[Ranma][Fanfic][LIME] Adulthood of a Modern Dynasty - Chapter 3: Fifty
Ways for an Okonomiyaki Chef to Get Her Cursed Husband Pregnant
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Adulthood of a Modern Dynasty
Chapter 3: Fifty Ways for an Okonomiyaki Chef to Get Her Cursed Husband
Pregnant

Ranma 1/2 characters/situations created and copyright by Rumiko
Takahashi/Shogakukan/Kitty/Fuji/Viz - Used without permission

Adulthood of a Modern Dynasty series created, written, and
copyright 2000 by Jim Lazar

An ongoing series set after the end of the Ranma 1/2 manga and anime.
For maximum enjoyment of this fanfic series, please read my Childhood of
Modern Dynasty series before reading Adulthood.

E-mail comments and/or criticisms to: jim [at] animeprime.com

Make sure to check out my Modern Dynasty website for
all released AMD stories, graphics files, and other information:
http://www.animeprime.com/ff/md
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>From the Journal of James Davidson


May 21, 2058

     The Akane Tendo I met eight years ago in San Francisco is alive,
but is that woman the real Akane Tendo? The Akane Tendo who was born and
raised in Nerima? The Akane Tendo who met and fell in love with Ranma
Saotome? The Akane Tendo who bore and raised Yohachi and his siblings?
The Akane Tendo who fought the Buyierfei during the Black Wars? The
Akane Tendo who the world knows as the Matriarch?

     I've even started to wonder if she was human.

     Most people would laugh at such a question and until three days ago
I would have never considered the possibility myself.

     But then I saw the light.

     The light from Akane's chest.

     What was that light? Why was it coming from Akane's chest?

     So far all those questions and more that I've asked of Sanma,
Yohachi, Hanaki, and everyone else have been met with a polite 'that is
Akane in the critical care room, but I can't tell you about the light'.
Even Kasumi declined to answer my questions. Politely, of course.

     It's been three days since I saw the light. Despite my burning
curiosity, I still haven't been able to go to the intensive care room
where... she is. It seems irrational, but I just can't bring myself to
go back. I guess I'm afraid even more of my assumptions about this
family may prove to be false. For instance, I used to believe that they
were all human. I'm not as sure about that anymore.

     Surprises aren't an unusual occurrence in this family, but this one
is different. It's almost as if...

     "Hi, James, want to come with me to the clinic?"

     My thoughts trailed off at hearing the voice. I looked up and saw
Sanma standing in the open doorway to our suite. She looked like she had
been spending a lot of sleepless nights by Akane's side. "No... not
unless you want to talk about the light."

     Sanma shook her head, causing her white pigtail to slip off her
shoulder. "I'm sorry... it's too dangerous for you to know."

     I hadn't expected an answer, let alone that one. "Dangerous for me
or for Akane?"

     "Both and then some. If it's any consolation, not everyone in the
family knows about it either. It's mostly those of us who fought during
the Black Wars that know about it."

     My eyes widened. "So... she's had it since at least the time of the
Black Wars, huh?"

     Sanma gulped loudly. "You didn't hear that from me."

     I sighed. "Will I ever be able to find out?"

     "Maybe... but that's up to Akane."

     "She's still listed in critical condition and the tissue-knitter
drugs she's on have her out cold."

     I saw Sanma flinch. "Yes... but she'll make it."

     I looked away. "I wish I could be as confident."

     "I have to be. I promised her once that I'd never leave her alone
again. But until I saw that tentacle thrust through her chest it never
occurred to me that I would have to outlive her to keep that promise."

     I looked back at Sanma, just in time to see her wipe a tear away
and quickly turn away to try and hide the fact that she was crying from
me.

     "Somehow, I always thought we'd go together."

     "The world would be a happier place if everyone died at once," I
recited something my mother told me when my father died.

     Sanma raised an eyebrow. "Huh? If everyone dies, what's the point
of living?"

     "Exactly."

     Sanma stared blankly at me for several seconds.

     I smiled slightly. "It took me awhile to understand it too."


***********************************************************************
April 16, 2005 - Nerima, Japan


     Her husband carefully lowered Kasumi onto a large pillow. "Are you
okay, do you need anything?"

     Kasumi shook her head and rested a hand on her large stomach.

     Across the room, Akane was led from a wheelchair and also carefully
lowered onto another large pillow by her... wife. "Are you okay, do you
need anything?" Ukyo asked, not realizing she had repeated Dr. Tofu's
words exactly.

     'Akane' smiled. "Yeah... I'm fine." She looked away from her wife,
briefly down at her large pregnant belly, and then at Ranko, Ranma, and
the real Akane. "Um... thanks for letting us stay tonight."

     The real Akane smiled nervously. "Well, I doubt any of us would
have been able to sleep without hearing how Ukyo got ME pregnant." She
looked over at herself with the huge belly. <Is that what I looked like
when I was pregnant? Damn... maybe I was really fat after all.>

     Ukyo and Sanma exchanged nervous glances, apparently neither of
them were eager to begin.

     The other adults settled into their places around the room and then
looked at Ukyo and Sanma.

     "What's with the wheelchair?" Ranko asked, glancing at the
wheelchair that waited in the hallway.

     Sanma glanced at the contraption she had been wheeled into the
house in. "Doctor's orders." She patted her belly.

     Ranko nodded. "Yeah, my doctor restricted my movements when I was
pregnant with Daiji." She sighed. "It was quite a pain."

     Sanma nodded and looked around. "Um... where's Mom and Pop?"

     "They took Kenage on the road for some training," Ranma explained.

     Sanma paled. "Did you warn Mom about the weasels?"

     Akane nodded. "I gave her a copy of my list."

     "Weasels?" Ukyo inquired.

     Sanma smiled nervously. "It... it was one of my father's training
exercises." She looked around. "I'd rather not go into the details." She
shuddered.

     Ukyo looked at Akane. "Can I get a copy of that list too?"

     Akane nodded. "Yes... it looks like you'll need it too." She
gestured at Sanma's large belly.

     Ukyo nodded. "Yeah..."

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

December 2001 - Southern Japan


     The okonomiyaki sailed into the air, turned three times in mid air
and plopped back perfectly onto the hot grill's surface. A pair of
spatulas swung around the edge to make sure it wouldn't stick and then
tapped the surface of the grill. The young chef smiled and looked at the
next customer waiting in line. "What can I get you?"

     The teenage boy smiled nervously. "Um... one pork and tofu."

     The chef smiled and nodded. "One pork and tofu okonomiyaki coming
up!" In a quick fluid movement, she used a ladle to pour out a perfect
circle of batter onto the grill next to the other almost done
okonomiyaki. She ladled a generous portion of Ucchan's special sauce on
top. Waiting for just the right moment, she ran her spatula around the
edge before slipping over to the other okonomiyaki and flipping it into
the air. Before it came down, the chef grabbed a paper plate and held it
to the first customer in line. "Here you go." The okonomiyaki landed on
the plate just as she finished saying 'go'. "That'll be five-hundred
yen."

     The customer handed over a coin and smiled as he took the plate.
"Thank you."

     The chef smiled back and then flipped the other okonomiyaki into
the air. After it performed the three perfect spins in mid-air, she spun
her spatulas around the edge. She looked up and looked behind the
teenage boy. "What can I get you?"

     The middle-age woman behind the boy ordered. "Two chicken and
squid."

     The chef hesitated briefly. <Ick...> Then she started ladling out
the batter and toppings.

     The teenage boy suddenly spoke. "Um... would you... um... like to
go out sometime?"

     The woman behind him frowned. <Damn, now I can't ask her to share
the second one with me.>

     The chef smiled politely and tapped her wedding ring. "Sorry,
sugar, but I'm taken."

     The boy's face fell. "Um... what about the redhead?" He looked over
at the redheaded woman who was doing gymnastics on top of a nearby light
pole. If it wasn't for the bikini she was wearing that had 'Eat at
Ucchan's' emblazoned across the small amount of fabric there was, many
might assume she was just working out instead of advertising for the
okonomiyaki cart.

     <Fickle little boy, isn't he?> Ukyo chuckled and flipped the pork
and tofu okonomiyaki into the air. "She's taken too, Sugar." She held
out a plate and the okonomiyaki landed on it. "That'll be five-hundred
yen."

     The boy exchanged a coin for the okonomiyaki and shuffled away,
heartbroken.

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     "How many today?" Sanma asked as she pulled her sports bra off and
then slid her pants down, revealing her boxers. The boxers had a message
reading 'Contents property of Ukyo Kuonji, if found, please return'
written across the backside.

     Ukyo smiled from the bedroll. "Five guys asked me for a date, two
marriage proposals, and one girl wanted to know if we wanted to do a
three-way with her."

     Sanma smirked as she slid in beside her wife. "When's she coming
by?"

     Ukyo laughed. "Oh no... you're all mine." She reached over and gave
Sanma a deep kiss.

     Sanma ran her hand up Ukyo's right side, slipping her hand under
Ukyo's teddie.

     "Sanma?

     Sanma paused before his lips touched her breast. "Yeah?"

     "Why do you always stay on the right side of my body?"

     Sanma frowned. "I don't." He glanced at the scarring on her left
side. "Do I?"

     Ukyo nodded. "I... I... I've always wondered... do you find my left
side repulsive?" She slid her left arm down her body, unconsciously
covering the scars and discolored skin that ran down her side from her
breast to her upper thigh.

     Sanma's eyes widened. "Of course not. Why are you asking about this
all of a sudden?"

     "Well... one of our regular mashers commented today that he wished
I was on the light pole in a bikini."

     "You'd look great..."

     "Thanks, but I know my scars look bad."

     "Not to me." Sanma slid on top of Ukyo. "I'm sorry if I've given
the wrong idea. Maybe I just got used to staying on the right side
during your recovery to avoid hurting you." She slid her hand up Ukyo's
side and cupped her left breast in her hand. Unintentionally she traced
the scar that ran along the bottom of the breast where the implant had
been inserted during her reconstructive surgery. Her lips touched the
nipple shortly after and gave the breast a sensuous kiss.

