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Chapter Text

Akane got back from her courses to a familiar sight taking place right over top of her family's home, and for once it felt like a good omen. Seeing Ranma and Genma training in aerial combat, seeing even a small Moko Takabisha flying through the air, was wonderful news, because it meant that Ranma was in high spirits, just like she hoped he'd be. 

Of course, it was nerve wracking regardless of fortune on Akane's side. Life had a way of fucking things up around her and Ranma, and there was no way it'd take just her wishing for something to go smoothly for there to be none of the chaos. She'd accepted that by now, it was kind of hard not to after having two years to merely wrap her head around all that happened at Jusendo. 

So, she'd fight for what she wanted to happen today. Akane would fight like she had all 20 years of her life. She fought to get herself into university so she could get her future career in physical education, she fought to push back a second attempt at that wedding that failed years ago, she'd fight on still. 

Akane would defy fate itself if it meant she was able to propose to Ranma tonight. 

Sure, they were engaged, but it was all under the lense of this arrangement between their fathers. An arrangement that painted it as a business arrangement, basically just for inheritance tax to be avoided. Something that painted Ranma as manly and rugged in a way he wasn't, and Akane as feminine and quiet in a way she wasn't. It was fiancees via lies and discomfort, the kind that stopped the two from actually dating years earlier than they did.

Akane was Ranma's girlfriend for the sake of actual love, not that contractual agreement. She would be his wife the same way. Ranma was unconventional, a dork at heart, a kind soul when his head wasn't up his ass and virtuously stubborn when it was. Whatever transaction their parents saw in getting them together, it had nothing to do with why they stuck with it. And that's why Akane, the girl, was going to be the one to propose. Maybe even with Ranma in girl form as an extra Fuck You to the rules that once repressed her.

"I'm home!" Akane called out to the relatively quiet house. Someday, hopefully soon, she could really call it hers. That was maybe a small benefit of the engagement, though definitely not a necessary one. 

Of course, no one answered directly. She knew that Nabiki preferred her business courses in the latter half of the day, and that Shampoo and Kasumi normally did Wednesday date nights, so it really was just Akane, Ranma, Soun and the visiting Genma and likely Nodoka. Not that Akane was planning on staying here for long, it wasn't exactly a romantic place to propose. 

"Hey, Auntie," Akane approached her future mother-in-law on the engawa, "How long have they been fighting?"

"Oh, hello dear, not too long," Nodoka smiled while patting the spot next to where she was sitting, "Genma just has… Something he needs to get from Ranma. It's for Ranma's improvement, don't worry."

"And did Ranma get told about this improvement stuff? Or was it sprung on him like usual?" It was tough being sceptical, but given what Akane's heard and seen over the years…

"It's good for him, I promise," Avoiding the question, Nodoka pulled out a tissue, "It's quite hot out, I can see the sweat on your forehead. Here, Akane. It's hardly befitting of a proper young lady."

"Oh, uh, thank you," It couldn't have been that bad, Akane could hardly feel it, but did wipe off what little there was just to satisfy the sword wielder's idea of womanhood, "I'll just go put this in the-"

"No, please, I can take it to the bin," Nodoka went to stand up, snatching the tissue, "It saves us a trip, doesn't it? I had something to do, anyway. Please, stay."

… That was weird. Like, weird by Saotome family standards. Even by Akane's friend group standards. The gender weirdness stuff was kind of normal, but taking a tissue to a bin? Did Nodoka think Akane had a fever suddenly? Sure, the 'saving a trip' thing was already an explanation, but it didn't sit right, like it was forced.

Akane's attention snapped upwards as a single word rang out through the air as Ranma fell into the koi pond: "OW!"

The cute redhead that pulled himself out of the koi pond was wincing badly, and it wasn't hard to see why. The large red gash across his hand looked pretty bad. Akane got up to run for a first aid kit, but adding on to the strangeness, her own dad was already charging from inside the house with bandages and antiseptic. 

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR, POPS!?" Ranma shouted as the blood on his hand got mopped up.

"It was an accident, boy, I swear!" Genma said with his usual amount of honesty, a red stain on the pin he had never worn before, "You should've known better than to strike somewhere sharp on me."

"Yeah, and you shouldn't've worn something sharp at aaaaaaAAAAAAAAHHHH!" The world's best martial artist apparently wasn't immune to the sharp pain of antiseptics rubbed into a wound, "What gives!?"

"Well my apologies for not wanting my son-in-law to get an infection." Soun switched quickly to wiping up what little tears Ranma had from the sting, almost obsessively.

"Yeah, well I'm a little tougher than any- Oh, 'Kane! Hey!" Grabbing the roll of bandage and wrapping it around his own hand while on the move, Ranma leapt to his feet to join Akane, "Didja just get back? How's your day? Was the bento okay or do I need to cut down on the cutesy foods?"

"Ranma, it was perfect, you did great," Akane had resigned herself to sous-chef at best a while ago, "I only caught the end of the fight. How is your hand feeling?"

"I'm probably not gonna be using it well for a few hours, but it's fine," Ranma shrugged it off, "It's not the worst pain ever, and besides, still got a hand to hold yours with, don't I?" 

"Dummy." In a quick motion, Akane scooped Ranma into a bridal carry, a far more efficient way of dragging him places than by the pigtail.

"Dork." Pouted the blushing redhead. Even with the passage of time, some things never changed, like Ranma's stubborn refusal to admit he liked being carried as easily as groceries sometimes. 

Technically, and only technically, Ranma and Akane had different rooms. With Genma typically back at the Saotome family home, Ranma had free reign over what was once a guest room. However, especially after his nightmares of Akane crumbling into dust at Jusendo, he had shared Akane's room a lot more, to the point that Akane was comfortable just dropping her boyfriend onto the bed before going to get changed.

"I was thinking of going for a run," Akane hummed while digging through her closet, pulling out her planned outfit, "Just down to the park, probably. Do you want to join?"

"I dunno, I'm on dinner duty tonight cos 'Sumi's out, unless you wanna have takeout or something." Ranma stretched out in a cat-like manner on the bed as he rolled to face away from his changing girlfriend. 

"You don't have to get started that early, silly, we can survive with a late dinner," The plan was to get to a nicer place for dinner this evening, actually, one-on-one, "Besides, do you really think you're going to run that slow?"

"Depends, cos by the look of that outfit, you could be planning to run and have tea with the emperor on the way," Giggled the redhead, "It's fancier than your usual running clothes, what's that for?"

"Can't a girl want something with pockets just for the sake of it?" Yes, these were slightly nicer shorts, and yes, Akane was wearing a plain polo instead of the usual tank top or even graphic tee she'd normally choose. But those pockets were important, and she had to coordinate around the shorts as a result. She had to have somewhere to hold the ring box. 

"Fine, lemme go change then, I'll meet ya downstairs," Still masterfully averting his gaze, Ranma left the room, "I won't be long."

Everything was falling into place perfectly. Fortune really was on Akane's side, and by the end of the day, she'd hopefully be actually, properly, romantically engaged to Ranma. A run down to the park, taking in nostalgic scenery and bantering as usual, then going to the most secluded spot they could find so Akane could make her proposal all about Ranma and no one else, just as their love always should have been. The ring, while definitely just a novel tradition from America, would seal the fact that this is for them, and not for the traditional lives they were somehow expected to have.

And then it'd just be the matter of telling friends, really. Ryoga and Akari already knew Akane's plan to propose, they were the ones who suggested it be as casual and outdoors as it would hopefully be. Akane definitely had her sisters rooting for her. Ukyo had to be talked down by Konatsu from giving a talk very similar to a protective father figure. There were a whole bunch of people who already knew that Akane was going to propose. They deserved to know if she was successful. 

Akane tied back her shoulder length hair into a high ponytail so it wouldn't get in the way while running. It'd never be as long as it had once been, and it didn't have to be super short to be hers, either. She was a girl of her own making, and that was enough. Akane felt confident in her looks but could change it whenever she wanted. She was Ranma's cute tomboy, forever and always. 

It wasn't the best habit to go sliding down the stair handrail, but if Ranma got to do it often, then Akane could when she felt like walking on air. It was the most tense she had ever felt while being so giddy, the engagement ring box feeling heavy in her pocket. This was it. This was actually going to be the second most important day in her whole life, the real one coming at later date.

"Comin' through!" Ranma called out, jumping straight over the staircase and landing right on the bottom with a flourish, "Sorry to keep ya waiting."

Still redheaded, still as cute as ever in that form, Ranma was in that yellow shirt with a red bow tie that felt more fit for this form than his black haired body, tucked into his long pants. It was one of his less athletic outfits, sure, but Akane was in a similarly formal-ish outfit, so the dummy probably wanted to match, regardless of how effective it was to actually run in. 

Ranma honestly spent so much time in his female form, it was hardly a surprise he stuck with it for this run. Maybe he'd have changed out of it if he knew he was going to be proposed to, there was still a lot of shame that surrounded him for not being 'manly enough', but it wasn't a big deal. Akane had done far more intimate things with Ranma in girl form for her to have a crisis over proposing to him in it.

"Hey, 'Kane, you're staring," Ranma waved his unbandaged hand in front of Akane's face, the same hand that'd soon hopefully have a ring on it soon, "What's wrong? Something in my hair?"

"O-oh, no, I'm awright," It was tempting to kneel like in those foreign movies right on the spot, "You just look nice. I'm ready to go whenever you are."

"It's a good thing he isn't ready just yet!" Genma called out, fortune turning sour for Akane immediately, "Boy, here, this kettle!"

"No, Pops, I'm fine," Ranma backed off from the offered hot water pretty quickly, "I told ya, I'm happy with my curse, it's part of me, so-"

"Bah, you'll thank me for it!" The bald man continued to push the kettle towards Ranma, "Right, girl?"

"I'm actually fine with Ranma however he wants to be," It helped that Akane was very knowledgeable on Ranma's female form in a way that would make her 16 year old repressed self scream in horror, "Let's just go, Ranma."

"It's for his manliness!" Nodoka called out, and Ranma unfortunately froze. Even though it had been torn up and long ago voided out, that contract still hung over Ranma's head like the sword of Damocles, a reminder of what his parents wanted from him.

"… O-okay, sure, whatever, just lemme get changed and-" Ranma wasn't given the opportunity to get different clothes before his father tipped the kettle over him. 

… Was the kettle really radiating as much heat as it felt like it did? Because Akane started sweating, and sweating pretty hard. The heat might as well have been unbearable for something that was affecting no one else. It was hot enough that, through the worst temperatures Akane had ever felt outside of certain doll-ifying extremes, she was certain she had to be hallucinating the bandage on Ranma's head suddenly becoming soaked far more red. 

Oh fuck. Ranma was bleeding from his hand badly. Dizzying levels of bad. His transformation was taking longer too, like it was something slow and deliberate to shape his features instead of something as fluid as water. Red from his hair retreated into black, and almost back up through the kettle's spout like getting sucked through a straw. It was the most uncanny the curse had ever been.

And as if to add insult to injury, Genma immediately splashed Ranma with cold water.

Nothing happened. 

"Our son's a true man again! Yes!" Genma cheered, "Quick, we need to gather panda sweat so we can cure me next!"

"He's bleeding a lot," At least Nodoka was aware of the bigger issue, "It didn't say he'd bleed again from it, or that Akane would pale."

"… It said so on the next page," Soun sighed as he walked in, holding open a small book, "Old friend, did you learn nothing from the Nekoken?"

"W-w-what did you do to m-m-me…?" Ranma asked shakily.

"Cured you, boy!" Even with her thoughts overwhelmed by heat, Akane still wanted to make a huge dent in Genma's smug face, "And it only cost a some blood, sweat, and-"

The kettle started crying. Something inside the kettle started crying.

"We need to get the three of them to a hospital," Soun slammed the book into Genma's chest before going to call an ambulance, "And you need to work on your patience when reading something important."

Akane passed out from the heat, but not before cursing out fortune for lying blatantly to her face about what side it was on. The ring box pushed uncomfortably into her hip.

Chapter Text

Mainly red hair, with slight streaks of blue like little flashes of rebellion. The tiniest hands imaginable on any real human, curled up into little fists. A little button nose to go with how small the rest of her was. Bundled up in a pink blanket from the hospital the moment she was given back to Ranma after a check up, calm after her long cry the whole way there, asleep. 

Ranma was holding a baby.

His curse of four years had been removed, and it was now here, in his arms, as a baby girl. One he wasn't sure if looked more like his cursed self or Akane. A fragile, delicate little girl who was apparently on the smaller side for even an hour old newborn, yet seemed to developmentally been a week old. A living, breathing baby, with so very few health complications for her origins that it was baffling. 

Years of being able to present as feminine easily, of scamming food, of dressing up, unreachable in an instant. A whole phase of his life that was undeniably the best he had, over. No more cute and huggable body, no more dresses, none of it. It had been taken from him without asking despite having made it clear he liked the curse, and this baby was symbolic of that.

… But Ranma couldn't be mad at a baby. Not one made of blood, sweat and tears. 

The door to the hospital room creaked open, and both doctor walked in, followed by a nurse. "Mr Saotome, how are things in here?"

"It's weird, doc…" That was the honest truth, Ranma had nothing to really describe this.

"That's for certain," The doctor laughed a little, "Honestly, if it wasn't for the several documents and pictures proving otherwise, along with your chiropractor backing you up, I wouldn't have believed it myself."

