[Ranma][Fanfic][Rev2] Ranma-ototo Mini-series (Parts 1-6) ======================================================================= Akane Tendo and Ranma Saotome have both known tragedy, Akane when she lost her loving mother and Ranma when he obtained his hated curse. There are other events and tragedies that helped shape their lives, but these two major events define who and what they are. They were always able to overcome these obstacles by knowing who they were and who their families were. Or so they thought... ======================================================================= Ranma-ototo (Little Brother Ranma) Mini-series (Parts 1-6) Revision 2.0 Ranma 1/2 characters and situations created by Rumiko Takahashi - Used without permission Ranma 1/2 Copyright by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan Inc., Kitty, Fuji, Viz Communications Ranma-ototo mini-series created, written, and Copyright 1998 by Jim Lazar Story starts shortly after 'Back to the Happosai' Anime episode. Continuity based on Anime up until 'Back to the Happosai' episode. "Speech text in double quotes is spoken as Japanese." E-mail comments and/or criticisms to: jim [at] animeprime.com My other fanfiction can be found at: http://www.animeprime/ff Some Japanese words that appear in this series: Ototo/Ototchan = Little brother Oneechan = Older sister Imoto/Imotchan = Younger sister Okasan = Mother Obasan = Aunt (also a common way to address an older woman when relationship is unknown) ======================================================================= Please see the revision notes after part 6 for details on this major revision to the original Ranma-ototo mini-series. ======================================================================= Ranma-ototo (Little Brother Ranma) Part 1 - Past Memories Ranma was not dreaming: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his awake state was signed by the author, the head of the Tendo household (one Kasumi Tendo, who was cleaning Ranma's bedding currently after they became wet over the night for some unknown reason), the large panda playing shogi with one Soun Tendo (a relation of Miss Kasumi, I believe) at the moment, and a certain Rumiko Takahashi. 'SHE' had signed it. And her name was good as god, for anything she chose to put her hand to. Ranma was awake as Akane Tendo's cooking was bad. Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly bad about Miss Akane's cooking, for how could the food so lovingly created in the golden hands of my fair love be bad. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a can of spam, or anything made by my vile sister's hands for that matter, as the deadliest piece of food possible. But the wisdom of Rumiko Takahashi is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Ranmaverse is done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Ranma was not dreaming! Ranma was also quite male at this particular moment: as a side note. Since Ranma was born a male this would normally not even be a issue, but Ranma being Ranma, his sex was always in question, lest you set thine own eyes on him or her yourself. Read no further if thy can't tell the difference between a male and a female of the homosapien species known as mankind, for this is not a lemonfic. So say I, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, Tatewaki Kuno, age 17. Ranma knew he was awake and male? Of course he did. How could it be otherwise? Ranma was male for as many as 16 years now. And even though Ranma was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event, but that he was an excellent man of martial arts on the very day, a scant few months ago, when he fell into a particular cursed spring in Jusenkyo, a place somewhere in the wilds of China that my eyes have not personally set sight on, and fate conspired to curse him with a female half that he wishes to rid himself of. This is the story I've been told, countless times, by the yen loving demon known as Miss Nabiki Tendo, but I believe it to be a false tale told to me to keep me from my pig-tailed goddess, to whom I intend to be wed one day. The mention of Ranma's current sex brings me back to the point I started from. There is no doubt that Ranma was awake and male. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate. If we were not perfectly convinced that Hamlet's Father died before the play began or that Marley was dead before the ghosts arrived, there would be nothing more remarkable in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly wind, upon his own ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged gentleman rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot -- say Saint Paul's Churchyard for instance -- literally to astonish his son's weak mind. But I digress. The very male, awake, and non-dreaming Ranma flew away from the enemy trying to avoid the savage blows of his mortal enemy's weapon. Somehow, his punches and kicks did not connect with anything except the hated wooden weapon. A shower of the Tendo dojo's floor, in small pieces, streaked upwards as the weapon crashed into the floor. Ranma (did I mention that he was male at the moment?) easily dodged being hit by the aforementioned small pieces only to be hit by a large board, that may not have even come from the floor of the sacred Tendo dojo. That it seemed to come much later and from a direction in opposition to the rest of the small flying fragments would tend to confirm this fact. "You'll regret that!" Ranma yelled defiantly, although lacking in moral resolve, and then he closed for the kill. He never got the chance, as a large wooden mallet, being the aforementioned weapon, came out of nowhere and sent him crashing through the roof, leaving behind a nice Ranma-shaped hole. Which is lucky for the Tendos, since the recently opened 'Ranma-shaped Hole Repair Company' just started a week long sale, so Nabiki Tendo informs me, but I know not why she thought it important for a noble man like myself to know such a trivial thing. Thy fair Akane Tendo put down her formidable weapon, I know this to be true as I have felt it's loving caress on my body many times, and she collapsed to the wasteland that was the floor of the Tendo dojo. The last I see of my love is her cooling off by opening her sweat-soaked gi to wipe the sweat off her ample bosom, but being a man of honor and moral fiber I shan't describe the grand sight, that I took great pains to keep in view as I soared away, any further than that. What? Did I not mention that I was on the roof of the aforementioned Tendo dojo so I could see that honorless cur, Ranma Saotome, get the beating that I, in all my physical and mental superiority, have not wished to bestow on him myself, lest I sadden my fair love, Akane Tendo? I guess that point slipped my mind, as I am still thinking of the fair Akane's heaving bosom. Normally such a task (the rooftop surveillance, not the heaving bosom reflections) I would leave to my faithful manservant, the Kuno family ninja, Sasuke, but alas, he is currently recovering from something my twisted sister made him eat, supposedly a potion she wishes to use to ensnare Ranma Saotome with. So, I found myself in flight along with the cur known as Ranma Saotome, after being hit by the aforementioned cur on his way through the roof, taking in a sunrise that pales in comparison with the beauty of my pig-tailed goddess and Akane Tendo. We perchance to fall into the spacious koi pond at my vast estate, my family being one of the obscenely well-off upper class, by the time I rose to the surface the vial cur Ranma Saotome had fled my grounds to avoid the beating I would surely have given him. In his wake, I find that my beautiful pig-tailed goddess had decided to pay me a visit and wished to bathe with me, this would be the second time my pig-tailed goddess has requested this of me. My honor as a gentleman required that I turn her down, but her maidenly insistence only made the invitation irresistible. Sadly, my indecision had scared off my pig-tailed goddess, next time I will not hesitate to give her my love, which shall be a golden day in my life. I happened to glance heavenward in search of one of my loves and spied a Ranma-shaped hole in the patio roof near my sacred koi pond. I now know why Nabiki Tendo informed me of the 'Ranma-shaped Hole Repair Company' and it's current sale, she must be clairvoyant to foresee my need of this foul-named companies' services. I dashed into my abode and enlisted their services. Sadly, this ended my tale for the day, fare-thee-well good reader. * * * Kasumi had just finished putting out the laundry, which included Ranma's bedding. Kasumi glanced back at the bedding. she thought. She walked towards the house, passing the big tree in the corner of the garden. She paused to look at the umbrella shaped carving on the back of the tree and then traced the initials with one finger. A smile crossed her face. "Someday," she whispered to herself. Kasumi thought, as she walked back to the house. * * * Everyone was eating breakfast at the family room table. Genma, in his panda form, was munching on some bamboo leaves. Kasumi brought out more food and kneeled down at the table. "Akane, can you stop by Mother's grave on your way home and replace her flowers? I'm afraid I can't make it over this week." Kasumi asked, sweetly. "Sure, Kasumi, but it'll be a little late. I've got practice after school today," Akane replied. Ranma, still in his girl form, looked at Kasumi and Akane with a little sadness in his eyes, then looked downward. No one at the table seemed to notice. * * * The sun was low in the sky when Ranma walked up to Mother Tendo's grave. He knelt down and put his hands together to pray. Akane walked down the walkway towards the grave, carrying a bouquet of carnations. She stopped short when she spotted Ranma in front of the grave. Akane thought. She was about to approach Ranma when she noticed a few tears come down his cheek. A shocked look crossed her face. "Mother Tendo... I don't remember my own mom too well, but I hope she's as nice and wonderful as I remember you were." Ranma said, unevenly. a puzzled Akane thought, as she hear Ranma speak. "Anyway, your family is well and happy. Even Akane seems to be happy, especially when she hits me with her mallet," Ranma explained. Akane flinched a little at this comment. Continuing, Ranma said, "I guess it's good therapy for her to work out her anger that way and with all my martial arts training it doesn't hurt... well... not for long." Akane looked angry and then softened, when she realized what he was really saying. "I just wanted to say hi. Err...I wish I knew what you'd think about this engagement... it'd make it easier to decide," Ranma said. Akane gasped and dropped the bouquet of flowers. Ranma turned his head and noticed Akane. "A...Akane? It's not what you think!" Ranma said out of habit. "Relax, Ranma...praying at my mother's grave is not a 'malletable offense'," Akane said calmly, although there was a slight edge to the way she said Ranma's name. "Umm, let's talk about this elsewhere. Ok?" Ranma asked shyly, glancing back at the grave. "Okay," Akane agreed. She picked up the dropped flowers and approached the grave to pay her own respects. * * * Akane and Ranma were sitting in a booth at a cafe near the cemetery. Two cups of tea were on the table in front of them. "I remember your mother from when I was little, before my father started taking me on our training trips," Ranma began. "Some of the details are fuzzy, but I do recall picnics and spending time at your house with your mother. She always made the best food." Akane grimaced at the statement of the food. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?" Akane asked. "The woman I remember always seemed like MY mother, but then I saw a picture of your mother recently and it got me thinking. There is another woman I remember who is probably my real mother, but pop has never talked much about her or shown me a picture," Ranma calmly explained. "Then this morning when Kasumi mentioned your mother's grave some more memories surfaced," Ranma explained. "I decided to pay a visit to her grave to see if it could make my memories clearer and to pay my respects, of course." "Ranma, that's very nice of you. Why don't we head home and ask our fathers about this?" Akane suggested. "Okay," Ranma replied. He got up, ignoring the check. Akane cleared her throat. "Don't forget the check," Akane said, grinning. "Err...sure, NABIKI," Ranma quipped. He received a punch in his arm from Akane for his effort. * * * After Ranma and Akane got home, they cornered their fathers on the porch. "Father, did Ranma ever meet Mother?" Akane asked. Soun and Genma seemed very shocked and upset at this question. "What? Of course not, we never met Ranma until he showed up as a girl," Soun said, unconvincingly. Genma said a simple, "Right. Absolutely. You never met Mrs. Tendo, Son." He turned to leave. Ranma grabbed Genma's shoulder and spun him back around. "You're not going anywhere till we hear the truth from you two!" Ranma said, recognizing an obvious evasion by his father when he saw it. "We need to know... Ranma says he remembers my mother when he was growing up," Akane said. "Tell us, Pop! What's the big deal? It's a little worrying to me that I remember Akane's mother better than my own!" Ranma shouted at his father. Soun and Genma exchanged troubled looks. Then Genma splashed himself with a bucket of water and turned into his panda form. "Saotome! How dare you leave me alone in this!" Soun yelled and started to cry. "Stop the evasions and just tell us or we'll beat it out of you two!" Akane yelled. The panda held up a sign that said, "I'm just an ordinary panda. Don't ask me!" Akane pulled out a 'Super Extra Heavy Duty Mallet (TM)' and prepared to swing it. Her battle aura started to glow a dark crimson. Soun produced a hot kettle of water and returned Genma to his human form. "I think we need to tell them, Saotome," Soun reluctantly said. Genma nodded and agreed, "You did play together when you two were younger. When you were about four or five years old." "My dear wife always enjoyed taking us on picnics and Ranma would sometimes tag along," Soun stated. "Gee, even back then you were mooching off us, Ranma," Akane said, sarcastically. "Let's just hear the rest of the story, okay?" Ranma insisted. "There's not much else to say, Ranma used to come over and play with Akane all the time," Soun said. He suddenly seemed to get an idea (insert light bulb here). "Why do you think we decided to engage you two back then?" "What!?!?" Akane and Ranma both yelled in amazement. "You said that you two decided only about a year ago to engage us!" Akane screamed. "Plus it was me and 'one of your daughters'...not Akane in particular," Ranma mentioned smugly, thinking he'd