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	A Lost and Found cat
	Part 6 : Busted
	A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction 
	Written by Jenny 'Android18' Chan
	android18@hotmail.com
	www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagoda/4071/index.html
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	Mousse swallowed. There were two angry battle auras in
front of him, belonging to Akane and Ranma.
	Ukyou had also come over to the Nekohanten, and was 
right now, standing off to one side, wisely quiet.
	"Tell us exactly WHAT happened, Mousse," Ranma growled.
"Unless you want to find yourself in the next order of duck
ramen."
	Mousse looked around. The restaurant was packed with 
people and most of them were staring in the direction of the
three. 
	~I can't fight them now..~ Mousse thought to himself.
~That's bad for business... what can I do now?!~
	From her spot, Ukyou gave a sigh. ~Duck boy's gonna
get it now.~ Suddenly, a bolt of inspiration struck her, and 
she had an idea. 
	She stepped in the middle of the confrontation. "Now,
now, Ranchan," she said. "Work now, and Mousse will explain 
later." She ignored the sputtering that came from Mousse.
	She sent him a glare that even Mousse couldn't mistaken,
and he quickly turned on his heals and made tracks into the 
kitchen.
	"Why you little-" Ranma started to go after Mousse,
except Ukyou held him back.
	"Wait Ranchan. You kill him, and you'll never find out 
what happened," She said. "Plus... if Cologne finds a destroyed
Nekohanten when she gets back..."
	"Aww... alright..." Ranma grumbled.

*****************************************************************

	After the dinner crowd was over, Mousse had sat down with
Ranma and Akane and told them what happened. Ukyou sat beside
him, acting as a voucher.
	"You mean... she totally lost her memory?" Akane asked,
eyes wide.
	"Completely," Ukyou said. "Look, this is the perfect
opportunity, Ranchan!"
	Both Ranma and Mousse blinked. "What are you talking 
about?" They demanded.
	"You don't really want to get married to Shampoo, do you?"
	Ranma swallowed when three pairs of intent eyes suddenly
stared at him. "Uh... no. No! Of... of course not..."
	"Great!" Ukyou grinned. "All we hafta do... is get Mousse
and Shampoo married right now, before Cologne gets back!"
	Ranma raised his eyebrow. ~Hmm... that's a pretty good
idea...~ He thought to himself. ~No more glomping that'll get
Akane mad at me. Hmm...~
	Mousse fell off his chair. "What?!"
	"Oh come on, Mousse," Ukyou said. "You want Shampoo to
be your bride, don't you?"
	"Yes, but-"
	"Help me, Ranchan," Ukyou urged.
	Ranma swallowed, then looked at Mousse. "Uh... yeah 
Mousse! Come on, you wanna marry her! This is the biggest
chance you'll ever get!"
	Mousse stared at Ranma. ~I can't believe Ranma Saotome
is urging me to get married to Shampoo! This has to be a trick...
but it was Ukyou who came up with the plan...~
	"Come on, Mousse. Are ya in?"
	~Oh... when am I ever gonna get another chance like
this?!~ Mousse wondered. "Okay... I guess."
	"Great! Akane?"
	"Guys," Akane spoke up, "I don't think this is very 
fair... taking advantage of Shampoo like that..."
	Ukyou turned to Akane. "Then I suppose you'd rather have
Shampoo as a rival for Ranchan then?"
	"What?! Well... uh... why should I care? I mean... if
the baka wants her then he can have her for all I care!" Akane
cried.
	Ukyou rolled her eyes. "Sure. Whatever. Do you really
want Shampoo to show you up with her cooking? Or glomping onto
Ranchan every chance she gets? Or destroying the dojo whenever
she comes visits? Or-"
	"Oh... alright!" Akane cried. "Alright! I'll do it!"

