Tenchi and Ranma, Together Forever!?
    Chapter five
    Girls just want to create Mayhem.
    

    The old man stood at the top of the stairs that led down into the small mountain valley. Behind him, the graceful buildings of the shrine he tended gleamed in the early morning sunlight. He looked out over the valley, and then down at the small circular lake that filled its middle. Normally, other than by its shape, the peaceful valley gave no evidence of the cataclysmic event that had created it seven hundred years before. This morning was a marked exception.
    Masaki Katsuhito had seen every one of those seven hundred years. Not all in this location, or under the name he now wore. He had seen the valley when it was nothing more then a smoking crater, and he had seen life slowly fill it to brimming. Many of the stately old trees that grew on the valley slopes had been planted by him personally.
    Now like some shadow out of the past a vast wooden dome filled much of the lake. Even as he watched, it lurched and began to sink into the unexpectedly deep waters. Surrounding the slowly sinking disk were upthrust shards of black crystal. They sprouted like some jagged edged Stonehenge, placed there for who knew what reason. They too were slowly settling into the depth.
    A feeling of sorrow filled him as he took in those shards. He had never made himself known to Ryo-oh-ki back when she had lived out her life in the human village in the next valley over. However, he had taken pleasure in the joy she had found there.
    The family that had found the mysterious jewel that had hatched into a Kapa spirit had raised her as one of their own. There kindness had been rewarded by good fortune. The first food that Ryo-oh-ki tasted had been a noxious weed that had been choking the life from the villagers scant crops. That first taste had left her with an insatiable appetite for that particular plant. Soon the fields for miles around were bare of it. Proof positive that she had been a gift from the gods to the poor villagers, and she had led a sheltered and loved life from that point on. She had grown, assumed human form, and had married the boy who had been her brother. She had given birth to three children, and had seen two of them grow old enough to give her grandchildren.
    As Ryo-oh-ki had found joy in her life, that joy and contentment had flowed down the link she shared with Ryouko, and even in her spelled sleep, it had filled Ryouko with a longing for those emotions and feelings. When Ryo-oh-ki's life had turned bad, when despair had gripped her, sending her into a centuries long sleep to escape it, that too had been sent to Ryouko as well. Ryo-oh- ki's sleep had ended that particular torment, but not before it had affected her master profoundly. In her endless dreams, Ryouko had learned to dread that feeling, that loss.
    Katsuhito, had found shortly after sealing Ryouko away, that he had a link to her. It flowed from her, to the jewels in Tenchi-ken, to Funaho and then to him. No where near as strong as the link between Ryouko and Ryo-oh-ki, it was true, but still, it let him gauge her character. Which is why he had not set out to restrain her when he had discovered Tenchi had freed her. She was a far different creature then the one he had sealed up all those centuries ago. Just how different, he believed even she did not know yet.
    
    As these thoughts ran through his mind, his eyes, still sharp as an eagle's after all these years, picked out two feminine forms making their way toward the house that had sprouted over night in the valley. One of those figures he knew, even from this distance. The very shape of her was engraved on his heart. Ayeka, his sister, who he had never thought to see again, and who, with a little luck, would never know just who he was. He knew little Sasami was here as well, and he looked forward to seeing her. Even as Ryo-oh-ki had let Ryouko know of their presence in orbit, Funaho had let him know about Ryuu-oh's presence and who was on board it.
    Welcome as Ayeka, and Sasami's presence were, his eyes did not stay focused on Ayeka for long, his attention switched to her companion, a small girl with vivid red hair done up in a heavy braid that fell nearly to her waist. Something about her tweaked at his memory, but at this distance details were too vague to tell why. However, that was not what was making him stare so intently at her.
    She would be the fiance that Nobuyuki had told him about on the phone the other night. Saotome Ranma, the daughter of Nobuyuki's old friend Genma and his cousin Nodoka. That was the thing that made Katsuhito look very intently at the young girl. Fifteen years ago Nodoka had brought her infant child to the shrine to show it to the head of her family. She had stayed a week, and during that time Katsuhito had been drafted into babysitting duties on more then one occasion as Nodoka had visited with Tenchi's mother, who was also visiting at that time. Katsuhito had changed both babies, and Ranma was every bit as much a boy as Tenchi was.
    So who was this girl who called herself Saotome Ranma? He idly stroked his chin as he thought over the possibilities. Genma was a scoundrel, he knew that well, but he had a hard time believing that even he would try and pass off some child he had picked up as his daughter. Well, there was an easy way to settle the matter. He had Nodoka's number, a simple telephone call would go a long way to clearing this puzzle up. He turned and headed into the shrine.
    

    
    Down in the valley, the girl that was attracting so much of Katsuhito's attention, was trying to deal with some puzzles of her own. Ranma had been feeling uncharacteristically depressed, and a little unwell. She'd even cried, an action that filled her with disgust. Sure, a very nice person she had just met had died in the crash that now littered the nearby lake with refuse, but guys weren't supposed to cry, not even for stuff like that. That was one thing Genma had drilled into her constantly over the last ten years. To cry meant you were weak, and to be weak was to be a failure. It was a lesson Ranma had taken to heart long ago. So why was she feeling an itchiness in her eyes, and this enormous urge to bury her head in the Princess's shoulder and cry her eyes out? It was unmanly, that's what it was, and she'd not give in to it.
    She tried to drive the sadness she was feeling away. Things were looking up after all. She had discovered a way to at least temporarily wiggle out of this stupid engagement to Tenchi. Both Ryouko and Princess Ayeka thought she was Tenchi's sister. Now if she could just get to Tenchi and convince him what a good idea it was for her to continue the deception until they left, things would be great. After all, she told herself, surely he couldn't want to marry her! She had told him she was really a guy. Guys didn't marry guys, even if one of the guys looked like her.
    She was sure Tenchi could convince his father. Masaki-san seemed a nice enough guy, even if he stared at her rather a lot. Of course that left her Pop. She rubbed a closed fist in the palm of her other hand. She was rather looking forward to convincing Pop to go along with the idea.
    Buoyed up by the thought of doing violence to her father, her usual upbeat character was soon shoving the grief she had been feeling aside, forcing it down into her gut. Just like Pop always told her to do. Even if her stomach felt like she'd been punched there repeatedly in her last sparring session, she could at least think of other things now.
    She had just made a new friend, well, a maybe friend, and a rather cute one at that. Despite her mud spattered kimono, Princess Ayeka was every inch a lady. Normally that would have been a mark against her in Ranma's mind, but the way she carried herself, and the kimono she wore, reminded Ranma of someone, and that memory carried a warmth that was helping in the lifting of her spirits. She was not sure what it was, but that didn't really matter. It wasn't like she had friends by the dozens, and they'd been even harder to come by since she had become a girl.

    Most of her life she had been alone, her Pop hardly counting as company. The few friends she managed to meet were soon left behind on her everlasting training trip. She tried to think of how many there had been. After a moment of thought she was shocked to realize that she could think of just three that had made a real impression in her life. There had been the old lady who had comforted her when she first acquired the cat fist. Ranma had known her for a while when that had happened, and she had instinctively sought her out the first time she went cat. The old lady had comforted the frightened creature she had become, and had brought Ranma back to herself. Then she had held Ranma while Ranma had wailed out her fears and trauma in her arms. The old lady had not thought crying unmanly she recalled.
    Pop had moved them on shortly after he had caught the old lady telling Ranma that sometimes it was all right to let others see your feelings. Maybe because of the closeness she felt for the old lady, and from missing that closeness, she had quickly made another friend at the first opportunity.
    That had been Ukyou, the best friend she had ever had. They had played together for nearly three months that summer before Pop had moved them on. She remembered Ucchan running after them, and how hard it had been to keep the tears at bay, but she had managed, and her friend's last sight of her had been a smiling face, instead of some baby crying over something that could not be helped.

    She wondered what Ucchan would think of her now, hard to imagine him as a grown boy. All the boys she'd met since the change had been such jerks. She was sure Ucchan would not be like that, maybe . . . No! She pushed the thought aside. The last thing she wanted was for any of her old friends to see her like this, see what had happened to her. She shoved the memory of Ucchan from her mind. Even if she were to meet him again, she would not be able to tell him the truth. The memory of Ucchan's friendship was far too valuable to spoil by letting him find out she had turned into a freak.

    Her last friendship had not been as strong as the one with Ucchan. It hadn't really even been a true friendship. She had grown cautious of making close friends after Ukyou. Still, there had been something about him, something in his face, in the guarded way he behaved around others. She had felt that he might understand her. But, she'd blown it. She'd tried to use the same basic method she'd used so well on Ucchan. He was a lot different than Ucchan however, and he'd seen her behavior as a personal insult. She'd regretted not finding some other way of getting to know him when he had challenged her to a man to man duel. Maybe if she had let her guard down, he would never have felt the need to challenge her. Maybe if she hadn't been such a jerk, they could have been real friends instead of glorified sparing partners. They had never fought that last fight of course. Poor old Ryouga had gotten lost like usual . . .