caught them in a lie. "Well, we wanted to let you choose each other yourselves," Genma insisted. "Of course we paid off Nabiki to make sure Akane was the choice if Ranma didn't choose Akane by himself," Soun informed them, smiling. "That's why she was so eager to force me and Ranma together," Akane said, growing angrier. "It's a good thing too, considering how you showed up at our door Ranma. That's was quite shocking to us all," Soun said, casting an angry glare at Genma. "There you go then, simple really," Genma said and turned away to avoid any further discussion. Soun followed him away. They both seemed very pleased with themselves. Akane and Ranma were processing all this information. "Do you believe them?" Akane finally asked. Ranma looked thoughtful for a couple seconds (a personal record). "Sort of. It does seem to fit with my memories. Plus the bit about Nabiki is definitely plausible, but there's still something they are avoiding telling us," he said. "Yes...I got that feeling too, if only we could go back and see what really happened back then," Akane suggested. Ranma thought for a few moments, then suddenly yelled, "Happosai's magic mirror!" "Wasn't that broken?" Akane asked. "I saw him fixing it after our trip to China, I'm sure it'll work," Ranma explained. "As much as I hate to say it, let's go with your plan," Akane reluctantly agreed. They both went inside and to Happosai's room. * * * Ranma and Akane crept into Happosai's room. They started searching through piles of panties and bras for the mirror. Ranma picked up a pair of panties and looked at them briefly. "Akane, these are yours," he said, tossing the panties to her. Akane caught them and said, "What? How would you know! Pervert!" One malleting later, Ranma finally found the magic mirror. It's broken glass had been taped together. Akane took great pleasure in rubbing Ranma's eye with an onion to make him cry. A tear hit the mirror and the surface of the mirror started to glow. "Magic mirror, take us back to when me and Akane played together as kids," Ranma commanded, holding Akane's hand. With a bright flash, Ranma and Akane vanished from the room, leaving only a pair of panties and bra hanging where Akane was standing. They hovered for a second, then fell to the ground. * * * In a small playground, Ranma and Akane appeared with a bright flash of light. The sun was high in the sky. Akane suddenly looked shocked. Noticing her expression, Ranma asked, "What's wrong, Akane?" Akane patted her sides and thighs with a confused look on her face. She said, "I don't think that mirror is working right... for some reason my bra and panties are missing." She started to blush. Ranma face-faulted. "Well, knowing Happosai, he probably made it do that when he fixed it," he mentioned. He paused, then pointed at Akane's skirt. "You'd better avoid any flying kicks while we're here though," he said, grinning. A mallet quickly replaced the grin on his face. "Hey, that's a really neat mallet! Want to see mine, lady?" a small voice said. Ranma and Akane both turned around to see a little girl standing behind them. She was about five years old and had short dark blue hair. She was also holding a small mallet. Ranma and Akane both exchanged a troubled and knowing glance. "That's a cute little mallet you have, little girl," Akane said bending down in front of 'Little-Akane'. "I'm Akane!" the little girl said, smiling. "I'm err...Shampoo," Akane said, causing Ranma to shudder. "And this is..." "Ra...yoga," Ranma offered, just correcting himself in time. He got a thoughtful look on his face, then said, "You know, Akane, you really shouldn't carry a mallet around, you could hurt someone with it." "But I need it to keep my little brother from swiping my lunch!" Little-Akane protested. "Brother!?!?" Akane and Ranma both shouted in unison. To say they looked shocked was an understatement. "Yeah, he's around here somewhere. Got any food?" Little-Akane asked. "Um...I have an onion," Akane offered, then handed the onion to Little-Akane. "Great," Little-Akane said, grabbing the onion. "Ranma-ototo, lunchtime!!" she screamed. Ranma and Akane were even more shocked at hearing 'Ranma' and 'little-brother' together. Suddenly a little boy appeared out of nowhere, grabbed the onion, and started to eat it. He was also about five years old and had long black hair tied in a single ponytail. "Uhhh, no... It can't be," Ranma stammered. "Looks like we found what our fathers were hiding," Akane said in disbelief, a little more coherently than Ranma. "Yeah," was all Ranma managed to say. Little-Ranma started crying. "Wahhh, it's an onion! Yucky!" "I thought you used the mallet to keep him away from your lunch?" Akane asked Little-Akane. "An onion is just as good punishment," Little-Akane declared, grinning. Despite herself, Akane grinned and nodded her agreement. Little-Akane glared at Little-Ranma. "Ranma no baka! That's what you get for eating anything you can get your hands on," she yelled at the little boy. "Don't worry, Akane, there will come a time when he avoids eating certain food cooked by a certain girl like his life depended on it," Ranma insisted, then added, "And it does." He was promptly malleted by both Akanes. "I'm sorry, Ryoga... I usually only use the mallet on my ototo, I'm not sure why I did that," Little-Akane apologized. She looked downward and seemed to be on the edge of tears. A sympathetic look crossed Ranma's face. Then he ran his hand through Little-Akane's hair. "That's okay, I know that sometimes he probably deserves it," he said. He nervously looked at the grownup Akane to see if she heard that, she did. Little-Akane smiled and then a dreamy look appeared on her face. "Ryoga, I like you, will you marry me?" she asked. Then she jumped up and hugged Ranma. Akane and Ranma both face-faulted. Ranma could just stammer incoherently. "Great!! Yet another fiancee!" Akane snarled. Ranma leaned over to Akane after putting Little-Akane down. "Um... don't forget that this is YOU," he whispered to her. Akane realized that she may have overreacted and calmed down. Little-Ranma felt left out, so he yelled, "And you can marry me lady! Yaaaay!!! Take that Akane!" Little-Ranma stuck his tongue out at Little-Akane. "Copycat!" Little-Akane replied. "Tomboy!" Little-Ranma retorted. "Pervert!" Akane accidentally said, getting lost in the moment. Irritated, Ranma exclaimed, "Un-cute!" Many odd, confused, awkward, and troubled looks went around the little group. Ranma was unable to take any more of this. "Okay, that's it. Let's go...SHAMPOO!" Ranma commanded and then turned away. "We have to go now, Akane. Take it easy on Ranma. Someday you may be glad he's your BROTHER," Akane said, smiling to Little-Akane. "Okay! Bye, bye!" Little-Akane said, sweetly. Just then, a woman's voice was heard calling out. "Akane... Ranma... time to go home!!!". "Okay, Mom!" Little-Akane and Little-Ranma both chimed in unison. They started running towards the voice. Ranma turned around to join Akane in staring at Mother Tendo, who had walked up to collect Little-Akane and Little-Ranma. "Hope you two played nice," Mother Tendo said, with a beautiful voice. Akane looked at her mother and tears formed in her eyes. She held her hands tightly together in front of her. Ranma just stared in amazement and a little sadness in his eyes. He unconsciously put his arm around Akane and pulled her close to him. [End - Part 1] ======================================================================= Author's notes and ramblings for part 1: Sorry about all the 'malleting' by Akane, both of them, but it helped create some amusing scenes and begins the meeting between Ranma/Akane and their younger selves with a bang (or a skull crunch). I've never really liked Akane's mallet rampages, but it just fit into this story so well. The rest of the series will have less malleting. I AM rewriting some Ranma 1/2 history here. Generally I'm paying close attention to the anime episodes up to the 'Back to the Happosai' episode for continuity, explaining away any contradictions as I go (if I care or need to). Events happening after that episode may or may not happen in this 'universe'. The idea for Ranma and Akane to use the magic mirror to go back in time to spy on themselves evolved from the 'Ranma goes back to Jusenkyo at last' Anime episode, of course (which takes place after the official 'Ranma-ototo' continuity anyway). Of course, the first five paragraphs were 'borrowed' from 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens (I always steal from the very best) and of course Rumiko Takahashi never signed off on any of this story. I liked the tone it set for the Ranma-ototo series (although I have no ghosts in this series except for the perceived ghost of the Tendo Mother). I also wanted to make it clear that this wasn't going to end up just being a dream by anyone (since the use of the mirror is based on a 'dream episode'). You can read the original at: http://www.literature.org/Works/Charles-Dickens/christmas-carol or buy the book (it's a thick paper filled thing). If the first section of this story seems like Tatewaki Kuno temporarily possessed me, it is because I think I was (maybe there are ghosts in this series after all). Since he shall not appear in the rest of this series, it was his wish to write the first part of this tale. I'm sorry if all the Kuno-speak made you sick. P.S. This is NOT a dream, as I think Kuno hammered into you in the first part of this story. ======================================================================= Ranma-ototo (Little Brother Ranma) Part 2 - The love of brother and sister Mother Tendo noticed Ranma and Akane. "Oh, hi. I hope the kids didn't disturb you two?" she asked. "Oh no, they are adorable," Akane replied, nervously. "Well they are, but also quite a handful," Mother Tendo said, then was interrupted by a tug on her dress by Little-Akane. "What is it, Akane dear?" "When I grow up I'm going to marry him," Little-Akane declared, pointing at the grownup Ranma. Ranma looked away awkwardly. "Well, that's nice dear, but it looks like he already has a girlfriend," Mother Tendo replied, indicating the grown up Akane. "Oh...well...you see," Akane stammered, blushing. She pulled away from Ranma a bit, but Ranma's arm was still around her shoulder. "Don't worry you two, the kids are just very imaginative... they keep saying they are going to marry each other when they grow up. If it wasn't for the fact that they fight all the time, I'd think they were serious," Mother Tendo remarked. She smiled lovingly at the kids. Ranma and Akane exchanged glances, both troubled and knowing. "Kids will be kids I guess," Ranma finally managed to say. "That's what I said when I caught them playing 'doctor' a few months ago." Mother Tendo chuckled, sweetly. Ranma and Akane blushed and held back a face fault. "Well, it's been nice meeting you, O...basan,' Akane said, stumbling over 'obasan'. She had almost said 'okasan', which means mother of course. "Yes it has, but we have an appointment we have to keep," Ranma insisted. Then both Ranma and Akane had the same thought about sending their fathers into low earth orbit for the lies they have been telling. "Thank you for entertaining the kids. You're such a cute couple," Mother Tendo said. A loving smile crossed on her face. "Err...thank you," Akane and Ranma both said somewhat in unison. Both were blushing. Mother Tendo turned to leave. Little-Akane and Little-Ranma said their good-byes and left with her. After they had left the playground, Ranma turned towards Akane. "Well, guess that ends our engagement?" Ranma mentioned. A part of his heart died as he said those words. "Guess so... Ototchan" Akane said, stumbling a bit when calling Ranma little brother. A part of her heart died as she realized she couldn't marry Ranma anymore, but she couldn't figure out why. She never wanted to marry him anyway, right? "Please don't call me little brother," Ranma pleaded. "Why? I've always been so much more mature that you," she taunted, grinning. "Actually my girl-side is more 'developed' than you," Ranma quipped, earning a punch in his side. "No mallet?" Ranma asked, as he rubbed his side. "Well, just call it a birthday present for my Imotchan." "I'm a guy!" Ranma insisted, then added softly, "But I guess that answers most of our questions, even a few we didn't ask," Ranma said. "Like why I love to hit you with a mallet?" Akane smirked. "Yes, that and the fact that our fathers are both morons," Ranma commented, angrily. "Our father actually. I guess 'Genma' isn't my father after all," he added as an afterthought. "Let's go back now, I've seen enough here," Akane sadly said. She started to cry, as some of the ramifications of what they'd learned seeped into her consciousness. "Agreed." Ranma pulled the mirror out. Noticing Akane crying, he hugged her again and let her tears fall onto the mirror. "Magic mirror, please return us to our own time." With a flash of light, Akane and Ranma disappeared from the playground. As Ranma vanished, he saw a young boy of about five years old run through the park. he thought, before vanishing completely. The small boy stopped near where Akane and Ranma were standing just seconds before. "Where the heck am I now!?!?" he yelled. He straightened his dirty headband and then walked off looking very lost. Suddenly, a teenage boy ran by the little boy, almost knocking him over. He was running in terror from something. His brown hair was smoking, as if a bolt of lightning had recently hit him. The aforementioned 'something' called out. "Darling!!!!" She was a beautiful young woman and was only wearing a tiger stripped bikini, barely. She floated towards the running teenager and suddenly a bolt of lightening flew from her fingers and arced towards the teenager. It looked like a sure hit, but then the lightening stopped in mid-air over the spot where Ranma and Akane disappeared. The lightening hovered there in a vague hand mirror shape. The young woman didn't even notice and continued to chase the teenage boy. The little boy wiped the blood from his nose that had appeared after seeing the woman in her bikini. He saw the sparking mirror, walked over to it, and looked closer at it. "That's cool!" he yelled and tentatively touched the mirror. With a flash, the little boy disappeared from the playground. With one last crackle, the lightening fizzled out of existence. Silence filled the playground. * * * Akane and Ranma were standing in the playground again. Confused, they looked around. "What happened? Why didn't we go back?" Akane asked. "Um... I think we did. Look at the playground. It looks older and the sun is setting," Ranma mentioned, pointing at the sunset. "Oh, you just said back to our own time, nothing about where," Akane recalled. "Let's go home," Ranma said. He held