*****************************************************************

	"Mousse! I am home!" Shampoo cried as she walked in. "I
very sorry I no come sooner, but Shampoo find some friends, and
have dinner! Very sorry!"
	"Sh-Shampoo!" Mousse cried. His heart was pounding, and
his glasses kept fogging up. "Y-you're home! That's great!" 
	He ran up to her and took one of her hands.
	"Shampoo... let's... uh... let's..."
	Shampoo looked at Mousse expectantly. "Yes?"
	"Shampoo... let's... have... let's have...." Mousse 
swallowed. "Let's have... let's have a party at the restaurant!"
	Shampoo blinked. "Huh? Oh. Okay."
	"You idiot!!" A voice hissed from behind a counter. A
small spatula was thrown at Mousse, hitting him right in the
back.
	He gave a yelp of pain and jumped. "Let's have the
wedding tomorrow Shampoo!!" He cried.
	Shampoo's eyes went wide. "T-tomorrow?" She echoed.
	"Uh... yeah. Tomorrow." Mousse said. He reached behind
his back and pulled the spatula out of his back before flinging
it back where it came from.
	There was a hiss of pain and Ranma stood up from behind
the counter, ready to pound Mousse. Akane and Ukyou pulled him
back down before he could be seen.
	"But... Mousse," Shampoo said. "I... I do not have my
memory back yet."
	"That's alright," Mousse swallowed. He gave a nervous
laugh. "Ah... um... well... it's okay. I still love you, memory
or not, and um... I really want to get married."
	"Tomorrow?" Shampoo asked.
	"Ah... well... as soon as possible..."
 	"Well..." 
	Mousse swallowed, and tried to collect his wits. ~Calm
down!! You'll blow it if you continue at this rate! Just...
just tell you how you really feel, and everything will be okay.~
	Taking a deep breathe, Mousse looked directly into
Shampoo's eyes.
	"Shampoo... I love you. I love you with all my heart.
I want to get married to you, with every fiber of my being. I
can't stand the thought of us not being together. Please. I...
I know you don't have your memory back yet... but I promise
that... it won't change anything. Please? I... I really love
you."
	Shampoo stared right back at Mousse, and slowly raised
her hands up to take off his glasses so that she could look 
straight at his eyes.
	~He does love me,~ Shampoo thought to herself. ~Oh...
how can I say no to those eyes?~
	"Yes Mousse," Shampoo said softly. "I... we can have
wedding tomorrow."
	She rested her head on Mousse head, and wrapped her
hands around his waist.
	Mousse did the same, and placed his chin on top of
her head.
	~Yes... she said yes...~ Mousse thought to himself,
relieved.  ~So how come I feel so rotten?~
	Behind the counter, Ukyou gave thumb ups to Ranma and
Akane, who returned them. 
	Ranma smiled weakly. ~Alright... soon I'll have my
fiancée problem thinned out... only thing left is to choose 
between Ukyou and Akane....~
	Akane gave a soft sigh. ~I'm sorry for doing this,
Shampoo...~
	Ukyou bit her lip. ~I feel like such scum doing this...
but it has to be done. For the future of Ranchan and I... This
had to be done.~
	Ukyou counted to three softly, and then, the three of
them jumped out from behind the counter.
	"Alright! Congratulations, Mousse and Shampoo!" Ukyou
cried. 
	"You'd make a great couple," Akane said softly.
	"It's about time you two tied the knot too, ya lovebirds!"
Ranma cried.

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	It was late at night... and Alfred was studying as usual.
There was a soft knock at the door, and he would have missed it
if Fuzzball didn't mew to tell him about it.
	~Huh?~ Alfred wondered. ~Who could that be? No one sees
me ever... especially not this late.~
	Curiously, Alfred opened his door, and saw Shampoo looking
at him. 
	"Kit- I mean, Shampoo!" Alfred cried. "What are you doing
here?"
	Shampoo smiled warmly and gave Alfred a hug. "Can I come
in?"
	"Of course. Hey, do you have your memory back yet?"
	Shampoo shook her head softly. "No... not yet."
	The two sat in Alfred's kitchen. "So what brings you
here?"
	"I... I have something to tell you," Shampoo said 
softly, nervously. 
	Alfred picked up on the nervousness in her voice. "What's
wrong, Shampoo?"
	"I... I getting married," Shampoo said. "Tomorrow."
	Alfred blinked. "W-what? Excuse me?"
	Shampoo smiled weakly. "Wedding is tomorrow."
	"Oh... well, uh," Alfred swallowed. Why did his heart
feel like ripping out of his rib cage then hurling itself at
the wall? "Um... congratulations."
	"Thank you," Shampoo said softly. 
	"Well... this... this was unexpected. I mean... uh,
I knew that you were going to get married... but... but not so
soon. I mean... well... you don't have your memory back yet?"
	Shampoo didn't answer. Instead, she asked a question. 
"Um... I... I was wondering if... if you want to come to wedding?"
	Alfred blinked again. "Of course. Of course... I...
I'd be honored to attend."
	"That's good," Shampoo said softly.
	The two sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, before
Alfred dared say something he'd notice.
	"Shampoo... um... don't take this the wrong way but," 
Alfred swallowed. "For someone who's getting married the next 
day... you don't seem very happy."
	"Happy?" Shampoo asked. "O-of course Shampoo happy. I'm
marrying a man who love me with all his heart. Of course I
happy."
	"He loves you with all his heart, maybe," Alfred said. 
"But... do you love him with all your heart?"
	Shampoo swallowed. "O-of course. I mean... he's my
fiancée, is not he? I... I would not be engage to him in first
place if I did not love him."
	"That's not what I mean," Alfred said. "You don't know if
you loved him before, you can't remember. But, let's just say you
did. Do you love him now?"
	"I... I..." Shampoo swallowed. "Um... I think I should
go now." She stood up.
	"Wait! You didn't answer..." Alfred took a deep breath
and closed his eyes. "I... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made you
uncomfortable. It's late now... I'll walk you home."
	"I can take care of self." Shampoo replied, handing him
a piece of paper. "Here is address. Good night, Alfred."