Great, so Toufu knew. He'd at least make sure Akane was doing well with her extreme hot flush from earlier, induced by the cure method. It helped to have anyone who could actually explain magic things to those out of the loop, and while Cologne was the far more knowledgeable option, Toufu was the one with a medical degree and a long-term exclusively positive reputation in the community. 

"Hold out your hand for me, please." The nurse asked, and Ranma obliged, letting his extremely stained bandage get swapped with a fresh one. At least the bleeding slowed significantly since getting cured of Jusenkyo.

"So, it's the decision of multiple members of staff, myself included, that you were this child's mother," The doctor continued, "A rare case for a man, and through a highly unconventional method, but it's simply the truth. Congratulations, Mr Saotome."

Were. Past tense. Ranma was a mother in the past tense. More of a father now, although that also could have been Akane, technically. What role did sweat play in this bizarre reproductive method? It didn't matter, the baby was still genetically hers as much as it was Ranma's. Ranma had been the mother to his girlfriend's baby. Had been. Past tense.

"I… Uh… Thanks, I…" There was a nearly sick feeling bubbling in Ranma's very essence, unrelated to the feeling of losing a lot of blood, "Am I 'sposed to feel sad about that?"

"I can't really say, sorry. You really are an anomaly," It was clear the doctor herself was disappointed with that answer, "My best guess is some kind of post-partum depression, or perhaps illness, but this whole scenario is far out of my area of expertise."

There was an answer somewhere deep in Ranma's heart, something he had almost unearthed before, several times over by now if life hadn't gotten in the way. And it was now that he had to cover it up again. Now was the worst time to lament his identity, his sense of self and how manliness hurt it, now that the curse was gone. It wasn't right to make it all about him when there was a baby involved and his girlfriend was hurt.

"How's 'Kane?" He asked while looking down at the tiny baby in his arms. 

"Miss Tendou is awake, and last I checked, her father and sister are in her room to keep a close eye on her," That was only good news if it meant that Kasumi or Nabiki were keeping everything under control, "You actually have a few visitors waiting for you. Your parents-"

"Anyone but them," He was not ready to look his parents in the eye after all this, "Literally anyone."

"Well, there's a Miss Kuonji who-"

"Yes, her, send her in," However Ukyo had heard about this, it didn't matter, "She's allowed."

"Heh, I'll go let her know, then," The doctor turned to leave, the nurse close behind, "I'll be back to check in with you later on."

"Thanks, doc." And just like that, Ranma was all alone again. 

Well, almost all alone. Again, there was the small baby asleep in his arms. But did that really count as company? What did babies even dream about? Ranma would've guessed maybe parents, but would the baby even recognise Ranma as one, or even Akane? The tiny little thing woke up to nothing but the darkness inside a kettle at first, was that all she saw when fast asleep? 

"YOU HAVE A BABY!?" And just like that, Ranma had undeniable company. 

"Shhhhhh," Ranma stared down Ukyo, "She's sleeping."

It was clear Ukyo had rushed here from work, still in her uniform but without her bandolier of spatulas or her single large spatula. Only Martial Arts Orthodontists were allowed equipment like that in this hospital, otherwise it was a no fighting allowed zone. Regardless, however fast Ukyo got here and however long she'd been waiting to visit, it looked like it wasn't nearly fast enough to appease Ranma's childhood friend.

"She's… Oh, Ranchan, she's so small…" Leaning right over to look at the baby, Ukyo had a very complicated expression on her face, "But… No more curse?"

"No more curse," Sighed Ranma, "It's all in her, thanks to my parents."

Gently touching Ranma's shoulder was the simplest comfort Ukyo could give. "That's gotta be tough on you. I know how much you, y'know… Liked that form."

Ukyo had been there for some particularly tough times, moments where Ranma had felt far too vulnerable for the man he was supposed to be. As much as Ranma loved Akane, it was nice having a friend to talk to so that his own girlfriend wouldn't have to carry all of his burdens. Ukyo had seen Ranma claw at his birth form's skin before in the dead of night, Akane only knew of it happening. 

"'s fine," Ranma mumbled, trying not to think about it, "It's one less thing to worry about, y'know? I can swim as a guy, or… I dunno, not worry about clothes not fitting. My parents will be off my back about it, at least."

"Your parents are gonna face the blade of my spatula if ya just give me the command to do so," Ukyo said, completely serious, "Y'know, when Akane came to me yesterday, I told her I'd get revenge if she hurt ya. That extends to anyone who hurts you, Ranchan."

That was completely unnecessary, but still reassuring. "… Why did 'Kane go to you, though?"

"Why? Ranchan, you-" For a few moments, Ukyo stared at Ranma's fingers, "… Oh, shit. This interrupted- Okay, never mind. Just… Fuck. Forget about it."

"Alright? But don't swear in front of the baby." Ranma couldn't help but feel a little defensive about the little girl's innocent ears. 

"… So, are ya wanting to keep her?" Ukyo asked plainly enough, "You're not exactly the most planned parent."

"What other options are there? Adopting her out?" The baby's little heartbeat felt so loud," She's part of me, Ucchan, I don't think I can… And I kinda just wanna keep her to make sure my parents know their actions had consequences. Is that petty? It feels petty."

"Well, it ain't like there aren't more petty reasons to have a kid, 'Mr Man Amongst Men'," It was a joke, Ukyo made that clear, but it still kinda stung, "It's your's and Akane's to take care of, you can decide what makes it worth it. Just don't hurt the kid."

"I won't…" Ranma thought of how Ukyo had been sent off at a young age to chase after him. How Konatsu was treated by her step-family. How Shampoo occasionally talked about her several-times-great grandmother. How Ryoga missed his constantly lost parents. How even Taro had been screwed over by his mother and her decision to let a water flea name him. How Ranma had been hurt, frightened, molded into something by his parents. How Akane and her sisters had to take care of themselves so much.

"Good, cos now that kid is under my protection as much as you are," Ukyo chuckled a little, "And I don't wanna have ta hurt ya for messing with that little bundle of joy."

"… Fuck, she's gonna have the whole martial arts world trying to protect her, ain't she?" Ranma laughed a little at the idea.

"Hey, don't swear in front of the baby," Lightly admonishing Ranma, Ukyo turned to leave, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta get my niece a bunch of supplies. Call me or Natchan when you pick a name, got it?"

"Got it…" Ranma didn't know if he was happy with Ukyo leaving or not, "Thanks, Ucchan."

And yet again, quiet. Ranma was alone, asides from the baby. His baby. His daughter. This tiny little pile of living flesh and bones that was breathing and thinking and feeling. That was his daughter, a real human who needed to eat and drink and live. A human who could break as any other, learn to fight as any other, love like any other. Something so incredibly real that had skipped all the normal steps to being real.

When they had separated Ranma from her earlier in order to do check ups, his heart wholly ached, and that relief only came when she was back in his arms. That's why he insisted on holding the baby this whole time, and the need to protect her, the want to do better than every parent he knew bar one, only grew the more he thought about it. 

"… You deserve love," Ranma whispered to the sleeping baby, "And I know I ain't likely the best to give it to you, but I wanna try. I wanna see you safe and protected. And it'd be nice to get to know you. You were important to me before as the curse, and you're still important now. I hope I can be a good father… I'm just sorry you don't have your mother instead."

In her sleep, the baby adjusted just a little, a very small wiggle to get closer into her parent.

"… She's so quiet." Akane whispered from the doorway.

"'Kane, what are you- You're hurt, dummy!" Ranma whisper-shouted, still happy to know his girlfriend was okay, "Go lie back down!"

"They say I'm free to go as long as I stay hydrated," As she held up a water bottle, the horror that was reminiscent of did not need to be mentioned at all, "I wanted to check on you first, and… And her."

"Well, at least sit down next to me, then," It was a little tough for Ranma to slide over without disturbing the baby, but he managed it, "She's a sleepy little thing, but… Here's my daughter. Our daughter, I think. But I'm definitely keeping her, even if you aren't."

"Our daughter…" Gently, Akane sat down, then reached to gently pat the baby's tiny hand with just her finger, "We… We have a daughter… But…"

"I know, but I'm fine…" Ranma lied, "She can have a father, and that can be me. I'll live without the curse."

Akane put her hand on Ranma's thigh, a gentle reassurance that grounded him a little bit more. "Since when were you one to back down from a challenge? If you want to be her mother as much as I am, then do it, and I'll stay with you no matter the chaos."

"I… I… I think I…" It was a balm that soothed that bubbling sick feeling, the knowledge that Akane was okay with something like that meant she probably would be okay if… "… what if I'm not a man enough for you?"

"You know I'm bisexual, idiot," Akane laughed a little, "I genuinely just want you, cursed or not, you should know that."

"Yeah, but…" Was Ranma breathing a bit too hard? "I just… I wasn't sure how much you'd really like me as a girlfriend…"

There was a look on Akane's face. A concerned, caring look as she glanced between Ranma and the baby girl. The kind of look that made Ranma wonder why he continuously buried her feelings over and over to prevent Akane from worrying. And, from in her pocket, Akane pulled out something. A little box, not unlike the pillbox from long ago, but this felt slightly more real.

"I was going to do this on the run, before everything happened, so I'm sorry if it's a bad time now," The lid popped open to reveal a plain but perfect silver ring, "But I was going to tell you I'd like you as a wife even more."

A proposal. A genuine, proper proposal, in a dimly lit hospital room in the evening. The hand that'd normally wear the ring was supporting a baby, the other hand was bandaged and bloody. But Ranma's heart was practically beating out of her chest. Maybe she should have seen it coming, her and Akane had been talking about stuff like this for the better part of a year beforehand, and yet she was so happily surprised on top of everything else.

"'Kane, I… Yes. Yes!" Today was arguably the best roller-coaster of emotions Ranma had ever had, "I'd kiss you if I could comfortably move with the baby on me! Our baby… Fuck, what are we gonna name our baby!?" 

Akane smiled that beautiful, amazing, perfect smile she always had before leaning over to kiss Ranma on the forehead. "One step at a time, Mrs Tendou. You already skipped five of them. We have all night to think about it."

Chapter Text

The phone was ringing at an hour Shampoo hadn't intended to be awake for. It didn't seem like the time anyone was supposed to be awake, even. Sunlight had barely hit her eyes through the curtain, the kind of light that meant the sun was just barely peaking over the horizon. She didn't want to get out of bed at all, though. Her snuggle partner was simply too warm…

"I can get it." Kasumi said unfortunately, thus removing said snuggle partner from the bed.

"Nyooooo…" Shampoo whined as the cold air wasn't as comfortable as soft, warm Kasumi, "It is too, too early for phone calls. Probably a scam. Please stay."

"I'll be back soon, I promise," The tall brunette just had to be so convincing, "It could be Akane with good news, after all."

"The best news would be you coming to bed…" Only getting weekly nights with her girlfriend was taking a long-term toll on poor, clingy Shampoo. 

Watching her girlfriend leave the room while putting on a robe to cover up, Shampoo couldn't help but curse out whoever it was calling so early. She was having such a good night beforehand. It could be the news that she had won the lottery, and it still wouldn't compete with being able to be with her far too beautiful and kind girlfriend. Shampoo more than deserved Kasumi as her future bride.

"Oh, Nabiki, good morning…" Kasumi could be heard answering the phone, "… Right… Okay… Oh my… Oh my! Which hospital?… And are they okay? Did Akane… Oh, thank- What!? I'm going to be- I am an aunt!? But… Oh my… Yes… Yes, you go. See you soon, sister."

Part of Kasumi's charm was how she could actually scare someone despite her calm and kind demeanour. Those eyes, that smile, no one truly knew what to do with them when she applied them right aside from Shampoo. But, as the eldest Tendou sister walked back into the bedroom, it was her bewildered expression that scared Shampoo. Nothing could normally quite surprise Kasumi enough to look that wide-eyed. 

"… I'm an aunt…" Muttering to herself, Kasumi just kind of flopped back into bed while looking at her hands.

"What? Did Mèimèi do something you do not want to know about with Violent Girl?" Shampoo slightly snickered at her girlfriend's pure minded thoughts, "It happens, airen, you should know that. How many months away is the baby?"

"Ranma and Akane have a child now," Kasumi said bluntly, "Right now. There's a baby at home. An actual baby. Something to do with magic stuff. I… I have a niece." 

… If it was Ranma's child, that meant, in the eyes of her home village, Shampoo also had a niece. The Sisterly Warrior's Bond they had gotten to cancel out both the Kisses Of Death and Of Marriage made that simply how things were. And, in a normal situation back home, it would be Shampoo's duty to help guide Ranma through various traditional customs to soothe the minds and bodies of both mother and daughter. 

"What are the traditional roles of an aunt outside of Nǚjié zú?" Shampoo asked her girlfriend as she got out of bed herself, "How many ceremonial daggers will I need?"

☆☆☆☆

"I can't believe they have a kid!" Ryoga huffed as he slammed the phone back into the wall, "Of course Ranma has a kid before me, that competitive bastard!"

Ryoga was ninety percent sure he hadn't seen either Ranma or Akane have any signs of pregnancy beforehand, and he knew that Akane was going to propose the day before, so whatever happened clearly wasn't adding up for him. But if anyone was going to have a non-standard child, it was going to be Ranma. Whatever it took to have the oldest kid in the whole friend group, apparently. 

