Quantum Destinies
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
By Steven Thesken (sthesken@earthlink.net)

Ranma 1/2 and its characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.  This story 
is inspired by her works and the stories from some of my fellow fanfic 
authors.  Among these are D.B. Sommer's "Shampoo 1/2", Jim Bader's "A 
Very Scary Thought -aka- Nabiki 1/2", and John Biles' Elseworlds series.  
All C&C is welcome.

Other chapters of this story may be found at this website, or you can 
email the author for them:

The Quantum Destinies Homepage
http://home.earthlink.net/~sthesken/fanfics/qd.html


The list of worlds reoccurring in this chapter:
Earth  0.000,0.000 - The world of Scholar Ranma (Baseline cluster)
Earth  +1.612,+1.509 - The world of Shampoo 1/2 (Shampoo 1/2 cluster)


What has gone before in this story (or at least what will help you 
understand what is going on):

On a parallel Earth that diverged from the standard Ranma timeline over 
five hundred years ago, the Empire of Japan rules almost half the world 
and has done so for almost a century.  A young scientist named Ranma 
Saotome, through a device of his invention, is now possessed of the 
skills and memories of a martial artist version of himself.  Also, the 
Nabiki of this timeline later snuck into Ranma's lab and used his 
device, not knowing what it was, accidentally copying the skills and 
memories from an alternate version of herself, one who went on the ten-
year training journey with Genma instead of Ranma.  An unexpected 
accident has switched the mind of Professor Genma Saotome with that of 
his counterpart from one of the "Shampoo 1/2" timelines.  Ranma has gone 
across to try and find his real father, only problems occur.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 9 - Sins of the Fathers, Part II

         He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso
         confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

                                   King James Bible
                                   Proverbs 28:13

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


*** Earth  +1.612,+1.509

The trek to their destination took up the remainder of Ranma's time, but 
he had already made the decision to return as soon as he could reset his 
equipment.  A digital clock on a nearby bank indicated he had only one 
minute remaining.  He turned to eye the large greenhouse that sat behind 
the shop.  Akane and Shampoo had simply wanted to charge right in, and 
the part of Ranma's mind that belonged in this world had wanted to 
follow their lead.  But he suppressed the urge and managed to convince 
them to wait for a few minutes.  He turned to his father.

"<Pop?>" asked Ranma in Russian.  "<I'm going to go away for a few 
minutes, and you will have the other Ranma until I can get back.  It 
should only take a couple of minutes to reset the system.>"

"<All right, Son,>" answered Genma.  "<I should be able to control 
things here for a few minutes.>"

Ranma is acting very strange, thought Shampoo, very casually eyeing the 
pigtailed boy as she pretended to study their objective.  She followed 
Ranma's example and simply ignored Akane, finding a vague enjoyment in 
the act.

What are we waiting for? Akane thought with a glare at Ranma and the 
others.  She simmered with anger at his treatment of her, but she would 
wait until after her family was rescued to 'discuss' matters with him.

Ranma watched the two clocks within sight, the one on the bank and 
another one a little further down the street.  Both were digital, so it 
was easy to see the time from where he was standing.  They both clicked 
over to the same minute at the same moment, and he closed his eyes in 
preparation for retrieval.

Nothing happened.

He waited another minute, hoping that the clocks were wrong, and still 
nothing happened.

"Ranma?" finally asked Genma, wondering how he would be able to tell 
when the change had taken place.

"It's still me, Father," said Ranma, too surprised to bother hiding 
their conversation in Russian this time.  "Something is wrong."  He 
blinked and suddenly looked a bit miserable, wondering if perhaps the 
Ranma of this world was even now waking up in his body, far across the 
parallel timestreams.  A sudden fear that he was now trapped in this 
life gripped him for a moment, but he forced the fear down with some 
breathing exercises.

"Are we through waiting?" asked Akane impatiently.  "What have we been 
waiting for?"

"Please be quiet, Akane," said Ranma politely, his outward form hiding 
the panic he felt from the possibility of being trapped in this world.  
"I am considering the situation."  He turned to look at the building 
across the street.  An urge to just charge in and start beating people 
up was hovering in the back of his mind, but he ignored it for now.

Shampoo blinked.  That had not sounded like Ranma at all.  His voice had 
none of its normal cockiness and impulsive speech.  It reminded her of 
one of the Elders of her tribe.

"I will not be quiet!" shouted Akane.  "What gives you the right to tell 
me what to do?"

Ranma blinked, and the ice-cold gaze was back in his eyes as he turned 
to look at Akane.  His voice was measured, but polite, as he spoke and 
said, "I am looking at the possible entrances and exits from the 
building.  Our enemies obviously seem to expect us to just walk in 
through the front door, but I am weighing other options.  If you want to 
help your family, you will let me finish thinking about this.  If you 
want to just charge in there and risk getting captured yourself, then go 
right ahead.  I will not attempt to stop you."  Stupid tomboy, came the 
thought, why can't she just be quiet and let me take care of this?  He 
shook his head at the odd thought.

"People in glass houses..." murmured Genma.

"What you say, Pop?" asked Shampoo.

"Well, the greenhouse area is all glass," noted Genma, his head turned 
to observe the building that was their objective.  "Why not simply 
stroll over and take a peek through the glass?  Ranma?"

Ranma considered that one, before finally nodding his head and saying, 
"Yeah, it sounds good.  It would certainly be easier than going inside 
and tromping around.  I'll be back in a minute or so."  Without a single 
backwards glance, he was gone, a quick run and one bounding leap 
carrying him across the street to one of the neighboring buildings.

"What now?" asked Akane, still impatient to rescue her family.

"Now, we wait," answered Genma, watching the small figure of his son on 
the far roof.  Amazement coursed through his body as he did a quick 
mental calculation of the force necessary to complete the leap that his 
son had so easily performed.  I wonder if the physical laws are the same 
here? he thought.

Ranma eyed the glass of the greenhouse, but he could see nothing from 
his current vantage point.  He hopped down to the alley between the 
buildings and looked through the glass at several locations, but it was 
so fogged up on the inside that he could not see very much, only a vast 
jungle of various flora inside.  So much for an easy recon job, he 
thought with a soft sigh.  He bounded back to the others after trying to 
look inside at a few more places without very much luck.

"What I wouldn't give for a good defoliant right about now," said Ranma 
as he came near the others.  "I can't see a thing through any of that 
glass.  It's too fogged up.  Looks like we have to do this one the old-
fashioned way, go in and bust heads."  He cracked his knuckles and 
looked almost pleased at the prospect.  He saw Shampoo nod, the Amazon 
seeming eager to get to the action part of the rescue, and  Akane looked 
eager to go in as well.  Ranma glanced at his father, receiving a curt 
nod of approval in return.

With the other three forming up on his flanks, Ranma and his little 
posse strolled across the street, grim looks of purpose on all four 
faces.  It was only a few moments to arrive beneath the slightly gaudy 
sign over the front door.  They paused there, and then Ranma led the way 
into the building.  Upon entering the structure, they saw the vast rain 
forest spread out before them, filling the glass-enclosed region from 
wall to wall save for a few small paths.

Ranma quickly realized that their enemies and the other Tendos could be 
anywhere in this vast jungle under glass.  He shook his head at the 
sight of the heavy growth, somehow looking much larger on the inside 
than he had imagined.  "It's going to take forever to find them, if we 
all stay together.  Maybe we should split up.  Father, why don't you and 
Akane take the right half?  Shampoo and I will take the left.  I don't 
think anyone should be on their own."

Akane appeared displeased as she said to Ranma, "Why do I have to go 
with Mr. Saotome?  I can take the middle path by myself."  She gave 
every indication of being stubborn about this, so Ranma decided to try 
something unexpected.

"Because I don't think my father, being injured, should be out there on 
his own," said Ranma, earning a surprised look from Shampoo.  "I also 
don't like the idea of you being on your own."  But you are really 
tempting me to let you wander off and get stomped on, he finished the 
sentence in his thoughts.

"Oh," said Akane, looking at him with growing anger.  "So you don't 
think I can handle myself?"  She put her hands flat against her hips and 
glared at him.

"Honestly, yes," admitted Ranma slowly, getting tired of having to argue 
with Akane every step of the way whenever he made any sort of a 
decision.  He saw her blink in surprise at his statement, then frown.

"Last time I checked," she said smugly, "I was the only one who managed 
to conquer their fear, and confront the Sanslaygh.  Isn't that right, 
Ranma?"  She gave a smirk in his direction.

Ranma's memory suddenly filled with images dredged up from that recent 
little adventure of his counterpart.  A flood of fear from his new 
memories surged forward, about being trapped as a girl and everyone else 
treating a doppelganger as the real him, affecting him for a moment.  He 
blinked and frowned, personally not caring in the slightest way for the 
cheap shot against his counterpart's pride, and he was very strongly 
tempted to tell her off.  But he said nothing.

Akane apparently took his brief silence as an endorsement of her 
actions, and she snorted, "Fine, then you go with Shampoo.  I'll take 
the left... by myself."  With that bit of defiance declared, the 
complete opposite of his initial suggestion, she tromped off into the 
jungle.

Ranma muttered something under his breath as he watched her stomp off.

Shampoo turned to Ranma and said, "It quicker if we all split up.  You 
no mind, Ranma?"

Ranma blinked.  Didn't anyone listen to a thing I just said? he thought 
with an internal grimace.  So it takes a little longer to explore this 
place.  Why divide our forces and risk getting picked off one by one?  
That's just idiotic.  He frowned and shook his head.

"Yeah, I do mind, actually," said Ranma, looking seriously at the 
Amazon.  "I don't think it's very good strategy to divide up and risk 
getting picked off one by one, if we have the option of pairing up.  We 
can cover the same amount of ground almost as fast that way."  He saw 
Shampoo frown at him.

"You let Akane go by self," said the Amazon a little gruffly.  "You no 
think Shampoo able take care of self?"

"I didn't say that at all!" shouted Ranma, frustrated with this whole 
situation now.  He lowered his voice, sarcasm undertoning it.  "I told 
Akane not to go by herself, but does she listen?  Of course not.  Now 
you want to do the same and get mad at me for caring if you get hurt."

Shampoo blinked.  He cares more for me than he does for Akane? she 
thought with surprise, feeling a sudden warmth deep in her heart.  
However, her warrior pride was still aroused, and she looked at Ranma 
neutrally.  She saw his resistance fade a little.

"Fine.  I guess you can handle yourself," Ranma decided, relenting.  He 
saw her smile at him and then start to run off.  He grabbed her by the 
shoulders before she could take a single step and turned her to face 
him.  "Be careful out there, okay?"

Shampoo gave him a confident grin, a little wink, and then rushed off 
into the verdant greenery.

Ranma turned to his father and said, "This place is starting to give me 
a headache.  I don't know if I could handle a lifetime of this."  He 
turned to look at the remaining paths.  "I suppose we could just listen 
for Akane's scream when she gets in trouble and find one of the enemy 
that way.  What do you think, Pop?"  He grinned at his father.

"An interesting notion," admitted Genma with a faint smile as he studied 
the miniature jungle.  "We should get moving though.  I think I will be 
fine on my own though.  We really could cover more ground singly."

Ranma looked scandalized as he cried out, "Pop!  Not you, too!"  He 
frowned at the older man.

"All right," relented Genma.  "We'll go together."  The two Saotome men 
moved off together into the greenery, Genma taking point.  Now that the 
shock and dismay at his counterpart's life had finally begun to fade, he 
was finding that he felt far more alive than he remembered feeling since 
he was a teenager.  Must be something in the air, he mused with a smile 
as he plodded along.

Now that the two were alone, Ranma stopped and fully considered the idea 
that he might be stuck in this world forever.  It would take months, 
maybe years, if it was at all possible, to build a new resonator.  Some 
of the technology he needed might not even be available here, and the 
costs involved could be prohibitive.

"Pop?" asked Ranma from a short ways behind him.  "What are we going to 
do if we can't ever get back home?  I don't know if I'll even be able to 
build a new resonator, especially with the way things are now."  He 
frowned at the unpleasant predicaments this life offered him and said 
with great conviction, "And there is just no way that I am ever going to 
marry Akane Tendo!"

"Not to worry, my boy," said Genma, adopting the other Genma's 
mannerisms so well that it spooked Ranma a bit.  "When we get back to 
the Tendos', expect to see some changes made.  I am certainly not going 
to force any son of mine into an arranged marriage, especially not at 
your age.  Leave everything to me."  He adjusted his glasses.  He might 
have allowed Nodoka to bully him into accepting it in his world, not 
resisting her efforts at making Ranma get married long before he was 
ready, but Genma would be damned if it would happen again.  This time 
Ranma would be allowed to choose when he wanted to get married, and to 
whom, and without any interference from anyone.

While Ranma was thinking about his father's statement, they came around 
a corner and discovered one of their opponents, Mousse.  The pair saw 
the white-robed warrior standing in the middle of the path, his hands 
concealed in his voluminous sleeves.  Ranma saw Mousse's thick glasses 
catch the light in an almost sinister way.

Mousse started to say something when Genma felt a breeze pass him, his 
son going by him in a blur of motion as he shot forward at full speed.

Ranma had been feeling edgy, frustrated, and generally annoyed with this 
whole situation, and Mousse gave him a perfect outlet for all of his 
wrath.  He was not about to waste time with needless posturing when he 
felt he would have the advantage of surprise by going all out while the 
Chinese boy was just making his opening statement.  He gathered his Chi 
before his feet even left the ground, called out a loud "Kachu Tenshin 
Amaguriken!" while still in midleap as he bounced off of a tree to 
increase his momentum, and then he hit Mousse without the slightest 
mercy at the end of the final arc of his leap.

Mousse was inundated by a hailstorm of blows from Ranma's fists, caught 
completely by surprise at the sheer audacity of the other boy's actions.  
He lost consciousness somewhere between the two hundredth to three 
hundredth blow from Ranma's fist repeatedly hitting him in the face.  
The Chinese boy slumped to the ground in a heap, a few of his hidden 
weapons falling from his sleeves, unused.

"Take that, you jerk," muttered Ranma as he got up off Mousse, catching 
his breath from the level of exertion.  He grinned at an almost gaping 
Genma and took a quick bow.  "Great technique, but it is kind of tiring.  
I guess he wasn't expecting to deal with an attack without first going 
through the usual exchange of manly threats."

"Impressive, Ranma," said Genma, smiling at him and nodding his head.  
"Most impressive."

"Yeah," said Ranma, a sudden grin on his face.  Things seemed to be 
finally looking up.  He stripped the robe off of Mousse and quickly tore 
it into long strips to tie him up with them, binding the other boy's 
arms together tightly, running a loop around the Chinese boy's neck and 
a second one to bind his ankles.  At the end, Mousse looked to be in a 
rather uncomfortable position, and the length of silk around his neck 
would choke him if he struggled.  Ranma looked satisfied at the result.

"I see you still remember the knot-tying techniques I had you learn as a 
boy," said Genma approvingly.  That had been part of the wilderness 
survival training that the Science Ministry had instructed him to ensure 
that Ranma knew.  He nodded at the trussed up Chinese boy, seeing that 
Mousse would have to be an escape artist to get out of such bindings.

"Yeah," said Ranma, hitting Mousse almost casually with his fist when it 
looked like the other boy might have been stirring.  He used the 
remaining strip of silken cloth to gag the Chinese boy and stood up to 
survey their surroundings.  "Now, let's go."

The two of them continued on their trek through the greenery.

                   ******************************

Elsewhere in the jungle, Akane was walking through a more heavily 
forested area of the greenhouse.

"Just how big is this thing?" she wondered out loud.

Her reverie was interrupted when a small piece of ribbon flew out from a 
tree and wrapped itself around her wrists like a pair of handcuffs.  She 
tried to break free, but the harder she attempted to tear the ribbon the 
tighter it got.

"OHHOHOHOHO!" came a chilling laugh from above Akane.  She gazed upward 
to see Kodachi standing on a tree branch above and grinning down at her.  
"You have fallen into my trap, Akane Tendo. No substitutes can save you 
this time.  Just come along quietly."

"Yeah, right," Akane sneered.  And with that, Akane jumped up, kicked 
the branch Kodachi was standing on, and shattered it beneath the 
gymnast.

The Black Rose prevented her fall by using her ribbon to lash onto 
another branch and gracefully land several meters away.  She gave an 
almost predatory grin at Akane.  "You are only making this harder on 
yourself," she said with a manic undertone.

Kodachi began hurling pins at Akane.  The first struck the Tendo girl in 
the knee, and the second in the head.  Deciding she wasn't going to play 
the pigeon in a shooting gallery, Akane raced forward at full speed, 
managing to avoid two more pins thrown at her.  She then executed a 
leaping tuck and roll and came up standing right next to Kodachi.  She 
very quickly grabbed the Black Rose by the throat and started choking.

"Where is my family?" Akane growled, lifting Kodachi off of her feet 
slightly and tightening her grip slightly.  "What have you done with 
them?"

The gasping Black Rose didn't try to answer.  Instead, she pulled a 
compact out of her leotard and held it in front of Akane's face.  The 
other girl made the mistake of loosening her grip on Kodachi's throat in 
surprise, providing the Black Rose enough breath to let out a puff and 
blow the powder into Akane's face.  A moment later, Akane hit the 
ground, unconscious.

Kodachi stood there clutching her throat, a grim look replacing the 
usual manic smile, as she murmured, "You are fortunate indeed that I 
need you intact, else something... terrible would happen to you."  The 
evil glint in her eye made one certain she meant every word she said. 
She wrapped her ribbon around Akane and dragged her off, making sure to 
hit every bump and rock on the way back.

                   ******************************

As Ranma and his father were walking along, one of the sprinkler systems 
suddenly came on and splashed Ranma with a blast of cold water, his body 
quickly shrinking into its female form.  The boy turned girl sighed as 
the change concluded in a moment.  The elder Saotome blinked at the 
sight, somehow being just missed by the water as if it had been 
specifically targeted at his son who was now his daughter.

"I hate this life," said Ranma-chan sullenly.  It was an odd sensation 
to have his body shift like this into its alternate form, almost a faint 
tingling occurring, but it passed in less than a moment.  She squeezed 
water out of her shirt, the cold, damp cloth raising goosebumps on her 
skin.  It was the work of a moment to adjust the clothes to ride a 
little better on her shortened frame.

"Fascinating," muttered Genma as he studied the result of the curse.  He 
had all of the memories of previous changes his counterpart had 
witnessed, but first-hand experience was something else.  "A complete 
morphological reconstruction of your physical form.  It appears that 
even your mass changes."

"Yeah, I'm not sure what to make out of that one," said a still sullen 
Ranma-chan, still squeezing a few drops of water from her clothes.  "I 
know it's called magic, but there has to be some rational explanation 
for how it works.  I just haven't figured it out yet."

"I have some theories on how it might be occurring, but now is not 
really the time to explore them," said Genma.  His scientific curiosity 
was intrigued by what he had just seen, but his practical nature was 
also well aware that the middle of a potential battleground was not the 
place to discuss the nature of Reality with his son, er, daughter.  
Perhaps it was a naturally occurring quantum shift that specifically 
modifies the body without affecting the mind?  Or swaps the body, not 
the mind?