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	When Shampoo got home, it was very, very late. She was
dead tired, but she didn't get much sleep though.
	She laid in her bed, thinking to herself.
	~He loves me,~ She thought to herself. ~And... we've 
been engaged to marry for... for... um... I don't know how long,
but... I'm sure if I didn't loose my memory, I'd already be
Mrs Mousse now. So... having a wedding tomorrow is logical...
oh, who am I kidding?! This is stupid! Why is this happening? I
know Mousse loves me... but... but why is he rushing it!? But..
he loves me so... what could go wrong? I mean... love is the
most important thing right?~
	The rest of her night was plagued with similar uncertain
thoughts.

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	Morning came all too quickly, and a makeshift reception
area was held in the Nekohanten. A priest from a 24-hour marriage
chapel was found by Nabiki.
	Actually, the priest was the only thing Nabiki would 
contribute to the wedding, and on the conditions that it was not
told to anyone that it was she who had found him and that she
did not have to attend the wedding.
	Nabiki had said, 'this stupid scheme of yours is 
incredible rushed and full of holes. This thing will undoubtedly
crash, burn, and blow up in your face. I will have nothing to
do with such a stupid plan. After all, I have a reputation to
uphold.'
	Ranma was the best man and Ukyou and Akane were the 
bride's maids. Soun and Genma were both very happy to learn that 
a large obstacle to Ranma and Akane's own marriage was going to 
be removed, and thus, were guests at the wedding to witness this. 
The other guests were just early morning customers to the 
Nekohanten, who had the misfortune to be pulled into the whole 
affair.
	Kasumi was not invited, because she couldn't lie to save
her life, and no one wanted her to blab to Shampoo about what
she really thought of Mousse.
	Alfred had arrived a while later, having taken a train
ride to get here. He was rather suspicious with the whole affair,
but kept his mouth shut.
	Mousse was very, very nervous, wearing the nicest robe
he owned, and standing near the priest. Ranma was beside him, in
a rented tuxedo.
	~I can't believe I'm doing this,~ Mousse thought to himself
over and over again. ~I'm completely taking advantage of Shampoo
when she's at her most vulnerable. How can I DO this to her?!~
	Ranma leaned over to him. "You know... I'm starting to
have second thoughts about this whole thing," he confused. ~I 
mean... this doesn't seem right."
	"I know," Mousse replied. "But... but I have to get married
to Shampoo before Cologne comes back."
	"But you still have a week or so before Cologne arrives..."
	"What if she arrives early?" Mousse asked.
	"Yeah, but what are the chances of that happening? I mean, 
if you're doing this, this early, because you're scared she'll 
arrive early, then heck, what if she arrived today?!"
	"Don't jinx it!!"
	Meanwhile, Akane and Ukyou were having a little chitchat
of their own.
	"Ukyou... this is wrong," Akane said. "We shouldn't be
doing this, Shampoo is trusting us, and we'd be betraying her if
we did this."
	"Do you think that, if this were the other way around, Shampoo
wouldn't do the same thing?" Ukyou asked. "I mean... she'd do
the same thing to us, if it were the other way around, Akane, and
you know it!"
	"But, it ISN'T the other way around, Ukyou," Akane 
insisted. "And this is wrong!"
	"Akane, we're doing this for Ranma, okay?" Ukyou said.
"Do you want to risk having Shampoo drug him with one of her potions 
and then marrying her?"
	"N-no..."
	"Then we're doing the right thing!"
	"Oh.... oh, alright."
	"Okay, good." Ukyou took a deep breathe. "I'll go get Shampoo
now. Let's get this over with." 
	Taking a deep breath, Ukyou turned to go get Shampoo.
	~I'm doing the right thing,~ Ukyou thought to herself. ~I
mean... Shampoo would do the same thing to me too, and... Mousse
loves her. Those two belong together...~
	Despite the things she was telling to herself, Ukyou still
felt like scum.

