You Grow Closer
By S. Mark Gunther

    Mousse sat at the small Nekohanten table with a tired look on his face. It 
had been another hard day in a series of progressively tougher and tougher days 
in his life. It almost made the Amazon want to end all the pain he was going 
through. Not because he was tired of living, but because he was tired of dealing 
with the issues in his life. Things like glasses that never fit right, customers 
with death wishes for him...and the fact that every day he had to deal with the 
fact that the undeniable love of his life Shampoo, was lying in her room 
convalescing from the most brutal fight of their lives. The fight he had 
initiated.

    It had been two months since the monumental fight that gave Shampoo to 
Mousse in marriage, and consequently gave mousse future ownership to the Amazon 
hierarchy. And all Mousse could think about in the interval was the fight 
itself, its aftermath, and how it had changed him. Unfortunately, it had changed 
him for the worse. He had felt his heart begin to grow cold and rigid at the 
world. All the pain that he was holding inside rushed out and spread over him 
like a blanket of darkness.

    And Mousse knew it. He could see the change, but not do anything about it. 
Period. All the day to day stresses that he dealt with were bad enough, but 
seeing all of that and not being able to stop it was the most frustrating thing 
in the world for the young man. But even worse was seeing his love in bed, not 
being able to move and not being able to be normal. And it was entirely his 
fault.

    People had tried to tell him that it wasn't his entire fault, that Shampoo 
had been asking for him to uphold their Amazon traditions for many years. But it 
didn't make any difference. He knew that he had hurt her so badly and so soundly 
that it didn't make any difference whether or not he had initiated the contact 
or not. Period. His unquenchable anger had allowed him to hurt the only woman he 
would have died for. Nothing could ever be the same in his mind or his life.

    All he could see for days was the sight of Shampoo clutching at him with her 
eyes filled with water and her pale limbs clawing at his chest in their bedside 
embrace. His heart kept laying the soundtrack of her crying as he worked, as he 
slept, as he ate, as he worked out. He never got away from it. Ever. At first he 
tried to fight it but it was too strong for him to bear. Then he tired to 
bargain with it to let him alone. The memories had a mind of their own, however. 
Their titanium claws had dug a deep trench into his heart and soul, and they 
weren't about to let go without a fight.

    His eyes itched as he rose to see Shampoo. Every night the Amazon went to 
see his future bride in her bedroom after the last customers left. Some nights 
he would stay for only a moment and leave in a rush, others he would stay for 
the entire night clutching her hand in his, letting the tears fall where they 
may. At the beginning he never had any issue to go and see her, as the only 
times he would go to see her was when she was unconscious. In the beginning her 
sleeping was normal and relatively common. But over the last 3 weeks she had 
been making an effort to get better. Her rises from the bed became short walks 
around the room, and then morphed into longer journeys around the backyard. Much 
later, she walked around the block they lived on in less that a half an hour.

    That particular feat was incredible in consideration to what she had gone 
through, but Mousse wasn't there to see it. He couldn't be in the her presence 
watching the progress she made without being reminded of what he had done to her 
all over again. So he only visited her when she slept. It was his way of keeping 
it all under control. Many times she would come downstairs into the restaurant 
to watch him as he worked. When they caught eyes, he would hurry to the back 
storage room and begin to cry out loud.

    Mousse didn't forget any of these happenings as he climbed the stairs to 
Shampoo's room. His feet felt like lead bricks as he scaled the riser's leading 
to the hallway that contained his love. The Amazon male could feel Shampoo's 
presence as he walked down the long hallway. The conflicting feelings he felt 
made him feel as if he was walking to Shampoo's burial and the memorial service 
for his innocence. On the smaller and weaker side he was enthralled that he had 
finally won his love legally but on the other, much more dominant side, he felt 
the shame of striking the woman he loved.

