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Of Cats and Men (Part 4)

By Kit

        "Don’t worry, I’ll be just fine," Saotome-san reassured Tofu-sensei one last time.
        "You have my number, if anything should come up," he reminded him one more time.
        Genma had been here since Ranma’s unexpected Neko-ken incident. Ordinarily, if a patient warranted an overnight stay, he would have stayed in the spare room upstairs. Genma, however, was more than well enough to go home. True, he had complained about some pains until he had agreed to let him stay a few more days.
        He didn’t blame the man for being so hesitant to return home, but he didn’t exactly feel sorry for him either. When he first examined Genma, he had tried to get them to take him to the general hospital, but that was the last thing the Tendou’s wanted. When he was told Ranma had been the one that had done that, he had found it hard to believe. That was before he found out Ranma had been trained in the Neko-ken.
        He frowned, as he gathered the last of his things.
        Apparently Ranma had had a few more incidents during the past couple of weeks. Luckily, no one had been hurt during those times. He thought it likely that that had heightened Ranma’s sensitivity. Saotome-san’s confirmation that they had been able to avoided it for several years now did not make his prognosis any better.
        If Akane weren’t the only one who could stop him, he would have suggested moving Ranma out until his anxiety level came back down. Until then, the safest thing for his father was to stay far away from Ranma.
        As he stepped outside to lock up, he thought a silent prayer to what ever kami that watched over the boy that Ranma wouldn’t be lost to the Neko-ken.
        Just as he turned around to head home, three teens came running up shouting to him. Akane and Nabiki he recognized.

        Genma looked around him, and saw a lot of angry stares. He wasn’t sure what this was about, but he knew it wouldn’t be any good. ‘I knew I should have kept that glass of water handy.’
        "We need you to tell us about Ranma’s cat-fist training," Nabiki announced once everyone was settled, and Genma looked sufficiently unsettled.
        "I already told you all about it. It was dumb not to finish reading the procedure, but it sounded so simple." Genma said with a sigh. ‘This again.’
        Nabiki smiled in such a way that Genma felt the color draining from his face.
        "We want to hear the whole story this time."
        Akane backed Nabiki’s glare with one as hard as she could at Genma.
        "This is Yuota." Genma only nodded his acknowledgement. ‘What is it with Saotome’s and names,’ Nabiki thought. "Yuota Kimuwara of Kurai Naishin High School," she continued. He only nodded again. "Brother to Hiromi Kimuwara." Genma nodded once again.
        Yuota stared to declare what a waste of time this was when the big man before him suddenly looked terrified of him. ‘Well, maybe this wont be a waste after all,’ he thought.
        "How…" Genma felt his throat dry up. "How is your sister." His voice almost bounced up two octaves.
        "She’s dead." He spat with as much venom as he could muster. Tofu jumped when he said that. Genma began to look terribly burdened.
        "I’m sorry to hear that," he almost lied. He was sorry to hear that. But thought for a minute, that she had come back to try to take Ranma. He was never sure exactly what Ranma’s feelings for the girl were; he had been very young at the time. Considering how things where not going well to his perception between Akane and Ranma, she might have stood a good chance. He had hoped that since he acted similar to Akane as he had to him about that girl, there was some hope. But Ranma was hard headed and needed some pushing to see things the way they had to be.
        "Yea, right. That’s why you left her there to die." Tofu was intensely studying both Yuota’s and Saotome-san’s reactions.
        "N-no, I- I tried to give her a blanket. I told her to go home." Genma sputtered though his shock. Lying, cheating, and stealing he could and had justified to his own conscious, but he would never abandon a child. ‘Okay, there was that once, but I didn’t really abandon her, her father was just a few blocks away, when she finally gave up the chase. Ranma had already been engaged to one of Tendou’s daughters, so he couldn’t really take her along anyway. Besides the road is no place for a woman, much less a girl.’
        "What happened!" Akane demanded.
        "Ranma had become weak." He said at least. His eyes focusing on events that he had truly regretted, even as he made the same mistakes over and over. Events, he never wanted to think about again. Even as they sometimes haunted him in his sleep, when Ranma would have a particularly restless night.
        Everyone sat back and waited.
