d_starfire@hotmail.com Hello R.A.A.C.! Dion Starfire here with another installment of A Mousse Spurned. So far no flames have come in, which is good, just some comments about grammar and punctuation. Which I'm trying to rectify so please notify me of anything I may get wrong. Well, enough of me gabbing. Enjoy the story! Oh! I have to give props up to my editor Ryoma without him it wouldn't be as good as it is. Yours in insanity or sanity, depends on your point or view. Dion Starfire STUDIO FAN PRESENTS RANMA 1/2: MOUSSE NO KYOZETSU SURU A MOUSSE SPURNED Written by Dion Starfire CHAPTER TWO - THE REASON?!?!?!? I woke up at the usual time but not in the usual place. I found myself not in the makeshift room that was my apartment but in a sleeping bag instead. I looked around and discovered that I was in a forest. The grass was moist with freshly laid dew, and when I took in it's sweet fragrance, I knew at once where I was. (Why am I at Mt. Quanjing? Am I dreaming? I probably am... but it feels so real! ) Despite my confusion about how I got there, I found that my body, after a fit-full sleep, was starting to relax and all of the tension was leaving. (Well, if this is a dream, I have to thank myself in the morning for dreaming this.) I laid back and soaked up the surroundings like I always had. The cool breeze that came off of the mountain caressed my tired body. The sunrise glistening over the mountain gave comfort to my soul. The sights and sounds of the majestic woods encompassed me, . . . held me like I wished Shampoo would, with love. (If there was one thing I needed right now. It was this.) Then it happened, I heard a voice, a voice I haven't heard in a long time. "If there was one thing I needed right now... it was this. Thank you, Sifu." I came to look upon a young boy and his master sitting around a campfire cooking breakfast. He was trying to get used to the feel of new glasses that he was wearing. The young boy was about three years old, but if one looked into his eyes they would see his soul was hurt, a hurt that one so young shouldn't have to face. It's a kind of pain that a person would have if their fiancée walked out on their wedding. The master was Spray; a kindly old sort who took pride in the fact that he cared about his pupils and took steps to make sure his students were okay. He always worried about this boy in particular. Always acting like an adult never like a child. Seeing in him the potential for great things and in that potential a great wisdom and a gentleness of the soul that is so rarely seen. The boy had just suffered a blow to his heart that seemed to be eating away at his soul. The pain wouldn't go away for a long time. His sifu knew that, and was trying to speed up the healing of a broken heart before it was too late. "You're welcome, Mousse." "Why did we come here, Sifu?" "Well...I thought we could use a vacation and this was the perfect place." Spray said evasively. "If we're on vacation, why do we have our training gear?" "Heh heh...ah, Mousse, why do you have to act so old? Well, the real reason we came out here is because I thought you needed time to heal." "Heal?" "Yes, heal. I overheard your conversation with your girlfriend." A look of sadness came over the child's face. "Shampoo is _not_ my girlfriend. When I told her I loved her and wanted to marry her I thought she would be happy." The child tried to find the words that would express what he was feeling. << This is the first time I came to Mt. Quanjing, but I never spoken like that when I was three. Must be my mind talking?>> "...But" "But when I came near her she acted as if I didn't exist. I thought she was playing so I played along. I introduced myself and said she was the most beautiful thing on this earth. Then she went into a battle stance and said 'I'm ready for the challenge'." "So she thought it was a challenge for her hand in marriage. Well? Did you fight her?" "You heard what happened! You tell me." The child said angrily. "I think it would be better if you told me." Spray said soothingly. With a stubborn look on his face he asked "Why?" "Because it'll help you get over the pain if you talk about it." "It will?" he asked his teacher/father with tears in his eyes. "Trust me." "I said that I didn't want to hurt her. So I wasn't going to fight her. And then she blew up at me. All I said was that I love her and I never want to harm her. She said she hated me and that the only way she'll ever marry me is if I beat her in combat. Then she beat me up. I didn't protect myself so I got the crap beat out of me. If I defeat her, but don't have her love, then what is the sense in marrying her? I'll never get her heart that way." "But Mousse we're part of an amazon village. That's our code, our life, and our law. If you really want to marry Shampoo you'll probably have to fight her." "I won't fight her. I'll get her by love or nothing else." There was a slight pause as if he was thinking to himself. "But the thing I don't get is Shampoo and I spoke about getting married and about her love for me " There is a brief heart-wrenching moment showing me talking to a duck. (I WAS TALKING TO A DUCK!!! OH, HOW POETIC!) I thought dripping with sarcasm. "We had such a good year together. I can't imagine what went wrong. Why doesn't she love me?" With that the child started to cry. "I wouldn't let it bother you that much Mousse. It's just probably a boy-hating phase the girl is going through. She'll get over it." (But she didn't get over it. She