I do not own Ranma or any of the characters, places, intellectual properties etc therein, they are in the sole ownership of one Rumiko Takahashi. Out of respect for this last chapter (or is it?) I've decided not to ramble on... enjoy.

-Epilogue-

Ranma was almost sad to be finally stepping off the boat, he would miss the heady smell of salt in the air and the gentle rocking of the waves. Xian-Pu was not quite so melancholic, the only reason she had agreed to even get on the boat was because they had both agreed to forgo air travel for a while. Though this reminded her far too much of her first trip to Japan, full of storms and violent waves crashing against the small, rickety boat.

It helped that Ranma was there to comfort her through the journey but she had started to become a bit irritable toward the end, even to her Airen. It was only through her well-maintained dignity that stopped her from launching to the floor of the dock and kissing the solid ground. Ranma watched on with amusement even as he thanked the captain of the small vessel and departed himself.

Taro was the last one off the boat, the crew all giving him wary looks as he left. The enormous amount of water in the sea and Taro's curse weren't a good mix, one that left a few good seamen almost running overboard when he changed. Ranma had managed to explain the situation but it didn't stop the crew from giving the other boy a very wide berth. Taro was perfectly happy with that, he was growing far too agitated in such a confined space, especially when he would normally just fly to such places.

It had taken Ranma a while to convince the teen to tell him just why he was mad with Happosai, in exchange for his location. At first the pigtailed boy had to fight all his natural urges to burst out laughing but when he realised just how traumatising it was he sobered up and agreed to help Taro kick the old pervert's ass until he corrected it. That wasn't to say Xian-Pu and him hadn't shared a laugh about it later out of Taro's earshot.

They decided to make Happosai their last destination, Ranma had some other unfinished business to attend to first. He was uncomfortable at first with Xian-Pu coming along, feeling like it was something he should do alone but she was very insistent. In the end he believed it was probably best for her to be there after all, she had a way of getting him to come to that conclusion more often than not.

It had seemed so easy planned out in his mind back in China but staring at the entrance to Ucchan's he found all those well thought out words dissipating. His feet wouldn't move of their own accord and it was only after an encouraging squeeze on his hand from Xian-Pu he managed to take that first step inside. He exhaled the breath he had been subconsciously holding and walked in.

"RANCHAN!" as suddenly as he had entered he was tackled to the ground in a characteristically un-Ukyo way. He was too surprised and winded to even start to get her off; it didn't matter to her though she just dove right into what she had been waiting to say for a month. "Look Ranchan, I know that you have no obligation to marry me anymore but that doesn't mean I'm going to just give up! In the end it's your choice right? So I know you'll still pick me."

She finally realised the precarious position she had pushed him into on the floor, also noticing that he wasn't alone in the restaurant. She let him up, still beaming after she had finally gotten to say what she had wanted to after so long. However there was uncertainty in her eyes, not knowing how he was going to react or why he had brought Xian-Pu with him. He looked at her for a moment and reevaluated just how hard it was going to be to say what he had to say.

"Listen, Ucchan." He took another moment, trying to sort out the muddle of words flying through his head. "Something happened in China" No, he realised that wasn't quite right. "Something's been happening for a while now. I've come to realise that I can't keep stringing along all those who I care about." Ranma was mentally screaming at himself just to get to the point and get it over with but another equally loud part demanded that he give Ukyo the respect she deserves.

"Listen Ucchan, I don't see a future with us." Realising he had said that completely wrong he hurriedly continued to make sure she didn't take it the wrong way. "You're my oldest friend, more like a sister to me. I just couldn't ever see you in that way." Tears were already welling up in the girl's eyes and Ranma couldn't see a way out of this that didn't involve hurting his oldest friend. He led her gently over to one of the stools by the counter and they sat, facing one another.

"Is this about her?" Ukyo tried to shoot Xian-Pu a venomous glare but it was weak and diluted by the tears slowly rolling down her face. Ranma also looked up at the lavender haired girl, smiling sadly. She understood and left the restaurant, sitting on a bench no too far from the entrance.

"Yes Ukyo, it's about Shampoo." She looked up, shocked at the honesty of his answer "I love her. It took me a long time to realise it, and some moments where I thought I might have lost her forever but I do know it now. I still felt I couldn't just leave our relationship how it was." He smiled at her, wiping a tear from her cheek. "You deserve more than that." She leaned into the touch, as if it were the last she might ever get from her former fiancée.

"Are you sure they didn't do something to you? A potion or some weird magic thing?" It was weak and she didn't really believe it herself. Deep down she had already resigned herself, it was just her mind futilely fighting back the inevitable.

