The rain was beginning to taper off.
     She didn't particularly mind the rain; she had more important
concerns to worry about.  Besides, she had been through worse.
     Still, she decided she must look a dreadful sight... Every part
of her quite drenched, from the curls in her aging black hair to the
sandals on her feet and the worn kimono in between.  As for whatever
it was she kept wrapped securely in a towel, propped against her
shoulder as though it were a bayonet or something else along those
lines, only a few people knew.  There was no reason to show the item
off to everyone - she didn't want to alarm anyone.
     Yes, she could use it in self-defense, if it came to that. 
Thankfully, that rarely happened.  She needed more practice, at any
rate.  Using a katana wasn't a skill most people picked up overnight.
     All those people passing by in cars or what-not or watching her
through their windows were probably saying that it served her right
for trudging through the rain like this.
     Maybe it did.  Chalk up another lesson she had learned from her
'husband...' stubbornness to the point of foolishness.  She wasn't
poor - but she was on a special quest and had long since decided to
travel light.  That was her base reason for traveling without any
luggage, just a kimono, and whatever money she could carry for the
occasional expense.  If Genma and Ranma could survive traveling like
this, then so could she!
     It was the best way she could think of to... find them.
     Saotome Nodoka stopped, closed her eyes and sighed.  Her son. 
Ranma.  And that pact Genma had arranged so long ago.
     Nodoka could forgive the pact, for Ranma's sake.  Genma had all
but forced Ranma to agree to the pact, even though little Ranma
certainly hadn't known better at the time, so that Genma's
martial-artist code of macho pride would be satisfied.
     And so Genma took Ranma away, to train him, make him a complete
man, teach him to behave just like his father...
     The thought made her angry.  No.  There still had to be a
chance.  All she had to do was find Ranma, let him know his mother
cared for him... that he didn't have to abide by Genma's pact if he
didn't want to, as he had no idea of what he was doing when he
'agreed' to the pact.  How could an infant be expected to make such a
life-altering decision?
     Ranma... I know you're out there, somewhere.  I can feel it. 
Call it a bond between mother and son, perhaps.  She knew the quest
wouldn't be easy from the start.  But even if Genma was hiding him
from her...... she would find him eventually.  Sooner or later, he
would have to stop at the Tendo dojo and, with luck, she'd be there
waiting for him.
     Tendo Soun... Genma's long-time friend and father of three
lovely young daughters.  Daughters.  Nodoka paused.  What, say,
would have happened if instead of a son, she had given birth to a
daughter?  Would that have spared her all this pain over the years,
not knowing her own son?
     She was in the process of putting the thought away for later
when a voice interrupted her train of thought.
     "Good afternoon, miss."
     Nodoka blinked.  "Excuse me?"
     A traveling salesman stood on the sidewalk before her, holding a
tray full of oddly dry artifacts that were slightly mystic in
appearance.  Nodoka made sure to study his features... unassuming and
gentle.  Certainly not what she expected a traveling salesman to look
like.
     "You look as though you might have need of my services."
     The line set off alarm bells in the back of Nodoka's mind.  She
narrowed her eyes.  "What kind of services might those be?"
     "Change," the man answered.  "The past, present and future, as
one wishes."
     Change?  But wasn't such procedure risky and quite dangerous?
     "These special artifacts allow you to make a single wish to
change the Past.  Whatever you wish for will come true - with a
catch."
     "A catch?"  echoed Nodoka.
     "Yes.  Although you can alter the past, you cannot alter
Destiny.  If an event is destined to happen, it will, somehow.  If
two souls are destined to meet, they will - no matter how much
circumstances must be altered to allow it."
     My son, Nodoka thought.  Am I destined to find my son?
     "And how much are you charging for these... artifacts?"
     "Not much," the salesman answered.  "Only 350 yen."
     He was right.  That wasn't as expensive as she thought it might
be.
     "When you have fallen upon hard times, why should I presume to
add to it by charging a large sum of money?"
     "But I'm not poor.  I'm--"
     "Having a hard time does not necessarily mean you are poor. 
There is something troubling you.  Something that money cannot fix.
I can see it in your eyes."
     "I'll buy one," Nodoka said after a moment of thought.  What did
she have to lose?  Even if the artifact didn't work as advertised she
wasn't wasting much money in purchasing one.
     The salesman took Nodoka's change and picked out an artifact
specifically for her.  "Good luck, miss.  And be careful," he added
as he turned to leave.
     Nodoka glanced down at the artifact in her hand, a strange
feeling coming over her, then back up at the salesman's retreating
back.  "Wait!  If these are as powerful as you say, then why don't
you..."
     "Use one to change my own past?"  the man turned around long
enough to show a hint of a smile.  "Who is to say that I haven't done
that already?"
     With that, he was gone.  The artifact remained behind.
     A mystical artifact reportedly able to change the Past yet not
Destiny.
     How was she to know what was destined or wasn't?  Better to
concern herself with what it was she would change.  What, then?
     Ranma, of course,  Ranma should know who his mother was.
     No!  she argued with that decision.  Ranma should never have
left my side to begin with!  Yes.  A good place to start.  But the
only way she could think of to keep Genma from taking Ranma away
was.........
     She had her wish.