    "Ryouga!!!" Ranma suddenly shouted out loud, her face a study of chagrin.
    "I beg your pardon Ranma-san?" Ayeka asked, startled by Ranma's outburst.
    "Damn, damn, damn. How could I be so f****** stupid?" Ranma cursed loudly and vigorously. Then she noticed Ayeka's shocked expression, and blushed, placing her left hand behind her head and rubbed her hair.. "Eh, sorry Ayeka-san, I just realized something, and it pissed me off that it took this long. I met this boy the other day, and I didn't remember him from when we went to school together. I just realized I told him my real name. I hope he doesn't think I'm me."
    Ayeka was still rather flustered at hearing a Jurain princess, no matter how backward her raising, using such language. She put that thought aside for the moment, time later for etiquette lessons. "This boy, did he make advances on you before? Are you afraid he'll come here? Should we warn your father and brother?"
    "Eh?" Ranma said, looking at Ayeka in bemusement, trying to figure out what she was going on about. Then it struck her, and she frowned angrily. "Hey, I don't need no one looking after me. It's just that I wasn't a . . ." Ranma paused, having almost said she wasn't a girl last time she met Ryouga. That would blow her sister story right here and now. That was no good. She finished rather lamely. "I wasn't looking like he remembered, and I didn't want him thinking I was strange or nothing."
    "Ahh," Ayeka said knowingly. It was obvious that Ranma did, despite appearances, give some thought to how she looked. Why else would she be concerned about what this boy might think of her current appearance? "Don't worry Ranma-chan. We will have you looking just like a proper young lady in no time. Just leave everything to me."
    Ranma was once again left wondering just what in the hell the princess was talking about, but she did not let it concern her. She had other worries. "Man oh man," she thought to herself, "I hope Ryouga didn't make me. I'd die of embarrassment if he knew what happened to me." She tried to reassure herself that there was no way Ryouga would know it was her, but still, the thought of an old acquaintance finding out about her condition, and maybe blabbing it all over town, or in Ryouga's case, all over Japan, filled her with dread. The only thing that made walking around like this bearable was that no one she knew was aware of it.

    "Oh, look. Kamidake and Asaka managed to recover my belongings from Ryuu-oh." Ayeka said suddenly, breaking into Ranma's train of thought. Ranma looked up and saw a stack of wooden cabinets scattered haphazardly across the grass that had been transported along with the house. Even as she watched, Tenchi came down the stairs from the house and picked one up with a grunt of effort. Then, accompanied by a young girl Ranma had not yet met, he returned to the house. As Tenchi walked into the house with his burden, two large floating logs maneuvered themselves into position of either side of a large stack of the dressers, and the bulky objects floated up in the air, supported by nothing Ranma could see.
    "Neat!" Ranma exclaimed, once again caught up in the wonder of being in the presence of aliens, and all that went with it. She was also glad that as a girl she did not have to feign disinterest, but could act in a manner she would be too embarrassed to do in her male body. She bounced over to have a closer look. One of the logs gave a sudden "eep" and disappeared into the house. The other log, unbalanced by the lose of whatever force his companion had been exerting toppled over, along with the wooden furniture, which scattered across the small patch of lawn.
    
    "What, what, what." A voice said from inside, and Nobuyuki came out on the deck, and looked over the disarray. "Tsk, tsk, tsk," he said to the fallen Asaka, "you shouldn't try to take so much at one time. You might have damaged something."
    "It was not Asaka's fault." Ayeka explained. "I am afraid Kamidake had a rather unpleasant experience with your daughter, and is a little nervous around her. I'm sure he will get over it quickly once he gets to know her."
    "Daughter?" Nobuyuki said in puzzlement, but Genma, who had come out on the deck behind him laughed out loud. If Ranma had been less busy trying to signal his father to go along, she might have noted a slight tinge of hysteria in her father's laugh.
    Despite Ranma's frantic hand signals, Genma said, "Ranma's my daughter, and Tenchi's fiancee." Ranma dropped her head and moaned.
    "Fiancee?" Ayeka said, a puzzled expression on her face. "I don't understand. She must be your daughter." She said to Nobuyuki. "She has the Jurain royal blood. Just like Tenchi."
    A sudden flare of light drew the attention of everyone on the deck before any explanations, or in Genma's case, lies, could be made. They all, with the exception of Ranma, who was glaring in anger at Genma, turned to look, and saw Ryouko standing there, her face twisted into a horrendous expression.
    "Fi-an-c-ee!" She stuttered out, her fist clenched and sparks forming a halo around her statically charged hair.
    Genma turned slightly pale. He had not taken being shot at, shrunken, kidnaped on an alien space craft, and then being crash landed in a lake well. About the only thing that had gone his way was that he had managed to evacuate the ship without getting wet. A situation Ranma now rectified with a pail of water she plucked off the deck.
    "You got a big mouth Pop. Why don't you keep it shut for a while?" Ranma yelled at him. She was furious that he had screwed up her plan to pass as Tenchi's sister. She watched in satisfaction as
he changed form, and then dove in fists first.
    Ryouko paid not the slightest attention to Genma's transformation. Every bit of her attention was focused on Ranma's back. Sixteen years! She had watched Tenchi grow up for sixteen years. Now, just as she managed to get free, this, this, this mud covered, ragged, top heavy, little tramp came along to take him away from her. No goddamn way, not if she had anything to say about it.
    If Ryouko attention was fully focused on Ranma, Ayeka's was on the large Panda that had just joined their group. "Wha, wha, what?" She stuttered pointing at the transformed Genma. Then a shocked look crossed her face, and she looked from Genma to Ranma and back again, recalling he had called her daughter. "Shape shifter." She suddenly said, and her body language was suddenly saying the same thing that Ryouko's was. There was a shape shifter in the legends of Jurai, and those legends were not such as to give her a good opinion of the creatures.
    "So," she gritted out from between clenched teeth. "You thought to insinuate yourself into the royal family. Evil creature! Never! Never will I allow this to happen!" She reached with her right hand, and pulled the fingers on her left hand, then cursed a ladylike curse under her breath as nothing happened. Of course, her armor was still packed away in one of the dressers in front of her. She gritted her teeth in anger at herself. If she had taken the time to find it and dig it out before confronting Ryouko, none of this would have happened. She wouldn't be trapped on this backward dirt hole. She stalked over to the scattered dressers and began to ruthlessly dig through them, looking for the ring containing her Jurain battle armor.

    Meanwhile, Ranma was just getting into a nice rhythm with her father, landing two punched for every one he managed to block. Then she became aware of a hazard from another source. Ranma's danger sense was highly developed, so it was hard to say which of the minuscule clues tipped her off to the impending attack. It could have been the smell of charred wood from under Ryouko's feet, the crackle of lightning as it arced through her wildly waving hair, or maybe the smell of ozone as she concentrated and formed a globe of pulsing energy in her hand. Of course it could merely have been the, "NOW YOU DIE!!!" that Ryouko screamed out, just before launching the blast.
    Whatever subtle clue warned her, it gave Ranma time to spring up and do a handstand on her fathers shaggy head, leaving Genma fully exposed to the bolt of energy that blasted him off the porch and in a long trajectory toward the lake. Bereft of her support, Ranma did a somersault, and landed on her feet. She watched Genma splash down in the lake with every indication of satisfaction. Then with a grunt of effort, she twisted her body aside as Ryouko's energy sword passed through the space she had just occupied.
    "What's got your shorts in a twist!?" She yelled at the angry Ryouko, giving her a boot to the backside as her wild swing carried her past Ranma. Ranma's only answer was a concussion blast that she saw coming a mile away and easily dogged. Doing several multiple back flips, she moved away from the house, and toward the side of the valley, never taking her eyes of the furious demon girl. She didn't know what had set her off, but she had been hoping for a rematch, and she still had a pile of anger to burn off. So, all in all, she was perfectly happy to accommodate Ryouko's sudden need for a battle. Unrestricted by walls she was sure her greater speed would let her give a good account of herself. She felt not an ounce of fear. She never did in fights. The thought that she might lose was just not a part of her mental makeup.
    Drawing on the memory from her first fight she found it easy to dodge Ryouko's energy blasts. Ryouko had to focus for just a second before launching them, and that gave Ranma ample time to dodge, and to even use the shock wave, and debris to her advantage. She used her feet and hands to deflect the shattered pieces of rock toward Ryouko. They did Ryouko no harm, but they did inflame her even more, and gave Ranma even more of an advantage as Ryouko's anger made her careless.

    Tenchi had of course heard the explosions, as well as Ryouko's scream of anger. He came bursting out of the house, fully expecting to see Ryouko attacking the princess. He stopped in surprise when he got outside and Ryouko was nowhere to be seen and Ayeka was rummaging through her belongings throwing clothing and other things right and left as she looked for something.