"Let's just get this rescue over with," said Ranma sullenly.

"Agreed."

                   ******************************

Elsewhere in the greenhouse, Shampoo was carefully making her way 
through the brush, when she heard familiar, insane laughter.  She 
spotted Kodachi standing in front of a tree, a manic grin on her face.

"OHHOHOHOHO!" chortled the gymnast, like a demented, female Santa Claus.  
"If it isn't the little philistine."

"Shampoo not philistine!  Shampoo Chinese!" snarled the Amazon cutely.

Kodachi sighed, "I forgot, you're intellectually impaired.  We'll just 
go with bimbo from now on."

"What you want with Kasumi, Crazy Gymnast Girl?"

Kodachi smiled as she sneered a bit at the Amazon, "I wanted to lead 
Ranma and yourself to your doom.  And it looks like I have succeeded."

The Black Rose pulled a hoop from her leotard and threw it high above 
the Amazon's head.  Shampoo remembered the boomerang pin from her 
previous encounters with Kodachi and tracked the hoop's progress, not 
completely taking her attention off of the gymnast.  It traveled high up 
into the tree Shampoo was standing next to and severed a bunch of 
bananas, which struck the Amazon in the head, causing quite a mess.  She 
looked back down just in time to have a pineapple, thrown by Kodachi, 
impact and burst all over her face. 

"I haven't made fruit salad in years," Kodachi laughed gleefully.

Shampoo wiped the majority of the fruit off her face, and looked above 
Kodachi.  A playful smile crossed her features as an idea came to her.

"You forget coconut."

Shampoo drew her sword quickly and threw it, like a spear, high up into 
the tree behind Kodachi.  It sailed up into the branches and briefly 
disappeared.  The gymnast did not look impressed.

"Your aim is off you purple..." but the rest of Kodachi's statement was 
interrupted when a large coconut fell from the tree above and hit
her solidly in the head.  Kodachi's hands went to her skull as she 
grimaced in pain, and her expression turned villainous.  "You wicked, 
wicked girl!  I was going easy on you because I knew Mousse would not 
approve of my harming you.  But I see you leave me no choice."

Kodachi pushed in a knot of wood on the tree that the coconut fell from.

Part of the ground Shampoo stood on raised itself up and hurled her into 
a covered pit.  She rolled, her body absorbing the impact without injury 
as it came to rest on the densely-packed earth.  As she stood up in the 
pit, she noticed two eyes glaring at her.  From out of the shadows, the 
orbs revealed themselves to be attached to a hungry tiger that was 
waiting for its next meal.

"You have a fun time, dear," said Kodachi as she skipped away, laughing 
her insane cackle, leaving the girl with the tiger.

                   ******************************

Ranma-chan and Genma finally arrived where the Tendos were being held.  
They saw Kodachi waiting for them on some sort of gigantic plant stem.  
On a balcony nearby were held the majority of the Tendos, minus Nabiki, 
and the girl Ranma-chan now recognized as Minami, the ghost sweeper.  
The boy turned girl spotted Akane wrapped up tightly in some chains and 
suspended from the ceiling.  Ranma-chan watched Kasumi wave happily to 
her as the cursed boy considered the best way to bring about a rescue.

"Get me down from here!" Akane yelled at Ranma-chan, a cry that was 
ignored by the cursed boy.  Having the troublesome, headstrong girl out 
of her hair suited Ranma-chan just fine.

"Where is my beloved Mousse-sama?" asked Kodachi, puzzled to see Ranma-
chan and her father looking so well.

"He's a little, er, tied up right now," said Ranma-chan with a smirk as 
she spoke to Kodachi.  "Tell you what.  I'll make a deal with you. You 
give me back Kasumi, Mr. Tendo, and Minami, and I'll tell you where we 
left Mousse.  Refuse, and I'll have to hurt you."  It was very odd for 
Ranma right now; this Kodachi was like a warped reflection of the rather 
sweet noblewoman who he was only now just getting to know from his home 
timeline.  Ranma-chan was actually bluffing, for the most part, 
uncertain if she could really attack the gymnast but deciding to brazen 
it out.

"What about me?" Akane grumbled.

"I thought you could handle yourself," Ranma-chan taunted as she looked 
up at Akane.  She turned back to look at Kodachi and said with a smirk, 
"I'll let you keep Akane."

Akane's battle aura began to glow a dull blue, and the chains started to 
bulge as she shouted at the top of her lungs, "RANMA!  YOU'D BETTER HOPE 
THEY DON'T RELEASE ME!"

"I don't think you understand the gravity of your situation," said 
Kodachi.  "You aren't in a position to make demands."

"Oh?" asked Ranma-chan, suddenly curious to see what Kodachi had up her 
sleeve.  Out of the corner of her mouth, she softly whispered to Genma, 
"Try and make your way to the others and get them loose.  I'll keep her 
busy."

"You see," said Kodachi, her maniacal glee back in full force, "you have 
fallen into my ultimate trap.  Behold!"

Kodachi held her arms out grandly, and a huge plant she was standing 
next to began to move, slowly at first but becoming more animated by the 
moment, as Ranma-chan gaped at the sight.  Surrounded by several broad 
leaves, a massive nest of roots secured it to the ground, providing a 
solid base for a thick, heavily-veined stem.  A huge, oval-shaped bulb 
on the end of the stem opened up, revealing a mouth with a rather large 
number of sharply-pointed teeth inside.  A thin stream of greenish drool 
lazily dripped from one side of the plant's mouth, and that only added 
to the unreality of the situation for Ranma-chan.
 
Her arms held wide in an act of showmanship, Kodachi smiled in ecstasy 
as she gazed at her revealed secret weapon.  "Witness the awesome power 
of a genuine South American man-eating plant, or in this case, a Ranma-
Eating Plant.  Mousse-sama and I found him while on our extended 
vacation.  He was shipped here just last week and is very hungry.  
Aren't you, precious?"  She made little kissing noises in the plant's 
direction, then spoke to it, "Now, sic her!"

What I wouldn't give for a good defoliant, thought Ranma-chan for the 
second time that day.  She noticed her father making his way to the 
others, so Ranma-chan knew that she had to keep everyone's attention on 
her.  Plans of attack began to sprint through her mind.

The plant roared its power to the skies and then moved its head to 
attack.  It was much faster than Ranma-chan had thought, the head 
whipping out like a striking cobra to try and engulf her.

Kodachi remained on her plant, closely watching the Ranma-Eater try to 
devour its prey.  Kill her, my pet, thought Kodachi gleefully, her eyes 
focussed on the life-and-death struggle taking place before her.  She 
watched the battle with glittering eyes.

Ranma-chan evaded the first two attempts by the plant to devour her, the 
second one missing by inches, then started looking for a way out.  She 
almost slapped herself at how long it took her to realize the most 
obvious one.  "The damn thing's got roots," she said, dodging a third 
strike.  "All I have to do is get out of its reach."

Dodging and leaping to one side, Ranma-chan tried to run out of the 
plant's reach, but that tactic had been anticipated by Kodachi.  She let 
out a shrill whistle, and huge strands of what appeared to be some sort 
of webbing extended themselves from the trees and interlocked, many of 
the strands shooting up into the ceiling.  Once complete, a huge spider 
web now extended from tree to tree, as well as the ceiling, effectively 
sealing off the portion of the greenhouse Ranma-chan and the plant were 
in.

Examining the new barrier quickly, Ranma-chan looked extremely 
unimpressed.  She grinned up at Kodachi and said, "Like this is really 
going to stop me."  She reached out to pull away part of the webbing, a 
rather confident smirk on Ranma-chan's face.  She touched it, then 
quickly drew back, gasping in pain as a surprised look appeared on her 
face.  A small trickle of blood dripped from a thin cut that had formed 
where she touched the web.

"That's no mere spider web," Kodachi informed her opponent with a cold 
smile, "It is formed with razor wire.  Touch it, and be sliced to 
ribbons.  Now, remain where you are and prepare to be devoured." 

Ranma-chan's thoughts were filled with dire imprecations for a few brief 
moments.

The plant continued with its relentless assault, which Ranma-chan 
continued to nimbly evade.  However, after many leaps and bounds, she 
eventually got backed into a tree with nowhere to run.  The giant plant 
reached forward, mouth opened wide to engulf her small form, then 
stopped, no more than a foot away from her.  It then curled back and 
looked at Kodachi, quickly muttering something unintelligible to 
everyone but its mistress.

Kodachi sounded annoyed as she said, "What do you mean, 'Is she white 
meat or dark meat?'"  The plant muttered again, and the Black Rose 
answered once more, "I don't care what you are in the mood for. Just eat 
her!"

The plant looked at Ranma-chan, then turned back to Kodachi and muttered 
something yet again.

"I know she doesn't look like much," growled Kodachi sounding very 
annoyed now.  She calmed herself and said, "I'll tell you what.  I'll 
get you an entire cow afterwards if you are still hungry, is that all 
right?"

The plant considered, then nodded its assent.

I can't believe this is happening, thought Ranma-chan.  I never thought 
I'd go out this way, killed and eaten by a piece of ambulatory greenery 
with an attitude.  I hope you choke and die, you damn thing!

"Good!  Now devour her!"

Just as the plant moved forward once again, a loud noise was heard from 
the other side of the web.  A sword suddenly cut through some of the 
razor wire and Shampoo rushed quickly through the newly made opening.

A huge and still hungry tiger rushed through the opening hot on the tail 
of Shampoo.  Kodachi looked displeased at the interruption.  "Why hasn't 
Mr. Meow eaten that damned Amazon yet?" she muttered.  At least Mousse 
wasn't here to witness this.

Ranma-chan's attention locked onto the tiger, and she felt the first 
wave of fear brush against her thoughts.  C-c-cat, she thought, as she 
felt raw terror begin to grip her.  Ranma normally liked cats, though.  
S-so why d-do I feel afraid?  Ranma-chan stared at the tiger with a 
sense of mounting horror.  C-c-c-cat, the boy turned girl thought 
stupidly, as her eyes remained locked onto one thing, and one thing 
only, Mr. Meow.  The fear struggled to grip her mind as Ranma-chan 
clutched her head, frowning in concentration.  There is n-nothing to 
fear.  There is nothing to fear!  The vivid memories of the Cat Fist 
training washed over her mind like an incoming tide, and tears leaked 
out of the corner of her eyes as she struggled to keep control.  F-fear 
is an animal reaction.  I am a human being of intelligence and w-will.  
I will not feel fear.  I will not feel fear!

However, the terror, combined with the high stress of the situation she 
was already in, was quickly overwhelming Ranma-chan's frantic attempts 
to regain control.  The fear was ripping at her very sanity, shredding 
through the young scientist's mental disciplines.  F-fear can b-be 
controlled.  There is n-nothing to fear.  Memories of claws ripping away 
at a little boy's flesh exploded across her mind.  I c-can control this.  
Ranma-chan struggled with the fear, but she was losing.

"G-get back," Ranma-chan muttered, eyes still locked on the tiger 
nearby.  "I w-won't be defeated by a stupid fear.  I refuse to s-submit 
to fear.  My will is stronger than this f-fear."  Ranma-chan was calling 
up all of the self-control exercises that she had been taught as a 
child, but it was too little, too late.

"C-C-C-C-C-C-CAT!!!"

With that declaration of supreme terror given voice, Ranma-chan ran up 
the tree and clutched onto a branch for dear life, looking down in 
absolute terror at the tiger.  Sensing the fear in the newcomer, Mr. 
Meow ran under the tree, trying to climb up it and roaring with all his 
might.  Everyone paused to watch the bizarre display of man and cat.

Genma had managed to make it up to the others while this was occurring.  
He stared in horror at his son, the guilt of the Cat Fist training 
hitting him anew.  He muttered, "Oh no.  Not now."

Akane turned far enough to look at the old man as she said, "Not now 
what?"

"Ranma is afraid of one thing and one thing only," said Genma, staring 
at the failure of his son's valiant attempt to master the fear.  "Cats."

Shampoo appeared confused and asked, "How come?"

Genma sighed, his attention more on Ranma-chan as he said, "It has to do 
with the Cat Fist training he received as a youth."  Genma quickly 
described the process of wrapping young Ranma up in various fish 
products and throwing him into pits with hundreds of hungry cats.  He 
explained how he did it day in and day out until Ranma snapped and came 
out meowing like a cat himself.

Akane's eyes were open wide in shock as she asked, "What kind of a 
father are you?"

"Pop.  We gonna have long talk about this later," declared Shampoo as 
she waved her sword menacingly at Genma.

Even Kodachi was sickened as she said, "That is beyond demented, even by 
my standards.  You are truly a warped individual."

"I have much to make up to Ranma," said Genma sincerely.  He had not 
been the one to make the mistakes his son was now paying for, not 
exactly, but he was determined to help his only child as much as he was 
able.  He went back to staring at the results of another Genma's tragic 
stupidity.

Meanwhile, Ranma-chan had finally snapped, the brilliant intellect of a 
genius scientist thrown back into the darkness of her own mind.  She 
curled up and started hissing like a cat, and her eyes fixated on the 
enemy below.  Through narrowed eyes she saw Mr. Meow, bewildered by the 
turn of events, suddenly stop roaring and begin to slink away rather 
than be confronted by the bizarre human.  He didn't move fast enough, as 
Ranma-chan hissed and leaped after the tiger.  Just as she was about to 
hit the tiger, her body was snatched from midair by the Ranma-Eating 
Plant and swallowed whole.

The plant turned and looked expectantly at Kodachi, who patted him on 
the head.

"Good plant," said Kodachi pleasantly.

Shampoo and Akane together shouted, "RANMA!"

Son, thought Genma, eyes closed as a tear or two began to trickle down 
his cheeks.  He vowed to the heavens to make everything right in this 
life, if only Ranma was somehow spared.  Perhaps his heartfelt prayer 
was answered.

The huge plant remained where it was, a broad grin on its mouth. 
Suddenly, the smile disappeared as the plant's jaws started to move 
violently, as though something was trying to get out.  The level of 
violence increased, causing the head to shift and turn until, finally, a 
figure burst through the side of the mouth, making a huge, gaping hole 
in it.  The plant recoiled in pain as Ranma-chan savagely tore through 
it using the Cat Fist, sending ragged shreds of plant flesh flying.

Kodachi looked on, horrified, as she called out, "My poor, poor, Ranma-
Eating Plant!" and began to cry.

While the gymnast was distracted, Shampoo jumped up and severed the 
chains binding Akane.  She then cut one of the chains loose and threw it 
to Soun and Kasumi.  With Genma's help, Soun lowered his daughter down 
to the ground safely, before both of them climbed down as well.  Shampoo 
quickly turned her attention to the still feline-like Ranma-chan, who 
had now backed Mr. Meow into a corner.  Ranma-chan continued hissing at 
the tiger until Shampoo slowly walked over, bent down, and held out her 
hand, trying to calm Ranma-chan and get her to walk over to the Amazon.

Genma wasn't sure if enough of his own son was present in the now 
catlike Ranma-chan to risk approaching closer, so he let Shampoo try and 
calm her down.

After much cajoling, Ranma-chan calmed down and walked over to the 
purple-haired Amazon.  Shampoo began to pet her on the head, murmuring 
soft words of comfort, and both of these actions helped relax Ranma-chan 
enough to sit on Shampoo's lap and curl up into a ball.  Shampoo smiled 
at the rapidly relaxing form in her lap, but the peace didn't last.  
Ranma-chan was resting peacefully on the Amazon's lap one moment, and 
the next got punted out of Shampoo's lap and through the skylight of the 
greenhouse.

"MMMMMMEEEEEEOOOOOOWWWWWW!" came a catlike, female scream, followed by a 
loud crash of glass.

Genma glanced at Akane with a cold gaze, secure in the knowledge of what 
he must now do.  He shifted his attention to the Amazon to see what her 
reaction would be, somehow certain that she would deal with the irate, 
youngest Tendo daughter.

"I told you to hope they didn't let me go!" Akane shouted upwards at 
Ranma-chan's rapidly departing form.  Upon hearing about the training of 
the Cat Fist, the anger Akane had felt at Ranma-chan's threat of  
leaving her chained up died down.  However, the sympathy she had begun 
to feel was quickly drowned out by the affection Ranma-chan had shown 
Shampoo.  Even when she thought she was a cat, Ranma-chan still flirted 
openly with Shampoo.

Shampoo spun on Akane, "Why Akane do that?"

"He was being a jerk!" screamed Akane.

"You hear what Pop say," said Shampoo, getting angry.  "Ranma think he 
cat, not boy."  She moved closer, getting right in Akane's face, and 
looked her in the eye.  "You no hit Ranma again."

Akane stared at her, incredulous, and asked, "Are you trying to tell me 
what to do?"

Shampoo dropped her voice and took on an almost threatening tone, 
"Shampoo say no hit Ranma again."

Akane didn't back off, shouting, "I don't believe it!  Where do you get 
off telling me what to do?!"

Ranma told you the same thing, noted Genma, watching how the Amazon was 
acting as Ranma's champion in his absence.  He saw both girls beginning 
to glow with an azure light.

The tension between the two almost managed to ignite the forest.
Fortunately, it was defused when Kasumi stepped between the duo. 

"Now, now," said the eldest Tendo girl.  "We mustn't fight."

Kasumi's peaceful aura worked a near-miracle as the two girls 
simultaneously broke the deadlock building between them.

"Shampoo go find Ranma," declared the Amazon.  "Make sure he okay."  She 
gave one last, rather pointedly intense glance at Akane, then jumped up 
onto a tree, using it as a springboard to go through the hole in the 
skylight.

A rather severely battered-looking, half-naked Mousse stumbled into the 
scene, lacking even his usual glasses, and Kodachi paused in the binding 
of her plant's wounds.  After confirming that it would pull through, she 
rushed over to assist him.

"Mousse-sama," said Kodachi, checking him over for injuries.  His face 
was the worst of it; a broken nose, multiple contusions, and a split lip 
among the injuries.

"Where's Saotome?" muttered Mousse, lisping slightly from the loss of an 
incisor from his upper jaw.  He was intensely determined to have his 
revenge on the pigtailed boy, as soon as the room stopped going through 
the gyrations it was now doing, that is.

"He's gone," said Kodachi, turning her attention to the remaining 
people.  They were in the process of leaving the building, a grimly 
thoughtful-looking Genma in the lead.  "I do believe we have been 
forgotten, Mousse-sama."

A fireball hit the pair and engulfed them in flames for a moment or two.

As the smoke cleared, the duo appeared singed, but very much alive.  A 
coldly furious-looking Minami stood alone at the top of the balcony, 
having finally been untied by Genma before the others left.  She 
casually discarded a gold scepter and began to form a ball of 
electricity between her palms.

"Let me assure you," said Minami in a conversational tone of voice, "The 
two of you will soon be gone, but definitely not forgotten."  A moment 
later, she released a brilliant lighting bolt at the duo, who barely got 
out of the way of the arc of energy.  The two took off, with Minami 
following in hot pursuit, firing off spells of destruction as she ran 
after them.