                            Destiny's Wish
                     Part One: The New Beginning
                         written by Mike Koos

     Ranma cried.
     In the next room, Nodoka looked up from her work. "Dear?  Would
you check on Ranma for me?  I think she may need to be changed."
     She could hear Genma's grumbling from where she sat tending to
the laundry.  If she didn't know any better, she could have sworn it
was getting louder day by day.  "Now, I know you don't like changing
diapers, but you promised you would help take care of her."
     Genma continued to grumble, although this time he hid it from
his wife's ears.  That was BEFORE I knew she would be a girl!
     He walked into the nursery, coming to a halt beside his
daughter's crib - a stern glare to his face as he looked down at her.
Ranma immediately recognized him.  She gave him a bright smile before
going back to crying again.
     "Be quiet," he hissed.  Why couldn't he have had a son?  Someone
to carry on the Saotome name with honor and pride, to keep the
Saotome class of martial arts alive... A daughter.  What good would
she be as a martial artist?  Even if he could teach her some
techniques, he was willing to bet that the martial arts and fighting
wouldn't mean as much to her as they would to a male.
     Genma doubted they could try to have another child, to try for a
son.  Nodoka already knew he was grousing over having had a daughter,
and besides, she wouldn't go for the idea.  Not as long as they
continued to live near the poverty level...
     The latest word from Soun indicated that he and his wife had
been blessed with three boys.  Genma always thought he had a similar
sense of luck - what if his next two children were also girls?  Or
worse, twins?  Triplets?
     Yet there were ways to recoup his losses.  Before either of them
became married, Soun and Genma had toyed with the idea of arranging a
marriage between their children, uniting the Saotome and Tendo
classes of martial arts once and for all and ensuring that their
collective legacies lived on.
     The more Genma thought about it, the better it sounded.  He
would discuss it with Soun in the next letter, to be sent
immediately.  Nodoka might not like the plan at first - especially
since Ranma was her precious daughter - but she would come to
appreciate it.  That left only one detail to take care of.
     Ranma's training.

     "No!  Absolutely not!  I won't let you risk our daughter on your
foolish ventures!"
     Genma exhaled; he had seen this coming.  It had been a month
since Nodoka gave in to the idea he and Soun had already agreed on -
the plan to marry Ranma off to one of the Tendo boys once she became
of age.  Nodoka still wasn't one hundred percent sure whether
arranging her daughter's marriage this early in her life was a good
idea.  In contrast this argument would be an uphill battle.  "'Foolish
venture?'"  he repeated.  "What is wrong with wanting our daughter to
be strong?"
     "I have no problem with that.  But what is wrong with letting
her remain here, where I can teach her what she needs to know as
well?"
     Genma's face seemed to have that smug self-assured quality that
meant she would need to work hard to convince him otherwise.  "What
you want her to learn is girl's work, dear."
     "What is your point?  She is a girl, isn't she!?"
     "She is," he admitted.  "But what you propose will erode any
edge she develops, slowly but surely."
     Nodoka, for all her gentle demeanor, was close to a breaking
point.  "Don't you preach your martial-arts code to me!  Ranma is a
girl.  I only want to make sure she knows what every young woman
should learn."
     Genma's expression hadn't changed.  "I can teach her."
     "You may think so, but when the time comes, you won't be able to
deal with it."
     "Your faith in my ability to teach is inspiring.  However, I
sincerely believe I am up to the challenge."
     "No," Nodoka had made her final decision.  "I won't let you take
our daughter away on a voyage of training."  Another issue nagged at
her thoughts.  "How can I be sure I will ever see both of you again? 
I'm not about to take that risk."
     "You will see us again," Genma suddenly became completely
serious.  "I have written up a contract.  A pact, if you wish to view
it as such.  If, at the end of our journey, Ranma is not a girl
inside and out as well as a fighter, we... we will commit seppuku."
     "...Seppuku............?"  The word numbed Nodoka.  She
recovered in time.  "Absolutely not!  If your plans don't work out,
you will force her to take her life alongside you?"
     "It is the honorable thing to do."
     "It is the stupid thing to do."
     Time for the final blow.  Genma reached inside his gi to pull
out a folded piece of paper he had been keeping close to his heart. 
"I'm afraid you have no choice but to let us go," he said, handing
the piece of paper to his wife.  "Ranma and I have already signed the
contract."
     "What!?"  Incredulously, Nodoka unfolded the contract.  The
wording was as Genma had said.  The lower half of the paper held
Ranma and Genma's 'signatures' next to their names.  Genma's
signature was a mere thumbprint next to his printed name.  Ranma's,
on the other hand...
     "You fool!  She didn't decide anything!  You just covered her
hand in ink and let her play around this paper, didn't you?  This
can't be legal!"  Indeed, Ranma's handprint was plastered all over
the paper, running off the sides in places - although Genma had made
sure not to let her stamp over any of the words at the top of the
paper.
     "On the contrary, dear.  A handprint is completely acceptable
and legal for use in a contract."
     "How could you do this?"  Tears welled up in Nodoka's eyes. 
"How could you do this to our daughter and I?"
     "It is for her own good."  Genma's voice faltered; he had never
been an expert when it came to confronting anyone with words.  "We
are both packed and ready to go."