Akane's hand as they walked off in the direction of the setting sun. They didn't notice the flash of light behind them. The little boy wearing the headband appeared out of nowhere and walked around looking more lost than normal, if that was possible. * * * Akane and Ranma returned to the Tendo house and went into the kitchen where they found Kasumi making dinner. "Kasumi, can we ask you a question about Mother?" Akane hesitantly asked. Kasumi turned around and smiled sweetly. "Of course, Akane. What is it?" "Ranma and I have found out something..." Akane started to say, but then trailed off. "What we want to ask is... am I your brother, Kasumi?" Ranma asked, bluntly. Kasumi looked very shocked and unnerved. Which for Kasumi meant that her eyes grew a little wider and a slight twitch was seen on her mouth. She just said, "No, don't be silly. Father only has us three girls." "But..." Akane began. Kasumi interrupted her. "Ranma, you HAVE become like a brother to me and Nabiki. We do look forward to when you marry Akane and we can officially call you our brother," Kasumi explained in her sweetest and most calming voice. "Kasumi! That marriage isn't going to happen anymore! We found out that Ranma is our brother, probably my twin! Now please tell us what you know!" Akane snapped. "Akane, you're still trying to get out of your engagement to Ranma. I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that Ranma is NOT your brother," Kasumi calmly insisted. She returned to making dinner. "Come on, Akane, we're not getting anywhere here," Ranma muttered. "Okay," Akane replied and followed Ranma out the door. Neither of them saw a tear go down Kasumi's cheek and her hands start to shake. Dinner that night was filled with tension. Both Soun and Genma denied that Ranma and Akane were brother and sister. Unfortunately, Nabiki was at a friend's house collecting on a past-due debt or she would have enjoyed dinner immensely. * * * Later that night, Akane was in her bed tossing and turning. Suddenly, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. She grabbed a robe, opened her window, and climbed out. As she climbed onto the roof, she spotted Ranma staring at the sky. "Mind if I join you?" Akane asked. Ranma looked over at her and said, "Sure...Sis." Akane grinned and sat down next to him. "Couldn't sleep either I see. What are we going to do?" Akane asked, looking up at the stars. Ranma sighed. "I don't know... I think we need to get some rock solid proof that our fathers can't deny." "Yes, but I'm still finding it hard to imagine Kasumi lying to us," Akane said. "Our fathers... err... our father and Mr. Saotome I can understand, but Kasumi?" Ranma agreed with her. "I've never known her to lie, but I've never seen her as shocked as when we asked her," Akane mentioned. "Well, tomorrow we'll find something that proves what we know already," Ranma declared. "Right, we can go through the old photo albums and records. Maybe even find a birth certificate for you," Akane said, with the same look of determination she has when she tries to cook. "Okay. Um..." Ranma stammered. "Yes, Ranma?" "Can we not mention this to anyone else until we find out the whole truth? I'd hate for one of my 'fiancees', or god forbid Kodachi-" Ranma said. Akane looked up at Ranma and her eye twitched. Ranma continued, "-to find out that I've got an opening. I don't need that trouble right now." "Sure, speaking of which...who's going to take the number one spot now?" Akane asked, teasingly. "Who said you were number one?" Ranma replied, fighting back a smile. "Ran...ma..." Akane growled. "Calm down... To tell you the truth I don't think I want to marry any of them. I like Ukyo, but she's always been more of a friend. If Shampoo wasn't so determined she'd be nice to get to know, but she's just so overbearing sometimes. And well...Kodachi is just plain scary. You're the only fiancee I ever felt any love for..." Ranma said. Then he stopped very suddenly as he realized what he just let slip out. He started to blush. "Lo...love? You love me?" Akane asked. "Umm..." Ranma stammered. he thought. "I guess so, but now I guess it must have only been a brotherly love I felt all along," Ranma explained. "I guess I always felt something for you myself, just couldn't figure out what it was," Akane explained, smiling. "Well, lets just be glad for tonight that we know the truth, even if no one else will admit it," Ranma said and put his arm around his sister to keep her warm. "Yes." * * * In a dark alley, a little boy wearing a headband was crying in a corner. "Why can't I find my home?" Little-Ryoga cried out. Little-Ryoga looked up when he heard a loud cry. "Where on Earth am I now?" Ryoga screamed from the entrance to the alley. "I think it's an alley," Little-Ryoga mentioned, matter-of-factly. Ryoga was startled. He looked down the alley and spotted the little crying boy. "I know it's...hey, what's wrong kid?" Ryoga asked. Little-Ryoga looked up and wiped the tears out of his eyes. "I can't find my house." "Join the club kid. That's life," Ryoga said, coldly. He started to walk away. "Mister, can you help me find my way home?" Little-Ryoga asked, looking at Ryoga with little puppy-dog eyes and tears streaming down his cheeks. "Um, I'm not sure that I can..." Ryoga said, trailing off. He looked at the crying kid and relented. "Sure, but let's wait till morning. We'll find some place I can unroll my sleeping bag for the night." "Thank you mister, my name is Ryo," Little-Ryoga said. "Nice name kid, I'm Ryoga," Ryoga introduced himself, still not getting the connection. Ryoga noticed the kid's headband, which was just an old torn rag. "Hey kid." He reached up, pulled one of his yellow bandanas off his head, and gave it to the kid. "Here, use this instead of that old rag." "Wow, this is nicer than mine, thanks!" "Don't worry about it, I have plenty," Ryoga replied. * * * In the morning, Ranma was in his girl form and helping Akane search through some old albums and boxes. "So far only a couple pictures of you as a kid, but you're alone so it's not going to prove you're my brother," Akane said. "You know I always wondered what it would be like to have a large family, traveling on the road with my fa... err... Mr. Saotome didn't give me much time for a normal family life," Ranma said. "I always wanted a little brother to play with, or better yet, a little sister to play 'tea ceremony' with. I guess I got both now," Akane remarked, grinning. "Hey! There's no way I'm going to play 'tea ceremony' with you!" Ranma yelled. "I know, I never played with tea sets or dolls much either. Just pulling your pigtail!" Akane explained, still grinning. "Well, just don't pull it off, I'm rather attached to it," Ranma quipped. As she finished looking through a photo album, Akane sighed. "Nothing in that one either...wait a second..." she said. She fingered a photo that seems to be sticking out between two pages. She pried the stuck pages apart then saw a couple of pictures. She excitedly grabbed one. "Ah ha!!!!" she screamed. "What?" "Look!" Akane yelled and showed the picture to Ranma. In the picture were all the Tendos in a very typical 'family picture pose': Soun, his wife, Kasumi, Nabiki, Akane, and a five year old Ranma on the receiving end of a mallet. "No wonder I don't remember this part of my life that well, with all the mallet blows I took," Ranma remarked. "Um, sorry about that," Akane apologized. "Wow, first time you'd ever apologized for all the malletings!" Ranma declared, amazed. "I'm only sorry for that one," Akane informed him, pointing at the picture. "Not for all the rest of them." "Gee, maybe I was better off as an only-child," Ranma sighed. * * * On an old country road Ryoga and Little-Ryoga were walking, Mount Fuji could be seen in the distance. Little-Ryoga was wearing his new bandana. Ryoga stopped and wiped his forehead. "Where are we now?" he asked. Little-Ryoga looked around. "We have to be close to my home! My map says it's near Mount Fuji!" he said, excitedly pointing at the large mountain. Ryoga turned and faced the kid. "You have a map? Why didn't you say so?" Ryoga asked, irritated. "You didn't ask," Little-Ryoga said, matter-of-factly. The kid produced a piece of paper and handed it to Ryoga. Ryoga looked at the map closely. He noticed the kid's house indicated with a big arrow. Mount Fuji and a lake were identified. Handy 'There's a mailbox nearby' and 'Around here -->' labels were written on the map, as well. "I've seen this map before," Ryoga said, trying to remember where. After thinking for a few minutes, he yelled, "Wait a second, this is the 'Sacred Hibiki Family Map'! How did you get it!" He rummaged in his backpack for a few moments. "My parents gave it to me, before they went out for groceries a couple months ago," Little-Ryoga explained. Ryoga pulled out his own map, unfolded it, and compared it to Little-Ryoga's map. They looked identical; Ryoga's is a little more worn, but otherwise identical. "It IS the sacred map! Look the sacred Hibiki family crest is on it!" Ryoga insisted. He indicated a spot on each map that resembled an ink spot, mostly because it was. "This map has been in our family for over ten generations," Ryoga claimed, ignoring the fact that it was on ordinary typewriter paper. "Are you a Hibiki too?" Little-Ryoga asked. "Yes. This must mean that must be..." Ryoga said, then paused and thought for a moment, then continued, "...my little brother I never knew I had!" "Really? I didn't know I had a big brother! Cool!" They hugged a little awkwardly and then set off towards the nearest mailbox. * * * As the sun set, Soun and the panda were playing shoji on the porch. Nabiki was watching television in the family room. Akane walked in the front door and made her way down to the family room. A male Ranma came out of the kitchen carrying a steaming kettle. Once in the family room, Akane screamed very loudly, "Family meeting!!!! Now!!!!" Everyone was shocked at her sudden yell, not to mention the awesome crimson battle aura she was generating. Ranma walked out to the porch and poured hot water over the panda. "You too, even if I'm not sure if you qualify as 'family' or not," Ranma snarled. Genma made a dive for the koi pond, but Ranma kicked Genma back into the house. "Don't try that again or were having panda burgers tonight!" Ranma exclaimed, menacingly. Meekly everyone knelt at the table. Kasumi came out of the kitchen and joined them. Ranma and Akane were standing over the table when Akane slapped the family photograph they had found onto the table. Soun and Genma took one look at the picture and grew very scared. Soun started to cry. Genma dived for the photo, stuffed it into his mouth, quickly chewed it, and then swallowed it. Akane slapped down a dozen more pictures to replace it. "We thought you'd try that!" Akane explained. Nabiki and Kasumi each took a photo and looked at it. Soun and Genma tried to make a break for it, but suddenly found that they have been chained to each other and to the floor. "Oh my," Kasumi intoned, with her usual hand gesture. "Hmmm. I didn't know that we knew Ranma way back then?" Nabiki questioned, with a genuine shocked look on her face. "You can't run away from this, we've thought of everything. We want the whole story and we want it now!!" Akane snapped. Both Akane and Ranma's battle aura flared up to punctuate this statement. "We want to know why you never told us that me and Akane are brother and sister!" Ranma yelled. "What?" Nabiki asked, face-faulting. "What?" Genma asked, a fake look of astonishment on his face. "What?" Soun asked, his voice trembling. "Oh my," Kasumi intoned. After no one spoke for several moments, Nabiki remarked, "Wowza, I know they do this in the southern United States, but I never thought my father would engage his own daughter to his illegitimate son." Both Ranma and Akane were taken back by Nabiki's comment. "You know she's right, we assumed we were both full Tendos, but..." Akane said. "You think our mother had an affair with..." Ranma said, looking at Genma. "No, that couldn't happen..." Genma looked insulted, mostly since he had just been insulted. "That would mean that Father had an affair with Mrs. Saotome..." Akane said, as she reasoned out the logic. "How could you!" Akane yelled and sent her father into low Earth orbit with several well-placed punches. Unfortunately, for Genma and the floor, he was still chained to Genma and the floor. So, Genma and a good chunk of the floor went with him. This made a rather odd shaped hole in the ceiling and then the roof. Debris from the roof and floor flew everywhere. A very Kasumi-like "Oh my," was heard, but not from Kasumi. The Tendo sisters all looked at the source of the voice and realized that it had been Ranma who muttered those two words. She was standing soaking wet with an empty bucket by her side. [End - Part 2] ======================================================================= Author's notes and ramblings for part 2: This was a short story at first, but it spiraled into a multi-part story as I was writing it. In fact part 2 was also going to go further into the story, but increased in size while writing it. Little-Ryoga coming into the future wasn't in the initial draft, but was added to provide some humor. BTW, the 'Sacred Hibiki Family Map' is from the Ranma 1/2 manga Volume 11, Number 1. I provided the important sounding name, but the layout of the map is Rumiko Takahashi's. This manga story is also where the idea of Ryoga mistaking his younger self as his younger brother came from (I couldn't resist once I brought Little-Ryoga into the future). ====================================================================== Ranma-ototo (Little Brother Ranma) Part 3 - Timber! The Tendo Family Tree is Cut Down The waves crashed against the beach as the sun slowly set in the distance. Ryoga and Little-Ryoga walked down the beach. Ryoga was trying to keep his distance from the water. "Well...this can't be right. There's no beach near our house," Ryoga said, examining the map. Suddenly, a huge wave crashed into the shore and soaked Ryoga, mostly since he was looking at the map instead of the water. Little-Ryoga turned around and noticed that his big brother was missing. A little pig squealed nearby. "Brother? Where did you go?" Little-Ryoga called out. He noticed the pig. "Oh...cute!" he exclaimed and then ran after the pig. P-Chan avoided being caught for a few seconds, but ended up being hugged hard between Little-Ryoga's arms. "What a cute little piggy! I'll keep you. Now where did my brother go?" P-Chan just snorted in disgust. * * * A while later, things had calmed down a bit at the Tendo household. Soun and Genma were now back at the table, many bandages covering their heads and arms. Nabiki was making notes in a notebook. Kasumi had put out some new tea on the spare table. The old table lay in pieces in the corner. Across from them all Akane was still fuming, but didn't look to be capable of looking up at the moment. Ranma, still in his girl form, sat behind Akane with her arms protectively wrapped around her 'sister'. "Okay, we're only going to ask once more for the whole truth," Ranma explained in an even tone. "If we don't get it, me and Akane are leaving, forever." A small nod was seen from Akane. "You've hidden something from us for most of our lives and we can't go on like we are," Ranma said. "Right. 