     Ukyo arched her back and a tear dripped down her cheek. "Thank you,
Sanma."

     Sanma smiled. "It's my pleasure." She slid her hand slowly down
Ukyo's left side and kissed her wife's waiting lips.

     The kiss led to a caress; a caress to a rub; a rub to a fondle. All
led to a night of love for the young couple.

     Later, Ukyo was cuddled up to Sanma's side when she dropped a
bombshell. "Sanma, I want to have a baby."

     Sanma reacted like most men would when confronted by a wife whose
biological clock had just chimed: she ran screaming from the tent. Of
course, most men don't have breasts that bounced as they ran.

     Ukyo sighed. "He took that better than I thought."

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     The next day after the lunch rush had petered out, Sanma and Ukyo
sat near their cart and talked.

     "Um... how?" Sanma looked down at her lap, which was missing
something that would be very useful to fulfil Ukyo's request. Down right
required, in fact.

     Ukyo smiled nervously and looked up into the sky. "According to the
chart the Amazons gave us the last time we visited Jusenkyo, there
should be an appropriate New Moon in three weeks."

     Sanma paled. Well, paled more than she already looked after a
nervous night and morning of evading any talk of babies or getting
pregnant. "No way!! Not after what happened last time when I went
through the curses!"

     Ukyo giggled. "It wasn't that bad. They just shaved you."

     "It was prickly for a week." Sanma scratched her most private spot
at the memory.

     "At least I got to you before the experiment."

     "Experiment?! They were going neuter me!!"

     "Well, I'm glad now that they didn't."

     Sanma sighed. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

     "Yeah... we've got enough saved up and then some to open a real
restaurant again and start making a home for our family." Ukyo reached
over and took the small hand of her husband.

     "Well..."

     "Please?" Ukyo looked at Sanma with pleading eyes. "It's not like
you have to carry the baby, you know."

     Sanma sighed and realized she had no choice. She had known they
would have kids someday when they first found out that the Spring of
Drowned Sanma refilled on certain New Moons and triggered her cycle of
curses, but figured she would have more time to prepare. "Okay..."

     Ukyo smiled and her face start to glow. She hoped into Sanma's arms
and gave her husband a long kiss.

     "Um... I'd like a pork okonomiyaki please."

     Ukyo started and looked away from Sanma's face to see a customer
standing by the cart. "Um... yeah. Coming right up." She straightened
her hair and tried to calm down as she walked to the grill.

     Sanma watched her wife cook up the order, a slight dread building
up inside her. <To be a man again will be great... but can I handle
being all those other things?>

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

February 2002 - Jusenkyo, China

     Cool water flowed down two perky breasts. In the flickering light
of the torch Ukyo held, those breasts disappeared and were replaced by a
manly chest, rippling with muscles.

     Ukyo gasped.

     Sanma looked up from his newly returned male body. "What's wrong?"
He looked down and made sure the most important part was still there. It
was.

     Ukyo examined him with her eyes. "Um... you look more muscular than
last time."

     Sanma checked himself out... again. "Really? Well, I have been
working out more since I started those one week 'express martial arts'
classes." Since they were traveling from city to city with their cart,
Sanma didn't have time to establish formal martial arts classes. The
express classes were very condensed and concentrated on getting the
students into the proper frame of mind to continue their own workouts
after Sanma and Ukyo moved on. Of course, half the students were really
there to drool over Sanma's female body.

     Ukyo smiled. "Yeah... that must be it." She walked over and held
out a robe to Sanma.

     Sanma shook his head. "No need for that." He scooped Ukyo up into
his arms. "Shall we get started?" He looked over at the tent that they
had pitched nearby.

     Ukyo smiled more. "Suddenly you're very eager."

     "It wasn't this part that I was hesitant about." Sanma pressed his
lips against his wife's and gave her a long kiss. The kiss led to a
caress; a caress to a rub; a rub to a fondle. All led to a night of love
for the young couple.

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

March-April 2002 - Central Japan


     Sanma peered at the little stick. "It's... mauve?"

     Ukyo frowned and looked at the stick Sanma was holding. "Well...
shoot." She sighed and dropped to the ground. "It's been two months and
nothing!!"

     "Well, I'm doing my best."

     Ukyo rubbed her sore hips. "Yes, I know you are. It's only a matter
of time." She glanced at Sanma's lap. "Ready again?"

     "Always ready for you," Sanma said as he lifted her into his arms
and strode towards the tent.

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     Ukyo looked down at the wet pig and sighed. "Well, three months of
being a man was a pretty good run there."

     The pig grunted irritably.

     Ukyo picked up the pig--which had a red swirl pattern on his
back--and rubbed his tummy. "Maybe next time. We've only just started
after all."

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

February-May 2003 - Southern Japan

     The okonomiyaki sailed into the air, turned three times in mid air
and plopped back perfectly onto the hot grill's surface. A pair of
spatulas swung around the edge to make sure it wouldn't stick and then
tapped the surface of the grill. The young chef smiled and looked at the
next customer waiting in line. "What can I get you?"

     The young woman smiled nervously. "One potato and radish."

     The chef smiled and nodded. "One potato and radish okonomiyaki
coming up!" In a quick fluid movement, she used a ladle to pour out a
perfect circle of batter onto the grill next to the other almost done
okonomiyaki. She used a spatula to scoop just the right amount of
potatoes and then radishes into the mixture. She ladled a small portion
of Ucchan's special sauce on top. Waiting for just the right moment, she
ran her spatula around the edge before slipping over to the other
okonomiyaki and flipped it into the air. Before it came down, the chef
grabbed a paper plate and held it to the first customer in line. "Here
you go." The okonomiyaki landed on the plate just as she finished saying
'go'. "That'll be seven hundred yen."

     The customer handed over a few coins and smiled as he took the
plate. "Thank you."

     The chef smiled back and then flipped the other okonomiyaki into
the air. After it performed the three perfect spins in mid-air, she spun
her spatulas around the edge.

     As she waited for her okonomiyaki, the young woman asked a
question. "Would you... um... like to go out sometime?"

     The chef smiled politely. "Sorry, but I'm not a lesbian."

     The young woman frowned. "Oh... sorry. It's just that I've always
had a thing for redheads."

     The chef giggled and flipped the red pigtail off her shoulder.
"That's okay, my brother and best friend are lesbians, so I'm pretty
open minded about it."

     The young woman blinked twice as she tried to figure out the
contradictory statement. "Um... okay."

     The okonomiyaki flew through the air and landed on the plate
San-chan held out. "Here you go, that'll be seven hundred yen."

     The young woman quickly exchanged her money for the okonomiyaki and
hurried away, a deep blush on her face.

     "Miss, you gave me three thousand yen!!" San-chan shouted at the
retreating lesbian. She sighed and plopped the money into the till. Then
she glanced back at the tent that was set up deep in the forest, just
barely in view of the cart at the side of the road. "How long are they
going to take this time?"

     She sighed and looked up and down the road for more customers. <I
hope that cute boy comes by so we can talk. Ukyo and San-kun are always
so busy these days and I have absolutely nothing to do except cook and
sleep.>

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     "Um... I'm not comfortable with that, San-chan," Ukyo said,
glancing nervously at San-kun, who was by her side.

     "But he's really nice!!" San-chan insisted as they ate dinner.

     "That's not really my problem. We are married, you know." Ukyo
fingered her ring and suddenly wished she'd gotten a third ring for
San-chan. Instead, San-kun was wearing the ring the single Sanma usually
wore. Of course, it didn't fit HIS ring finger, so he wore it on a chain
around his neck.

     San-chan crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. "Not to me...
I'm a good girl and good girls don't do those sort of things with other
girls."

     Ukyo rolled her eyes and looked at San-kun for help.

     She should have known better.

     San-kun laughed. "Awwww... let's let her have some fun. She must
feel neglected since I'm spending so much time with you doing you know
what." He winked at his wife.

     "What do you two do all the time in the tent anyway?"

     Ukyo blushed at San-chan's question. <She can't be THAT naive.> She
looked at her innocent blue eyes, which revealed nothing. <If she is,
there's no way that I'm letting her out of my sight with a guy.> Ukyo
shook her head. "No. I know it's hard for you to accept this, but you
are my husband... well, half of my husband. If you did something with
that guy I wouldn't feel right about it and I know you won't when you
recombine."

     San-chan scrunched up her face more. "You big meany!"

     Ukyo sighed.

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     Before San-chan joined them for the night, Ukyo was curled up in
San-kun's arms. "She's getting really irritable."

     "Well, if you'd just let her get laid by that boy..." Ukyo's glare
quickly shut San-kun up.

     "She's half of my husband and I'm not going to let her fool around
on me!"

     "This is because I looked at that blonde the other day, isn't it?"

     Ukyo nodded.

     "Sorry." San-kun ran his hand through Ukyo's hair. "But I can't
help myself sometimes. I'd never actually do anything to hurt you."

     Ukyo closed her eyes at the sensation of San-kun's touch. "I
know... but I really would hate to see her hurt. She's half of the man I
love."

     San-kun smiled broadly and let the sheet fall off his body. "Yes,
but I'm the best part." He smirked.

     Ukyo giggled. "You're impossible." She leaned over and kissed half
of her husband.

     After an hour of lovemaking, they stared up at the ceiling,
intertwined in each other's arms.

     "What are we going to do if we recombine before you get pregnant?"

     Ukyo smirked. "What do you think those jars you've been filling up
are for?"

     Sanma frowned. "Well... I try not to think of that."

     "Just playing it safe. This is the third time we've activated the
curse since we started trying and I still haven't been able to get
pregnant. So sending the jars to that clinic is just a backup plan. They
can be frozen and used if we can't conceive in the short periods when
you're male."

     Sanma looked away. "That's not a very manly way to get you
pregnant."

     Ukyo slid over and tightened her arms around Sanma. "I know, but it
might come down to using artificial means."

     "Well, with the way the Spring of Downed Twins curse works, it's
pretty easy to avoid recombining, so we can just do it till you get
pregnant."