                   ******************************

*** Earth  0.000,0.000

Ukyo sat at her usual place at the dining table in shock.  Currently, 
she was dressed in the traditional disguise used by the Kuonji Ninja 
Clan: tight black pants and a heavy, blue, short-sleeved shirt with the 
sleeves rolled up a bit, the classical outfit of an okonomiyaki seller.  
Her long hair was tied back into a loose ponytail with a white ribbon.  
Her breasts were bound down, to her mother's displeasure, and she now 
looked like an attractive boy.

Resting against the wall behind her was a rather large spatula, a 
polearm-like weapon that Ukyo had discovered in her youth she had a 
particular talent for.  Her grandfather had encouraged her in this 
skill, training her to mastery with it.  Since the days of her young 
childhood, she very diligently and rigorously trained in all of the 
weapons and the fighting techniques of the Kuonji Clan, but she enjoyed 
the feel of the large spatula in her hands, moving it about like it was 
an extension of her body.

Akira Kuonji, her father, had managed to surprise her with about the 
very last thing that she would have expected from him.  Ukyo's lunch now 
sat all but unnoticed before her, and she sullenly eyed her mother and 
father as they sat there before her, calmly drinking tea.  They were 
allowing her some time to absorb the news, very shocking news as far as 
she was concerned.  When Ukyo finally spoke, her tone of voice was one 
of quiet disbelief, "You want me to what?"

"You're going with your father and I tomorrow morning to meet a 
potential husband for you," said Yukiyo Kuonji, her mother, quite 
calmly.  The older woman's hazel-green eyes, identical to Ukyo's own, 
studied her daughter for several moments before speaking once more.  
"We've received word from one of the matchmaking services that we 
subscribed you to.  They tell me that they've found a nice boy in Tokyo 
who comes from an excellent family background.  We're going to meet him 
and his parents tomorrow."

Ukyo just sat there blinking, taking it in.  She finally asked, "Don't I 
have any say in this?"

"Listen to your mother, Ukyo-chan," said her father in a solemn voice.  
"It's high time that you started thinking about your future.  You are to 
be the next leader of the Kuonji Clan, and you should be grateful that 
we found you a husband.  You've already rejected all of the local boys."

"They're all perverts or weaklings," grumbled Ukyo.  "I think I'm more 
of a man than any of the boys I go to school with."

"That's another thing, daughter," said Yukiyo, velvet covering steel in 
her voice as she reproved Ukyo, her eyes staring at the male disguise 
that her daughter wore so disturbingly well.  "This continuing tendency 
of yours to disguise yourself as a boy is becoming alarming to me for a 
girl your age.  I know you did it because of your grandfather, but you 
are really a girl.  Why do you persist in doing it?"  A strong note of 
desperation entered her voice.

"It's good practice for my disguise skills, and it lets me see the boys 
as they really are," replied Ukyo evenly, taking a sip of her tea.  "If 
they think I'm a boy, then they talk to me like an equal.  The girls my 
age that I've seen are all simple, flighty creatures, without any 
warrior spirit within them.  If I have to choose between that, I'll act 
as a guy.  However, so far, all I've found is that all boys are 
perverts.  There isn't a real gentleman in the entire lot."

"Promise me that you won't pretend to be a boy around the Saotome boy at 
least until after you meet him," commanded Yukiyo, her tone grim.  "He 
comes highly recommended by the matchmaker.  He has a bright future in 
the Science Ministry.  Such connections would do our Clan well."

"Feh," murmured Ukyo, making a slight look of distaste.  He sounds like 
another pervert or weakling.  This is so stupid.  I doubt that this 
Ranma Saotome can possibly be any different from any of the local boys.

"Ukyo-chan," warned her father, his expression darkening.

"Yes, Papa," Ukyo sighed.  "I promise that I won't disguise myself as a 
boy before I meet him."  Afterwards, on the other hand....

"That's better," said her father with a smile.  "You know that your 
mother and I have only your best interests at heart.  Besides, this is 
only a preliminary meeting between the families.  If things go well, 
then I'll find you a place to stay with some of our relatives in the 
area where he lives.  That way the two of you can get to know each other 
better."

"Yes, Papa," said Ukyo with a sinking heart.  This doesn't sound like 
it's going to be any fun at all.  She slowly got up and picked up her 
harness and battle spatula from their resting place against the wall.  A 
dozen sharpened spatulas sat in sheaths across the front.  With the ease 
of long hours of practice, she slipped the harness around her chest and 
slid the battle spatula into its sheath.  She headed out the door with a 
heavy tread, simply saying, "I'm going to go train now."

Behind Ukyo, her mother watched the departure of her daughter with sad 
eyes.  Yukiyo got up from the table and went over to her husband.  She 
softly asked, "Husband?  Do you really think Ukyo will like this Saotome 
boy?"

"Perhaps," said Akira Kuonji, watching his daughter walk off into the 
woods to one of her usual training areas.  "I sincerely hope that she 
does, but our daughter will get married and bear children to carry on 
the bloodline.  This Clan needs her to do so if it is to continue, and 
this boy, Ranma Saotome, may be our last, best hope for the Kuonji 
legacy to continue on.  Until I had received word from Mitsuma-san, I 
confess I had almost given up on her.  After what she did to that boy 
from the Moroboshi Clan," he trailed off, shaking his head at the 
memory.

"I hope this all works out," said Yukiyo, laying her head against her 
husband's shoulder.  She felt his arm go around her body and give her a 
warm hug.

                   ******************************

Near the edge of the Kuonji Clan territory, a lone figure stood next to 
a tree, his hand resting lightly on a rope that ran far back into the 
thick woods, tied at irregular intervals to various trees.  He was 
dressed in heavily travel-worn garb consisting of a long-sleeved brown 
tunic, black pants laced up the shins with yellow lacings, and a pair of 
comfortable, black, slip-on shoes.  His unruly black hair was held back 
out of his eyes with a black-spotted, yellow bandana.  He wore a large 
backpack, the straps resting comfortably on his shoulders, and there was 
a red and black umbrella secured to the top of the backpack.

He was Ryoga Hibiki, and he was a man with a mission.

Just let go of the guide rope, Ryoga, he thought as he stared out past 
the edge of the woods that marked the border of the Kuonji Clan's 
territory.  He had been here for over an hour, hoping that his quarry 
might pass by this way and make things easier on him.  Taking a deep 
breath and releasing it slowly, he lifted his hand from the rope that he 
had followed to reach this point.  It was one of several that allowed 
the various members of the Hibiki Clan to function relatively normally 
in their high mountain valley.  The first of them had been strung by the 
grateful villagers of Kikaitani when one of Ryoga's direct ancestors had 
stumbled into their valley centuries ago and helped the village deal 
with some bandits.

Since that day, the village had maintained the tradition of stringing 
the ropes to assist their guardian and his descendants find their way 
around without getting lost and leaving them defenseless.  Using the 
guide ropes was second nature to one born of Hibiki blood and raised in 
Kikaitani.  Ryoga was one of the few who ever went this far out of the 
valley, but several years ago he had gotten the assistance of one of the 
villagers to help him string a rope to this point.  Now all he had to do 
was walk forward.

Ryoga took one step, glancing back to see that the guide rope was still 
where he had left it.  He breathed a sigh of relief and then growled at 
himself for being so childish about this little fear of his.  The worst 
thing that could happen would be that he got lost, and he knew that he 
would find his way back, eventually.  However, he also knew that he 
would never be able to fulfill his vow of vengeance unless he kept on 
moving forward, and he took a second step, and then he took a third.  A 
grim smile lit his face as he began to walk towards his ultimate goal, 
to finally prove his superiority in martial arts to the boy who had 
defeated him time and again over the years, ever since they were both 
young children.

Ukyo Kuonji.

                   ******************************

Nodoka moved through her kata with grace and speed, but her thoughts 
were troubled as her bokken slashed through the air.  Her skillful 
strikes alternated between decapitating and eviscerating the imaginary 
foes that surrounded her.  I hope that this first meeting tomorrow goes 
well.  Ranma only seems to be doing it for my sake.

She picked up the pace of her sword kata, trying to find her center in 
the purity of her movements, but her thoughts remained very troubled.  
Ranma hasn't shown very much interest in girls, only in his studies.  
Could I have rushed him before he was ready?  She paused at the end of 
her kata as she took deep breaths.  Her arms were steady as they held 
her weapon in place.

"What troubles you today, Nodoka?" asked a pleasant female voice behind 
her.  "Your moves lack their usual sureness."

Nodoka turned around.  Her friend, Achika Masaki, stood behind her with 
a worried look on her face.  Nodoka relaxed her stance and swiftly 
lowered her wooden blade.  She paused to wipe a line of sweat that had 
escaped the boundaries of her headband, and she sighed a little bit.

"Has Genma done something?" asked Achika with a smile.  She began to do 
stretching exercises as she talked, limbering herself up for today's 
match against her friend.

"No," replied Nodoka with a smile.  "It's not Genma.  Ranma has his 
first meeting with a potential bride and her family tomorrow.  I'm just 
feeling a little worried."

"It's nothing to be worried about," said Achika with a smile.  "I've 
been through it with Tenchi, and everything worked out fine.  If the 
first potential bride doesn't work out, then move on to another that 
does.  Tenchi and the Hino girl make a lovely couple.  She dotes on him 
quite a bit," said Achika proudly.

"I only hope that I can find a girl to make Ranma so happy," said Nodoka 
with a troubled look.  "The three prospects I was given all come from 
fine families.  One is even of high nobility."

"Just let events take their natural course, my friend," said Achika with 
a smile.  "Ranma is a fine young man, almost as good a catch as my own 
son.  I'm sure that the women will be clamoring around him before you 
realize it."

"I just worry about him so," said Nodoka, frowning, her thoughts already 
on the meeting tomorrow.  She wanted it to be perfect.

"I really don't think you have a thing to worry about," said Achika as 
she continued her warm-up exercises.  She gave Nodoka a sly look.  "Are 
you ready for a defeat today?"

"That is a question I should be asking you, old friend," replied Nodoka 
with a smile, her troubles forgotten.  For a time, she could pretend she 
was a teenaged girl again, when testing her skills in battle was all 
that had really mattered to her.

                   ******************************

Ukyo finished her exercises with a proud flourish.  Her battle spatula 
was returned to its sheath on her back, and she plucked several of her 
miniature throwing spatulas from their sheaths, studying the nearby 
target.  With a 'kiai' yell she leaped into the air, both hands flashing 
out in precision throws.  From one hand she buried the thrown weapons 
into the neck and head of the wooden practice dummy, and from her other 
hand the remainder flew to strike it in the chest and vital organs.  She 
landed with a fluid grace, drawing her battle spatula once more.  The 
forest clearing around her was soothing to her as she went through 
fighting movements that were centuries old.

However, Ukyo was not so engrossed in her practice that she failed to 
sense the presence in the woods behind her.  She pretended not to notice 
as she continued to slash and thrust with the spatula, allowing the 
presence to draw ever closer.  There was only one person other than her 
grandfather who ever came to this section of the woods.  She let the 
intruder approach within striking distance.

Ukyo smiled when she heard the distinctive sound of air rustling against 
cloth rising behind her, and a distinctive battle cry.

"UKYO KUONJI!  PREPARE TO DIE!"

The intruder had taken to the air in a long jump at her supposedly 
unprotected back.  Her ponytail bobbed around as she hopped to the left 
and whirled around.  Her spatula came up into a perfect block as the 
intruder's weapon slammed hard against it.  The two figures then 
remained locked in that pose for a moment.

The intruder was revealed to be Ryoga Hibiki, his black-spotted bandanna 
holding back his mop of unruly hair.  His large backpack still rested on 
his back, but it did not seem to hinder him in the slightest.  His 
determined expression was matched by one on Ukyo's face.  His heavy 
umbrella and the shaft of her spatula pressed against each other as he 
slowly began to force her to give ground through sheer strength.

"Ryoga," said Ukyo with a strained nod.  "It's been a while."  Her tone 
was pleasant, but the very determined look on her face did not go away.  
The soles of her shoes were leaving shallow furrows as Ryoga muscled her 
back.  She felt a rather pleasant tingling running along her nerves at 
Ryoga's presence, an odd excitement filling her body at testing herself 
against him.  They were sensations that she had begun to feel during 
their last few years of fighting against each other.

"Ukyo," growled Ryoga with a nod of his own, his expression now 
darkening up even more as he felt a similar tingling sensation running 
through his body.  These feelings only made him angrier.  Damn you, 
Kuonji! he thought, confused as to why he would feel this way about 
another boy, but anger consumed the confusion.  "It looks like I get to 
settle things with you sooner than I hoped.  Prepare for a beating."

"Heh.  You're welcome to try, Ryoga," snarled Ukyo with a cocky look, 
whipping the shaft of her spatula free.  Ryoga attacked again with his 
umbrella, and she blocked him once more.  The stillness of the forest 
was only broken by the loud clash of their weapons resounding against 
each other.  Her somewhat longer weapon was proving to be a slight 
disadvantage at such close range, and she managed to avoid getting hit 
by his umbrella by the slimmest of margins.  She backed away from him a 
half pace as they circled around each other.

Ukyo leaped backwards in a smooth somersault to put some more range 
between her and Ryoga.  He's gotten a lot better in the last several 
months, she thought as she eyed her opponent.  However, I've gotten a 
lot better too.  She forced Ryoga to stay at range as the blade of her 
weapon slashed at him.

Ryoga came leaping in as Ukyo took to the air as well, her jump carrying 
her a little higher than his own.  She blocked his strikes in midair 
with the spatula and managed to land a hard blow with the flat of it 
onto the top of his head and making a resounding clanging sound.  He 
plummeted face-first into the soft mulch of the forest floor as she 
landed gracefully on her feet about ten feet away from him.  She stuck 
her tongue out at him playfully when he pulled his head up to see her.

"Why, you..." growled Ryoga softly as he charged her once more.  His 
umbrella strikes blurred by her head and body as she dodged and blocked 
deftly with her spatula.  Ukyo was supple grace and strength combined 
into one as she evaded his attacks like water.  Ryoga was growing 
frustrated.  "Stand still and fight like a man!"

"What was that?" asked Ukyo, somewhat angrily, in the middle of another 
leap.  The amused look on her face had grown irritated.  She began going 
on the offensive.  Ryoga ducked under one of the swings of her spatula, 
but a lock of his hair didn't quite make it.  It fell to the ground, 
unnoticed by both combatants.  "Big talk from someone I keep beating up 
every time he manages to wander into my life."

"You dance around like some kind of girl," said Ryoga tauntingly.  "If 
you're going to dress like a man, then you should at least fight like 
one."  His fist managed to find a chink in her defenses and impacted 
into her gut, forcing Ukyo back.  He smirked and pressed his attack.

Ukyo's spatula, backed by the full power of her shoulder muscles, 
slammed into his face in reply.  Her following strike was a kick to his 
chest.  She saw Ryoga blinking at the pain, but he didn't seem much 
affected otherwise.

"Did I touch a nerve, ninja boy?" taunted Ryoga with another smirk.

Ukyo growled and redoubled her efforts to attack.  Now it was Ryoga who 
was doing most of the blocking and dodging as edged steel slashed and 
thrust at him.  He managed to slow up her assault a bit with a couple of 
strikes that managed to connect, but they were off-center.  Ukyo 
shrugged off the pain.  The nerve of this... this jackass!  Making fun 
of my femininity like that.

Ryoga managed to disarm her of her weapon with a very powerful strike 
from his umbrella.  It flew off and embedded itself deeply into a nearby 
tree.  Ryoga smirked at her again.  Ukyo leaped up and kicked him hard 
in the face for the smirk.  Ryoga stumbled back, and his eyes crossed 
for a moment.  Ukyo knocked the umbrella out of his hand with another 
kick.

Ryoga backed off, and Ukyo eyed him for a moment with a cool smile.  She 
stepped gracefully over his umbrella and blocked his path to it.  Ukyo 
smirked, eyeing her spatula for a moment.

"I don't need a weapon to beat you," she said with a grin.

"Come on and try it," said Ryoga with a serious look.  He gestured for 
her to come forward with one hand.

They leaped at each other in a blur of fists and feet.  Ryoga's superior 
strength was nullified by Ukyo's greater speed and ability to dodge.  He 
shrugged off most of her blows, but very few of his strikes managed to 
even touch her.  Her punches slipped by his guard, but Ukyo had to 
settle for trying to wear him down rather than a single knockout punch.

The sound of a pair of hands loudly clapping stopped both young warriors 
in mid-struggle.  They were both so startled to find that they had an 
audience that neither of them took advantage of the other's distraction.  
Ryoga noticed that he had the collar of Ukyo's tunic held tightly in his 
fist, the tingling he was experiencing at such nearness to his rival in 
martial arts skill feeling so very pleasant.  He quickly let go and 
backed off, angry once again that he felt such feelings for his long-
time sparring partner.  A brief blush was on his face, but Ukyo didn't 
appear to notice.

"That was a magnificent display, children," said the elderly man that 
seemed to materialize from out of the nearby edge of the forest.  It was 
Genji Kuonji, the eldest of the Kuonji Clan, and Ukyo's grandfather.  
His monk's robes whispered as he stepped closer and a faint twinkle was 
in his ancient eyes.  "I see that you have done some improving since I 
last saw you, Ryoga Hibiki.  You do your family proud."

"Grandfather," said Ukyo with some surprise.  "What brings you out this 
far into the forest?"

"Just enjoying a walk among the wonders of nature," replied the elderly 
man with a smile.  He looked at Ryoga.  "And what brings one of the 
wandering Hibikis to this area of the mountains?  I think it's been a 
couple of months since your last visit, young Ryoga."

"My guess is that the idiot has been practicing again and wanted another 
rematch, when he should know that he won't ever beat me," said Ukyo with 
a playful smile.  She chuckled at Ryoga when he looked at her with a 
growl.  "Am I wrong?"

The elderly Kuonji stepped between then before it got violent again.  
"Don't tease the boy, Ukyo," he said reprovingly.  "The Hibikis have 
been our allies for over two centuries.  You two should try to get along 
better."

"Yes, Grandfather," said Ukyo with her head bowed.  A moment later her 
head snapped back up.  "He started it though.  He jumped at me from the 
trees."

"You're the one that's always bragging about what a great ninja warrior 
you are," growled Ryoga.  He pointed his thumb at his chest.  "I know 
for a fact that I'm more than a match for you, Kuonji.  I just thought 
I'd prove it to you.  If you're so great, then how did I manage to sneak 
up on you?"

"What was that, you jackass?" snarled Ukyo right back.  "I can take you 
in a fight any day of the week!"  She poked her finger hard against 
Ryoga's chest, her anger letting her ignore the pleasant feeling she got 
from being near him.  "For your information, I let you get that close to 
me.  The way that you stomp around, I'm surprised that you can sneak up 
on anybody.  Some great martial artist you are."

"Children," said Genji sternly.  They both looked at him guiltily.  He 
eyed them both, and the two of them wouldn't meet his eyes.  He sighed 
gently.  I wish I knew why these two felt it to be so necessary to 
antagonize each other.  Still, it reminds me a bit of some of the many 
glorious fights between me and that old ogre, Shiro, Ryoga's great-
grandfather.