        "Ever since we had moved into that neighborhood. We should have moved on immediately, but it was nice to have a roof over our head for the winter, even if the walls where drafty." He had also gotten a temporary job as a bouncer at a bar. He had wanted to bring Ranma in, to get some experience, but it had been a topless bar. And if his dear sweet wife ever found out…
        "It was subtle at first. He seemed to be putting less than his full amount into his training. Each day, it almost seemed as if I had to start over."
        "He had saved some other kid from some of the local bullies. He had dealt with them sufficiently. But later I heard from his teachers that he had run from a fight at school. He hadn’t even attempted to put up a proper offense. That was inexcusable. That is when I decided it was time to start his advanced training."
        "The Neko-ken or Cat-Fist," Akane supplied. Genma nodded his acknowledgement.
        "What is this Neko-ken you keep talking about?" Yuota asked.
        "An ancient and powerful form forgotten by most."
        "With good reason," Akane added as Nabiki past Yuota a copy of Genma’s training book.
        Yuota turned pale as he read the description.
        "Of course, he was a stubborn boy, and hadn’t learned it the first time. But when he realized how important it was, he went back until he finally mastered it." Genma eyes, watery with tears, sparkled a little at the single bright spot in that whole ordeal. Genma himself had been ready to give up that last time, but Ranma couldn’t stand the disappointment he saw in his father’s eyes.
        "Of course, by that point, the inherent weakness in that form became apparent," Genma explained.
        Yuota looked confused so Akane mouthed ‘fear of cats.’
        "So, I embarked on a more dangerous path to try to help him overcome this fear."
        "You kept doing the same thing," Nabiki added sarcastically.
        "Yes, but this time, I would have to deal with the Cat-Fist each time he emerged."
        "He acts like a cat when he’s doing this?" Yuota asked.
        "Actually, he thinks he is a cat only to forget everything that happened while he is a cat once he comes out of it."
        "So, that’s why he started showing up again, just before you left."
        Everyone else in the room turned to look at Yuota.
        "Yes, each time, I would have to go and hunt him down. He always ran to that same girl. Your sister I assume?" Genma asked, Yuota nodded.
        "She thought he was trying to make up with her by acting like a cat, since he knew she liked cats that’s what I thought," Yuota added. Akane started to feel angry with that for some reason.
        "So, he must have trusted your sister very much," Nabiki commented, hoping to forestall Akane’s rage.
        "I take it, your sister didn’t like fighting?" Dr. Tofu asked Yuota. Not seeing where this was going, he only nodded.
        "So, after meeting your sister, Ranma started to hold back when fighting. At least until maybe he could adjust to their level. Still fighting, but only so much as he had to."
        Yuota blinked as he put it that way.
        Nabiki almost slipped at that postulate. "So your saying, Ranma tries to be a better person, all for someone he doesn’t even remember?" Nabiki considered.
        Akane couldn’t decide weither to be moved by such a thing or to go ballistic. He certainly didn’t care that much about her!
        "That doesn’t make since!" Yuota said shaking his head. "Then why did he leave her like that?"
        Genma sighed. "You don’t understand. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way. There was nothing I could do."

        ‘Genma,’ he told himself, ‘you have failed.’ So many attempts to undo what he had done. In the beginning it sounded so simple. Then once things started, there was just no place to turn back.
        He looked as his son curled up in the lap of that same girl as he had done each time before. She giggled as he started to purr. Once he fell asleep, it was safe for him to go up, acting happy to finally have found his son after searching for so long. She hadn’t trusted him at first, but once he told her who he was, she didn’t mind as much when he would come and pick the boy up. Besides, Ranma was a little heavy for her lap.
        Ranma never could remember anything while held by the Neko-ken. Genma always made sure to bring him back before he could awake somewhere else. So concerned with making sure he didn’t prematurely wake the boy up he didn’t notice he was being followed.
        "He’s not playing kitty is he?" A soft quiet voice rang out of the night. Genma almost dropped his son in surprise. The small girl jumped off the crumbling fence-wall that blocked off the backyard. A feature that had helped convince Genma that this was the perfect place. Not everyone understood the dedication a true martial artist needed.
        "He’s fine. There’s no need to worry about him."
        "You didn’t answer my question. What happened to him?"
        "Sometimes a person must make great sacrifices. Ranma is going to be the greatest martial artist in the world," he replied proudly.
        Ranma moaned.