"Did you hear that, Shirokuro?" Heading over to his dog, Ryoga sighed, "Yoiko has a puppy of her own. You're a grandmother now."

"Arrreuff!?" The dog tilted her head, clearly surprised. The events that lead to Ranma (or 'Yoiko') being considered one of Shirokuro's puppies in the eyes of Dog Law (law, for dogs) a year ago, along with Ryoga getting revealed to Akane as P-chan, were weird and as complicated as anything else in their lives. It did give Ryoga a free excuse to call his rival a bitch in Dog Court, though. 

"Help me tell Akari, please." Ryoga clipped a leash to the dog's collar, wrapping the handle around his wrist so he wouldn't get separated and lost on the way to his fiancee. 

It had been a little hard, moving out of the Hibiki house and onto Akari's farm property, but her love of pig farming and pig sumo wasn't suited to the streets of Suginami, so Ryoga let her take priority. He wasn't a stranger to long trips, anyway, so visiting friends was hardly a problem despite the distance. Plus, his strength really was suited to a lot of the farm work, so he always got to feel useful again when his heavy thoughts told him otherwise. 

Akari wasn't a pushover when it came to the heavy labour, either. Of course she wasn't, she was a farm girl her whole life. Ryoga always had a thing for women who could kick his ass and yet treat him gently, and seeing his girlfriend manoeuvre a giant hay bale into the open field was almost capable of distracting him from the news he had come to share.

"Akari, you're never going to believe this," Ryoga said once close enough, "Ranma and Akane managed to somehow spawn a baby into existence from nowhere."

"Oh, really?" Pushing the hay bale onto one of the flat faces, Akari leaned against it while wiping the sweat from her forehead, "So it's just instant for two girls… Wow…"

"Uh, I don't think so. It was some other magic thing," Not that Ryoga knew for sure, "But still, Ranma's kid is going to be older than ours… If we have one, I mean! It's fine if not, fully your choice, it's probably too early to think of that now and-"

"The pigs here love you, Ryoga," Akari flashed a smirk at him, and his heart just melted, "I'm sure you'd be a great dad if we tried for a child. Perhaps an even better father than a pig."

It wasn't as if Ryoga hadn't imagined the potential idea of starting a family before, properly tying the not and having kids and all of that. But that was something he thought about like it was taboo, a secret thought inherent to being a man that he had to keep away from Akari's innocent eyes. The fact that she just actively suggested it might have been a sign that Ryoga was passing onto the afterlife, because there was no way he deserved something like that on this mortal coil in his own opinion. 

☆☆☆☆

Ukyo finished writing her niece's name down on a napkin. "Thanks for calling, Nabiki. See ya soon."

The call ended with Ukyo dropping everything, bolting to catch up with Konatsu who was already heading to the shopping district. Last night, neither chef nor kunoichi were fast enough to gather supplies for the new parents in the friend group like they hoped they'd be. However, that just meant they had to act fast and do it all now, so they could bring it all over to the Tendou home before the inevitable gathering of everyone made it hard to even get a word in.

The name written on the napkin was slightly distracting. Ukyo couldn't help but look down and think of how much love and support this kid was going to have. She also couldn't help but think of how many things she'd be able to find with that name written on it. Ranma had a goofy habit of wearing clothes with his own name on it, and Ukyo wasn't going to let her childhood friend live that down so easily. 

All the stores that had opened were being swarmed by clones of Konatsu, her speed allowing her to survey everything in one shot before any financial decisions were made. Unfortunately, the fact that Konatsu didn't quite know how to handle money hadn't changed over time, so while she could take note of all the prices, it was still up to Ukyo to budget. 

"Natchan!" Ukyo called to one of the clones, "What's it all look like?" 

Said clone ran up to Ukyo, the couple's hands sliding into each other's. "There's certainly not everything a child deserves… But, there's plenty that's more luxurious that I don't even know if I could name it all."

"Perfect, let's get down to it then," Letting herself be led into a small toy shop, Ukyo got a kind of excitement she didn't know she could have, "We're gonna be the best aunts ever, dammit."

Obviously, Ukyo knew she had lost the fiancee war that plagued her for so long. After the very first wedding, the one everyone crashed two years ago, it became very clear to the whole group that Ranma and Akane were unwinnable and inseparable. The aftermath of that was messy and emotional in a way Ukyo wished she never had to feel again, crying from the harsh introspection. 

But it wasn't like all of them to remain peaceful. Ryoga could still play as combat rival to Ranma. Both Kunos had each other to fight through sibling rivalry. Taro didn't actually change at all. And that left Ukyo and Shampoo. It was actually Shampoo who fully gave up the chase first, falling for Kasumi after some injury recovery and a meet cute. And so, alone, Ukyo had a lot to work through, assisted by Konatsu, which ended with her and Ranma essentially forming a whole other kind of pact. 

And being Ranma's best friend meant that Ukyo was willing to still go above and beyond to impress. 

"I dunno how big she was officially," Ukyo started as they headed to the baby toys section, "But she was real tiny."

"I don't know for sure, but I like to imagine I was small as a baby," Konatsu mused to herself, "A smaller size would be beneficial to stealth. Oh, you wouldn't happen to think that our kids would be bad kunoichi, right? I can't imagine they'd be awful…"

"… You. You wanna have kids?" This hadn't been something the couple had discussed before, "Natchan, I… I'm not sure I could handle nine months off work, let alone nine months of all the physical stuff." 

"That's why it would be me, instead," Konatsu smiled innocently, "I've been meaning to look at the limitations of Jusenkyo in that regard of a while, though I don't know if we could afford mailing the powder or water to our home."

Konatsu, a mother, with all the physical changes and growth that might cause… "Yep, we could afford it! Mhm! It'd be worth it for ya, if that's what you want. Yep. I. Yeah. Yeah, okay. I'm… I'm gonna go pick some stuff for our niece."

"Excellent! I found some soft toy kusarigama in the furthest isle, if that sounds good!" Maybe Konatsu wasn't the most aware of the likely motor skills a newborn child would have. 

☆☆☆☆

"Yep. You got it. See you around, Shiratori. Bye." Nabiki sighed, and sighed hard, as she hung up the phone.

That was probably everyone on the 'Needs To Know About The Baby' list accounted for, and it was a really long list. Nabiki was the only one in the house who had basically everyone on it memorised that wasn't also preoccupied by being a new mother. It absolutely would have been Kasumi to make all the calls if she hadn't been somewhere else. 

But it was done, and any future calls or hangouts could be arranged by Ranma or Akane. That was entirely their duty, unlike Nabiki, who'd wait until the kid was five to start being the cool aunt who teaches children to play poker. Her role was otherwise exclusively very small odds and ends, and she intended to keep it that way. Nothing that could get her dirty, nothing that could give her a headache, just the littlest things to help her sister. 

Now, wedding stuff? Nabiki would help there. That was paperwork and organising shit, handling financial decisions. That was Nabiki's comfort zone, very different and distant from childcare. Supporting her sister and sister-in-law through marriage, even just supporting Ranma having to find less magical ways to girl it up, was far more tolerable than the idea of supporting a larval stage human.

She just didn't get romance the same way everyone else did, and didn't get why babies were so great to have either. She liked them enough to observe from a distance, they were vaguely cute, but just… It wasn't for her. She couldn't picture herself in a romantic relationship, let alone any kind of physical relationship that would end up with children. It'd be more likely that the magic kettle curse removal method would make one than she would. 

"Alright, love birds, I'm done doing your phone calls," Nabiki said as she walked into Akane's closed off bedroom, "Lemme take a look at the little bug."

"Shhhh, Ranma's sleeping," Akane, sitting on the floor, gestured with her head to her sleeping fiancee, her hands being too full of baby, "She didn't get knocked out yesterday like I did, so…"

"Yeah, yeah," Toning down her voice a tad, Nabiki sat right next to her sister and the baby, "So… Haruhi, huh?"

"I managed to talk my dork out of Kowaku, and we weren't going with her parents' choice of Madoka," Akane gently rocked little Haruhi Tendou as she spoke, "Minae would've made the old curse too important in her life, too."

"I was right telling Kuonji that it's as in calm skies and crimson, right?" It might’ve been too late to ask, but Akane nodded in affirmation anyway, "It suits her, I think." 

晴緋. Haruhi. The fragile little thing that could probably easily learn how to demolish buildings in the future. She yawned a little before making strong eye contact with Nabiki that was incredibly unreadable, then looked up at Akane to confirm that yes, that was another human person sitting right there. It was a very serious thing to confirm, aaaaand who was Nabiki kidding, she was trying to project thoughts on someone with the earthly knowledge of a paper airplane. 

But her sister looked happy. Akane was just strangely at peace with all of this. Okay, maybe not all, but she was still too calm about being a parent, about having a life shared with someone so close to her that it made new life. Wasn't that weird? Wasn't this the time to get enraged, confused, upset? No, probably because that would be bad for the baby, and little Haruhi did nothing to deserve that.

So Nabiki let herself stay confused. She was helping where she could, that's all that mattered. As long as her family was safe and happy, Nabiki was able to handle it. And now, this tiny bag of skin and bones was a part of that family too. Maybe she'd be a little more lax on what she absolutely refused to do as an auntie. 

Chapter Text

Ranma was used to being the centre of attention at any given moment, and half the time, practically encouraged it. She knew she was simply the most attractive, interesting, amazing, humble girl in the room any time Akane wasn't there, and getting praise and affection was addicting unless it led to anyone's life being in danger. She could handle her friends and family crowding her.

… Except she wasn't the one getting all the attention. Little Haruhi Tendou was. 

"I know what my dear Ukyo got her was small, but it's different seeing her in person," Konatsu looked on, amazed, "Is this the part where I swear fealty? I wish to keep her protected."

"I, uh, don't think that's necessary, 'Natsu," Ranma giggled a little, "I'd probably hafta teach Haruhi what fealty even is for that to work anyway, and I think she'd be quicker to pick up 'Cow Goes Moo' than undying devotion."

"Ah, what a shame, then…" The kunoichi sighed, placing the pile of presents one of her clones handed to her on the table, one by one, "May she learn fast."

It was definitely good to have the support, at least. Konatsu was bringing in far more supplies than Ranma would've even been able to think of, and that was just as much a gift of Ukyo, who was handling stuff in the kitchen for this impromptu gathering. Ranma absolutely owed both of them huge favours for today alone, that was for sure. 

The front door opened again with a slam, causing the baby to stir and look around as much as she could with those adorable wide eyes. The cause of such a disturbance was certainly a sight to behold. Azusa had arrived, sitting on top of a giant present box that was moving across the floor by itself, kicking her feet excitedly. 

"Where is Azusa's niece!?" The professional skater squeaked, and then squealed once she actually caught a full glimpse of the baby in question, "Gasp! Harriette! Can Azusa hold her?"

"It's Haruhi, actually, and she's a bit clingy right now," Ranma lied, actually being the clingier and more protective between parent and child, "Maybe a little later, once everyone's settled."

"Hmph, fine…" Azusa pouted, though clearly understanding, "Azusa supposes Rosalie can hold her baby as long as she wishes. But soon!"

The lid of the present box opened, and Tsubasa handed over a crinkly baby toy shaped like a star from inside the box. "Here, for her to fidget with. My baby cousins love stuff like this, it's good for their hands, and cute, too!"

"Oh, thanks!" Ranma had gotten 'claimed' as something cute by Azusa a while back, which wasn't as bad as the initial Charlotte situation could've made it seem. Plus, in hindsight, it was really gender affirming. Hopefully, Azusa wouldn't be too upset that Ranma couldn't be her true, cuter self again…

Ranma still wasn't sure how to really, fully feel about that. She had taken a cold shower today, just to rinse off everything and properly clean up her hand, and when she didn't change at all… It felt gross. This body normally was tolerable. She could handle living in it back when she had another body to go to. She had previously known she could just look like a girl whenever she wanted. But this…

Haruhi let out the tiniest little noise, hardly more than a 'Wah', but her face looked so worried and upset. "I'm alright, Haru, don't you worry," Ranma whispered to her daughter gently, "I'm a tough girl, I can handle this. Your mama never loses."

"He likes to think that, at least," Ryoga managed to sneak up on the mother and daughter, "She looks a lot like cursed you." 

"I wonder if your kids will be pigs then, P-chan," It was easier to taunt than it was to explain why the similarity was so strong, "I'm gonna teach her to call you P-oji, I hope you know that."

"Asshole." Huffed the fanged boy, though at least he wasn't too sour about it.

"I'm happy with the piglets we already have," Akari said while placing down a tiny gift bag on the table, "Raising human kids would probably be a lot of the same skills, though. I could use the help learning, though. Ranma, would you be interested in catching up over it sometime?"

"Oh, I'm like, really new to this, so I-" The implications quickly clicked in Ranma's mind, "… Are you two…?"

Ryoga blushed, embarrassed, but Akari squeezed his arm, "It's something we're thinking about, now that you and Akane have one."

"Huh… I mean, as long as you don't wanna start any contract between families as a result," Ranma shuddered the tiniest bit, "But yeah, it'd be nice. Kinda like living vicariously, though."

"Really? You wouldn't just find it easy to have a kid the normal way next time?" Ryoga probably didn't mean to sound as bad as he did in that moment, but it just kind of rubbed Ranma the wrong way.

"There's… A lot of reasons why I can't," Was what she chose to respond with, looking down at her daughter, "Don't worry 'bout it."