*****************************************************************

	Shampoo looked out at all the people in the main dinning
area of the Nekohanten from her room. She was in one of her
nicer dresses, but that was it.
	A vague image of a soft, light purple, evening gown made 
of the softest of silk with a full skirt, and an off-the-shoulder top
kept popping in her mind, but for the life of her, Shampoo couldn't 
remember where (or even when) she had seen the beautiful gown 
before.
	~This CAN'T be my dream wedding,~ she thought to herself
as she looked at all the rather confused customers who only
wanted to come in for some ramen, but then found themselves as 
part of a wedding.
	Ukyou suddenly popped up in front of her. "Hey, how's 
the pretty bride doing?" She asked with forced cheer.
	"Ukyou... I... I not very sure about this," Shampoo
said. "I... I do not even have wedding dress, and the guests
do not look like they even understand what is going on. Where is
Kasumi and Nabiki?"
	Ukyou gave a nervous laugh. "Ah... you just have cold
feet is all. Come on, let's get the show on the road." 
	With that, Ukyou grabbed Shampoo's hand, and ran her
down into the reception area.

*****************************************************************

	"Dearly beloved, we are gathered today to witness the
union between Mousse and Shampoo," said the priest. ~God, I feel
stupid saying that.~
	He said the rest of the ceremony, and then, all too soon,
it got to the important part.
	"Do you, Mousse, agree to take Shampoo to be your wife?"
	Mousse swallowed. ~What do I do?~ He wondered. ~I... I
love her and, if we do this... we'll be together, but... but if
I do, our marriage will be all a lie, because Shampoo doesn't
remember.... oh...~
	The audience started to get murmurs and restless because
Mousse was taking so long to answer.
	Finally, Mousse swallowed and took a deep breath. "I...
I..." he swallowed again, and took another breath. "I... I....
do." He finally said, softly.
	The priest stared at Mousse for a moment, before turning
and looking at Shampoo. "Do you, Shampoo, agree to take Mousse to
be your husband?"
	Shampoo frowned as she thought about it. ~Do I?~ She
wondered. ~He loves me... but... but do I love him? Should I get
married to him, if I don't know that?~
	Shampoo turned and looked at Mousse, who was so nervous,
his knees were knocking together.
	"Um... I... I... I don't know," Shampoo said, very softly.
	"Excuse me?" The priest asked, eyebrows raised.
	"Um.... I do," Shampoo said, more loudly. She swallowed
after she said so.
	The priest stared at Shampoo, who was suddenly looking
at her feet, and then stared at Mousse, who was so uncomfortable,
he looked ready to bolt.
	"If anyone in this room has any reason to object do this
marriage, please do so now, or forever hold your peace."
	There was a pause.
	~This is wrong,~ Akane thought. ~We'd be misleading 
Shampoo's trust if we do this.~
	~I am being dishonorable,~ Ranma thought. ~I can't let
Shampoo do this when she doesn't know what she's doing.~
	~I feel like scum,~ Ukyou thought. ~This might be
necessary, this might be what she'd do to me if the tables were
turned... but anything that makes me feel this bad, can't be
right.~
	~Something is very wrong here,~ Alfred thought. ~I can't
let Kit- I mean, Shampoo do this.~
	~Oh, Shampoo, how could I do this to you?!~ Mousse
thought. ~How can I mislead you so when you've put so much trust
in me? I'm so sorry, my love!~
	~I don't care if he loves me,~ Shampoo thought. ~I... I'm
not sure if I love him. And the love must be two way, if the
marriage is to work.~
	The priest looked about. "Then now, I proclaim you both 
to be-"
	"I object!!!" Akane, Ranma, Ukyou, Alfred, Mousse and
Shampoo all cried.
	The priest blinked. "What?"
	"I object to this marriage," Akane, Ranma, Ukyou, Alfred,
Mousse and Shampoo all said again.
	The room suddenly burst into confusion and murmurs.
	The priest swallowed. "Um... I am not sure what to do 
now... this is very unusual... I've never been to a wedding where
there's been objections from so many people before."
	"It doesn't matter how many people object," a harsh voice
suddenly thundered. "It only matters that I object."
	Everyone turned and looked to the back of the room, where
an old woman on top of a walking stick stood.
	Mousse swallowed. ~Uh-oh.~
	Akane, Ranma and Ukyou were all mortified. ~We're in biiiig
trouble,~ they all thought.
	~Who's THAT?!~ Shampoo and Alfred both wondered.
	Cologne glared into the room. If looks could kill, everyone
in the room would be in heaven now.

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