"You should be getting back to the house soon, Ukyo," said the old man.  
"Your parents are probably wondering where you are.  You have to get 
packed, after all."

"Ack!" Ukyo exclaimed.  "That's right!  I have to get going."  In a blur 
of motion, she gathered up all of her weapons and resheathed them, and 
then she sprinted across the woods in the direction of the shrine.  
Ryoga watched the ninja girl go with a surprised look on his face.  
Genji studied Ryoga with a slight smile.

"Walk with me, Ryoga?" asked the elderly Kuonji with a gentle smile.  
Ryoga shrugged and picked up his umbrella.  They walked out into the 
forest on one of the small trails.  It was quite peaceful.

"Where's he off to in such a hurry?" asked Ryoga, a little gruffly.

"Ukyo's going to the capital," replied Genji.  "I don't know all of the 
specifics, but I imagine that the boy will be gone for a long time."  He 
turned away to watch the wind blowing gently through the tree branches 
above.

"He's- he's what?" stuttered Ryoga.  He stopped walking and looked 
surprised.

"He's going to the capital, I think to study the finer skills of our 
Clan's cooking arts with an aunt," said the elderly man.  A very loud 
crashing sound started behind him and immediately began receding into 
the distance.  He turned around to find that Ryoga wasn't there behind 
him anymore.  A meandering line of broken trees went off into the 
distance.  It looked like it was curving in the opposite direction from 
the Kuonji shrine.

"Such a strange boy," he muttered to no one in particular.  The old man 
smiled as he looked once more up into the trees.  I wonder how long it 
will take him to get to the capital?

Damn you, Kuonji! thought Ryoga as he ran in what he hoped was the right 
direction.  If I have to follow you to the very ends of the Earth to 
finally defeat you, then I will!

                   ******************************

Before the recent accident in Ranma's laboratory, Professor Genma 
Saotome was normally not a man for drinking.  Dulling the mental 
faculties with the poison of alcohol had always seemed to him to be a 
silly thing for a grown man to do.  His colleagues all thought of him as 
a dull sort, devoted to his work and his family.  However, for the new 
Genma Saotome, drinking was a wonderful way to pass the time.

The boy has a fine life ahead of him, Genma thought as he took a sip of 
sake.  It burned like sweet fire down his throat.  I'll see to it that 
he becomes a great martial artist.  Ah, to have a chance to forget the 
mistakes of the past.  This time I'll do it right.  No more mistakes for 
this Genma, no sir.  He grinned happily at his good fortune.

Genma swallowed the sake remaining in his cup.  He waved off the bar 
maid when she stopped by his table to pour another cup for him.  He 
picked up the small bottle and served himself, leaving the girl to shrug 
and go on to the next customer.  Genma took another sip of sake and 
grimaced at the burning taste.  It seemed to taste differently than he 
remembered, but it was becoming more tolerable with each cup he poured 
down his throat.

Still, I need some way to derail Nodoka's plans for a while.  A wife is 
one of the last things that Ranma needs right now.  The boy has the 
potential to be an even greater fighter than that ungrateful son of mine 
back home.  A wife would only distract him from his training, all that 
constant yammering.  Genma sighed.

You were, and still are, the only woman for me, Nodoka-chan, he thought 
with a smile, the memories of the two versions of Nodoka blurring 
together in his mind as he thought about her.  A tear formed in one eye 
as he remembered his wedding day.  You were so beautiful that day, 
Nodoka-chan.  Married life was a difficult adjustment at first, but it 
was so nice to have someone at my side, to warm my bed at night on a 
regular basis.  A rather lecherous grin appeared on his face at the 
thought of his wedding night.

Perhaps I could honor the agreement with Soun in spirit in this life, 
using this more obedient Ranma, thought Genma, staring into the rippling 
liquid in his cup.  Heh.  I'm sure that I can get the boy to obey me.  
After all, I am his father now.  Of course he will listen to me.  I'll 
just tell him I was confused when I woke up on that couch, but I'm 
better now.  Yeah, that should work.  I'll have to talk to Fuyutsuki-san 
in the morning though.

An evil grin appeared on his face as he thought, Such a shame that 
Ranma's experiments will have to end, but he's going to carry on the 
Anything-Goes School now if I have any say in his life.  He can forget 
all about science.  He took another deep sip of sake.  The taste was 
definitely becoming more palatable.  He waved the bar maid over and told 
her to bring him another bottle.

Perhaps I can use Nodoka's desires to engage Ranma to my own benefit, he 
thought with a chuckle.  After all, it is perfectly legal in the Empire 
to have more than one wife.  Think of all the dowries I could collect 
that way, and playing them off against each other would keep the issue 
of marriage in the distance-  Genma blinked.  Maybe it was the effects 
of the sake on his brain, but that idea didn't seem to be totally 
without merit.

At that moment, someone sat down at his table.

                   ******************************

Genma Saotome was doing something totally out of the range of his normal 
character when Soun Tendo would finally confront the man.  Deciding that 
there was too much of a risk of failure if he did not take a much more 
active role in arranging Nabiki's future life with Ranma, Soun had 
decided to try a more direct approach with the Saotome family patriarch.  
Towards that end, he had detailed a small number of his most junior 
agents to watch Genma, explaining it as a training exercise.  They had 
reported on all of his movements to Soun over the past several days.

An hour ago, Soun had received a phone call from one of his men that 
Genma Saotome was in one of the small bars near his home, drinking.  A 
relaxed social environment suited Soun's needs quite nicely, so he had 
taken advantage of this unexpected opportunity.  He patted the carefully 
written piece of paper in his jacket pocket as he stepped into the bar.

Soun spotted Genma at a quiet table towards the back, three empty 
bottles of sake near one of his elbows.  He was staring down into a 
small cup of sake when Soun sat down next to him.  Genma blinked his 
eyes and focused on Soun's face.

"Greetings, Saotome-san," said Soun pleasantly.  He gestured at the 
waitress to bring more sake without looking up.  "My name is Soun Tendo.  
I don't know if you remember me, and I hope that you do not mind if I 
join you.  I have a rather modest proposition that I wished to discuss 
with you that concerned your son."

Genma was not as drunk as he must have appeared to Soun.  Brief memories 
of his past in this life in regards to Soun Tendo surfaced in his 
memories.  Theirs had not been a harmonious relationship, and Genma 
chuckled at one memory of stuffing a belligerent Soun Tendo into a 
garbage can for reasons that he could not recall at the moment.  He 
smiled inwardly and thanked the gods for granting him this boon.  This 
was going to take some careful handling.  Ranma will thank me for this.  
I'm sure of it.

"Tendo-san," said Genma with a slight slurring of his voice.  "I am 
honored to remake your acquaintance.  I believe that my son is going to 
the Imperial Academy with two of your daughters."  After the barmaid 
brought them another couple of bottles, he poured Soun a full cup of 
sake and gestured for him to drink.

"This is true," acknowledged Soun.  It was a little bit early in the 
afternoon for him to start drinking, but it was for a good cause.  He 
took a long sip of sake, relishing the sensations as it slid down his 
throat.  "My daughters Nabiki and Akane have mentioned your son to me 
once or twice."

"My son has also mentioned your daughters to me as well," said Genma.  
He poured another full cup of sake for Soun when he noticed that the 
other man's cup was getting empty.  "I imagine that they are fine and 
upstanding young women.  A tribute to the new generation of the Empire."

"You are too kind, Saotome-san," said Soun.  He took another deep sip of 
sake.  It was a pleasant change of pace to relax like this.  It had been 
a long time since he had let himself do so, not since before the death 
of his dear wife.  He drained his cup of sake and held it out for 
another refill.

An unknown number of cups of sake later, the two men were acting like 
the best of friends.  Genma had managed to control his level of intake 
somewhat, but the world had taken on an even more pleasant fog than it 
had before.  The bar maid removed another empty bottle of sake and 
replaced it with a fresh one.  Soun slapped a bill down on the table 
with a drunken smile.

"W-where w-was I?" asked Genma drunkenly.  He blinked his eyes owlishly.  
"Oh, yes, my wife.  Wonderful woman is my Nodoka-chan, but she's so 
stubborn.  She wants my son to get... get married.  She and I just need 
to find the boy a good wife."  Genma took another deep sip of sake.  He 
briefly wondered why he ever thought it tasted differently.

"Marriage is..." said Soun before pausing.  He took a moment to focus 
his thoughts.  "Marriage is a wonderful thing.  I miss my wife a great 
deal."  Soun paused and felt a tear forming in his eye.  He jerked his 
head back and harshly mustered his will to stop any more from flowing.  
I will not cry, he thought grimly.  I am an important man in the Empire, 
in the Security Directorate.  I must be strong for the girls.

Soun's hand brushed against the pocket of his jacket.  He suddenly 
recalled his reasons for seeking out Genma Saotome.  He reached in and 
pulled out a folded sheet of paper.  He carefully spread it out on a 
clean section of the table.  Genma eyed it blearily.

"What is that, Soun old buddy?" said Genma with a smile.  He leaned down 
to read it, but his eyes wouldn't quite focus right.

"The answer to your problems, Genma my friend," answered Soun with a 
smile.  Now if I can just remember what it says.  He paused for a moment 
before it came back to him.  Oh, yes.  Soun pressed one finger to the 
symbols printed on the piece of paper.

"Your son needs a wife, right?" asked Soun, swaying a little in his 
seat.

"Yes," answered Genma.  He adjusted his glasses a little.  They had 
slipped down a bit on one side.  "The boy needs one to make Nodoka 
happy."  Genma felt tears in his eyes.

"Sign this paper then," said Soun.  He managed to pull a pen from his 
pocket on the third try.  "My Nabiki needs a husband, and she's already 
one of those chosen for your son by the matchmaker.  You engage your son 
to my daughter, and we both win."

Genma couldn't believe his incredible good fortune.  This is just too 
perfect, thought Genma blearily.  Nabiki will be the first in line, and 
I can even honor the agreement with Soun, that other Soun, in spirit.  
Oh, this is indeed a blessed day.  I'm sure Nodoka will be pleased.  
Genma took the pen from Soun's hand.  It only took him two tries.

"I agree," said Genma with a smile.  Soun nodded, eager to finish the 
deal and get home.  He had a staff meeting in the morning.  He could not 
remember if he had told his driver to remain outside.

"That is... emimen... eminently agreeable," said Soun.  He watched Genma 
make his mark, in rather good penmanship for his inebriated state, at 
the bottom.  The two of them shook hands, both smiling.

"You are a good... good father, Genma Saotome," said Soun as he stood 
up.  The room seemed to be weaving in a not entirely unpleasant way.  
"We should do this... do this again sometime."

"I agree, Tendo-san," said Genma with a happy nod.  "You have lifted my 
spirits.  I salute you."  Genma executed a sloppy military salute and 
promptly let his head fall to the top of the table.  Snoring sounds came 
from him a moment later.

Soun carefully folded the paper and placed it into his jacket pocket.  
He checked it once or twice to make sure that it was in there before he 
staggered to the door.  The weaving of the room was becoming a little 
less pleasant now.  One of his men was waiting outside.

"Are you all right, sir?" asked the Security officer.  Soun could not 
recall the man's name at the moment.

"I-I'm a little bit... drunk, son," said Soun with great dignity.  He 
made a shushing sound as he raised one finger up in front of his lips.  
"You can't tell anyone I was in this condition.   If you do, I'll have 
you... have you shot."  Soun smiled.  "Please drive me home."

"Right away, sir!" snapped the Security officer with precision, before 
helping Soun into the car.  He got into the front and drove off quickly, 
a snoozing Soun Tendo in the back seat.

                   ******************************

*** Earth  +1.612,+1.509

Shampoo found Ranma-chan after only a short period of searching.  Based 
on the angle of Akane's punt and her knowledge of the area, she tracked 
her quarry to the rear of the local fish-market.  The target of her 
search had pulled a dirty sweater from a dumpster and was playing with 
it.  As the garment shredded under the "claws" of the Cat-Fist, Ranma-
chan mewled with pleasure.  As Shampoo came closer, she clicked her 
tongue to attract Ranma-chan's attention.

Ranma-chan turned to look at the familiar shape, recognizing the Amazon 
almost instantly.  Her thoughts were too primitive for words to convey, 
but she saw the Amazon as a warm lap provider, a companion, and also 
something more, something that was almost akin to a mate, but not quite.  
Instinct told her that without the proper smell and actions, she would 
neither mate nor have a mate.  This person in front of her had neither.  
Still, there were ample warm feelings for the purple-haired girl, so, 
with a joyous "Meow," the redhead quickly pounced onto Shampoo, bounding 
into her with abandon, and knocking the other girl down with an animal-
like cry of happiness.

Sprawled out very inelegantly with her legs out in front of her by the 
weight of the redhead resting on her lap, Shampoo looked down with a 
bemused smile.  Quickly rearranging herself into a more comfortable and 
ladylike position, she seated herself with her knees together in front 
of herself with Ranma purring there.  Shaking her head in puzzlement, 
she wondered, Now how do I get you home?

Resigning herself to a long afternoon, Shampoo petted her friend on the 
head as she muttered, "Silly Ranma."

Ranma-chan looked up at the Amazon, a flickering of recognition in her 
blue eyes.  "Mrowr," she drawled out slowly, smiling much like a cat 
would.  When she saw Shampoo looking down upon her and smiling gently, 
the redhead lifted up her head quickly and placed a catlike kiss right 
onto the Amazon's lips.  She then settled back down and curled up into a 
more comfortable position, resuming her purring.

For a very long moment, Shampoo looked as if she was carved from stone.  
Unnoticed by either of the two girls, a few scraps of newspaper and some 
cherry blossoms lazily blew past.  A second gentle zephyr blew some more 
past a few moments later.

The Amazon's eyes were wide with disbelief as her trembling hand reached 
up and gently touched itself to lips.  Ranma... kissed... me, she 
thought, as her thoughts finally lurched back into motion after an 
unknown amount of time.  This had been a day of somewhat shocking events 
for the purple-haired girl.  She brushed her fingers slowly along her 
lips, her gaze gradually moving down to rest on the sleeping figure in 
her lap.  Her hand gently dropped back down upon the sleeping girl, a 
tranquil smile now on Shampoo's face.

                   ******************************

Genma had separated from the group heading back to the Tendo household 
shortly after emerging from the greenhouse, and his glasses gleamed with 
reflected sunlight as he walked the streets searching for his son.  As 
he searched, he reviewed his counterpart's life.  As much as he hated to 
admit it, he came to the only conclusion he could: the man he was in 
this tangent was both a coward and a fool.

For example, there was no real honor in the agreement behind the 
engagement between Akane and Ranma, only the foolish plottings of two 
men who had somehow never grown out of childhood.  The bond between them 
was forged by the training under a perverted master of martial arts.  
The "joining together of the two Schools" was an alcohol-induced promise 
originally, but one that both were far too proud to deny when sober.  It 
was a flimsy reason that he would gladly expose to the light of day if 
Soun did not agree to dissolve the agreement.

Personally, Genma held honor to be important, a reflection of the 
heritage he was born to.  However, he did not consider it to be the 
ultimate arbiter of all decisions.  To him, honor was carried in the 
heart, and shown in the actions of a righteous man.  For it to be used 
as a defense in the face of all reasonable thought offended Genma on a 
deeply personal level.  The Tendo girl is obviously not happy with being 
forced to go along with such an asinine agreement, and Ranma most 
certainly is not, he thought, pausing briefly at a corner to watch the 
passing throngs on the street.  He sighed briefly.  Soun Tendo, that 
blubbering fool, relies on his daughters for far too much, more than any 
responsible parent should.  If he tries any of his usual tricks, then I 
will simply assume the 'dishonor' upon myself for the sake of my son's 
happiness and unilaterally dissolve the engagement agreement.  I need to 
get the boy out of that house, anyway.  He won't be able to work on a 
solution to our problems there.  Not to mention that the only person 
really worth a damn there seems to be Kasumi.

A weight seemed to lift from his shoulders as he nodded at the choice he 
had just made.  Then, his thoughts turned to the other great problem to 
deal with, one in which Ranma was not even aware of.  That only leaves 
Nodoka to contend with, he thought.  Genma sighed again, as his mind 
filled with memories of the highly traditional woman that this Nodoka 
Saotome was, a woman with peculiar notions on some things.  Despite 
Ranma's curse, he would have to try to convince Nodoka of the boy's 
'manliness.'  If Ranma truly was trapped inside his counterpart's life, 
as Genma was, then there was little he could do to avoid it.  They would 
need someplace to stay, after all.

Still, it should not be too difficult, Genma found himself hoping.  
Ranma, in this life, has undergone and overcome trials that any ten 
ordinary men would have broken under.  Even when in female form this 
other Ranma was very much a man, perhaps too much at times.  But, I must 
remember to have a little talk with Ranma before we show up on Nodoka's 
doorstep.  I am reasonably certain that we will no longer be welcome in 
the Tendo household after this night is over.  Personally, Genma felt a 
faint twinge of regret at that, but he was convinced that what he was 
about to do was for the best.

                   ******************************

*** Earth  0.000,0.000

Listlessly, Nabiki flipped through the pages of her magazine.  It was 
one of the many fashion magazines that she was normally quite addicted 
to, but not today.  It was very quiet in the Tendo household, too quiet 
for Nabiki's tastes.  She set down her magazine and laid back on her 
bed, lacing her fingers behind her head as she stared up at the ceiling.  
Akane had gone to the movies, so she was not home when their father had 
been brought home by one of the men from the Directorate, the Tendo 
patriarch reeking of sake.  Since she and Kyoko had put Soun to bed, the 
house had been quiet.

With a sigh, Nabiki rolled up to a seated position upon her bed.  "I 
can't believe how bored I am," she said to herself.  Continuing her 
dialogue silently, she thought, If this was that other life, then I'm 
sure something would be happening now.  Smirking at some of her new 
memories, she thought, Some sort of a challenge, a new enemy to test 
myself against.  Something exciting would be happening.  She fell 
backwards to lay on the bed again.  It never stayed quiet for long 
there.  Looking at her clock, she sighed, I can't believe it's been only 
one minute since I last looked at it.

Nabiki suddenly smiled as she figured out something to do to pass the 
time.  She was absolutely certain that it would provide her with some 
sort of distraction.  Sitting up once again, she reached out with one 
hand and picked up the telephone in her room, and her fingers began 
swiftly stabbing at the buttons on the pad at the base of the phone.  
She listened to the line ringing, once, twice, and then three times 
before it was picked up.

"Hello?  Saotome residence," said a pleasant female voice on the other 
end.

"Hello," said Nabiki pleasantly.  "Is Ranma available?  This is Nabiki 
Tendo calling."  There was a pause on the other end.

"Tendo-san?" asked Nodoka, a little surprised.  "No, I'm afraid that my 
son isn't here right now.  He and my husband left this morning to do 
some work in Ranma's lab at the Academy.  They still haven't returned."