     Ukyo shifted slight, wincing at the pain from her sore joints and
muscles. "If I live though all this sex."

     "You complaining?" San-kun asked, with a sultry look on his face
that could stop Ukyo's heart.

     "No... not at all." Ukyo grinned as she gave him an even sultrier
look.

     "Good, then let's..." San-kun's proposition was cut off when Ukyo
shook her head.

     "Let me rest up a bit, okay?"

     "If you insist." San-kun looked at the front of the tent. "I'll go
get San-chan."

     Ukyo gave him a peck and then laid back on the sleeping mat.
"Thanks." She started to hum a little tune as she watched the shadows
drift across the tent's fabric.

     San-kun poked his head in the tent flap. "Um... don't freak out,
but San-chan went on a date."

     Ukyo's eyes went wide. "What?!"

     San-kun flapped a piece of paper. "She left a note."

     "Crap! Let's go find her before she does something all three of us
regret." Ukyo jumped off the sleeping mat and out of the tent in a
flash.

     A call from San-kun stopped her. "You might want to get dressed."

     Ukyo blushed as she looked down at her naked body. "Oops..."

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     San-chan's tongue found its way into the boy's mouth. As she felt
his tongue start to circle hers, she also felt his hand slip into her
blouse. <I shouldn't... but... it feels so good.>

     She arched her back as she felt the shorthaired boy's hand touch
her nipple.

     The boy paused when his date purred. <Whoaaaa, she's really
responsive.> He pulled his tongue out of her sweet lips and reached his
hands behind her back. Since it was only his second attempt to unhook a
bra, he fumbled with the hooks. The first bra was his mother's that he
had smuggled out of his house and wrapped around a tree for practice. He
never did get it off and it's still on that tree, earning odd stares by
the people passing by.

     When his fumbling went into its second minute, he realized that he
should have practiced some more.

     San-chan smiled. "Here, let me."

     The boy blushed and looked downward. "Sorry..."

     "That's okay." San-chan reached behind her back and unhooked her
bra. "My brother had a horrible time getting his first fiancee's off the
first time too." She shrugged off her unbuttoned blouse and bra.

     The boy gulped loudly as he got his first full look at San-chan's
chest. "You... you're beautiful."

     San-chan blushed. "Thank you."

     The shaky hand reached out for the magnificent breasts in front of
him. Before his wildest fantasies were realized, a spatula came out of
nowhere and knocked his hand away from San-chan's knockers. "Whaaaa..."
He looked in the direction that the spatula had came from and cringed
when he saw a longhaired girl with a red aura flickering around her
body. A taller man was standing to the side. "Um..."

     "Get dressed and come with us, San-chan."

     "Ukyo..." San-chan frowned and clenched her fists. "I'm not going!"

     "San-chan!"

     San-kun put a hand on Ukyo's shoulder. "Calm down, honey."

     Ukyo turned and looked at San-kun. "Calm down? She's cheating on
me!"

     The boy gulped and looked between the two women. "Um.. you're
lesbians?"

     "No!" Ukyo and San-chan insisted in unison.

     Like most people would be, the boy looked confused. "Huh?"

     "Don't worry about it, pal. Just make tracks, my sister isn't
available."

     "Um... well..." The boy started to back up.

     San-chan grabbed his arm. "No, don't go, Unshou!"

     "But..." The boy looked between San-chan and the two newcomers. "I
really don't want to get involved in this."

     "She's lying, I'm not married to her!"

     "Err..." The boy hesitated.

     Ukyo pulled out a locket she carried around her neck. She opened it
and showed the boy the picture inside. It showed a picture taken back in
two-thousand in the Kuwaiti hospital she had recovered from her injuries
in. She was lying on the bed, dressed in a beautiful white wedding
dress--or more accurately, the dress was laid on top of her casts. Sanma
was sitting by her side in a similar white wedding dress, since the
nurses at the hospital had misunderstood their instructions about the
wedding picture that they wanted to take.

     Unshou saw the picture and nodded. "Um... okay." He looked at
San-chan. "Sorry, San-chan... I hope you're happy together." He turned
and scurried away, not even bothering to re-button his shirt.

     "Unshou!!" San-chan called out at the retreating figure. She took
at deep breath and glared at Ukyo. "How could you! I hate you!" She
grabbed her bra and blouse before running off in the opposite direction
from where the boy had disappeared.

     Ukyo fell to her knees. "Dammit... I just keep screwing up with
her."

     San-kun put his hand on her shoulder. "She'll be alright. Maybe...
maybe you should spend some time alone with her. I'll handle the cart
tomorrow."

     Ukyo looked up at San-kun. "Um... thanks. Please be careful, you
almost burned the cart up the last time you cooked."

     San-kun frowned. "Gee... you burn up a few dozen okonomiyaki and
you're branded for life."

     "You almost branded that woman with an image of a hot spatula for
life."

     "It missed her by a good two centimeters!!"

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     The next day, Ukyo sat on a park bench over looking a pleasant lake
and watched the ducks float by. She glanced over at San-chan, who was as
far as she could be from Ukyo while still being on the same bench.
Barely, since half of San-chan's butt was hanging in mid air.
"San-chan... I'm sorry."

     San-chan continued ignoring Ukyo.

     Ukyo sighed. "I know you don't remember everything from when you're
a single person, but I thought at least you'd remember that we got
married when I was... injured."

     San-chan shifted slightly, but didn't speak.

     "I did what I did last night because I was afraid of what you might
think after you recombined. The single Sanma will probably hate that you
got to second base with him."

     San-chan frowned. "Second Base?"

     Ukyo was so elated that San-chan finally talked that she almost
forgot to answer the question. "Um... guess I picked that up when Sanma
and me spent that time in America before we returned to Japan from
Kuwait. I mean he got to 'B'."

     "Oh..." San-chan fumbled her fingers briefly before speaking. "What
does C feel like?"

     Ukyo gulped loudly. 

     "That good, huh?" San-chan looked closely at Ukyo as a blush formed
of her face.

     Ukyo nodded. "If you like... I can show you."

     San-chan fell of the bench. "No! I'm not a lesbian!!"

     Ukyo looked awkwardly around, only to see several people passing by
stop and stare at them. "Um... I'm sorry. I know you aren't." She
sighed. "San-chan, I know you don't like it and don't believe it, but we
are married. Or half married if you want to get technical." She glanced
at the people passing by, who had started walking again.

     San-chan shook her head. "You married that man... not me."

     "But you are a part of that man. You know about the curse, right?"

     "I guess..."

     "Good. Then you know that eventually you'll recombine with
San-kun."

     "Why?" San-chan asked, looking up at Ukyo with her blue eyes as she
slid back onto the bench. Both cheeks this time.

     "Why?" Ukyo frowned. "Well, it has to happen eventually."

     "Not if I leave and we can't be splashed at the same time."

     Ukyo gasped. "You... you want to leave me?" Her voice was
trembling.

     San-chan hesitantly nodded. "I'd hate to be away from a good friend
like you, Ukyo, but I really can't stand being around you and your
husband."

     Ukyo reached out with a shaky hand towards San-chan. "No... you
can't leave us."

     "I have to," San-chan said with more conviction than she felt
inside. "What is the harm? You and San-kun are happy together as MAN and
woman, and I can have a normal life as a girl."

     "San-chan... I really don't think you know what you're saying."

     "Why? Do you like making love to a female body more than
San-kun's?"

     "Urk..." Ukyo flinched and looked around. "No... um... I don 't
mind it, but to tell you the truth..." She glanced around quickly to
make sure San-kun wasn't around. "Sex with San-kun isn't the same as sex
with you both."

     "You want a THREESOME?!" San-chan shied away, earning many stares
from the crowd of people, who appeared to have found all sorts of
reasons to get closer to the two women. Many were examining spots on the
sidewalk with keen interest, some were pausing to tie their shoes--which
somehow was taking longer than it should considering at least one of
them had Velcro shoelaces--and one was standing perfectly still against
a light pole, trying to blend in.

     Ukyo looked around. "Um... let's go somewhere else to talk, okay?"

     San-chan blushed when she finally saw the assembled crowd.
"Okay..."

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     After losing their pursuers in a hectic chase though the local
streets, Ukyo and San-chan sat on a rooftop overlooking the distant
South Japan Sea.

     Ukyo began. "San-chan, it's not that I want a threesome with you,
but despite all his physical prowess and skills, San-kun just isn't the
same in bed as 'Sanma'. Be he male or female, there is a difference
between how they make love when you and him are combined into one
person. I enjoy my time with San-kun, but I do want my single Sanma back
some day."

     "Oh..."

     "I wouldn't mind making love with you now--I've come to terms with
that side of this marriage a long time ago--but I understand that you
don't feel it's right."

     "If you enjoy it that much, why won't you let me get a boyfriend so
I can enjoy it?" San-chan asked, not looking at Ukyo.

     Ukyo searched her mind for an answer that she thought San-chan
could understand and accept. She knew San-chan wasn't stupid, but her
memories and personality was almost entirely focused on the female
traits of Sanma, with very little comprehension of what life was like as
a single Sanma. San-kun, on the other hand, retained most of the
conscious memories of when they were a single person. With an overdose
of macho and sexual energy, of course.

     "See, you don't have a good reason, do you?" San-chan remarked when
Ukyo seemed unable to answer her question.

     "I have a great reason, but you won't accept it." Ukyo reached over
and took San-chan's hand. "San-chan, we are man and wife. We are
married; if not legally, then in our hearts. It hurts me that you can't
remember that and accept it. Even if sometimes we are physically woman
and woman, man and woman, or even woman, man, and woman."

     "And frog and woman, baboon and woman, panda-"

     Ukyo put her hand on San-chan's mouth before she recited the long
list. "Yeah... I know the list." She sighed. "The point I'm trying to
make is that I love Sanma no matter what form he takes. Be it man,
woman, or animal. In your case, the man I love is actually two people.
You are half of that man and I love you, as I love San-kun." She shifted
her hand to cradle San-chan's face in her palm.