The part time piglet and the pig farmer looked at each other with concern, but both knew that Ranma was probably too stubborn about her feelings to say anything. And she really was, given that only Akane and Nabiki had found out about her being a girl at heart despite no longer being able to be a girl in body. She'd say something about that today if possible, if the attention was back on her and not her daughter who deserved it more. 

☆☆☆☆

"My little sister, a mother before me!" Kasumi wasn't a martial artist herself, but her hug strength absolutely could have made her mistaken for one, "I always thought… You know, being the eldest… But… Wow! I'm an aunt!"

"Kasumi, Shampoo, you can stop crushing me," Akane said from in the middle of all the affection, "I don't even have Haruhi with me, she's with Ranma."

"It is important that all parents receive affection." Shampoo insisted, likely being the reason Kasumi had stopped paying attention to how hard she hugged.

"I'm just so proud of my little sister!" The way Kasumi squeezed was absolutely taught to her by her girlfriend with glomping tendencies, "This is such a huge step for you!"

"It was hardly intentional…" Akane sighed, still happy to be getting attention at all, despite the potential damage to her ribs. 

Akane had basically been on full alert all day, keeping an eye out for anything bad that might come near her baby and her wife. That then led into being the main person hosting what was quickly becoming an accidental unplanned baby shower. It wasn't too bad, Akane was always popular and could handle this kind of thing, but…

Well, she wanted more one-on-one time with Ranma. She wanted to be with her own daughter, too. And currently, there was too much distance, too many bodies between Akane and her freshly formed family. If it was small and quiet so she could stick close to Ranma and little Haruhi, then maybe that would've been best, but since when did the martial artists of Nerima ever do anything quiet?

Once Akane was free from the vice grip group hug, she did a quick survey of where all the guest she knew were. Ukyo was still doing food stuff in the kitchen, Kasumi and Shampoo heading there to help. Ryoga, and by extension, Akari, were on the opposite side of the yard from Azusa and her joyfriend-in-a-box very intentionally. Nabiki had her headphones, trying to cut down on all the extra sensory input, and-

A hand on Akane's shoulder made her jump. "What's the child's name?"

"Oh, phew, Taro…" Akane was slightly relieved that she recognised the asshole who snuck up on her, "Her name's Haruhi."

"Hmmmm… Good, you picked a good name," The jerk handed over arguably the smallest gift bag Akane had ever seen before walking off, "I can trust you'll be good parents, then."

Taking a look inside the small gift bag, all Akane could see inside was a tiny plushie of a Minotaur. Taro had been a weird neutral party ever since he managed to create that time paradox Happosai was now eternally trapped in. Everyone still disliked the guy, and he caused some harm now and then, but hardly in a way that mattered. Akane did refuse to call him his full, really stupid, new name, though. Luckily, Taro still worked as a nickname, so it didn't matter.

That was at least one additional toy for Haruhi, then. Sayuri and Yuka already gave Akane an I.O.U. for a bunch of baby toys, and everyone else generally seemed to have at least bought one along with other gifts, so that baby was getting absolutely spoilt. It made Akane wonder how much fanfare her and Ranma might have gotten when they were young. Akane had heard a lot of her baby stuff was hand-me-downs from her sisters, and it didn't seem like the Saotomes to do anything big for Ranma at any age…

"No, I'll be the better financial support!" A voice thundered like blue lightning from outside the house's outer walls, "Fair Akane and the pigtailed girl deserve more than you could ever give, sister! At least as penance for my sins against them!"

"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho! As if your money is any better than mine!" Snapped back The Black Rose, "My darling Asuka and I have worked hard to invest in what we have, it might as well be new money! What did you do? Steal from father's bank account again?"

"Why I- Take that back!"

"Make me!"

Yep, Tatewaki and Kodachi were arriving. Akane had to go play babysitter at a baby shower to two adults. 

☆☆☆☆

"So, if the baby's magic," Ryu leaned in curiously, "How does that work, exactly?"

Presents had been received, and the whole impromptu gathering was going well. No one had started a fight bigger than a verbal argument between the Kuno siblings, and Hinako was really fast to make sure that had stopped right in its tracks with her coin trick. Everyone was gathered together to ask questions about the baby, how Ranma and Akane were handling it, fairly normal stuff for a group of weirdos. It made sense that Ryu, the least exposed to magic of them all, had the main magic question.

"Well…" Ranma started with a deep breath in, relaxing when Akane gently touched her thigh as reassurance, "Haruhi is my curse. I'm cured of Jusenkyo."

"You are!?" Mousse jumped up from his seat, metaphorical feathers ruffled, "Then tell us how! In fact, how dare you hide this method from us, Saotome!? I-"

"We didn't know there was a cure until it was forced on her, Mousse," Akane cleared up quickly, "Our parents forced it on Ranma unwillingly. It caused Ranma to bleed badly, me to pass out from heat and… dehydration… And it made Haruhi."

Only a select few knew why Akane was cagey about the dehydration part, and it was better left untouched. Still, it was enough for a solid amount of the crowd to decide it wasn't worth it on that alone. It helped that many of them knew that Ranma was okay with the curse and didn't want it cured. They just didn't know how badly she wanted the curse back yet. 

"If Pops tried it on himself, it would've taken an actual panda and would've made a cub," Ranma explained, "So… Yeah. I'm a mother now, because my curse is gone. The book with the cure said I can't get re-cursed either."

"Dude, you can call yourself a dad now," Daisuke called out from somewhere in the background, "We'll all miss your hot girl form, but you're free of it now."

And this was the hard part. Telling everyone who knew Ranma as a man amongst men that she didn't want to be one. The potential for it to cause a scene in front of Haruhi, the innocent baby in her arms, was terrifying. The first big thing a little girl really experiences shouldn't be her mother getting into a massive fight, after all. But then what else was Ranma supposed to do? And besides, with Akane there to support her, it'd have to turn out okay.

"A-actually, I…" Breathe in, breathe out, "I'm her Ma. If I was her dad at all, that'd imply I was a guy, right?"

There was a moment of silence before Hiroko stood up from her seat at the very back. "I'll collect the money from people after we're done with this little conference."

"So, you're saying both your parents and Akane's father cured you without consultation," Cologne hopped right up to Ranma and Akane, "leaving you with both a child to take care of and a lack of a comfortable body?"

"Yeah, that's it…" The old ghoul still had plenty of tricks to make Ranma feel uncomfortable.

"… There are going to be words had, granddaughter," It was all too nice knowing that Cologne was referring to Ranma, and not in a way that enforced a different engagement, "Plenty of words with that horrible, untrustworthy, inconsiderate pan-"

The door from the engawa opened, with Genma, Nodoka, and Soun all holding various very pink supplies. There was at least five balloons stating proudly that 'It's A Girl'. There was was a very legal looking document in Nodoka's hand that gave Ranma the worst kind of chill when paired with seeing the always katana. 

There were, at the party, too many presents to name, especially as many of the people gathering there had brought multiple, and there wasn't a coordinated list. However, in regards to what was pointed at Haruhi Tendou's grandparents, there was:

A bandanna, a chui, a giant spatula, a bamboo takemitsu, a spear with a duck shaped training potty attached, an ice skate worn for just this one threat, a mailbox costume, a pair of pantyhose wielded like a garrote, a large staff, a wara ningyo straw doll and a hammer, a bokken, a gymnastics ribbon, a five-yen coin, and several raised fists of those trained and untrained in martial arts alike. 

Soun fainted from the shock of the threat on the spot.

Chapter Text

"What were you thinking, bringing that many dangerous people near the baby!?" Nodoka cried, katana ignored for the moment, "What if something happened to her!?"

"It was safe, Ma, don't worry," Ranma pouted, uncomfortable being talked to like she hadn't considered that, "I get along with martial artist, I thought you'd understand that."

Ranma and Akane were adults, they didn't have to be cornered and talked to like children. They were responsible for their own kid, that was for sure, and Haruhi only started shedding tears now. The little baby, in Akane's arms at the grandparents' insistence, wasn't happy with the conversation, probably picking up on her parents and their mood. Ranma read in a pamphlet from the hospital that babies can do that. 

"Boy, while you'd be right if you had a son, girls are a little more…" Genma tried to land on a word that wouldn't get him thrashed on the spot, "Well, it's not traditional for them to learn the art as early as boys."

"And you both know how that turned out for Akane," Soun added, "So clearly, it won't put Haruhi at a disadvantage in the future with you two as her teachers."

Ignoring the fact that Akane was practically self taught ever since her mother died, both of the new parents were still uncomfortable with four things. They didn't like the assumption the baby would immediately be trained. They didn't like the casual sexism. They didn't like being told how they should act as parents by their own. And they both weren't happy at all with Ranma being called a boy.

"We've talked about our plans for that before, actually," Akane brought up, "We always thought, if we had a kid, we'd wait for them to actually show an interest in the art before doing training."

"Bah, that won't do!" Genma insisted, "Just wait for her to start primary school instead of starting when she can walk."

"Really, what you should be doing is planning the rest of her future now," That uncomfortable piece of paper was pushed forward by Nodoka, "Here, I drafted a contract up based on the one I was raised under. Seppuku is a little too harsh for girls becoming delicate women, so it's negotiable, but-"

"Who said we're gonna do a contract!?" It almost made Ranma sick to the stomach, "Don't you remember what happened with mine!?" 

"I did say seppuku is not necessary, just a different punishment," Nodoka almost ignored the problem, "And you don't have to be an absent parent, seeing as you'll be raising a lovely girl. Besides, other than your recently cured curse, your contract worked exactly as planned, so it should be fine."

Akane took a deep breath in, then out, before handing the crying Haruhi to Ranma so she could slam the floor she was sitting on with both fists. "We are not signing that! Dad, you can back us up here, right!?"

"Well, actually, if you'll be teaching outside students too, I have no reason to worry about heirs to the art," It was a little too awful, how dismissive Soun was, "Besides, I don't see why Haruhi Saotome should follow Tendou traditions as closely."

"Haruhi Tendou." Both Ranma and Akane corrected. 

"I'm gonna take Akane's name…" Admitted the pigtailed girl, struggling to make up some other excuse beyond just wanting to, "Y'know, that way we don't have to change the dojo signs."

The three older adults seemed shocked for a moment, but at least Soun seemed slightly relieved. "That's fine by me, then. Those were expensive signs, after all."

"It'll be rough explaining it to your grandparents, but maybe… I think I can work it out," Genma sighed, "I'll give them an excuse at the wedding, I'll have one by then."

"Wait, my grandparents?" This was the first Ranma had heard of them, "I thought you and Ma were my only blood family."

"Really? You forgot about your Uncle Tohma in Okinawa? I swear, you loved learning from him," It was clear the part time panda was running through a list of places he took Ranma training, "Yuuma taught you to backflip, Kouma helped me find a good pit for- Actually, you can forget Kouma."

"You have a lot of family who've been waiting for you to truly become a man," Nodoka jumped in, "Your father and I both went through similar contracts to yours, it's a tradition of both the Saotome and Shimizu clans. We were simply waiting for you to truly be a man."

Again, Ranma felt sick, and Haruhi whined a little in turn. "But you said the contract was done for!"

"I was being lenient, but your extended family may not be so understanding of curses," Did Nodoka think she was doing a favour by hiding this until now? "But now, a proper, peaceful wedding can be held safely, and everything will be wonderful."

… If Ranma said she was a girl right now, what was the chance of coming out of it unharmed, or even just alive? Given her skill as a martial artist, probably likely, but not while a baby was involved. Not while worrying about Akane, despite knowing she could also hold her own. Not without risking uprooting everything left in her life. And even if it didn't result in death now, it could very well be met with mockery, or perhaps it would get dismissed as residue from the curse. 

But, desperately, overwhelmingly, Ranma needed to get away from all of this. She essentially had whatever hope she had of making a normal life out of what she had at the door. She was one of the few people in her friend group still connected to both biological parents, she didn't want to take it for granted, even though a smarter woman would've become far more detached from them years ago. She wanted to leave, but she didn't want to cause her life to break apart, and-

Haruhi cried the worst she ever had in her short life so far, and Ranma took it as a sign. "All of this can wait. I need to take care of my daughter."

"Wait, don't go," Soun insisted, "Akane can do it herself, and Kasumi should be here if there really is anything else nee-"

"You three made me be a parent," Ranma practically had a Soul Of Ice active, staring down the older adults coldly as she got up to leave, "So I'm going to be a parent. See ya."

Haruhi calmed down the moment Akane followed Ranma out the door. She was already such a good little troublemaker. 

☆☆☆☆

"And that's every last one of them called," With the click of the receiver into the wall, Akane sighed, "It would've been nice to say bye properly…"

There were many parts of that whole conversation earlier that could be considered the worst. The contract, the sudden invitation of people neither fiancee knew to their wedding, the gender policing, so much more. But, after calling up everyone who had left, Akane was feeling lonely, so the worst part for now was just that her father and in-laws thought they could have enough control to kick everyone out.

There were few bright sides remaining. At least Kasumi and Nabiki definitely weren't kicked out, having as much right to stay as the blood family of one of the mothers. At least Shampoo was able to slink around quietly in cat form, staying around by staying hidden until she could jump into Kasumi's lap. And at least Ranma's parents hadn't at all pieced together that Ryoga was very capable of hiding the same way, the piglet hiding right next to a nearly identical plush toy gifted by him and Akari to Haruhi.