     Soun sat at his appointed spot at the family room table, nursing
a bowl of weak ramen and a cup of tea.  Family room.  The room
wasn't the same without the presence of his wife.  The boys could
feel the void as well.  He knew they missed their mother... perhaps
not as much as him, although it was a comfort to know he didn't have
to face the pain alone.
     "Tendo-san!  Mail!"
     He forced himself to stand, his body resisting it more than it
used to.  One's body - even those of a martial artist - degraded over
time.  If only he'd kept up with his training and exercises... in
retrospect, they might have been ideal to take his mind away from his
sorrow for a little while.  Exactly what he hoped going out to pick
up the mail would accomplish.
     Giving the postman a cheerful thank-you, he carried the mail
back inside.  A couple of catalogs for supplies for the dojo, the
usual odd assortment of junk mail.  The one piece of mail that made
Soun almost drop everything else was the postcard from his old
friend, Saotome Genma.
     Had he not been grateful to hear from Genma for the first time
in a long while, he might have noticed the writing wasn't Genma's
typical scrawl.  The writing looked as though whoever wrote it had
done so while drunk, or perhaps in pain - which, knowing Genma,
wasn't improbable.
     'Ranma and I will be there soon.'
     Oh, yes... the engagement!  After around thirteen to fifteen
years of training - Soun had lost track of the years - young Ranma,
as well as his own sons, were all of marrying age.  The Tendo and 
Saotome families had agreed to the idea of pairing Ranma with one of
the Tendo boys shortly after Ranma and Ayumi were born.  A union 
that would combine the strength of both families and keep the
Tendo-Saotome classes of martial arts alive... not just in their
students, but in generations to come.
     Now this was good news!
     "Kasuga... Naka... Ayumi!"  He repeated the names.  "Come here! 
I have something to tell you!"
     None of the boys answered.  Fine; that meant he'd have to bring
the news to them.
     First came Kasuga.  The eldest son of the family, Kasuga had
always been unsure about becoming a martial artist in the wake of his
father's pride and honor.  He took the lessons until his mother's
passing, then decided to put his training aside to take care of the
rest of the family.  As such, Soun figured Kasuga would be in the
kitchen.
     Kasuga had endured the jokes, of course.  He took care of much
of the cooking and cleaning and enjoyed doing it, something not very
many boys admitted.  Since he didn't mind, Soun didn't, either. 
Without his sons to help, Soun knew he might not have known what to
do.
     Kasuga was where Soun expected him to be.  "Kasuga."
     Kasuga was tall, slender and pale from spending most of his time
indoors, with a casual-cropped shell of brown hair.  He turned toward
the door.  "Yes, father?"
     

     Next up, Naka.  As the middle son Naka also had little interest
in the martial arts.  From an early age, he had instead shown
interest in business and finance.  It was his planning that kept the
dojo on its feet monetarily.  However, he also seemed to his father
to be a little disconnected from the rest of the family, more so
since losing his mother.
     "Naka......"
     The boy was in his room, reading a new manga book.  "Yeah?"

     Last in line was the youngest Tendo son, Ayumi.  Of the three
brothers Ayumi was the hardest hit by the unfortunate loss of their
mother.  Fate had taken her away when Ayumi was but six years old. 
He had always tried his hardest to please his mother and his
father... and was still trying, by dedicating himself to the martial
arts.
     Soun opened the door to Ayumi's room, but the martial artist was
nowhere to be found.  Ayumi hadn't mastered any disappearing
techniques, had he?  "Does anyone know where Ayumi is?"
     "I'll find him," shrugged Naka.

     There were only a few places Ayumi might be around the yard,
Naka knew; chief among those locations was the dojo.  Ayumi liked to
lose himself in his exercises and training.  That way he didn't need
to talk to anyone for a while - for who would want to interrupt a
martial artist tearing apart the air around him with forced blows?
     Only another martial artist or fighter.  And there weren't many
of those around town... business had been rather slow lately.  How
Naka kept the books together without a lot of paying students, Ayumi
didn't know.  Maybe he supplemented it with all that money he managed
to somehow get from others, like his classmates.  Especially the
biggest moron at Fuurinkan High and possibly Nerima, too...
     Ayumi noticed his punches were more forceful than necessary and
toned it down.  Just in time, too.
     "Thought I'd find you here, little brother."
     Ayumi turned around to find Naka reclining against a corner of
the house.  Unlike his brothers, Ayumi had inherited a head of black
hair, which made him appear even more intimidating when he became
serious or upset.  "Can I help you?"
     "Don't take that tone of voice with me, young man," Naka said,
mimicking their father's voice.  Then he straightened.  "How long you
been at this?"
     Ayumi glanced at the broken boards and cement bricks scattered
around him.  "About an hour, I guess."
     "Well, come on.  Dad says he's got something to tell us and he
won't do it unless we're all there."
     "Okay."  The younger sibling wiped the sweat from his forehead.
     "Phew!  Put that arm down!"  Naka quickly pinched his nose shut.
"I think you've been out here LONGER than an hour!"
     Ayumi frowned.  "Shut up!"
     "Ha!  You're so easy to intimidate!"  his brother laughed.  "If
I didn't know any better, I'd think you were a girl!"  Pressed for
time, he left out the potshots at Ayumi's name.
     "I am not!  Take that back!"  Ayumi raised a fist.
     Naka shook his head.  "You don't want to do that.  You'll regret
it."
     Ayumi relented.  Naka may not have taken up fighting... but he
could still make a person's life very miserable by plenty of other
less-traceable means.  "And what about you?  You act more like a
girl than I do!"
     "My dear brother, you have a lot to learn about the opposite
sex."
     "Hmph."