     San-chan blushed as a warm sensation flowed through her body.

     "I don't expect you to jump into bed with me, but I do hope you can
understand how you having a relationship with a man would hurt me."

     "I don't want to hurt you, Ukyo, you're my best friend." She looked
out across the cityscape. "You're my only friend."

     Ukyo gasped as she realized what was really behind San-chan's
words. "San-chan... is that why you've been so moody? Is it because I
haven't spent much time with you?"

     "I donno..." San-chan muttered.

     "I'm sorry... I guess I was so concerned about getting pregnant,
that I didn't realize how you were feeling." Ukyo slid closer to
San-chan and wrapped her arms around her. "I'm sorry."

     San-chan reached up and wiped a tear out of her eye. "I'm still not
sleeping with you."

     Ukyo's chest shook a few times until the laugh finally emerged from
her mouth. "I understand." Ukyo kissed San-chan's forehead as she looked
at the distant sky with her best friend.

     "Can we go shopping tomorrow?"

     "Anything you want, San-chan."

     "Can I have sex with Unshou?"

     Ukyo's jaw dropped briefly. "No, San-chan." A slight smirk appeared
on her lips. "Nice try."

     "Darn." San-chan pouted.

     They sat together on the roof silently taking in the view until
they noticed a small column of smoke rising a few blocks away.

     "Um... Ukyo..."

     "Yes, that's where San-kun was going to setup the cart today." Ukyo
sighed. <I hope he doesn't burn down the cart.> She squinted and tried
to find the cart in the streets below.

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     The okonomiyaki sailed into the air, trailing a plume of black
smoke behind it as it turned over three times before plopping into a
garbage can. A pair of spatulas swung around the edge of the next
okonomiyaki to make sure it wouldn't stick and burn like the first one.
One minute later, that okonomiyaki sailed through the air and plopped
into the garbage can next to the first.

     "Dammit!!" the okonomiyaki chef cursed, although calling him a
'chef' was being extremely charitable. He looked at the customer.
"Sorry, I'll get it right this time."

     The young woman smiled nervously. <He's a hunk, but he really
should get a different job if he can't cook.>

     In a quick fluid movement, the chef used a ladle to pour out a
perfect circle of batter onto the grill. He used a spatula to scoop just
the right amount of asparagus and then goat cheese into the mixture. The
spatula circled the edge and then accidentally sliced the dough in half.
"Oops... um... well..."

     "That's okay... just keep a close eye on it..." the customer said
slowly. As she waited for her okonomiyaki, she asked the question that
she wanted to ask since before the first okonomiyaki burst into flames.
"Would you... um... like to go out sometime?"

     A dashing smile appeared on the chef's face and he leaned over to
answer the woman. "What did you have in mind?"

     The young woman opened her mouth to reply, but then the chef's
sleeve started to smoke where he had leaned on the griddle. "Um... your
arm..."

     "Shit!!" the chef exclaimed as he patted his smoldering sleeve.
"Oops..." The dashing smile reappeared. "Now then..." His proposition
was cut short when a spatula came out of nowhere and embedded itself in
the roof's wooden support a few centimeters in front of his face.
San-kun knew exactly what that spatula meant. "I'm really sorry, but I'm
married."

     The young woman frowned. "Oh... sorry. I didn't see a ring."

     San-kun smiled and glanced around. Then he opened his shirt and
showed off the ring he wore on the chain around his neck. "Um... I can't
wear it when I cook."

     <Like wearing the ring would make him any worse of a cook,> the
woman thought as the third okonomiyaki burst into flames. "Um... well,
maybe I'll go to McDonald's." As the chef fought to put out the blazing
okonomiyaki, she made a hasty retreat.

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     "Ukyo, what about this bra and panty set?" San-chan asked, as she
stepped out of the changing room in a low-cut green lace bra and panty.

     Ukyo looked up and had to swallow hard to keep her heart from
leaping out of her throat. "Um... too good."

     San-chan smiled. "Turns you on, huh?"

     Ukyo looked around to see if anyone was within earshot and then
nodded.

     "Good, Unshou will love it then."

     "San-chan..." Ukyo growled.

     San-chan struck a cute girl pose with a broad smile. Despite the
sexy lingerie she was wearing, she pulled it off. "Just kidding."

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     "And then we went to the zoo and saw all the animals that you turn
into, brother." San-chan popped another piece of okonomiyaki into her
mouth.

     San-kun look across the fire at his sister with a scowl on his
face. "You change too."

     San-chan shrugged. "Whatever. We got some nice bras and panties. I
know you'll love the ones Ukyo got for herself, she looks very sexy in
them."

     "Yours are even nicer, San-chan," Ukyo insisted as she picked a
mushroom off her plate.

     San-chan blushed. "Well, San-kun can wear them after we recombine."

     "No way!!" San-kun held up his hand and starting counting off his
usual conditions. "No dresses, plain or sports bras only, and panties
only during... err... that time of the month."

     San-chan blushed. "Brother! It's not proper to talk about that in
mixed company!"

     Ukyo smiled. "We're mixed alright." She reached over and gave her
husband and her best friend a big hug. "Mixed bag of nuts, that is."

     They all laughed until the first rain drop splashed down onto
San-kun's nose.

     "Shit, rain!!" San-kun shouted and bolted for the tent. He almost
reached it before a light engulfed him from the direction of San-chan
and bathed the area in its brilliance. When the light faded, then tent
collapsed over Sanma, covering him in fabric.

     Ukyo rushed over and dug through the fabric until she found Sanma.
"Oh my..." she gasped as she pulled the snake out. "Well, at least you
won't have to wear bras and panties for a while.

     The snake's tongue flicked out irritably.

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     Several weeks later, a somewhat skinny panda stared at a little
stick in his paw. He held up a sign that read, 'it's blue'.

     A mixture of emotions washed over Ukyo. Happiness, fear,
trepidation, terror; they all assailed Ukyo's senses one after another
and then all at once. "At... last..." She touched her stomach.

     The panda held up a sign that read, 'I hope it's a boy'.

     Ukyo laughed and jumped into the furry arms of her husband. "We did
it."

     The panda nodded.

     Ukyo snuggled into the furry chest. "Now we only have to decide
where to settle down."

     The panda sighed.

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     Two months later on a hot May night, Ukyo lay on a bedroll staring
up at the sky with a small redheaded woman in her arms. "What about
Nerima?"

     Sanma rubbed Ukyo's belly. "I don't know... that might be awkward."

     "Well, where then?"

     "That little town outside of Osaka maybe?"

     Ukyo's eyes widened. "You still longing for Unshou's kiss?"

     Sanma grimaced and spat on the ground. "NO!! It's just a nice
place."

     "Did he kiss better than me?" Ukyo asked.

     Sanma rolled onto Ukyo's upper body, being careful not to put
pressure on her stomach. "No one is better than you." Her lips touched
the future mother of her child and as a star shot across the sky, they
kissed.

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     The okonomiyaki sailed into the air, turned three times in mid air
and then plopped back perfectly onto the hot grill's surface. A pair of
spatulas swung around the edge to make sure it wouldn't stick and then
tapped the surface of the grill. The young chef smiled and looked at the
next customer waiting in line. "What can I get you?"

     The old man smiled nervously. "Um... one tofu and curry."

     The chef smiled and nodded. "One tofu and curry okonomiyaki coming
up!" In a quick fluid movement, she used a ladle to pour out a perfect
circle of batter onto the grill next to the other almost done
okonomiyaki. She used a spatula to scoop just the right amount of tofu
and the curry into the mixture. The spatula circled the edge and then in
one movement slipped over to the other okonomiyaki and flipped it into
the air. Before it came down, the chef grabbed a paper plate and held it
to the first customer in line. "Here you go." The okonomiyaki landed on
the plate just as she finished saying 'go'. "That'll be eleven-hundred
yen."

     The customer handed over a couple coins and smiled as he took the
plate. "Thank you." He walked away inhaling the smell. <If this wasn't
so good, I'd never pay that much.>

     The chef smiled back and then flipped the other okonomiyaki into
the air. After it performed the three perfect spins in mid-air, she spun
her spatulas around the edge.

     The old man opened his mouth to speak.

     "She's taken," a redheaded woman said as she walked up to the cart.

     The old man started and mumbled something about that not being what
he was going to ask.

     Ukyo smiled as she served up the okonomiyaki. "How'd it go?" She
exchanged the plate for the old man's money.

     Sanma sat down on a bench near the cart. "Great. I dazzled them
with my skills and my breasts. They were drooling all over me, waiting
for a chance to look into my gi."

     Ukyo sighed. "Well, I can't blame them, but does that mean..."

     Sanma nodded. "Yeah... they didn't hire me."


     Ukyo smiled as she finished cleaning off the grill. "Well, maybe
the dojo tomorrow will see past your breasts."

     "I hope so. How are you doing?"

     Ukyo put down her spatulas and walked over to Sanma, resting her
hand on her belly. She looked every bit of her three-month-old
pregnancy. "Pretty good, but I don't know if I can handle the lunch rush
once you start working another job full time."

     Sanma helped her sit down next to her. "Well, you can close the
cart up when I get a job training at a dojo."

     Ukyo flinched. "I can handle it, I just meant that I might not be
able to handle as many customers as we do now."

     "I don't want you pushing it."

     Ukyo shook her head. "I'm not." She leaned over and gave her
husband a deep kiss.

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     Sanma rolled over in the middle of the night. Her eyes popped open
when she didn't bump into Ukyo in doing so. "Ukyo?" A quick look around
confirmed that her wife wasn't in the tent. She was dressed in just a
green lace bra and pair of panties when she slipped out of the tent to
find Ukyo.

     She found her wife bent over at the nearby river's edge, heaving
the remains of the oden, three orders of curry, and the three bowls of
ice cream she had for her evening snack. "Are you okay?"

     Ukyo wiped her mouth off and looked back at Sanma. "Yeah, I gu..."
She trust her face down towards the water and continued refunding her
snack, trying not to get anything on the long T-shirt she was wearing.

