his hands.

"All right," Ranma announced, "Let's roll."

# # # # #

Despite Cologne's intense training regiment, Ranma felt uneasy. The elder's frankness bothered him. Pushing those thoughts aside, he centered himself, clearing his mind. And then as in practice, he pulled down his blindfold and raised his hands forming the outline of a sphere.

Into the center of this "sphere", he imagined his own lifeforce dripping... Gliding down his arms and running out from his fingertips. He knew it was happening because he felt that odd sensation, like flight without moving. After few moments, he held the small shimmering blue-white sphere still, allowing no more of his precious spirit to flow out.

He took a minute to orient himself. Although he could see nothing, his other senses were still keen. He could hear Kasumi's breathing; he could sense Shampoo shifting side to side with nervous anticipation. He felt Cologne at his back, cool and calm as ever. He heard the sounds of the city and the running water of the canal.

"Ready," he declared as calmly as he could. He reached inside his own being bringing forth his battle aura, his Ki. The effect was not what he expected. Suddenly, every nerve surged to life as the wristguards amplified his growing power. Carefully he started feeding his battle aura into the sphere. He knew from practice that alone, he could get the glowing ball of his two energies to something greater than a small beachball. He could feel it growing now, surpassing that size, becoming larger more intense, changing as the two energies assembled.

Shampoo gasped as the normally calm water in the canal suddenly seemed to boil, white foam covering its surface. Then with an earthshaking roar, the thing that had attacked her lifted high into the air. The young Amazon quickly glanced at Kasumi who was looking grimly determined.

All parties stared at the creature. At night, it was ominous looking enough; by day, it was even more so. Hundreds of glowing tentacles writhed in apparent anticipation. Its head was a massive, cat-like thing, its eyes glowing green with hunger. It had matted gray fur.

Much to her surprise, Shampoo felt a tremendous urge to run away. To possibly hide with little Nabiki who was likely still asleep in her bed at this hour. 'I'm an Amazon warrior,' she repeated to herself. Although, 'But I'm just a kid,' crept into her thoughts as well.

"Stay there!" her great-grandmother's voice thundered, making Shampoo jump. She looked about; Kasumi had already rushed forward. "Remember, girls, only attack if it tries to sneak up on Ranma."

'No worry there,' the purple-haired child thought wildly as the creature heaved itself out from the water and onto the grassy meadow abutting the canal. Despite its great bulk, its energy-sapping appendages moved it along rapidly.

As it grew closer, they could see its gaping maw revealing row upon row of razor-sharp teeth. It was too much for Kasumi. She gave a squeal of terror and ran from the scene of battle. Shampoo didn't blame her friend but she couldn't leave Ranma.

"What's happening?" Ranma demanded, "Kasumi?"

"'Sumi go 'way!" Shampoo shouted back. The creature was producing a low rumbling sound, something like a purr. It shook the ground and made her very soul vibrate. They could sense its wanton lust directed toward Ranma's Chi.

"How far is it?" Ranma asked. 'Glad Kasumi's out of it.'

"Not far!" Cologne answered.

Suddenly the creature reared high into the air and flung several tentacles forward toward Ranma. Instincts took over for anything else and Shampoo rushed the creature, swinging her child-sized bonbori for affect. A tentacle engaged her in a brief exchange trying to penetrate her defense. She crushed it to the ground with an overhead swing that made her topple forward leaving her prone for a counterstrike. Fortunately, for the little girl, the creature's attention was too intent on Ranma to pay her much heed.

The teenaged martial artist could feel the creature's power, could sense the tentacles of energy inching towards him. Coming within their grasp. At the last instant, he leapt into the air pulling the prize with him. The creature roared with rage.

"What are you doing, boy?" Cologne demanded.

"Getting it ticked!" Ranma replied. Ranma landed and kicked off again as more tentacles swarmed about him. "Come on, ugly! FREE EATS!" Despite its large size, Ranma did not find the sphere cumbersome although he could only battle with his feet.

