By Laura .
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The Nekohanten was quiet, all of the customers gone, all the cleaning done for the night. Shampoo sighed as she looked out of her bedroom window. The night was alive with stars, the lights of the city dimmed by their brilliance.

She thought briefly about China. Out there, in their village, there were no city lights. There was no booming metropolis off in the distance to fill the sky with residual light. There was only the stars and the moon.

She missed that sometimes. As much as she enjoyed Nerima and the friends - well, rivals - that she had here, there was something special about the Amazon village. Although she was smart enough to realize that a lot of the longing she was feeling was directly related to the fact that she couldn't go home again.

Not unless she married Ranma.

And, she admitted to herself, that wasn't likely to happen. Not only had he finally admitted his feelings to Akane, but she was beginning to see the merits of a relationship with Mousse. After all, wasn't the Amazon code that the male be subservient to the female?

She sighed again. Life in the village had been easy. No one was as good a fighter as she was. No one could challenge her. Maybe it had been too easy. Here, she was constantly challenged by martial artists who were just as good as her, and those who did things differently and surprised her. Here, they fought with passion and anger. They didn't just fight because they had been raised that way. They fought because they were martial artists.

She moved away from the window, pushing one of her violet ponytails over her shoulder. She heard a noise at the door and turned to face her great grandmother.

"Hello, great-grandmother."

"I understand things did not go as you hoped at the party?" Cologne looked at the girl with a mixture of pride, affection and disappointment. If Shampoo was determined to follow where her heart was leading her, then she, by association, would never be allowed to return to the Amazon village. And, while she had lived a fulfilling life and had no intentions of dying any time soon, the thought of going home was a treasured one.

"If you mean Ranma, then no." She played with the bottom of her shirt. "I don't love him, great-grandmother and he does not love me. I don't think I can keep up the charade of chasing after him when my heart does not belong to him."

"Who does your heart belong to?"

Violet eyes met her dark ones, "You know. You've known longer than I." Tears stained her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I know that this is a punishment for you, a failure."

"How can my great-granddaughter's happiness be a failure?" She hopped her stick over to the bed and sat down next to the young girl. "I know that it is not our way to change our minds. But�" She took a deep breath, "I also know how difficult it can be to live with a mistake. I want you to have happiness, Shampoo. If that means that I stay away from ho�the village, then so be it. Business is good here. It is not a bad life."

"But�"

"It is not a decision we have to make tonight. Sleep on your thoughts." Cologne left the room, her stick making no noise at all. Shampoo lay back on her bed and closed her eyes. She would think more about it tomorrow. Tomorrow was soon enough.

*****

Silently, like the trained warriors they were, the eight women slipped into the house. One entered Mousse's room and doused him with cold water, placing him in a cage as soon as the transformation was complete.

Two others did the same to Shampoo, silencing her cries with a blanket.

Four more entered Cologne's room cautiously. She was a tribal elder and not to be taken lightly. She opened one eye as they approached. "What are you doing here?"

The last member of the group entered her room and snapped on the light. A wizened older woman, the same size and shape as herself stood there. "Hello, Cologne."

She nodded to the other councilwoman. "I would welcome you to my home, but I see we are past that."

"You're great-granddaughter has failed in her duty. She has failed to show honor to our rules, our laws. You know what this means?"

Cologne sighed as her greatest fears were realized. "We return home."

"To stand trial."

*****

Shampoo and Mousse, both in their cursed forms, rode in cages carried by members of their tribe. Cologne walked along with them, her mind struggling to come up with some way they could avert what was bound to happen. Shampoo would stand trial, accused of letting Ranma get away with defying their laws. Her arguments would determine whether they were banished forever, reprimanded or welcomed back into the fold.

Casting a quick glance at Shampoo, she sighed. The girl had already received a reprimand when Cologne had traveled to Japan with her. The outlook was not in their favor.

*****

They arrived at dawn several days later. The village was just waking; the morning sounds musical to all of them who had been away so long.

Handing Mousse's cage to one of the tribe's men, his carrier parted from the group to go to her home. Cologne was led to the elder's hut and Shampoo carried to another. The warriors left her alone and caged, until the sounds of her little "sisters" filled the air.

"Big sister Shampoo!" Lin-lin and Ran-ran opened the cage and carried the small cat to a tub of warm water.

Shampoo felt the change overtake her as she sank into the warm, fragrant water.

"You is okay, big sister Shampoo?"

She nodded.

"You bathe. We get you clothes."

The twins ran out and Shampoo lay back. She knew she was home for a very specific reason, but she couldn't help but enjoy this moment. Being a cat for almost a week was not a pleasant experience.

The twins returned, laying out a set of traditional warrior's garments. The same outfit she'd worn when Ranma - in girl form - had defeated her.

Apparently, the trial was to begin immediately. Very well. She climbed from the water and dried herself off. Putting on the chosen attire, she held out her hands to the two admiring girls.