    "Ayeka-san! What is happening, where is Ryouko?" Then taking a closer look at who was present he added. "Where is Ranma?"
    "You have been betrayed Tenchi-sama!" Ayeka yelled over her shoulder. "That girl you are engaged to is a shape shifter. She is not what she seems."
    Tenchi was surprised to hear this, first because he could not think how Ayeka could have been able to tell, and secondly, because Tenchi himself had not been entirely convinced that Ranma was really a boy under that very feminine body.
    "No, no, no! You are very much mistaken Miss." Nobuyuki broke in before Tenchi could say anything. He had watched enough anime, and read enough manga, to know what she feared. "Ranma's father is not a shape shifter, he is a shape shifted." Ayeka and Tenchi both gave him a blank look, and he explained further. "He does not change himself, he is changed by his curse. He had no control over it, and Ranma has no curse, she is merely a little confused. Sasami-chan, there is a kettle on the stove in the kitchen, could you go and get it please?" Nobuyuki asked the young girl who was standing beside Tenchi, a look of confusion of her face.
    "Yes," she answered, glad of something to do. She hurried into the kitchen, not wanting to miss any of what was turning out to be a marvelous entertainment. To think, just a day ago she had been bored out of her skull, and now she was here after a fierce battle in space. A crash landing on an alien planet, and out in the lake was a shape shifter right out of the legends. She had no idea what the hot water was for, but she felt that given recent events it had to be for something more interesting then making tea.

    By the time Sasami heated the water, and returned to the porch. A singed and soaking wet Panda was sitting there, cowering under the basilisk stare of her older sister.
    "Ah, thank you Sasami-chan." Nobuyuki said, taking the kettle from her. "You see," Nobuyuki said to Ayeka. "My old friend Genma is under a curse. When splashed with cold water, he turns into a panda. When splashed with hot . . ." Nobuyuki poured the water in the kettle over the shivering Panda. Sasami clapped in delight when the large black and white creature suddenly shimmered and turned back into a man in an old cotton gi. A man who yelled in pain.
    "It needn't be that hot Masaki." He said in a querulous voice.
    Nobuyuki ignored him, and instead addressed Ayeka "There, you see, that's not so bad, is it? He's not some sort of monster. He merely had the bad luck to fall into a cursed spring."
    Ayeka didn't look in the least mollified. "And his daughter?" she said in a grating tone. Once fooled, she would not so easily be tricked again.
    "Ah, well, that is a little more complicated." Nobuyuki said, he held up the kettle and shook it. "Good, enough for some nice tea. Why don't we all sit down and my friend can tell you about his poor daughter."
    Ayeka declined to be mollified. "That is all very well, but why did she scan as having the same ancestry as Tenchi."
    "That? Why that is a simple as can be, they are both descended from Yosho."
    "What?"
    "Yes, yes, you see, while grandfather up at the shrine, and Tenchi, are descended along the direct line, myself, and Ranma's mother, are descended through another branch. So you see, both Ranma and Tenchi have Yosho's blood in them. Now come, let my friend tell you about Ranma's problem."