     "What!?"
     "I said--"
     "I heard what you said!  I'm just trying to let it sink in,"
Naka interrupted, barely aware of the rain beginning to fall outside.
     "Don't take that tone of voice with me, young man..."
     "Yeah, whatever.  So while we were all little you went ahead and
prearranged a marriage for one of us?"
     "Yes," Soun missed the distaste in his son's voice.  "To the
daughter of my old friend, Saotome Genma.  That way, one of you can
help carry on the Tendo and Saotome traditions here at the dojo."
     "Sounds awfully convenient if you ask me," Ayumi broke in.  "You
or this Saotome guy just arranged this so you can kick back and have
us take care of you, right?  How could you make a decision like this
for us?  Count me out!"
     His elder brothers seemed to ignore the outburst.  "Have you met
this girl, Father?"  Kasuga asked.
     "Not really.  She's been on the road with her father most of her
life."
     "Hmm..." A thoughtful look came over Kasuga's face.

     Elsewhere in Nerima, a strange scene was - to put it lightly -
taking place.  The rain was still in the process of picking up, not
yet enough to force those in the shopping district to close shop for
the day.  A great deal of people were still around to see what
happened next.
     A young man ran barefoot through the puddles taking shape in the
middle of the street.  That alone wouldn't have attracted much
attention for long if it weren't for the giant panda chasing him with
a vengeance.
     "I told you," the boy strained, tending toward the version of
Japanese usually used by girls, "to leave me alone, you big jerk!" 
He came to a halt long enough to swing a foot back around into the
panda's face - a roundhouse kick worthy of a seasoned street-fighter.
It sent the panda skidding back across the wet pavement.
     The boy snorted a laugh.  He apparently didn't care if the slide
scraped the fur from the panda's back.
     "Isn't that a panda?"  some of the bystanders were whispering
among themselves.  "What's a panda doing here, in the shopping
district?"
     Pulling itself to its feet, the panda took up a fighter's
stance.  Unfortunately, this happened to make the panda look rather
silly and most of the people gathered couldn't help but snicker.
     The panda ignored them all and concentrated instead on the boy.
     "C'mon, let's get this over with," the boy also readied himself.
"I've got other things to do."  He proceeded to deftly avoid a set of
panda swipes.
     "I already told you--" Dodge.  "--I'm not going through with
this!"  Dodge, dodge.  "If I'm going to marry anyone--" Dodge,
grab... "I'LL decide who I'll marry!  NOT YOU!!"  he yelled,
effortlessly flinging the panda over his shoulder.  It landed square
in the middle of a convenient traffic sign.
     "I'm going back to China."  He flipped his pigtail of black hair
over his shoulder so that it rested once more at his back.  "If you
wanna come, fine.  If not - I could care less."  He proceeded on his
way after stopping to pick up his backpack and shoes.  But before he
could get too far, the panda whirled about - holding the sign it had
landed on - and broadsided him with it.
     The boy slumped unconscious into the panda's waiting arms.  What
audacity!  the crowd was already whispering.  How could a panda DO
something so violent?  Pandas were supposed to be all cuddly and cute
and non-violent like all those cute little pandas they'd seen in
the zoos... and this one had beaned a kid over the head with a street
sign!  Granted, the boy sounded as though he needed a little
discipline, though not of this nature...
     As the panda passed with the boy draped over its right shoulder
it heard the whisperings start up behind it.  No, this wouldn't do at
all.  Too bad he couldn't talk.  Oh, well, a growl would have to do.
     Yes, that did the trick.  The crowd fell silent.  He could
continue on to his destination without any further hassles and a
panda smile.

     "Ranma has been on the road with her father, training to become
a martial artist in the Saotome class of martial arts.  As I
understand it, they are returning from a trip to China."
     That caught Naka's curiosity.  "Really?  China?"  He'd developed
an interest in China, enough to learn a little of the Mandarin
dialect.
     "She'd better be strong.  I don't pull my punches for no one." 
Ayumi turned away.
     "Is she cute?"  asked Naka.
     "I hope she's not older than me," Kasuga stated.
     Kasuga and Naka spoke in unison.  "What kind of girl is she,
anyway?"
     Soun's expression solidified.  "I really don't know."
     "What do you mean, you don't know?  You prearrange a marriage
for one of us with a girl you know nothing about!?"
     Fortunately for Soun, it was someone else's turn to interrupt. 
"Wouldja let me go, you IDIOT?"  an unrecognizable voice yelled. 
Sounds of a scuffle came from the direction of the front gate.
     Heads turned.  "Huh?"  Naka wondered who might be paying a visit
in the middle of a rainfall.
     "Someone's here?"  Kasuga stood - the unofficial greeter for the
Tendo family.
     "Oh, goody,"  Naka tried his best to sound indifferent, though
this time, Ayumi could see through the pretense.  "I'll bet it's
Ranma."
     Saotome-kun,  Soun's spirits lifted.  I wasn't expecting you
to arrive this soon.  Genma was never known for his punctuality,
either.  Soun followed Naka into the foyer...
     ...only to be turned back by an imposing wall of giant panda
carrying a struggling person draped over his shoulder.  First time
any of the Tendo family had ever heard of a panda making a house
call...
     "Hey!"  the panda's cargo growled.  "Some first impression YOU
make!  You're scarin' the you-know-what out of them!"
     The Tendo boys reflexively drew back.  "Umm... this wouldn't
happen to be your friend, would it, Father?"  Kasuga kept his eyes
fixed on the panda.
     Soun shook his head.
     Naka, too, was understandably upset.  "Don't you think it's a
little STRANGE to have a panda for a friend!?"  A wild animal... a
large one, too, which meant that Mr. Panda likely broke a lot of
property on his way in.  Just great; Naka dreaded having to divert
more funds to property repair.  Keeping Ayumi knee-deep in breakable
martial-artist equipment was costly enough.
     The panda set his 'passenger' down in front of Soun.  Awfully
tame for a giant wild panda, wasn't he?  thought Naka.
     Soun and the new kid stared nervously at each other for nearly
half a minute.  Finally, Soun gathered the nerve to make the first
move.  "You... who are you?"
     "Saotome Ranma," the kid answered.  "I'm reeealy sorry about all
this........."
     Soun's eyes widened.  "It's true!  You have finally come!"
     "Hey, Ayumi," Naka whispered.  "Doesn't she look a little...
strange to you?"
     "What d'you mean?"  Ayumi had to admit he hadn't truly been
paying attention.  Soun's embrace of Ranma obscured the kid from
Ayumi's view, anyway.  "You've finally come..."  the old man was
repeating, tears streaming like twin waterfalls from his eyes...
     Wait.  Something was wrong.
     It took a few seconds for the realization to fully settle into
Soun's mind.  He pushed Ranma away.  "Your chest..."
     Ranma blinked, eyes narrowing.  "What about it?"
     No one else said a word, until Naka dared to approach Ranma. 
"Just what I thought."  He jabbed a finger into Ranma's chest. 
"Don't you get it?  The build, the voice... this is a guy, NOT a
girl!"
     Ranma, eyes closed, said nothing.  Soun's mind figured it was
time for an unscheduled shut-down.