'Mr. Tendo' and 'Mr. Saotome' please tell us what we need to know," Akane asked, not looking up. This had the desired affect on Soun and Genma, who both recoiled and began to cry. "I'll ask again: Mr. Tendo, am I your son?" Ranma questioned and then added angrily, "And the first one to make a snide comment on my current sex gets a one way trip to the moon!" That stopped everyone in the room from mentioning it, including Akane who had started to open her mouth. Soun looked up at Ranma and Akane, tears streaming out of his eyes. He opened his mouth, then closed it. Only a squeak was heard. Kasumi looked straight at her father, what appeared to be a battle aura formed around Kasumi body, yes Kasumi. Closer inspection would reveal that the aura was made up of tiny flowers, bunnies, and kitties. Fortunately, Ranma could not see this much detail or he'd have run away screaming in terror. "Father, it's time to tell them or I go with them," Kasumi said in her usual calm manner. No trace of a threat was heard in her voice, but everyone felt the implied threat in her words. "Please remember, Akane and Ranma, that they did it out of love and that everyone was extremely sad and upset at the time," Kasumi said calmly, looking at Akane and Ranma. Then she looked at Soun and Genma, who were the only ones who could see her face at that moment. Soun and Genma's faces went white with fright. They briefly looked at each other and then nodded an unspoken agreement to each other. Soun clearly said, "Ranma... you are my son, by my dearly departed wife." Ranma and Akane took this news with something bordering on relief, since they had suspected as much. "Continue, Father, all of it," Kasumi prodded. "Son, after my wife died after her long battle with cancer..." Soun began, then paused as darkness fell over the faces of everyone in the room. "Things were very confusing and a lot of us couldn't handle the news. She... seemed to be getting better before the end came. I was a mess; I barely made it through the funeral without collapsing. You, Akane, and Nabiki all took it very badly. You all seemed to react differently to the loss. Only Kasumi was able to keep herself above the chaos and hold the family together, despite her young age." Soun looked at Kasumi with a look of pride and love in his eyes. "Akane, you kept calling me 'Mommy' because in your sadness you latched onto the closest thing to a mother you had left," Kasumi interjected. "I was glad to comfort you, but I couldn't handle you and everyone else myself. Akane, you used to keep Ranma 'occupied', but..." Akane interrupted. "Umm, occupied?" "Well, besides using your mallet whenever Ranma did something stupid, which was quite often if I remember correctly, you also used to play in the park with him," Kasumi said. "Me and Mother even caught you two playing 'Doctor' a couple times," she added, a slight grin forming on her lips. Both Akane and Ranma blushed. Nabiki grinned and teased, "Naughty, naughty. With your own sister, too!" "Nabiki, please don't tease them," Kasumi scolded Nabiki. Nabiki looked significantly chastised. "After Mother passed on you went into a deep depression and actually started hurting him for real, along with some property damage." "Well, that sounds like Akane all right," Ranma mentioned, earning a jab in the stomach. "I spent a lot of time at the Tendo house to be with Akane after the funeral and to help out. Me and my wife had always been close to the Tendo's and you kids," Genma said, trying to explain his part of the story. "Ranma, to give you something constructive to do, and because Soun didn't have the will at that point to continue training you, I started training you in Anything Goes Martial Arts, you took to it quite rapidly. Akane even sparred with us from time to time, but she didn't have the same beautiful sparkle she had while she was growing up. Ranma, she missed your mother as much, or even more, than anyone else." "If we could do everything over again, we may have handled everything better, but I still think..." Soun said, but was interrupted by Akane. "You...said that...I missed Ranma's mother, Mr. Saotome?" Akane stuttered a question. "Yes, you probably took the news worst of all," Genma answered. "Not *MY* Mother?" Akane asked. She started shaking and stared at the floor. Still holding Akane in her arms, Ranma's eyes went wide. "Akane dear. I'm sorry you had to find out like this...but I am your father, your mother is my wife, Nodoka," Genma explained. He looked at the floor, not being capable of looking anyone in the eyes at that moment. Silence. Nabiki blinked twice. Silence. Kasumi and Soun just looked at Akane with extremely sad eyes, tears forming and falling from their eyes. Silence. Ranma hugged Akane tighter, not knowing what to say. Silence. Akane looked up from the floor. She blinked twice. She slowly looked at each person in the room one by one, except Ranma who still held her tightly. Ranma was still staring at her father. Ranma thought and her anger raged inside. Suddenly, a vivid flash of light erupted and blinded everyone in the room. When their eyes readjusted, Akane was standing with her battle aura radiating in all directions. Ranma was knocked backwards and stared at Akane. His eyes were filled with compassion and sadness. "I see," Akane began. Her tone of voice seemed to be far too calm for her current level of anger. "I have no father at all, then. Never had, never will. My life is a lie." With a scream of pure despair Akane turned and ran out into the night. Instead of leaping over the back wall, Akane just crashed through it, pushing the large tree in the corner of the yard over in the process. The tree was uprooted and fell against the back wall. Ranma jumped to his feet and started out the doors, she turned around to see the others start to follow. "NO! I'll handle this myself! You've all done enough harm for one lifetime!" Ranma yelled. He unconsciously sent a wave of chi energy pulsing through the room. Not enough to hurt, but it knocked everyone backwards. he thought, as he made his way after Akane. Kasumi simply said, "Tell her we love her, Ranma. We ALL love both of you." "We know," Ranma replied. Then she ran after Akane. As the dust settled everyone looked crestfallen, but at the same time relieved to be free of the lies that had held the Tendo family together for so long. They all hoped it would still hold together without the lies. Finally after several minutes, Nabiki broke the silence. Looking at Soun and Genma, Nabiki said, "So, between the two of you, you gave my...little brother to this... morally corrupt, scheming, poor excuse for a father, to raise?" Nabiki just registered the look of shame in their eyes before she continued, "And then kept Akane from her real parents?" "It was the only way Akane was happy and Ranma needed to work off his sadness. We never planned on it being permanent," Kasumi explained, guiltily. "I'll give you credit for keeping it from me, even with my background check of Ranma and Mr. Saotome," Nabiki mentioned. "You didn't..." Genma and Soun said together, shocked. "Yes, you covered your tracks pretty well, Daddy. I guess I must be your daughter, the cover up was worthy of me," Nabiki said. "Thank you," Kasumi said. This earned a surprised and then proud look from Nabiki. Soun and Genma just looked downcast and pitiful, as well they should have. * * * In the dark streets of Nerima, Ranma was following Akane's trail. Which was fairly easy this particular evening, since normally only Ryoga left trails as destructive as this one. The streetlights came to life, the ones that were still vertical. Akane had only knocked down the streetlights that did not have the 'Please do no knock down streetlight' signs on them. It's to bad that the city couldn't afford more signs. "Akane!" Ranma called out, desperately looking for her. She rounded a corner, then ran into a bicycle tire. Or to be more exact, a bicycle tire ran into and then over her. "Nihao, Ranma!" Shampoo greeted Ranma and poured hot water over her head. "Urk," Ranma replied from under the tire. Shampoo backed her bicycle slowly off his face. "Shampoo! Have you seen Akane?" the now male Ranma asked quickly, getting back to his feet. "No. You have some nice hot ramen, Ranma? Very good tonight!" Shampoo offered a bowl to Ranma. "I don't have time for this, Shampoo. I have to find Akane!" Ranma replied, his voice growing angry. "What you need that stupid tomboy for when you have me, Ranma?" Shampoo asked. "Shut up Shampoo, I don't want you to say anything bad about Akane," Ranma said, then added angrily, "EVER AGAIN!" "Ranma, come with me, you forget about stupid un-cute fiancee." "Shampoo, I've tried to be nice to you because you're a good person under your 'Chinese Amazon' mask and you're probably too far under the old hag's influence, but... I'm NEVER..." Ranma said, then knocked the bowl of ramen out of her hands. "GOING..." he pulled her off her bike. "TO..." he pulled her close to his face. "MARRY YOU...EVER!!!" Then he gently pushed her down into the grass. "Ran...ma..." Shampoo sputtered. "Once more, Akane is my one and only fiancee!" Ranma declared. He looked amazed when he heard himself say it. "What she do to you, you not my Ranma!" Shampoo asked, getting to her feet. She pulled out her bon-bori and tears started to well up in her beautiful eyes. "I've never been YOUR Ranma!" Ranma screamed and then continued softly, "I've just woken up from my own stupid fantasy world and realized that I can't live without her." Ranma heard a distant crash and looked behind him. "No! You stay with me," Shampoo cried. Then she swung her bon-bori at the distracted Ranma, who went flying into some bushes from the impact. "THAT'S IT! I have no more time for this!" Ranma screamed. His battle aura blazed to life. "Don't make me kill you!" Ranma shouted. Shampoo took another couple of swings at Ranma each of them missed. Ranma threw several punches, which Shampoo parried with her bon-bori. Ranma remembered the small blast that his anger generated at the Tendo house earlier; he concentrated and sent a ring of highly focused chi energy at Shampoo, instead of the unfocussed blast he unconsciously generated earlier. Shampoo was hit full on by the blast and sent flying backwards. She slammed hard against a brick wall, which became a smoking pile of bricks. Shampoo lay under the bricks, apparently unconscious. Ranma started to walk away in the direction of the earlier crashes he had heard, then stopped and looked back at Shampoo. He turned around and checked her for a pulse. Feeling her wrist, he sighed. "Good, you'll live. But not with me," he said, relieved. The blast had been more powerful than he had expected; he'd have to do some experimenting later. He looked down sadly at Shampoo for a moment, noticing something on her hands. He jumped up and ran off with a determined look on his face. * * * A very sad and troubled child of around five years of age was cowering in the corner of a dark alley, a small black pig resting his hands. Both seemed to be crying. Walking back to her restaurant, Ukyo passed near by with a bundle of food. she thought, a big grin appearing on her face. Then she heard the child's sobs and looked over to him. "What's the matter, little boy?" Ukyo asked, leaning over him. The pig looked up and saw Ukyo. P-Chan squirmed trying to escape, but Little-Ryoga held the pig tightly. "I'm lost and my big brother has left me alone," he said. "Oh, what is your name?" Ukyo asked. "Ryo Hibiki." Ukyo looked stunned. "Any relation to Ryoga?" she asked. Little-Ryoga nodded. "Well, knowing Ryoga he just got lost, I'm sure he didn't leave you on purpose. Tell you what, I'm Ukyo, a friend of your brother," she said, then paused. "Why don't you come to my restaurant with me and wait for him to get un-lost?" Ukyo sighed and held out her hand for Little-Ryoga. "Okay, miss," Little-Ryoga said, wiping his tears away. He got up and grabbed Ukyo's offered hand. * * * In the same playground that they met their younger selves in, Akane swung slowly on the swings. Broken fences, dented trashcans, and mangled signs with 'do not mangle this sign' labels on them were evident all over the playground. Akane just rocked back and forth softly humming a little tune. A nearby clock struck midnight. Ranma walked up behind her, pausing briefly. He sat down on the swing next to Akane. Akane barely noticed his arrival. "Done acting like Ryoga?" Ranma asked. A brief smile appeared on Akane's ashen face. "I think I outdid myself," she replied softly. "So where do I go from here?" she asked. "I don't have any instant solutions to the mess our lives seem to be right now, Akane. I can only say that they all love you, no matter whose daughter you are," Ranma said. "I do too," he added softly. "Maybe, but I've always felt secure in who I was and who my family was. Even if my mother wasn't there, I felt her with me," Akane said, staring at the ground. "She was. When we went back to the past your... err... my mother seemed to love you as her own. I had no doubt about that. In a way she will always be your mother no matter who gave birth to you." Tears started dripping from Akane's eyes. "OUR mother, we can't avoid the fact that she's the only mother either of us have ever really known." "When it comes down to it, we owe them for doing what they did. We both were apparently unable to fully accept what happened. They did what they thought they had to do to keep the family from falling apart. It must have been hard on everyone to loose her, and then be forced to spit up the family to keep us happy. That's the love of a family." This finally made Akane look up into Ranma's eyes. "Like the love of a brother and sister?" Akane asked. "Yes, I think I do love Kasumi and Nabiki as sisters," Ranma said. "And not me?" Akane asked, her voice wavering. "No. Not as a sister," Ranma answered, then paused. "As a man loves a woman," he said, flinching internally at the stupid song that popped into his head. Akane just looked him in the eyes, without blinking. Then she stood up and walked away from the swings a few steps. Looking away into the dark sky, she said, "I don't need your pity." Ranma got to his feet. "It's hardly pity," he snapped, but then