    Meanwhile, Ranma was having a thoroughly good time. It had been months since she'd been able to go all out against her father, a few weeks after Jusenkyo, her speed had increased to the point where he just couldn't stand up to her. What she had lost in strength, had more then been made up for in speed and flexibility. Two weeks after the curse, she had mastered a Kata she had been trying to do for months, and had been unable to. Her male body just refused to bend that fast, or that far. She'd not even felt like she was trying when she'd done it the very first time in her female body. The problem was, she could no longer let herself go with her Pop. If she did, the fight was usually over in a minute or less. That was very frustrating to some one who was used to training at full throttle.
    Now however, she was facing an opponent who she did not have to hold back with in the slightest. Ryouko was enraged for some reason, and unlike the fight in the school, where Ranma had tried to be the aggressor, Ryouko was doing the attacking. This allowed Ranma to land several blows, which were ineffective, and to redirect her movements, which while not doing Ryouko much damage, caused very impressive collateral damage.
    She had just now dodged out of the enraged demon girl's way, using a shove from her hand to add a little speed to Ryouko's already rapid movement, and sending her face first into a large boulder, which shattered most satisfyingly.
    "Argggg!!" Ryouko screamed, bursting out of the ruble, her hair streaming almost vertical from the aura crackling around her. "Stand still you little bitch."
    "Sorry Granny, should I go a little slower? Would you like me to wait while you cut yourself a cane?" Ranma's voice floated down from where she was currently standing on a tree branch. Ryouko shimmered and reappeared floating on air beside the branch, with a cry of rage she brought her energy sword around and severed the foot thick limb with one blow. Then she blinked, and looked around for Ranma, who had disappeared between the time she had faded out on the ground, and reappeared in the air beside Ranma's perch.
    "Feeling creaky you old Mummy." Ranma's voice floated down from farther up the hill. Ryouko screamed in rage, and flew in a straight line toward that taunting voice, severing several moderate sized trees, and shattering two large ones. She burst out of the forest to see Ranma standing on the stone patio of the shrine.
    A lance of force flew from her hand and penetrated the stone where Ranma had been standing. From several feet away, Ranma ragged her. "Missed again! Damn, you're not a very good shot are you."
    "Good enough." Ryouko said with an evil chuckle in her voice. She grinned down at the smaller girl, who looked at her in puzzlement. Then a rumble filled the air, and the stone under Ranma exploded before she could escape. She was flung high into the air. Ranma rapidly oriented herself, but she knew she was in trouble, she could maneuver in the air almost as well as if she could fly. The problem was, Ryouko 'could' fly!
    "Gottcha," Ryouko cried in a triumphant voice as she managed to snag the front of Ranma's shirt. Ranma struggled futilely, leveling several powerful kick and blows at Ryouko, to no avail. Ryouko just took her best shots, and kept right on smiling, a very nasty smile Ranma noted with a sinking feeling. In one last desperation move, she pressed both feet against Ryouko, and pushed with all her might. There was a loud ripping sound, and Ranma was free, sans shirt, but free. She somersaulted to the ground, and shouted out.
    "Hey, that was my favorite shirt, you owe me."
    "Favorite shirt!!" Ryouko screamed. "You take Tenchi away from me, and you bitch about some shirt. I'll kill you!!"
    "What the hell are you talking about!" Ranma yelled as she dodged several force bolts. "I never took Tenchi from no one!"
    "You're his Fiancee aren't you!" Ryouko yelled as she slashed at the ducking, weaving girl with her sword.
    "Yea, so what."
    "So what!!! SO WHAT." Ryouko became a veritable tornado of slashes and blasts. Tears were running down her face. "Tenchi is mine! I'm the one who will show him the sweet secrets between a man and a woman. No one else. DO YOU HEAR ME!!"
    "Sweet secrets?" Ranma said in puzzlement, then she gagged as she deciphered Ryouko's nearly incoherent shouting.
    "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR F****** MIND?? THAT'S DISGUSTING! God, what sort of a pervert do you think I am? Sleep with a guy." Ranma made retching sounds.
    "Nani?" Ryouko said, shocked enough by Ranma's outburst to stop her attack. She looked down at the little redhead, who looked up her with an expression of total disgust. Suddenly her mind went back to the scene in Tenchi's bedroom.
    "Oh ho," She murmured, "It's like that, is it?" She floated down till she was two feet from the ground, then floated toward Ranma, who fell into a defensive pose. Ryouko was not attacking however. Instead she stopped a few feet away from Ranma and bent over to look her in the eye. As her feet were still two feet off the ground, and she had mentally adjusted her top, this had the effect of demonstrating very explicitly to Ranma that she felt the same way Ranma did about bras. Ranma's eyes glazed slightly, and she blushed a deep red.
    "H mm mm, " Ryouko hummed, sounding very satisfied with herself. "Tell me Ranma, if you don't like Tenchi, why did you get engaged to him?"
    "It was our stupid father's idea!" Ranma cried, wrenching her eyes away from the soft mounds in front of her.
    "So you don't have any interest in doing this and that with him?" Ryouko purred in a seductive voice.
    "NO WAY!! Acchhh." Ranma let out a frantic squawk as Ryouko moved in closer and pulled her into a tight embrace. Her danger sense had not warned her in the least that Ryouko was about to attack. For a good reason.
    Ryouko held the struggling girl tight against her, making sure the hug pulled Ranma's face deep into her cleavage. She chuckled to herself as Ranma's body reacted to her embrace. What ever Ranma might say in protest, it was clear where her interest lay. Releasing Ranma she floated back from the other girl, who was flushed a deep red and was breathing heavily.
    Blowing a kiss at her, Ryouko said. "Sorry sweet, I'd love to stay, but I need to get back to Tenchi."
    Ranma watched her go, part of her relieved, part of her disappointed. Drawing a deep breath, she tried to bring her heart under control. "Geez, what was she doing? We're both girls."
    "And very healthy ones at that." A voice said from behind her.
    Ranma spun in place, and looked in surprise at the old man standing there. How had he managed to sneak up on her? Surely Ryouko hadn't rattled her that much? Then she became aware of her topless state and crossed her arms over her exposed chest. Even after three months, she still did not possess a natural modesty toward going topless, but bitter experience had taught her that it was inadvisable to go around that way in front of other guys, even old priests, as the one at the Cherry Hill Temple had proven to her.
    "What do you want? Who are you?"
    "Masaki Katsuhito, but you may call me grandfather Ranma."
    "Hu, you know who I am?" Ranma said in surprise, but then the other part of that sentence registered. This must be Tenchi's grandfather, which meant . . .
    "No way, not you too. Listen up old man!" Ranma said with some heat. "I ain't marrying Tenchi, no matter what weird ass ideas our fathers have. You got that!"
    The old man held up his hands in a peace gesture. "Got it, got it." he said in a placating tone. "That is not what I meant in any case. Your Mother used to call me uncle, but I've gotten used to Grandfather, so I felt . . ."
    "You knew my mother!?" Ranma blurted out, her mind suddenly swamped with images. It had been so long since she'd thought of her mother. The images in her head were blurred and distorted. She only had a vague memory of the woman who had given her birth. She was incredibly tall for one thing. Towering over Ranma. Ranma mentally kicked herself, "Baka, of course she's tall. You were only what, Six? When did Pop take me away anyway? Ten years ago?" Ranma tried to focus on the image in his mind, and found that it kept getting mixed up with her memory of the princess. She finally placed the points of confusion. The way Ayeka carried herself, the way she dressed, that was how her mother had behaved.
    "Ranma, Ranma, wake up. Are you alright boy?"
    "Huh," Ranma said, coming out of her daze to see the old man peering into her eyes from inches away. "Yaaa, get away from me!" She shouted in surprise. She lashed out at the old man in surprise. To her amazement, her fist was stopped cold as it splatted into the old man's open palm.
    He grinned at her, and said, "Now, now, don't be like that. I didn't mean any harm. You just drifted off there for a minute boy. I was worried about you."
    "Well, don't do that." Ranma said rather weakly, still looking at her closed fist in puzzlement. In her surprise she'd thrown a full speed punch. No way should the old man have been able to stop it. Then she remembered what had started this. "You knew my mother?" Ranma repeated.
    "Indeed, she visited often when she was young, but the last time was many years ago when she brought you around to see me."
    "I don't remember that."
    "Well, you were very young, still in diapers as a matter of fact. You were a messy baby." Katsuhito chuckled in remembrance. "You could be clean one minute, and covered in jam or something else a second later. You spent so much time in the water. It's a
wonder you didn't turn into a prune."
    Ranma put a hand behind her head and chuckled. "Ya, guess I haven't changed much. I still seem to need twice as many baths as anyone else I ever knew. . .Wait a second!" Ranma suddenly exclaimed. "You gave me baths?"
    "Yes."
    Ranma dropped her arms, and put her hands on her hips. She stared at the old man with a look of mistrust. "So, you notice anything strange about me you old fraud?"
    Katsuhito peered over his glasses at her for a second, then turned to walk toward the dojo. Over his shoulder he threw a parting comment. "The one on the left is a little bigger, but I don't think that's really strange."
    Ranma stared after his retreating back for a second, then a look of disgust crossed her face and she replaced her arms back over her chest and yelled. "That's not what I meant you old pervert!" Ranma muttered to herself. "The old fraud, no way did he change me as a kid. He'd know that I wasn't a . . ."
    "Come in and have some tea Ranma, there's a good boy." Katsuhito called from inside the Temple office.
    "Yea right." Ranma muttered, then a look of shock crossed her face. "Hey, you called me a boy! Are you blind or something old man."
    "Would you like some hot water before I make the tea Ranma?" was the reply.
    Ranma blinked at the open doorway, then said softly. "Hot water, why'd I want hot water . . . Unless . . .YOU KNOW!!!" She yelled, running across the stone paving blocks and into the office. She glared accusingly at Katsuhito. "You know about Jusenkyo!" She repeated.
    He looked up at her from where he was heating the water. "There are records, one of my ancestors visited that area of China about three hundred years ago." He held up the kettle, gesturing with it toward Ranma.
    "It won't do me any good." Ranma said in bitter tones. "I'm stuck like this. Hot water just gets me wet."
    Katsuhito raised an eyebrow. "Really, did you have a run in with the Musk?"
    "The Musk?"
    Katsuhito opened a large book on his desk, and gestured toward a picture in it. Coming closer Ranma saw a drawing of people that looked vaguely familiar. "Hey, those are the characters I saw at the cursed springs."
    Katsuhito nodded his head as if she was confirming something he already knew. "And did they splash you with some water?"
    Ranma thought back, and remembered the water thrown in her face. "Yea, they did."
    "The Chiisuiton." Katsuhito said. "It is a magic bucket. Water from it freezes the victim in their cursed form."
    "What!!! Those bastards! You mean all this time I thought it was my fault, and it was theirs. And the guide, he knew, he was scared of something that day. He knew they were there. If you know, he had to have known. He should have told me the bastard."
    "Don't be so hard on him. I could be wrong, but I may know why he did what he did."
    Ranma snorted, "Yea, what could be a good enough reason for leaving me like this."
    "To keep you from becoming the bride of a Musk warrior."
    "Nani?"
    "That is what the Musk use the Chiisuiton for. They throw an animal into Nyanniichuan, douse the girl that comes out with it, then marry them."
    Ranma looked disgusted, then sick as the full implications hit him. "You mean. . . But I'm a guy!"
    "They would not care."
    "Well, I would have liked to have seen them try. I would have kicked their teeth down their throats."
    Katsuhito nodded as if agreeing with her, but then he said. "There is a legend that says the Musk once defeated a mighty dragon, and threw it into the spring to make a bride for their Emperor. Do you think yourself a greater fighter then that dragon? Or of the Tigers, or Bears they have used? I watched your fight. You are skilled, but you are only one, and it is said the Musk are very single minded. Could you have defeated their entire Kingdom?"
    "I sure as hell would have tried!" Ranma answered belligerently.
    "And that is why I think the guide did nothing. He must have known you would feel that way. Something else you must consider. Have you been pursued since then by any men who look like these?"
    "Not . . . men . . . not looking like that." Ranma said slowly. Katsuhito waited, but it became clear she was not going to add anything, so he continued.
    "There you have it. Keeping your secret from the Musk was a grave risk for the Guide. But keep it he must have, because they would have pursued you to the ends of the earth if they had known the truth."
    "I don't care, he should have told me!" Ranma yelled, tears suddenly springing forth in her eyes. "Damn it, I'm a guy, a guy. What the hell am I doing walking around with a pair of tits on my chest, and nothing between my . . ."
    "Yes, yes, but is it really so bad?"
    "So bad! So bad! Of course it's bad. Girls are weak. Girls are silly. They cry at the stupidest things."
    "Like Ryouko?"
    "Yes! No! That's not the same thing. She's a demon, not a girl, not a real girl."
    "Ah, ah, you seemed to think her a real girl outside there a moment ago." Ranma started to protest, but Katsuhito kept on going. "So, you've been feeling weak?"
    "No!"
    "Silly?"
    "No!"
    "Stupid?"
    "NO!!."
    "Oh, are you sure you've got a girl's body then?"
    "What the hell do you think these are old man?" Ranma cried, thrusting her bare chest forward for Katsuhito's examination.
    Katsuhito pushed his glasses up on his nose and peered at the offered anatomy. "Hmmm" he hummed, leaning in closer, then he leaned back and said. "Very nice."
    "Why you old . . .!" Ranma cried out. She threw a blazing fast fist at him, tying to put a little extra speed on it this time.
    "Ah, ah," Katsuhito said, catching Ranma's fist in his hand, and twisting so she crashed face first into the wall. "Just a little joke. Just a little joke."
    "Stupid old man." Ranma mumbled from her position against the wall, before she fell backward, her eyes clearly showing she was slightly stunned.
    "Really," Katsuhito said. " Stupid? Do you think I'm turning into a girl?" He felt his chest experimentally.
    "I'm not staying here for this. I'm going back to China to get the cure for this body."
    "Ranma." Katsuhito said, the light bantering tone gone from his voice. The serious way he said her name caused Ranma to stop, but she didn't turn around.
    "What is it now old man?"
    "Answer me truthfully. Could you beat me?"
    Ranma first instinct was to say, of course she could beat him, but then she thought of the way he had stopped both her attacks. Not the fact that he had stopped them, but how easily he had done it. How centered he'd remained. Truth be told she'd never seen anyone move like him. So she did what he said, she answered truthfully. "I don't know, maybe"
    Choosing his words carefully, Katsuhito said. "I don't know if I could beat the Musk by myself. Maybe I could. Maybe I could recover the Chiisuiton if I tried for it. But if I tried, and failed, the worst that would happen would be that they would kill me. But you . . ." Katsuhito let the implication sink in.
    Ranma winced, and her shoulders slumped.
    "Something else you must consider as well. The Chiisuiton is well known. The Musk have used it for generations. But always to lock, never to unlock. You might take all that risk, and then end up with something that was no good to you."
    "Then why the F*** did you tell me about the Chiisuiton?"
    "Because you deserved to know."
    Ranma turned and looked at him. "Just that?"
    Katsuhito shrugged. "Why else?"
    Ranma tried to get her mind around the concept. Had her Pop ever told her anything he didn't want her to know, just because she deserved to know. Slowly, thoughtfully, she walked back to Katsuhito and sat down. "So what do you suggest I do?"
    "You are young, and very, very good . . . for your age. If you are not good enough now to seek out the cure, you will be."
    "What cure? You just said the Chiisuiton was no good to me."
    "You were not listening. I said there was no mention of it being used in that manner. But think. If there is one device to lock. Might there not be one to unlock? If you become good enough, you will be able to take the Chiisuiton. The Musk value it highly, and if anyone knows a way to undo its effects, it will be them."
    "How can you know that? What if I'm never good enough!?" Ranma cried out in anger.
    "Would it be so bad, to stay as you are?"
    "Yes!!" Ranma said intensely. "I'm not a girl."
    "Yes I know, you're not weak, or silly, or stupid."
    Ranma winced, and admitted, "alright, maybe girls aren't so bad, but I'm still a guy inside. How can I be a girl? How could I marry a guy?"
    "Don't."
    "Nani?"
    "Don't marry a guy."
    "Yea, right, girls marry guys, that's the way it works in case you ain't noticed. . . I don't . . . want to spend my life alone. . . I'd like someday . . ."
    "Yes."
    Ranma threw up her hands in dismissal. "What's it matter. As long as I'm stuck like this . . . I mean it just couldn't work out, the thought of some guy, ugh. It's disgusting."
    "What about other girls?"
    "Nani? Don't be stupid, what am I suppose to do?" Ranma gestured at her most prominent current feature. "Strap these down? Don't you think the girl might get a little suspicious on our wedding night?" She finished sarcastically.
    Katsuhito pushed his eyeglasses back and stared at Ranma for a few minutes until she started to fidget under his intense gaze. At last he said. "Ranma, do you know what a lesbian is?"
    Ranma grimaced, remembering her taunt to Tenchi just a couple of days ago. "I don't know, it's something bad that's all I know."
    "How do you know it's something bad?"
    "When the guys got mad at me, that's what they'd call me."
    "Hmm, I suppose they would. But Ranma, a Lesbian is not a bad thing, it's a person, and not a bad person."
    "Really?" Ranma leaned forward in interest.
    "Ranma, did you know that some people like people of the same sex."
    "Well sure, I've had two guy friends, and I chummed around with a lot of other ones. Back when I was a guy that is. So what?"
    "Ah, that's not exactly what I meant. I meant love rather then like, as in the love a boy and girl feel for each other." Katsuhito watched as Ranma frowned, her forehead wrinkling as she tried to decipher his point. Just when he thought he was going to have to draw pictures, her faced cleared and she looked at him incredulously."
    "Nani? You mean . . .?"
    "Exactly."
    "That's disgusting!" Ranma said, her face twisting, then she winced as Katsuhito produced a bokken from nowhere and lightly rapped her over the head with it. "Ouch, what you'd do that for old man?"
    Katsuhito gave her a stern look, quite unlike his usual one of good humor. He placed the bokken in his lap, and said. "I told you Ranma, they are not bad, nor are they disgusting. They are the way they are. Whether they are good or bad is a matter of how they lead their lives, and how they treat others, just as it is for you and me. There is nothing disgusting about feeling honest love for another person, no matter if they are the same sex as you."
    Ranma rubbed the top of her head, and glared at Katsuhito. "So, you mean that there are guys, who like other guys? I still say..."
    "And girls, that like other girls."
    "Yea right, and girls who like other..." Suddenly Ranma's eyes widened, and she looked at Katsuhito with a look of horror in her eyes, the whole disgusting conversation suddenly clicking into place. "No way, no way." She said. Then she sprang across the room at the seated Katsuhito, who was suddenly not there by the time she arrived. "NO F****** way," she screamed as she pounded her fist into the place he had been sitting. Following after the retreating Katsuhito, she lashed out with everything she had, punctuating each strike with a rejection of the point he had just made. "I'm not a girl damn it! I'm not a girl! I 'm a guy! A guy you son-of-a-bitch, not some pervert girl!"
    Ranma suddenly found her eyes flooding with tears, and the pain in her stomach was back ten fold, but she kept after Katsuhito, never wavering in her attack. Always he faded away from her best blows, never retaliating, just dodging.
    "How the f*** is he doing that?" Ranma muttered to herself, she wiped the tears free from her eyes, and pressed on. "Is he reading my moves?" She drew back, and tried to catch her breath. The fight with Ryouko had worn her out, and she was having trouble focusing past the pain in her stomach, and her usual calm in battle seemed to have deserted her, but she didn't care. She would wipe the floor with the old man. She'd make him take back what he was suggesting.
    For the last three months the only vestige of Ranma's manhood had been that she was still interested in girls. Even if she couldn't do anything about it, at least it proved she was still a guy down inside. Now this old pervert was telling her that she was a real girl. That the fact she still liked girls had nothing at all to do with her really being a boy. Well, he could take that idea and stuff it up his ass. Better still, she'd do it for him.
    Ranma's eyes suddenly glinted as she noted Katsuhito had gotten himself trapped between her and the wall. This was her chance. Calling up every ounce of energy she could muster, she lashed out. Forcing herself to move faster then she ever had before. For a second she thought she had him. Then her fist passed through his image, and she realized she had only managed to tag his afterimage as he jumped lightly over her fist. With a crash, her fist hit the wall, and passed through it. Ranma was temporarily pinned. If she tried to wrench her fist free, she risked cutting her arm to ribbons.
    That was when she felt the light tap on her head. She twisted her head around and saw Katsuhito standing there, his bokken over his shoulder. He gave her a smile and said. "Come, have some tea. Don't be mad. I'm sorry I made you angry."
    Ranma stared at him in stunned surprise, but then she felt her temper flaring and she was suddenly madder then she could ever remember being. Without a thought of the harm she might do herself, she wrenched her arm free, and brought nearly half the wall with it. There was blood running from a long scratch on her forearm, but she gave it no mind. She glared at Katsuhito, her chest rising and falling like a bellows. She wanted to smash him, beat him to a pulp. . . And she couldn't. She'd given it her best, she had nothing more. She wasn't good enough. Not to beat him, and not to acquire the cure she needed. Suddenly, to her horror, she heard herself give a little sob. She felt a larger one forming in her throat, and tears started rolling down her cheeks in large fat drops.
    "Damn you!" she said, her voice hoarse from suppressing the emotions in her chest. "I'M A GUY GODDAMIT!!" She screamed, then turning, she lunged through the hole she'd made in the wall. Ranma wanted nothing more then to get away from this place before she disgraced herself anymore. Wiping the tears from her face with her bloody forearm, she plunged into the undergrowth that surrounded the paved area of the Temple, and vanished from sight.