still hates me.) "Shampoo doesn't hate you, Mousse. She loves you." "Master?" I was speaking now, not the child-me. "Yes, I can see and hear you. You're even letting me hear your thoughts and you don't need to call me master. You're twenty; you're a man now, call me Spray." "If she loves me, Master...why? Why does she keep rejecting me?!" "You know the answer and don't call me master." Spray waved his arm and a mace hit me. "OUCH!! No, I don't! Otherwise, I would have fixed the problem a long time ago!" "Yes you do. But I can't give it to you. You have to figure it out for yourself." With that a mist came from the mountain and covered the forest. It enveloped everything in its path the trees, the animals, and the campsite. No one seemed to notice or care. No one except me. I was running away from the mist as fast as my feet could carry me. "Why are you running? You can't run away Mousse." Spray said. I was running out of fear. I wanted to find out the answer...I needed to find out...but I was too afraid of the answer. I tried to dive in a pool of water so I could fly away but instead of changing into a duck, I tripped over a familiar walking stick and fell on my face. "Oh! I'm sorry Mousse. I didn't mean to leave my walking stick there." "It's okay Cologne. I didn't see it." I said a bit flustered and confused. "Still trying to get used to those glasses I see." "Yeah . . . I hate them though. They make me look like a geek." "No they don't. I know, why don't we ask Shampoo? SHAAMMPPOO." Cologne called. "I'll be right down." Came the answer. A few minutes later. Shampoo comes down the stairs into the kitchen with a smile. One look at me was all she needed to change her mood from happy to disappointment. "Shampoo, doesn't Mousse look fine with his glasses?" asked Cologne. "He looks ok to me." "See Mousse what did I tell you? Mousse? Mousse?! No! That's a... " !!CRASH !! "AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" "...skillet." Cologne quickly puts my burnt hand under running water. "What were you just thinking?" asked Cologne angrily. "I wanted to thank Shampoo for what she said." With a quirky little smile she asked, "And just how were you going to ask her?" With that comment I blushed uncontrollably and Cologne laughed heartily. The scene changed again and I found myself outside the house and fifteen again. This time I saw myself walking away, looking bruised and battered in the heart and body. "Get out of here Mousse! I don't want you." Shampoo yelled with venom coming out in her voice. My eyes came to rest upon Shampoo's heaving frame. A tear welled up in her eye and I realized her body wasn't heaving, it was shaking. I was shocked; I had never known Shampoo to cry about anything let alone myself. I went to comfort her then. "Why should you cry over that weakling, Shampoo?" Cologne asked with a disapproving tone. Startled by her grandmother's sudden appearance, and angered at her constant interference when it came to me, she replied, "Not that it's any of your business. I HATE HURTING HIM!" With that she jumps to the rooftop and the goes into the jungle. (Damn, that didn't work at all!), Cologne thought. I started to go after Shampoo but I was hit by another rejection then another then another until I was screaming from the pain from all the rejections I had lived through. Then I saw all the opportunities I had passed up in my life when I was chasing Shampoo. It was too much for me to take; I collapsed into a ball and started to scream. I laid there for what seemed like an eternity when my Sifu came up to me. "It's time to go Mousse." "Go? Go where?" "Home, Mousse, it's time for you to go home." "I'll gladly leave but I don't know of a way to get out of hell." "Just get up and ride on top of me." With that I looked up at my Sifu to see him change from a man to a gigantic swan. The swan took off with me riding it. As it was flying the swan looked backed and asked "So was all this enough to get you to give up yet?" With all that I have seen in the last couple hours I could only remember the phrase ''I hate hurting him!". "No, it wasn't." I didn't see it but there was a big, knowing smile on the swan's face. "Oh well! I tried to show you. Your love for that girl will be the death of you." I was oblivious to everything all I could remember was the tear that was forming and the look of care and hurt that was on her face. "Well if that's my destiny, I'll gladly accept it." "Here's where you get off. Bye Mousse, I hope you find what your looking for." The swan dumped me over the Nekohanten. Just before hitting the ceiling I woke up in a cold sweat and my heart was racing. I looked around my room and saw that I was still in bed. "Phew! It was just a dream." Just as I said that I saw a huge swan hovering near my window. The shock was too much for me and I passed out. Author's Afterword Dion here again. I hope you got the reason if not, write me and I'll explain. Ok, the past two chapters were a preparation for the rest of the story. The next chapter will be a-lot more of what we all know and love, so please keep writing. Anyway, here's my E-mail address . And please don't ask for my real name your not going to get it. d_starfire@hotmail.com Chapter 3 comes out next week! My Kumite story is dead right now and won't come out until this is done, so stop writing me about it. Well my otaku friends I'm looking forward to your comments, EVEN your flames. Yours in insanity or sanity, depends on your point of view. Dion Starfire