"No Ukyo, I want you to understand this. I love Shampoo and it isn't because of some silly potion or enchanted artifact I love her because we have a bond, something I couldn't see through the haze and chaos of my life before but now shines stronger because of our time together." His voice had taken on a more firm, but still just as gentle tone as he implored Ukyo to see that he had finally made a choice.

"We have a similar bond Ucchan." She looked up, a little confused. "Not the same, but similar. You are still one of the oldest and best friends I have in the world and I don't want to lose you over something like this." She held his gaze for a while before dropping her head and staring at her lap.

"I don't want to lose you either Ranchan." He smiled and raised her head again. He was glad Xian-Pu had left the restaurant as he was sure she wouldn't approve of what he was about to do. He carefully leant across and kissed Ukyo softly on the cheek, almost as recompense for all he had done to hurt her. He knew it wasn't even remotely enough to right all the wrong that he had put in her life but that would come later. He stood up, and she copied him but he placed a hand on her shoulder to sit her back down, smiling warmly.

"Thank you Ucchan, for making this more bearable than I could have hoped." She tried a weak smile and was encouraged to try even better when he returned it in full. He left the restaurant in high spirits, it hurt him deeply to have had to do that but he was now confident that pain would have only increased as time passed. Now he needed all the good feelings he could manage for what came next, for this wasn't going to be nearly as easy.

The Tendo garden wall might as well have been the Great Wall of China as Ranma stood in front of the gate. Even Xian-Pu seemed hesitant to step foot in the grounds, however Ranma managed to steel himself and started walking forwards, slowly gaining confidence with each step. He looked around, realising just how much he had thought of this place as a home over the last year. Mixed memories of the various members inside and fights that always seemed to end up in the Koi pond.

His mind flashed through the list of the people inside. Soun, he guessed he should be just as angry at the Tendo patriarch as he was at his own father. He was always trying to push him and Akane together against their blatant protests but in the end he understood how hard it must have been for the man to raise three daughters of his own. He almost respected him for what he had accomplished.

Kasumi was an excellent example of this; kind, warm, loving, the perfect housewife. Ranma had actually wondered a few times just how his life would have gone if it were Kasumi the two fathers were pushing him towards. While now he could never see her as anything other than the kind older sister his mind was allowed to wander. He greatly respected Kasumi for the way she had sacrificed herself as a surrogate mother for her two sisters and the carer of the household.

It was Nabiki Ranma could never figure out, always scheming, always out for the biggest gain. Yet there was the obvious care she had for her family that overrode even her deep attachment to all things financial. A long time ago Ranma had worked out that it was her way of dealing with her mother's passing that had brought the middle child into the world of profiteering. Ranma couldn't fault her, she was probably the main financial income for the house and without her the Tendo's might have been just as homeless as he and his father were.

He was interrupted before he could reach the last sister by a gentle voice calling out from the door.

"Oh, hello Ranma, Shampoo. It's good to see you back again, please come in." He graciously smiled at Kasumi, she was the one perpetually calm aspect of his otherwise hurricane-esque life and he could never really express his gratitude for that.

"Thanks Kasumi, it's good to see you to." She nodded, still maintaining her perpetual smile and wandered back into the kitchen, no doubt to finish dinner from the smells emanating from the small room. He took another step into the house but that was all it took before a certain blue-haired girl came barreling down the stairs, having heard the brief conversation.

"Ranma? You're back!" He grinned, his normal cocky grin that already started to infuriate the youngest Tendo.

"Hey Akane." He knew they hadn't parted on the best of terms but now actually face to face he realised he had missed her. Despite their differences and the unfortunate situation they were both thrust into he had at least come to think of Akane as a friend, even if she wouldn't always extend him the same courtesy. They had their good moments, ones that actually made Ranma smile when he thought about them. It was just unfortunate that the bad outweighed them somewhat.

"Hey Akane? That's all? You were gone for over a month and you didn't even write!" Ranma frowned; he had definitely written a few letters during their time in China. The first being when he got to Nyuchiehzu, then when they got back from the training trip, and then a few days after the incident with the Musk to inform them they were coming back. He was uncertain why they hadn't reached Japan yet, or at all considering the first was over three weeks ago.

"Hey, I did write!" Akane just huffed angrily, arms crossed over her chest.

"Oh I'm so sure, I guess all the letters just mysteriously vanished." It was becoming increasingly difficult for Ranma not to fall back on his usual insults of Tomboy or the myriad of others. Before he even got a chance to defend himself she immediately latched onto her next point of anger, almost grateful for this release of all her rage that had been slowly building over the last weeks without its usual vent.