    Katsuhito watched her go. His calm face belying the raging lecture he was giving himself. "You bloody fool. After all that effort you put into preparing yourself to face her? What do you do? You're not talking to her five minute and you're acting like it was Xian Pu in front of you, instead of scared former boy who doesn't know what is happening to her." With a muffled curse, he turned and left the Temple, heading for the stairs. He had not wanted to face Ayeka and Sasami this early. He had wanted to give himself time to adjust to the concept, but he had to try and straighten this mess out. He owed her, both Ranma, his great, god knows how many times Grandson, and Xian Pu, his poor dead daughter, whose body Ranma was wearing.

    When Katsuhito had called Nodoka, he had gotten her neighbor instead. Apparently all of Nodoka's calls were being forwarded while she was out of the country. She was on her way to a place called Jusenkyo, to look into the disappearance of her Husband and Son. That name had sent shockwaves through him.
    His daughter Xian Pu had drowned there, fighting off some magical monster that had attacked the village. He had never been happy with that story, but knew he would never know the full details of what had happened to her. He had been away at the time, and two weeks later when he had returned, she had already beenburied with full Amazon honors. Her name had already been bestowed on a newborn infant. Her name would live on as one of the famous. Like Pur-Fum, who had died holding a mountain pass against the Musk. Or Lo Xien, who had given her life to save a group of children from an insane wizard. Like them, there would always be a Xian Pu.

