"I can't believe it, Saotome! After everything we went through, all the obstacles in our way, our children are married at last! I'm so happy, I can sniff hardly contain myself!"

"I know how you feel, Tendo. Time to celebrate! Let's go get those bottles of sake we've been saving."

Ranma stared at Akane amidst the wreckage that had been the Tendo Dojo. "So... looks like we're, um, married now."

"Yeah." She smiled awkwardly. "I guess so." From her expression, she felt as uncomfortable as he did with the way it had happened. They'd been tricked. Ranma understood why Pop and Mr. Tendo had lied to him, but he still resented them making his decision for him.

The previous day, the parents had taken Ranma and Akane to see some kind of government official, so they could sign a paper. Just getting the formalities out of the way, they were told. And they signed. After all, they still had time to back out of the wedding, didn't they? It wasn't until later, when their friends showed up at the widely-announced formal ceremony, that the parents showed everybody the signed paper -- or rather, a xerox copy of it. It was a marriage license, they said, and it meant that no matter how badly this wedding got trashed, Ranma and Akane were already legally married.

So they wrecked the ceremony anyway. But in the end, it didn't do them any good.

Mr. Tendo shook Ranma's hand vigorously. "I'm so happy to finally have you as part of the family! So happy!"

"Yeah, me too, whatever." Ranma returned the gesture tepidly.

He was mad at the parents for conning them. But he had to admit, if it had been left up to him and Akane, they might've dicked around for years. Maybe they'd have ended up old and gray with their minds still not made up. And being married wasn't such a bad thing. But did she feel the same way?

"Hey, Akane. Let's change clothes, and then go for a walk." They needed to talk about what they were going to do now.

"Good idea." She smiled at him, this time with less uncertainty and more genuine warmth, as she zipped up the stairs.

***

"Look at this, Ranma." Akane pointed to a sign that stood in the window of Ucchan's restaurant.

Ranma read the notice out loud. "'Closed permanently. Please visit our new location in Detchiage district.' Wow. Ucchan's left, just like that? I hope she's gonna be okay."

"Yeah. But I think she will. She's a survivor. I can't see her slashing her wrists or anything like that."

"No, me neither. Still, I wonder what she's gonna do now."

"Just move on, I guess. Get on with her life, y'know?"

"Yeah, I suppose." Ranma and Akane continued down the street, hand in hand.

***

Ukyo watched through the upstairs window as the couple faded down the street. So, she told herself with a sigh. That ends that.

She'd had high hopes that Ranma would marry her. His father had not only agreed to their marriage, but had taken the family business as a dowry. And when she'd met Ranma again, he'd really seemed unhappy with Akane.

Ukyo shrugged. Nothing she could do about it now, but move on.

She pulled open the narrow top drawer of her bedroom desk. Everything else had been packed away, and the only thing left was the old familiar black spiral-bound notebook. She flipped it open to the first page and scanned a finger down it until she located the name Ranma Saotome.

Taking a pen from her pocket, she neatly drew a line across the name.

**

Guzu Yogore stared at the strange person glowering at him. "Do I know you?"

"Yes, you do." The stranger thrusted a giant spatula into fighting position. "Remember promising your son's hand in marriage? A promise that you ran out on?"

Yogore gulped. "U-- Ukyo?"

"That's right!" The spatula crashed down on Yogore's head.

"Dad!" Yogore's son ran over to him. A volley of throwing spatulas whizzed through the air; the boy narrowly managed to dodge.

"Your turn'll be next, Shirazu. See you in school!" Ukyo said threateningly, then quickly slipped out of sight.



This was another one hour fic, inspired by a certain fanfic cliche. Multitudes of fics postulate Genma as having made zillions of fiancee arrangements for Ranma as a child, even though he only did this once in the original series (and that was clearly Ukyo's father's idea) and it's rather unbelievable that hordes of parents would be eager to engage their daughters to the son of someone as disreputable-looking as Genma.

So why has the same sort of thing never been applied to Mr. Kuonji? Well, now it has.