"Come on, P-chan," Akane was too used to using the old nickname for the cursed boy she scooped into her arms, "You probably want to see your niece up close. Akari already knows you'll probably want to spend the night, too."

Getting an affirmative bwee in response, Akane also snatched the plush piglet toy to come with. Everything would have to come to the room eventually, and taking an extra plush with her was just one less thing to move later. The crib that Ukyo and Konatsu found had already been taken, so that was probably already set up at some point during that awful conversation and the many phone calls had. 

"Everyone's been called, and Ryoga's sleeping over tonight," It was easy to cut right to the chase in Akane's pretty pissed off mood as soon as she opened her bedroom door, "How's Haruhi?"

"Mrrp!" Shampoo trilled from beside the red and blue haired baby, right from inside the crib newly place at the end of the bed. 

"We've been keeping an eye on her, but she's been calm since she got changed, at least," Kasumi said, her hand reached into the crib so the baby inside could grab at her finger instead of her cat-form girlfriend, "I have… Words, regarding certain actions taken by her grandparents, though."

"Told 'em everything…" Ranma sat at the edge of the bed that let her stare at her daughter, curled up with her knees to her chest, "'M feeling gross."

At least Ranma wasn't going into the Nekoken headspace with the Shampoo in cat form around Haruhi. Getting her to a point where she could tolerate at one cat had been an effort and then some, partially helped by Ranma trying to think of herself as technically part dog due to being adopted by Shirokuro in the eyes of Dog Law, whatever that meant. But her feeling awful about the conversation still wasn't pleasant. 

Akane placed P-chan down on her vanity before setting right next to Ranma, encouraging the black haired girl to rest her head on her fiancee's shoulder. "I don't blame you, but don't let them get to you, dummy."

"I'm already trying to plan out a different wedding for you two," Nabiki said from the corner on the floor she was sitting in, holding up a notebook, "If dad and the Saotomes want anything like your first attempted wedding, you're gonna need a back up."

"Could you invite people we actually know to that one?" Ranma mumbled, "I ain't happy to have a bunch of strangers coming to see me be a manly groom…" 

"… Could we just have a second, smaller wedding anyway?" The epiphany Akane had was way too clear, "One where we play by our own rules, that we get absolute final say on. That way our parents won't bug us about it."

"I could probably make that work, you'd only have to do paperwork in the first wedding, anyway," Nabiki hummed, "All in favour of making a better wedding for these idiots?"

Kasumi and Nabiki raised their hands along with Akane, which the bride to be of the three was happy about. A little pig hoof and cat paw was raised too, which was kind of obvious, given that it would be a guaranteed invitation for Ryoga and Shampoo. And even though it was to reach for her auntie's suddenly high up hand, Akane liked to think that Haruhi approved, too. 

Ranma waited a moment before speaking softly. "Could… Could I wear a pretty dress, even though I-"

"Of course, dummy! We can do our better wedding however we want," Akane wrapped her arm around the love of her life, "And my wife is going to be as pretty as she wants to be, curse or not!"

It was sad to know that Ranma was so insecure about what was only so recently something easy for her to do. But, as Akane said, she knew her wife would be beautiful regardless, and the now blushing bride-to-be held up her hand with the rest of them. It was hard for Akane not to cheer along with Kasumi and the two cursed animals in the room.

"Cool, lemme know the date your parents want it so we can do the fun wedding after that," Jotting down notes into her planner, Nabiki seemed to be pretty happy to be helping like this, "Consider it my gift for the baby shower."

"… 'Kane, if we're gonna marry on our own terms, then… Maybe we should ask Mum for her blessing," Ranma suggested strangely, "Just to be safe, y'know?"

"But I thought we weren't telling your parents?" Akane was a little too confused by the sudden change in opinion. 

"No, that's my Ma, not my Mum…" When a certain piglet snickered at her, Ranma mustered the energy to glare at him, "Laugh again, and you'll have to find your own way home, sausage breath."

Chapter Text

Akane made sure her clothes were as neat as they could be. Sure, she could excuse the wrinkles in it a little by being the one to put the baby in the carseat, but she was nervous, and having control over her clothes helped soothe that a little. A simple choice of a white button up shirt and professional black pants was going to provide her best shot at leaving a good impression. 

… Akane was going to have to impress a dog. 

As Ranma drove the car into the driveway of the Hibiki/Unryuu farm residence, Akane had to remember that Shirokuro was a very good dog, and thus likely not someone she had to stress over too much. But that would make it all the worse if she failed to get approval, which wasn't actually necessary, because it would feel like Akane really just wanted Ranma far too selfishly…

"And that's how I won the Martial Arts Traffic Safety contest," Ranma said smugly as she patted the dashboard of the small car, "Best driver on the road, right here."

"It's as boring reliving that story for the fiftieth time as it was being there for it…" Ryoga complained as her hopped out of the car and into the arms of Akari waiting for them.

"Do you want me to take little Haru, or- ACK!" Before Ranma could even try and take Haruhi out of the car, Shirokuro came running to tackle her to the ground, "Hi, yes, it's me, I know, hi Mum, good dog!"

"Hi, Shirokuro," Akane got out of the car on her side, trying to be as polite as possible, "Could you let your daughter get your granddaughter out of the car, please?"

"Ruff?" Shirokuro gave a headtilt in curiosity before noticing the baby in the car seat properly. Despite repeated testing proving otherwise, the way the black and white dog teared up could have made it seem like she was human once. Then, oh so gently and carefully, she made her way up into the car and sniffed baby Haruhi before laying her head down in the tiny girl's tinier lap. Haruhi watched thus happen in awe, and decided the best course of action was to tap at Shirokuro's head with her small hands. 

"… 'Kane?" Asked the pigtailed girl as she got up and dusted off her shirt and pants, "Get the camera."

"Already on it." The damn zipper on the travel bag they brought couldn't have opened fast enough in Akane's opinion. 

☆☆☆☆

"Of course we'll come!" Akari cheered, looking up from the baby sat in a booster seat, "You could even use the barn if you need a big space."

"Thanks, we'll keep that in mind while planning," Hopefully Ranma would remember it along with everything else to keep in mind, "I wouldn't want you or Ryoga to miss it."

The kitchen of the farmhouse had been getting increasingly familiar the longer Ranma had known Akari. Sometimes, when Akane had courses and study sessions going and Ryoga was doing his own thing who-knows-where, Ranma and Akari would just have time to chat about their respective heavy-hitting fiancees with hearts of gold, a small gossip session or two over lunch.

"You know, normally it's not the guests staying overnight who make dinner," Joked the pig farmer, despite not actually going to offer help, "Especially when the guests are new parents that also have to plan a wedding."

"Well, yeah, but I feel bad," Ranma set aside the chopped up ingredients she'd be using in a few moments, "You already did so much yesterday by being there, 'Kari, and I still owe you after I borrowed Katsunishiki for that five-legged race, and-"

"I know, I'm in a friend group of self sacrificing idiots," Akari said while jangling toy keys right above Haruhi's curious wide eyed face, "And all of you are as stubborn as pigs."

"Did… Did you just imply something bad about pigs?" Ranma was only seconds away from checking if her friend had been replaced with a doppelganger. 

All Akari did in response was laugh. "It's a neutral trait, actually. I like it, but it can be really fucking painful to watch sometimes."

"No swearing in front of the baby, but that makes sense, I guess," Shaking her head, Ranma sat on the floor next to her child, "'Kane can be real cute when she's stubborn. Kinda scared how fierce Haru's gonna be because of it."

Admittedly, it was a little hard to tell how much trouble Haruhi could be in the future while looking at her remain tantalised over multicoloured plastic keys. But she had chaos and power in her DNA, plus a hoard of platonic relatives that could and would storm the heavens if anything so much as gave her a papercut. The little girl could probably grow up to be the true strongest martial artist of all time, if she showed interest in the art.

"If you really need advice on wrangling little troublemakers without hurting them, I have techniques for piglets," Akari offered, "I've… Well, I've kind of been holding back on just giving you piglet advice. I realised telling you when it's safe for her to eat from a trough wasn't going to be helpful."

Ranma laughed hard enough that she caught her daughter's full attention. "It'd be the best advice anyone has offered so far, anyway. Maybe you and I should meet up and research some stuff, especially if you're planning on having a kid some time. Just not-"

"I know, not on Fridays," Was the pattern too obvious? "You and Shampoo aren't ever available on Fridays, I know. Someday, I'll work out what you're doing. Does Akane at least know?" 

"Yep, and she's sworn to secrecy!" Giggled Ranma, "Sorry, Nǚjié zú Warrior Sister Bond secret stuff. Can't say a word outside of those who really gotta know."

"This is why you have so many rivals…" Akari sighed with a laugh, "I'll tell you one of my embarrassing hobbies if you tell me what you're doing, how about that?"

"Does it have to do with the bright orange cartoon pig costume in the hallway closet Ryoga always left turns into?" 

Akari slouched, practically giving Haruhi the toy keys. "Motherfucker."

☆☆☆☆

"Sorry if it's weird that I needed to talk to her in private. I don't want to say something wrong because of stage fright"

Ryoga smiled at Akane and chuckled. "You're the second least likely person to get stage fright that I know, and you have a kid with the first. You can handle whatever it is you need to tell Shirokuro."

"I'm not sure about that, but thank you," Akane was hopefully not too obviously nervous, "This is something that means a lot to me, and you know how often that tends to go wrong in our friend group."

The silence on that point was deafening. How many times had trying to be honest about literally anything result in disaster, if not interrupted by some supernatural forces? Admittedly, the bizarreness quota was already being met by Akane planning to ask a dog for permission to marry a human, but that didn't mean there couldn't be more. Of course Akane was on high alert. 

Well, she also wanted to maintain the best appearance she could have, and so was very careful on the walk to the secluded shed across the field. Would a dog care about her having mud on her shoes? Probably not, but it still wasn't something Akane felt would be a good look for her. Her life would never be perfect, but she could hope little bits like this would be.

"… Look, I know what you're about to do," Ryoga sighed, taking out the key for the shed once they reached it, "And as much as it hurts, you've got my permission to marry that jerk you call a girlfriend, and she has permission to marry you."

"I thought you had gotten over me," Akane laughed a little awkwardly, "I know you're okay with it, unless…?"

The door needed a little rattling to open, but Ryoga handled it. "No, no 'unless'. It's just… An end of an era, I guess. Two, actually. One era where I thought I'd have to get with you if Ranma didn't, and one era where I thought I was gay or something for thinking my rival was hot."

Awkward laughter turned genuine for a moment as Akane took Shirokuro's lead to walk inside the shed. "Yeah, I'm the gay one for falling for her. Thanks, Ryoga, I appreciate the sentiment."

"Any time, Akane," The door closed on Ryoga's smile, "I'll be out here for when you come out."

The shed's interior was oddly well lived in. Sure, it wasn't much, but with dog beds of different sizes, and toys littered all over the floor… "Shirokuro, is this where you let your family stay for visits? Your pups?"

"Arf!" The doggy matriarch's tail wagged fiercely as she sat down on the biggest bed there. For a member of a species that frequently ends up separated over time from biological family, Shirokuro must have been a particularly sentimental mother figure. It had been so long since Akane had known her own mother, but the idea of staying connected no matter how distant was a beautiful ideal. It obviously didn't work for everyone, though. 

"It's a very nice place, your family is very lucky," It was now officially time for formalities, "Speaking of, um, I need to talk to you about your adoptive daughter."

Shirokuro's head tilted before she seemed to look at a photograph hanging up. A picture of what looked like Ranma's old cursed form, wearing a dog collar labelled 'Yoiko' and holding up adoption papers, or at least what looked like them if not for only containing written out dog noises.

"Yes, her," The need to specify made Akane wonder how many adoptive kids the dog actually had, "Nothing is wrong, except, well… Okay, she's not cursed anymore, but she's a girl, and her human parents are being roug- I mean, difficult. But this is about something else."

Deep breath in, deep breath out. Akane had rehearsed this in her mind since she realised she'd have to have this talk. And even though it was silly still in concept, sometimes that still required her to be genuine for the best outcome. Her whole heart was ready to exposed, alone in a well decorated guest house for dogs with her future mother-in-dog-law.

"… Ranma means the world to me. You probably already know that, but I just need to make sure you know. She's dumb at times, and reckless, and only thinks when it's a detriment to her, but I love her. I want to make sure she's loved, and that our daughter is loved, too. And so, that's why I want to ask your permission to marry her."

The admission was met with nothing but a blank stare, something that wasn't to be expected from Shirokuro at all. Another dog, maybe, but not the most expressive non-cursed animal Akane had ever met. 

"Do… Do you understand?" Akane stepped forward, not looking where her foot went, "Do dogs have marriaAAAAAH!"

The ball that she stepped on rolled away as she fell to the floor. A martial artist's instincts were only good at picking up incoming intentional threats, there was nothing Akane could've done asides from literally looking down. She had failed in keeping herself presentable, and likely wasn't gonna get proper confirmation that her marrying Ranma was something that was genuinely okay. 

… Well, that wasn't true. Her sisters were all for it, as was the entire friend group, probably. Hell, Ryoga just put in the effort to say he was okay with Ranma and Akane marrying. Maybe parental approval, biological or adoptive, wasn't necessary. It never was, but to be free of the need for confirmation was new. Marriage, and any relationship, really, wasn't to impress anyone, it was to express connection and love.