    Knowing that Ranma had been to Jusenkyo, it had not taken Katsuhito long to put two and two together. Something about Juraian blood was beyond Jusenkyo's ability to duplicate. For years they had watched the Musk, but no woman born of Nyanniichuan had ever had Xian Pu's features, or more importantly, her abilities. But, when he had learned that Ranma had gone to Jusenkyo, combined that with Tenchi's new Fiancee, and had stirred in the vaguely familiar red head he had seen with Ayeka, he ended up with the conclusion that somehow Ranma's Jurain blood had enabled her to assume the body of Katsuhito's long dead daughter.
    Just as he had in regards to Ayeka and Sasami, he had prepared himself to meet her with a calm face, and a moderate behavior, giving nothing away. And he'd blown it. He'd been unable to keep himself distant from her, had slipped into behavior three hundred years old, and in doing so, he might have permanently scarred Ranma. He reached the stairs, and hurried down them. As he moved down the stairs, two at a time, a huddled ball of misery just off the stairs, hidden in the undergrowth watched him go.


    Ranma barely stifled the sobs that were racking her body as Katsuhito strode past. She had barely made it out of sight of the temple when all her efforts had failed, and she had fallen to the ground weeping as if her heart was breaking. The worse part of it was, she had no idea why. She had endured far worse insults with out shedding a single tear drop. She had lost fights before, met superior fighters, if not recently. It had never bothered her before. Not this way anyway. Always before she had been left with a grim determination to improve. So why was she crying like she was six years old again?
    Slowly, she rocked back and forth, her arms wrapped around her stomach, which felt like it was full of knots, and slowly, far too slowly for her peace of mind, she brought herself under control. Finally, with a last hiccup of a sob, she managed to stop the crying, if not the tears. It was at that point she started to berate herself.
    "Stupid fool." she muttered to herself. "The old guy told you more about your curse in five minutes then you found out in six weeks in China. And what do you do? You act like some sort of crazy person. Okay, so maybe he was full of shit about that pervert stuff, but he knew why I'm stuck like this. Shit, he could have just kept his mouth shut, that's what Pop would have done."
    Ranma stood up, wincing as her stomach protested. What was wrong with it anyway? She couldn't remember taking a hit there recently, not a bad enough one to be bothering her this much. Brushing through the low bushes that lined the stairs, she stepped out on the stone, and looked down toward the house. She could just barely make out Katsuhito as he made his way toward it. Her thoughts went back to what she'd noted as she had fought him. The absolute ease and control he'd shown as she had come at him with everything she had. Not for one instant did she think she'd pushed him anywhere near his upper limit.
    "F***," she swore. She had a feeling that if anyone could prepare her to meet the Musk, it was him. "Ah what's the use, I've blown it. He probably thinks I'm some sort of crybaby girl. How the hell am I going to get him to train me?" Ranma mulled this over as she walked down the stairs. She could just attack him again. She'd learn a lot that way, but he'd have no reason then to point out where she was going wrong. Or to show her anything more then he had to. He might also kick her out. It was his shrine after all. He probably had a lot of say in who lived here.
    Once, half an hour ago, that prospect would have delighted her. Now it was the last thing she wanted. His remarks about the result of failure had bothered her more then she liked to admit. The thought of being forced to marry some guy, and not having any choice in the matter. Ranma shuddered. That prospect had been the stuff of nightmares, and not just since Genma had come up with his scam to marry Ranma to Tenchi. Tenchi didn't frighten Ranma. Ranma was positive the two of them would work this out, but what the old guy had said about the Musk. . . Ranma would risk death happily, if there was a chance of a cure in it. But that . . . She shook her head, she had to think of someway of convincing the old man to help her. Shit, she didn't even know what this Chiisuiton looked like.
    "Damn, damn, damn!" She swore, as the only possible option became obvious. She was going to have to apologize to the old fart. Glumly she continued down the steps, not looking forward to the next fifteen minutes in the least.