     Sanma patted Ukyo's back. "Just let it all out."

     After Ukyo finished and cleaned up, they walked back to their tent.
They stopped when they saw about a dozen large boys crowded around their
cart. They were all dressed in dark clothing, with several of them in
leather jackets. They all had bandanas wrapped around their mouths to
disguise their identities. Or to keep their bad breath from attracting
attention. Maybe both.

     "Come on! Get it open!"


     "I'm trying, but it's a tricky lock."

     Sanma looked at Ukyo and smiled. "Want to help?" she asked softly.

     Ukyo patted her stomach and shook her head. "No, but don't hurt
them too badly. They're only boys who don't know any better."

     Sanma nodded and then turned towards the gang of boys. She took a
few steps and then spoke. "I'm sorry, gentlemen, but we're closed. Maybe
in the morning we can fix you all a nice breakfast okonomiyaki."

     "Shit, you said they'd be screwing each other!" One of the boys
shouted at another.

     "They always are!"

     Sanma's anger increased as she realized that the punks had
obviously been stalking them for sometime to know that. <You'd think
they'd have noticed that we're both martial artists. Although, I guess
it's been a while since we've really worked out around here with the
baby coming and my spending most of my time trying to find a dojo
that'll hire me as a teacher.> She glanced at the spatulas hanging on
the side of the cart. <I guess I'll do this the old fashioned way, these
guys aren't anything I need the big guns for.>

     "Have you got that lock opened yet?" the gang's leader asked.

     "Not yet, Shiro."

     "Don't use my name, idiot!"

     "Sorry, Ralph."

     Sanma smirked as she casually approached the boys. "Why don't you
all run along home to your mommies."

     "Shut up, bitch, or we'll hurt you to get the cash," Shiro shouted
and then gestured to the boy who was trying to open the little safe that
was installed in the cart. "Well?"

     "Um... I've tried everything. Even their measurements!" The boy
glanced at Ukyo in the distance and then at Sanma. "Hmmm... maybe
another couple centimeters on the redhead." He wiped a bit of blood that
had trickled from his nose at seeing the green lingerie that Sanma was
wearing and then set to work on the lock again.

     "Actually, we used someone else's measurements." Sanma smirked.
<They'd never guess we used my panda form's measurements. Although if I
had known Ukyo wanted those measurements for a tuxedo, I'd have never
had them taken.> She shuddered at the memories of the 'great panda
okonomiyaki' promotion. <We almost got sent up the river for good when
the police thought we were cooking panda instead of just using the panda
for attracting customers.>

     The leader held out a knife. "Tell us the combination, bitch!!"

     Sanma shook her head. "There's no way I'm letting you jerks touch
that money." <We haven't been jacking up our prices for months to line
these creeps pockets.... it's for our family.> Her muscles tensed. "I'll
give you just one more chance to run away with your tails between your
legs before I beat you all senseless."

     "Think you're one of those tough girls, don't you, bitch? You'd be
more convincing if you weren't wearing that sexy green bra and panties."

     "I'll take that as a no," Sanma remarked as she leapt into the air.
One second later, the leader of the gang crumpled to the ground due to
the series of rapid punches Sanma landed to his chest.

     "Get her!!" The boy at the combination lock shouted. He decided to
keep working on the lock while his friends took care of Sanma, proving
that he was the smartest one in the group.

     A boy flew at Sanma. A quick jab to the solar plexus from Sanma and
the boy crashed to the ground.

     Two boys tried to flank Sanma. Two boys flew through the air a
second later, crossing each other's path once before slamming into trees
at opposites sides of the clearing.

     Three boys ran straight at Sanma. Those same three boys sailed into
the air, desperately clutching each other as they fell into a lake a
kilometer away.

     The four remaining boys hesitated as they saw what happened to
their friends.

     Their leader's shout spurred them into action as he got back to his
feet. "Get the little bitch!!"

     The boys receding backs disappeared into the foliage surrounding
the area.

     The leader slapped his head. "Doh!!"

     Sanma grinned and walked past the cart towards the gang's leader.
"Well, that was fun, but it's really too late to play any more, so you
have to go home now."

     The leader grinned. "How 'bout you play with a bullet?" He whipped
out a gun and pointed at Sanma's head.

     Sanma tensed and his expression grew serious.

     "Sanma!" Ukyo called out in concern, but the cry also helped Sanma
locate her position.

     <A hundred meters behind me, slightly to the left. Can't risk
dodging the bullet, it could hit her.> Sanma studied the man in front of
her, ready for anything. "You'd best give up and run while you can."

     The leader smirked. "Big talk. You may have been able to deal with
these morons, but you can't stop a bullet with that hot body."

     "You're right, I can't." Despite her position between Ukyo and the
gun, Sanma jumped to the side.

     A husband grabbed a giant spatula off the cart.

     A gunshot was heard.

     Fingers on a combination lock fumbled as the cart was pushed over
on top of him after Sanma sprung off the opposite side.

     A bullet traveled towards Ukyo.

     The blade of the spatula outstretched, Sanma flew between the
leader and Ukyo.

     A bullet struck steel and embedded itself in the blade of the
spatula. That blade swung around and came crashing down on the leader's
skull, rendering him unconscious before he could even think of firing
another shot.

     Sanma surveyed the area and then picked up the gun. She quickly
emptied the chamber of bullets and then tossed the gun deep into the
forest.

     "Sanma..."

     Sanma looked around at his wife, the smile instantly disappearing
from her face. "What happened?" She looked at the blade of her spatula
to make sure the bullet was there. Finding it there, she dropped the
spatula and then rushed to Ukyo's side. "Are you okay?"

     Ukyo clutched her stomach with her blood-covered hand. "I... I
don't know. It just started bleeding."

     Sanma swore as she saw the blood flowing down Ukyo's leg.

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

June 2003 - Nerima, Japan; Osaka, Japan


     Sanma and Ukyo knelt before the small shrine that stood where
Ucchan's used to stand, clasping each other's hands for support.

     Sanma reached forward and lit a piece of incense. As the smoke rose
in front of the shrine, she pulled a small fancy rattle out of her
pocket and placed it into a drawer in the shrine next to another gold,
tarnished rattle. "Goodbye."

     Ukyo reached over and delicately fingered both of the rattles. Her
hand was shaking as she drew it back and clutched her chest. "It's not
fair that we have to do this for a second child."

     Sanma squeezed Ukyo's hand tighter. "I know..." She wiped a tear
out of her eye. "One was bad enough..."

     "And then some..." Ukyo looked over at Sanma. "I love you, Sanma."

     "Yeah... I do too. We can try again when you're ready."

     Ukyo flinched and wondered when she would be ready. Or if.
"Thanks."

     The couple finished their private good-byes and then walked away
from the shrine, locked in each other's arms.

     "Should we go see Akane and the others now?" Sanma asked, looking
in the direction of the Tendo house.

     Ukyo took a deep breath. "Okay. You know, this might even be
rougher than saying goodbye to our children." She glanced back at the
shrine.

     Sanma squeezed her shoulder. "Yeah..."

     They walked in silence and turned a corner. They stopped dead in
their tracks when they saw Akane, Ranma and Ranko walking down the
street ahead of them. Two three-year-old kids chased each other around
their parents' legs, trying to hit, poke, or pull the others' body,
eyes, or hair--not necessarily in that order.

     Ukyo was about to call out when Akane turned slightly to the side
and revealed the small child that she was carrying in her arms. "She...
she had another baby."

     Sanma did some quick calculations. "Well, it has been a while since
we had a chance to write to them."

     Akane looked down and hummed to her one and half year old daughter.

     Ukyo clutched her stomach as she fell to her knees and began
sobbing quietly. "Why... why..."

     Sanma knelt down beside Ukyo and wrapped her arms around the
distraught woman. "Shhhhh..." She ran her hand through her wife's long,
black hair. "Cry if you have to." She watched the family walk away,
laughing and going about their happy life.

     "They look happy."

     "Yeah. Maybe... maybe it's not the right time to visit them."

     "I want to have children with you so badly." Ukyo looked at Sanma
with pained eyes.

     "We will, don't worry."

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     "I'm sorry, Mrs. Kuonji, but it was a miracle you were able to
conceive and carry that child for three months, it is unlikely that you
could ever carry a child to term."

     Ukyo and Sanma stared unblinkingly at the doctor they had sought
out in Osaka to help them have a child.

     The doctor waited in vain for any kind of reaction from the young
couple in front of him for almost fifteen seconds before continuing. "I
know this is painful to hear and you should feel free to get a second
opinion, but all the tests indicate that the miscarriage you had was not
caused by the stress of the attack as the doctor who treated you at the
emergency room thought. Examining all the data and the test results
leads me to believe that the injuries you suffered during the Blackness
have damaged your uterus." He flipped through some reports on his desk.
"The reports from your doctor in Kuwait indicate that he came close to
removing your uterus then, but he decided it was still viable and wasn't
likely to cause complications during your recovery."

     Ukyo started to shake and ran her hand down her left side where her
scars were.

     "Your ovaries are intact and healthy, that's good. Unfortunately,
your uterus shows a great deal of scarring and muscle damage. From the
looks of things, you'll probably stop menstruating from the damage
within a few years."

     "But... but until then I could have a child, right?" Ukyo asked,
reaching for straws.

     The doctor shook his graying head. "I'm sorry. It's possible you
could conceive again, but the chances of you carrying a baby to term are
very bad."

     Sanma looked at Ukyo and then at the doctor. "What are the odds?"

     "Maybe one in ten thousand."

     Sanma smiled, like he'd been given a ray of hope. "I've overcome
much worse odds."

     The doctor studied Sanma for any sign that he was just trying to be
supportive of Ukyo, but realized that Sanma was deadly earnest. "Well...
be that as it may, I have to recommend you not try. In addition to more
possible miscarriages, there is some danger to your life, Mrs. Kuonji."

     Ukyo's trembling finally reached her eyes and tears started to pour
from the corners of her eyes. "No... no... I want to have a baby!!"