     Not too long after that, Soun awoke to find himself in an
impromptu bed on the floor where he'd fallen.  Kasuga, Ayumi and Naka
all knew the drill - had practiced it for weeks, in fact - to be
prepared for any fainting their father might do.
     Soun craned his head.  Kasuga was close to his forehead, in the
process of changing the damp washcloth there.  Ranma the boy sat at
Soun's side, flanked on all sides by Ayumi, Naka and the as-yet
unintroduced giant panda looming in the background.  They were
arguing... over Ranma, he guessed.  He so disliked joining
conversations in this manner.
     "Well, of COURSE I'm upset!"  Naka spat.  "Dad tries to get us
all excited over this prearranged marriage thing and then the girl
we're all supposed to meet turns out to be a guy!  So why aren't
you upset?"
     Kasuga shrugged.  "I think you're taking this too personally,
Naka."
     "Darn right I am!  I--"
     "Knock it off!"  the youngest Tendo boy cut Naka's raving short.
"Just because Dad didn't get all his facts straight, that's no
reason to take it out on him or Ranma!"
     Undaunted, Naka refused to let the issue drop.  "Ranma's at
least our age, right?  Dad's had all this time to get his facts
straight and I guess he didn't bother!"
     "Saotome told me he had a daughter!"  Soun insisted from the
floor.
     Naka poked Ranma's chest again.  "Tell me, does this look like
a girl to you?  He doesn't look like a girl to me!"
     "Please don't do that," Ranma said politely.  Ayumi watched with
surprise.  Ranma had gone on a - what, fourteen or fifteen year,
maybe sixteen?  - round trip to China and back just to get here, and
everyone welcomed him by screaming and poking him?  Some welcome. 
Ayumi felt sorry for the kid.
     "Leave him alone, Naka!  He's our guest!"
     That momentarily shook Naka.  "Eh?"
     Ayumi bent down to talk to the seated Ranma.  "C'mon.  We'd
better get out of here for a while.  Wanna go over to the dojo?"
     Ranma seemed reluctant.  "Well... I guess so."
     The two boys left the room in a hurry.
     "My name's Ayumi," Ayumi introduced himself.  "You're not a
girl, but that's okay.  Wanna be friends?"
     "Sure," agreed Ranma.  Was Ayumi disappointed that their guest
wasn't a girl?
     Ayumi slid open the doors to the dojo.  "Here we are.  What do
you think?"
     "It's beautiful."
     Ayumi laughed, screwing up his face.  "Beautiful?  You trying
to talk like a girl or something?"
     "......No."
     "Okay."  The Tendo boy walked toward the far end of the dojo. 
"Dad said you've been training to be a martial artist.  How good are
you?"
     "...So-so," Ranma replied in a modest voice.
     "Are you trying to fool me?  You've been out with your dad
training for an awful long time, or so our Dad says.  You've gotta
have some experience!  Don't worry, we'll start out slow anyway and
go from there."
     "Uh... okay."
     Ayumi took his stance.  Ranma didn't take his, which Ayumi saw
as a lapse in training.  Either that, or Ranma's father - wherever he
was - hadn't trained Ranma in the accustomed way.  Charging, Ayumi
threw a weak punch and a kick.  Both of which Ranma loosely dodged in
succession, then two more after that.
     "Don't just evade!  Fight back!"  Ayumi grit his teeth.  Ranma's
style may have been sloppy, but it was enough to avoid all of Ayumi's
strikes.  He tried a few more times with the same results.  He's
better than I thought!  I'm gonna have to try harder.
     "Okay!  Let's go!"
     Clenching his fists, Ayumi closed the gap between them,
intending to throw a punch straight at Ranma's midsection.
     His fist found the dojo wall instead.  Ranma leapt up and over
him, gently landing toe-first on the wood floor behind Ayumi.  He
waited patiently for Ayumi to pull his hand out of the wall, then
began laughing.
     Ayumi uneasily shared the laugh.  "You're better than you think.
I'm glad you're not a girl after all."
     "Why?"
     "Well, I wouldn't feel right fighting you if you were a girl."
     Ranma wasn't sure how to respond.