"Ranma, quit playing around!" shouted the Amazon elder. He was about to respond when he heard Shampoo give a cry of pain.

"HEY YOU!" he shouted, landing and preparing himself for the onslaught, "Come and get it!" To ensure that the cause of all this trouble got the picture, the pigtailed youth rushed towards his enemy. The creature shrieked in delight. It lifted most of its tentacles from the ground and plunged them into the massive, shining sphere that his quarry held. Energy surged inward as it drank the contents greedily.

Ranma was knocked backwards by the strike and let out a scream as some of his lifeforce and most of his battle aura was sucked into the creature. Falling two his knees, he vaguely wondered if it had failed.

Cologne watched the strike with both concern and curiosity. As the bubble of Chi and Ki vanished, Ranma fell to his knees. For the briefest of moments, she thought it hadn't worked. That feeling grew as Ranma started to grow younger. He appeared no more than twelve years old, his clothing becoming looser. The elder Amazon contemplated whether to invoke a contingency plan of action when a huge explosion of light and debris occurred. The creature as well as Shampoo and Ranma vanished into blinding white light. Simultaneously, the resulting force lifted Cologne off of her feet and flung her backwards.

# # # # #

"Let me up!" Yuriko squealed in a near wail. Nanami was holding her down and grinning evilly.

"Not until you say it!" her big sister taunted.

"No!" the youngster replied, "MOMMY!"

"Nanami, play nice with your little sister!"

"I am!" the preteen assured her mother.

That's when the windows rattled and there was a flash of light. Nanami turned her attention to the window, stared at it for a moment, and then returned to her five year old sister as the youngster's body shifted.

Much to the older girl's surprise, Yuriko's clothing ripped and burst apart at the seams. Nanami backed away as her kid sister rapidly started to grow older.

# # # # #

Maki was in the unwanted position of being spanked that morning. As the five year old stared at the ground over her mother's lap, she thought that today was just not going to be her day. Was it her fault that she couldn't juggle, or that raw eggs break when they hit the floor?

Maki's mother was about to deliver yet another swat to her daughter's already smarting backside when the thunderous boom shook the windows. Maki was startled as her arms and legs shot forwards, suddenly gaining length. As her arms and legs gained length, she toppled from her mother's lap. Her pajamas in tatters as her torso enlarged. Her waist and hips increased in size, her formerly non-existent bosom expanded.

# # # # #

Ukyo was having a bath when things started to change. Ryouga was watching her play happily with a rubber duck in the furo when suddenly her hair started to grow to remarkable length. And then, other things started to change. At the Tendo Dojo, Soun suddenly found himself holding a naked teenaged Nabiki on his lap.

# # # # #

Doctor Tofu was making a rarity of rarities - a house call - when he saw Kasumi Tendo running down the street. The little girl was crying and that worried the young physician. Moving forward, he called out to her. Almost at once, the pigtailed child ran to him and flung her arms about it.

"Kasumi, what's the matter?" he asked but before she could speak, a large explosion occurred in the distance followed by a shockwave of air and light. For a moment, the doctor had a heart-sinking feeling that someone had just exploded a bomb. His services might be required. Until he was sure, there was a scared child that needed him. He looked down and gasped. Kasumi was changing. Her proportions were filling out. Stepping back, he watched as the eight year old transformed, growing in years in as many seconds shredding her clothing along in the process.

The young doctor's mind was starting to grasp the impossibility of the situation when it registered something even more urgent: he was in close proximity to the very lovely looking, provocatively-clad, and still weeping Kasumi Tendo, age nineteen. A few moments later, her normal housedress and other clothing coalesced around her.

As was typical, Tofu's brain timed-out, his glasses fogged over, and he went into a spasm of joy and happiness that carried him, dancing, away down the street. Kasumi for her part felt more than a little annoyed at Tofu but it didn't last long. Instead, the young maiden's thoughts returned to Shampoo and the others who she had abandoned.

# # # # #

"MOMMY!" Nanami wailed.

"Yuriko! Be nice to your sister!"