     Sanma tightened his already firm grip on her wife and placed her
head against Ukyo's. "I'm so sorry, Ukyo."

     "Well, there are options..."

     Ukyo and Sanma looked up at the doctor.

     "You could enlist the donor you used-" The doctor glanced between
the 'couple' he saw before him. "-to get pregnant and have 'MR.' Kuonji
carry the baby." He made sure to use the term of address that Sanma had
insisted he use when they first came to see him.

     Ukyo and Sanma exchanged a look, before Sanma responded. "Um...
that may not be possible. The donor is... well, the donor is related to
me."

     Ukyo nodded. "Very closely related."

     The doctor nodded his head. "So... the first pregnancy wasn't by-"
The doctor paused. "-how can I put this, artificial means?"

     Ukyo and Sanma exchanged another glance before shaking their head
'no'.

     "I see. Well, there are techniques available that could take eggs
from you, Mrs. Kuonji and fertilize them with the donor's sperm and
implant them into Mr. Kuonji's uterus."

     "You want ME to carry the baby?!" Sanma shouted, glaring angrily at
the doctor.

     "Um... yes. You are a woman physically, right?" the doctor asked,
his hand inching towards his phone in case he needed to call for help.

     "Um... yeah, at the moment," Sanma confessed reluctantly.

     "Well, using surrogate mothers is common. We'd have to run some
tests to see if you'd be able to do it, but it is an option."

     Ukyo looked at Sanma, her eyes betraying the joy she felt inside at
the possibility. "Sanma, I know it's asking a lot, but..."

     Sanma shook her head and responded without looking at Ukyo. "It's
not asking a lot. I'll do it."

     The couple met each other's gaze and smiled.

     "Thank you," Ukyo said softly.

     Sanma shrugged. "Well... it's about time that this female body was
used for something worthwhile."

     The doctor averted his eyes when the couple kissed. "Yes... well,
we can do those tests today, if you like."

     After the kiss ended, they decided they did in fact like that idea.

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     A few days later, Ukyo and Sanma sat in the doctor's office again,
smiling from ear to ear.

     Then the doctor spoke. "I'm sorry, but Mr. Kuonji won't be able to
be the surrogate."

     Hopes and dreams were dashed with those simple words. Hopes of a
happy family. Dreams of a bright future.

     "Wh... why?" Sanma managed to say between her attempts to keep
Ukyo's shaking to a minimum.

     "Well, your uterus shows some damage that might be related to...
well, how can I put this? Did you ever have an abortion, Mr. Kuonji?"

     Sanma frowned. "No... I've never-" She stopped suddenly and added
her own shakes to Ukyo's. "Shuma..." she whispered.

     The doctor nodded as Sanma's reaction confirmed his diagnosis. "I
see. Well, unfortunately, whoever did it wasn't really careful and there
is scarring all along the wall of your uterus. It's not impossible for
you to carry a child, but for artificial insemination the odds of a
successful implantation are bad enough with a healthy uterus. So I'd
have to recommend against you as a surrogate, Mr. Kuonji."

     Ukyo and Sanma broke down and cried for countless minutes. After
their eyes ran dry, the doctor gave them some details and some options.
After about a half-hour, Sanma and Ukyo rose to leave.

     "I'm sorry," the doctor said to their retreating backs. "Maybe if
you can find another surrogate..."

     Ukyo and Sanma paused and then looked at each other.

     Ukyo spoke. "Another?"
 
     "Well, some people have arranged to have a third party carry the
fetus for them." The doctor could see they were intrigued by the idea.
"It can get expensive, but it's an option."

     Ukyo frowned. "Oh... we were already going to have a problem
affording the artificial insemination of one of us, but..."

     Sanma interrupted. "Actually, I know someone who might be able to
help us and it wouldn't cost us anything."

     Ukyo looked questioningly at Sanma. "Who?"

     "My sister."

     "Well... that's asking a lot of Ranko."

     "No." Sanma shook his head. "My other twin sister, San-chan."

     Ukyo eyes brightened. "But... but, wouldn't she have the same
problem?"

     Sanma shrugged. "I'm not sure, but maybe not. You know how wounds
seem to heal between form changes... so maybe..."

     Ukyo smiled. "You think she could handle it and would she want to?"

     Sanma nodded. "Of course, she's a part of me and she'd do anything
for her brother."

     Ukyo giggled for the first time in weeks. "She actually can't stand
San-kun."

     Sanma frowned.

     "She's just too polite to mention it to you, so she confides in her
best friend."

     "That bitch!"

     "That's no way to talk about the woman who's going to carry our
child."

     Sanma smirked. "Good point."

     The doctor had given up trying to follow the conversation somewhere
around the mention of form changes, but finally spoke. "Well, if you can
find a willing surrogate please bring her in to be examined and we'll go
from there."

     Sanma smiled. "It'll have to wait for a New Moon."

     The doctor frowned. "What is she, a werewolf?"

     Sanma looked at Ukyo before replying. "Something like that."

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

2003-2004 - Shanghai, China; Osaka, Japan


     "You want me to do what?!" San-chan shouted in a very unladylike
fashion. The water from her recent transformation wasn't even dry yet.

     "There's no way I'm going to f... do that with my sister!" San-kun
insisted.

     Ukyo smiled and looked at San-kun. "San-kun, you won't have to.
It'll be your semen and my egg. Don't you remember anything the doctor
explained to us?"

     "Some of it... he was pretty long winded."

     Ukyo looked at San-chan. "Well, San-chan? Can you carry my ba...
no... Can you carry OUR baby for us?"

     San-chan rubbed her naked stomach. "I'll get ugly stretch marks and
the boys won't like me any more."

     Ukyo couldn't resist giggling. "Maybe, but from what Akane told me,
Ranko didn't have many visible marks after giving birth, so you might
not either."

     "Well... I'll think about it."

     San-kun stood up and glared at his sister. "What's the big deal,
just do it you selfish, little b..."

     "San-kun, stop it!!" Ukyo shouted at her male husband and then
looked at her female husband. "Okay, San-chan. I didn't mean to spring
it on you so fast, but I was so excited that you were the first cursed
form after the initial male form this time. I thought I was going to
have to wait through multiple animals before I could ask you."

     San-chan smiled. "That's okay. I'd do anything for my best friend,
but this is a pretty big decision."

     Ukyo nodded. "I know."

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     A couple days later, San-chan walked down a beach, hand in hand
with Ukyo. She was in a two-piece bikini, while Ukyo was in a one piece.
"Well, I guess I'll do it."

     Ukyo smiled broadly. Without any hesitation, she threw herself into
San-chan's arms and gave her a long kiss.

     San-chan finally pried herself away from Ukyo's embrace. "Stop
that!!"

     Ukyo gasped and held her hand to her lips. "I'm sorry, San-chan.
I... I forgot myself for a moment. I won't do it again."

     San-chan wiped her mouth off, looking at Ukyo with a shocked
expression. "You really have to contain these lesbian urges, Ukyo."

     The side of Ukyo's lips curled upwards. "Yeah... I know. I'm
sorry."

     San-chan plopped down into the sand and looked at the waves lapping
up at the shore. "There is one condition."

     Ukyo wanted to sit down next to San-chan, but decided she might be
tempted to do something the young girl wouldn't like. "What condition?"

     San-chan took a deep breath. "When we get back to Japan, I want to
find a boyfriend."

     Ukyo gasped.

     "I want to be a normal girl just once. And that means finding a
boyfriend, falling in love, and kissing." San-chan blushed. "A lot."

     Ukyo stared at the girl in the sand and saw that she was still a
girl. While she and Sanma had grown and matured, San-chan--and even
San-kun to some extent--only had small periods of time to live their
lives and experience what normal people took for granted. "You know I'm
not comfortable with that."

     "I know... but it's something I want to do."

     "You won't be able to be you forever, you know."

     "I know. I can't keep the single Sanma away from you, I understand
now how selfish that was of me to suggest that before."

     Ukyo appraised San-chan in a new light. <Maybe she has matured
since last time.> She plopped down next to San-chan. "Do you... want to
have sex with a boy?"

     San-chan shrugged her shoulders, a slight blush appearing on her
face. "I donno... maybe if comes to that. I know it might be icky for
the single Sanma if I did, but I don't like having to think of what's
best for him instead of what I want to do and *I* think is best for me."

     "I know it's tough to be in your situation." Ukyo took a deep
breath. "Are you sure this is the only way?"

     "Yes." San-chan looked down at the sand. "I'm sorry."

     "Don't be. I'm asking a lot of you and it's only fair that you get
something in return." Ukyo clenched her fist and she considered if the
trade off was worth it. "I... I'll have to think about it."

     Just then a five-year-old Chinese girl ran by being chased by a
young Chinese woman. She clutched the girl's bathing suit in one hand as
she ran down the beach. "Ling-pha, your suit!!" the woman yelled in
Mandarin.

     A tear rolled down Ukyo's cheek as she watched the mother and
daughter run by. "Okay, San-chan, if that's what it takes. You can have
a boyfriend and do whatever you think is right for you. I'll no longer
try to control your life."

     San-chan smiled as she jumped onto Ukyo and hugged her. "Thank
you... thank you... thank you."

     Ukyo had to resist responding to the sensation of having San-chan's
scantily clad body pressed against hers. "Just don't pick a jerk for a
boyfriend, okay?"

     San-chan pulled away and tilted her head. "Why? Didn't you marry a
jerk?"

     Ukyo burst out laughing. "Yeah... maybe I did."

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     "No way!!" San-kun shouted when Ukyo told him the news.

     Ukyo sighed. "I know how you feel, but it's the only way she'd
agree."

     "I'll go talk to her then." San-kun rose to go find his sister, but
Ukyo restrained him.

     "No... don't. I've come to realize that it's not fair of me to
expect her to be the same as my usual Sanma. She's only part of the man
I married and I'm being selfish to force her to live her short moments
of life the way I want her to."

     "If I can accept it, why can't she?"