    The doorknob turned in his hand with an easy swivel as he entered her room. 
An aroma of cleaning fluids, fresh linen, and flowers met his nose as he stepped 
through the threshold. Flowers. Mousse had made sure that every morning a new 
bunch of fresh cut flowers were in a vase on her dresser. They filled the room 
with their own unique aroma as the day went on, and by the next day they were 
already spent. Mousse did this as a way of saying to his love that he was still 
there, still actively loving her, still being there for her. No matter how he 
felt about himself, he still could not love anyone more than the one he gave his 
soul for.

    In the middle of the room was a large bed and on that bed was Shampoo, 
staring at him with her eyes filled with tears. She was clad in a soft tunic, 
which actually happened to be one of his and her hair flowed down her shoulders 
in a tangled cloud about her face. The bed was wet with her tears as she stared 
at Mousse. Time began to slow down, as the two amazons looked at each other for 
the first time in a long time. Mousse wanted to run but he couldn't. He didn't 
dare move for he felt the eyes of his love bore deep into his soul.

    "Mousse??" Shampoo gently asked in mandarin as she reached her hands out to 
him. "Can you please come to me??"

    "All right...." Mousse walked over to Shampoo and wrapped his arms around 
her waist, taking care not to apply too much pressure at first. All the pain he 
felt towards her, all the anger he harbored inside his soul melted away as their 
contact intensified. He could feel her tears fall faster and faster on his 
shoulder, and he ran he hands down her spine in a soothing motion. She fingered 
his dark raven shaded hair in a mournful, solemn motion feeling the smoothness 
and the silky sensation thereof.

    "Why you leave me, Mousse??" She whispered into the boy's ear. He voice 
caught as she recounted all that had happened in the pervious weeks. "Why you no 
come to me and see how I am?? You no love me anymore...."

    "Please," he horsed "please talk to me in Mandarin. Our native tongue. 
Please speak to me in the voice I fell in love with."

    "All right." She said softly in her native dialect. Shampoo let her eyes 
meet with Mousse's as they pulled back to talk. She could see a deep darkness 
surrounding her husband's normally bright eyes. Shampoo didn't like what she 
saw. "Please tell me why."

    Mousse stared hard into Shampoo's eyes, deep with emotion and pain. His soul 
began to detach itself from reason, and he found that he was beginning to speak 
the truth he had been hiding from for months. His lips were moving without his 
command to do so and he didn't care a bit. He needed to tell Shampoo the truth. 
"I love you.... I hope you never forget the fact that I love you more than you 
ever know...."

    "I know you love me."

    "Then know this: I cannot look at you and not feel like I should die for 
what I've done to you. Never again can I look at you and just see someone I 
love. I'm looking at you and I'm seeing someone who didn't deserve that which I 
gave to you. No one deserved the beating I gave you.... Not Ranma, not Cologne, 
and certainly not the woman I supposedly loved."

     "But it is our way...."

     "I know that that is the Amazon way!!!!!!!" Mousse exploded, frightening 
Shampoo with the outburst. He could feel the shame inside his soul morph into a 
brand new type of rage, and he didn't like it. But he couldn't stop the rain 
inside his heart. "But that is not my way!! My way!! My teacher taught me that 
you do not hurt the people you care about, and I cared about you. I hurt you 
because...."

     "Because I was treating you like a vassal instead of a man." Shampoo 
interrupted. She ran her fingers across the soft skin of his cheek and felt him 
shudder with passion.

    "Yes. I thought that my love was better than the shit that Ranma Saotome had 
to give, or the promises that the Amazon kept feeding you. I didn't want to hurt 
you just to have the right to marry. I loved you. I still do...."

    "And I love you too." At hearing Shampoo's words, Mousse felt his heart skip 
a beat and fly off the emotional turntable that he was spinning on. He tipped 
Shampoo's chin up and peered deep into her eyes for a glimpse of the truth. What 
he saw was nothing more than an ardent desire for....for something. He didn't 
know what it was that she desired, but a small part of him hoped that he was it.