        "Ranma!" she called out, and he began to stir. Genma quickly set him down, not sure it this was a good or bad sign; usually he slept through the night.
        "Hiromi?" Ranma asked through the haze of mid-awakeness. "What are you doing here?"
        "I followed you. After your dad came to pick you up from my house." She pronounced ‘your dad’ like it was the worst curse imaginable. Which said a lot coming from a 10 year-old girl.
        "I haven’t been to your house." Ranma said, almost a question, as he looked to his father. At least he didn’t remember going there. He hoped he would soon learn this Neko-ken stuff so his father wouldn’t be so disappointed in him.
        "Y-you don’t remember?" She said softly.
        Ranma looked at her wanting to remember. This was bad, if he was going places and not remembering.
        "You have been coming over to my house for most of the past week acting like a cat," she said, tears forming in her eyes. "I-I thought you were being silly trying something lame to make up with me. But you weren’t acting where you." She had never wanted anyone to hurt in her entire life, but the monster that stood before her and dared to call itself Ranma’s dad was pushing that temperament.
        "I was acting like a c-c-ca-ca-..." Ranma said unable to finish the sentence. He looked over to his father for some explanation.
        "Yes, son. You have mastered Nekoken. But…" he tried to explain. Ranma was instantly in his face.
        "I already learned it?! And you still kept on throwing me in… into… that?" Ranma yelled, as he motioned toward the pit, a shiver went up and down his back. For a second, he forgot why he was yelling.
        "You don’t…." Genma started, only to be interrupted again.
        "And what's the big idea teaching me some technique that I can’t remember or use!"
        Genma felt too guilty at this point to be upset that his son was back talking him. His words only matched those of his conscious these past few days anyway.
        Ranma slowly advanced on his father. Thoughts of how disappointed his father had been, of continually being tied up and… Ranma began to shake as his anger and frustration boiled over. He couldn’t believe his father would do that to him. He opened his mouth to continue the verbal beating when he heard it.

        Genma knew true horror as he watched his son, unable to look away.
        First Ranma looked frantically around, not really seeing anything. Genma could almost feel the fear evident on Ranma’s face.
        Ranma was surrounded by cats. He knew that. He couldn’t see them, but he couldn’t see them in the darkness of the pit either. He began making panicked little motions, as he tried to get free of cat treats binding him. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t tied up this time. He began whimpering as hundreds of non-existent claws began to tear away the non-existent food. Ranma wanted to scream, but that never helped.
        Genma stood up. He wanted to run over and hug his son, to apologize for everything. Tears began to run down his face.
        At the movement in front of him, Ranma’s unseeing eyes locked on his father’s. Frozen, Genma was treated to a sight that tore at his soul. A sight he would forget save during his worst nightmares. Those same dreams he would forever have whenever Ranma would wake him up in the middle of the night with his screaming. He watched as all the humanity in his son drain out of those eyes. As the broken trust held within those eyes was transformed into a pure animalistic hatred.
        "Merroooow," Neko-Ranma warned.
        Remembering Hiromi, Genma started to rush toward her. He had to get her away from the pit.
        Sensing his movement as a danger, Neko-Ranma launched at Genma with everything he had.
        Hiromi dropped the cover and screamed as Ranma batted at Genma. He flew several feet back. Neko-Ranma readied to pounce on him, to finish. Along Genma’s side and front several trails of blood appeared.
        Owning cats, and seeing Ranma position himself, she knew what he was about to do. Whatever she thought of his father, she couldn’t let him hurt the man more than he was. Grabbing a rock off the ground, she threw it to try to distract him.
        Neko-Ranma felt the strike on his side. Turning he hissed, ready to strike whatever dared to strike him.
        Hiromi froze with fear. The wild dark fire danced in his eyes.
        Ranma stopped. Not a hesitation, but a full stop. Genma recognized this immediate change as Ranma’s body suddenly absorbed its full momentum. Even in the Neko-ken, he would not strike her. ‘She even attacked him first,’ Genma realized. ‘The Nekoken, truly is a failure.’