softened. "I could never pity you, you had a wonderful family growing up. I think you got the better part of the deal. Unless you'd want to end up going to China and becoming half man and half woman?" Ranma asked, trying to break the tension. "I AM half a woman. I'm incomplete," Akane said, then added, "without you." "Then you are complete, I will always be here for you." "Promise?" Akane asked, looking back over her shoulder. "Yes, the only thing that kept me going through this madness over the past few days..." "Is my love for you." "I love you too," Akane said, jumping into Ranma's arms and hugging him closely. They held each other for what seemed like an eternity. "Akane, I want you to be a Tendo forever. I want...No, I need you to marry me." Ranma proposed, holding her against his chest. Behind his back, Akane's eyes went wide. "About time you finally ask me, baka." "Is that a yes, my beautiful tomboy?" "Yes." They pulled apart then Ranma reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. "Here." Trembling, Akane took the box and opened it. "What...when..." Akane gasped, when she saw the ring inside. "Well, why do you think it took me so long to find you tonight, it's hard to find a jeweler open at this time of night that will accept a Tendo I.O.U. I finally found one that seemed to be in mortal fear of Nabiki for some reason," Ranma explained, grinning. He picked up the ring and held it out. "I...you..." Akane stammered, as she held a shaking hand up. A beautiful smile appeared on her face as Ranma slipped the ring on her ring finger. Tears flowed down her cheeks, but for the first time that night they were tears of joy. They embraced each other again and held each other for the rest of their lives. [End - Part 3] ======================================================================= Author's notes and ramblings for part 3: This part was the hardest to write, while parts 1 and 2 had enough laughs to keep the story going with a high note, the nature of this part was darker, the emotions more intense. If you think Akane is too over the top with her anger in this part, remember how angry she gets sometimes at a small perceived slight by Ranma and you may see why she was so angry over the actions of Soun and Genma. Also, I did borrow the idea behind the "I'm incomplete without you." Akane line from the Jerry McGuire movie. The chi blast Ranma used in this story may or may not be related to other chi attacks he's learns later in the Ranma 1/2 series, but basically just came out of his anger. If you have to give it a name, try 'For the love of Akane, I smite thee!' ======================================================================= Ranma-ototo (Little Brother Ranma) Part 4 - Breakfast at Ucchan's In a dark playground, two figures were holding each other tightly. Some might call it a cheap feel, some might call it warm embrace, some might call it a hug, some might call it two people shattered by recent events desperately trying to maintain one part of their shattered lives. The two figures called it love. Akane would have hit Ranma with a mallet a week ago for his forwardness. But no longer, she needed this now and she wasn't going to run away from her feelings anymore. * * * Ukyo tucked the little boy into her bed; she'd use the spare futon. The little pig the boy was holding earlier was lying in a small crate by the side of the bed. The pig had fallen asleep after desperately trying to get out of the crate. "Okay, little Ryo, go to sleep," Ukyo said, quietly. "Okay, Miss!" Little-Ryoga said, smiling. Ukyo turned off the light and left the room, closing the door behind her. She sighed and headed to the back room. Ukyo thought to herself, as made her way to the back room. * * * A dazed and bruised Shampoo stumbled into the Cat Cafe, knocking over a bucket of water near the door. The white and purple cat that appeared in her place collapsed to the floor and passed out. * * * Ranma sat staring up at the night sky leaning against a tree. Akane was curled up asleep by his side. Ranma pulled Akane closer to him to keep her warm, then slowly drifted off to sleep as well. * * * Kasumi sat on the edge of the Tendo porch looking at the hole in the back wall that Akane had made during her angry exit from the Tendo yard. The uprooted tree leaned against the back wall. "Come back soon, Akane," Kasumi said, quietly. Nabiki walked up behind her and sat down next to Kasumi. "Don't worry, sis. They'll be back. They just need some time to think things through. Even I'm overwhelmed by all the news," Nabiki said, holding Kasumi's hand. "I hope so, I feel so worthless. I fooled myself in to thinking I was as good as our mother," Kasumi said, tears trickling down her cheeks. "I'm just a pretender. I've destroyed our family." She collapsed into her hands and sobbed loudly. "Oh, this is rich, my always calm and peaceful sister is now turning into my father before my eyes," Nabiki remarked. "Surely, I'm not that bad yet?" "No, but keep it up and you will be." Nabiki put her arm around her big sister. "Kasumi, snap out of it. Granted, swapping our real brother Ranma for Akane SAOTOME and then engaging them to ensure Ranma comes back into our family sounds like a lame-brain idea now, but I'm sure when our mother died it probably was the only way to keep both of our families from self-destructing." "Putting it like that does make it sound lame," Kasumi said, a slight smile crossing her face. "What were our father and Mr. Saotome thinking back then?" "I thought you said this was your idea?" Nabiki asked. "Heavens no...I had just turned ten years old when everything happened, I only covered up the birth certificates and other documents a few years latter," Kasumi said. "Just remember that the chances of Akane and Ranma handling this now without going crazy is much better than when they were only six years old. In that respect it was a brilliant plan, it just didn't end that well," Nabiki explained. "So what do we do now, Oneechan?" "Something else you're hiding? I'm your younger sister...not older," Nabiki asked, grinning. "No, just marveling at your sudden maturity," Kasumi said. "Hey, looks like you raised me okay then, Akane turned out pretty good too, looks like you're batting one hundred," Nabiki commented. "Thank you, Nabiki, although I worry sometimes about Akane's temper," Kasumi mentioned, as she started to cheer up. "I'm pretty sure she got that from HER father not you. You're hardly to fault for that," Nabiki insisted. "Mr. Saotome can get quite angry and agitated at Ranma sometimes." "You're probably right. I just hope they're okay out there." * * * The sun rose over the city and cast long shadows across the playground. A ray of light hit Akane in her eyes and she awoke. A little groggy, she tried to figure out where she was. Then she noticed that she was resting on Ranma's lap and that his arm was wrapped around her body. Her first thought was to send him into orbit. Her second thought was to wonder why she hadn't done it yet. Her third thought was to wonder where the ring, that was on her finger, came from. Her fourth thought was why it was on her 'ring' finger. Her fifth thought was that it's an engagement ring. Her sixth thought was that she must be dreaming. Her seventh thought was that she wasn't. Her eighth thought was that she wasn't dreaming, but that the last three days have felt like a nightmare, until now. Her final thought was that she loved the big stupid perverted jerk that had his arm around her. Go figure. Looking into his face, she leaned over and gave him a loving kiss on his lips. She placed Ranma's arm over his lap and stood up. She smiled down at him and then stretched her arms and legs. Then she stopped suddenly and placed her hand over her mouth. Akane thought to herself, growing very troubled. If she could have used her mallet on herself, she would have. "I'll make it up to him by getting him breakfast from a nearby restaurant," Akane said. Something told her it might not be the best time to test his love by doing that, so she walked off to find an open restaurant. * * * In Ucchan's, Ukyo was making a little breakfast okonomiyaki for Little-Ryoga who was playing with P-Chan in the corner. Little-Ryoga's idea of 'playing' seemed to be repeatedly pulling P-Chan's tail, tackling the pig, and otherwise just keeping P-Chan from escaping. "Ryo, come on... your okonomiyaki is ready. Best when it's hot!" Ukyo said, cheerfully. Little-Ryoga came over and climbed up to the counter, dragging P-Chan by the tail behind him. "Thank you, Ukyo-chan!" he exclaimed, beaming a cute little smile. "My pleasure, little one," Ukyo said, and then thought, Her dreams were interrupted, and some may say shattered, by a knock on the door. Akane stuck her head in the doorway. "Hi, Ukyo! Didn't think you were open this early, but I smelled the cooking," Akane said, cheerfully. "Oh... Akane!" Ukyo replied, seeing Akane. "I'm not really, just making a little breakfast for little Ryo here," she explains, indicating Little-Ryoga. "Oh...he's so cute, is he your brother?" Akane asked. "No. He says he is Ryoga's little brother. Look at the bandana," Ukyo replied, indicating the yellow bandana on the kid's head. "Oh really? I didn't know he had a brother," Akane remarked. she thought, frowning. "Seems like Ryoga got lost while trying to get Ryo home," Ukyo said, smirking. "That's certainly sounds like Ryoga," Akane agreed. She then noticed P-Chan who was on the stool next to Little-Ryoga. "P-Chan! What are you doing here!?!?" "You know the pig?" Ukyo asked. "Yes, I kind of adopted him a few months ago. He has a tendency to wander though," Akane explained. She knelt down in front of Little-Ryoga. "Hey Ryo, is P-Chan your pet pig?" "Yup, but his name is Stinky-Piggy!" Little-Ryoga cheerfully said. P-Chan squealed angrily. Akane thought. "Oh...he's been coming around my house for a few months, I guess he must have wandered away from you." Not wanting to give up his new pet, Little-Ryoga said, "He does that a lot. So does my whole family!" "Great even the Hibiki pets have a bad sense of direction," Ukyo remarked. Akane smiled. "Guess so. Say...I guess I never noticed before that P-Chan's collar is just like Ryoga's bandana...and Ryo's," Akane mentioned, noticing the collar and bandana. P-Chan looked horrified and scared. "I guess he is yours. Can I say good by to him?" "Sure lady!" Little-Ryoga exclaimed and handed P-Chan to Akane. Akane held P-Chan in her arms and petted him. "Say...Ukyo, as long as I'm here...I was looking for breakfast for two. I'm afraid I left the house without any cash though," Akane explained, as P-Chan snuggled into her bosom. "Don't worry about it, Akane. Your credit is good. Two breakfast specials?" Ukyo asked. She started to prepare two okonomiyaki. "Thanks, you have any bottles of juice?" Akane asked. "Orange?" Ukyo asked. "Um...one orange and one apple." Ukyo thought as a dark look falls over her face. "Sure thing, umm, why didn't you eat at home?" A little hesitantly, Akane said, "Oh...just out for a early morning walk..." Ukyo thought to herself. She finished making the okonomiyaki and put them into a couple boxes. A she put the boxes in a big bag along with the juice bottles. "Thanks Ukyo, you're a pal!" Akane said, smiling. She looked down at P-Chan, said goodbye, and kissed him on the snout softly. Finally, she handed him back to Little-Ryoga, not noticing the nosebleed. "Um... you can come visit him if you like, Miss," Little-Ryoga offered, shyly. "That's nice of you, next time I see Ryoga I'll ask him where you both live," Akane replied. "Thank you." "Gee, I wish I could marry a pretty girl like you someday!" Little-Ryoga remarked. "I'm sure you will, but I'm afraid I'm already engaged," Akane informed Little-Ryoga. Little-Ryoga looked crestfallen and then looked at Ukyo, "What about you, Ukyo! Will you marry me?" "Well, I'm sorry but I'm also engaged already too, Ryo," Ukyo replied, amused. "But, you can marry which ever of us Ran-chan doesn't marry." Ukyo smiled, confident that she'll be the one Ranma marries. A troubled look appeared on Akane's face. "Um, Ukyo... I would have preferred Ranma told you, but..." Akane started to explained, while wringing her hands. "What is it, Ak..." Ukyo asked, but stopped suddenly. Her eyes went wide. Her hands trembled. A sneer appeared on her face. "Ukyo, I know you love Ranma. I know the feeling. But I really don't think that he feels the same way towards you," Akane explained, hoping to calm Ukyo down. "Why are you wearing an engagement ring?!" Ukyo screamed. her mind screamed back. "It's a long story, but Ranma proposed to me for real last night. I'm sorry. Ukyo, I didn't want to hurt you like this," Akane explained. She hoped her words would calm the troubled okonomiyaki chef in front of her. Little-Ryoga was watching this exchange with puzzlement, not quite comprehending it. P-Chan was staring in disbelief at the conversation, tears pooling in his eyes. If pigs had larger jaws, P-Chan would have been doing the largest face-fault ever seen in history. As it was, his mouth was only open two inches, a pathetic face-fault if ever there was one. "You dare come into my restaurant and ask for breakfast for both of you... after he... he... and you..." Ukyo sputtered. "Ukyo, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking about that when I came in. I never meant to hurt you," Akane said, backing up. At this point, it must be said that Ukyo was not wearing her bandoleer, her throwing spatulas, or a bra under her robe (but that's not really important right now). These facts made what happened next very surprising, even to Ukyo when she thought about it afterwards. What happened, you ask? Well...it may have happened like this: Ukyo pulled off her robe and launched herself at Akane. "But I love YOU, Akane!" Ukyo cried. Both Little-Ryoga and P-Chan bled to death from nosebleeds when Ukyo and Akane made out in front of them. Nabiki sold the videos for 3,995 yen each. Alternatively, and a little more likely, it happened like this: Ukyo jumped over the counter, ran upstairs, grabbed her bandoleer, and ran back downstairs. Akane was gone with the bag of juice and okonomiyaki by the time she returned. "Knew I should keep some throwing spatulas down here," Ukyo cursed. But, truth be told, those two outcomes were not possible, for Ukyo was not a lesbian (to the best of my knowledge) and she was much too mad right to be thinking coherently enough to go upstairs for her bandoleer and throwing spatulas. Therefore, this leaves us with the actual way this little confrontation ended, which went something like this: Ukyo's anger rose as her heart shattered. Tears poured out of her eyes. Many small glowing spheres of red chi energy formed in front of Ukyo. Each one pulsed in time with Ukyo's fast beating