    "Mousse," she whispered as she brought her hands up to Mousse's face, "I've 
had a lot of time to think as I was laying here in this bed alone. I had a long 
time to think about you, and how I felt about you. I've....I think I've always 
loved you somewhere inside of me, but I wanted you to stand up and take me for 
yourself. I knew that you were mine but I wanted to be yours forever. Nothing 
you've ever done has gone for granted in my heart."

    "Nothing??"

    "Nothing." She kissed him softly on the cheek as she continued to whisper 
words only he was supposed to hear. "I thought I could love Ranma Saotome and I 
tried so hard to get him to love me. I thought he could give me as much as you 
gave me and more. But he can't. He never will be able to give me what you given 
me. Especially now that you've defeated me. All the Amazon rules were just a way 
of giving you more time to find a way to win me. And now you have...."

    "But you are not just a toy to me," Mousse moaned as he pulled Shampoo 
closer to him. He could still feel that Shampoo didn't get why he felt so bad at 
what he had done. Her arms wrapped around his waist and she settled into his lap 
as he continued to speak. "I didn't love you just because you were a challenge, 
and I didn't stay with you just to be a second prize. I hoped that you would 
fall for me the same way I fell for you."

    "And I have. I have fallen in....in something with you." she horsed back 
with a soft smile on her face. He looked down and saw that her eyes now 
glistened with happy tears. All the gold and jewels in the world couldn't equal 
the riches he felt in his soul at that one moment. "I still don't know if I love 
you as much as you love me, but I've been wanting to spend time with you for so 
long now."

    "We're doing that now...." he whispered as he felt the heart that had been 
previously frozen begin to thaw a little. "We're being together without anyone 
to tell us to stop."

    "That's not exactly what I meant...." Shampoo began to blush slightly, the 
soft glow brightening her once pale cheeks with color. Mousse gave the young 
Amazon girl a quizzical look and she smiled in response. "I want to give myself 
to you....all of me....right now. Tonight."

    "I....I...." Mousse stammered as he tried to comprehend the words that 
flowed from his love's mouth. "You want me to....to make love to you...."

    "It is what the newly promised couple would do when they have so much to 
catch up on and so little time to do it in...." she whispered as she began to 
nuzzle deep into Mousse's neck. She could feel the blush rise up his skin and 
help form goose bumps on his frail skin. "Will you take me, Mousse?? I don't 
love you now but you are my future husband, and you are the only man who would 
give his life for me. Surely that has to mean something....and I'm willing to 
show you now how much it truly means to me."

    "All right." Mousse sat up and began to unbutton her tunic, his slender yet 
trembling fingers moving swiftly over the soft fabric of her shirt. He had 
dreamed of this moment for an eternity, and when her fingers stopped his from 
undressing and discovering his love, he was more than a little shocked. But a 
look in her eyes told Mousse that this was not the normal chain of affairs.

    "Not here. I have a place for us....if you are ready to have me." she said 
with a smirk. Her cheeks glowed with new energy as she took one look at the 
trembling Amazon boy in front of her.

    "I'm ready now...."

    "Good. Here's what we'll do...." Shampoo leaned over and began to whisper 
some directions into Mousse's ear while extracting herself from the blankets and 
covers that surrounded her body. Mousse began to wryly smile in recognition of 
the plan that Shampoo whispered to him and when she finished he slinked out of 
the bed and grabbed a glass of water that had been sitting on the small 
nightstand. With no hesitation he poured the water over the head of Shampoo and 
watched her change from a pretty girl to a small lavender kitty.

    Mousse picked up the demure kitten and began to walk to the door. On his way 
he picked up a small backpack lying on the wooden floor. Shampoo-neko was placed 
into the top section of the bag and Mousse could feel her drop to sleep as he 
walked down the stairs. He began to smile while walking out of the Nekohanten 
and onto the street. The miles to his destination passed softly as his feet 
barely made contact with the pavement. He felt a flying sensation in his walk, a 
sensation he had scarcely felt before. He was finally going to get his reward 
for being faithful and true. It made him want to break down and drool from the 
shock of it all and he was glad that he had to walk to their destination.