"And why'd you bring that Chinese hussy here? Probably something perverted I'd bet!" Ranma couldn't take it anymore, he had to do something to break Akane out of this streak or he'd end up halfway across Tokyo before he could say what he needed to say. Akane was a lot like a rolling boulder, once she started you had to try and stop her fast or else she'd just crush you.

"Shampoo's here because she's my fiancée and I love her!" That definitely worked, Akane actually stopped halfway into the act of drawing out her meta-physical hammer. It dropped behind her making a very audible thud that split a few floorboards.

"W-What?" He walked over to her, trying to be as calming and as reasonably sounding as possible, like he had with Ukyo.

"Akane, I love Shampoo. It took me a long time to work it out but I finally have. I could have easily avoided this admition to you but I felt I at least owed it to you to tell you to your face." He looked at her face with melancholy. "After all that we've been through, I'd be a bigger jerk than you ever called me if I didn't come and tell you myself." Akane was stunned, actually stunned wasn't nearly as descriptive as the tumultuous emotion she felt but it was at least how she appeared. She had never heard Ranma use the l-word before, never mind with such passion and conviction.

She was caught between wanting to knock him through the ceiling and wanting an explanation. And she knew if she got the first option first she'd never get the second option. Then, amazingly, something happened that had never happened before, something deep in Akane's mind something clicked. Suddenly her anger and frustration toward Ranma disappeared; instead it flickered briefly before being switched over to a new target. She rounded on Xian-Pu angrily.

"What did you do to Ranma you Chinese hussy!?" A new mallet was back in her hands, despite the other one still being firmly embedded in the floor. This at least confirmed Ranma's theory that the mallet was in fact inter-dimensional and could be summoned at will. Before the girl could bring it down on Xian-Pu, who already had her Chúi drawn, Ranma calmly steeped in their way and blocked the strike.

"Out of the way Ranma. I'm trying to save you."

"Stop it Akane." It was a short sentence, barely any command behind it. However there was an icy fire behind the words that promised just what would happen if she tried to hurt Xia-Pu again. Ranma hated to do it, and she knew that Akane wouldn't have landed the blow anyway but he did genuinely care for her and didn't want them to fight. It was enough to make Akane falter, giving Ranma time to quickly disarm the girl of her weapon.

"Shampoo didn't do anything to me, I came to realise my feelings on my own, and they are my feelings." Akane just stood there, unsure of what to do or even of what was going on. She certainly hadn't expected Ranma's homecoming going anything like this.

"B-But Ranma," He sighed deeply, it was going to take even more.

"No Akane, with the marriage nullified we have no more reason to put up this charade anymore. I can't deny I have feelings towards you, even if I don't know quite what they are, but right now I know I love Shampoo. Honestly I couldn't really see a future where, together, we are happy. If you do, then it's clearly not me you're seeing but who you want me to be. I hope we can stay friends now that there's no pressure." Akane just kept standing there, unblinking and not saying a word.

Ranma took this as a good time to leave before the situation could deteriorate. He took Xian-Pu's hand and started to lead her out of the house but they were stopped as Akane meekly uttered.

"Ranma I- I'm-" He paused, waiting her to finish but when she never did. He once again walked out of the house and away from the Tendo's. But he figured it might not for the last time.

They were up on the roof of the Nekohanten, or at least what used to be the Nekohanten. In the time that the Amazon's had been absent from the property the land-owner had rented it to new clients. The two teens figured it wouldn't matter if the new owners didn't know they were up here. Actually Xian-Pu was currently wondering what had become of all her possessions but when Ranma wrapped an arm around her shoulders her thoughts drifted to other things. Ranma had been wrestling with something ever since he had left the Tendo's and only now felt he had the confidence to finally bring it up.

"Hey Shampoo?" She looked across at him, taking her eyes off of the stars above them.

"Yes Airen?"

"What do you see in the future? For us?" Xian-Pu was genuinely excited she could finally take about all her hopes and dreams for the future, something she had dreamt of often in her time chasing after Ranma. At the same time she realised he had to be bringing it up for a reason and was careful with her response.

"Xian-Pu want kids." He giggled at his awkward reaction and clarified "Maybe not now, but some time." Glad that he calmed down a little she continued. "Want also to settle down, have family in future." She looked across at Ranma with her head cocked. For the longest time she had her life planned out to the tee, catch Ranma, go back to China, resume her life and build a family but now that she actually had the love of the man she cared for she realised that all of that was fairly insignificant.

"Until then Xian-Pu just happy being with Ranma, wherever." He smiled back at her, heartened by her warm but vague response. It left a lot of room to fill in the gaps, gaps that Ranma realised they had the rest of their life to fill with adventures. They stayed up on the roof, late into the night, staring up at the stars, thinking about everything that was to come, and everything that came after.