heart. The sight transfixed Akane briefly, since Ukyo had never shown any tendency towards chi attacks. Closer examination of the pulsing spheres would have shown that the 'pulsing' was actually caused by the spheres cycling through various different shapes. Ranma's smiling face was one, Ukyo's broken heart was another, a chi spatula, and finally a teardrop. However, to see this you would have to have one of the spheres hit you in the face, something that would not be a good thing. It would be a very bad thing. "You can't have my Ranma!" Ukyo cried out. The glowing spheres shot towards Akane, who had backed against the wall in shock. Horrified, Akane dodged the spheres, managing to avoid most of them. Unfortunately, the sheer quantity of them plus the fact that Akane was against a wall, meant that she couldn't avoid them all. She felt intense heat and pain as each one hit her. The ones that didn't hit her made remarkably large holes in the wall. "Please stop, Ukyo!" Akane screamed in pain. Little-Ryoga had backed away from the battle, relaxing his grip on P-Chan. P-Chan squirmed out of Little-Ryoga's hands, leapt into the air, and crashed into Ukyo. In a feat of strength that no normal pig could have, P-Chan succeeded in knocking Ukyo through the window behind the grill and into the street. Akane took this time to run out the door and run down the street. Akane stopped in her tracks as she heard P-Chan's painful and sad squeal. She looked back to the side street where Ukyo was lying unconscious. P-Chan was trying to stop a rather nasty cut on her right arm from bleeding. Unable to leave Ukyo to bleed to death, Akane walked quickly back to Ukyo's side and looked around. She pulled P-Chan's yellow bandana off his neck and used it to staunch the flow of blood. Akane then tied the bandana over the wound. Remarkably, P-Chan had another bandana on under the first. Akane thought. She looked around and yelled out, "Ryo! Please come out now...it's all over!" A little scared, Little-Ryoga walks out of Ucchan's and looked around. "What happened?" he asked. "Ukyo and I had a... little disagreement over my fiancee," Akane explained, trying not to frighten the child with the truth. "Can you pickup P-Chan and follow me? I have to take Ukyo to Dr. Tofu's to get her wounds treated," Akane explained, picking up Ukyo in her arms. "Sure." Little-Ryoga grabbed P-Chan, who was too tired to protest. Akane walked off towards Dr. Tofu's clinic. Little-Ryoga followed her. Of course, being a Hibiki he headed in a different direction than Akane. "Ryo! Um...this way! You'd better hold onto my skirt to make sure you don't get lost," Akane said. Little-Ryoga turned around and walked back over to Akane. * * * In the playground, Ranma awoke with a start. "Huh," he muttered, still half asleep. Looking around, he tried to find Akane. He called out, "Akane! Where are you!" He spotted a strand of purple hair glinting in the sunlight. Not realizing that the hair fell off his own clothing after getting stuck there during his fight with Shampoo, Ranma ran towards the Cat Cafe, his battle aura forming around him. * * * Shampoo, in her human form again, was lying on a couch near the door of the cafe. Mousse was replacing a cold compress on her forehead. A deep look of concern covered his face. "Shampoo, what happened to you last night? I've never seen chi burns this bad. What kind of monster could do that?" Mouse said, brushing the hair out of her eyes. Ranma jumped through the door. 'Through' is correct, since it had been closed and locked at the time. Splinters of the door flew everywhere. "Ranma?!" Mousse exclaimed. "What have you done with Akane!" Ranma yelled, not noticing Shampoo's condition. "Akane is not here, Ranma. Please leave, Shampoo got hurt last night and she needs to rest." "I know, who do you think hurt her," Ranma snapped, not understanding the situation he crashed into yet. "Now tell me where Akane is or Shampoo won't be waking up, ever!" Mousse was shocked. "What? You monster! Why would you hurt my dear Shampoo!" he screamed. "She didn't take my proposal to Akane well! Tell me where is she!" Ranma yelled again. Mousse was shocked, confused, angry (due to the injuries Ranma inflicted on Shampoo), thoughtful, and then happy , in that order. "I am joyful at your good news Ranma, may you and Akane live long lives together." "But, Akane is not here, and Shampoo is in no condition to hurt Akane right now." Calming down a bit, Ranma finally realized that Mousse was right, Shampoo looked unable to have done anything recently. "I'm sorry, Mousse. I woke up and she was gone and... Anyway please forgive me, send Nabiki the bill for the door, as usual." "Of course we will. Now about you hurting Shampoo..." Mousse said with a menacing tone. "Oh...oh..." Ranma stuttered, backing away from Mousse. Mouse flung his arms out and several chains shot from his sleeves. They wrapped themselves around Ranma, pinning his arms to his side. This was followed by a rather large (it being about ten feet round) bowl of hot ramen. The bowl of ramen hit Ranma square in his chest and sent him flying out of the already shattered door. Ranma hit a large stone wall across the street. The chains fell off Ranma's bruised body and the hot ramen flowed over him. Mousse came out of the doors, or hole depending on your frame of mind, and examined Ranma. "Consider that your payback for hurting Shampoo, the fact that Shampoo needs my attention right now is the only reason I was so easy on you," Mousse declared and went back inside. "Easy?" Ranma muttered, getting up. He grabbed his side as he felt a stabbing pain in his side. Ranma ran down the street in search of Akane. "Akane!" [End - Part 4] ======================================================================= Author's notes and ramblings for part 4: Well, hope you liked this installment. After the very emotional part 3, this one was much lighter in tone and I may have gone a little further that I was intending with some of the jokes (maybe I just had to cheer myself up after the trials and tribulations of part 3). This part was mostly to show Akane has calmed down after her destruction rampage of part 3, and to let Ukyo and Ryoga (the 16 year old one, AKA P-Chan) react to the official engagement of Ranma and Akane. Now things are heading into the home stretch. Two more parts left (so far this mini-series went from a one shot story, to four parts, and now is going to be 6 parts). ======================================================================= Ranma-ototo (Little-brother Ranma) Part 5 - A Kiss is Not Just a Kiss A disheveled Ranma ran down the sunlit street. His clothes were torn and burned. Some dirt and black lipstick covered his face. "Well, I guess Akanes not at the Kuno mansion," Ranma muttered as he ran, his eyes frantically searching all around him. "At least they didn't find out about the engagement or I never would have gotten out of there alive." "Akane!!" Ranma screamed, as he turned down another street, still in search of his new fiancee. * * * Inside Dr. Tofu's clinic, Little-Ryoga and P-Chan played in the reception area. So far the 'playing' had broken two chairs, overturned a magazine rack of pre-1970 magazines, and spilled some cold soda on the floor. Akane was helping Dr. Tofu bandage Ukyo's wounds in one of the examination rooms. Her right arm seemed to have the most damage, however several smaller bandages were on her head, neck and legs. A sheet covered Ukyo's unclothed body. Dr. Tofu finished wrapping the arm after putting the stitches in. "Well, she'll be okay, most of the cuts are superficial. The deep cut on the arm was the worse of it. It's a good thing that you stopped the bleeding, the glass nicked an artery," Dr. Tofu explained, in his most professional tone. "So what happened?" Akane looked uncomfortable and started to wring her hands. "Um, we had a disagreement over something..." Akane answered, training off. "Over your engagement?" Dr. Tofu questioned, noticing the ring on her finger. "Um, yes. I guess she didn't want to give up Ranma without a fight," Akane replied, blushing. "I'm happy for you two, it's about time you made it official," Dr. Tofu said, smiling. "Thanks. Um, could you please not tell anyone else?" Akane asked. "I think we should tell the whole family together. Considering Ukyo is the first of Ranma's other fiancees to find out, I'd rather prepare for the others before they find out. Ukyo would have been the last one of them I'd expect to go postal when she found out. I shudder to think how the others will take the news." "No one will hear it from me, but I thought your family and everyone knew about the engagement already," Dr. Tofu asked, a little confused. "No, this is 'OUR' engagement, not theirs!!" Akane responded, angrily. "After what 'Mr. Tendo' and my father did, they'll be lucky to get invited to the wedding." She bent a pair of scissors that she had been holding in half. "Oh," Dr. Tofu muttered, calmly prying the scissors out of Akane's hands. "You know about the switch, then?" he questioned in a neutral tone, in case she didn't really know about it. "Oh no...don't tell me you were in on this too?" Akane gasped, not wanting to believe Dr. Tofu knew as well. "Well, I helped my mother deliver both you and Ranma, it's kind of hard to mistake parentage that way," Dr. Tofu explained, grinning. "You were both adorable babies." A blush covered Akane's body. Akane contemplated. "Ranma and I just found out last night," Akane informed him. "Yes, I heard about all the property damage over the night," Dr. Tofu mentioned, trying to soften the mood. A smile appeared on Akane's face. "Well, after I wore myself out DOING that property damage, Ranma found me," Akane explained, just needing to talk to someone suddenly. "For once in his life he said all the right things." "Love will do that to a young man, when he really needs to help the one he loves," Dr. Tofu ventured. "I've seen it in his actions and eyes. He does love you. Young men just can't always express it well." "I know he does," Akane conceded, looking down at her ring and rotating it on her finger. "But I think the good doctor should listen to his own medicine sometime." Dr. Tofu suddenly looked uncomfortable and just nodded, not trusting his voice. Then Ukyo stirred and mumbled incoherently. Dr. Tofu put a hand on her good shoulder and calmly said, "Miss Kuonji? It's Doctor Tofu. You've been hurt, but you'll be okay. Please don't move suddenly, I don't want your stitches to rip out." "Huh? How did I get here?" Ukyo questioned, confused. "Akane stopped your bleeding and then brought you here," Dr. Tofu answered. "Akane! She did this to me!!!" Ukyo screamed and tried to get up. That didn't turn out to be a very good idea, because a wave of pain shot through her body. "She saved your life!" Dr. Tofu shouted, holding Ukyo down. "Calm down!" "Actually, P-Chan pushed you through the window. He always seems to try and protect me," Akane mentioned, trying to calm Ukyo down. "The pig did this? One pork okonomiyaki coming up!" Ukyo yelled, only half jokingly. A black pig in the reception area cringed in fear. Then she looked back at Akane and said, "You brought me here? Why? I'm just as likely to attack you again." She winced in pain. "Well, I couldn't leave a friend to bleed to death. Could I?" Akane ventured. Seeing Ukyo wasn't likely to try and get up again, Dr. Tofu took this opportunity to leave the two women to talk. "Friends? I've tried to steal Ranma away from you since the day we met? How can you think of me as a friend?" Ukyo asked, amazed. "I just do, you're actually the only one of Ranma's old fiancees that I could stand to be around," Akane conceded. Ukyo didn't miss the 'old fiancees' part and flinched. "Plus, I guess I never really CLAIMED him. Heck most of the time I tried to get out of the engagement. But, I hope you can understand that we've chosen each other now and I can't let you go on pursuing him." "But, I... I still love him," Ukyo admitted, tears streaming from her eyes. "So do I, but I...um, I really don't want to speak for him," Akane said, but then stops. "If he wasn't serious he wouldn't have gotten the ring for me. I was shocked when I saw it myself." "Well, I can't fight a ring, he's made his choice." Ukyo conceded, vocally. Internally, she wasn't entirely ready to give up on Ranma yet. "Got any bridesmaids yet?" "Huh? Well we really haven't talked about the wedding yet. But stop chasing after Ranma and you're in!" Akane declared. Akane thought. Despite the pain, Ukyo pulled herself up and pulled Akane into a hug. Tears trickled down Akane's back from Ukyo's eyes. "You'd just better take care of him or I'll come take him from you," Ukyo threatened. "Deal. Although he may need an occasional malleting to keep him in line," Akane mentioned, jokingly. "Well, Ranma will always need some sense knocked into him," Ukyo agreed and then looked around the room. "Hey...where's little Ryo?" "He's in the lobby, I'll get him," Akane offered. She left the room and returned shortly with Little-Ryoga. P-Chan was squirming in the little boy's arms. "You okay Ukyo-chan?" Little-Ryoga asked. "Yup," Ukyo said, then looked at Akane. "We all are." Then she glared at P-Chan. "And you ...PIG! Watch it or you're pork okonomiyaki." P-Chan cringed at Ukyo's words. * * * Ranma spotted Kasumi walking down the street towards Dr. Tofu's clinic. Ranma thought, as he saw Kasumi enter the clinic. He turned towards the building. * * * Kasumi walked in the doors of the clinic just as Akane walked out of the exam room. Akane quickly slid her engagement ring off her finger and pocketed it, before Kasumi saw it. "Oh, Akane!" Kasumi cried out, then hugged Akane tightly. "I was so worried!" "Sorry we worried you, Kasumi, but I had to work off some anger before I could really think things over," Akane said, embarrassed. "Yes, we heard about all the property damage on the news this morning," Kasumi explained. Akane just looked downward and sighed. "We should go home and talk to our fathers. Where is Ranma?" Kasumi asked, looking around the room. "Um...we had some things happen and I had to bring Ukyo here. Just let me say goodbye. Then we can go find him. We do need to talk to you all," Akane replied. "I'm so glad you've calmed down," Kasumi mentioned, as she followed Akane into the examination room. * * * Entering the room, Akane asked, "Ukyo, I've got to get going. You okay here?" "Sure, Akane. Go and find him," Ukyo urged, a knowing grin on her face. "I am sorry about what happened." "I know," Akane said, then hugged Ukyo. As they separated, Dr. Tofu came into the room carrying a tray with teacups and a steaming kettle. "I thought you all could use some tea," Dr. Tofu said, then stopped suddenly when he saw Kasumi. "Kasumi!" he cried out, awkwardly. He stared