     A devilish smirk appeared on Ukyo's face. "You want a boyfriend
too?"

     San-kun's eyes went wide. "No!! I just meant that I know we're
married and it's not right."

     Ukyo raised an eyebrow as she wondered if that was the only thing
that kept the very hormonally charged San-kun from straying. "San-kun,
you seem to have most of the single Sanma's memories, so it's natural
for you to consider yourself my husband, but San-chan doesn't remember
much from when she isn't a separate person. Her life consists of only
these short periods when the curse returns her to existence."

     "Yeah, but what if she... does something... bad with a boy."

     "I can't say I'd be happy about that, but the single Sanma will
just have to live with it. It's all a part of our lives." Ukyo sighed.
"We're asking a lot of San-chan. Unfortunately, I don't think it's fair
of me to make this big of request of her without giving her the freedom
to live her life the way she wants to."

     San-kun sighed in resignation. "Okay... but... um... I don't have
to sleep with her, right?"

     Ukyo giggled. "It'd be cheaper, but we'll go the artificial way and
use my eggs and your semen."

     "Well, I have plenty of that."

     Ukyo laughed out loud. "Yeah, I know you do." She leaned over and
kissed her male husband.

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     "Fill this up, please," the young nurse said, handing a cup to
San-kun.

     San-kun frowned. "Why do you need a urine sample?"

     Ukyo had to restrain herself from laughing. "Not that kind of
sample, Honey."

     "Then what..." Recognition dawned on San-kun face in the form of a
grimace. "Oh no... not again."

     Ukyo nodded. "'Fraid so."

     "There is reading material in the bathroom if you need help," the
nurse thoughtfully indicated as she pointed out the bathroom to San-kun.

     San-kun's hormones took over. "Ha! I'll fill this thing to the brim
in ten seconds!"

     Ukyo shook her head sadly. "That's not exactly something to boast
about, San-kun."

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     Ukyo checked her watch again and then knocked on the door. "You
need any help?"

     "No!!" was the strained response from behind the door.

     Ukyo sighed and waited some more.

     "Mrs. Kuonji?" the nurse said as she approached from down the hall.
"Doctor Owada is ready to see you now."

     Ukyo looked between the nurse and the door. "Um.. but my
husband..."

     The nurse's eyes went wide. "He's still in there?"

     Ukyo blushed. "Yeah..."

     "I'm doing my best, okay?!" San-kun shouted from behind the closed
door.

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     Later, San-chan and Ukyo walked down the hall after their talk with
the doctor. San-chan was looking at a list. "This is a lot to remember."

     Ukyo nodded. "Yeah... thanks again."

     "I'm getting a little nervous about all this, but I won't back
out."

     Ukyo smiled. "Thanks. Um... you have another date with Eiji
tonight, right?"

     "Yeah, he's a great guy."

     Ukyo took a deep breath and slipped a little package out of her
purse and handed it to San-chan. "Here... just in case."

     San-chan took the package and looked inside. "Ukyo!!"

     Ukyo tried to remain calm. "Just in case. You're going to carry MY
child not his, remember."

     San-chan was blushing a deep shade of red. "Yeah... um.. thanks. I
don't know if I'll use them, though."

     "It pays to be careful."

     San-chan took another look in the bag. "Um... how do you use them?"

     Ukyo chuckled. "I'll show you later."

     "Not on my brother, I hope."

     "No..."

     "Can we go now?" San-kun said from down the hall. He looked very
haggard and kept looking around awkwardly.

     Ukyo smiled and nodded. "Yeah. San-chan got a clean bill of health
just like we hoped. Did you fill the cup?"

     "I filled two cups!" San-kun boasted, a little louder than
necessary.

     Ukyo laughed. "I knew you could."

     "Yeah, the nurse helped."

     Ukyo's face darkened. "What was that?" Her eyebrow twitched.

     "Brother, how could you cheat on Ukyo!" San-chan yelled, an angry
red aura surrounding her.

     "What does it matter?"

     Ukyo started to tremble. "You asshole! I've put up with a lot from
you, but to do this to me?!"

     "How dare you do that to Ukyo!!" San-chan lifted her hand to slap
San-kun.

     "I mean, *I* didn't marry her, the single Sanma did."

     San-chan's eyes widened and her hand lowered. "But you've always
remembered marrying her."

     "Yeah, but if you can have some fun on the side, why can't I?"

     "I... I..." San-chan gasped as she tried to make sense of
everything.

     Ukyo realized what San-kun was doing. "San-kun don..."

     "I'm not a lesbian, that's why!!" San-chan shouted at the top of
her lungs, earning a lot of odd stares from various patients and
hospital employees.

     "Neither am I," San-kun remarked, causing great confusion to those
people around who had suddenly taken notice of the threesome's
conversation. They were snooping, in other words.

     "Of course, you're a man."

     "So Ukyo and the single Sanma are lesbians when we're not around?"

     San-chan grew confused. "No... but... that's because... well, the
single Sanma was born a boy."

     "And so were we. We are two halves to the whole."

     Ukyo blinked twice. <When did San-kun get so smart?>

     "You... you're trying to confuse me!!" San-chan blurted and ran
from the hospital.

     Ukyo started to give chase, but San-kun held her back. "Let's just
leave her alone to think," he said.

     Ukyo looked back at San-kun and sighed. "You shouldn't have done
that. I agreed not to try and control her or hold her to the vows the
single Sanma made."

     "I know, but I didn't. She needed to be shown that her actions
would hurt you. Now it's her decision, but a decision with her knowing
the consequences."

     Ukyo looked out the door San-chan had disappeared through and
sighed. "I hope she handles this okay."

     San-kun wrapped his arm around Ukyo's shoulder. "She will, she's
stronger than she looks."

     "Now about that nurse..."

     San-kun grimaced. "She didn't do anything, honest!"

     Ukyo smiled. "Good. That's my toy to play with."

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     It was late in the night when San-chan made her appearance at the
boarding house they were staying in. "San-kun, I'm sorry for all the
things I called you."

     San-kun frowned. "Huh? You didn't really call me anything bad."

     "After I left the hospital I did."

     San-kun smiled slightly. "That's okay, I deserved it."

     Ukyo took San-chan's hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't know San-kun would
do such a thing. I didn't put him up to it."

     "I know." San-chan smiled. "Only my brother could be so crass."

     "What does that mean?!" San-kun asked.

     Ukyo's look silenced him without her speaking a single word. She
looked back at San-chan. "So, did you have your date with Eiji?"

     San-chan nodded. "Yes, it was fun." She looked nervously at the
floor. "Um... I'm going to tell him the next time we go out that I can't
see him any more."

     Ukyo tried not to she the relief she felt inside from showing. "You
don't have to if you don't want to."

     "I know." San-chan sighed. "It's my choice."

     "Why do you have to see him again?"

     San-chan slapped San-kun hard across his face. "Because he's a nice
boy and doesn't deserve to be tossed aside like a discarded toy."

     "Man... I only asked." San-kun rubbed his face. "You didn't have to
slap me."

     "Yes I did." San-chan smiled cutely at her brother. "You deserved
that for what you did to open my eyes."

     San-kun muttered something that would have gotten him slapped by
both Ukyo and San-chan if they had heard him.

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     The next morning, Ukyo woke up with a pair of breasts in front of
her face. "Wha..." She blinked to clear her eyes and noticed that
San-chan's T-shirt had slipped upwards during the night. <Oh yeah... she
wanted to sleep next to me tonight. Maybe she's starting to accept me as
her wife.>

     "Ukyo, stop looking at my breasts!" San-chan exclaimed as she
backed away from Ukyo and pulled her T-shirt down.

     Ukyo blushed. "Sorry... I just was a little startled by the sight."

     "Well, even though I'm going to have your baby, don't expect me to
do anything naughty with you."

     Ukyo's gut trembled for several seconds until the laugh burst out
of her mouth.

     San-kun awoke on the other side of Ukyo and rubbed his eyes.
"What's so funny?"

     Ukyo looked over and smiled at him. "San-chan said she wants to
have my baby, but she won't have sex with me."

     "You're so dirty, Ukyo," San-chan remarked, blushing.

     San-kun frowned. "Yeah... so what's new about that?"

     Ukyo wiped the tears of joy out of her eyes. "Nothing."

     San-kun shook his head and rolled over, trying to go back to sleep.
"Women."

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     "So now what?" San-chan asked from the table, her legs spread wide.

     Doctor Owada looked up from between her legs. "Now we wait and see
if any of the eggs take hold and develop."

     "Oh..." San-chan looked at Ukyo, who was by her side and holding
her hand. "You want a boy or a girl?"

     Ukyo smiled and squeezed San-chan's hand. "It doesn't matter to me,
you should know that."

     "Yeah, I guess so." San-chan sighed. "I wish my brother could have
been here."

     "He is, sort of." Ukyo glanced at that empty petri dish that had
contained San-kun's and her own contributions to the effort. "But he
said this procedure was too gross to witness."

     "Well, he was always freaked out by his vagina."

     The doctor looked up from where he was working.

     Ukyo smiled. "You remember that, do you?"

     San-chan though for a few seconds before responding. "Yeah... odd
that I would remember that of all things."

     "Well, he always did try to avoid talking about that part of his
body. You just take it easy." Ukyo kissed San-chan's forehead.

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     A month later in a park near the hospital, Ukyo held a redheaded
woman tightly as the drizzle dripped down on them.

     "I'm sorry, Ukyo." 

     A tear dripped down from Ukyo's cheek and added to the rain spots
on the smaller girl's back. "That's okay. It's not your fault. We knew
it wasn't guaranteed."

     "We can try again, can't we?"

     Ukyo nodded. "Yes, if you're willing."

     "I'd never let down my husband, would I?"

     Ukyo's eyes widened and she pulled away to look the other woman in
the eye. "San-chan... thank you."

     San-chan smiled as she made eye contact with Ukyo.

     "But.. but why did you call me your husband?"

     "Well, I'm a girl, right?"

     "Right..." Ukyo said, trying to follow San-chan's explanation.