"I am, Mom!" called back the seventeen year old wearing a high school uniform tightened the headlock she had on her now younger sibling.

At the Tendo home, Nabiki felt her cheeks growing warm as she blushed. She glanced down just to make sure that she had her school uniform on. Giggling, the once again seventeen year old gave the surprised Soun a hug and moved to sit beside him. Maki, for her part, simply stared at her mother in mild puzzlement, her high school uniform only mildly rumpled from her fall.

Ryouga for his part did the gentlemanly thing and passed out from lack of blood. After all, that's the only proper thing to do when a naked rather wet and giggly young woman springs from the bath and hugs you.

Reality shimmered... And no one remembered anything unusual, save the former victims of the creature.

# # # # #

Shampoo somewhat dazed by the blast blinked the spots from her eyes; she felt strange. Pushing herself up, she looked down and felt herself starting to grin. That grin spread until it connected both her ears. She was wearing her red Chinese dress and it was not covering a little girl. Squealing in delight, she danced around and hugged her returned "hoo-hoos" with enthusiasm. After a few moments when no one joined her, she looked around. She saw that all that remained of the creature was the singed head, looking rather funny with its "fur" pushed in all directions, and one lone tentacle that was still twitching.

She spotted Ranma and ran over to him. He was on his hands and knees and looked ready to pass out. "Husband, did it!" the voluptuous sixteen year old Amazon cried happily and glommed onto him.

"What?" he asked vaguely.

Shampoo lifted the blindfold from Ranma and grinned at him. "You like?" She stood back, wiggled her sexy hips, and giggled. The pigtailed martial artist stared at her.

"We did it?" the sixteen year old martial artist asked weakly.

"Yes!" Shampoo giggled sweetly, "We get Great-Grandmother than go find 'Sumi and tell..." The rest of her sentence was cut short as something wrapped itself about her neck. Ranma watched in horror as Shampoo was entwined by the tentacle. The Amazon struggled, twitching and kicking.

"Cologne!" Ranma shouted, getting to his feet.

"Oh..." Shampoo groaned faintly and crumpled to the ground. The pigtailed youth rushed forward to try and pry the tentacle away from the girl but its grip was too strong. Eventually, the tentacle loosened. Ranma tossed it aside before collapsing to the ground, gulping in air, and trying to fight against a heavy weight of fatigue playing over him.

# # # # #

"You got the monster, right Daddy?" the five year old asked him.

"Yes, I did," Ranma confirmed, a strange look in his eyes.

"What about Shampoo?" his eldest asked. 'She was so brave.'

"Well..." Akane said, "She lived."

# # # # #

Cologne looked down at her stricken great-granddaughter. The once fine Amazon warrior and fiancée of Ranma Saotome had shrunk, grown chubby, had become even younger than before. She stooped gathering the tiny child up in her arms. "Oh Shampoo..."

"What happened?" Ranma asked nearly at the point of collapse. With great effort, he pushed himself to a sitting position. He stared down at Shampoo, the one who saved him. What stared back was not the face of a strong and beautiful fighter on the verge of adulthood, but that of a tiny infant girl, no more than a month old. "Shampoo?" he moaned before he fainted.

"No more," Cologne said sadly, her eyes downcast. "No more..." The last was only a mutter.

# # #

Epilogue

There was a deep silence, and then the five year old asked, "So Daddy, what happened to the monster?"

"Forget about that," Ranma's eldest cut in before anyone could answer, "I wanna know what happened to Shampoo?" Much to her and her siblings' annoyance, the adults shared one of those looks that said they knew more than they were willing to tell.

"Well," her mother decided to reply, "The monster went away."

"It's not around no more?"

"Nope, just crumbled into dust," Ranma assured his daughters.

"As to Shampoo... That's another story and we've already had one." There were groans of protest from her daughters. "Minako, take your sisters up to bed." This of course produced even more groans of protests.

"Well," Soun announced, startling Ranma who had nearly forgotten he was there, "I think that's my cue to head home."

"Read me a story, Grandpa!" the second youngest girl demanded.

