Shampoo Memories

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Cologne looked at her great-granddaughter worriedly. Ranma's wedding with Akane was two weeks ago, and the happily married couple was still on their honeymoon. Shampoo had been affected the hardest when she saw firsthand of Ranma's proposal to Akane.

Ranma had done it on his own without pressure from anyone, the help of any magical devices, or love potions. He had done it because he loved Akane, plain and simple.

The okanomiyaki girl had protested at first but then after a talk with Ranma, she had reluctantly allowed the wedding to happen. Slowly, though, she had begun to be happy for the couple with help of the Tendo girl's friendship.

Shampoo, however, never got over Ranma. She sighed and watched her little princess wipe the table with a cloth, a neutral expression on her face.

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Shampoo woke up as sunlight streamed through the pink curtains of her room. She stretched and went through her morning ritual impassively. She changed, brushed her teeth, and ate breakfast. Then, she opened the Nekohaten and got the restaurant ready.

As customers began coming in, she greeted them without emotion. "Welcome to Nekohaten." She went all day like a living corpse. She didn't smile or move energetically like she used to. She just walked slowly, taking orders, and serving the customers their food. Hours passed and she closed the restaurant.

She noticed her great-grandmother sigh and walk away. Everyday was the same without Ranma. Sad, bleak, and empty.

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Mousse growled as he saw his love acting like a robot, emotionless. He marched up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders.

Shampoo looked at the blind boy in shock. Her expression turned to anger as she struggled out of his grasp. "Let Shampoo go, Mousse! GO AWAY!"

Mousse shook her violently. "Wake up Shampoo! Stop acting like you are dead without Saotome! He got married, so what? You had a life before him so you will have a life after him!"

Shampoo shook her head trying to deny what Mousse said. *SLAP!* Shampoo glared at him for a moment and then broke down. She tried to stop the flow of tears but couldn't.

Mousse looked at Shampoo sadly and murmured words of comfort to her. He tried in vain to calm her down and silently scolded himself for hurting her. There was a feeling, however, that what he did was for the best.

Shampoo sniffled and slowly stopped crying. She glanced upward at the boy and saw a saddened visage. Suddenly, a torrent of memories came back at her.

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A ten-year-old Xian Pu cried silently as she walked by the edge of a river. She sat down and sniffled remembering what had happened an hour ago.

She had finally told him. She had admitted to Koga that she liked him and had a crush on him. To her horror, Koga had glanced at her and laughed cruelly. He had said why would he ever find her attractive when she was such a flat-chested, ugly, upper class girl. As he walked away he told her over his shoulder that the only girl for him was Lychee.

Xian Pu looked down at the water seeing a tear streaked little girl with brilliant violet hair. She burst into tears again and mumbled over and over how ugly a girl she was.

She heard footsteps and splashed her face with water from the river to hide the fact that she had been crying. She wiped her face with the sleeves of her pink outfit and turned to look at the person.

She saw someone she had never seen before. He was about the same age as her maybe a year older and wore a white robe. His long black hair when past his shoulders and he had the softest brown eyes that she had ever seen. She turned around hiding the blush that was slowly spreading over her face and regained her composure.

He walked over to her and sat down to her right. The boy glanced at her and smiled. "Isn't this a beautiful view?"

She looked up and indeed the view in front of her was beautiful. The waters flowed calmly and fishes swam freely. There were some wild flowers and trees on the other side of the river.

He sighed and said bluntly. "What's wrong?"

She looked at him in surprise. Instinctively she put up her snotty facade. "Nothing! It's none of your business anyway."

He surprised her again by laughing. She glared at him for being such a jerk. How dare he mock me? she thought angrily. It seemed that he noticed the icy glares pointed at him because he stopped. "Umm..I didn't mean it in a mean way. It's just that, well...you can't hide from me that you are not naturally snotty. I could see through your disguise easily." Seeing her sigh, he put out his hand and shyly asked. "I'm Ms Tsu. Would you like to be friends?"

She looked at the hand in front of her and blinked shock. She had openly been rude to him yet he still wanted to be her friend. She smiled slightly and shook his hand. "Sure, friends."

Since that day the two had gotten along very well. They did everything together. They sparred together, ate together, and went to class together. Xian Pu was very glad that she had Ms Tsu as a friend. He was always sympathetic and comforted her when she needed him.

Their happy times didn't last however. Ms Tsu's eyesight had gone from very clear to blind. He had to wear thick glasses and with his weakness, the other Amazons laughed at him. He may have been a formidable opponent then, but now all they had to do was knock his glasses off and he would be defenseless.

Although Xian Pu was the matriarch's great granddaughter, she was very lonely. She longed to be with the other girls and join them in their activities. However, all of the girls in the village despised Ms Tsu because he was nearly blind. Trying forcefully to fit in, she rejected Ms Tsu's friendship. The girls began to accept Xian Pu more and more when she showed them that she wasn't with Ms Tsu anymore by hitting him and shouting insults at him.

Ms Tsu had taken a liking to Xian Pu and they had even begun to see each other. It had broken his heart that she had pushed him away to fit in more. He tried to rekindle their love but it was in vain. With his bad eyesight, he kept mistaking animals and objects for Xian Pu. He had gotten desperate and the village laughed at the fool who tried to court the village champion.

Xian Pu had begun to forget the friendship she had with Ms Tsu and scorned him for his attempts of dating her. All she saw was a blind outcast trying to date a popular Amazon.

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Shampoo gasped and looked at Mousse, sorrow in her eyes. Mousse looked at her worriedly as she continued to stare sadly at him. Dummy, dummy, he thought. I shouldn't have slapped her. WHAT WAS I THINKING?

Shampoo looked at Mousse, pain clutching her heart as she recalled all those time that she had hurt or insulted him. He had been so nice to her yet she did not appreciate him. Always abusing his love for her. No, she thought. I will not lose him.

To his immense surprise, Shampoo had embraced him and smiled adoringly. "Ms Tsu, wo ai ni." He stared at her in shock and before he could say anything, her soft lips were pressed against his own.

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The End