        Hiromi, however, was not a marital artist. Thus, in that delicate half of a second, didn’t understand that Ranma wasn’t going to hurt her. Fear blossomed in her and attempted to make her run for her life. Her body wasn’t quite ready to listen yet. She took a half step backwards and hit the protruding edge of the pit. She waved her hands wildly at an uncoordinated attempt to reclaim her balance. Before her, Genma paled and Ranma tilted his head to the side. She fell back onto the wooden cover hard. Before she could blink, the rotted wood gave way and she plunged straight into darkness.
        In the pit, the cats were ready and hungry. They moved against the falling form before she even hit the ground. Claws barred as they fought to get at their food. Food that seemed to be missing this time.
        Neko-Ranma busted through the door, enlarging the hole.
        An eternity, to Genma, passed before Ranma emerged from the pit. He held her in his mouth by the back of her jacket. Her clothes were shredded and both had several new cuts.
        She began to quiver lightly. The sun was setting and her clothes could no longer provide any protection from the winter night. Genma picked up a blanked and moved to bring it to them. Neko-Ranma began to hiss until he backed off. He folded it up and lightly tossed it by them. Hiromi paused from petting her friend for a moment and stared uncomprehendingly at the object that he tossed. Neko-Ranma began to nuzzle her until she returned to her hands to their previous duties.
        Genma took a deep breath. He was concerned, but there was little he could do at the moment. Returning to his pack, he saw to his wounds. A second blanket became his dressing. He had to rest for a bit due to the loss of blood, but he held on. Gently gathering their supplies, he began to repack their gear.
        All through this, both of them watched his every movement. Hiromi continued to softly pet her friend. After a while she began cooing in his ear. Promises that she would help him and keep him away from the bad kitties.
        By the time Genma finished packing, both of the children were asleep.
        Carefully, Genma lifted his son out of her lap. They needed to get away from this town before anyone else got evolved. He felt clumsy with both packs on his back and Ranma cradled in his arms. Looking down at his son, Genma was struck by the thought of how long it had been since he had needed to carry his son.
        "Stop! You can’t take him!" Hiromi suddenly called. She tried to get up, but her legs were numb from Ranma laying on them all evening.
        "He is my son. I can take him anywhere I deem necessary." Genma lectured. "You should go back to your home. Your parents must be worried for you." Genma leaped over the wall with Ranma in his arms and both packs on his back. Briefly, Genma thought of calling her parents, but not only didn’t he have a phone, but didn’t know their number, and he certainly wasn’t going to take the risk of waking Ranma up to ask.

        "I thought you said it was an old woman who lived nearby, that brought Ranma out of Neko-ken?" Akane demanded. She was burning up that someone else could bring him out, although she didn’t know why she was upset.
        "That is right. In the next town, we went to. That’s where we meet her," Genma answered while pulling his gi top back on. He had removed it show them the scars he had received that night. "The Neko-ken training was still fresh. Anything could set it off: seeing a cat, hearing a cat, sometimes I think all he had to do was think of a cat and he would slip into the Neko-ken," Genma recounted. "The old woman was nice enough, but sometimes, I think she actually thought Ranma was a cat," Genma derided. The tears from his long tail drying up. His mind already banishing those memories back to the dark places of his mind where he kept all such memories labeled not to be remembered. Were most of his memories of training under the master were locked away.
        "He really did like her," Yuota finally admitted, very softly.
        Akane turned to glare at Yuota, but found she couldn’t. The story was too heart-wrenching.
        "Where did he take off to, anyway?" Nabiki looked at Akane.
        "He was so wound up this morning, I told him he should go home and take a soak in the furo." Akane smiled. "I suggested he try some of that bath oil that Kasumi bought to help relax."
        Yuota looked up in alarm. "You said what?" All the color drained from his face.
        Akane looked confused. "What’s wrong with relaxing in the furo?" Nabiki asked.
        "My family makes bath oils. T-that was a special family formula that only the women of our clan used."
        "Including Hiromi," Akane wondered aloud, her eyes growing big.
        Everyone jumped up, except for Tofu-sensei and Saotome-san, and took off running out the door.
        Nabiki cursed herself for not having noticed it sooner. Ranma had started acting strange the day Kasumi brought that stuff home. Scents, she had read once in her high school psychology textbook, were one of the most powerful of the senses for memory recognition.

        "It’s this way." Yuota shouted, at a dead run. He had never ran so hard in his life. Nabiki was just barely keeping up. Akane hadn’t even broken stride yet, but she was fretting the entire way. She knew she could get there faster. If only she just knew where there was.