at her and continued to walk towards the bed. Not looking at where he was going, he bumped into the bed and the tray went flying. A horrified P-Chan, in Little-Ryoga's hands, could only widen his eyes in shock before the kettle hit him on his head. The hot water from the kettle spilled over his little black body. Little-Ryoga dropped him and stepped back shaking off the hot water; he didn't appear to be hurt. As everyone watched the tray and teacups clatter to the floor, a naked teenage Ryoga appeared beside Little-Ryoga. Ryoga screamed in his head. Quickly reaching out, he grabbed the nearest thing available and covered himself up. Unfortunately, that nearest thing happened to be Ukyo's bed sheet. She shuddered when her naked body was revealed. "What do you think you're doing, pervert!" she screamed. "Oh my!" Kasumi gasps. "Ryoga???" was all Akane could gasp. Akane's anger grew as she thought about all of the ramifications. Ranma appeared in the doorway just as Kasumi casually grabbed another bed sheet and draped it over Ukyo's naked body. He calmly took in the scene before him. was Ranma's first thought. In rapid succession he added to that thought: Processing all these thoughts, Ranma did what he always had... he picked his first thought to act on. After only a second delay and before Akane's anger forced her to bring her mallet out, Ranma jumped over to Akane and hugged her close. "Oh, Akane...thank goodness you're okay." Ranma cried. Akane just hugged him back in amazement, her anger fading. "I was so worried when you weren't there when I woke up this morning. I thought Shampoo or someone else..." Ranma explained. He suddenly noticed the eyes of everyone in the room go wide and then they all grinned. "Hey, get your minds out of the gutter! We just fell asleep in the park together after a long day!" Ranma screamed at them. Akane thought to herself, grinning. "I'm sorry. I went to find some breakfast for us. I found Ucchan's open and had a little 'disagreement' with Ukyo. I think we worked out our problems, though," Akane explained, still enjoying Ranma's embrace. "Yes, I think we'll be okay," Ukyo agreed, sadly. "Ranma you have black lipstick on your cheek," Akane commented, noticing his cheek after they broke their hug. She was a little angry at seeing this, but she managed to keep calm. Later she was unable to figure out why she didn't hit him with her mallet, since this was an obvious 'malletable offense'. "Oh? I went looking for you at the Kuno mansion and had a little trouble there," Ranma informed her, while Akane wiped the lipstick off his cheek. Ranma thought quickly, analyzing the recent events. Before anyone said anything else, Dr. Tofu cleared his throat and his most professional look appeared on his face (even with Kasumi standing within his sight). "I think we need to let Miss Kuonji get her rest, ladies and gentlemen. Let's take this outside, please," he declared, chasing them all out of the examination room. He started to clean up the tray and cups. Unfortunately, Kasumi stayed to help him, causing him to drop the tray again. * * * In the reception area, Little-Ryoga was looking around the chairs and tables. "Where did P-Chan go? P-Chan!" he yelled, as he kept looking for the pig. Ryoga, now dressed in some spare clothes, apologized deeply to Akane. "I'm really sorry again, Akane. I couldn't help myself. I guess I sort of had a crush on you." He blushed. he thought and then remembered what he heard this morning. "I'm sorry too, Akane. I should have told you, but I gave him my word as a martial artist that I wouldn't tell anyone," Ranma explained, apologetically. "Of course, that was before I knew what he was going to end up doing with his curse," Ranma added, glaring at Ryoga. "I'll have to think this all through, some other time... We have other things to worry about now. Ranma let's head home, we have some answers to get from our 'fathers'," Akane said, then added, "And some things to tell them." Ranma nodded his agreement, then noticed Little-Ryoga again. "Who's the kid?" he asked. "Apparently he is Ryoga's little brother. He thought P-Chan was his pet for some reason," Akane explained. "I didn't know Ryoga had..." Ranma began to say, then stopped suddenly. "Oh no. I know where I've seen that kid before! We've got BIG trouble! Remember when we went back in time to find out about our parents?" Akane nodded. "As we were returning I saw this little kid," he said, pointing to Little-Ryoga and then finished, "run into the playground." Akane looked closely at the little kid, then at the older Ryoga and back again at the kid. "You mean somehow we brought Ryoga, when he was just a kid, back with us?" Akane asked, amazed. Ranma nodded. "Only Ryoga could get lost in time like that!" Ranma exclaimed, grinning. Despite herself, Akane grinned too. "I'm not sure how, maybe something about the mirror being broken, but we have to get him back to the past or Ryoga will disappear from our time," Ranma explained. A thoughtful look crossed his face. "Not that that would be the worse thing I can think of." "Don't tempt me," Akane growled, still thinking angrily about P-Chan. Ryoga had been trying to follow this. "You two went back in time?" he asked. "Yes, we... err... had to find out some things about our parents," Ranma explained. "And, Ryo here," Ryoga said, indicating Little-Ryoga. "Is not my little brother who I never knew I had, but is in fact me as a kid?" "Yes. It was an accident. We're sorry, we'll take him back Ryoga," Akane promised. "Ranma! How dare you! This is all your fault!" Ryoga screamed. "Yes it is, I'm sorry," Ranma conceded. This stopped Ryoga in his tracks, normally they started fighting right now. Ryoga wondered. "Well okay then," was all Ryoga could utter aloud. Ryoga turned and went to talk to Little-Ryoga. "Okay...we'll go grab the mirror, a quick breakfast," Ranma said, his stomach growled then he continued, "and get some boxers for you." "Boxers?" Akane questioned. "Remember what happened to your bra and panties the first time we used the mirror," Ranma replied. "Oh, yeah," Akane recalled. A blush crossed her face. "I guess men's boxers would be okay, this one time. I guess I know now why you're always so adamant about not wearing a bra or panties in your girl form," Akane suggested, slyly grinning. "It's always easier to see things clearer when you put yourself in the other guy's panties," Ranma quipped, smiling at his own joke. "Pervert," Akane responded. "Tomboy," Ranma retorted, pulling her into a hug. "Excuse me," Ryoga interrupted what may have become a kiss. He looked very uncomfortable with their closeness. "I've told 'Ryo' that you're going to take him back to his house and that P-Chan had to stay here. I didn't think he would have understood the time travel business. Since it's your mess, you'll have to fix it." "Yes, we will. Come on Ryo time to go. Ryoga, tell Kasumi we'll see her back at home later," Ranma said, then turned to leave. Akane held out her hand for Little-Ryoga. * * * Later, Ranma, Akane, and Little-Ryoga were walking down the street. Ranma had the mirror in his hand and Akane had an onion. She was admiring the engagement ring that was back on her finger. She'd only had a it a short time, but she already felt naked without it on. "All set, Akane?" Ranma asked, holding the mirror up. He avoided looking to see if she's wearing a bra or not. "Yup, boxers in place, onion ready," Akane mentioned, then squeezed the onion into her own eye. Tears started to flow. "You should have let me do that..." Ranma insisted, then held the mirror under her eyes. A tear dripped onto the cracked surface. It flared into life. "Magic mirror, take us back to the day after we last saw our younger selves." With a flash, the three time-travelers disappeared. * * * They appeared on a similar street in the past. They all looked around. "Wonder where he lives? I've never been to his house before," Akane realized a bit late. "I don't know for sure, let's ask that policeman," Ranma suggested, indicating the little police station on the corner. "Good idea. See little Ryo... when you're lost you should ask a police officer for help," Akane explained to Little-Ryoga. She pointed out the police officer. "Think that'll help him in the future?" Akane whispered to Ranma. "Nope, not really," Ranma whispered back. "Officer! Can you help us, this little boy's name is Ryo Hibiki and he's lost, can you tell us where his house is so we can take him back?" Ranma asked the officer. The police officer sighed. "Oh no, not the Hibiki kid again. Third time this week alone," the police officer mentioned. Akane and Ranma exchanged knowing glances. "Come here Ryoga, I'll walk you home. Thanks for looking after him." The officer lead Little-Ryoga away. "Sir, do you want to see 'The Breaking Point'? It's a real neat martial arts move." Little-Ryoga asked walking away with the officer. Both Akane and Ranma looked troubled. "He wouldn't have taught his little self that, would he?" Ranma asked. "I don't think he had time...hopefully," Akane replied. They started walking back up the street. Ranma reached for the mirror when they were interrupted by a voice. "Oh, you're the young couple from yesterday," Mother Tendo remembered, smiling. "Oh...hi, Obasan. It's nice to meet you again," Akane replied, nervously. "Yes, it is. You know we never did introduce ourselves yesterday. I'm Ryoga," Ranma said, using the fake names they used with their younger selves yesterday. "And this... is my fiancee Shampoo." Akane blushed, since this was the first time they'd told anyone else directly. Of course, since they weren't using their real names maybe this wasn't really their first time telling anyone directly. Mother Tendo thought. "It must be recent, you weren't wearing the ring yesterday." "That's very observant of you. Yes, he asked me last night," Akane revealed. She smiled broadly and held up the ring. Ranma put his arm around her shoulder. "Well, I know you'll make good parents. My Ranma and Akane kept going on and on about you two last night," Mother Tendo informed them. Both Ranma and Akane blushed at the mention of their being parents. "You seem to think very highly of Akane, even though she's not your own daughter," Akane hinted, not being able to resist finding out how Mother Tendo felt. "Oh, yes, I love Akane just like my other children. Her own mother is too sick to take care of Akane herself, and her father wouldn't know how to raise a daughter if his life depended on it. He said he was going to take her to China on a training trip. Really! Imagine taking a four-year-old girl to China! If it wasn't for the fact that Genma introduced me and my husband, I'd never let him near my kids," Mother Tendo explained. Akane and Ranma just absorbed all this information. They felt better with every word 'their' mother said. "I'm afraid I have to go and do my shopping now, you two are welcome to come over anytime and play with the kids, I'm sure they'd enjoy it," Mother Tendo suggested. "It's the Tendo house down on Takahashi Street." "Well, we're just visiting Nerima, but we will try and drop by if we're in the neighborhood," Ranma promised. "That would be fine. Oh, Shampoo dear?" Mother Tendo asked, leaning towards Akane. "Yes?" Akane replied. "I know your fiancee may like it, but you really should wear a bra, and boxers are really not appropriate for a young lady. If you're not careful someone will call you a tomboy," Mother Tendo whispered to Akane. Ranma apparently heard her, since a slight grin crossed his face. Akane just blushed. They all said their good-byes and Mother Tendo walked away humming a little tune. Ranma remembered, smiling. Then Ranma and Akane continued walking down the street. "How did she know?" Akane wondered, looking down to see if anything is showing. "Mother's intuition, I guess," Ranma suggested. "Come on, I've got an idea." He pulled Akane in the direction of the Tendo house. * * * The Tendo garden looked almost the same as it did in the future except the trees were smaller, the house looked newer, and the koi pond didn't have piles of wet clothes laying on the bottom. Near the big tree in the corner, Ranma helped Akane down the wall. "Do you have a nail file or something?" he asked. "Sure, why?" Akane questioned, dinning in her pocked. Then she handed him the nail file. "You'll see," Ranma replied, grinning. "Chestnuts roasting on an open tree!" he yelled and started to hack very fast at the tree bark using the nail file, chips went flying. "There. THAT ought to confuse some people," Ranma quipped, as he finished. Akane looked closely at the tree and saw that he had carved a remarkably detailed umbrella on the tree. Under the umbrella were the initials 'T. R. + S. A.'