~*Okonomiyaki For 2,Part 3:Livin La Vida Lost!*~

Disclaimer:
	Ryoga,Ukyo, and all other Ranma 1/2 
         characters are not my creations. All of them are 
         soul property and  copyright of Rumiko Takahashi.
        I’d like to thank Takahashi-sama for her creating
       Ranma 1/2. Again I  state I did not make any of
       these characters, but this fanfic is alllll mine! Arigato!

~~~~~~~~~***************~*@*~****************~~~~~~~~~~
The sun shown threw the window, a sleep Ukyo rubbing
her eyes, then getting slowly up and stretching. She went
to lie down again when she heard a "tap" at her window.
She ignored it at first, but then it happened again, and
again. She went to the window and opened it...just
dodging a rock that wizzed past her head and hit a flower
pot, breaking it. "Hey!! What’s the big idea yo..."she 
stopped mid-sentence as she peered down at Ryoga, in
utter disbelief. "What are you doing up so early?!" she
shouted down to him. He frowned and shouted back up
in a girlish tone-of-voice. "Oh, Ryoga, we should leave
before sunrise!" Ukyo smirked. "I didn’t say it like that!"
Ryoga sighed. "Just hurry it up!! I  didn’t get up this early
for nothing!!" Ukyo nodded and closed the blinds. She
tied her hair up with a white ribbon, then went to slip on
her regular cooking outfit, but stopped. She grabbed a 
pair of caramel brown colored pants, similar to Ranma's,
and a tank-top like yellow shirt. She looked herself
over in the mirror and nodded, accepting the cloths. She
then proceeded to wash her face.
~~~~~~~~~***************~*@*~****************~~~~~~~~~~
Konatsu looked up at the sky, seeing a glint of light in the
darkness. He sighed. "Miss Ukyo expects me to take care
of this shop...I wont let her down! When she returns, this
restaurant will be well known, and then Ukyo will be mine!
He nodded, content with the feeling, then closed his eyes
once again. Only to jump up seconds later, after hearing
someone walking threw the halls, as he grabbed a
 broom and flung the door open. "AYA!!" He yelled at 
the shady figure, only to hear Ukyo scream, then her
spatula block the broom from hitting her. "What do you
think your doing, Konatsu?!" she said furiously. Konatsu
blinked, then clung to her. “I’m sorry Miss Ukyo! Forgive
me! I thought you where a thief!" he said in-between sobs.
Ukyo sighed. "It's all right, Konatsu..."Konatsu sniffled, then
stood back. "What are you doing up so early, Miss Ukyo?!"
He said in a concerned tone. "I'm..leaving now Konatsu.
Before everyone wakes up and sees us leave!" Konatsu
was taken aback, then sadly nodded. "Visit the hut
sometime?" She nodded, partial lying, not sure if she’d
even make it to Jusenkyo with Ryoga's sense of direction.
Konatsu hugged her, and she hugged back. "Ja,
Konatsu! Take good care of the restaurant for me!!"
Konatsu nodded, and waved, tears streaming down the
ninjas face. "Ja Miss Ukyo!! Hurry home!!!" With that,
Ukyo ran out the door. Konatsu watched, then whipped
his eyes off. "I must get this place clean before the 
customers come, and do a good job for Miss Ukyo!"
~~~~~~~~~***************~*@*~****************~~~~~~~~~~
Ryoga began walking towards the highway. "What 
took you so long?" he asked. "Nothing much...just had
to say goodbye to Konatsu." Ryoga nodded. "Now if
I remember correctly....Jusenkyo should be in that
direction! A sweatdrop dripped down Ukyo's head.
"Su..Sugar, that’s the way to Furinkan High" Ryoga
blinked. "YOU MEAN ALL THESE YEARS FURINKAN
HIGH HAS BEEN IN THE DIRECTION OF JUSENKYO?!"
Ukyo facefaulted, then got up and yelled "NO YOU
JACKASS, ITS THE OPPOSITE WAY!!!" Ryoga blinked.
"Oh...well, you don’t have to yell about it...."Ukyo sighed
and grabbed his wrist. "If I read the map right, we should
go north...then west...then nor--" she stopped mid-sentence
when she saw an angry Ranchan, a walking stick
in his hand that he used to support herself, a
bloodshot look in his eyes. He caught sight of Ryoga
and charged at him "You want a fight, YOU GOT IT!!"
Ryoga sidestepped Ranma's attack, and for once,
it was Ranma that ended up in a fountain. I have no
time to waist on you anymore, Saotome!" Ranma blinked,
coming from Ryoga, that was the oddest thing he had
ever heard. "I'm off to find a cu--" he stopped as Ukyo's
hand slapped infont of his mouth. "a....cute little puppy
that Checkers lost! So...we'll be seeing you, Ranma!"