The old man smiled down at his young granddaughter and patted her gently on the head. "Maybe some other time, honey. Your Auntie Kasumi will be wondering where I am."

"But Dad..." Akane started to protest but Soun waved her silent.

"Akane-dear, I was here all day, ate quite well, and heard a most interesting story. Besides, I have to help Genma with something tomorrow so I should go."

Meanwhile, Minako hustled her two youngest sisters out of the room. The remaining older ones knew the grownups wanted to talk alone so they didn't make too much of a fuss. For a time, there was confusion as the various girls said goodnight and then drifted out of the living room. Soun said his final good-byes and they him leave the house, all the while humming slightly. Finally though, the room only contained Nabiki, Ranma, and Akane.

"Well," Nabiki declared, "That was interesting." Ranma gave her a sheepish grin. "I take it that the girls were looking for me to be the villain?"

"Not really, Sis," Akane answered, "Sorry..." she trailed off as Nabiki waved it off.

"No skin off my nose, Sis, and I'm pretty sure Ranma missed some choice bits."

"Oh?" her sister asked, "Like what?"

Ranma looked puzzled. "I don't think so, NABSY."

"I know you spanked me a couple of times," his sister-in-law stated. The pigtailed martial artist shook his head firmly. Akane for her part frowned slightly. Nabiki tilted her head for a moment and then grinned. "Oh yeah, that's when you and me went after the 'magic pickle'."

"Magic pickle?" Akane asked, her eyes fixating on her husband.

"You mean you didn't tell Akane about the Magic Pickle of Happiness?"

"Come on, Nabiki. It was embarrassing!" Ranma mumbled out, much to his relief Akane gave him a small smile. "I can tell you later, okay Akane-dear?"

"Yes," Akane agreed, "One story is enough for one night."

Nabiki turned serious at that, "So, when are you going to tell her?"

"Tell who what?"

The former kindergartner rolled her eyes. "Tell Minako she's actually Shampoo."

"Perhaps when she's older," Akane said noncommittally.

"Maybe sooner," Ranma interjected. "She wants to go to China."

"WHAT?" both Tendo daughters screeched.

The pigtailed father held up his hands in a warning gesture. "She wants to see Mousse and meet Cologne."

"She can't go back there."

"Don't worry, Sis. You're her parents now," Nabiki remarked, "I thought she wanted your curse or something for a second. Besides, she's what now?"

"Fourteen." Ranma sighed.

"It's not that, Nabiki," Akane assured her. Clutching her fists, she explained, "Cologne originally came to Japan to kill Shampoo for violating their laws. She couldn't go through with it though. That's why she stayed here as long as she did. Even if Shampoo had grown into a woman and hadn't met the monster, she would've never been able to return to her village in China without Ranma as her husband."

"Oh..." Nabiki stared at her sister, "When did you find this out?"

"Well, remember when Kasumi was taking it pretty hard for a while?" The elder sister nodded. "She went to talk to Cologne. The old goat told her, flat out. As if poor Kasumi didn't have enough guilt about running off." Ranma looked more than a little unhappy about that. "She was only a child. You know," Akane continued, turning slightly serious, "If Ranma had come home claiming that the baby was Shampoo and I didn't see Kasumi or Nabiki acting so weird, I wouldn't have believed it myself."

"Oh come on, Akane!" Nabiki protested, "The only reason why you took it seriously is that Ranma was out cold for a week. Mousse had to drag his sorry butt home. It was me 'n' Kasumi who told you." 'You seemed so scary to us, we had to tell you.'

"Ukyo didn't help?"

"She barely remembers anything about it. Likely due to shock," Akane explained, "Although she was mad when she realized that Ryouga was passed out on the floor." Both Ranma and Nabiki grinned at that. "You know, she still thinks it was all some concoction that Kodachi whipped up. But how she can be mad at Ryouga and not Kodachi I'll never know..."

"You were a little mad too I think, Akane-dear."

"Honestly. When was I mad?" Akane demanded of her now older sister.