        They had arrived at the Tendou family home fairly quickly, only to find they hadn’t been quick enough. From Kasumi, they learned he had been soaking in the furo until just moments ago, when he ran out the door looking like he had seen a ghost.
        Nabiki introduced one ghost, the kind boy who had insisted she try the bath oil, Yuota. They didn’t have time to explain, but had no idea where Ranma may have run off. Nabiki was about to start making calls when Yuota turned a very pasty white and announced he might know where to look.
        Both Akane and Nabiki felt a lump in their throat. Each remembered how they had treated Ranma when they learned of his ‘cute’ little fear of cats.
        Hearing about the Neko-ken training and how this had lead to Ranma’s fear hadn’t made it feel real to them. I mean, no body could really do that to their child, could they.
        Even seeing the full power of the Neko-ken released, both by Gos and Shampoo, hadn’t brought it home to them. I mean, that pervert kissed Akane in front of everyone, right. He had to know what he was doing and was just trying to take advantage of it. That he didn’t seem to remember had hurt, but Akane wasn’t thinking about that at this moment.
        What both sisters were thinking about was what unquestioned answers lay ahead of them. Now they were going back to where it had all started. They both shivered. They were going to see once and for all the truth.
        Neither girl was sure they wanted to see it. But neither girl could turn away either. Both felt a gnawing in their stomachs. The growing reality of just how harsh the world could be. And it had only been a few blocks from their home.

        "It’s-just-a-stupid-dream, it’s-only-a-stupid-dream," Ranma chanted to himself. He knew it was a dream. It had to be a dream. Why? Because before him stood a place that only existed in some of his nightmares. A place he only knew as ‘The House.’
        "Giru had to go to the hospital last night," the voice of a young girl echoed out of the dark.
        "Who are you!" Ranma shouted out.
        "You did it, didn’t you?" she shouted out accusingly.
        Slowly, Ranma walked up the steps. There was a condemned notice on one of the banisters saying something about knocking down the house next week. The subtle detail of his imagination only served to unnerve him further.
        The door was stuck, but that was nothing for the martial artist. A quick palm strike above the door knob and the frame gave way for admittance. Once inside, Ranma saw the young girl. She was still dressed in the brown uniform of her school. Something about that tickled at the tip of his brain.
        "Silly, its me!" she laughed.
        "H-Hiromi?" Ranma called out, uncertainly. She seemed to smile at him. Somehow, it seemed to remind him of Akane. "You shouldn’t be here. This is a dangerous place," Ranma scowled the little girl.
        "Duh, I go to school here. Are you transferring here?" The girl giggled out.
        Ranma looked around. The room was completely devoid of furniture. He could see by the streetlights long tears along the walls. It looked like some caged animal had been let loose in here. "’Course me and the old man been in lots worse places than this," he told himself uncertainly. Silently Ranma hoped that no one had been here when whatever it was had been released.
        "No body deserved that," he felt more than heard the disappointment in her voice.
        "People like that never learn. You have to show ‘em," someone shouted from the back.
        "Anyone can change, if given the chance." Hiromi turned to shout through a window in the back. "And everyone deserves the chance." She took off running right through the wall.
        He made his way toward the back, but the girl was no where to be seen. He found the back door, and after another palm strike, found himself in the back yard.
        ‘Got dark quick," he thought as he looked around. He felt the need to remind himself again it was just a dream. His sense of deja-vu and fear began to take a stronger hold. He began his chant again, "It’s-only-a-dream."
        "Hey, you! Homeless Boy!" Came a shout from nowhere. Ranma dropped into a full combat stance, but he couldn’t pinpoint the direction the danger was coming from.
        "You have been bothering Hiromi. I want you to leave her alone!" The voice called out again.
        "I thought she needed help," Ranma called out. He was ready for the attack from any direction.
        "I know your kind, and you’re all no good."
        He completely froze, when he saw the rusty metal slab. It was covering something his mind refused to tell him.
        "Would you like to see my cat?" The little girl cooed, now sitting on top of the cover.
        "W-wh-what is that?" Ranma almost whimpered. He completely lost his fighting stance.
        "Just what do you think you’re doing!" he heard his father shout. Every nerve in Ranma’s body went off in alarm. "A martial artist life is fraught with peril. Were you not ready to give your life?"