     Finally, after about a half-hour's worth of walking and pondering, he came 
to his destination. The small building glistened with passionate energy even 
though the outside of the building was rather plain. He pulled on the large, 
heavy door and stepped inside. As he walked into the building, his eyes began to 
adjust to the dimly lit hallway. Smoky, possessive air began to surround him, 
the aftertaste of a million incidents of love that had occurred before. His 
nostrils were quickly filled with the scent of desire as he walked to the host 
who sat at a small table. She looked up from the book she read and smiled gently 
at the young Amazon.

     "May I help you, young man??" She asked with a small, wizened smile.

     "Yes. A room for the night please." Mousse answered with a tired voice. 
"Here's the nightly rate." He placed a small stack of bills on the counter to 
which the old woman scooped up with a deceptively quick hand. Her withered 
fingers flew through the stack of bills, and seeing that everything was ok, she 
reached behind the wall and obtained a key.

     "The check out time is 7.30 am. I'll be coming around at 7." She smiled as 
a small buzzer rang, while a door imbedded in the wall opened. The light from 
the dimly lit hallway shone into the foyer, inviting and alluring all at the 
same time. "Enjoy yourself, young man."

     "Thank you." Mousse walked through the doorway and entered a small hall 
lined with doors. The lighting was clouded with a smoky air that gave idea to 
the atmosphere wafting from inside. The soft cries of torrid, lustful pleasure 
could be heard as one walked through the hall, and Mousse couldn't help but be 
taken in by the atmosphere. Soon he reached the door to his room and with a 
twist of the key he entered inside. A light switch was flipped and the room came 
aglow with light.

     Soft colored light flowed from the overhead lights, and a velvet lined bed 
sat in the corner. A small hot tub bubbled and hummed on the far wall, with the 
entire floor lined with a soft, white shag rug. It was the embodiment of 
decadence, and Mousse surveyed the room with a soft glance. It would suit their 
needs. And a lot of their wants. Mousse closed the door behind him and walked to 
the bed. His knapsack was laid on the bed and the lavender kitty tumbled out of 
the opening. Her soft eyes looked up at Mousse's body and a tiny meow escaped 
out into the silent room. Mousse smiled and began to strip totally naked. His 
hard, lean body began to emerge from the clothing he wore, while his eyes always 
stayed locked on the kitten in his presence. Finally he was naked and with a 
soft grasp, he picked up the cat and walked over to the hot tub.

     The water bubbled and boiled like a tiny "steam kettle that could", sending 
heat and moisture throughout the room. Mousse stepped up the small stairs and 
entered the water. As he sank lower and lower, he held the kitty in his hands 
until he was completely seated in the body well. Then with a slow deliberate 
motion, he lowered the kitten to the water, allowing her body to enter the moist 
environment slowly. By the time she slipped under, the change was totally 
underway and as Shampoo regained her human form under the water, Mousse 
resettled himself so that she would be straddling his waist as he leaned back. 
Eventually, a soaking wet, but smiling Shampoo emerged from underneath the 
water, her soft breasts jiggling slightly as she moved. She wrapped her arms 
around him and leaned against his body as she felt his arms surround and invite 
her body in.

     "Mmmmm....I feel so safe here. With you. This is what we should have been 
doing a month ago when I was walking again." Shampoo murmured as she nuzzled her 
head against Mousse's chest.

     "But would you have been happy with me?? I was not in the best of emotional 
situations then. Seeing you like that...." Mousse softly replied as he rubbed 
Shampoo's shapely body with his slender fingers. His hand found a home in the 
small of her back and he proceeded to rub her spine and back with his hand. "I 
made a promise that when I was ready to deal with what I did, I'd deal with it 
with you....but you pushed the issue. So we're dealing with it now."