"… I'm sorry to waste your time, Shirokuro," Looking at the floor, Akane still felt a little silly, "I'll get married to Ranma either way. At least you know, though."

Something gently touched Akane's shoulder, an expression of assurance, and the gentle voice of a clearly motherly woman spoke clear as day. "Sweetheart, you were practically already family. You have my blessing, as long as you keep my pup safe."

Shocked, Akane looked up to see that it was Shirokuro placing a paw on her shoulder. The dog barked before happily walking over to the door and tapping at it, wordlessly asking to be let out. From the outside, Ryoga let Shirokuro happily make her way out, and Akane had to genuinely wonder if she had imagined that affirmation or not.

"She seems like a pretty happy dog, how did- Akane?" Ryoga walked into the shed to help Akane to her feet, "What happened? Is everything okay?"

"… Yeah. Yeah, it…" Shaking the weirdness out of her head, Akane got back up with ease, "… It went well. I think she approves, although I'd marry Ranma regardless."

Chapter Text

"You're a disgusting little creature sometimes, did you know that?" Akane said with zero malice towards the baby she was picking up off the table, "Who's a little monster? It's you! You're a little stink monster!"

Haruhi smiled at the silly voice her mum put on, happily getting scooped up into a cuddle. Since getting the baby earlier in the week, it had mainly had been Ranma holding her in the evening. But it was Friday, which meant Akane got to hold her baby with absolutely no competition. Well, at least not Ranma for competition. Apparently, a lot of people like holding cute babies. 

"I can take care of her once I'm done with these dishes," Kasumi called from the kitchen, "You should probably take a break."

"I had plenty of breaks today, did you see Ranma?" Laughed Akane, "She was trying to cram in as much baby time as she could before leaving today."

"You both deserve breaks, as such sudden new parents," Sighed the older of the two sisters, "You have so much going at once. There's so many people willing to help you, so let us."

Akane rolled her eyes slightly as she sat down. "I will, when I need it. This isn't something I need help with right now. I haven't held my daughter all day, and I only need myself for that."

"Fine, I guess I'll have to hold my niece some other time…" So that was Kasumi's true intent.

The house was comfortably quiet, except for the radio going in the background with no reason to pay attention to it just yet. It felt nice to be able to relax a little again in these halls, given that it still reeked of the memory of being talked down to, of even the spell that summoned little baby Haruhi in the kettle. Akane had a good dinner and a long conversation with her sister, and now everything got to settle before the big event of the night.

"Are you excited, Haruhi?" Akane asked her very unaware baby. Still, the fact that she got a little happy face was a good sign. The joy was practically infectious, and Akane was almost glad she and Ranma were the first in the friend group to have a kid just out of the fact that she'd be too jealous of someone having something this cute. If only it was under better circumstances…

Ranma and Akane had talked about their thoughts on being parents before. They had both wanted kids, both wanted to give that kid as happy a life as possible, and both wanted to have them only when they were ready. Now, having not been ready, and not really having any future way to be ready unless Akane was comfortable being the one to carry, those plans were scattered to the wind. A happy life for Haruhi had to be improvised.

Snapping Akane out of those thoughts was a cute little jingle coming from the radio, one which summoned Kasumi out of the kitchen and right to the opposite side of the table to Akane. It was a little funny and very sweet, seeing Kasumi naturally act the part of someone completely lovestruck, especially after so long of being the person in that position while she watched on.

*Welcome back, lovely listeners,* The familiar voice came from the slightly tinny speaker, *This is Venus Radio, your weekly dose of romance!*

"Do you hear that?" Akane asked her baby rhetorically, "That's your Mama on the radio!"

*I'm Kew!*

*And I am Pid!* Shampoo's voice joined in. 

*And we're sisters, here to share your stories of love!* The two hosts said in unison.

Listening to their partners' radio show had been a weekly sisterly bonding activity for Akane and Kasumi, ever since the program started almost a year ago. Shampoo's international communications course got a massive bump in grades since she started this, and Ranma liked to challenge and train her birth form's voice to sound feminine through the show too, initially claiming it was for 'disguise' reasons. That was something obviously wrong in hindsight. 

*Before we get to any letters, a quick reminder that we don't accept love confessions,* 'Kew' chimed in quickly, *We're here to share stories, not interfere with them.*

*Speaking of, I know you have something to share, sister,* 'Pid' teased, *Your love life has improved a lot.*

*Sis, y'know he listens to this…* Ranma audibly was covering her face.

*Good! Listeners, Kew has been officially asked by her partner to marry him!* Shampoo was very clearly clapping her hands together, *Congratulations to Mr Mars, who we have been hearing about ever since this show started!* 

*As if you're any less talkative about Mr Adonis!* 

The banter continued in the background as Akane smiled and blushed heavily. Sure, they had to pretend like they were Generic Heterosexual Women on air, partially for the anonymity, partially so they could be on air at all. But all it took was a name change, and Ranma was capable of gushing about Akane as much as she wanted, even though her job was to read letters other people sent about their partners.

"I hope you know that you're going to be all she talks about on there now," Kasumi chuckled, "Especially once your true wedding happens."

"As long as you know Shampoo is probably going to talk about you even more once you're married," Akane sighed, "She's not nearly as repressed as Ranma is or has been."

☆☆☆☆

Ranma slid a tape recording of that night's Venus Radio to Cologne over the counter top. "Another one in the can. Are you sure they ain't tired of my voice yet?" 

"There's been plenty of positive feedback from some residents attempting to learn Japanese, so no," Cologne laughed, "You're a good replacement for a textbook."

"I'll take whatever audience I can get," Taking a slurp of noodles was important enough to interrupt Ranma's sentence, "I just like the attention."

"We know." Both Cologne and Shampoo deadpanned in unison. 

Coming to the Nekohanten from the radio station had become tradition pretty quickly, Ranma unable to resist the promise of free food. And even though she really wanted to check back in on both Akane and little baby Haruhi, Ranma still had a social life to live. Checking in and spending time with her sister in arms was important, especially seeing as Ranma liked being around Shampoo ever since the fiancee wars died down.

"So, what are the plans for your wedding, Mèimèi?" Shampoo asked over her own bowl of noodles, "Do you need the Nekohanten to host? It should be a big enough space."

"We can keep that in mind when planning, at least," Ranma had to bring up two options to Nabiki now, "It's currently all over the place, it'll just be after the shitshow our parents are planning. A wedding where I won't have to wear a shitty tux…"

"Would you wear a dress?" Excitedly, Shampoo gossiped as if Ranma's curse hadn't been cured, "We could get you a qungua, that would look amazing on you!"

"I'd… I'd like to wear a dress, and 'Kane's happy with it, but…" A knot twisted itself into Ranma's stomach, "… I'm still kinda worried, y'know? It ain't like I'd look the part too well…"

"You're arguably one of the most feminine appearing people I have met, granddaughter, and certainly the most androgynous," Cologne sighed while pogoing to the other side of the counter, "But I doubt that will soothe your concerns. That's why I've done some research."

"Research? Is there…" It was hard to not get hopes high for a moment, the pigtailed girl having her imagination briefly running wild, "… Is there a way to be cursed again? Even though the book with the cure said I couldn't?"

"No, there isn't, I'm sorry," The old ghoul sounded genuinely sad at that fact, "However, we can get you closer to that form. You'll maintain some parts of your anatomy unless surgery gets involved, and I can't reduce your height, but gradually, you'll develop as a girl. I just need you to trust me with pressure points."

That was, admittedly, a little bit of a sore point. Ranma's sense of temperature had been fucked up for years now from the combo of the Full Body Cat's Tongue and Phoenix Pill, so her and pressure points were already off to a rough start without even considering the time Toufu took out her knees early on, or the moxibustion, or that Martial Arts Tag game a few months back. But if it meant being seen as a girl from the outside again?

"Will it make my hair red again?" That little identifier of Ranma's womanhood was something sorely missed, a little bit of rebellion against the man she was made to be by contract, "Y'know, so I actually look like Haruhi's mother instead of some stranger."

Shampoo snorted a little. "Mèimèi, I have permanent purple hair. Making your hair grow in red again is too, too easy, no pressure points required."

"All this will do is make your hormone production function like that of any other girl," Cologne explained, "Lowering testosterone, increasing estrogen, all by pushing at your flow of ki the right ways. It is reversible, if you truly dislike it, but please, try."

"… Yeah, sure," Ranma stood up, ready to be jabbed by a walking stick wherever she might need to be, "Girl me up."

☆☆☆☆

Akane laid awake in bed, the dim duck shaped nightlight Mousse gifted for Haruhi being the only light source in the room, the main thing letting her know her baby was breathing soundly. With her head at the wrong end of the bed, Akane could look into the cradle and see the gentle rise and fall of baby breaths. Maybe it was too overprotective to stare like that, but given that Haruhi was, by nature, a surprise, who knew what had to be looked out for.

The creak of the bedroom door was a little bit of good news for Akane's heavy eyelids. As much as she adored Ranma in her own right, she'd still sleep easier with her fiancee there, and it would mean they could, in theory, split panicking about the baby between the two them. In theory. They were both still extremely paranoid about keeping each other safe, the baby was another concern on top of that.

"Hey, 'Kane," Whispered Ranma as she crept into the bed, "Warming the bed for me?"

"Asshole," Akane mumbled back, wrapping her future wife in a hug, "It's for warming for both of us."

"I know, I know, just kidding," It was the kind of hug that made Ranma feel short, even in the form she had since birth, her curling up so her head was just under Akane's chin, "You're a good heater though."

"Ranma, I'm freezing."

"Can't hear you. Too warm."

Sighing over her fiancee's nonsense, Akane gently put her hand on Ranma's head, petting her. It was a gentle, repetitive motion, easy for her sleepy brain to do while getting nuzzled into. Just Akane, the sleeping baby in the crib, and her big, dorky, stupid, brash, pretty, wonderful, hilarious golden retriever of a girlfriend. This was a happy night for sure. 

"… Hey, dummy?" Akane whispered.

"Mhm?"

"Is… Is your hair a little red? Or am I just exhausted out of my mind."

Ranma yawned a little, cuddling into Akane a little more. "Why not both?"

Honestly, given everything in Akane's life that could've seemed like a dream, her fiancee getting a hair colour change after doing a radio show late at night wasn't the weirdest thing. But, given that Akane was also completely tired, and the nightlight illuminated everything slightly weirdly, it really was an equal chance at the moment as to what was the truth. 

"… Sure. Why not both," Akane hummed, "I missed red hair on you."

Chapter Text

"You… Dyed your hair?"

Ranma smiled while holding up her daughter, the shades of red on both matching perfectly. "Yep! Didn't wanna stop lil Haru from not having a nice family resemblance. Besides, I like the colour on me. Didn't get to chose to keep it for some strange reason."

Hopefully, that little bit of venom got through to Nodoka. Ranma really didn't want to risk losing her head or, even after everything, her parents, but she still wanted to try and make her position on everything clear. She had just gotten her hair colour back, she had a few day's worth of progress on getting a body right for her back, she was fighting for a life she wanted and that meant she had to live a little more loud and clear.

"I see…" Nodoka looked her daughter up and down, conflicted, "It isn't the manliest colour, but my father's hair used to be redder than mine… And dyeing it seems rebellious, which is fairly manly… Alright, I think I can safely approve."

"Thanks, Ma, but I wasn't asking for permission," Ranma would've actually rathered an apology, "I'm a grown w- Uh, adult, and I can pick my hair for myself. I can decide a lot of things, actually."

"Good, because there's some venues within our budget I'd like to show you," Said the eldest redhead in the room. "All should be big enough for all your guests, too! The Saotome and Shimizu clans are rather large, of course, and with all the Tendous, too, then-"

"And you ain't wanting any of my friends 'round, I guess…" Thank fuck for second, better weddings. 

"Oh, no, you can bring along… What was his name? Kuno?" Not who Ranma would've preferred, but at least Nodoka didn't suggest someone actually totally irredeemable, "The swordsman. Your family would probably also approve of his wealth, if not his behaviour."

"Hmm, I dunno, that's three extra seats to fill," There was the benefit of sneaking two extra people Ranma knew in, too, "He never goes to this kinda thing alone."

"Right, he's rich… Still, that should be hardly a problem based on where I want to show you," Nodoka hummed, "Him, his girlfriend, and his servant may come."

"Cool, fine then." Ranma smirked. It was more accurate to say that Tatewaki and his two boyfriends would be coming instead. And what were Ranma's family to complain? The three together were plenty manly. What's manlier than three men?

"Now, it's probably best for us to get going," Nodoka shooed Ranma towards the hallway, "Go and leave Haruhi with Akane, and let's-"

"Woah, 'Kane's got a class on right now, she ain't here," Ranma held her daughter protectively, and Haruhi herself almost death stared her grandmother for even suggesting she be left behind, "Can't I just take her with me?" 

It was annoying, the way Nodoka sighed as if her logic was obvious, "These places are far too fancy to bring a child more than once. If she causes a mess, that's an additional time we have to pay for damages!"

There was a slight irritation in Ranma's heart at the notion that her adorable, precious little girl could cause any kind of mess before she could even walk. However, that was probably more from what Ranma thought of as messes, the destructive kind. Haruhi's kind, the general ways a baby could make a mess without being forced into martial arts right out the womb, was unfortunately a lot less controllable in Ranma's recent experience. And if Nodoka didn't think bringing a diaper bag was manly…

"… Fine, okay, let me look for someone to babysit," Someone safe, trustworthy, and who would protect the child with their life… "Kinda hard to pick someone without planning ahead, though. Would've been nice to have more time."

