Lina Inverse was pacing nervously. Gourry was supposed to have come an hour ago. It wasn't at all like him to be this late. She'd give him another ten minutes before she actually went to look for him, but she was definitely worried.
"Lina! Lina, here I am!" Gourry shouted as he ran up the steps toward her. When he got to the top, he embraced her.
She pounded him on the head saying, "Who gave you permission to hug me, you weirdo?!" Gourry smiled sheepishly and blushed.
"Sorry Lina, I couldn't stop my momentum. Oh, by the way, I got you something while I was in Seyruun." Gourry handed a package to Lina.
Lina grinned and shook the package. She loooooved to get presents, no matter what it had in it. She began to open the package. Lina was getting kind of excited. It was book shaped. The paper slid off easily. Under the packaging, there was a small book. Lina took one look at it and fainted on the spot.
"C'mere you old man!"
"Yeah, give them back, old pervert!"
"Lecher! Pervert!"
Happosai ran onward, barely stopping but for other panties. "Panties! Ahh, what a haul today. Heh heh." Happosai ran back toward the Tendo Dojo. When he had spotted the front gate, he felt he was home free.
"Hey old lech!" Happosai turned at the voice of Ranma Saotome, who was standing on the brick wall to his immediate left.
"Ahh, Ranma my boy, here you are! Hold some of these for a moment please, will you?" Happosai held out three bras and a pair of panties to his smirking pupil.
"I don't think so, old man. I'm gonna stall you here until those angry women catch up to you. I think that would be the perfect punishment for making me weak before. Let's see how you feel!" Ranma said as he grabbed the old man by his collar and hoisted him up. The dust cloud kicked up by the angry mob was getting closer, so Ranma hurled Happosai in the general direction of the mob.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" shouted the old man as he soared through the air towards an angry mob of women.
Later at the Dojo, Ranma and Akane enjoyed a nice dinner cooked by Kasumi, Akane's older sister. The rest of the family was gone for the evening so they were alone. They ate in uncomfortable silence, neither one quite sure of what to say.
At last, Akane broke the silence, "Y-you know Ranma, we're all alone tonight and not too much is going on as far as school assignments. What do you think we should to tonight?" She smiled and turned to face her fiancée.
Ranma dropped his chopsticks, "Geez Akane! Don't you think you're being a bit forward? I thought you hated me or something. What brought this on?"
"You pervert! I didn't want to do what you're thinking! Give me a little credit. I just wanted to go out tonight, that's all," Akane said as she prepared to mallet Ranma over the head. She thought better of it, though since an unconscious boy can't take anyone to the movies.
"Oh, okay Akane, we'll go out. Where should we go?" Ranma said calmly.
"Well, I though maybe we could go to the movies and take a walk to the park. Maybe we can find Ryoga to come with us," Akane started to smile but then realized that Ranma probably would not like Ryouga to come along. Ranma and Ryoga didn't get along after all, "On second thought, maybe we should walk somewhere else. Ryoga would probably be excess baggage and I don't want to have him getting lost at every turn.
It was Ranma's turn to smile, "Okay Akane, let's just clean up a little and then we can go."
So about ten minutes later, Akane Tendo and Ranma Saotome walked out of the Dojo doors, arm in arm, into the night.
When Lina came to, she was laying in a dimly lit room with a few candles. Gourry sat next to her, absently stroking her hand. His face was twisted into worry and fear. He got up and went to get something off of the counter. It was another wet rag like the one on her forehead. She stopped him before he put it on.
"Gourry, I'm fine now. Thank you for taking care of me. It was very sweet of you," Lina smiled at her knight in not-so-shining armor. She thought how strange it was that he always protected her, or tried to, even when he didn't know what was going on.
"So Lina, what was it about that book that put you out like that? What book was it anyway?" Gourry asked, assuming his dumb-as-a-mule look and scratching his head.
Lina fell facedown on the floor, then stood up and smacked Gourry, "What!! You don't even know what book you got? That was the Claire Bible, you idiot! I can't believe you!"
"Oh, the Claire Bible. Hmmm...now what is that again?" Gourry asked, "Oh yeah, you have been looking for it haven't you? Gee, I'm glad I found it for you then," Gourry smiled as he retrieved the book from the desk.
"Gourry, exactly where did you find it? Was it in Seyruun? If so, where in Seyruun? On, man, we have got to find Zelgadis." Lina walked over to the desk, telling Gourry not to pick up the ancient text.
"Oh, well I got it from this bandit gang. They attacked me because the wanted the Sword of Light. But I beat their leader so they gave me the book. It looked important, so I gave it to you. Did I do the right thing, Lina?" Gourry smiled again, proud of himself.
"Yeah Gourry, you did the right thing," Lina replied, hugging the swordsman for all he was worth, "This is the best present ever."