Even better, thought Nabiki, finding herself eager to try Ranma's device 
once again, even if only to peek into that one life once again.  It was 
amusing to visit, but she was glad that she didn't live there.  She 
cleared her throat with a delicate sound and said, "Oh, I see.  Thank 
you for the information."

"Nabiki-chan," said Nodoka suddenly, and perhaps a little too eagerly.  
"I want you to know that I am looking forward to the meeting with you 
and your father this week."

"Why, thank you, Saotome-san," said Nabiki with a smile on her face, and 
a pleasant tone in her voice.  "I am looking forward to it as well."  
Her index finger slowly wound the phone cord around itself.  "Ranma is 
an interesting young man."

"I'm glad you think so," said Nodoka happily.  "He works very hard at 
his studies, and he should offer any girl a wonderful future as his 
wife.  Don't you think so?"

"Uh, I'm sure he will," said Nabiki, suddenly feeling a little awkward 
at the unexpectedly high level of eagerness in Nodoka's voice.  "My 
father is most interested in joining our two families.  He feels that 
Ranma will make an excellent husband."

"I'm so happy to hear that," said Nodoka, her voice carrying the full 
measure of her emotions.  "But what about yourself, Dear?  Aren't you 
looking forward to meeting my husband and myself?  I just know that 
Ranma is looking forward to this meeting as well."

"He is?" asked Nabiki, a faint note of surprise surfacing in her voice.  
"I mean, I'm sure he is."  She felt oddly happy at the thought that 
Ranma might be looking forward to a marriage meeting between their 
families.  "I am, too," she said impulsively, before a blush crossed her 
cheeks very briefly.  She slowly continued to wind and unwind the 
telephone cord around her index finger repeatedly.

"It was nice of you to call, Nabiki-chan," said Nodoka.  "Shall I pass 
on any messages to my son?"

"No, that's all right," said Nabiki calmly, regaining control of her own 
emotions with consummate skill.  "I'll talk to him soon enough at the 
Academy."

"Very well," said Nodoka pleasantly.  "Goodbye now."

"Goodbye," answered Nabiki, setting the phone back into its cradle.  She 
rested her palms flat on her bed after hanging up the phone, staring out 
the window at the afternoon sky.  Her thoughts whirled a bit.  So, Ranma 
is looking forward to the meeting with me and Daddy, huh? she mused, 
crossing her legs and leaning forward to rest her chin in her palm.  
That honestly did surprise her a little, but it also brought a smirk to 
her face.  Maybe I'll let him win once or twice to keep his hopes up.  
It wouldn't do for my future husband to be seen as totally outclassed by 
me.  After all, he and I will know that he'll never defeat me on his 
own,  she confidently smiled as she finished her thought.

"Well, it's not like there's anything really keeping me in this house 
this afternoon," Nabiki thought out loud, hopping off of her bed.  "I'll 
just go see what him and his old man are up to."  She smiled as she 
changed out of the shorts and T-shirt she was wearing, and putting on a 
clean set of what she was now calling her 'martial artist outfit.'

When Nabiki was done dressing, she headed out of her room with a 
confident bound and then down the stairs, two at a time.  Pausing 
briefly in the front door area, she slipped on her shoes before heading 
out into the late afternoon sunshine.  Her mood already lightened, she 
took in a deep breath and let it out, feeling happy.  As she headed in 
the direction of the Academy, she hopped up onto one of the fences 
running beside the street she needed to head down and began jogging 
along it, her steps light and sure.

Reaching the Academy grounds after many minutes of running, her 
breathing only a little deeper from the effort, Nabiki walked in through 
the main gates and shaded her eyes against the late afternoon sunshine 
coming over the main building.  She saw that the grounds were all but 
deserted, only a few of the janitorial crew washing windows on one side 
of the building.  She ignored them and walked into the main door.

The lights were out when she stepped off the last step in the staircase 
leading down to the basement area.  Pulling her small flashlight out of 
a pants pocket, she played it around the corridor, wondering if Ranma 
and his father were still here.  Looks like there was some sort of a 
power failure or something.  Ranma and his dad are probably gone.  
Still, I might as well take a quick check in his lab while I'm here, as 
long as I came all this way.  She continued on down into the quiet 
darkness of the basement regions of the Academy, her small light giving 
off a small circle of illumination in front of her.

The door to Ranma's lab was closed, and Nabiki put her hand on the knob 
and twisted it.  To her surprise, the door was unlocked and opened quite 
easily, making only a slight squeak.  She peeked her head in and called 
out, "Ranma?  Are you in here?"  As she did so, she brought her small 
light up and played it around the room.  Ranma leaving the door to his 
precious lab unlocked had her a little disturbed.  It did not seem at 
all like him.

Nabiki's light revealed Ranma lying on the couch, his eyes closed, and 
he did not appear to be breathing.  She inhaled sharply, surprised at 
the sight of him lying there and looking so still.  She hurried over to 
his comatose form, noting the interface headset resting on his skull as 
she approached.  A quick check showed that he was breathing, slowly and 
shallowly, and she relaxed muscles that had unconsciously tensed with 
concern and sighed with relief.  She turned and looked at the resonator, 
seeing a few lights blinking on the device, but the monitor screen was 
dark.

"What have you done now, Ranma-kun?" Nabiki muttered, her light moving 
across his face.  He appeared to her to be sleeping, and she peeled back 
one eyelid to see his eye staring up at her, unmoving.  The sheer 
emptiness in its gaze, almost corpselike, disturbed her, and she 
wondered if this was how she would have appeared to others if anyone had 
looked in on her during her own use of Ranma's device.  It was a 
sobering thought to her as she let his eyelid close, her hand moving to 
rest lightly on his cheek.  She could still feel her desires for him, 
the soft and pleasant tingling along her nerves engendered in her from 
his mere presence, and simply touching him skin-to-skin made her heart 
beat a little faster.

On an impulse, Nabiki knelt down and gently pressed her lips to his, 
vainly hoping to provoke some sort of reaction, but he did not respond, 
and his body remained still and all but lifeless.  To her surprise, she 
felt a single tear suddenly roll down one cheek, and she rubbed it away 
angrily as she stood back up and glared down at the pigtailed scholar.  
Crying was a sign of weakness, and Nabiki Tendo was not weak.  No man 
was ever going to make her feel weak if she had anything to say about 
it.  At least her getting angry at him helped push the painful feelings 
of helplessness away for a time.

Damn you, Ranma Saotome, she thought in sudden frustration as she stood 
over him.  She could shatter bone or bricks with her bare hands, move 
her body with lethal grace and speed, but, despite these abilities, she 
felt incredibly helpless as she looked down on his comatose form.  Her 
gaze turned into a glare at him.  You and I are going to have words when 
you wake up after this.  You can count on it.

Resolving to figure out what was wrong, Nabiki turned to study the 
workbench, moving her light around, and quickly noticed the scattered 
tools and the discarded component.  She sat down in the chair in front 
of the small computer unit and hesitantly tapped a finger on the space 
bar of the keyboard, hoping that she would not disturb the experiment 
running.  The screen slowly lit up, and one thought went across her mind 
while she waited, Where the hell is Genma Saotome?

The screen finally lit up and scrolled out lines of text, the system 
updating the information displayed earlier, words that were both 
somewhat informative and disturbing all the same.

*SWITCH TO EMERGENCY FUEL CELL BACKUPS HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL.

*SIGNATURE LOCK MAINTAINED ON TEST SUBJECT.

*FUEL CELLS CURRENT POWER OUTPUT INSUFFICIENT TO ACTIVATE RETRIEVAL.

*CAPACITOR TRICKLE CHARGER ACTIVATED.

*TIME REMAINING FOR SUFFICIENT CHARGE:  05 HOURS, 22 MINUTES.

Nabiki licked suddenly dry lips and quickly glanced over at Ranma's 
unconscious form for a moment.  As she turned back to face the screen, 
another minute ticked off, and then the monitor darkened back into its 
power-saving mode once again.  Checking her watch by flashlight, she 
noted the time was now 4:46.  She sighed aloud as she realized that 
there were only two things that she might do now: restore main power to 
Ranma's lab, or simply wait for his backups to restore him back to this 
life.  She grumbled in her thoughts, Damn you, Ranma-kun.

After several attempts to figure out what was wrong with the power 
failed, a dejected Nabiki returned to Ranma's lab and closed the door 
securely behind her, locking it so that no one would disturb Ranma and 
herself.  She briefly considered that perhaps her inability to restore 
power was just as well, since the surge might cause the computer to lose 
the signal lock.  Also, she wasn't exactly sure why, but she felt 
certain that disconnecting Ranma from his machine right now would be a 
"Very Bad Thing."  She did not know why Genma had not been here at the 
lab, so that left only herself to watch over Ranma until he awoke.

Hoping that her batteries would hold out for the time remaining, she 
occupied herself by opening up and reading through Ranma's journal, 
after picking it up from where it was laying out on the workbench.  She 
applied herself to puzzling out what she could from the mathematical 
equations and very densely-written scrawls of descriptive text done in 
Ranma's handwriting, finding what little she was able to understand to 
be simply amazing.  Her level of respect for Ranma's genius cranked up 
another few notches, and she turned to look at the comatose boy with a 
smile.

When he did not stir, but simply continued breathing very slowly and 
shallowly, her smile returned to a frown, and Nabiki felt a sudden urge 
of protectiveness rise up in her, directed at the pigtailed boy.  She 
had not been able to protect her mother, but she would not lose Ranma. 
After all, she thought with a slight smirk, my own martial artist 
counterpart protects a weaker Ranma from enemies in that other world.  
So why should it be any different here?  She silently vowed that she 
would do the same for her own version of the pigtailed boy, once she 
finally proved to him that she was the stronger fighter.  Since Ranma 
was probably as stubborn as she knew herself to be, it would obviously 
take several more fights between them to convince him of that.  After 
her victory during the last one, she was now certain that she was better 
than he was.  She was also actually looking forward to the struggles to 
come between them before she managed to prove the superiority of her 
skills to him.

The possibility of losing never even entered into her thoughts.

Nabiki turned back to continue perusing the journal, part of her mind 
already contemplating the arguments that she would use when Ranma 
finally regained consciousness, even as the rest of her mind focused on 
studying the high-level mathematics and notes.  However, after a time, 
the mild warmth of the room and the dry reading material combined to 
make her feel sleepy.  With the couch that Ranma was currently laying on 
being the only furniture comfortable enough to take a nap on, she very 
carefully laid herself down next to Ranma, making sure that she did not 
dislodge his headset.  Feeling unexpectedly contented and happy to 
simply be near him like this, she cuddled up against his body as she 
pretended that he was simply asleep.  Nabiki drifted off into slumber.

                   ******************************

*** Earth  +1.612,+1.509

Ranma-chan slowly awoke, uncertain where she was.  Eyes suddenly opening 
wide, she felt the front of her chest.  The look in her bright blue eyes 
became dejected when she found herself in her cursed, female form.  With 
a brief sigh, Ranma-chan also realized that there was something odd 
about where she was sitting, and she turned to the right to see 
Shampoo's eyes staring into her own.

"Uh, heh, h-hello," stuttered Ranma-chan, the displaced scientist not 
quite sure of what to make of being in Shampoo's lap.  The last thing 
that she remembered was staring down at a large tiger, and then her mind 
went blank.  As the redhead scrambled off of the Amazon's lap, she 
struggled to remember what had happened next, but there was simply this 
gap in memory.  She saw Shampoo simply looking at her with a questioning 
expression on her face.

"Ranma not cat anymore?" asked Shampoo, noticing the very slight 
flinching movement in her companion at simply the mere mention of the 
word.  The young Amazon saw the redhead shake her head in response, and 
she gracefully got up from her current kneeling position and smiled a 
cheerful smile.  "Shampoo glad."

"Uh, not that I'm complaining," began Ranma-chan hesitantly, "but why 
was I in your lap, Shampoo?"

"Ranma act like cat," said Shampoo, noting Ranma-chan flinching once 
again at the word, "knock Shampoo down, and fall asleep in Shampoo's 
lap.  Shampoo let Ranma sleep, and now Ranma is better, yes?"

"Yeah," said Ranma-chan, actually feeling pretty good at the moment.  I 
knocked her down? she wondered, noting with a slight sigh that the 
Amazon was several centimeters taller than this girl form.  It felt odd 
to be so short, and Ranma didn't like it.  "I feel better, but I would 
love to find some hot water now."

"We go back to Tendo Dojo then," said Shampoo brightly.  "Ranma get hot 
water there and change back to boy-type."

"Sounds like a very good plan, Shampoo," agreed Ranma-chan, eager to 
change back.  He agreed with his counterpart's feelings on the matter; 
he disliked being a girl.  Together, the duo headed back home.

                   ******************************

Genma tromped back into the Tendo household, dejected that he had been 
unable to find Ranma on his own.  He hoped that his son might have 
returned already, but that hope was quickly dashed.  Everyone else was 
there, except for Shampoo, who he guessed was still looking for his son.  
He prayed that the Amazon had better luck in her search than he had with 
his own.

"Ah, Saotome, my old friend," called out Soun from the main room, seated 
at the main table and enjoying a cup of tea.  "I see that you are 
finally back.  Any luck finding the boy?"

"No, Tendo," said Genma, sitting down at the table with a tired groan 
escaping his lips.  The beating he had undergone several hours earlier 
made all of his subsequent walking a new experience in discomfort.  He 
was glad to finally sit down and relax, but felt a little guilty for 
giving up on his search before finding Ranma.

"Ah, well, I'm sure that Ranma will turn up," said Soun, taking a sip 
from his cup of tea.  "While we wait for him, care to join me in a game 
of Shogi?"

Genma thought about it.  The way his counterpart played, it would be 
amusing to bring his own honest skills to the game.  He was currently 
rated as a Master at Chess, Go, and Shogi in his own world, and Ranma 
had picked up a Grandmaster rating in all three games during their 
journeys.  He had once witnessed the boy playing ten games of chess 
simultaneously, and his son's ability to pick out the patterns in his 
opponent's strategy was still quite astonishing to Genma.  When he had 
once asked about it, Ranma told him that he could "see" the lines of 
force in his opponent's strategies and counteract them with his own 
piece movements.

"All right," said Genma with a nod, getting up from the table and 
following Soun to the game table.  He sat down and began setting up the 
board while Soun settled himself at his own place.

Kasumi came out of the kitchen, her usual smile fading somewhat as she 
caught sight of Genma, but she went up to the pair.  When she saw her 
father look up, she asked, "Can I get the two of you anything while you 
play, Father?"

"Saotome?"

"Just some tea for me would be splendid, Kasumi, my dear," said Genma 
politely, his thoughts already running through opening gambits.  As near 
as he could tell from the memories associated with this game, cheating 
was pretty much the mainstay of this Genma's strategy.  Most of the 
ploys were remarkably transparent ones as well.  After the board was set 
up, he moved his first piece and then settled his attention on the game.

Kasumi brought out the tea, earning a distracted Genma's thanks.  
Surprised that he never looked at her, the matriarch of the Tendo 
household noticed that he seemed to be unusually attentive to the game 
being played, ignoring all of her father's usual attempts to distract 
his attention from the board.  She was also surprised to see that he 
never indulged in any of his own, usual attempts at cheating.

Soun began to sweat as he started steadily losing piece after piece to 
Genma's relentless assaults.  He took a long sip of his tea and grimly 
contemplated his options, but they did not look promising.  His usual 
attempts at distraction in order to facilitate cheating were simply 
ignored by his old friend, and he saw that Genma seemed thoughtful about 
something.  He was about to inquire about that when there was a brief 
disturbance at the front door.

"We're home!" called out Ranma, slipping his shoes off at the entryway 
and waiting for Shampoo to do the same.  The two of them continued on 
into the main room, where Ranma spotted his father playing Shogi and 
drinking tea.  He was a little surprised at the sight, but he could tell 
at a glance that his father had Soun stomped.  As he entered the room, 
he watched as Soun almost gratefully conceded the match to his father.

"A good game, Tendo," said Genma, though he did not really mean it.  He 
looked over at his arriving son and smiled as he said, "Welcome back, my 
boy.  Is everything all right?"  His gaze flickered to the young Amazon 
who came in with him, noting a brief blush that crossed her cheeks at 
his question.  Inwardly, Genma smiled.  He found himself liking the 
purple-haired girl more and more as time went on, and as he was able to 
remember more scenes of her and Ranma together.  If he and his son were 
permanently stuck in this life, then he far preferred him to spend time 
with the young Amazon than the easily-angered and violent Tendo girl, 
even if Shampoo did have that strange curse.

"Everything is fine, Father," said Ranma, glancing over at a silent 
Shampoo before looking at his father once again.  "I apologize for 
making you worry."

Soun and Kasumi regarded Ranma with mild to severe astonishment.  There 
was none of the usual bluster and macho pride in his mannerisms, and the 
respect shown to his father was nothing short of amazing.  Further study 
on this by the two was interrupted when Akane came walking into the 
room, apparently having heard the couple return.

"Akane," said Ranma, tipping his head slightly in acknowledgement of the 
youngest Tendo's presence.  He saw her simply turn her nose up and look 
away after glaring at him briefly, both gestures in apparent irritation 
at his proximity to the purple-haired girl at his side.  He just 
shrugged a bit, but it was certainly preferable to her hitting him.  
Ranma walked past her and sat down into a kneeling position by Genma.

"<So now what, Father?>" asked Ranma in Russian.  He glanced back at a 
still fuming Akane, noted Nabiki had also entered the room, and then he 
returned his gaze back to regarding his father.  "<The excitement seems 
to be over for the day.  So, how do we handle this situation?>"

"<First, I break the engagement,>" said Genma, his accent fairly bad but 
understandable to Ranma.  "<Take Shampoo, and both of you pack our 
things.  I don't think our departure will be a pleasant one.>"

"Ranma," interjected Akane, her anger levels rising a bit, "why are you 
speaking in a foreign language again?"

"Please be quiet while I speak with my son, Akane," said Genma, his 
manner a touch cold, and he noted with some slight satisfaction that his 
addressing her in such a manner appeared to surprise the girl.  He 
turned back to Ranma and continued in Russian, "<We are returning home 
to your counterpart's mother.  I will tell you more of what you should 
be aware of when we are on our way.  Go now.>"

"All right, Pop," said Ranma, a little confused.  As far as he knew from 
the memories of either of his two martial artist counterparts, his 
mother was dead.  However, he did not question his father.  He simply 
rose to his feet, signaled Shampoo to follow him with a look, and headed 
upstairs to the bedrooms to pack their meager belongings.

Akane and Nabiki started to follow Ranma and Shampoo, one in irritation 
at being ignored and the other in simple curiosity, when they were 
halted by Genma's voice.

"Please come to the table, girls," said Genma, moving from the spot 
where he had obliterated Soun at Shogi to his counterpart's usual spot 
at the main table.  "I have an announcement to make, and it concerns you 
all.  You too, Soun."  He waited for all of them to seat themselves, 
formulating what he was going to say in his head.

"What's this all about, Saotome?" asked Soun, puzzled by the change in 
his friend.  He saw the other man briefly turn his gaze to his youngest 
daughter, his look unreadable even by Nabiki.

