Ranko looked herself over in her bedroom mirror, smiling at her appearance. She wore a new sky-blue skater dress dotted with little white sunflowers, her hair tied back in a loose ponytail with a white ribbon. Little plastic sunflowers matching her dress poked through each of her earlobes, and her ever-present dragon remained perched in its place on her wrist. She’d even taken the time to paint her fingernails a light yellow – she’d done it herself, and it had only taken half the bottle of polish to get it right.

Everything had to be perfect today. She hadn’t seen Akane since her trip to Nerima, and a part of her felt like she was still on thin ice. She wanted – she needed – to make sure their date was a success. Satisfied with her work, she strapped her purse across her body and bounded down the stairs to the main bar area, where she discovered that she was not alone.

“Huh? Oh, hey, Izzi! You’re here early!” Ranko waved with an excited smile.

Izumi beamed warmly. “Well, look at you! It appears my fashion student is ready to graduate!”

Ranko blushed. “Nowhere close. But do you think she’ll like it?”

The brunette nodded. “She’d be crazy not to.” She sipped at a cup of tea. “What do you girls have planned today?”

“There’s a little street carnival in town, a couple blocks from here. We thought we’d hit that.” Ranko bounced on her heels with nervous energy just thinking about it.

“Oh, yeah, Hoshi’s been saying he wanted to go to that! You know, I think Kaito has the day off. Maybe we could do a double-date?”

Ranko tried not to frown. She loved Izzi and Kaito, Hoshi too, but she could risk nothing going to chance with Akane today. Still, she didn’t have the heart to refuse. “As long as Akane doesn’t mind.”

“Mind what?” Akane stepped through the front door, taking off her sunglasses. She wore a vibrant green crushed velvet T-shirt over a white knee-length skirt.

“Izzi was just saying she was thinking about taking her son to the carnival, and we could maybe all go together.”

“Sure, that sounds great!” Akane closed the distance between the door and her girlfriend, wrapping her arms around her and giving her a kiss on the lips. Ranko blushed furiously; Akane had never kissed her in front of anyone before. A part of her almost wondered if Akane was trying to lay claim to her, so everyone else could see who she belonged to in the wake of the thing with Crash. It made her feel a little warmer inside to think about.

Izumi smiled. “Then, why don’t I walk over with you two, and I’ll call Kaito and have him meet us there with Hoshi?”

Some twenty minutes later, their party had assembled at the front entrance to the little carnival. Two dozen or so mobile food stands of every conceivable type lined one side of the grassy common, the aromas emanating from them combining into a cacophony of fried sugar. To the rear, another row of trailers were opened up to reveal a variety of skill games, with everything from darts to goldfish-catching and a racing game involving water cannons. Huge stuffed animals dangled from the awnings over each diversion. Off a few hundred meters away stood a ticket booth, and beyond it, several thrill rides. There were several wheeled platforms mounted with spinning arms and rocking kiddie rides. A tall, A-shaped steel frame had been erected on one side, from which swung a great steel arm bearing a gondola in the shape of a pirate ship on one side and a counterweight on the other. A small Ferris wheel occupied the center of the ride pavilion.

Ranko and Kaito returned from the ticket booth side-by-side with bundles of red tear-off paper tickets in hand, each taking their place at the side of their respective partner. Kaito and Izumi each took one of Hoshi’s hands, lifting him up off the ground and swinging him playfully to the sound of his excited giggling.

Akane looked around the assorted diversions, taking stock of the options. “What does everybody want to do first?”

Hoshi pointed to one of the trailers. “I wanna ride the dragon, mama!” Izumi grinned. “Well, I guess that settles that! You guys aren’t into the kiddie rides I’m sure, so we’ll meet up with you in a little bit.”

Akane smiled and waved. “Have fun, Hoshi!” She turned her attention back to her girlfriend with a grin. “And then, there were two.” She wrapped her arms around Ranko’s right forearm. She seemed to be having a great time. This was already going better than Ranko had dared to hope.

The redhead pointed to one of the skill game trailers. “I think there’s a great big bunny over there with your name on it.” Akane turned, smiling. “I guess we’d better go check, huh?”

Ranko plopped down a pair of tickets on the little wooden railing surrounding the cart. “Two, please?” The large man patrolling the narrow alley within smiled, taking their tickets and trading each a plastic cup containing three darts, one with all red plastic flights attached, the other blue.

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Akane tossed her first dart, popping a small pink balloon on the board opposite her, eliciting a little cheer from the attendant. Ranko took her turn, her dart piercing the plywood between two yellow balloons. Both girls missed their next throw wide to the left.