Ukyo grabbed a tighter grip on Ryoga's wrist and 
began to drag him in the direction Ranma came from. 
Ranma knew Ryoga would pause his own birth for
a chance to fight him, so why wouldn’t he pause to find a
puppy?! "Hey!! Where are you two going?! Are you
chickening out, P-chan?!?" Ryoga froze. Ukyo saw the
look in Ryoga's eyes as he started twitching from anger.
"Common, Ryoga...don’t letem get to you like that!" 
Ryoga pulled his wrist back, breaking it from Ukyo's 
grasp as he lunged towards Ranma. "SAOTOME!!!!"
Ukyo stood back and sighed. She mumbled softly
to herself. "This was never how I thought I’d had to say
goodbye to you...never thought I actually would. Oh,
Ranma, you messed my whole life up, why did you have
to make me love you?!" She sat on the fountain and
watched as Ryoga threw punch after punch at Ranma,
then shi shi hoko dan, and watched Ranma dodge every
punch but one, being hit offgaurd by the shi shi hoko
dan. He stumbled back, angry. Ukyo knew Ranma was
going to win and then she was going to have to tend to
Ryoga to get him back on his feet and in the
direction of Jusenkyo.
~~~~~~~~~***************~*@*~****************~~~~~~~~~~
 She heard Ryoga scream, then
a hard thud, she winced some. When she looked up
Ryoga was lying on the ground, a large indentment
leading all the way down the wall  to where 
Ryoga sat, unconchious, his nose and lip bleeding, along with 
other misc. cuts. Ranma nodded to himself. "Now...Ucchan.."
he said, not daring to let himself look over at his former 
"cute-fiancée" who world be less then ecstatic that he won.
 "Why did you attack me yesterday?" Ukyo didn’t look up. 
"Payback..." Ranma blinked, then inched backwards.
"Payback for what...?" Ukyo stared strait into his eyes.
"My life, in general." Ranma took a deep breath. "So,
what are you doing hanging around the Eternally Lost
Boy, ey Ucchan?" Ukyo undid her ribbon and wet it in
the fountain, then walked over to Ryoga an started to
dab at the cuts. "Find a way out of this city, but with his
directions that could take a year.." Ranma was drawn
aback. "Out of the city?!" He then noticed the 2 backpacks
in the corner. "Your running away...with HIM?!?" Ukyo
looked over at Ranma. "Not to get married, if THATS 
what your thinking!!" Ranma sighed happily. "Oh thank
god!" Ukyo couldn’t help but chuckle. "He's helping me
with one of my problems, while I help him with one of his."
Ranma nodded. "So when will you be back?" Ukyo looked
down. "Time will tell." Ranma kneeled down next to her
"I'm gonna miss ya, Ucchan. Who else will cook for me
now that your leaving?" Ukyo thought for a moment.
"Akane?" Ranma stuck out his tongue in disgust. "Hey,
she may be my wife but that doesn’t mean she has to cook 
for me!" Ukyo smiled. "Well, there is Kasumi" Ranma 
nodded. "And take-out!" Ukyo thought of Shampoo
busting threw the door holding a bucket of hot ramen
and pouring it over Ranma's head. She giggled. "Yeah,
Shampoo must be thrilled to know you enjoy her business!"
"Oh yeah...forgot...she's going to want to deliver that
kiss of death to me. Eather that, or to Akane." Ukyo
nodded. "Good luck holding her still, Ranchan. I don’t 
have as much...um...determination as an amazon does.
I know that when your fiancé gets married, your not
likely to be getting them back." Ranma leaned over and
kissed her cheek. "Take care of yourself, and tell
pigboy when he wakes up if something bad happens
to you, I’ll  personally kill em!" Ukyo smiled and nodded.
"Will do, Ranchan, will do." Ranma hugged Ukyo, then
ran off, knowing Akane would probably bash his head
in for being late for lunch again.
~~~~~~~~~***************~*@*~****************~~~~~~~~~~
Ryoga began to regain conscienceness as he felt a licking
on his face. His eyes open wide. "UKYO?!?" He screamed
as he felt fur brush against him, as his vision came more
clearly he saw it was checkers. Ukyo bent over him 
laughing. "Nice rest, sleeping beauty?!" 