"Akane?" Genma asked.  Gaining her attention, he visibly straightened 
and became very serious.  With an emotionless voice, he then queried the 
youngest Tendo, "Do you like being engaged to my son?"

"Like it?" sputtered Akane, looking as completely surprised by the 
question as she had ever looked about anything.  "Of course not!  He's 
rude, thoughtless, and he flirts with every girl he sees!"  Especially 
that purple-haired bimbo! finished Akane in her thoughts, too angry to 
speak the words aloud.  "I wish I'd never met him!"

"I see," said Genma, nodding slightly, his hand gesture cutting off Soun 
before he could begin to bluster at Akane for her words.  He noticed 
Nabiki studying him with a clinical gaze out of the corner of his eyes.  
"Thank you for your candor on this matter.  You may consider the 
engagement... ended."

Silence reigned for the space of several moments.

Nabiki's elbow slipped off the table in her shock.  Surprise filled her 
rapidly blinking gaze as she attempted a recovery back to her usual 
cynical poise.

"Oh my," said Kasumi, raising one hand to her mouth as she blinked.  She 
glanced at her youngest sister to see how she was taking this news.

Akane looked stunned.

Soun exploded, "Saotome!  What are you talking about?  This is a matter 
of family honor, to join together the two Schools!  How dare you make a 
decision like that?"

"This was never a matter of honor, Tendo," said Genma calmly, noting 
that Soun seemed to be working himself into using the Demon's Head 
attack on him.  Genma stared the other man down as he continued to 
speak, an unmistakable steel in his voice that the others had never 
heard from him before, as he said, "Now sit down and be quiet, Tendo.  
We are speaking as mature adults here, or at least some of us are."

"But," blurted out Soun, looking utterly shocked, the Demon Head attack 
fading like a pricked balloon.  "But what of the promise to unite the 
two Schools?"  He suddenly looked about ready to cry, and his eyes began 
to fill with tears as the others watched.

Genma sighed, amazed at the quicksilver nature of the emotions in the 
other man.  He closed his eyes for a moment before continuing, and then 
said, "It just isn't working out, Tendo.  Neither of the children are 
happy with the agreement, and we've forced it down their throats for far 
too long.  I, for one, am tired of watching them do nothing but argue 
and fight."

"But all married couples fight," said Soun, desperation in his voice.  
He began to babble arguments in favor of keeping the engagement going.  
"They're still just getting used to each other.  It was always our dream 
to unite our two families, our two Schools.  It kept us going during 
those dark days training under," he paused, teary eyes looking around 
before continuing, "the Master."

"Blame it on the blows to the skull I took today if you must, but the 
engagement is off, as of now," said Genma, now glaring at Soun.  "I 
refuse to sit here another day and watch Akane and Nabiki bully and 
victimize my son and Shampoo because both are too honorable to deal with 
either one of them as they have deserved for weeks!"

Soun burst into a full-fledged wail of despair, blubbering a stream of 
incoherent words.  He covered his face with one arm and began to cry 
even more fiercely about how "the two families will never be joined 
now," and other such phrases.

Kasumi moved to assist her father, her calm words and gentle pats 
attempting to cheer the man up.  She spared Genma a few looks that had 
less than her usual warmth for bringing her father to tears, blaming him 
for Soun's sorrow.

Me?  A bully? thought Nabiki, honestly surprised at being included with 
her sister in such a blanket description.  She immediately discarded the 
notion as ridiculous.  Opportunist, maybe.  But, how can he call me a 
bully?  She glared at Genma with a cool, disdainful look.

Akane was still sitting quietly, apparently shell-shocked.  She kept 
repeating one thought in her mind, The engagement is off?

Genma sighed once more, even more certain that he had made the right 
choice in this situation.  Other than Kasumi, and maybe Nabiki, no one 
in this family seemed to be a paragon of mental stability.  He quietly 
ignored the cool looks that he was getting from Nabiki, her disapproval 
with him being quite obvious, but the looks from Kasumi bothered him.  
Personally, he didn't care if Nabiki disapproved of him or not, but he 
was troubled at hurting Kasumi.  He turned to face the eldest Tendo 
daughter.

"Kasumi," said Genma solemnly, "I wish to apologize for all of the ways 
that my bringing Shampoo and Ranma under your roof damaged the harmony 
of your household.  If it is any consolation, I hold you in the highest 
regard of anyone I know, except for my wife Nodoka."

Kasumi looked a little surprised at Genma's words of apology.

                   ******************************

"Why we pack, Ranma?" asked Shampoo, watching him tie his bedroll around 
his packed backpack.  At his request, she was now finishing packing 
Genma's stuff into the other backpack before they headed over into her 
small room to pack her own things.

"My father is downstairs breaking the news to the others that this farce 
of an engagement is over," calmly answered Ranma, carefully checking the 
fit of his backpack for easy carrying.

"Aiyah!  Ranma mean that?" blurted out the Amazon, not expecting to hear 
that.  She thought they might have been packing for some sort of 
training trip, not leaving for good.  Her thoughts briefly went to the 
one person in this household that she would truly miss, Kasumi.  The 
older girl was her friend, and, briefly, her fiance, even though the 
last was thought with a sort of bittersweet happiness.

"Yeah," said Ranma, tying down the fasteners on his backpack with the 
ease of a long-time vagabond.  He wasn't sure where the thoughts of the 
other Ranma left off and his own began at this point, as he said, "Today 
was just a perfect example of why it won't work.  We just end up arguing 
too much for either one of us to really be happy with one another.  
Let's just say that the old man finally saw reason."

"Where we go?" asked Shampoo, tying shut Genma's pack.  She glanced 
around the empty room and closet, nodding as she confirmed that 
everything was packed.

"We're going to my mother's house," said Ranma, feeling an odd sort of 
deja vu at the thought.  He had already returned to his mother once, 
after being away from her for a decade of his life, and that experience 
was about to repeat, sort of.  He felt a bit odd about it for a moment, 
a mixture of joy and sadness, and his throat felt unexpectedly tight.  
"My father and I... are going home."

"Shampoo happy for Ranma," said the Amazon, smiling at him in a gentle 
fashion.

"Well, you're coming with us, of course, and I know my mother will 
welcome you once Pop explains things," said Ranma, looking at the 
purple-haired girl with a grin.  He saw her smiling back at him warmly.

The pair headed to Shampoo's small room, and Ranma watched as the Amazon 
quickly gathered her things, packing with efficiency and care.  They 
heard some muffled shouting coming from downstairs, but Ranma had 
confidence that his father was dealing with the situation.

                   ******************************

"My little girl will marry your boy, Saotome!" shouted Soun, his 
composure apparently recovered after a brief session of weeping and 
being supported by Kasumi's kind words.  "This is a matter of sacred 
honor between our two families!"

"It's over, Tendo," sighed Genma, wishing once again that his son and 
Shampoo were already done packing, so they could leave.  "Just accept 
it.  The engagement between Akane and Ranma is over.  It's obvious that 
it was a mistake, and your screaming about it won't help things.  I've 
been talking with my son, and he's made it very clear he wouldn't be 
happy to be forced into marrying Akane, and both Nabiki and Kasumi made 
their views quite obvious on the first day we met that they were not 
interested in Ranma.  I am not going to make my only child miserable by 
forcing him to marry someone that he is neither interested in nor has 
interest in him, and I know you love your daughters enough that you 
wouldn't want them to be miserable either.  So, be reasonable about 
this, Tendo.  It was simply not to be, and it would be a tragic mistake 
to continue forcing the issue.  Let the promise of two drunken, foolish 
men end, since that was all it started out as."

Nabiki perked up from quietly glaring at Genma, surprised to hear him 
speaking so frankly about this whole engagement matter.

"It's because of that Chinese girl that he has no interest in my little 
Akane, isn't it?" muttered Soun, collapsing back down into a sobbing 
mass of weeping, his surge of backbone faded.

Akane stared at Genma, a sudden suspicion forming.

"Shampoo is not to blame for this, Tendo," said Genma calmly.  "It's 
been a long day, and I want to put it behind me.  Just tell me that you 
release the boy from the promise, and Ranma, Shampoo, and I will leave 
here."

"V-very well," muttered a defeated-sounding Soun, his blubbering fading 
for a moment .  He turned miserable-looking eyes towards the other man.  
"But for breaking a man-to-man promise, you are no longer welcome in 
this house ever again, Genma Saotome.  So take yourself, your son, that 
Chinese girl, and begone from here.  I never want to hear the name 
Saotome spoken in this house again."  That said, Soun Tendo wearily got 
up from the table, looking decades older than his true age, and began to 
cry loudly some more.

"I'm sorry you feel this is my fault, Tendo-san, but I only do this for 
the sake of my son," said Genma, slowly standing himself.  "Someday, I 
hope you might understand that."  Genma felt tired.  He had tried his 
best to present a reasonable argument, and the other man had jumped to a 
false assumption and would not be dissuaded from it.  Shampoo was not at 
fault for this decision, but Soun apparently blamed her anyway.

"I'm tired, Kasumi," said Soun, ignoring Genma now.  He began to blubber 
more loudly, barely choking out the words as he said, "I'm going to skip 
dinner tonight and go straight to bed."  He walked to his room with as 
much dignity as a crying man could manage, just missing passing Ranma 
and Shampoo in the hall.

"Yes, Father," whispered Kasumi, staring after him with sad eyes.  She 
went into the kitchen and began working on dinner to distract herself.

Nabiki followed her father's movements with her eyes alone, before 
returning her gaze to Genma.  Something did not add up here, but she 
could not understand what it might be.  There's more to this than meets 
the eye, she finally decided.  She was angry at Genma for the pain he 
had caused her father, and she intended to have suitable revenge for 
that.  Nobody hurt a member of her family.

Akane stared after her father in shock, but she was finally absorbing 
the idea that Ranma was no longer her fianc, no longer anything to her.  
His family name could no longer even be spoken within hearing distance 
of her father.  In a way, she was glad, especially after he was flirting 
with Shampoo right in front of her.  They deserve each other, she 
thought with anger.  Both of them are shape-shifting perverts.  So, 
knowing this, why did she also feel such a sense of loss?

Genma decided to wait in the front hallway area, away from the silently 
judging eyes of the middle Tendo girl.  From what he could discern, 
Akane seemed to him to be too shocked by the change to feel the same as 
her sisters.  They'll get over it, he decided.  It was becoming more 
apparent by the minute that he and Ranma were going to be stuck in this 
world, possibly forever, and they had to adjust the conditions to 
something they could live with.  That meant no more engagements, living 
in the midst of chaotic households, or having threats of  manliness or 
death hanging over their heads.

Ranma came walking down the stairs, a pack on each shoulder, and Shampoo 
following right behind him.  Things were very quiet, and that could be 
either a good thing or a bad thing.  He saw his father as he stepped 
into the main hallway.

"We're ready to leave, Father," said Ranma, feeling a vague sense of 
relief to be heading out of this house, even if he was still trapped in 
this life.  He silently handed his father's backpack to him, letting his 
own fall to land upon the floor with a thump as he picked up his shoes.  
He saw Kasumi come out of the kitchen area and silently regard them, her 
calm expression unreadable.  Ranma suddenly felt a little bit guilty.

Kasumi continued to look at the trio, emotions flickering in her eyes 
that were as confusing to herself as they were impossible to determine 
by the Amazon and the pigtailed boy looking back at her.

Ranma suddenly bowed deeply to Kasumi, and he said, "Thank you for 
taking care of us, Kasumi Tendo.  Words alone cannot tell you how much I 
appreciate your efforts."

Kasumi, startled by Ranma's unrehearsed little speech, bowed to him in 
return, her expression warming with a smile, albeit a somewhat sad one.

Ranma thought her gaze was as much on Shampoo as himself, but he could 
not be sure.

The door to the main room suddenly slid open, and Ranma saw the other 
two Tendo girls looking at him, differing expressions on their faces.  
Akane regarded him with a slight frown on her face, and Nabiki was 
gazing at him with a calculating look.

"So, you're leaving," remarked Nabiki, studying Ranma and his father to 
see if she could figure out what was different about them.  They were 
both acting tremendously out of character, and it bothered her to not be 
able to judge their reactions as easily as she could before.  They were 
like two different people to her.  Her eyes narrowed slightly as she 
locked onto that idea, wondering why she might think that.

"That's right," said Ranma calmly.  "There's no reason to stay here 
anymore."

His matter-of-fact attitude was irritating to Akane.  Didn't he care?  
Was he so relieved to be leaving her?  She herself felt an odd mixture 
of sadness and relief at no longer having the engagement being forced 
upon her, but she also found herself getting angry at Ranma for his 
cavalier manner as he was getting ready to leave.  And she also found 
herself getting even angrier at Shampoo.  Is he just going to walk out 
with that purple-haired, Chinese bimbo of his? she thought, wondering if 
something had happened between him and Shampoo that had helped cause 
this sudden change.  Her fists clenching at her sides tightly, she 
glared at the pair.  How she hated the two of them at that moment.

Ignoring a wrathful-looking Akane, Ranma slowly walked over to Kasumi 
and gave her a gentle hug, a whispered "Thank you" going into her ear.  
He apparently surprised the older girl a great deal when he gave her a 
peck on the cheek, noticing the blush she was showing.  He smiled at her 
as he stepped back, finding himself not wanting her to be angry with him 
for what had happened, at least.  He turned away from her as Shampoo 
came forward and said a quiet farewell to Kasumi, her words too soft for 
him to hear.

"No kiss for me, Ranma-kun?" said Nabiki wryly, a smirk on her face.

Ranma considered it for a few moments, but he felt it would probably be 
unwise with both Akane and Shampoo watching.  Apparently, Nabiki could 
tell what he was thinking because she suddenly got a surprised look on 
her face.  He smirked at her and said mildly, "Only if you paid me."  He 
found he enjoyed the extremely amazed look on her face at that 
statement.

"Akane," said Ranma, finally turning his attention to the youngest Tendo 
daughter.

"Ranma," said Akane through slightly-gritted teeth.  The expression on 
her face was not pleasant.  She shot a venomous glare at the Amazon 
before returning her attention to Ranma.

Ranma bowed slightly to Akane and said, quite calmly and simply, 
"Goodbye, Akane Tendo."

Akane was startled, returning the bow through reflex alone, her anger 
temporarily pushed aside in her surprise.  Her hands remained clenched 
at her sides as she dipped her head.  She rose from the bow slowly, her 
eyes on Ranma's face, an unspoken question in her gaze.

Ranma turned from Akane, put on his pack and shoes, and the trio left 
the Tendo household in silence.

Behind them, Akane went from an expression of disbelief to one of angry 
tears.  With a growl, she stormed away to the dojo out back.  The sounds 
of breaking bricks and shattering training equipment drifted into the 
house after a few moments.  Eventually, those noises trailed away.

Nabiki wandered up to her bedroom, already calculating how much she 
would have to make to pay off Akane's latest tirade.  She was more than 
a little worried about the loss of such an excellent source of funds as 
Shampoo-kun was, since the cursed Amazon was no longer going to be going 
to school anymore.  That would really cause a drain on her cash flows.

Kasumi stood in the doorway long after her sisters had left.  She 
watched the closed gate with, for her, a rare solemn expression, her 
heart feeling heavy with regrets.

"Goodbye, Shampoo," Kasumi softly whispered.

After a long moment, the eldest Tendo daughter shut the door and went 
back to the kitchen to finish the dinner she had been in the midst of 
preparing, when this bombshell had been dropped on the household.

                   ******************************

Genma's stomach growled, and he looked startled at the unexpected sound.

Ranma chuckled at the noise, until his own stomach also began to loudly 
rumble.  Frowning, he turned to a silent Shampoo and said in a serious 
tone, "Not a single word."

"We should get something to eat," said Genma.  "We have a fair walk 
ahead of us this evening to get back to your mother's house.  Having a 
meal will also give you and I some time to talk, Ranma."

"That's a good idea," said Ranma.  Checking his pockets produced an 
ominously small amount of currency.  He turned to look at his father and 
saw a similar expression to the one he imagined was on his own face.  
Pangs of hunger were growing distracting to Ranma.

"Shampoo not have much money either," said the Amazon when she saw Ranma 
turn to look at her with a hopeful expression.

"Well, there's always Ucchan's," said Ranma, noting the expression of 
distaste that crossed Genma's face.

"<I suppose it would also allow us to end another engagement set up by 
my idiotic counterpart,>" muttered Genma grimly in Russian.  For 
Shampoo's benefit, he then said in Japanese, "Very well, let's go get 
something to eat."

A short walk brought them all to stand outside the storefront named "Uk-
Chan's" on this world.  Ranma suddenly felt a little nervous, especially 
when he realized that Shampoo's mere presence could spark a fight, and 
the last thing he wanted to get involved in was another battle.  He put 
a hand on the outer door and took a deep breath.  He turned to look back 
at the other two and said, "I'm going in.  Shampoo, you might want to 
wait outside while Pop and I get some food and talk to Ucchan.  Is that 
okay?"

The Amazon looked annoyed and said, slightly grumpily, "Shampoo wait."

Ranma and Genma went inside, leaving their backpacks outside with 
Shampoo.  Inside, it was only moderately busy, the dinner rush already 
over.  Ukyo was seen working behind the counter.  Ranma smiled at her 
when he caught her eye.

"Hey, Ucchan," said Ranma in a friendly tone, finding it remarkably easy 
to slip into the mannerisms of his counterpart.  This Ukyo was perhaps 
even a better friend here than in the other Ranma's tangent, since she 
wasn't trying to get him to marry her.  He was reasonably certain that 
this would go pretty easily.  "My father and I'd like to order some food 
and chat a little with you, if that's okay."

"Sure, Ranchan," said Ukyo with a weary smile.  It had been a long day, 
and she was eager to close up and get some rest.  Luckily, Sundays she 
was able to close earlier than normal if she chose, and it didn't take 
long to have the place empty of everyone but her and the two Saotome 
men.  She ignored Genma for the most part, her desire for vengeance 
satiated, for now.

"We'd like three of your usuals, if you please," said Ranma, looking 
around casually and comparing this version of the restaurant with the 
one in the other timeline.  They were similar, and yet small differences 
existed, just enough to be noticeable.  A stray memory prompted him to 
ask, "Where's Ryoga?"

"Out.  Lost.  The usual," Ukyo said simply, with an undertone of 
irritation.  She quickly prepared three of her standard okonomiyaki, 
figuring Ranma must have ordered a second helping in advance.  She 
turned around when she heard the sound of coins clinking on the counter.  
Ranma had laid down all of the money that the three travelers had, fifty 
yen shy of enough to purchase all three.  "You don't normally pay, 
Ranchan.  What's the occasion?"

"Well," began Ranma, uncertain how to tell Ukyo what had just taken 
place at the Tendo household.  He decided to just come right out and say 
it.  "The engagement between me and Akane is off.  Pop and I left."  It 
wasn't completely the truth, but it was mostly true, the failure to 
mention Shampoo accompanying them more a concealment than an outright 
falsehood.