"Oh... I suppose when I gave Ranma a big old hug after he woke up." Akane gave her sister a mock glare. Ranma grinned.

"Yeah that was some surprise let me tell ya, scared me spitless too." Seeing both women give him puzzled looks, he continued, "See I woke up, wandered downstairs, and the next thing I know, Nabiki's hugging me so hard I can't breathe. When Kasumi started doing it too, it worried me even more. Couldn't remember nothing at first."

"It certainly opened Kasumi's eyes," Nabiki remarked. "At least, she isn't so oblivious to everything."

"I dunno," Ranma remarked, "How she could marry Kuno of all people... not to mention giving birth to two sons."

"Our nephews are handsome and polite boys, Ranma," Akane protested. "And Daddy does seem to have a calming influence on him."

"But Kuno?" Ranma protested, "The same guy who was after BOTH of us?"

"You know, I always thought you'd snag him for yourself, Nabiki," her sister remarked.

"Oh please!" The older Tendo rolled her eyes. "He just isn't my type." Her type of man would have been a "Ranma Saotome" with lots of money.

"So when are you going to settle down with some nice guy, Sis?" Akane continued.

"Not for me, little sister," Nabiki countered while waving the thought away, "I can do what I want, when I want. I have five lovely nieces and two handsome nephews that I can spoil rotten too so I don't need kids. When they're bad, I just send them home." She gave her sister an evil grin. "Besides, the men I would be interested in might not know how to deal with a gender-changing brother-in-law."

Ranma smirked. "First time after the monster attacked, I got splashed and the change came. I actually was kinda thrilled about it."

"Oh please, give me a break... He was SICKENING, Nabiki," Akane countered. "You'd think she got a brand new toy the way the girl half of him carried on at seeing her boobs." It was Ranma's turn to glare, although with mild affection.

"I did eat your cooking though, didn't I?"

"Well yes..."

"And I did say you were cute. Right?"

"Yes..." Akane had started to turn red, which made Nabiki narrow her eyes suspiciously.

"And I did tell Ukyo I didn't want her as a fiancée no more?"

"When did you tell her that, Ranma?" his wife asked. "I thought she'd finally just given up."

"If you don't believe me, I'm quite sure Nabsy here has a taped copy hidden somewhere." His sister-in-law for her part punched Ranma rather hard in the arm. "Hey!"

"I do not!" The middle Tendo daughter looked a little miffed now. "Honestly, don't you think I learned anything from that little trip?"

"Nabiki has a point, Ranma-honey. She did change," Akane mentioned. 'So did I.'

"Sorry," Ranma apologized, although he gave Nabiki an impish grin, "Think you can hit that hard at practice Wednesday?"

"That's one of the reasons I came over here."

"Oh?" both Saotomes asked.

"I need to cancel my Wednesday practice, Ranma."

"Why?"

"'Cause I'm flying out to Singapore on a business trip and won't be back until Friday night."

"Is Yuriko going with you?" Akane asked.

"Yes," Nabiki sounded annoyed, "Although I told her I was perfectly capable of closing this deal alone."

"You should have told her that Maki was coming," Ranma remarked.

The businesswoman smirked. "But that would be lying. Maki's off doing something with the SDF. Besides, one does not lie to one's executive assistant."

"Speaking of fibs... Nabiki, if you don't wanna take my classes no more, just tell me," her brother-in-law commented. "I won't blame ya. It's not for everybody."

"But I do want to practice, sensei."

"You've missed the last three," he said disbelievingly, a slight frown on his face, "Ya won't hurt my feelings, Nabsy."

"I'll make it up to you, sensei. I promise." Crossing her heart like she had when she was five.

"How?" the pigtailed father asked.

"I'll come with you and Minako on your next training trip." Akane snorted even before Ranma could answer. "I will!"

"I'd probably pay to see that."

"Careful, Akane, we don't have enough money for the TV, let alone something THAT expensive."

"That's the other reason I came, Sis." She reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope. "This should cover the cost of the TV repair." Ranma was about to reach for it but his wife shook her head. "Don't be stubborn, Akane. I'd like to help. I know it's not easy raising five kids."