     "And I'm going to be carrying your child, right?"

     "Yeah..."

     "Well, since I'm not a lesbian, the only way we could possibly be
married is if you were a man, right?"

     "I guess."

     "Good. So we are man and wife, but you have to at least try to not
be a lesbian. So you're my husband. Okay?"

     Ukyo absorbed San-chan's line of reasoning and then found she had
no reason to disagree. "Okay, you win, my wife."

     San-chan smiled. "Thank you, my husband."

     Ukyo opened her mouth to ask a question.

     "I'm still not going to have sex with you though."

     Ukyo laughed and pulled San-chan into a tight embrace. "That's
okay." She looked up into the cloudy sky. "Let's go tell San-kun. He's
probably going stir-crazy back at the boarding house waiting to hear the
results of the tests.

     San-chan smiled and nodded. "Okay, he was pretty mad this morning
when you told him he couldn't come."

     Ukyo nodded. "Yeah, but we can't take any chances of you both
getting wet at the same time."

     "Then you've got to stop inviting me to join you two when you have
sex."

     "San-chan!!" Ukyo exclaimed, blushing.

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     "With this ring, I thee wed," Ukyo said and slipped the ring the
single Sanma usually wore onto San-chan's finger.

     San-chan blushed and looked at the ring. "It's pretty."

     Ukyo smiled and turned to San-kun. "With this ring, I thee wed."
She slipped a larger ring onto San-kun's finger. The ring was similar in
design to the ones that Ukyo and Sanma had worn since Sanma presented
Ukyo her ring in Kuwait.

     San-kun examined the ring. "When did you get this made?"

     Ukyo smiled. "Well... after the last time you two were around, I
decided that I needed a third ring. If you look closely, you'll notice
that the larger ring can interlock with the smaller ring. So when you
two are a single person, the rings can be made into a single ring for
the single Sanma to wear.

     San-chan smiled. "Just like us. Two become one."

     Ukyo nodded.

     San-kun frowned. "I didn't notice that the ring looked different."

     Ukyo laughed. "Yeah, I noticed that. I kept wondering how long it
would take you to ask about it and you never did."

     San-kun smiled awkwardly. "Sorry."

     San-chan was examining her ring closely. "Now I feel like your
wife." She smiled at Ukyo.

     "I'm glad."

     "I'm still not having sex with you though."

     Ukyo rolled her eyes.

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     About two months later, San-chan lay on a table with her legs
spread wide. Again.

     "This is so embarrassing."

     Ukyo smiled. "Yeah, but just think how San-chan feels," she said to
San-kun and then looked at the table where San-chan was being
impregnated by a stainless steel surgical instrument.

     San-chan blushed. "Just don't look down there, brother!"

     San-kun smirked. "You don't have nothin' I ain't seen before!"

     San-chan blushed more.

     Doctor Owada looked up from between San-chan's legs. "Well, there
you go."

     San-chan smiled. "Thank you."

     "Well, just take it easy and remain still here for a while so the
eggs have a chance to settle."

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

     Three weeks later, Ukyo looked at the broken water pipe and then
down at the frog in her hands. "Oh no..." Her tears splashed down onto
the frog's already wet skin.

     The frog couldn't cry, but the pained croak he emitted showed the
sorrow he felt inside at the end of their latest attempt to have
children.

     "Oh... Sanma." Ukyo kissed her price, but didn't have her wish
granted. She bent down and picked up the two rings that her husband and
wife had been wearing when the pipe burst. She clutched them to her
chest. "Maybe next time, San-chan."

                    -A-           -M-           -D-

April 16, 2005 - Nerima, Japan


     "Oh... Ukyo," Akane said as she slid towards the longhaired woman.
"I'm so sorry." She drew Ukyo into a hug.

     Ukyo savored the hug, having broken down in tears after describing
their third attempt to get pregnant. "Thank you."

     "It must have been rough not being able to have your own child."

     "It is," Ukyo said, relishing the feeling of the hug from her old
friend. "But that's not why I'm crying now."

     Akane broke the hug and looked at Ukyo's tear stained face. "Then
why?"

     "I feel sorry for San-chan. She missed her chance to have a child."
Ukyo glanced at Sanma.

     Akane studied the face of her old friend before speaking. "That's
true I guess."

     "She gave up a lot for me. She wanted to have a normal life and
fall in love with a boy. Then she gave it all up for me."

     Ranma smiled. "Well, somehow I can't see her going too far with
that boy."

     Ukyo and Sanma exchanged a troubled look.

     "Well..." Ukyo began.

     Sanma blushed. "She sort of got carried away on their last date."

     Ranma's eyes widened.

     Ranko cringed at the horrible mental picture she got in her head.

     "She... didn't?" Akane managed to say.

     "Wowsa," Nabiki remarked.

     Sanma nodded. "Yeah... she didn't mention it to me or Ukyo. She
felt that if she was going to give birth, she should at least find out
what sex was like first."

     Ukyo reached over and took her husband's hand. "It was very
shocking for Sanma to find that out when he recombined and regained her
memories. It took him a while to tell me about it. After he became human
again, that is."

     "I can imagine," Ranma and Ranko said in perfect unison.

     Sanma smirked. "No, I don't think you can."

     No one decided to comment on that. Not even Nabiki.

     After several moments of silence, Akane spoke. "So, how did *I* get
pregnant?"

     Sanma and Ukyo smiled nervously. "Well..." Sanma started to speak,
then thought better of it and looked at Ukyo.

     "The next time the curses came around again, San-chan wasn't there.
At least not yet." She pointed at her rather large husband. "When the
mongoose turned into you, we decided to try using your uterus."

     Sanma nodded. "Yeah...  the doctor said it might be better this
way."

     "Um... why?" Akane asked.

     Sanma and Ukyo suddenly went white with fright.

     "What?" Akane asked again, confused at their reaction.

     Ukyo and Sanma exchanged a look before Sanma spoke. "Oh... just...
um... no reason, really."

     Ukyo smiled nervously.

     Akane smelled an evasion. She could have still smelled this
particular evasion if she was half way around the world. "Tell me."

     Ukyo swallowed. "Well, he said that your... build was better for...
childbirth."

     "My build?"

     "Um... he said it, not us..."

     "What?!" Akane snapped.

     "Well, he said your hips were wider and that would make carrying
the baby easier and birth safer."

     A hazy red aura appeared around Akane. "He said my hips are big?!"

     Ukyo flinched and got between Akane and... Akane. "Well... not in
those words."

     Ranma and Ranko rushed to opposite sides of their wife and tried to
calm her down.

     Sanma smiled and peeked around Ukyo's shoulder. "Um... sorry. He
didn't know about the curse. He just thought we'd found another
surrogate."

     Akane took several deep breaths. "Sorry... I shouldn't have gotten
upset. Maybe I'm still a bit shocked at seeing myself pregnant like
that." She looked at Ranma. "Was I that big?"

     Ranma looked at Sanma and then shook his head. "Heaven's no."

     Akane smiled at the lack of hesitation in his voice. "Well, you
must be due pretty soon by the looks of things."

     "Not for ten more weeks, actually," Sanma remarked.

     Akane frowned. "Then why are you so big?"

     Ukyo slid aside and looked at Sanma. "Well... in these procedures
they prefer to use more than one egg since they don't always take."

     "Yeah..." Sanma said rubbing her large stomach.

     "Twins?" Akane asked.

     Ukyo and Sanma shook their heads.

     "Triplets?" Ranko asked.

     Ukyo and Sanma shook heir heads.

     "Qua..." Ranma began to ask, but Nabiki interrupted him.

     "Wait a second, I've got to take bets on this!" Nabiki smirked and
reached for her palm organizer.

     "Nabiki," Kasumi scolded and then looked at Ukyo and Sanma. "How
many?"

     Sanma mumbled something.

     "Huh?"

     "Eight."

     Jaws dropped to the floor.

     "Eight..." Akane gasped.

     "Babies?" Ranko looked down at her own stomach and tried to imagine
carrying eight babies. "Impossible."

     Sanma tapped her stomach. "Yeah, I thought so too at first."

     Ukyo smiled. "Hey, when I get my husband pregnant, I don't fool
around."

     That broke the tension in the room and they all broke into a burst
of laughter.

     "Well, good luck avoiding stretch marks with that many," Ranko
remarked.

     Sanma smiled. "It's worth it."

     Ranko studied her sister's face--even if it looked like her wife at
present--and saw a glow. A glow that she remembered during her time
carrying Daiji. "Well, I can't argue with that. I wouldn't trade my time
carrying Daiji for anything."

     Just then, the girl she had carried for nine months ran into the
family room. "Ha ha! You can't catch me!!"

     "Watch me!!" Yohachi retorted as he appeared in the doorway.

     Eyes widened in horror at seeing the bucket in Yohachi's small
hands. Mouths opened to shout a warning when they saw the water arc
through the air at Daiji, who was just running past the pregnant Sanma.

     "Look..." Ranma threw himself into the path of the water. "OUT!!"
He took the bulk of the water across his chest, but not all of it.

     "Sanma!!" Akane shouted and reached towards herself.

     A high-pitched scream drowned out all the other shouts and cries.


[End - Chapter 3]

Coming soon: Chapter 4: Birth, Births, and Rebirth
=======================================================================
The real author's (Jim Lazar) notes/ramblings:


What? Eight is enough, right?


I'd like to thank my pre-readers Michael A. Chase, David Johnston,
Jonathan Ng, and Thomas C. Kinnen for helping me find and fix problems
with this story. FFML member Thierry Chartrand-Chamblay was also helpful
in fine tuning this story. Thank you all. Of course in the end, any
mistakes and botched characters are my fault.


Revision 0.0 - Rough draft began (April 14, 2000)
Revision 0.1 - Rough draft finished (May 1, 2000)
Revision 0.3 - Pre-reader draft (August 1, 2000)
Revision 0.4 - FFML draft (August 27, 2000)
Revision 1.0 - Final version (September 15, 2000)
Revision 1.1 - First RAAC posting (September 24, 2000)