"Isn't Kasumi available?" Of course that was the immediate first choice, "Oh, or Nabiki?"

"Leave me the fuck out of this." Nabiki grumbled, looking like she had just woken up and with a mug of coffee in her hand to deal with the morning as she walked past. 

"And Kasumi's busy with personal stuff," Ranma didn't want to guess what 'personal stuff' meant when Kasumi had headed to Shampoo's place, "So, I guess I'm staying right h-"

The door slammed open with purpose, and all eyes turned to the obscured figures. The trio of them were warriors, obviously by their body shapes and armour, and two of them were carrying large boxes and dragging additional luggage behind them. The figure in the centre, long haired and walking proudly, stepped forward while unfortunately drenched by some unknown source of cold water before getting here. 

"I heard my greatest ever foe has offspring," Prince Herb kneeled in front of Ranma and Haruhi, Lime and Mint close behind, "I came as soon as I could to offer my congratulations and gifts."

Ranma could uncomfortably feel how her mother was staring at the three members of The Musk Dynasty as if Haruhi's babysitters were just found.

☆☆☆☆

Herb was, admittedly, too aware of how to handle children for a man of his status. Of course, all men of of The Musk had to learn to care for children eventually, given their nature as a male only society, but this was a matter of being royalty, not of who was better to raise young. Herb knew things that were better suited to servants, to dedicated caretakers, out of what was only describable as morbid curiosity. 

Really, it was being a true man from a young age that gave him such knowledge, by running about decorated halls, asking questions he shouldn't have, demanding information to become more powerful and wise with it. Dragons liked to collect things, after all, and what was available to Herb to collect before truly in a state of power was the facts and knowledge of his own caretakers and serving staff. 

… Herb was, also admittedly, unsure how to specifically handle a baby girl.

Haruhi Tendou, the infant spawn of Ranma Tendou, née Saotome, was a little bundle of quiet mystique wrapped up in a tiger inspired onesie. That, of course, endeared Lime to the idea of babysitting immediately. Meanwhile, Mint was running about and retrieving additional supplies at high speed. Herb couldn't help, of course, given the baby was being held in his own cursed form's arms. 

The little thing was just so incredibly peaceful, with wide, curious eyes. By traditional Musk Dynasty standards, she wouldn't be worthy of such particularly high quality and heavy duty care. But this was the child of a powerful warrior who, for whatever reason, decided womanhood was a path worthy to pursue. So, maybe, it really was worth putting aside tradition from a place this girl would likely never visit, anyway. 

"Is this a good place to put the dragon plush!?" Lime called out from somewhere upstairs.

"I can't see up there, but as long as there's plenty of space to move around it, it should be fine!" Herb responded. He wouldn't move from this spot if it risked disturbing this baby, which made placing the gifts brought a trust exercise. 

There was, in response to his minor shouting, a small tug at Herb's scalp. That was almost odd, until he looked down at the baby in his arms, doing the best she could with her minuscule amount of strength and coordination to play with Herb's hair. Haruhi was obviously in awe of someone with multicoloured hair like her, so perhaps her young brain saw this as a way of reaching solidarity. 

To think that something this cute, this gentle, could be born from the waters of Jusenkyo. Even from the same waters that gave Herb his curse, if the very rushed briefing on everything from Ranma was understood correctly. In that sense, Herb had a kindred spirit in his arms. Someone with magic coursing through their veins since birth, someone forever tied to those springs. 

"You have the blessing of a dragon," Herb whispered, "Cherish that thought as you have been cherished."

Haruhi responded to this by sticking her little handful of his hair in her mouth. Such a silly thing. It was good partial dragon hybrids didn't have the same hair growth magic built into them as full dragons did.

"Sorry to interrupt, but this is the right temperature, right?" Mint asked as he rushed in with a baby bottle, only to gasp at the sight of Haruhi being adorable, "Do all girls eat hair like that!? I should maybe try growing out mine then…"

"No, this is the nature of all youth," Herb lightly laughed as he took the bottle, ready for when the child in his protection was hungry for it, "She's trying to understand her surroundings. And thank you, the temperature is perfect."

☆☆☆☆

Akane had only a short walk to go before getting home, and despite having gone this way many times, she still had the image of Haruhi's birthday burnt into her mind instead of anything else. The excitement and hope beforehand, the sombre happiness in the hospital after, the painful heat and dehydration in the middle that reminded her of… 

Akane took a nervous sip of her large water bottle, a little too big of one than most people walking would.

It was surprisingly rough, not actually being physically present to help her wife and daughter for any amount of time. Her certification wouldn't happen if she didn't put in the work, of course, but Akane had family to take care of, people to love. It was honestly a miracle that she was able to focus in class, given that her brain was half filled with worry for her family, half with adoration and love. 

Her hope, once she got to her house, was to get some good rest, having some low energy cuddle time with Ranma and Haruhi as a protective little family bubble. Akane would hold her daughter, of course, haven't that Ranma had plenty of time while home alone. Just the three of them, with no additional weddings or in-law drama or random people from out of town who want to fight. 

… The sight of who was in the sitting room ruined those chances a little, because there was no way Ranma would let someone else hold Haruhi if she was still in the house. 

Herb was sitting with the baby in his arms, him holding the sleeping little girl like it was a sworn duty to keep her safe. Both Mint and Lime, however, were just as asleep as the baby. The partial tiger had stretched out, but rested his head on his prince's lap, just like any ordinary housecat. The wolf hybrid was curled up next to Herb, clearly having a small running dream with how his hands and nose twitched. 

"Mrs Tendou," Herb whispered, "My apologies for the intrusion. I came to see Ranma's child, but got put with babysitting duty when your mother-in-law dragged Ranma away."

"Ugh… Right, of course," There were always going to be pains in the neck, that's just how Akane's life went, "Thank you so much for watching Haruhi, then. Was everything awright? She didn't manage to wear you all out, did she?"

"Oh, no, these two are simply jet-lagged," After handing Haruhi over to Akane, Herb used his free hands to gently pat both of his sleeping guards, "Dragons don't tire so easily."

With her daughter resting peacefully in her arms, Akane smiled. "Well, I'm glad she handled her first babysitters very well. I'm so sorry it got thrown on you so suddenly, though."

"It was hardly a problem, and an honour," Herb returned the smile, showing off sharp teeth, "Even as a woman, and the daughter of two women, Haruhi Tendou shall be under the protection of The Musk Dynasty as long as I have a say in it, and I intend on ruling for quite a long time."

The cursed prince was certainly one of the most reasonable people Ranma had fought over the years, and was surprisingly easy to talk to despite the glaring issues of sexism built into his heritage and the cause of his animalistic traits. Nonetheless, he was a powerful ally, and apparently a damn good babysitter, so maybe if Ranma and Akane ever visited China on their own terms and brought Haruhi along, there'd be someone willing to watch her as the two martial artists explored. 

Although, Akane wasn't sure she could explore like that anymore without still being concerned for her daughter. 

Chapter Text

"Family friendly date days…" Ranma hummed to herself, notepad in hand, "Hmmm… Yeah, I got nothing."

"You've had nothing for half an hour, dummy," Akane chuckled, "How about… Movie night?" 

"Nothing's on that's okay for a teen, let alone a baby," Sighing with the kind of emphasis that meant she had checked a thousand times, Ranma picked up the newspaper again, "I can't go to the zoo, cos-"

"Yeah, pandas piss me off as well, I get it," Martial Arts Animal Wrangling had been a pain, even before those with animal curses got involved, "I don't know what would be appropriate to read in a library for a baby."

"And I'd probably read out loud too enthusiastically for those nerds, anyway," Pouting redheads would always be cute to Akane, "Entertaining my daughter requires showmanship, dammit!"

As if on cue, little baby Haruhi reached out to Ranma from her little playmat as best she could. Of course a baby related to Ranma and born from a chaotic curse would have so much energy. Maybe she'd be just as much a drama queen in her future, although Akane absolutely wouldn't be upset if her daughter got into acting when older. She'd do everything she could as a mother to make sure her kid would play the parts auditioned for, too. No more forced Romeos. 

"Hmmm… What if we had some kind of… Movie night at home?" Ranma suggested while crouching to hold Haruhi's hand, "Maybe invite someone who actually has a tape player and some cute movies, make it a quiet couples night plus Haru?"

"I can work with that, especially if we get some good pillows set up and make everything like a mini theatre," Akane smiled, "Who do you have in mind?

☆☆☆☆

"This little piggy named Rochelle went to market," Azusa cooed at Haruhi while gentle poking the baby's left pinky toe, "And this little piggy named Dorian stayed home-" 

"And we got… Life!" Ukyo cheered from behind the TV, holding up the small bit of cable she could to display to show her achievement off, "Should be ready to go!"

The sitting room was already smothered with pillows, practically making a blanket fort for everyone there despite only the baby being under 20. That was the magic of adulthood, though. Ranma and Akane, Ukyo and Konatsu, and Azusa and Tsubasa all had their own comfy spots to cuddle while watching, and only one of them had to account for an additional baby.

"And this little piggy named Charlotte went bwee bwee bwee bwee, all the way home!" Gently tickling Haruhi, Azusa did get a bit of a smile, which was more than enough for her, "You are the cutest! Yes you are! Auntie Azusa's cute little Harriette!" 

Popping out from inside a pile of pillows, Tsubasa rested its head on its hands, staring fondly at its girlfriend. "You're a natural with kids, my darling, even when the parents are butt ugly." 

A popcorn kernel flew with full force into the back of Tsubasa's head, just as Ranma planned. "I'll have you know that my tomboy is the cutest there is! And her other mother ain't that bad looking either when in proper shape."

Even if only for a short amount of time, the room had an awkward silence fill the air. Ranma didn't sound completely confident in her appearance, which was something strange. Even though she had been looking more like herself thanks to Nǚjié zú pressure point stuff, it was clear that not having the curse bothered her, at least on a fundamental level. If only more could be done. 

"Sorry to change topic, but should we settle on a film to watch?" Konatsu broke the tension, "There seems to be quite a large collection here."

"And Azusa is not sorry for that!" Chimed the brunette with a giggle.

"Is there a few we can watch in a row?" Akane asked, picking up Haruhi and taking her to the designated Tendou pillow pile, "That way we won't have to spend ages deciding in between."

"We have everything from Ghibli up to the newest one," Tsubasa offered, "That might be better to watch without the pig fanatic around, too."

"Is 'Nausicaä' a part of that?" Ukyo asked, getting settled next to Konatsu, "Or are we starting from 'Castle In The Sky'?"

"Of course it is, I kept everything we used to watch in middle school!" Only Tsubasa and Ukyo had the context, and the former was revelling in it, "We could watch all of 'Heidi', if we wanted, just like old times!"

"Yeah! Like that time at your place when you were sick and-" 

Something caused Ukyo to stop. A thought, or more likely a memory, causing her to stop that line of thought completely. The way Tsubasa froze in turn before lowering itself back into the pillow pile only made it more concerning overall. There wasn't anything anyone else there could do, though. Asking questions about a mere memory that freaked both of them out was a likely road to ruining movie night. 

"Um… Ghibli works with me," Ranma tried to bring back the conversation to normal, "I don't think I've seen any of those." 

"It's all animated, but it's more mature than a lot of movies like that," Akane explained, "Azusa, do you have the tape?" 

"Azusa has the whole stack of them!" Rather than getting up to hand the stack of tapes over, Azusa simply gestured to them with one hand while sticking the other in the pillows to hold her joyfriend's hand. 

Konatsu seemed to stay in place, hugging Ukyo as support, but one of her clones went to turn off the lights as another got the tape and put it in. The room remained in silence as Ukyo's requested first film in the set.

Ranma was, despite being the taller of the two, leaning against Akane while sitting between her legs. Haruhi was being held close to Ranma's chest, and so Akane had her arm wrapped around both of them. Akane's others hand, though, was tracing the large scar left behind on Ranma's hand from the ritual that gave the couple a baby in the first place with her thumb. It was a whole family embrace. 

Ranma only could hope she hadn't made the wrong choice in who she invited. 

☆☆☆☆

The Tendous had all fallen asleep somewhere between the start of 'Grave of the Fireflies' and the end of 'Kiki's Delivery Service'. Tsubasa hadn't been paying too much attention to them, its eyes being glued to the screen and only occasionally drifting to smile at its girlfriend and vaguely elsewhere. It was only after the fifth movie finished that Ukyo pointed out that the trio were sleeping, and Konatsu was just barely awake. 

A cute but loud grumble filled the room. "Oh, Azusa's tummy doesn't like being out of popcorn for so long…" 

"I need to stretch my legs, anyway," Tsubasa whispered, cramped inside its pillow pile disguise, "I'll get it, my darling."

"We're taking five?" Ukyo asked, "I gotta use the little martial artist's room."

"And Azusa will get the next movie ready," The curly haired girl shot up like a spring, "Ooooo, Taeko is such a cute character!"

The three went their separate ways, and Tsubasa was glad to have found the kitchen light was still on. The clock on the wall revealed it had gotten late, the marathon that had started just after 6PM going all the way to midnight, and they still had two more movies. It wasn't the first time Tsubasa had stayed up so late for this, though. It wasn't the first time for Ukyo, either.