Ryoga grumbled. Ukyo helped him up. Checkers hunted
you down. “You weren’t going to leave your dog behind,
where you?!” Ryoga shook his head. "I...forgot" Ukyo
frowned. "Well..Checkers is coming with us, I can cook
extra for the cute thing!" Ryoga grinned some. "Fine with
me!" Ukyo smiled. "Shall we get goin, sugar?" Ryoga
nodded. They began walking towards the highway
yet again. Both of them sighed happily to finally
be on their way. Checkers trotted along side Ryoga,
it's tail wagging back and forth. It seemed to be enjoying
being with Ryoga alot. Ukyo patted its head and smiled,
Checkers licking her hand as a thank you. Ryoga and
Ukyo walked silently, neither speaking a word to 
eachother, till Ukyo spoke up. "So..Ryoga, what’s it like
to wander around, living off of nature, doing as you 
please, just getting away from all the crowds and cities?"
Ryoga pondered for a moment. "Sucky." Ukyo blinked.
Ryoga grinned some, his fangs showing. "Actually, if 
your used to it, I think you get to enjoy it. But when your
constantly lost, it’s not the funnest thing in the world,
there are other things I’d rather be doing then getting
lost." Ukyo nodded. Ryoga spoke abit more. "I  think
by the end of this week, you’ll be on your knees 
begging for civilization." Ukyo smirked. "We'll see,
Ryoga, we’ll see!" He smiled some. "So, what was it like
living as a boy for 10 years?" Ukyo winced. "Hell, Ryoga,
pure hell." Ryoga rethought this question. "Did I say 
something wrong?" Ukyo looked up at him, wondering
how he could be so dense, but shrugged it off. "No..
Ryoga, you said nothing wrong." Ryoga shrugged,
confused. Ukyo sighed some. "Well...if we're
going to be traveling together, we might as well get to 
know eachother." Ryoga nodded some. "I know your 
name is Ukyo...Kuji is it?" Ukyo giggled. "No, no, no,
it's Kuonji. And your Ryoga Hibiki." Ryoga nodded.
"Well, know that we know eachothers names, what
else is there to ask?" Ryoga looked up. "What you 
want to accomplish." Ukyo blinked. "Well...I did want
to be the worlds best okonomiyaki chef...but..."Ryoga
looked over. "You already are that, so what do you
want to do now?" Ukyo smiled brightly. She
thought to herself "He may be dense. but I cant 
ignore a compliment, even if he doesn’t mean it
to be." She thought abit. "Well...I guess...to...get..."
She paused. She wasn’t about to tell Ryoga that
she wanted to get married to someone she
really loved, who loved her, and thought of her
as a women, not just good ol Ucchan from 
next door. Ryoga looked over. "Get what?"
Ukyo shook her head and grinned. "Get out
of Nerima without gettin lost!" They both 
laughed. Ryoga smiled. "I want to get
rid of this curse, then start a new life. Maybe
as a martial arts trainer or something. I guess
not get lost anymore eather would be good
too! And..."He stopped. "And?" Ukyo said.
He looked down. "Never mind." Ukyo didn’t
know what just happened then. "Ryoga..?"
She said softly. Just then Checkers started
to bark wildly, and ran off, chasing a 
mouse that had somehow found its way here.
"A dog chase a mouse?!?!" Ukyo cried. 
They both bolted after checkers, running 
threw the forest, jogging as fast as they could.
"CHECKERS!! STOP!!!" Ryoga yelled. 
Checkers kept in hot pursuit of the mouse. Ryoga ran
ahead of Ukyo, dodging branches, trees, ivy, what ever
may have gotten in his way. "Man..he's fast!" she thought
to herself. Ukyo struggled to catch up, and kept chasing
after now both Ryoga and checkers. The heat
began to get to her, she felt herself getting weaker and
everything seemly got darker. Then, everything got dark.
All she felt was the wind beneath her as she fell to the
ground.
~~~~~~~~~***************~*@*~****************~~~~~~~~~~
Ukyo slowly opened her eyes, to find checkers lying
by her side, its head rested on her stomach. When the
dog saw Ukyo was up, it barked happily. She blinked
some, then looked around. She felt warm, comfortable.
Alittle too warm, actually. "Ukyo, you all right?" A voice
said behind her. She turned around to see she was 
being supported by Ryoga. She nodded. "When you
fell down, I dashed back and grabbed you before
your head hit the ground. Checkers came back when 
you fell too. The old mutt probably thought it was its fault!"
Ukyo smiled and petted Checkers head. "Thanks for
caring" She said smiling at the dog. Ryoga frowned.
Ukyo turned her head and chuckled. "You too,
Ryoga." He helped her regain her stature. They
both looked around. "Where are we.....?" Ukyo said,
now getting a better look at her surroundings. She was
caved in by tall trees branching out around her. She
felt semi-intimidated by it. Ryoga looked her strait into
her eyes. "We're lost."