“Aww, come on, girls, you can do it,” the attendant coaxed. “You were so close on that one, miss!”

Akane wrinkled her nose in determination, leaning on the railing and launching her final projectile, piercing a blue balloon off to the lower right. Her companion’s third dart skimmed the very edge of an orange bulb, which began to deflate with a slow fluttering sound.

“Not bad ladies, not bad!” The carnival worker handed a stuffed penguin down to Akane, and a smaller mouse plush to Ranko. “You’re welcome to try again if you like!” Ranko waited for Akane to answer, and she waved him off with a smile. “I think we’re good for now, but thanks!”

Akane led her partner a few steps away from the dart cart, leaning in to her so they could speak over the din of laughter, music, and attract sounds from the games and rides. “You know, you don’t have to let me win, right?”

Ranko looked up at her innocently. “What are you talking about?”

With a side-eyed glance, Akane smiled. “We both know you could have done that with your eyes closed, Ranko.”

Her companion raised her hands in protestation, shaking her head with an ear-to-ear grin. “Hey, I’m out of practice. And don’t sell yourself short there, sensei.” Her voice dropped in volume. “That said, if you see something you really want, let me know.”

Akane giggled. “Yeah? And what about you?”

“Huh?”

“You’re a girl now, and your bedroom has a distinct lack of stuffy friends.” Akane giggled.

“Hey, don’t forget my bear!” Ranko blushed, admitting that she’d kept the huge teddy bear that had been left for her after she’d been knocked out the night she’d been jumped at the bar.

“He needs a name, you know.” Akane poked her girlfriend’s nose playfully. “But what if I want to win something for you?”

Ranko blushed. “You pick, and I’ll love it.”

They were moments from a kiss when Hoshi bounded up, waving a plastic katana in the air. It flashed with little battery-operated lights. “Auntie Ranko, look what I got!”

The pair turned to smile at the little boy. “Whoa! That’s impressive, buddy,” Ranko said with a mischievous grin, crouching down to eye level with the boy. “Did you know Miss Akane over there is a martial arts teacher? I bet she could show you how to use one of those when you’re older.”

“Really, Miss Akane? Is it true?”

The black-haired girl blushed. “I suppose so.” She loved seeing the way Ranko interacted with Hoshi. She’d never pictured Ranma as being good with kids – but then again, a lot of the things she loved best about Ranko were things she could never have pictured Ranma doing before the incident with the Phoenix Pill.

Izumi and Kaito trailed up behind their son, holding hands, and Izzi called out to them. “Hey, girls!”

Ranko waved to the couple. “Hey hey! We ready to do something else?”

Izumi looked up at the steel Ferris wheel, which was boarding people two at a time into the little spinning benches. “That could be fun.” She gave a quick smirk to her little sister.

Ranko smiled warmly, catching the hint. “Sounds great to me.”

Akane looked around. “Have any of you seen a bathroom around here?” Izumi pointed to a small concrete building, one of the only permanent structures in the park. Akane nodded. “I’ll be right back.”

Hoshi’s eyes went wide as a young woman passed carrying an ice cream cone. “Whoa! I wanna get one of those!”

Kaito leaned down to his future stepson. “What do we say, Hoshi?”

“Please?”

Kaito nodded. “Alright then. Good job. C’mon, little guy.” He took Hoshi by the hand, leading him in the direction of the food trucks and leaving the sisters alone amid the semicircle of carnival attractions.

“How’s it going,” Izumi asked. She knew how nervous Ranko had been.

“It’s been great.” Ranko smiled, but the contented expression faded. She thought she’d seen something out of the corner of her eye that concerned her.

“I’m glad you’re having fun, Ranko! Hoshi’s having a ball! I really appreciate you letting us tag along.”

Ranko turned her head. She could have sworn she’d seen it that time.

“Is everything okay, Ran-chan?” Izumi looked up with a worried countenance.

Gods, I hope so, the redhead thought. Her eyes darted from booth to booth, checking the spaces between them. Please be wrong. Please be wrong, she pleaded to herself.

Her searching brown eyes spotted a blur as it darted between the ride ticket counter and the tilt-a-whirl trailer. To anyone else, it would have looked like an over-excited college kid playing at impressing his date. Only Ranko recognized the black-and-yellow flash for what it truly was.

“No. Not here. Not now,” she muttered under her breath.

Izumi rested her hand on Ranko’s arm gently. “What’s wrong, sis?”

The redhead dug her heel into the gravel beneath her, her whole body tensing. “Izumi...” she said quietly, her eyes still staring forward without so much as blinking.

“Run.”