     By the time the sun descended into the distant scenery the rain
had moved on, leaving behind a measure of humidity.  Kasuga had
brought two electric fans into the family room for the comfort of
Soun and his mysterious new guest.  Naka couldn't recognize the man
dressed in the white gi and headcloth from where he stood at the
door, but he could see that they were both crying.
     Maybe Kasuga knew who this guy was.  Yes... better to try
getting information the indirect way before the direct way.  Naka
meandered over to the kitchen where Kasuga had busied himself
preparing some food and drink for the two men.  Kasuga, the true head
of the household, Naka smiled.  "Hey... who's that guy with Dad?"
     Kasuga kept his eyes on his work.  "Well..."

     "Ranma..."
     "Ranma?"
     "There you are."  Kasuga offered a towel to Ranma.  "I thought
maybe you'd want to take a bath.  You can use the bathroom if you
want.  Nobody's in there right now."
     "Er... maybe later."
     "I insist!  It's best to get it out of the way.  Besides, you've
been on a long trip and gone through a workout in the dojo.  Surely
you'd want to clean up after all that."
     Ranma gave in.  "Okay..."  As Kasuga had said, better to get it
out of the way...
     In the bathroom, Ranma prepared for the bath.  He turned on the
tap.  Cold water.  No, that was only delaying the inevitable.  
     Soon, the bath was filled with hot water.  Ranma drew his breath
and stepped in.

     Naka opened the door to Ayumi's room.  "Ayumi?  Isn't it time
for your turn in the bathroom?"
     "Oh, yeah.  Thanks.  I almost forgot."
     Meanwhile, a girl's voice echoed off the bathroom walls.  She
sighed.  "What now?"
     Ayumi whistled, going through his regular procedure for a bath -
ultimately changing from the gi he'd worn all afternoon to nothing
but a towel wrapped around his waist.  As he raised a hand to the
bathroom's doorknob he heard splashing come from inside the bath. 
Odd - but everyone else in the family had already taken their turns
in the bath.  That meant only Ranma or the panda were in there.
     The noises he heard weren't the splashings of a giant panda, so
he assumed it must be Ranma.  Well, Ranma wouldn't mind if he at
least came into the room to wait his turn.  In Japan, it was a custom
for groups of people from the same gender to share a private or
public bath.  True, Ranma did seem overly modest, but he probably
wouldn't mind.
     He opened the door.
     The girl sighed one more time for good measure.  Guess I can't
put this off any longer.
     Ayumi reached for the door to the main bath.
     Time to get out.
     The girl stood, as Ayumi opened the door wide.
     They froze.
     Ayumi's nose started to bleed.
     That was when the girl remembered exactly who she was and
where... and that there was a boy staring at her......
     "KYAAAAAA---------!!!"
     Ayumi suddenly recalled his better judgment.  Good thing, too,
because the girl was looking around for an uncomfortably large
object to flatten him with.  "You PERVERT!"  she screamed, venom
apparent.
     Time to leave.

     "Aaaaaaaaahhh!!"
     Ayumi ran through the halls.  "She's crazy!"  He scrambled into
the family room.  "Don't let her kill me!"
     Soun turned away from his guest's eyes to look at his youngest
son.  Naka and Kasuga were bringing in the food and drinks.  There
wasn't much furniture in the family room... meaning that if Ayumi
wanted to hide, he'd have to do it behind a living person.
     The girl in question burst into the room, fully clothed and
wielding a huge mallet she'd somehow found somewhere between the bath
and here.  "WHERE IS HE!?  I'M GONNA POUND THE LITTLE PERVERT...!"
     Fortunately for Ayumi, Kasuga intervened.  "Please calm down,
miss.  Why are you so mad at Ayumi?"
     The girl kept a tight grip on her mallet.  "He walked in on me
while I was taking a bath!  Without any clothes on!  And he just
stood there, leering at me!"  She glared daggers of tempered steel
at Ayumi, who was hiding behind his father.
     "Are you one of our neighbors?"  asked Kasuga.  "Because if
Ayumi has bothered you in your bathroom as you say, then he shall be
dealt with."
     "She was in OUR bathroom, Kasuga!"
     The girl's eyes went wide.  Kasuga turned to her.  "Is this
true?  There was only supposed to be one person in our bathroom at
the moment... Ranma.  But he is a boy.  So who are you?"
     Soun stood.  "I think a reintroduction is in order."  He strode
over to stand before the girl.
     "I'm Saotome Ranma," the girl near-mumbled.  "Gomen..."
     "YOU'RE Ranma?"  Naka folded his arms.  He thought better of
poking a finger into Ranma's chest this time.  Ranma did happen to
look like a girl here - assuming this was the real Ranma - and if he
tried a poke and she was real, she'd cream him.  Then again, she
looked like she still wanted to kill Ayumi... "Nice trick, but I'm
not buying it.  What'd you do with the guy that was here earlier?"
     "Yes.  I'd also like to know," Kasuga added.
     "Well, I don't!"  declared Ayumi.  No one paid any attention to
him, which was just as well since he knew he was lying.  Was there
more than one Ranma running around here?  First Ranma's supposed to
be a girl, then a guy, then a girl.  Someone really needed to make up
his or her mind here... Maybe that panda had something to do with it,
wherever it had gone.  How could a giant panda disappear into thin
air?
     Or maybe both Ranmas were related somehow.  Brother, sister,
cousin...
     Genma took a deep breath.  "I can see this will be hard to
explain.  So why don't I just show you?"  So saying, he
unceremoniously tossed Ranma into the pond directly behind them.
     She went under.  The water rippled for a few seconds, then a
familiar face burst out of the pond... the male Ranma.  "What'd you
do THAT for?"  he coughed.
     "Huh?"  From Naka and Kasuga.  "She... turned into a guy...?"
     Genma sighed.  "If only you were a man full-time, Ranma.  Then I
could be proud of you - a son, to carry on the tradition and honor of
our family..."
     Unfortunately for him, Genma was far too sidetracked by his
dreams to notice Ranma drop-kicking him into the pond.  A large
splash, and the panda surfaced, almost causing the water to spill
over the sides of the pond.
     "If only you were a panda full-time," Ranma sneered.  "Then I
could sell you off to a zoo or something!!"
     Even Kasuga had trouble keeping his composure.  "You sure have
strange friends, Father."
     "They weren't always like this," admitted Soun.  "There is a
reason for their condition.  I don't know the full story yet, but it
has something to do with what happened while they were in China!"