Akane and Ranma returned from their date hand in hand and laughing at some joke in the film.
"Yeah, I liked that part where the ape starts talking with a British accent! That was hilarious," Ranma was saying before being hit from behind by a very angry Happosai.
"What'd you do to him this time, Ranma?" Akane asked, half surprised half not.
"Ranma my boy, this time you went too far. This'll show you! Here!" Happosai exclaimed as he threw something at Ranma. Akane tried to knock him out of the way, but that only served to get her and Ranma drenched with strange smelling goo.
Happosai shook his head and said, "You really shouldn't have done that dear Akane. Now you share his fate."
Ranma started to feel sick to his stomach and doubled over in pain. He felt Akane slide down next to him with a groan, but he didn't want to look. This was all his fault and he absolutely had to find a cure. Of course, neither he nor Akane even knew what the goo was or even yet what it did. But when Ranma opened his eyes, he knew.
Akane stood up and looked round. They were standing in the middle of a strange building. "Ranma, where are we?" Akane asked shyly.
Ranma looked around as well, and he answered, "I really don't know Akane. I-I'm really sorry. But that was a stupid thing to do. You're such an idiot, jumping at me like that!" Ranma looked at Akane's face. She was almost in tears. "Oh, and Akane, one more thing...Thank you."
Akane watched Ranma's retreating form and smiled. Maybe he did care after. And since neither Shampoo nor Ukyou was here, she'd have ample opportunities to find out.
"Miss Lina? Hello! Miss Liiiiiinnnnaaaaaaa!" Amelia wailed as she peeked in every open door she could find. Finally she came to the last door in the inn and it was locked. Amelia knocked tentatively and a voice came from inside.
"Who's there? What do you want?"
"Mister Gourry? Is that you in there, hmmm?" Amelia asked hopefully.
The door opened after a moment and Gourry said, "Hey Amelia! Long time no see! How was your trip? And where's Zelgadis?"
Amelia shouted down the hall, "ZELGAAAADIS! I FOUND THEM!!"
"Shhhhh.... Do you want everyone in the world to hear you?" Lina hissed from inside
"Sorry Miss Lina," Amelia said as she came through the door into the dimly lit room.
Lina explained to Amelia how Gourry had stumbled upon the very text they'd been searching for so long to find. Zelgadis came in the door and saw the book. He immediately fell to the floor and praised L-Sama for leading him to his cure. He then proceeded to try and grab the book off of the table. Lina and Gourry's arms shot out and clotheslined him. He fell on the floor, unconscious. At that precise moment, the wall broke in and a black haired boy stepped inside. On his back, he carried a dark brown haired girl and an umbrella.
The girl spoke first, "Where is my Ran-chan! Where?" She was dressed in an apron and carried a huge spatula on her back. Gourry blanched when she took that spatula and conked him on the head with it.
"What Ukyou means to say is, ‘Where is Ranma Saotome and what has he done with Akane Tendo.' Yes, that's exactly what she meant," the boy said as he took out his umbrella and twirled it menacingly.
Lina stood with her eyebrow raised, "My aren't you two interesting. And why do you think we know anything about whatever you're talking about?"
"Well, gee, I don't guess I really know. Maybe I should go look for them myself..." the boy said.
"No way Ryoga, I'd never see you again if you did, and you're my ticket home honey," the girl named Ukyou said.
Lina meanwhile, was trying not to laugh. This pair was truly funny. But Lina wanted them to leave so she could finish looking through the Claire Bible. So while the two were bickering, Lina and Amelia slowly pushed them out the door and locked it behind them. No sooner had that been done than another head peeked around the open hole in the wall.
"Excuse me, but can you tell me where I am exactly?" the boy said. Another girl popped up behind him.
"Yeah, and while you're at it, do you know how we can get to Nerima, Japan from here?" the blue-black haired girl said.
Lina rolled her eyes and said, "You wouldn't happen to be Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo would you?"
The couple looked at each other in surprise. The boy answered, "Yeah, that's us, but who want's to know?"
Lina's mind began to work. What a profit she could make! Apparently, Amelia saw the look on Lina's face.
"Miss Lina, please don't start scheming!" the little princess said.
"Oh, alright. So Mr. Saotome, you seem to be lost. I'll be honest that I've never heard of Nerima or Japan, but I can tell you that you're in Marra about three miles from Seyruun. I suppose we could take you there to someone who's an expert on maps and stuff. What do you say?" Lina suggested.
"Well, okay, but if you guys try anything, I'll be the first to hurt you," Ranma said.
"Hey Lina," Amelia piped up, "What about those other two who were looking for Ranma and Akane? What about them, huh? We should help them too. That's the right thing to do!"
Lina and Gourry (who had just woken up) rolled their eyes. Amelia ran out the door after Ryoga and Ukyou. Ranma sighed. It was going to be a long night.