        The cover may have been heavy, but it was nothing after the training Ranma had received during his life. He lifted the cover easily over his head.
        There before him sat the darkest dark, the blackest black, and the deepest hole in the universe. Any and all rational thought he may have held onto up to this point left him. He could not stop staring into the abyss even as he felt it gaze seep into his soul him. Nothing existed, not even sound. Then a noise touched upon his soul. It came from within the house, but he wasn’t paying that much attention.
        "Kittens?" he answered meekly.
        "Ranma!" Akane shouted from the doorway. They had finally made their way through the house. He partially turned unseeing eyes in her direction. There was such great pain and fear etched on his face. None of them could ever have imagined such a sight on anyone, especially Ranma Saotome.
        "I know where that is," came the innocent voice up from the pit. "Follow me."
        His grip wavered.
        Akane took a step forward.
        He started to fall backwards into the pit.
        "Nooo!" Akane shouted. The heavy metal slab slammed down with a finality. The clang echoed off of everything was the only answer to her plea.
        "Ancestors, he was able to lift that thing!" Yuota exclaimed. To him, everything was taking a surreal turn in his mind. He hadn’t wanted to believe Genma’s story. Now he began to feel that perhaps he had judged Ranma prematurely. His wish to see Ranma experience his sisters final moments had been granted. How had he become the greater evil in this story. This was not the way things were supposed to happen.
        Akane tried vainly to lift the slab. The latch held, stuck from the force that had slammed it shut. Silence beat against their emotions. Taking a deep breath, Akane lifted her hand. Forming a fist, she slammed it down hard against the flat surface. Again she punched. Any pain she felt was washed away by her tears.
        "Stop, Akane!" Nabiki tried to hug her sister. "We’ve got to go get help!"
        Akane pulled away from her older sister and began raining punches against the cold metal. Visions of so many broken bricks flashed through her head. She knew this was different. But she had to break through this, because this was different.
        All Nabiki could do was sit back, watching and praying. Kami-sama only knew what was going on in Ranma’s head right now.
        Both her hands were bleeding from the unrelenting abuse, but she could not stop. She almost burst out with insane laughter when it first began to give. Bowing inward, then bending. Large dents became deep impressions.
        Quickly, although it was an eternity for those present, she broke though the aging and rusted slab that had covered the pit for the past six years. She grabbed at the sharp edges of the hole and pulled. Bloody tears formed along the stress fractures as she forced a whole big enough to jump through.
        "How do you know he will know its you!" Nabiki called out.
        "Ranma!" Akane shouted down into the abyss. She took one last quick look at Nabiki, who was as pale as a sheet. With one last forced smile she said, "I know he will."
        She jumped.

        A cool wind blew across the open field. The sky was a beautifully clear baby-blue. Four dark figures stood near each other but alone to their thoughts.
        One male, dressed warmly in long pants and a heavy sweater, asked for forgiveness from his baby sister. He had finally glimpsed the truth that she had understood so well.
        A female, wearing slacks and a dress jacket over a dark blouse, watched from the side seemingly unmoved. She had decided to re-evaluate her opinion of a certain boy, but for now she would be content to just watch.
        A second female stood in a long dress and sweater. She brushed her short hair back with her free hand. It was still sensitive, as the bandages had only come off that morning. She didn’t remember when they started holding hands, nor who started it. She didn’t feel like saying anything about it at the moment either. Before her was a cold inanimate stone, a marker. Someone she had never met. Someone who had made a mark in her iinazuke’s life then vanished. She didn’t know if she should be jealous or thank her. They still had a lot to work out. They still had trouble talking to each other. ‘But maybe, just maybe, if things calmed down…’
        The last figure, currently male was dressed in a set of green clothes very reminiscent of a Chinese uniform complete with green cap. He stood before the marker on the ground not even noticing his iinazuke’s hand in his own. His emotions and thoughts were hidden from view, until one looked into his troubled eyes. He didn’t remember this person. Yet felt her loss deeply. He wasn’t really sure of all that had happened those years ago or those few days past. No one had spoken much about it, yet. Each instead thinking deeply about what they experienced.
        As they began to leave, words came to him from somewhere. He couldn’t help but to whisper them: "Everyone deserves a chance." He looked up into her eyes and smiled.