Shampoo watched with care as Aang and Katara finished talking. From the phrase of Aang being a simple monk Shampoo figured that Aang had to have grown up in a monastery away from most people, but was now getting used to all of the attention that he seemed to be getting as the Avatar.
'Katara tries to focus on the journey that is to come to find Aang a teacher for his waterbending abilities from what I have heard, but Aang is just enjoying the moment... and from the looks of it, trying to get Katara jealous, ' Shampoo thought to herself as she watched the events unfold. It reminded her of the actions that she and the other fiancées would take to get Ranma's attention.
But soon the two of them were alone again and Shampoo wondered if she should bring up the issue about Aang's behavior. Shampoo was beginning to suspect that the powerful Bender had a crush on the older woman, but instead decided to wait for Katara to pick the next topic.
Taking a deep breath, Katara slowly asked, "So Shampoo what is between you and Ranma? I remember that you said that you are married to him from what you said about your laws, but Ranma doesn't seem too interested in the marriage. Are you interested in him beyond those laws? "
"Shampoo is in love with Ranma. She wasn't at first; originally Shampoo was trying to kill Ranma because Shampoo thought that he was a woman and had dishonored her. Amazons that are defeated by a woman have the option to deliver a Kiss of Death, an oath to hunt the woman down and kill her to restore an Amazon's honor. Shampoo wasn't thinking very clearly when she did this, Shampoo discovered that she does not like to kill unless necessary," Shampoo told the Water girl.
"Only Shampoo's desire to hold on to her honor kept her hunting, only to be defeated by Ranma in his male form. So for a while Shampoo was hunting Ranma in his female form for death and his male form for marriage. Then Ranma tricked Shampoo into thinking that he was a she with a Jusenkyo curse. Shampoo didn't want to kill Ranma, so Shampoo returned home only to be punished by Great Grandmother for loosing husband," Shampoo continued.
"Great Grandmother told Shampoo about the fact that cold water activates a curse and hot water cures it. Once this was realized, Great Grandmother took Shampoo to traditional training ground, Jusenkyo, where Shampoo got her curse. Then Shampoo returned to gain husband back. Shampoo was shocked and hurt to find out Ranma feared cats," Shampoo frowned at this idea.
But Shampoo brightened the next moment as she spoke, "Ranma is so handsome, strong and skilled. He is also can be kind and caring. Ranma has his faults, but he is a good man over all. Still Shampoo might have been a little too playful in trying to get Ranma," She giggled, a little embarrassed.
"Playful? What do you mean Shampoo?" Katara asked, looking at her companion with care.
"Well, Shampoo has used some old Amazon games and charms to date with Ranma, like hypnotic mushrooms and the Reversal Jewel that was our family treasure, but he always makes such a big fuss over them," Shampoo said, looking a bit miffed.
Katara blinked at the news. "Could you explain what those two things do?"
"Hypnotic Mushrooms makes the victim very suggestible, they will flow your suggestions for about twenty four hours. The Reversal Jewel has two actions, when worn right side up, it enhances love, when worn upside down, it turns love to hate. Shampoo used the latter to seduce Ranma by acting hard to get," Shampoo replied looking back upon those times nostalgically.
"Shampoo is always trying to get Ranma's attention, after all there’s a lot of competition with the other girls that were chasing him. Ranma was living with one of them and the other was Ranma's best friend as a child. Shampoo was scared at loosing him, especially when Ranma didn't return Shampoo's affection," Shampoo continued.
"Well, trying to kill him might have made him a bit nervous," Katara said, straining to keep her face neutral, “and using magical mushrooms and jewelry might be just a liiiittle too much. Have you ever considered that maybe Ranma doesn’t really like your ‘games’ or find them fun?”
“Hmm? But those were always Shampoo’s favorites back in the village. Shampoo still remembers when she gave Mousse a special flower that gave him hiccups every time he got close to a girl, and the moss that turned his skin purple, and the bark that gave him a rash for a week, and the….”
Looking a bit disturbed Katara decided to ask, “Well yeah, I’m sure those were a load of fun for you, but what about the people you try them on? How would you like it if someone gave you one of those things?”