     "I 'pushed the issue', as you say, simply because I'm lonely...and I'm 
lonely for you." Shampoo said as her hands began to fondle his groin, exploring 
the man she once abused. "I said I didn't love you but you know I feel something 
for you. This is why we're here. You're mine and I'm yours. I want to see what 
we can create together...in true love..."

     "Then shut up and kiss me. It's been too long now..." Mousse gently tipped 
Shampoo's chin up and they met in a deep, clingy kiss that floored them both at 
the first touch. Mouths sucked hard, tongues began a tango of passion, and the 
pair of young lovers came together for the first time. Shampoo could feel 
herself melting into Mousse's body as their kiss intensified, so much so that 
she felt that her entire being was being accustomed into his. This was the 
passion they both secretly craved for one another and the aloneness of the room 
only intensified the feelings they shared.

     Mousse leaned deeper into the warm water and brought Shampoo's shapely body 
closer to his own lithe frame. The moisture surrounding them encapsulated their 
desire, and Shampoo luxuriated in the love she could finally express to him. 
Their limbs explored the entire surfaces of their body. Mousse could still feel 
the now nearly healed bruises of her battle with him, and the thought 
recognition nearly floored him. But the desire he was giving himself to was now 
so strong that he didn't care about the past. The present was all that matter; 
for it was the future that he and shampoo was actively creating there in that 
room.

     Shampoo let her hands wander through Mousse's long, silky black hair with a 
gentle stroke, all the while never letting go of her tounge lock that she held 
with Mousse. The water made her hotter than ever, and she knew it was only a 
matter of time before they consummated their love once and for all. She couldn't 
wait.

     "Mousse..." she whispered as her lips slipped from his and her head laid 
back on his softly moving chest, "I want you to enter me. Now."

     "All right. But not here..." He replied as he began to shift in the watery 
love soup they hade made with their involuntary juices.

     "But whe...." She whispered as she felt his powerful legs lift him to his 
feet, while she sat firmly in his arms cradled from harm's way. The water 
sloshed around Mousse's legs as he stepped out of the hot tub and down the 
molded stairs to the carpet. Water dripped from them like a shower on a spring 
day, but they didn't care. Appearances didn't matter at that point. Only the 
love they shared was relevant to them. The bed grew closer as the distance from 
the start of their eternal happiness lessened. Even the carpet, inanimate as it 
was, seemed to understand the significance of this event to happen. All the room 
felt the love that was in the air as did the inhabitants that were surrounded by 
it.

     Mousse laid Shampoo down on the bed and scooted over her, his knees 
straddling her waist. Their eyes met and locked as their hands joined together 
in a lock of passion. Seconds passed as the pair began to feel each other out 
with their eyes and their hearts. Mousse finally broke it all by leaning down 
and placing the sweetest of kisses on Shampoo's puckered and flushed lips. They 
kissed as the final walls of their love came down in their minds and hearts. His 
tongue snaked out and sought her's as they joined their lips together; a 
passionate snake of desire searching it's mate. Hands groped at soft skin and 
legs intertwined together during their intimate contact.

     Shampoo pulled away and looked her new lover in his hazy, love filled eyes. 
"Take me...now...I'm ready for you." She whispered as her hands dropped down to 
the swell of his ass. She kissed the side of his neck as he trailed his long 
fingers over the surface of her lithe body. His lips began to slide down to her 
neck, her shoulders, and her chest. The nipples on Shampoo's aroused breasts 
stood out like tacks, and Mousse missed not the opportunity to lick and caress 
the sensitive nubbins. The Amazon princess's moans began to grow as Mousse 
trailed lower and lower on her body. She could see his head slide down to her 
innie belly button and play with it a moment, then to her thighs which were 
equally loved and fondled. She wanted him to kiss her in her pleasure box, but 
he was determined to make this once in a lifetime opportunity last. Mousse was a 
man on a mission; the pleasure and fulfillment of his eternal love.