     One hot bath and return transformation later...
     "Where was I?  Oh, yes.  It all started two weeks ago, hidden
deep within the mountains of China..."

     They stood just outside a vaguely mist-filled expense of land
pock-marked with many small lakes, each with at least two or more
bamboo poles jutting out of them toward the sky.  Their guide - a
local man, whose name they had already forgotten and had since taken
to simply calling him 'Guide' - gestured to the scene before them
with a grand sweep of his arm.
     "We are here," he said, "legendary training ground Jhusenkyou."
     "Well, Ranma?"
     Ranma tugged impatiently at the straps of her backpack; she knew
all too well what was coming next.  "Nothing special about it.  Like
all of the other places you've dragged me to."
     "Are you saying you're getting tired of fighting me?  You can
always forfeit--"
     "Not on your life!  I'll take you on anywhere!"
     The Guide sighed.  He had hoped his two charges would reconsider
their decision to use the training grounds by the time they arrived. 
"Please sir!  I beg you reconsider!  Not very good idea to train here
any more.  Is cursed."
     Only Ranma showed concern.  "Cursed?"
     "Yes, sir.  Each pool you see here site of great tragedy!"
     "Which only means that this site will be a proper test of our
courage.  It isn't our fault if those who came here before us didn't
know how to use these grounds properly."  Genma shed his backpack and
set it aside.  "Come, Ranma.  It is time for our training to begin."
     He sprang to the top of a nearby pole.
     "No!  You not understand danger!"
     Ranma followed her father.  "Are you up to this challenge,
Ranma?"
     Her lips formed a tight smile.  "Bring it on."
     "You must not fall in water!  Very dangerous!"  But no matter
how much the Guide tried to warn them it was of no use.  All these
two cared about was their fighting.  There was no arguing with them.
     On second thought, arguing was easy... they just wouldn't
listen to him.
     They leapt away from their perches and fought each other in
midair for the upper hand.  Finally, after a round of inertia-defying
attacks and counterattacks, Ranma forced her father down with a kick
to the back of his head.  He landed with a pitiful splash in the pool
directly under them...
     Ranma landed on the nearest pole.  "All right!"
     The water died down.  Should it be doing that?  "Dad?"  she
yelled.  "C'mon, don't tell me you're calling it quits now..."
     That was when the giant panda decided to spring out of the water
at her.  "What the--?"
     "That is Shon-Mao-Nii-Chuan!"  the Guide told her, holding up a
sign in Kanji.  "Two thousand years ago a panda drown there.  Now
anyone who enter pool, cursed to become panda!"
     The panda attacked Ranma.  "W-w-wait a minute!"  she tried to
divide her attention between her panda opponent and the Guide.  "Why
didn't you warn us about this earlier--"
     The Guide's shoulders slumped.  Hadn't he tried?
     Ranma never had a chance to complete her question, for the panda
backhanded her into a different pool.
     The Guide screamed.  "You fall in Nan-nii-chuan!"  In his panic,
he neglected to remember that the girl couldn't properly hear him
while underwater.  "Young man tragically drown in there one thousand
seven hundred years ago, as legend say.  Now anyone who enter
pool......"
     Ranma surfaced.  Wait... cursed pools.  Whoever hits that water
becomes... becomes... I'm in the water!!  She slowly turned her
eyes down at herself, afraid of what she might see.
     She was now a he.  A Human male.  A gender change?  A gender
change!?  The curse... being an animal she could handle.  But a Human
male?  She was a girl!  She didn't know anything about being a guy!
     "......cursed to become young man!  See, you turn into young
man!"