~~~~~~~~~***************~*@*~****************~~~~~~~~~~
"WE'RE LOST?!?!?!" Ukyo yelled, her voice echoing 
threwout the forest, making the birds fly
out of the trees. Ryoga nodded. "Yeah....lost. We chased
Checkers threwout this whole forest, by now were 
probably close to the center of it. We cant possibly
find our why out by sundown, we'll have to sleep here."
Ukyo looked horrified. Ryoga motioned her north. "If
we keep going north, we should get most of the way
there by sundown. We can make a clearing in an area,
and set up camp there." Ukyo frowned. "And how do 
you know we're not lost?! And that way is indeed
the way we go." Ryoga smirked. "I learned a 
trick or two from all this wandering, and part of that
trick is that moss always grows on the north side of
trees." And indeed, he was right. Ukyo looked astonished.
"Now, common, we have a long way ahead of us, every
second counts!" Ukyo nodded, letting him take lead for
once. They both began walking north, following
the moss on the trees. Ukyo used her spatula to dice
up any vines that made the mistake of getting in 
their way. Ukyo picked some fruit she found 
on the way also. They both walked on, Checkers
walking infront of them both, squeezing threw tight
areas so they would know it was safe on the other side
of whatever may have given them cause to wonder.
Hours went by as they trudged on, all of them getting
tired, even Checkers. The sun reached the midpoint
of the sky as it was setting when Ukyo tripped, and
fell flat on her face. "We've been traveling for 
HOURS!! We should've found a sign of anything
by now!!" Ryoga sighed. "That’s the thing with
wandering around and getting lost, time is
no real issue, its getting out that is. And being 
prepared to wait as long as it takes. Ryoga
offered a hand to Ukyo, which she accepted.
"Your right..." she said softly. "I'm just so tired...
everything hurts. Even Checkers is tired of
traveling." Ryoga nodded slowly. "We'll walk abit more,
then camp there. When the sun reaches just above the
point of disappearance." Ukyo exchanged glances with him,
and finally gave in. They continued to trudge on, till the
sun had finally reached that point. Ryoga stopped,
exhausted himself from all the traveling. They cleared
the area up, and started a small fire, Ukyo preparing
the dinner with her portable okonomiyaki  kit. They
where all starving, they hadn’t had anything to eat
all day, just some water from a canteen to cool themselves
off. Ukyo put a plate of okonomiyaki infront of 
Checkers to eat, then one for Ryoga. Ryoga nodded,
expressing his thanks by eating every last crumb of it.
Checkers following its master, and doing the same.
~~~~~~~~~***************~*@*~****************~~~~~~~~~~
Ryoga rolled out their sleeping bags, then looked over at
Ukyo. "Time to sleep" Ukyo looked at him strangely. 
"So early?" Ryoga nodded. "We have to get up
early in the morning, its good to get a good nights
sleep and some extra hours thrown in. Besides, not much
we can really do in the dark, now is there?" Ukyo shook
her head. The both brushed their teeth, then spit 
in a pile of leaves. Ukyo hated that the most. They both
lied down in their sleeping bags, Ukyo not even daring
to ask if they where going to change into their nightclothes.
There was nowhere to change!! She rolled around some,
uncomfortable in the sleeping bag, lying on the hard
dirt ground. She wondered how Ryoga could take 
doing this so much. But he had done it his whole life.
Ryoga patted Checkers on the head, who fell asleep 
in-between the two sleeping bags. "Night Checkers"
Ryoga mumbled. "Night..Ukyo" he said closing
his eyes, then falling asleep almost instantly. 
"Night.." she said closing her eyes slowly, and tiredly.
No sooner had Ukyo closed her eyes, then they snapped 
open as they saw a white blur. Ukyo whinced slightly
 threw the trees and made out the words "You are now
leaving Nerima, we hope you enjoyed your stay." She
rolled over to tell Ryoga but saw he was already sleeping 
and decided to let him rest. She closed her eyes and thought 
to herself "We made good time for a chef and a 
directional-misfit...maybe things are getting better" she
smiled at the thought and closed her eyes. She whispered
softly "Night Checkers...Night Ryoga..Night...Nerima" and
 fell asleep.
~~~~~~~~~***************~*@*~****************~~~~~~~~~~
Woo! That was a long chapter! I'm personally glad I
finished it though. *cracks her fingers some and
dips another chocolate cookie in milk* I'll give my
head alil rest, but remember to keep watch for my
next chapter...
"Okonomiyaki For 2, Part 4: On the road again!"
Send any questions/comments to:
Ucchan_Kuonji@FurinkanHigh.com!
Ja!