     Mousse kept on kissing the lower half of Shampoo's body, showing a skill 
that belied the inexperience that he had. For Mousse had never been intimate 
with another woman before, but through playing around with boys and looking at 
pornography he had gained knowledge of what turned a person on. Now he was 
finally being given the chance to pleasure his goddess as only he knew how. His 
lips danced across the soft flesh like a dancer on an ice pond...so delicate and 
yet so determined. Shampoo all the while kept squirming and moaning trying to 
direct Mousse to her pussy so that the burning needs she harbored could finally 
begin to be quenched. The blind Amazon finally gave in to her unspoken desires 
and began to kiss and suck on her vagina. Louder and louder moans came from 
Shampoo's mouth as the boy pleasured her for the very first time.

     Juices flowed like honey from their sexual centers as they continued to 
travel on the highway of intimacy, and by the moans radiated by shampoo it 
seemed as if they were on the right track. But soon enough, shampoo wanted more. 
She wanted Mousse inside of her and nothing was going to stop her. So as Mousse 
continued his exploration of her swollen and excited nether regions, she lifted 
his head up gently and looked into his eyes. No words were passed, but the 
message was e-mailed by the emotional connection they shared. Mousse stopped his 
tonguing, and repositioned himself above her body. His penis softly vibrated 
with the passion that coursed through his veins and a smile permeated his lips 
as he looked down on his lover's sopping pleasure hole.

     "I'm coming in now," Mousse whispered as he took his manhood in his hand, 
placing on the entrance of her vagina. Shampoo merely nodded her head and 
smiled, feeling his cock begin to sink in as he pushed. Both felt the exquisite 
closeness and tightness as they pushed towards each other. Inch by inch, Mousse 
settled into Shampoo and the two began to feel the first true feelings of 
closure in their adolescent lives. Mousse merely let his emotions control the 
situation as his conscious mind was unable to deal with the new situation in 
front of him.

     Minutes passed, and finally the pair was joined together completely. With a 
smile and a look, Mousse began to slowly fuck his cock in and out of Shampoo's 
tightness. Her breath instantly changed frequency and pitch as her lover 
hammered her from the inside. The slender hands that had once hit and abused him 
now stroked his muscular sides and back, urging him onward to their mutual 
orgasm. His breath also became ragged and torn as their lovemaking became more 
urgent, more desperate. Mousse's lips found hers, kissing them as he fucked her 
to a climax they had both been searching for.

     The pair became one through their lovemaking, while passions were quenched 
during their intimate contact. Nothing else mattered to the pair as they made 
love for the first time on the now tussled bed. Not the politics that made their 
scene so alive and full of desire, not the Amazon shackles that bound them to 
the past, nothing. They were now truly free; freedom gained through pain and 
heartache. Mousse and Shampoo moaned in the same pitch as their lovemaking 
reached an orgasmic crescendo. Fluids flowed over the pair's cock and pussy with 
the flow of the river love finally spilling it's natural boundaries. The breath 
slowed down to normal as their climax subsided. Eyes came back to normal focus, 
and hearts were beating slower. The first true mountain in their love was 
finally crossed.

     Mousse looked down at the cum speckled torso of his loved with a smile and 
a glazed expression. Never had he seen such or felt such a rush as the sex with 
Shampoo. Never had the future looked so bright. He slid off the top of her 
gently shaking body and curled into her, spooning her from behind. She smiles as 
she felt his now loose and relaxed body cuddle up to her and nurture her 
physicality from behind. "Wo Ai Ni, Mousse. Forever and always, my husband..." 
she whispered as she felt sleep begin to overtake her.

     "Wo Ai Ni, Shampoo. Till the end of time, my wife..." he whispered as his 
arms came around her, surrounding her in the enclosure of love. Sleep drifted 
over the pair as their fatigue finally caught up with them. The pair slumbered 
in each other's arms, but their hearts continued to meet and greet each other 
for the first time. Because even when asleep, the amazons were meeting each 
other again for the first time. They were growing closer.