    Down in the house, Tenchi was trying to keep Ryouko at bay, while keeping his attention on the Temple stairs. His Grandfather had just come down them, but there was no sign of Ranma. Once again fighting free of Ryouko's grip, he turned to her and said in an accusing tone. "You said you left Ranma with Grandfather, and that she was alright. Where is she then?"
    "Oh Tenchi, don't be like that. Don't you trust me?" Ryouko whined, trying to crawl kittenishly into his lap. Her efforts were met by a resounding lack of success. No doubt due to the fact that the boy who's lap she was currently trying to settle into was the same boy she had apparently been doing her best to kill not eighteen hours before, and who was not interested in the least in having her perched that close.
    Tenchi reached around behind his back and pulled out the Tenchi-ken. He thanked fortune that Ayeka had returned it to him. Of course she had slipped it to him in order that he could protect himself from the wicked shape shifter that had tried to ensnare him. However, it wasn't Ranma he needed protection from. He held the sword hilt between himself and Ryouko, who retreated a pace. "No. I don't trust you. You tried to kill Ranma. I want you to take me to her. I want to see her myself."
    "Ah Teennnccchhhiii." Ryouko softly wailed, "you're so mean to me."
    Katsuhito, reaching the house, took in the scene in front of him. "Tenchi, shame on you. You should not treat such a lovely lady
so badly." he said.
    "But Grandfather . . ."
    "There, there, don't fret. I left Ranma up at the temple. Ryouko did her no harm."
    "See Tenchi, aren't you sorry you didn't trust me." Ryouko purred, taking advantage of the fact that Tench had turned her back on her, to wrap her arms around him neck and to blow into his ear. Tenchi blushed red, and tried to dislodge her, but she held tight.
    Katsuhito pushed his glasses up his nose, and asked. "Tenchi, why is there a Panda writing on a sign in the livingroom?"
    Tenchi craned his head about as best he could under the circumstances, and took in the scene in the living room. Genma was indeed a Panda again, and from the way Ayeka-san was scolding her, he guessed the likely reason was Sasami, who was not paying her older sister any mind, but was instead taking in the sight of a large furry panda with every evidence of delight.
    Tenchi finally managed to dislodge Ryouko, using the Tenchi- ken as a pry bar, and while she floated off a bit and sulked, he turned to his grandfather. Placing his hand behind his head, he said hesitantly. "It's a little hard to explain. That's Ranma's father." Then hurrying his words, before his Grandfather could have him committed, or wacked him over the head for telling tall tales, he continued on. "Hefellintoacursedspringinchinaandnoweverytimehegetswetheturnsi ntoaPanda." Tenchi took a deep breath. "And when he gets splashed with hot water, he changes back." Right on cue, Nobuyuki showed up with a fresh kettle of hot water, and Genma was soon returned to normal. To Tenchi's surprise, his Grandfather did not even blink.
    "Well," Katsuhito said. "It makes sense I suppose. If Ranma was at Jusenkyo, then Genma most likely was there as well."
    "You know about the cursed springs."
    "I had a chat with Ranma up at the temple." Katsuhito sighed, and looked up the hill toward the Temple. "Tenchi?"
    "Yes Grandfather."
    "Do you like Ranma?"
    Tenchi was a bit taken aback by the question. Ranma had arrived like a bomb in his life nearly two days before, and he'd spent all that time getting use to the concept of having a fiancee who insisted she was really a boy, not to mention dealing with demons, aliens, and space battles. Did he like Ranma? "Yessss." he said in considering tone of voice, "I think I do. She's very pretty, and has a lot of energy. She's a little reckless, but she came to my rescue when I hardly knew her. I like her a lot I guess."
    "Well, that's good. I 'm glad to hear it. But Tenchi . . ." Katsuhito turned to his grandson. "You will be a gentleman won't you. Don't try and take advantage of her, eh."
    "Grandad!" Tenchi said in shock, blushing red. "I"d never do that!" Besides he thought to himself, Ranma would kill him if he tried anything eechi. As long as that was the case, he was not likely to get too familiar with her. Then he started as something occurred to him. He looked at his Grandfather in surprise. Grandfather telling him not to be eechi, that wasn't like him at all. Katsuhito continued his out of character behavior with his next sentence.
    "Good, good. You're a good boy Tenchi. Just . . . Ranma needs a friend, and not a boyfriend right now. Just give her a little space. That's all I meant."
    "Sure Grandfather." Tenchi said, easily agreeing, as that matched his intentions anyway. He was impressed however, by the serious way Katsuhito was talking. His Grandfather usually took a much lighter tone. He was not as bad as Tenchi's father, when it came to being a hentai, but he had his moments. If Grandfather thought the matter was this important, Tenchi would be well advised to take it to heart. He vowed to be as good a friend as he could to Ranma.
    "Now, are you going to introduce me to these lovely young ladies." Katsuhito said, the serious look on his face gone, and a lecherous twinkle in his eye. Tenchi sighed. It had been too good to last. He just hoped he was not going to be embarrassed too badly.
    "This is Ryouko." Tenchi said. Gesturing at the floating girl, who was giving Katsuhito a skeptical look. She clearly didn't quite trust him. She gave him a short nod in acknowledgment of Tenchi's introduction.
    "Aaa, of course, but you've been our guest for many years my dear. My ancestors accounts of you do not do you justice." Ryouko scowled at being reminded of her imprisonment, and then smiled at the compliment, then scowled again as she started to wonder if it was an compliment. By then Katsuhito had proceeded into the living room, where they watched as the explanation regarding Genma's condition, and Ranma's behavior were coming to a close.
    "As I understand it." Ayeka was saying. "You fell into this pond."
    "Spring," Genma corrected her.
    "Whatever." Ayeka scowled at being interrupted. She clearly was not over her earlier reaction to Genma's shape shifting, and was nervously fingering a ring on her right forefinger. It was one Tenchi had not noticed before, and he assumed she must have just recently put it on. She went on with her summary of Genma's story.
    "This 'spring' somehow cursed you so that you change into that creature whenever you are splashed with cold water, but only into that creature, no other. Sasami-chan, stop doing that!" Ayeka chided her sister.
    "I'm sorry Oneechan. It's just so funny." Sasami said, lowering the water pitcher in her hand.
    *That is correct.* Genma Panda said, via the sign in his paw.
    "I'll make some more hot water." Nobuyuki said, leaving the room.
    Ayeka continued. "There is no cure, and you have no control other then the hot and cold water?"
    *That is correct*
    "Ranma is not cursed, she has a deep seated belief that she is really a boy?"
    *That is correct* Tenchi would have spoken out, but he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw his Grandfather shake his head. The meaning was clear. He did not want Tenchi to say anything. Tenchi did not understand, but decided to go along with his Grandfather, for now.
    "When your daughter learned of the nature of the springs, she used it as an excuse for the physical changes that were happening to her own body, and that she was having trouble dealing with. She decided that she had fallen into the spring of drowned girl, and her body was a cursed form, just like your creature form?"
    *That is correct* Genma turned the sign to reveal the other side, which said. *And it's a Panda, not a creature.*
    "Whatever. The proof of this, is that Ranma does not change, no matter what." Ayeka finished.
    *That is correct*
    "And you expect me to believe you?"
    *That is correct*
    "I think you are lying. I think you have afflicted that poor girl with her delusions, and you are a foul deceiving monster.
    *That is . . . * Genma hastily lowered the sign, and quickly created a new message.
    *Who? Me?*
    "That is correct." Ayeka said sarcastically. She stood, her hand lifting to the ring she had been fingering earlier. "And I'll prove it."
    Katsuhito finally intruded himself in the conversation. "That will not be necessary my dear. I can assure you that Jusenkyo does indeed exist."
    "And who are you!?" Ayeka snapped out, spinning in place to look at Katsuhito, upset at being interrupted at the climatic moment on her denouncement of this evil creature.
    "Oneechan!" Sasami said reprovingly.
    Ayeka suddenly flushed, and lowered her head in confusion. "I'm sorry." She said softly. "It's just that I was so shocked by his change. Shape shifters are evil creatures. The thought that one had wormed its way this close to my family. I'm afraid I forgot my place. I'm a guest. I'm sorry." She repeated. Drawing a breath, she looked up and met Katsuhito's gaze. The look of apology lasted for a second, then was replaced by one of puzzlement. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" She said.
    She stared intently at Katsuhito, who coughed into his hand, and turned his face away from her. "Oh, I don't think so." He said in a joking tone. "It's been years since I shot through space in my space ship."
    "Grandfather, don't tease her. She's a princess." Tenchi said reprovingly.
    "Ah. A princess you say. Then we are most honored indeed. Is this also a princess?" Katsuhito said, kneeling down to look Sasami in the eye.
    "Yes! I'm Sasami, and that's my sister Ayeka. Don't mind her, she's in a bad mood."
    "Sasami-chan!"
    "Well, it's true."
    "Sasami." Ayeka said, her tone quelling.
    "Oh, alright." Sasami muttered.
    Turning to Katsuhito, she said. "You said that you knew of this cursed place sir?"
    "That is correct." Katsuhito said in a wooden voice. Then giving a small smile he continued in a more normal tone. "It is in the Temple records."
    Just then Nobuyuki returned with the hot water, and restored Genma.
    Katsuhito looked at the thoroughly sodden figure in front of him. "Hello Genma. Long time no see."
    Genma looked at Katsuhito nervously. "Ah, do I, ah, know... you?"
    "I don't know if we ever met. I was at your wedding, but I don't believe we talked."
    Genma looked very relieved. "Oh, well, that's fine then. Nice to see you."
    "I called your wife just a little while ago."
    Genma froze, his eyes took on a haunted look. "No... Nodo... Nodoka. Ah, how, I mean, she was well?"
    "I don't know. She wasn't home."
    Genma nearly melted with relief, but he was premature in his reaction as Katsuhito continued. "I got her neighbor. She told me Nodoka has gone to Jusenkyo, looking for you and Ranma."
    Ayeka looked up at this. "So he was at that place!"
    Katsuhito looked over at her. "Indeed, according to Nodoka's neighbor, he was suppose to have been there about three to four months ago."
    Genma was not hearing any of this. One phrase kept going through his head. Nodoka was going to Jusenkyo, that meant she would meet the guide, and the guide would tell her, and she would know, and he was going to die. No. Get a hold of yourself Genma. Think man. Nodoka was going to find out. Nothing he could do about that, but he was safe here. She'd never expect him to hide here, in her own family as it were. Everything would be alright. He looked over to where Ayeka and Katsuhito were talking, focusing in on their conversation.
    "I left my number with Nodoka's neighbor. I also left a message. I told her to tell Nodoka that Ranma was here. She'll call as soon as she gets back I imagine."

    Genma picked up the half empty pitcher of water, and went Panda. The thought "I'm going to die. I'm going to die," ran through his head over and over again.

    "Looking good Pop." A sarcastic voice said from the doorway. Everyone in the room turned to look at Ranma, and with the exception of Ryouko and Katsuhito, they all gaped in shock. Ranma was a mess. She was still topless, her upper body was covered in scrapes and abrasions, blood smeared across most of it.. Her face was filthy, covered in dirt and blood, except for two clear tracks that had been cleaned by her tears. She ignored the stares she was receiving, and looked straight at Katsuhito. "May I talk to you alone Sensei?"
    Katsuhito nodded. "Of course." Turning to Nobuyuki, he said. "May we use your office?"
    Nobuyuki nodded, more in reflex then consciously, his face was still wearing a stunned, hit between the eyes, expression. Katsuhito gestured to Ranma to follow him, and he made his way toward the back of the house. Back straight, looking at no one, Ranma followed. Then, as she passed Ryouko, who was stretched out in a relaxed pose on the sofa, she turned and glared at her. Ryouko returned her glare with a leering smile. Ranma's gaze became even hotter, and she hissed out, "You pervert!" Then she turned and followed Katsuhito out of sight, a second later the sound of the door closing could be heard.
    Ryouko gave a snort, still looking in the direction that Ranma had disappeared . "Hmp, she has some nerve calling 'me' a pervert." Suddenly, a fizz, snap, followed by a constant low thrum filled the air. Ryouko jerked her head around, and saw that the Tenchi-ken, which Tenchi had been holding in his lap, had sprung to life. Under normal circumstances, Ryouko would have made a slightly lecherous comment, remarking on the blade's apparent point of origin. As a matter of fact, she started to do that very thing, but then the words caught in her throat as she lifted her eyes to meet Tenchi's. He was looking at her with a look of utter loathing. Lifting the sword, he pointed it at her. His mouth moved, but no words came out, it was as if he could find none to express what he was feeling. However, the look on his face, and the white knuckles on the hand holding the sword gave mute testimony to the feeling he could not voice.
    Ryouko took this all in, in a second, then a second flash of light out of the corner of her eye diverted he attention for a second. Just long enough to see the final stages of Princess Ayeka donning her Juraian battle armor. Again, under normal situations, her reaction to this would have been a smirk, and a feeling of 'Good. Exercise.' In this case however, the words did not even enter her mind. Ayeka's face was a feminine mirror of Tenchi's, which caused her to move her gaze back in his direction. He had stood, and was moving toward her, very nearly shaking with the emotion he was trying to contain.
    "Wh, wha, what? Tenchi? What?" Ryouko stammered out, unable to understand what had Tenchi so upset. The princess, she could understand, but what had she done to make Tenchi mad. As might be noted, Ryouko's skill at looking at events from other people's point of view was not highly developed.