"Thank you, Nabiki, but we don't need it," her younger sister stated.

"We don't?" Ranma asked.

"No," Akane reiterated. Standing, she walked to the darkened television, bent down, and fiddled with something behind it. A few moments later, she stood and depressed the power button. Both Nabiki and Ranma stared in fascination as the screen came to life.

"How did you do that?" Ranma asked.

"It's amazing," Akane declared, a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth, "What can happen when you plug it in." Nabiki bowed her head to the table and howled with laughter.

# # # # #

Upstairs in her room, Minako Saotome heard her aunt laughing although she couldn't overhear what was so funny. It was irksome. 'Why are they treating me like a little girl?' She was fourteen years old, not three like her baby sister! 'I'm ALMOST a grown woman for Pete's sake.' After all, she turned the head of many a boy at school with her busty figure. And she knew very well how to take care of any trouble, thanks to her father's martial arts training. She sighed a little, wishing she could be downstairs talking with the adults. She had liked hearing about Shampoo. She wanted more information. Was Shampoo still living in Japan? She would like to meet her.

"What's the matter with ya, Min?" her sister asked from her position lying on her bed across the room.

"Nothin'," Minako replied. Being the eldest daughter did not mean she got a room to herself. She shared it with her twelve year old sibling. At least, this sister was wearing a bra even if it was just a training variety. Even though she loved them dearly, her other sisters were practically babies. Then, the purple-haired teen could always stake out the guestroom but right then, she wasn't in any particular hurry. Her parents would probably agree.

Thinking of her other sisters made her smile. Her middle sister who was eight and her second youngest sister who was five shared a room together for the last year. The eight year old had been annoyed; the kindergartner thrilled when it happened. Of course, Minako knew something she doubted her other sisters were privy to at the moment. The baby of the family who was only three years old was going to be moved in with her older sisters sometime in the next few days. Exactly why this was, Minako hadn't been able to find out. When she had asked, her mother had given her a look that clearly told her it wasn't up for discussion, and to not to discuss it with them.

Getting up, Minako walked over to the window and looked out into the deepening night over the City of Nerima.

# # # # #

At the same time, somewhere in an underwater cavern, a creature was hibernating, dreaming of its future conquests.

End of "Just a Little Time"

Authors' Afterwords: (by "Tuxedo" Will):

Well, another story is complete after more than a year of effort. This was our first attempt to enter the world of Ranma ½ and it is likely not to be our last. It was great to write about a group of different characters that we have come to love. As usual, we focused on relationships and character development over raw action. Ranma ½ was always more than the fantastic martial arts techniques IMHO.

"Just A Little Time" was a kernel written by Dark Oni several years ago. He only wrote one chapter and never had the time nor desire to continue it. I enjoyed his chapter (much of which was eventually folded into Chapter 1 of our story), and I always wanted it completed. I thought of several possible directions it could go as well as scenes I hoped he would include. I waited and waited and nothing happened. I thought it would be a good story for Doug and me to do given our writing style so I ran it by Doug. He had also read it and wanted to see more. Therefore, I contacted Dark Oni to propose letting us complete his story and the rest as they say is history. We hope you enjoyed the results.

The future is still bright for us. We have some Sailor Moon, our original World of Velaria, and maybe some other new series we want to write about. Our biggest problem is the lack of free time. We'll keep plugging away to make sure that Shoujo Fiction stays vibrant.

I'd like to thank Doug Helm for co-authoring once again with me. We complement each other well and these stories could not exist without his tireless effort. We'd like to thank Dark Oni for giving us permission to complete his story and for being there as a betareader throughout. Now maybe we can get him to complete some of his other stories. And we'd like to thank you the readers, especially those who have taken the time to write us to comment on our scribblings.

Will Wolfshohl and Doug Helm
April 2004

"Shoujo Fiction™ and the Shoujo Fiction™ logo are a Trademark of Douglas Helm and Will Wolfshohl. Copyrighted ©2002-2003, All Rights Reserved.