**********

     The small alarm clock rang with a buzzing ring at 7.00 am, bring the pair 
out of their slumber and back into the real world of their new passion. Both 
looked at each other as their eyes opened and focused in on their love. They 
liked what they saw. "I think we gotta go, Shampoo. The check out time is in 30 
minutes," he said slowly and sleepily.

     "Ok. I'll get dressed." She said as her body rose to the soft carpet. 
Mousse couldn't resist a few moments of looking at her body while reclining on 
the bed. She was such a goddess to him now, and she was his. Nothing could take 
that feeling away from him, and he wanted to never come out of this 
intoxication. The intoxication of love. He finally began to get dressed with a 
sigh, letting his mind go over the events of the past night. It didn't add up, 
but Mousse was never a really good math student. He didn't even try to 
understand, just accept and enjoy.

    The pair dressed quickly and began to leave the room. As Mousse came to the 
door, Shampoo stopped him with a touch of her hand. Her eyes sparkled as she 
leaned into his body. "Before we go," she whispered as her lips met his in true 
passion. They kissed under the threshold, holding each other with a passion that 
only came with new love. Lips met lips, tongues danced a tango of desire, and an 
emotional accord was reached in their touch. Finally, Shampoo let her lips drop 
from his and looked back into his oddly colored pupils. "I love you so much..."

     "I love you too. Let's go home." He smiled and led her out of the room, 
back into the same dimly lit hallway. Tossing the key to the still smiling woman 
at the front, Mousse led his future bride to the street and they walked home. 
The sun was shining down on the pair as a new day began to emerge over the 
Japanese horizon. All the people on the street ignored them walking towards 
their home, but they didn't care. They could have been the only people on the 
road and they wouldn't have noticed. All that was apparent to them as they held 
each other's hands, was the fact that for the first time, they had love to go on 
in their lives together. Nothing could stop their growth together as people, and 
nothing would impede their future together as husband and wife. Birds sang what 
seemed to be a victory song to the power called love as they walked amidst the 
hustle and bustle of people.

     The distance to the Nekohanten passed quickly as the pair walked the early 
morning streets together. Not a word was spoken, but the pair also never let 
each other's hands go from their grasp as they walked. Finally, they came upon 
the restaurant, and stopped in front of the door. Mousse took her hands into his 
and looked deep into her face. "Let's take whatever happens from now on slowly. 
We don't need to rush. We'll have the time to do what we need to do. But for 
now, let's just grow closer. Together."

     "Yes. I would like that a lot." Shampoo leaned over and pecked him on the 
cheek as they finished off their first night with each other. They entered the 
restaurant and saw Cologne coming out of the backroom with money in her hands 
for the day's work.

     "Good. You two are on time. We need to hurry if we'll be ready to open in a 
few minutes. Mousse; take down those chairs while Shampoo checks on the ramen in 
the back." She growled as she opened the register. Shampoo merely nodded her 
head and rushed to the back. Mousse sighed softly, and walked to the chair and 
tables at hand. 

     "Mousse, before you start, come here please..." Cologne said as she 
finished loading the register with money. The young Amazon's feet shuffled as he 
approached the matriarch of his tribe. She looked up at him with a peace-filled 
expression on her wizened, lined face. "I'm glad you and my great-granddaughter 
finally made peace with each other last night. Did you have a good time?" She 
asked lightly as she sat down behind the counter top.

     "Yes we did, honored elder." Mousse answered, as he looked her back in the 
eye. "We finally became one last night."

     "Well, just remember what I told you. Time heals everything, including the 
things we do for love." Cologne smiled softly and waved him away with a flick of 
her hand. "Go. You have work to do. We have business to conduct. Son-in-law..."

     "Hai." And with that Mousse prepared the dining room for their first 
morning's rush. Secure in the knowledge that the night he had had with Shampoo 
was only the first in a new era of getting close and growing closer to the woman 
he loved more than anything in the world. His smile lightened the still semi-
dark dining room even more than the still rising sun ever could. Mousse had 
finally become whole.