Tsubasa knew its girlfriend's preferred popcorn by now, covered in caramel. The two had brought their own ingredients for it, and with full reign over the kitchen, Tsubasa got to it. There had been a bunch of movie nights with just the two of them, just as Tsubasa had done a ton in middle school during what really should have been study sessions. It had this kind of popcorn down to a science. 

The smell of the sugary sweet popcorn filled the room pretty quickly, just from making the syrup. It wasn't nostalgic per se, Tsubasa had only been with Azusa for less than a year, but it kept it feeling high energy late at night, filled with happier feelings while rocking on its thigh high covered feet. 

"I'm glad you don't need me for snacks," Ukyo whispered from the kitchen door, "I'd make ya something if asked, but I'm glad you got it covered yourself." 

"I couldn't live off of okonomiyaki forever." Tsubasa held back the part of it willing to blame Ukyo for that truth, making it sound like a matter of taste instead of a literal impossibility. 

Ukyo chuckled a bit at that, drifting into silence before leaning on the countertop and sighing. "Sorry I couldn't ever let ya try."

… That wasn't something Tsubasa was expecting. It had kind of decided to finally take the blame for all the bullshit it had caused, all the stalking, and destruction, and even probably some of Ranma's gender issues that started to fall away since Tsubasa realised it was more comfortable as an object than a man. It blamed itself quite a bit for quite a lot. 

"It's fine, I was all icky back then" Thinking back to earlier, Tsubasa felt another wave of guilt, "I'm… I'm really sorry about our last movie night. I was stupid and clingy."

"I'm… Almost over it," That had to just be Ukyo being polite, there was no way it wasn't, "I wasn't the kindest to ya over the whole Ranchan honour marriage thing, it wasn't the healthiest for either of us."

Tsubasa remembered what they were like in middle school. They had been close. They had sat on the same pile of pillows in Tsubasa's bedroom, cuddling platonically, and Tsubasa thought it could get a bit beyond that. It meant that, in the present, it was a little more painful seeing Ukyo hold Konatsu so close and gently throughout the night. Part of Tsubasa was mournful of what could have been if it had its shit together years earlier, and part was wrongfully scared for Konatsu. 

"… So, did you like 'Kiki's Delivery Service'?" Ukyo cut through the tension as best she could, "Last movie night we had, it wasn't out yet, so…"

"Azusa and I have seen it a bunch," Those were happier memories, "It's a comfort movie." 

"Nice, nice. It was my first time seeing it," The chef admitted, "I only ever saw these cos of you, so it's a surprise now. Excited to see the next one."

Given Tsubasa's own reflection on its past, it felt like 'Only Yesterday' was going to rip it to shreds. "It's a good one, trust me. I… I cry every time." 

"Aww, don't worry, I won't judge ya," Ukyo got up to walk off already, "And I bet Azusa would find it cute, too."

"Yeah…" It was a bad cover up, but Tsubasa's disguises were only good when they were physical and of inanimate objects. 

"You two seem to make each other happy," And the first person Tsubasa truly fell for walked out the room, "You deserve that."

The popcorn was ready. 

As if nothing had happened, Tsubasa walked out of the kitchen with a large bowl of caramel popcorn, wading through the dark of the night, through the hallway. The soft glow of the TV was the only guiding light, back to how life had settled. Back to a girl who loved it as much as it loved her, next to the woman it had to stop chasing. 

Tsubasa sat right next to Azusa, this time, not feeling like hiding in the pillows again. "Your cute bowl of popcorn, my darling."

"Oh, thank you!" Azusa took the bowl, but then whispered into her joyfriend's ear, "Are you okay? You're not this cuddly when you're okay."

"I'm just…" Tsubasa sighed, leaning into its girlfriend, "Uncute thoughts."

"Blegh…" Softly petting Tsubasa on the head, Azusa quietly embraced the clingy thing as support. She gave the best hugs, the same hug she gave any cute object. It was affirming. 

It just sucked that, even without one of its go-to disguises, Tsubasa felt like trash.

Chapter Text

It was a great shame, one of the world's worst tragedies, that Ranma wasn't capable of simultaneously smiling as wide as she ever had at the same time as looking smugly at both her father and father-in-law. Ultimately, though? She decided on the later, because the looks on Genma and Soun's faces were beyond priceless. They were something talk about for years to come. 

"I dunno what to tell ya, Pops," It felt good to be this confident again, "Maybe getting rid of the curse fully only works on a willing participant."

"That's impossible!" Genma tried to shout while remaining quiet enough not to be kicked out of the suit store, "It said it was permanent! And you wouldn't want to be a girl, right?

"Yeah, well," Ranma gestured to the noticeable, although unfortunately a lot smaller than they had once been, boobs growing on her chest, "Doesn't matter either way. These girls are as real as ever."

Honestly, it was about damn time the changes beyond the truly permanent hair dye were noticed. In an ideal scenario, they'd have been noticed before Ranma had been dragged to a suit fitting, but c'est la vie or whatever it was Picolet said. Ranma was riding a euphoric high over her physical femininity finally being noticeable again, so what didn't happen in the past didn't matter. 

"I guess we have no choice, then…" Genma growled to himself before talking at his usual volume, "Soun, go find some bandages while I see what else I can do to fix this."

"Of course!" The moustachioed man ran off in a flash.

"Wait, what? I ain't bleeding cos of you again, that's for sure!" Ranma's hand still stung from time to time, "So don't go trying to chop these off!"

"Do I look like I have something that sharp?" Huffed the bald bastard, "Nothing's getting chopped off, we're just going to bind these so you look flat. I used to help your mother with hers all the time when we were teenagers, so I might be a bit rusty, but-"

"What!?" This was news to Ranma, "Why would Ma want to look less feminine?"

Genma sighed, reminiscing a little as he looked for a good sized suit jacket. "There weren't a lot of women's kendo clubs around, so she made do. That, and how else do you think I snuck her into my bedroom in high school? My parents wouldn't let me have a girl in there."

"I… I don't wanna think about what that implies," The pigtailed girl shuddered a little, "But… You were okay with her looking like a boy?"

"I'd be a hypocrite if I wasn't, I made myself a girl just as often." 

It was so casual, but it rocked Ranma's whole world. Her parents used to present as the opposite genders all the time… Sure, Ranma had seen her father dress as a woman before, but that was as a sacrifice, a duty, a part of the art of Anything Goes. And if they were so okay with that back then, then why was family tradition such a burden on Ranma now and forever? 

"Of course, we were breaking so many rules," Genma continued, "Our families would have thrown a fit. But it felt exhilarating, honestly freeing, to be a girl with a boy sometimes. That's why we were so lenient with you, even if tradition wouldn't let us keep it up. I had to stop when the going got tough, but that is the burden us men must face."

"… Have you ever thought about never talking to your family again?" Ranma whispered. 

"Many times, boy, and I almost had that quiet while in China," There was the saddest laugh Ranma had ever heard, "But us Saotomes thrive from our connections. It's our biggest strength, and as martial artists, we don't want to throw that away. On both sides of your family, you have some of the strongest men and most ruthless women in Japan, and they have you."

"But I don't even know them," For once, that self-sacrificing thought process kept itself a little bit more quiet, "I'll protect them as equally as any stranger, but they aren't getting special treatment just because they want a manly man around! Especially since that isn't a man I can give them…" 

"Of course you can give them a manly man!" Genma insisted, "You just have to push harder! It's what all of our training was for, you know this! And you're lucky you had someone to guide you. I wish I could have had any help aside from your mother, who was having her own issues."

"As if either of you managed to get over them, apparently…" Having suit jackets pressed up against her, Ranma spoke under her breath, completely unheard. She was too used to it. 

☆☆☆☆

"The dress you wore last time was lovely," Nodoka sighed wistfully, "It's a shame you can't fit it like you used to."

Akane rolled her eyes. "It felt too over the top, like what Ranma would wear." 

"He's supposed to be manly, don't you dare imply he'd wear something that feminine," It was a little calming that this dress store didn't allow swords inside, "These dresses are horribly uncomfortable on girls, I can't imagine how he'd feel as a man."

Akane had a fondness for most clothes, dresses included, so she wasn't quite sure where Nodoka was coming from regarding comfort unless it related to the fit. However, she was painfully aware of how often her wife was being misgendered, and that rightfully was making the experience worse. Akane was marrying a girl, if only her mother-in-human-law could recognise it.

"Would you like me to hold onto Haruhi as you try things on?" Nodoka asked, holding out her arms as if the answer was already yes.

"Oh, no, she has her stroller," Akane gestured down at her master plan to keep her baby safe, "If she isn't in mine or Ranma's arms, she only really seems calm sitting. So sorry."

"I understand, but-"

"I was thinking of wearing flats under my dress on my wedding, by the way," There was no way Akane wanted to continue fighting over how little she trusted Nodoka with her child, "I don't want to risk falling over."

The older woman paused for a moment, clearly debating something internally, "I suppose we can get away with it, based on your height, but you have to tell people there are heels under your dress. Otherwise my side of the family likely won't be pleased by you." 

That's what it was, Ranma's extended family and tradition. Nodoka was being at least flexible with shoes, and she had apparently excused Ranma's red hair, she just needed to find some loophole to make it fit gender roles that kept coming back to her family. Everything came back to stupid family rules about gender and the crime of not living up to it, as if built to prune the bizarre branches off of some ultimate family tree. 

… Were Nodoka, and perhaps Genma, afraid of being cut off? And how literal was that?

"So I need a dress that hits the floor," Akane figured, "It would probably be easier to pick something with Ranma, actually. For coordination purposes, obviously, but also-"

Nodoka took this as her payback for being interrupted earlier. "Grooms shouldn't see the dress until the day. I know it's hard, but think of his excitement at seeing you! My mother was even more insistent than I am. I only imagine you mother would want that magic for you, too." 

It took every one of Akane's honed muscles to stop herself from smacking Nodoka for invoking her mother for this twisted idea of a wedding. Fortunately, it seemed Haruhi wasn't impressed either, managing to throw her plush Minotaur at her grandmother's leg clumsily. Akane was showing even more restraint trying not to applaud her daughter for that act of defiance. 

"I don't need to show off for Ranma, we're past that," Said Akane while picking up the toy, "I know we had Haruhi in a strange way, but we would have been very capable of the normal methods using Jusenkyo before you c- I mean… Uh… Never mind."

"Yes, please stop," Nodoka actually shuddered a little, "I only meant magic in the wedding, nowhere else. I never understood the need for anything to feel special in the bedroom beyond tradition and duty. It was honestly a miracle Ranma was born given my discomfort…"

Akane, despite her maturity and growth as a person, had no way to handle knowing that her mother-in-human-law didn't like sex. It just wasn't a topic she wanted to hear about or think about ever. At least it meant that she was safe should she ever accidentally walk through the wrong door, but it wasn't as if that happened with Ryoga levels of frequency. 

"Uhhhh… That dress looks nice," Akane pointed at a dress on the immediately noticeable red wig wearing mannequin, trying to divert the conversation at all, "Can we take a closer look?"

"Really? That one?" Nodoka tried to see what Akane was seeing in the dress, "It's rather plain, don't you think?"

"It could be really pretty on the right person, though," Really, Akane was just imagining Ranma in it, "Wouldn't your family think that kind of modesty is feminine, too?"

"Hmm… It's an option, then." 

☆☆☆☆

"Sorry I couldn't get you an actual wedding dress," Akane apologised as Haruhi smiled at the on going spinning she was watching, "But I assume this is awright?"

"'Kane, I don't think I can marry you enough times," Ranma swished in the much cheaper but still lovely white dress, "I just… You're wonderful."

Akane handed the happy baby over to the other mother, watching both redheads smile at each other. There was simply an air of freedom and joy between the two, and Akane felt honoured to be a part of their lives that made them smile like this. Ranma spun a few more times, and Haruhi seemed absolutely enamoured with the motion of the world around her.

"It didn't feel right being there with just your mother," Continued Akane, "Maybe you and I need to schedule a day out to pick dresses together. We can bring a few friends and Shirokuro along, too, if you want."

"I don't think they'd let Mum into a dress shop," Ranma giggled before slowing slightly, "Or let me into the changeroom to try things on…" 

"I'll punch them if they don't," Haruhi seemed interested in how Akane punched her palm to punctuate her promise, "You'll have your beautiful wedding dress no matter what, dummy, and any other dresses you might want. I miss your old sense of fashion."

"Me too…" The pigtailed girl sighed wistfully, "Apparently Ma and Pops used to crossdress a lot, although it… Kinda sounded like Pops was talking about how I feel about being a girl."

"… I think we need to make the wedding with our extended families as short as possible," Akame spoke plainly, "Your parents clearly aren't happy, we're especially not happy, and I also just never want to see a specific aunt of mine ever again."

"Do we want to invite a bunch of people to blow it up?" Ranma joked, knowing fully well that a lot of people would actually help with that if asked. 

That was the problem though, they couldn't just end this in some martial arts nonsense. This was covering the legal side of their marriage financially, the second wedding was for show and for fun. Besides, not doing it now would likely just result in a retry later. This wasn't their first failed wedding, after all, and their parents were stubborn. And then, if Haruhi got hurt in the chaos… 

"We should just see it through before going no contact with those strangers," Akane suggested, "It will be awful, but we've been through worse."