. She grinned. "I always did wonder who's initials those were," Akane remarked, tracing the letters with her fingers. Ranma held Akane close and they looked into each other's eyes silently. A few heartbeats later, their lips touched and they enjoyed a long kiss. Reluctantly they parted. "I guess since we were so tired last night, that's our first kiss," Ranma stated. "Um, well actually..." Akane muttered as a troubled look crossed her face. Concerned, Ranma asked, "What is it?". "When I woke up this morning, you looked so sweet and handsome, I...I kissed you. I stole our first kiss when you weren't even awake," Akane explained, crying. "Well, why did you kiss me?" Ranma asked. "Huh? Well because I love you of course." "Sounds like a good reason to me," Ranma suggested. Then he leaned down and kissed Akane again, this time more passionately. In an upstairs window a young Kasumi, who looked to be around 9 years old, looked down on this scene with amusement. she pondered, watching them. Down in front of the porch, Little-Ranma and Little-Ranma were watching as well. "Ick, why are they doing that?!" Little-Ranma asked. "It's called kissing, adults do that! I've seen Momma and Poppa doing it!" Little-Akane explained, grinning. "Well, I'm never going to do that! It looks gross!" Little-Ranma insisted. "Want to try it with me? You never know it may be fun, they seem to like it," Little-Akane hinted, pointing at heir older selves. "Nope, I'd never do that with a tomboy like you!" Little-Ranma announced. Then he noticed that Akane was suddenly holding her little mallet. "Um, okay, but only once." Awkwardly, the little kids leaned into each other and kissed. They just pressed their lips together and moved their heads a bit, but it was a kiss nonetheless. Back in the corner, the older Ranma and Akane finally broke their long kiss, mostly to avoid passing out from oxygen deprivation. "I guess we can always call that our first kiss," Akane suggested, dreamily. Ranma noticed something over Akane's shoulder and turned her around. "Ah... actually it looks like we were concerned about our 'first kiss' for nothing. Look," Ranma explained, pointing at their two younger selves who were just finishing their little peck. "Icky!" Little-Ranma shouted, as he broke the kiss. "Baka! Fine! I will never kiss you again," Little-Akane promised. "Fine by me," Little-Ranma agreed, earning him a mallet blow from Akane. They both stormed off in different directions. "Looks like I lied," Akane admitted, smiling sweetly at the two departing kids. "Looks like my taste has improved," Ranma said, pulling Akane back into another kiss. Breaking the kiss, Akane suggested, "You know what? Maybe the first kiss isn't important... It's the kisses that last a lifetime that are." "I think I can handle that," Ranma promised. "We'd better get going." They both jumped up and over the back wall. Then they found a quiet corner to use the mirror in. After the young couple had left the garden, Little-Kasumi came out of the house and looked closely at the initials on the tree. "T. R. and S. A.," she read, examining the letters with her finger. A smile crossed her face. "Oh my." [End - Part 5] ======================================================================= Author's notes and ramblings for part 5: This part was going to be called 'The Pig Squeals Tonight', but that would have given away P-Chan's discovery. I decided to use the Japanese name form for the initials on the tree (last name then first name). So Tendo Ranma is T. R. and Saotome Akane is S. A. Really it was a toss up whether I'd use that form or the western name form, it doesn't affect the story at all. Well, only one part to go into this story. Hope you've enjoyed it so far. ======================================================================= Ranma-ototo (Little-brother Ranma) Part 6 - Perchance to Dream of Love Ranma and Akane returned to the present with a bright flash. They appeared in the Tendo Dojo. They looked around to make sure they didn't bring any more hitchhikers back with them this time. "Looks like we're back. Just us this time," Ranma declared. Ranma cursed to himself. "Yup, I'm going to go change out of these boxers. Then let's get the family together to let them know about our engagement and also make sure they stop manipulating our lives," Akane said. "Sounds good," Ranma replied. The couple headed towards the house. * * * In the Tendo's dinning room, a familiar scene repeated itself. Soun, Genma, Nabiki, and Kasumi were all kneeling around the table. Ranma and Akane knelt across from them. Most of the previous day's damage had been repaired, or at least patched up. "Okay, we all know the basics. I am really Ranma Tendo and Akane is really a Saotome," Ranma stated. "We've accepted that as the truth and it's okay," Akane said. Soun and Genma seemed to relax a bit. "We are still not convinced that giving Ranma to Mr. Saotome was the best thing to do, especially since he ended up with his curse. But apparently, I was better off living as a Tendo." Genma flinched and looked sadly down at the floor. "As it turns out I'd rather be cursed, than see Akane have to deal with this nightmare of a curse," Ranma informed them all. "I do appreciate the training you've given me POP and I think maybe Akane should join our morning workouts. Since she is your real daughter, she deserves the training as much, or more, than I do," Ranma explained. Ranma added to himself. Akane looked surprised, they had never talked about that. She grinned. "Thank you Ranma, I'd love to train for real with you." Genma relaxed. he thought. "Of course, I'd be glad to train her. I always wanted to come back and start training you again Akane, but events didn't work out that way." Genma looked lovingly at his daughter, but sad at the same time as he remembered the lost years. "The engagement between you two was kind of our failsafe. We'd hoped to bring the two families back together again in a more peaceful manner," Soun revealed, tearing up. "Right, we want you both to consider it again. I think deep down you two do love each other, you just haven't realized it yet," Genma appealed to them. "No," Akane said, flatly. "That engagement is null and void." Ranma asked himself. A worried look crossed his face. "We have had enough of your manipulations, one-way decisions, and meddling with our lives!" Akane announced in an angry tone. Ranma realized. "Your actions up to now have been very dishonorable! Does anyone have a tanto blade handy?" Soun and Genma went very pale. "I think there are a couple in the dojo, should I get them?" Nabiki offered, a wicked grin covering her face. Ranma wasn't sure if she suspected what was happening or if she really thought Soun and Genma should use the blades. "I don't think that will be necessary, Nabiki," Akane conceded. "You two!" Akane shouted, looking at Soun and Genma. Then continued, "Have to promise to stop interfering in OUR lives and making unilateral decisions for us. Agreed?" Reluctantly, after several seconds, Soun and Genma agreed. Of course, only after Ranma and Akane's battle auras burst to life. "We promise," they both said, humbly. They bowed their suddenly mature children. Ranma looked at Akane, who nodded towards the others. "Now then, me and Akane have one final thing to tell you all. I have asked Akane to be my wife and she has agreed," Ranma informed them all, taking her hand in his. Akane slipped her other hand out of a pocket where she has been hiding it. She showed them the ring. Everyone face faulted and stared in amazement at the ring. Soun started to cry. "Oh my," Kasumi said. Her worried look turned into a beautiful smile. "Wowsa!" Nabiki exclaimed. "But you said... that the engagement was off..." Genma stammered. "'YOUR' engagement is. This one is 'OUR' engagement! Not yours," Ranma declared, forcefully. Looking into Ranma's eyes, Akane confirmed Ranma's statement, "We decided this ourselves, because we love each other." Ever his eloquent self, Ranma added, "Right." Soun was in full cry, tidal wave mode. "I'm so happy!" he cried and jumped across the table to hug them both. Genma joined in the hug, with Kasumi and Nabiki bringing up the rear. Everyone hugged and kissed the newly engaged couple. "I guess you're going to be my ototo for real now," Nabiki remarked. "Um, remember...I already am your real brother," Ranma reminded her. "Oh, right. Okay, Ranma is my ototo and Akane, as she's always been to me, is my imoto," Nabiki declared, smiling. She recalled all the child swapping that apparently went on after her Mother died. Then Genma stood up straight. "I'll go call the minister!" he declared. "Good idea, I'll..." Soun started to agree, but was cut short by Akane's mallet. Actually, mallets silenced both Soun and Genma. Soun by Akane's mallet and Genma by Ranma's mallet. Yes, RANMA'S mallet. "Glad you showed me how to hide these things, they come in handy," Ranma thanked Akane, then kissed her quickly. "Now they are malleting people together, what a cute couple," Kasumi said, in her sweetest voice. "WE will decide when WE will get married, not you two!" Akane proclaimed. "Got it?" Ranma glared. Both Soun and Genma nodded their agreements, both suitably humbled. Kasumi and Nabiki were examining Akane's engagement ring. "It's quite lovely, Akane," Kasumi said. "That must have cost a lot of yen!" Nabiki calculated. "Mr. Hoseki will be sending the bill. Either of you two FATHERS have a problem with that?" Ranma asked, forcefully. Both Soun and Genma shook their head no. "He better have given you a good price," Nabiki said, recalling who Mr. Hoseki was. "I'm sure he did... He seemed extremely frightened of you," Ranma informed her. "As well he should be," Nabiki replied, with a twinkle in her eye. "We'd also like to keep all of this business in the family, all anyone needs to know is that me and Akane are officially getting married," Ranma explained. "Okay, that is for the best, no reason to air our dirty laundry in public," Soun agreed. Everyone nodded their agreement. "And Nabiki... that means you will not tell or sell anyone the information. Understood?" Kasumi requested in her most motherly tone. From anyone else it would have been a direct order, but Kasumi has a way of just saying things so sweetly. "Okay, they won't hear about the child swapping from me." Nabiki promised. "What about the engagement?" "We'll have to think about how best to handle it, there are certain people who may... err... who WILL react badly to it," Ranma explained and earned a nod of agreement from Akane. "Okay, I won't sell any information about the engagement either," Nabiki promised, a little glimmer of a plan forming in her head. After another round of hugs, kisses, and congratulations, Akane said, "Well, I'm going to go take a bath, it's been a long day, err... days. Coming Ranma?" This last statement earned some surprised looks from everyone in the room, especially Ranma. "Huh? Oh... I think I'll wait a bit," Ranma replied, nervously. "Good boy, you passed that test," Akane admitted. Ranma was miffed at being 'tested', Akane leaned closer to him. "Don't worry. Someday soon I'll scrub your back for you," she whispered to him, winking. She then gave him a sweet kiss. This produced a full body blush from Ranma. she added to herself, internally blushing. "I think I liked them better when they were fighting," Nabiki suggested, as her stomach churned. "I think it's sweet," Kasumi beamed. Soun and Genma were crying and congratulating themselves over their perfect plan to bring Akane and Ranma together after so long. Some people never learn. * * * Later that the afternoon, Akane was tracing the initials that Ranma carved into the corner tree during their trip to the past. They read 'T. R. + S. A.'. The tree had been returned to it's upright position and was being held in place by several stakes and wires. "Seems like it has been a long time getting to this point," Kasumi ventured, walking up beside Akane. "You knew this was us?" Akane asked. "I suspected it was you. I saw two strange adults kissing in our garden one day and noticed the initials after they left," Kasumi recalled. "I may have nudged you and Ranma along on the right path, I hope that's okay." "Always there when I need you... It's fine, Kasumi. I just wish Father and 'Pop' could be a little more like you, but they always overdo everything and push so hard," Akane remarked, hugging her 'sister'. "They almost pushed us apart." "They do tend to be pretty outrageous sometimes, but they do it out of love," Kasumi replied. They finished their hug and pulled apart. "Thank you, Kasumi. As much as I hated how they kept pushing me and Ranma together, in the end it was your gentle reminders that really made us see that we loved each other," Akane acknowledged. "That's what Mothers are for, seeing that their kids are happy," Kasumi said, tears forming in her eyes. "Something else you want to tell me about my parentage?" Akane quipped. "No, just that I like to think of myself as your mother sometime, helps me try and figure out what our mother would have done," Kasumi explained, stroking Akane's hair. "You raised us well, Kasumi. I know that 'OUR' mother would be proud of the job you did," Akane declared, confidently. "Thank you, Akane. I needed to hear that," Kasumi announced and kissed Akane on the cheek. "Hey! Didn't I knock this tree over on my way out of the garden yesterday?" Akane asked. "I had a specialist come over... The roots weren't damaged so he was able to upright it," Kasumi informed Akane. "I'm glad." "I couldn't let the dream die, could I?" "It's not a dream," Akane declared. She looked lovingly at Ranma, who had just come out of the house looking for Akane. "It's love." [End - Part 6] ======================================================================= [Epilogue] The next morning, Akane awoke as a beam of sunlight hit her eyes. She got up and stretched. "What? That was some dream I had. Weird...image me being Mr. Saotome's daughter and Ranma being Dad's son," Akane muttered. Akane looked out the window, watching some birds fly by her window and land on the tree in the corner. A puzzled look crossed her face and she jumped out of the window, bounced down to the ground, and ran over to the tree. She was shocked to see the umbrella shaped carving. She traced the initials with her fingers, and then she noticed the ring on her finger. her mind gasped. "I guess it wasn't a dream after all," Akane realized and a beautiful smile crossed her face. She remembered more and more details of the past few days she walked back into the house, avoiding the stakes that held the tree up. In his room, Ranma was sleeping peacefully in his male form. Akane slipped into the room. Carefully, as to not awake the sleeping panda, she slid down next to Ranma. Akane pondered. Looking lovingly into Ranma's eyes, Akane smiled and gave him a deep kiss. Ranma woke up suddenly. "Akane..." he called out after she broke the kiss. "Good morning," Akane chimed. "Stealing a kiss again?" Ranma inquired, grinning. "Well you said you'd give me kisses for a lifetime, I'm just collecting on that promise," Akane explained. "Good point. So is this going to be the way you're always going to wake me up?" Ranma questioned. "I'm going to try my best," Akane promised and then kissed him again, very passionately. Behind them the panda stirred and saw the kissing couple. He grinned as much as a panda could. Genma thought, going back to sleep. * * * Ranma and Akane both walked along the top of the fence on their way to school. "So, how do you think we should tell everyone? Maybe announce it over the school intercom?" Ranma offered, grinning. "I don't think so! That would only lead to chaos and probably a big fight," Akane said, as she walked behind him on the fence, a little unsteady. "Well, Mousse and Shampoo know already. So far no backlash from the C.F.F. yet." Ranma informed her. "C.F.F.?" "The Chinese Fiancee Front," Ranma quipped. Akane grinned. "That probably won't last for long," Akane insisted. "Ukyo and I had a good talk yesterday. I think she's okay with it, but it may take her some time and convincing by us for her to really accept it." "That leaves the Kuno family. If my battle with them yesterday over just being at their mansion is anything to go by, they are going to be hard to get away from," Ranma informed Akane, remembering the fight he got into yesterday with Kuno and his sister. "Well, we'll tell some of our close friends at lunch. We'll talk tonight on how to handle the Kuno's and others," Akane suggested. "Sounds like a plan," Ranma agreed. He then did a quick spin on top of the fence, almost causing Akane to slip. Ranma caught her in his arms and gave her a long kiss. * * * In front of the school, Akane and Ranma walked towards the front doors just as the school's intercom system blared to life with a blast of feedback. "May I have your attent