    Ranma closed the door behind her, ignoring the sound of a large explosion, and the accompanying screams and shouts. All her attention was focused on Katsuhito, who was standing across the room, one hand resting on Nobuyuki's drafting table. She closed her eyes, and through gritted teeth started to say. "I'm sorry for being such an asshole up at the temple."
    She only got as far as "I'm sorry . . ." When Katsuhito interrupted her.
    "No."
    Ranma blinked, startled out of her carefully rehearsed speech. Then she flushed red, and was on the verge of giving Katsuhito hell for not letting her say she was sorry for giving him hell before. Then Katsuhito continued.
    "You have nothing to apologize for." A loud explosion rocked the room, and dust settled down of both residents, but they ignored it. "I spoke out of turn. It was not my place to speak so to you, not on such short notice." Katsuhito gave her a small bow. "I am sorry that I offended you."
    Ranma was shocked. Had anyone ever apologized to her before? She couldn't think of anyone off hand. "Ah," She hemmed, placing a hand behind her head as an aid to thinking. "That's alright." Then, getting into the concept, she added. "I shouldn't of ought to have gone over the top like that, even if you were being a pervert."
    Katsuhito smiled at her, his face shifting into a more relaxed expression. With a slight undertone of amusement, tinged with mock lechery, he said. "A poor old, lonely man, he has to find his pleasure where he can. A pretty young girl comes calling, it would be rude not to compliment her on her outstanding features." Here he leered at Ranma's still bare chest.
    Catching the tone of his statement, Ranma, relieved that this was going so well, and that she hadn't had to kiss ass, played along, returning the smile, she arched her back. "Well, they are outstanding, I have to give you that. Guess I can't fault you for honesty. Guess it'd be rude of me to deprive a senile, decrepit old pervert a little pleasure before he croaks." She held her pose, and grinned at Katsuhito, who tried hard to keep a straight face, but finally had to advert his eyes.
    Chuckling into a his moustache, he said. "I think things are going to be very interesting around here for a while." Which of course was when the wall fell in.

    "Raaaannnmmmmaaa!" A truly wretched and frightened Ryouko shot through the hole where the wall had been, and latched on to Ranma. Putting the smaller girl between her and the advancing Tenchi and Ayeka.
    "Leave her alone you monster woman! Have you not done enough to the poor girl already?" Ayeka demanded. Tenchi stepped through the dust and debris, taking a heroic stance, he pointed the glowing sword in his hand in Ryouko's direction, and quickly clapped a hand to his nose as he got a good close look at Ranma's bare chest.
    "Ranma, Ranma, tell Tenchi I didn't touch you. Tell him's he wrong." Ryouko whined, her voice stricken at the thought of Tenchi's hatred. She fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around Rama's legs. "Please, please Ranma." Turning her eyes up toward Ranma, she met Ranma startled maroon ones with her own slitted cat eyes.
    Ranma flinched from those disturbing orbs, but not before seeing the distress in them, or noting the heavy stream of tears flowing down her cheeks. Much as she enjoyed seeing Ryouko in this state, Ranma couldn't ignore the entreaty in those eyes. Sighing, she turned to Tenchi and Ayeka, who were both trying to move so as to get a clear shot at Ryouko. Tenchi still had one hand pinching his nose closed, and Ranma grinned at the image he projected. "Alright," she finally said. "Anyone want to tell me what the heck is going on?"


    It was several hours later that the pain in her belly returned to Ranma, pulling her out of a restless sleep. Giving a soft moan, she sat up in bed and clutched her gut.
    "Ranma?" A soft sleepy voice said from the side in a questioning tone. "Are you alright?"
    "It's alright Sasami, just something I ate probably." Ranma said to the young girl. She glanced over to where Sasami's sister was sleeping, and gave a sigh of relief when she noted the Princess was not stirring. After enduring a solid hour of Ayeka's sympathy and understanding earlier, she wasn't sure if she could take any more so soon. The Princess had been so roundabout in her remarks, phrasing things so delicately, it had taken Ranma nearly a half hour to understand what it was Ryouko was suppose to have done to her. It had taken nearly as long for Ranma's very loud denial that she had not been molested to be believed by Ayeka. Tenchi thank god, had believed her right away, and had shamefacedly apologized to Ryouko. She in turn had taken full advantage of his guilt to cuddle him, much to Tenchi's obvious distress.
    After giving some more quite assurances to a worried Sasami, Ranma left the room and made her way to the bathroom, hoping that emptying her belly from one end or the other would relieve the discomfort she was feeling.

    After Ranma left, Sasami found she had trouble getting back to sleep, so many exciting things had happened today, her mind was whirling with all the experiences and new people she had met. She had even met a shape shifter. Ayeka had forbidden her to go near him, but Sasami was sure her sister would recant. He was so soft and furry, he couldn't be an evil creature of the realm of darkness. As that thought was running through her mind, a blood curdling scream of feminine terror ripped through the house. Sasami screamed in sympathetic shock, and launched herself across the room toward her sister who sat bolt upright as the scream ripped her from her deep sleep.
    "Ayeka-oneechan, " She cried as she flung herself into Ayeka's lap. "It's Ranma, something is wrong with her, we have to help."
    Ayeka didn't need Sasami encouragement, throwing on her night dress, she ordered Sasami to stay in their room, and raced through the door, heading in the direction the cry had come from. "If that monster woman had touched her again, I will never forgive her!" She vowed to herself.
    Reaching the bathroom, Ayeka found Nobuyuki and Tenchi standing outside. Even as she arrived, the door opened, and a thoroughly flustered Panda appeared. Tenchi immediately demanded information. "What is it? Is Ranma alright? I'm going to see if she's . . ." Tenchi was cut off as a large furry arm blocked his access to the bathroom. His free hand held up a sign. *You do not want to go in there* Then he turned it. *Believe me!* Genma's fur bristled, and his eyes were clouded with agitation, something had very clearly disturbed him.
    Ayeka had long since discarded any belief that Ranma was a shape shifter, but she still did not trust Genma by a long shot. Hustling up, she demanded. "Why are you stopping Tenchi-sama from going to Ranma?" Inside the bathroom, a moan of despair could be heard. Reacting to that sound, Ayeka started for the door. "Well you won't stop me." She declared, and then was shocked when rather then stopping her, or even trying to. Genma opened the door, and pushed her in.
    
    Once in, she saw Ranma kneeling on the floor, her boxers around her ankles. She was staring in shock at a hand she held in front of her, a hand that dripped with red. Ayeka took a step toward her, and then paused, shocked. "Surely not?" she thought to herself, Ranma was too old, for this to be her first time. Wasn't she?
    
    Outside in the hall, all was silent. The three males looked at the door with varied expressions. Genma's was reminiscent of someone expecting a bomb to go off at anytime. Sasami hurried up just as the door opened and Ayeka stuck her head out.
    "Oh, good, Sasami-chan," she said, ignoring the fact that her young sister had once again ignored her orders, "would you go back to our room. In the dresser that use to stand beside my bed, in the bottom drawer, there is a small pink bag. You know the one? Good. Get that and bring it will you please." A look of comprehension donned on Sasami's face, and she hurried off on her errand.
    Ayeka-sama? Is Ranma going to be alright?" Tenchi asked in a worried tone.
    "Ranma-chan will be fine Tenchi." Ayeka answered. "You need not worry, it is nothing serious. Please, won't you and your father go back to bed. I'll make sure Ranma is well. Not you!" Ayeka suddenly snapped out, as Genma started to follow after Tenchi and Nobuyuki. "Perhaps you could explain how it is that your daughter has not been taught one of the most important things a young girl should know! Do you have any idea what you have done to her?" The cold in Ayeka's voice slashed Genma like a knife. He tried to write on his sign, but Ayeka gave a disgusted snort, and went back in the bathroom. In her haste she left the door open a crack, and Genma moved in closer. He heard Ranma ask in a disgustingly weak and quavery voice.
    "Ayeka-san, am I, am I dying?"
    Ayeka gave a light laugh. "Don't be silly Ranma. What is happening to you is perfectly normal. You are a bit old it is true for this to be your first time, but then you are very active, and I have heard that hard exercise can delay it."
    "What is it? What's wrong with me?" Ranma asked, her voice sightly steadier as a result of Ayeka's assurance.
    "It's very simple Ranma, I'll explain it in detail to you later, but think of it like this. It's something to be very happy about."
    "Happy? Happy? About bleeding like this?"
    "Yes. You should be very happy. Your body is telling you that it is ready to make babies. What could be happier then that?"
    
    Genma very nearly made it to the forest lining the side of the valley before Ranma caught him. Ayeka held a hand to her mouth in shock as the sounds of a Panda crying out in agony floated across the small lake.
    "Ayeka-oneechan, here's the box you wanted."
    Ayeka took the container from Sasami, then pulling up a chair she sat down. Then, as another cry echoed through the night, she turned to her sister she said. "You might as well go to bed Sasami, I could be here for awhile."

Comment or death threats accepted, Comments being the more welcome. Many thanks to my various pre-readers, who gentle ways with the cattle prods keep me motivated. And a special thanks to Wade Tritschler. If it were not for him, it is very unlikely I would be able to write with even as little ability as I do. So now you know who to blame.^_^ Please check out Wade's home page at http://www.mala.bc.ca/~tritscwa He has some very good stories there.
Next Chapter: Join us for.

    Happy birthday, Ryo-oh-ki
    
    "Oneechan, why is Ranma-oneechan acting that way?"
    "Meow!"


T.H. Tiger, schell@interlog.com