"Hitting the road again?" asked Ukyo, serving him and his father.  She 
couldn't help but look a little amused and rather self-satisfied at the 
battered appearance of the older man when she glanced at Genma.  It had 
felt unbelievably good to work off some of her anger at the man by 
pounding upon him like she did.

"Something like that," answered Ranma, frowning slightly at the joy she 
apparently found in looking at the injuries she had given his father.  
"Pop and I are getting out of the neighborhood and going home.  I just 
wanted to stop in, get some food, ask you a question, and then we'd 
leave.  No big deal."

"A question?" said Ukyo, a little surprised.  "Just what sort of a 
question?"  She saw Ranma wolf down his meal in his hunger, and a slight 
smile crossed her face at the sight.  She continued to ignore the 
presence of Genma, who was being very quiet and only watching the 
exchange between his son and her with an odd look on his face.

"Would you be willing to forget about your engagement to me?" asked 
Ranma, unsure how she would react.  He saw her blink for a moment.  "I 
know this must be a bit of a shock."

"I guess I was just expecting to bring it up myself at the proper time," 
said Ukyo, not nearly as upset as Ranma thought she might be.  She 
looked down for several moments, and there weren't even traces of tears 
in her eyes when she lifted her face.  "Sure, Ranma.  It's okay.  In 
fact, it's kind of a relief."  She smiled at him.

Ranma suddenly put it all together: her slight irritation when Ryoga was 
mentioned, her calling her restaurant by the 'stupid' name Ryoga used 
for her, her unexpected ease at his asking her to break off the 
engagement between them, and the (slightly irritating, although he was 
not sure why) fact that she never expressed any interest in marrying 
him, like she did in the other Ranma's life.  He did as she had a few 
moments ago, blinking in surprise.  Ukyo and Ryoga?  It all made a weird 
sort of sense, based on what his memories were now showing him had 
happened between them, complicated by the presence of Shampoo-kun posing 
as "Ranma," as he had been known at school as "Shampoo."

"Friends?" asked Ranma, holding out his hand.  He saw her look down at 
his extended hand and take it in a firm grip of her own.

"Always and forever, Ranchan," said Ukyo with a smile.

They let go their grips and Ranma began wrapping up the last remaining 
okonomiyaki in a paper napkin from the counter.  He noticed her smile 
quickly fading into a frown as she looked over his shoulder at the 
window.

Ukyo spotted Shampoo staring in through the window of her shop, a deep-
seated anger filling the okonomiyaki chef's being at the sight of her 
purple-haired nemesis.  Ukyo was certain that the Amazon was plotting 
more mischief against her.  She figured that was the only reason why 
Shampoo was skulking around, so she could do something bad to her person 
or her restaurant.

Ranma's hopes of getting out of here without any trouble went up in 
flames before his eyes, the angry flames that arose in Ukyo's gaze at 
the mere sight of the Amazon.

Ukyo growled out a soft and angry, "Shampoo."  Then she turned to heft 
her giant spatula, intent on bloody mayhem.

Ranma half-leaped across the counter and jabbed a couple of fingers into 
a shiatsu sleep spot between her shoulders that Shampoo had once taught 
his counterpart here.   He caught the chef's slumping body gently, a 
whispered apology on his lips as he laid her out on the floor.  He made 
sure that she would be as comfortable as he could make her.

"That went well," mused Genma, watching his son with a wry smile on his 
face.

"I just hope that she's not too mad when she wakes up," muttered Ranma, 
wadding up a few towels to place behind her head.  He stood up and faced 
his father, his hands moving to quickly finish wrapping up the last 
okonomiyaki for Shampoo.  "We should go now.  That nerve strike won't 
last long.  I was just damn lucky that she was distracted, or it 
wouldn't have worked at all."

When they got outside, Shampoo eyed the okonomiyaki presented to her 
skeptically for a moment, and she took a sample bite first.  After a 
little incident with 'wallpaper paste style' okonomiyaki, she was 
cautious around Ukyo's food, but the hunger in her belly convinced her 
to eat it despite what her pride might say.  Within moments, she was 
consuming it with voracious hunger, the taste of the first bite quickly 
overcoming her remaining resistance.  She shouldered her pack when she 
was done, after wiping clean her hands and face with the paper napkin.

The trio continued on their way across the city, moving through the 
darkening streets.  Genma led the way, keeping his thoughts to himself 
as he guided them to the Saotome household.  Behind his father, Ranma 
felt Shampoo take a gentle hold on his arm, and he patted her hand with 
his free one.

Genma paused and let the two of them catch up to him.  They had all been 
walking for a couple of hours.  The pale light from a nearby streetlamp 
reflected from Genma's glasses as he turned to face his son, and a grim 
look was upon his face.  The two combined into a rather eerie effect.

"Ranma," intoned Genma.  He took a moment to adjust his glasses a little 
to hide his nervousness.  The two teens stopped in front of him.

"Yeah, Pop?" asked Ranma, a little unnerved by the sight

"We are near home," said Genma, while continuing to look rather 
uncomfortable.  He paused and cleared his throat, before speaking once 
again, "Ten years ago, this Genma made a promise to this Nodoka that he 
would return with his son as a 'man among men', or else."

Ranma did not like the sound of that, and, after a brief pause, he 
asked, "Or else what?"

Shampoo looked puzzled.  What are they talking about now? she wondered.  
She looked from one to the other.  Ranma was being even more enigmatic 
to her than usual today.

"The promise was that you must be a manly man at that time or commit 
seppuku," said Genma calmly, perhaps too calmly for Ranma's tastes at 
the moment.

Seppuku? thought Shampoo.  What is that?  She did notice that Ranma had 
grown a little paler at the mention of the word.

"I see," said Ranma, his mouth feeling a little dry.  "And just what 
would I have to be like?"  He thought about his Jusenkyo curse, and he 
wondered how they were going to overcome that particular argument 
against his manliness.

"It is difficult to say," said Genma.  "Nodoka is a very traditional 
sort of woman, but she has some odd ideas of how men and women should 
act."  He paused and looked at Shampoo, an idea suddenly occurring to 
him.  "However, Shampoo has just given me an idea."

The Amazon looked even more puzzled.

Ranma looked at his father, unintentionally mirroring the puzzled look 
on Shampoo's face.  The odd grin that his father was giving the two of 
them disturbed him a little.  He turned to look at Shampoo and tried to 
figure out where his father was heading with his thoughts.  What could 
Shampoo do to help me prove my manliness? he wondered.

"Peeping," muttered Genma, startling Ranma out of his reverie.

"Huh?" grunted Ranma, before quickly shaking his head.  "I mean, what do 
you mean by that?"

"Nodoka would consider it to be very manly for you to peep at a pretty 
girl in the bath," said Genma, considering how he might work this angle.  
For a moment, he paused, wondering why he was even thinking about this 
as some sort of 'angle' in the first place.  It disturbed him more than 
a little.

Ranma got a wide-eyed look on his face, and memories of different, nude, 
alternate quantum Shampoos flooded his thoughts.  A tiny trickle of 
blood ran from his nose as the images filled his mind.  He immediately 
reached up and pinched his nostrils shut, focusing his thoughts when he 
turned to look at Shampoo, standing next to him.

"Uh, heh," stuttered Ranma nervously.  The thought of Shampoo naked was 
much more distracting than he had first anticipated, but he summoned his 
reserves and banished the thoughts away for a time.

"Why Ranma and Pop look at Shampoo like that?" said the Amazon, 
appearing puzzled.  She didn't quite understand what was going on, but 
she had picked out of the conversation between Ranma and his father that 
the pigtailed boy was going to meet his mother for the first time in 
several years and that he had to be manly.  Then the two men with her 
had started to talk about peeping, and she had gotten a bit confused.  
To her, Ranma was very manly, and he had never tried to peep at her when 
she bathed.  These Japanese are weird, she finally decided.

"Pop, you cannot be serious!" yelled Ranma, his eyes looking a little 
wild.

"She expects you to be a strong warrior, a paragon of manhood, and to 
also be a bit more perverted than I raised you as being," said Genma.

"A bit?" Ranma yelled in surprise.

Continuing as if not interrupted, Genma calmly analyzed the situation 
aloud, "So be reasonable about this, Ranma.  I wouldn't suggest it if I 
didn't think it would help."

Shampoo clobbered the both of them, having grown tired of them speaking 
as if she was not there.  She dusted her hands off as Ranma staggered 
back up to his feet, having been caught totally off-guard by Shampoo's 
sudden attack.

"What the heck did you hit me for?" grumbled Ranma at the Amazon, making 
a mental note to watch out for Shampoo's willingness to strike him for 
perceived wrongs.  He had not managed to get out of one bad relationship 
to just end up in another one.

"Stop talking like Shampoo not here!  Explain what you and Pop talking 
about."  She assumed a listening pose, arms folded.

"Fine!" muttered Ranma loudly.  He shifted to Mandarin, so that he would 
be certain that she understood.  "<My mother is expecting me to be a 
'man among men' when I get back home, because, if I'm not, then I'll 
have to kill myself to preserve my family's honor.>"  He turned to face 
the fallen body of his father.  "Does that about cover it, Father?"

Genma made an affirmative sound as he recovered from his second beating 
in a single day.  Luckily, this one was almost playfully light next to 
the one from this morning.  He took some small comfort that Ranma had 
shared it with him this time, but he immediately felt a little guilty 
for thinking that way.  "You forgot to explain to her how peeping comes 
into this," he said as he got back up to his feet.  He adjusted the 
straps of his backpack, resettling it onto his shoulders.

"Oh, yeah," said Ranma, shooting his father a dark look.  "Thank you 
ever so much for reminding me of that part, Father."  He turned to face 
Shampoo once again, putting his hands on her shoulders and looking her 
in the eyes.  "Shampoo, to prove myself manly to my mother, my father 
thinks that I should peep on you while you're bathing.  Now, I know 
that-"

"Okay," said Shampoo with a nod, interrupting Ranma in midspeech.  She 
saw him freeze in place for several moments, the oddest expressions 
crossing his face as he began to blink rapidly.

"Okay?" asked Ranma somewhat faintly, looking very surprised.

"Shampoo no mind if Ranma watch Shampoo take bath," said the Amazon, 
noting that Ranma's eyes suddenly looked a little glazed, and his mouth 
was now hanging open a small amount.  It amused her for some reason to 
see him look so flustered, and he looked so cute to her when he was off-
guard.  Her ancestors knew that Ranma had been a source for puzzlement 
and confusion for her often enough during their travels together.

Ranma quickly recovered his composure.  He glanced at his father to see 
the older man trying hard not to laugh by busying himself with his 
backpack, adjusting the straps to optimize the weight load.  With a 
sigh, Ranma nodded at the Amazon.  He turned back to his father and 
asked, "So what do we tell her about the curse?"

"The truth.  What else?" answered Genma.  "Despite what you might think, 
Ranma, that curse is a burden that would have destroyed many a lesser 
man.  If dealing with it, and also the other myriad problems that it has 
caused you everyday, doesn't show true manhood, then I don't know what 
does.  Trust your father, my son.  Nobody is going to die."  Not if I 
have anything to say about it, Genma finished in his thoughts.

Shampoo looked at Genma for a moment, but her expression was neutral.  
Ranma's father had been sounding odd to her all day, nothing like the 
pompous old coward that she knew and tolerated because of Ranma.

"Then let's go and meet my mother," said Ranma with a smile, his hands 
adjusting his backpack straps.

Genma led them to a well-kept house in the modest neighborhood they had 
been walking in, but a minor difficulty delayed their approach when a 
splash of water from a passing car hitting a puddle changed both Ranma 
and Shampoo into their cursed forms.  The trio quickly left and got some 
hot water, Ranma muttering under his breath the entire time.

A short while later, with the two teenagers back in their proper forms, 
they all went up to the door and Genma rang the bell.  As they waited, 
Shampoo took a gentle hold of Ranma's hand once again, a smile on her 
face.  He squeezed her hand with his own.

The door opened, and Nodoka Saotome stood there in a pale blue kimono, 
her eyes suddenly opening wide as she gaped at the odd trio standing on 
her doorstep, recognizing her husband in the lead.

"Genma," she whispered, a smile on her lips.  Her eyes glanced over at 
the young man standing there holding hands with a purple-haired girl.  
Ranma, she thought, certain that this was her son returned to her at 
long last.  With tears in her eyes, she quickly swept him up into a 
motherly hug and cried out, "Ranma!"

"H-hello, Mother," gasped out Ranma, imagining that he could feel 
himself smothering from her greeting.  It reminded him more than he 
cared to remember of the welcome home that his own mother had once given 
him many weeks past.  Just before he thought he would pass out, or force 
Shampoo to rescue him from his mother's arms, she let go of him with a 
teary-eyed smile.

"Welcome home, my son," said Nodoka, and her heart took flight with her 
joy.  Her husband and her little boy had come home.  For the moment, she 
ignored Shampoo, her attention only on Ranma and her wayward husband.

Immediately taking charge, she ushered the three of them into her home.  
Their backpacks were left by the front door with their shoes, and they 
were all led to the main dining area.  Shampoo seated herself next to 
Ranma as if staking a claim to him.  The three travelers had barely sat 
down when Nodoka disappeared for a minute into the kitchen to fetch the 
water she had been boiling water for tea.

Ranma took the opportunity to examine the room they were now in, finding 
it to be well-kept and dust-free.  The decorations were sparse, but 
arranged in such a way as to remind him very strongly of home.  He felt 
a tightness in his throat, partly a result of the emotional roller 
coaster he had been on today.  It felt so much like home here.  But it 
wasn't.

Genma also was finding himself overcome by a surprising amount of 
emotions, brought on by the sights and smells of the half-familiar 
house.  It had seemed so simple a decision to come here; in a sense it 
was home, as the memories of his counterpart opened to him gradually, 
but it was straining his emotional resources to keep himself composed.  
He knew that he had to be strong for Ranma's sake, and he could sense 
the guilt lurking behind his son's eyes occasionally when he looked at 
him.

Once they had both gotten a good night's sleep, they could begin making 
plans to rescue themselves come the morning.  He was feeling very 
confident that, between the two of them, they would solve their current 
difficulties.  However, if they had to build another resonator from 
scratch, it might take several years before they had enough resources to 
construct one.  In the meantime, Genma would accept each happening as a 
new learning opportunity, like a form of field research.  He busied his 
thoughts with composing notes on the paper he would write on this 
experience.

Nodoka returned with a serving tray, teapot, and enough cups for 
everyone.  She gracefully settled herself next to Genma and began to 
serve.  It seemed to be a solemn moment, an unspoken agreement entered 
into by all present to accept a cup of tea and drink in silence.  The 
gentle sound of the wind blowing through the trees was the only break in 
the quiet.

Genma noticed that Nodoka was observing him out of the corner of her 
eyes, and he held himself with dignity.  After he finished his tea, he 
turned to her and said with a note of formality, "It is good to be home, 
my dear wife.  I have fulfilled the promise and returned our son to you, 
a true man among men.  Say hello to your mother, Ranma."

Ranma bowed to her and managed to say without his voice breaking, "Good 
evening, Mother.  I have missed you."

Nodoka's eyes were shining with unshed tears as she looked upon her son.  
She thought he looked so handsome and carried himself with such dignity 
and strength, the bearing of a true martial artist.  She had so often 
pictured this day that to have it finally come true was making her the 
happiest woman alive.  She softly whispered, her voice filled with 
emotion, "Welcome back home, my son."  She then moved nearer to him 
without rising, her body coming to rest on the opposite side of where 
Shampoo was seated.  "I have waited for this day for such a long time."

Shampoo had caught the occasional questioning look directed her way from 
Nodoka, glances that the two men did not appear to notice, but she 
wasn't sure what to make of them.  Remaining a silent presence, she 
offered her strength and support to Ranma as best she could.

"I suppose I could spend the rest of the evening simply looking at you, 
Ranma," chuckled Nodoka.  "However, I was wondering if you could 
introduce me to your young lady friend."  She turned her gaze to 
Shampoo, a smile on her face.

"This is my friend, Shampoo," Ranma blurted out, grateful to have 
something easy to talk about.  He had been wondering what his own mother 
was going to do if he did not return.  It left an opening in his usual 
awareness of his surroundings.  "She came with us from China.  She's an 
Amazon, and an excellent fighter."  He noticed Shampoo smile at him.

"Ranma good friend to Shampoo," said the Amazon.  Forging ahead with 
true inspiration, she added, "He even watch Shampoo take bath."

Ranma blinked, grateful that he had not been taking another sip of his 
tea at that same moment.  Did she have to say it quite like that? he 
wondered with a furrowed brow.  He had not been expecting to have the 
proof of his 'manliness' thrown out into the conversation quite so 
quickly.

Genma raised an eyebrow.  Well, she's direct, thought the older man with 
a slight smirk on his face.

Nodoka seemed to be even more pleased with Ranma, and asked, "Is that 
true, my son?  Have you been looking at this girl while she bathed?"

"Uh, yeah," answered Ranma, suddenly having flashes of memories of 
seeing Shampoo bathing assail him.  He grinned weakly, feeling that he 
could at least answer semi-honestly based on that sort of secondhand 
experience and said, "I mean, yes.  Yes, I have."

Shampoo looked a little surprised at how certain he sounded, but a hint 
of a smile seemed to be on her lips.

"That is very manly of you, Ranma," said Nodoka approvingly.  "A proper 
appreciation for a woman's naked body is the mark of a true man.  Your 
father certainly enjoyed looking at me in the bath before we were 
married, after all.  He never thought I knew." 

Genma was suddenly not quite as amused by this whole thing as he had 
been a few moments ago, and the memories of the other Genma's actions 
suddenly erupted into his awareness.  The courtship between this version 
of himself and the woman seated near his son was quite a different one 
from the gentle romance he had built with his Nodoka.  In a few ways, 
they were the same, but there were many embarrassing differences.
 
"I did not want to rush into the discussion of some things, Nodoka," 
said Genma, adjusting his glasses slightly.  "But there are some matters 
that you should know right now, about Ranma."  He saw his son tense a 
little and glance at the katana resting in a rack over by one wall.  The 
truth be known, Genma was suddenly feeling a little unnerved by it as 
well.  He was not feeling as certain of his abilities to control this 
odd situation he found himself in, but he still intended to try.

"Oh?" said Nodoka, turning to face him.

"To begin with, the agreement with Soun has been cancelled, by my 
choice," stated Genma.  "There will be no joining of the two families.  
It was a mistake that I deeply regret."  He saw Nodoka blink in 
surprise.

"But why?" Nodoka asked.  "It used to be all that you spoke of when 
Ranma was born.  To unite the Tendo and Saotome families was your 
dream."

"It was a difficult decision, but the right one, I believe," said Genma.  
"It would have been wrong to force a marriage upon Ranma for the sake of 
the pride of two scheming, old men.  I say he is a man, and a man should 
have the right to choose his own partner in life, as I chose you, my 
dear Nodoka."  He smiled at her, and, for a moment, he let himself 
recall how very much he loved his wife, seeing so much of her in the 
lonely woman now seated across from him.  He spoke as if to his own 
wife, so very far from him now, and his words had an effect on Nodoka.