Stopping Shampoo began to imagine Ranma using one of her various ‘toys’ against her. The image of him dosing her food with passion spice and then playfully teasing her by nimbly jumping away just out of her reach as she chased him around Nerima only to then turn around and glomp her in one of her own patented flying tackles brought a bright blush to her cheeks and a dreamy look to her eyes. “Aiiiiiiiyyaaaaa, Shampoo would like that very very much.”
‘Don’t freak out, don’t freak out, remember Katara, she’s from a different culture, the girls there apparently do things differently there. No need to pass judgment, just keep an open mind.’
“Well, playing around with him is not going to make him love you; you should just be honest with Ranma about your feelings, give him some time to get use to the idea. You were trying to kill him for a while; he just might not be ready yet,” Katara said as she tried back to the original conversation. “Plus you can just be nice to him, try to be his friend first before you try to be his wife. That might make your marriage last longer," Katara's thoughts turned to her parents and their relationship with each other. That brought a smile to her face.
Shampoo nodded at that, becoming deep in thought she began to wonder if she had been taking the wrong path with Ranma. She felt good discussing things with another woman and getting another point of view, especially since Shampoo didn't think that Katara would be after Ranma herself.
"Shampoo wants to thank Katara for her insight and Shampoo hopes she has been a help to Katara with the shopping. Is it alright for Shampoo to go watch the women warriors practice or will Katara still need Shampoo's help?" Shampoo asked her new friend.
"I'm alright for now. Just drop these things off on Appa for when we leave Kyoshi," Katara said, passing a couple of bags. Shampoo nodded and walked away to where the flying bison was.
Meanwhile...
Ranma practiced the moves that he had been learning from Aang. During their last few stops Aang had been teaching him the basics of airbending before the young Avatar when off to play. Much of it was things that he had learned in his world studying Ba Gua, meaning that much of the new martial arts complimented his own style of aerial combat and avoidance of the opponent's blows.
'I’ve come a long way since starting mastering airbending. At least I’m no longer being thrown around by the wind; instead I’m keeping my footing. Aang says that I am on my way to mastering the more difficult moves, like that air scooter of his, ' Ranma thought, remembering that move of Aang's. Being able to move around on a ball of air could come in really handy.
'Plus once I build my own staff-glider, Aang promised to teach me how to fly using airbending. He said that with careful manipulation of the air currents, I should be able to control my flight, ' Ranma has always wanted to fly. It had been one of his secret dreams as he learned to jump high and hang in the air.
Ranma sat down and reviewed the other skills that he had developed. He had learnt how to build shields using currents of air to protect him self from projectiles. He knew how to use blast of air to stun and cause blunt force damage, ranging from the softest push to a hard slam of force that could stun a person for a few minutes.
Cologne had even shown him and Aang a technique from the Amazon histories that used the mixing of hot and cold ki to create a minor tornado, a potent wind storm that did damage to the foe. Aang had studied the technique's ideas that hot and cold air mix to create potent wind, but he didn't seem to understand the principle of the Soul of Ice that was needed to use the technique.
'Let's face it, Aang isn’t a person who is given to freezing his emotions. He can hide them, but he's just too warm a personality. But Aang did figure out how to perform something like the Flying Dragon's Ascension Strike using advance airbending that I can't do. I'm having the same problem, trying ta freeze my emotions. I still need practice with that. But she did show me how ta look at creating wind. Mixing warm and cold to cause wind ta blow, ' Ranma thought as he tried to find a way to make that move work.
Ranma decided that it was time to head back to the village and try to get something for lunch. It looked like that Shampoo, the Ghoul and him self would be here for a while. That should give him time to learn all he could from Aang to improve his own martial arts techniques. 'Plus there is the fact that the Old Lady is planning on training Katara and Aang in martial arts techniques from our world, including ki techniques, ' Ranma thought. He wondered what else he could do with his ki other than enhance his speed, strength and endurance.
Ranma walked back to the village thinking about this.
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(Posted Wed, 07 Jun 2006 12:56)
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