"Oh, Genma," said Nodoka, her eyes filling with tears again even as she 
smiled.  "How can I disagree with something like that?"  She could 
recall how earnestly he had pursued her when they were young, the brash 
young man she had fallen so deeply in love with.  His leaving had hurt 
her deeply, and left her lonely for so long.  But, seeing before her now 
the gentle-spoken man he had become, sounding so much older and wiser 
(obviously from his time on the road training their son), she found 
herself falling in love with him once again.  It startled her and left 
her feeling how very much she had missed him.

"There is one thing more that you need to know about your son, Nodoka," 
said Genma calmly.  "He is suffering from a curse that some might say 
calls his manhood into doubt.  Before I demonstrate it for you, I must 
ask this question.  Do you consider Ranma to be manly, Nodoka?"  He saw 
her look at Ranma seriously for a moment, then she broke into a smile.

"Yes, I consider him to be manly," said Nodoka, nodding her head.  "You 
raised our son well, Genma.  He has fulfilled your promise.  So now you 
may show me this 'curse' of which you speak.  I doubt that it will 
change my opinion."

"We'll see, Mother," said Ranma, before taking a moment to go into the 
kitchen to find a container and filling it with cold water from the tap.  
He returned shortly.

"If you wanted water, Ranma, you only had to ask," said Nodoka, looking 
puzzled.

"The water will allow me to show you my curse," said Ranma, feeling 
oddly distant and calm at the moment, some part of him realizing that 
this wasn't his life, only borrowed moments from another version of 
himself.  "Hot water will restore me to what you see before you now, 
your son."  With that said, Ranma poured the cool water onto himself, 
his body changing into female form.

"R-Ranma?" asked Nodoka, looking faint.  Genma was there at her side in 
an instant, supporting her.  She closed her eyes for a moment and then 
looked at the girl before her now, dressed in the clothes of her son.

"Ranma is cursed to turn into a girl in physical form when splashed with 
cold water, Nodoka," said Genma soothingly.  "Hot water restores him to 
his normal form.  The girl, Shampoo, becomes male with cold water.  That 
is why she travels with us."  He turned Nodoka to face him, her eyes 
looking a little glazed with surprise.  "I know it is a lot to try and 
take in all at once, but you have my word that Ranma is still very much 
a man.  This curse has given him challenges to overcome that would have 
broken another man.  He has grown stronger from them."

Nodoka looked at Shampoo, taking the container from Ranma and tossing 
the remaining cold water into the girl's face.  She stared at the larger 
male form of Shampoo-kun, a thoughtful look on her face.  Her gaze moved 
back to her son, now her daughter, as she considered the matter.

"If you feel that Ranma is unmanly, then I offer my life as proof of my 
words when I say that he is," said Genma suddenly.  "The boy has gone 
through so much, suffered so much, but these experiences have left him 
even more worthy to carry on the Saotome name."  He saw Nodoka suddenly 
focus her eyes upon himself, a look of certainty appearing on her face.

Ranma poured some hot water from the teakettle, rushing over to his 
father as he shouted, "Are you nuts, Father?  If she thinks I'm not 
manly, then I should be the only one to pay.  All that has happened is 
my fault, after all."  He suddenly wasn't sure if he was speaking about 
the accident during the experiment, or his counterpart's misstep at 
Jusenkyo.  He was brought up short when Nodoka suddenly smiled.

"To have you both speak so very passionately in the defense of each 
other," said Nodoka gently.  "How can I condemn either of you?  Give me 
a hug, Ranma, and welcome home, my son."

Ranma stepped towards Nodoka, and his vision suddenly grayed out.

                   ******************************

Genma saw Ranma's eyes seem to go blank for a moment, and he saw the boy 
stumble into his mother's arms.  She hugged him to her, crying about how 
glad she was to have him home once again, and how manly he had proven 
himself to be.  A moment later, his eyes cleared, and Ranma seemed 
extremely puzzled.  He saw the boy turn to look at him.

"Pop?" asked Ranma, sounding very bewildered.  "What's going on?  Where 
are we?"

Genma sighed, partly with relief, partly with dismay, and then he took 
Ranma aside to explain an edited summary of the day, taking care about 
not mentioning other worlds, not wishing to confuse the boy even more.  
Until he was finally retrieved from this timeline, Genma Saotome would 
give this version of Ranma the father that he should have had in this 
life.  He was, oddly enough, finding himself looking forward to the 
challenge, as well as having the unexpected opportunity to observe the 
results of his son's device on one of his counterparts from the other 
side of the quantum barrier between worlds.

                   ******************************

*** Earth  0.000,0.000

Refreshed from her nap, Nabiki snuggled comfortably against Ranma, 
reading from his journal by flashlight as she waited for his 'return.'  
A check of her watch revealed that the last minute before recall had 
finally arrived.  Hunger had forced her to eat one of the two lunches 
sitting on the workbench, and it had been very delicious.  Tempted to 
eat them both, she managed to control her urges.  Her counterpart had 
been raised to eat as much as she could whenever possible, since it 
might be a while before the next meal if things went bad.  Her will had 
repressed that particular desire.

While checking her watch, Nabiki heard the system click back online. 
Blushing from incipient embarrassment, she moved before Ranma could 
awaken with her snuggled up to him like she had been all afternoon and 
went to sit in the chair by his workbench.  She was not yet ready to 
show, much less admit, a weakness to her only rival in martial arts.  
Also, she wanted to control the pace of their relationship.  As she 
thought about things, she saw the monitor light up as the system powered 
up to full activation.

*TIME REMAINING FOR SUFFICIENT CHARGE:  00 HOURS, 00 MINUTES.

*EMERGENCY CAPACITOR NOW AT FULL CHARGE.

*ACTIVATING EMERGENCY RETRIEVAL SEQUENCE.  PLEASE STAND BY.

"Initiating retrieval cycle," intoned the computer's voice from the 
speaker.  Several moments later was heard, "Retrieval cycle complete."

Nabiki let out the breath that she discovered herself to be holding.  
She saw Ranma's breathing change suddenly, and she closed his journal, 
setting it aside.  One of her trademark cool smirks appeared on her 
lips.

"Welcome back to the real world, Ranma-kun," Nabiki said sweetly.  
Moving nearer to him, she reached down, grabbed his shirt, and half-
pulled him off the couch while growling in anger, "Now tell me what the 
hell you thought you were doing."

Ranma blinked his eyes open, seeing Nabiki's face in the dim light cast 
by the small flashlight pointing at them from its resting place on his 
workbench.  There was a lingering weakness in his body, and it left him 
feeling woozy.  He felt very hungry and thirsty, and his bladder was now 
informing him that relief should be sought soon.  This caused him to be 
a little disoriented, wondering if he had somehow dreamed the day's 
events.  Then, his mind snapped back to the present, and he was fully 
himself once again.  His fears about being trapped in that alternate 
universe, possibly forever, were now gone.

"I asked you a question, Ranma-kun," said Nabiki, lifting him bodily 
from the couch, but there was a falseness to the fierce tone she was 
using to mask her concern.  She saw the headset fall from contact with 
him, the wire leading to the resonator hooked on something that 
prevented it from rising with him.  "What were you doing in here?"

"I could ask you the same question, Nabiki Tendo," said Ranma, his gaze 
taking in the darkened room.  He suddenly realized what must have 
happened, and he was grateful for his foresight at installing several 
levels of redundancy into his system.  He brought his gaze back to her 
face.  "Why are you invading my lab?"

"Oh, no you don't, Ranma-kun," said Nabiki, shifting into one of her 
'interrogation voices.'  She let go of him, finding it difficult to 
retain her composure otherwise.  "I'm asking the questions here.  Where 
is your father?  What were you doing?  Where did you go?"

"If you don't mind, Nabiki," said Ranma with a little irritation in his 
voice, "I need to use the facilities for a few minutes before I answer 
any of your questions."  Without waiting for an answer, he stumbled his 
way across the darkened room, opened the door, and made his way down the 
hall to the restroom.

Nabiki decided to wait, but she was a little taken aback at the tone he 
used with her.  She was concerned about him.  Why couldn't he see that?  
She tapped her foot on the ground while she waited, occupying her mind 
with reviewing how her counterpart treated her own version of Ranma.  
She frowned at how differently her Ranma was acting from his counterpart 
in that other world.

Ranma returned after several minutes, looking a little bit better than 
he had before.  He had splashed some cold water into his face, drinking 
several swallows of cool liquid from the tap to reduce his thirst.  He 
felt like he could drink a lake dry right now.  His nose picked up the 
scent of food in the lab, and he homed in on its source unerringly.  He 
opened up the remaining boxed lunch and began consuming it in true 
Saotome fashion.

"I'm still waiting for an answer, Ranma-kun," said Nabiki coolly, her 
patience with him wearing a little thin.  She watched as he rather 
unconcernedly finished his meal.  Unused to being ignored, especially 
when interrogating a subject, she found herself frowning in frustration.

"I don't see why I have to answer any of your questions, Nabiki," said 
the pigtailed boy as he dabbed his napkin against his face.  "Although 
this might be a good opportunity to ask you about what you were doing in 
my private lab the other afternoon and now tonight."  He looked at her, 
obviously waiting for an answer.

"I wanted to know what it was that you were doing in here," Nabiki 
replied.  "I tried out your machine, and it was... life-changing."  She 
made a loose fist with one hand and studied it.  "The experience was 
more than I bargained for."

"I thought so, too, after my first time" said Ranma, relaxing his stance 
a little.  He took a moment to study Nabiki, wondering just how much he 
could trust her with his secrets.  He didn't really know her, but he 
suspected that there had been changes taking place inside her mind that 
left an altered Nabiki for him to deal with.  Changes that were probably 
as profound as the ones he himself had undergone.  For some reason, he 
felt inclined to trust her, at least somewhat, since she was the only 
other person in the world who could appreciate what they had both 
undergone.

"So talk to me," said Nabiki, relaxing a little when she sensed him 
lowering his guard a little.  "Tell me what's happened to you, and I'll 
tell you what's happened to me.  Fair deal?"

"Fair enough," sighed Ranma, actually a little grateful to be able to 
share his troubles with another, even if that person was Nabiki Tendo.  
He sat down on the couch and began to relate the events of the day, the 
accident, and some of his concerns about his father.  When he was done, 
he looked at her face, seeing her mulling over what he had said.  Idly, 
he thought, She's beautiful.  He banished that thought away quickly.

In turn, Nabiki told an intrigued Ranma about some of her own 
experiences from the alternate timeline she had visited.  They briefly 
compared notes on places visited by their counterparts, finding a fair 
number of similarities.  The duo shared a very brief closeness as they 
compared experiences with some of the people they knew from the two very 
different tangents, Nabiki finding herself reluctant to speak much about 
some of them.  This brought them back to Ranma's main concern at the 
moment, and Nabiki finally broached the subject.

"So you think your father now has the mind of that other Genma Saotome 
inside him?" asked Nabiki, knowing she found that to be a most unwelcome 
prospect.  It wasn't exactly the same Genma from her martial artist 
counterpart's world, but she strongly suspected that this one would be 
as troublesome to herself and Ranma.  She felt a great deal of sympathy 
for the pigtailed boy sitting next to her now.

"Yes, I do," answered Ranma, sounding frustrated, "and my own father is 
trapped in that other parallel timeline now.  Nabiki, what am I going to 
do?  I don't know how I'm going to get him back."

"We'll think of something," said Nabiki confidently.

"We?" asked Ranma, raising one eyebrow.  "Since when did this turn into 
some kind of partnership?  I work alone.  I always have."

"Not this time, Ranma-kun," said Nabiki.  "You already implicitly agreed 
to my help when you agreed to share information.  Besides, who else 
could you turn to?  I know that you haven't really made any friends 
here."

"I never felt the need," said Ranma hesitantly.  "I was so tied up in my 
work all the time.  Besides, what can you do to help me?"

"Aside from bringing my own formidable intellect, fighting skills, and 
good looks to this partnership, you mean?" asked Nabiki with one of her 
trademarked smirks.  "After all, I am a better fighter than you are, and 
you might need me if Genma gets up to his old tricks or if any other 
troubles should arise."

"You're not a better fighter than I am," growled Ranma, annoyed that he 
hadn't managed to do better than tie with her so far.  "And don't go 
getting any ideas about acting as my protector, or something.  Ranma 
Saotome doesn't need any girl protecting him."

"You're pretty cocky for a guy who had his butt handed to him in our 
last sparring match, Ranma-kun" said Nabiki teasingly, watching Ranma 
frown some more as he stood up.  She stood up as well, firmly poking her 
finger into his chest as she continued on, saying, "When you can beat me 
in a real fight, then we might renegotiate our roles, but for now just 
accept that I should be in charge.  There's nothing wrong with being my 
sidekick.  That other Ranma certainly has no problems with letting that 
other Nabiki deal with problems."

"I most certainly am not going to become your sidekick," grumbled Ranma 
as he folded his arms and looked defiant.  "Especially since I haven't 
lost to you in an actual fight.  Sparring doesn't count.  So, if 
anything, you should be my sidekick.  I am the guy, after all."

"What was that, Ranma Saotome?" asked Nabiki, a dangerous glint now in 
her eyes, a counterpoint to the cool smile on her lips.  "If you can 
take me in a real fight, then I might consider it.  Not that I really 
think you can," she finished truthfully.  The tone of faint mockery in 
her voice was obviously grating on Ranma.

"You really don't think I can beat you?" asked Ranma, surprised.  His 
male ego was feeling the need to assert itself, and it was doing so with 
a vengeance now.  "Guys are stronger fighters than girls.  My martial 
artist counterpart is the best fighter among his peers in that other 
world, male or female, and I have all of his skills."

"I can say the same thing, Ranma-kun," said Nabiki with her smirk back 
in place.  Her pride was on the line here, albeit a certain amount of 
that pride was borrowed from that other Nabiki, but she refused to back 
down now, after hearing him say something like that.  She intended to 
rub his nose in her victory over him and prove her strength to him.  
"So, what do you say?  Do you feel confident enough to challenge me to a 
real fight?  I promise not to hurt you too badly when you lose, and you 
are going to lose."

"You're on," said Ranma, feeling his newfound egotism taking firm 
possession of his mouth once again.  "Just name the place and time, and 
I'll be there."

Both of them were now standing, practically nose-to-nose, wearing 
equally cocky looks on their faces.  The almost companionable mood from 
a few moments earlier was set aside for now, and their rivalry was 
guiding their actions now.  It intermixed itself with the undertones of 
attraction they felt for each other, producing a volatile combination of 
feelings.  This had been building up between them for the past few days, 
lurking behind their eyes as they spent more time with each other.  Both 
of them were actually looking forward to the thought of challenging each 
other like this.

"Before classes, tomorrow morning, out in the playing fields away from 
the main buildings of the Academy," said Nabiki firmly.  "Give me a good 
showing, Ranma-kun."

"You can count on that," said Ranma with a grin, right before his face 
paled a bit and he staggered.  His time spent under the influence of the 
resonator apparently must have drained him more than he thought, and he 
felt weak in the knees.  He noticed Nabiki slipping a supporting arm 
around him, and the feel of her touch was pleasant.

"We should get you home," said Nabiki, her concern for him slipping past 
the cool-eyed mask she had been wearing.  "I'll help you to your house, 
and I don't want any arguments about that."

"All right," agreed Ranma.  He had been operating to a large degree on 
adrenaline after waking up.  The food and water he had consumed helped, 
but he was still feeling weak.

Together, the two of them shut down his equipment, gathered up his 
things into his bookbag, and they left his lab.  Ranma took a moment to 
lock the door.  They wended their way back upstairs, Nabiki refusing to 
relinquish her hold on his arm after he experienced another bout of 
weakness on the stairs and almost broke his neck.

They arrived at his house, Nabiki insisting that she escort him inside 
despite his protests.  He finally relented with a grumble, mumbling 
under his breath something about "pushy females."  Nabiki let that 
comment slide, but she made a note to punish him a little for it in the 
morning.

Nodoka greeted them at the front door, her face looking worried.  She 
blinked when she saw Nabiki with Ranma, and she ushered them both inside 
with a terse, "Where have you been, young man?  A pair of Peaceforcers 
brought your father home, drunk, a couple of hours ago."

"He was with me, Saotome-san," said Nabiki, knowing that it was not 
exactly a lie.  "We have not met, but my name is Nabiki Tendo."  She 
bowed to Ranma's mother.  "Your son and I were on a date."  She flinched 
a little inside at the weakness of the lie, but it was the best she 
could come up with at that moment.

"Well, Genma was certainly in no condition to tell me about your day 
when he came home," said Nodoka darkly.  She then quickly brightened up 
and smiled very broadly when she asked Ranma, "Did Nabiki-chan say you 
two were on a date?  How was it?"  She briefly glanced at Nabiki, noting 
that the girl was dressed in a Chinese-style outfit like she had seen 
Ranma wearing during one of his morning practices.  She found that 
mildly odd, but it did not diminish her happiness in the slightest way 
to see her son spending time with one of his prospective fiances.  And 
she still thought the Tendo girl reminded her of someone, but she could 
not quite remember who.  However, seeing Ranma taking some initiative 
and making such an effort was gratifying to Nodoka.

"Uh, yeah, date," said Ranma helplessly, "it was, uh, interesting.  I 
can honestly say that it was a most memorable day."

"I should be going now," said Nabiki smoothly, after watching Ranma 
fumble for words for the last few moments.  "I'm afraid that Ranma is a 
bit worn out by what happened today.  I suggest that he go to bed right 
away."  She smirked at Ranma.

"I'll trust your judgment on the matter, Nabiki-chan," said Nodoka with 
a smile.  She turned to him and said, "You heard her, Ranma, so off to 
bed.  You and I will talk in the morning."  She turned back to a 
grinning Nabiki, missing the dark look that Ranma was giving the Tendo 
girl.  "Will you be all right going home by yourself, Dear?"

"Sure," said Nabiki brightly, "it's not far.  I only live a few blocks 
away."  She bowed in farewell to Nodoka.  "Goodnight, Saotome-san.  
Goodnight, Ranma-kun."  With that, she left.

Ranma went upstairs, even more determined to prove himself to the smug 
Nabiki tomorrow.  She was even more insufferably irritating to him now 
that she fancied herself his peer in fighting, and he did not much care 
for her take-charge attitude.  He was the guy, so he should be in charge 
of their partnership, right?  Not that we are partners, he quickly 
amended.

While wondering about that, and about the problem of his father, Ranma 
fell asleep, his mind dropping into a dreamless slumber.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Special thanks goes out to D.B. Sommer for his kind permission to borrow 
from "Shampoo 1/2" for Earth +1.612,+1.509 (Shampoo 1/2 cluster), a very 
near parallel to the world in that story.  For the original way that 
events played out on that alternate world, this took place in chapter 
nine of that story.  The switch in Genmas has altered this other tangent 
even further towards a new destiny that will play out differently from 
the path of the original timeline.


Thanks to my pre-readers for all of their help and advice:

Michael Allen
Jim Bader
Donny Cheng
David Eddy
Doug_W
D.B. Sommer
T.H. Tiger