     "Jhusenkyou."  Soun uttered the word with a measure of reverence
and fear.  "Saotome-kun and I never really believed those stories,
but now..."
     Ranma was simmering.  "Stories?"  She grabbed her father by
the collar.  "You mean you KNEW about the danger of that place and
you TOOK ME THERE ANYWAY?"
     Her father flung her into the pond once more.  "It was for your
own good, Ranma!  You have to be more of a man!"
     "I'm a GIRL, you moron!"  Ranma yelled, hitting him face-first
with a bucket of cold water.  That out of the way, they resumed
swiping at each other.
     Kasuga assumed it was up to him to stop the fight - Soun was off
to one side again, crying about how tragic this entire turn of events
was.  That was the easy way out of dealing with it.  "Please, stop
fighting!"  He caught hold of the panda's left arm.  "Why do you
treat your own daughter like this, Mr. Saotome?"
     "Is this some new kind of martial-arts training I haven't heard
about?"  Naka agreed.
     "Didn't you know what kind of danger you were putting your
lives in?"
     A brightly-colored pamphlet fell out of the panda's gi.  Naka
snapped it up.  "'The Ancient Training Grounds of China,' table of
contents..."
     "Looks like a map and a guide written in Chinese to me," Naka
said.
     "Mr. Saotome..." Kasuga suddenly understood.  "Do you know how
to read Chinese?"  The embarrassed grin on the panda's face told him
that he'd guessed correctly.
     Soun had taken the opportunity to grab a kettle of hot water and
proceeded to pour it over Genma.  "As the stories go, hot water
reverses the transformation."
     "Don't you think that the water's a little too hot,
Tendo-kun?"  Genma rasped.
     "As for Ranma," Soun proceeded, "she returns to being a girl
when splashed with hot water!"
     Ranma turned to one side to avoid the water.  "What're you
trying to do, boil me?"
     "Not to worry, Ranma.  This curse is nothing to worry about,"
Soun offered, resting a hand on his shoulder after patting his back.
     "It isn't?"  Ranma narrowed his eyes.  This guy was an even
lousier liar than Dad...
     "Not at all.  My sons - eldest, Kasuga, age nineteen; middle son
Naka, age seventeen, and my youngest son at age sixteen, Ayumi."  All
three blinked at Ranma.  "One will be your iinazuke, so take your
pick."
     Kasuga stepped behind Ayumi.  "I think Ayumi would be the best
choice."
     "What?"  spluttered Ayumi.
     "They're a perfect match!"  Naka agreed.
     "Him?"  Ranma made a face.  "That pervert?  You've gotta be
kidding!"
     "Who're you calling a pervert, you weirdo?  At least I don't
change sex!"
     "You had fun staring at me without my clothes on, didn't you!?"
     "You were supposed to be a guy!"
     "Oh, so that's supposed to make it better?  Face it, you're a
pervert!"
     Soun and Genma laughed.  "See?  They're already getting along so
well!"
     "Oh, no you don't!"  yelled Ranma.  "You're not doing it to me
this time!"  He headed for the door.  "Later."
     Ayumi wasn't quite finished.  "Hey, where do you think you're
going?"
     "Yes," Genma seconded.  "Explain yourself."
     "I'm heading back to China!  This curse started there, and I'm
gonna reverse it there!  I don't have the time to play your little
marriage games."
     Ayumi frowned.  Well, if she was leaving, he might as well get
in one or two last shots... "You make a pretty pathetic boy, you know
that?  You look like a weakling... I've certainly got much more
muscle than you!" 
     He made the fatal mistake of turning his back on Ranma... a
dangerous mistake indeed, as it gave Ranma enough time to bring the
family room table crashing down upon his head.  Then Ranma turned his
back, and Genma clobbered him with the table as well.

     Much later...
     Ranma came to.  There was a cold compress covering the bump on
the back of his head, though it did little to take away the pain. 
"Owwww..."
     "Oh, you're awake."
     He tried to sit up.  Hmm... still a guy.  They must not have
wanted to chance changing her back while she was out of it.
     "How do you feel?"  Kasuga asked him.
     "Fine, for someone with a bump the size of a basketball on her -
ah, his - head."  Ranma blushed.  "Sorry.  I'm still getting used
to this curse.  What happened?  No - don't tell me.  Dad did this,
right?"
     Kasuga nodded.  "I'd like you to reconsider your opinion of
Ayumi.  He's a good kid, just a little macho and proud."
     "You've gotta be kidding, big brother," Naka whispered to Kasuga.

     Back in the bathroom once again, Ranma sat in the tub.  After
the night's events all she wanted to do was change back to herself and
relax.  No better way to do that than a hot bath...  That jerk!  He
didn't want to lose an argument, so...
     'I've certainly got much more muscle than you!'
     How dare he...

     Ayumi walked down the stairs to the bathroom.  All this nonsense
about Ranma had kept him from taking his bath.  He'd gone and asked
Ranma if he wanted to be friends...
     'My name's Ayumi.  You're not a girl, but that's okay.  Wanna
be friends?'
     'Sure.'
     What is she, some kind of tomboy?  Still... she was kind of
cute, when she wasn't trying to kill him.  And braiding her hair up
in a pigtail like that made her look even younger...
     He wrapped a new towel around his waist and headed for the door.
     Someone opened it for him.
     Ranma, not having expected anyone to interrupt her in the
bathroom, hadn't completely covered herself up.
     Ayumi stared and could feel his nose beginning to bleed.  "Uh...
um... I didn't..."
     "I KNEW IT!!!"
     It was the slap heard throughout the entire district.

     Genma was thoroughly enjoying his first cup of hot tea in a few
weeks.  "He's strong, spirited and handsome.  A good iinazuke,
wouldn't you say?"
     Ranma snorted.  "The guy's a pervert!"
     A few feet away, Ayumi was still recovering from Ranma's slap,
seated at the family room table and trying hard not to listen.  "D'ya
think it would've been any better if you were both guys at the time?"
Naka put the question to him.
     "I don't wanna talk about that tomboy!"  A warning bell in the
back of his mind told him that maybe, just maybe, he shouldn't have
said that aloud, not with Ranma in hearing range.
     He slowly turned around.  Yes, that little comment had set Ranma
aflame with anger.  Uh-oh...
     "WHO'S A TOMBOY!?"
     "You are!"  he retreated, not wanting to lose the argument now.
     Naka managed to catch Ranma before she caught Ayumi.  "Better
run, Ayumi!  I can't hold her back forever!"
     Ayumi almost made it to the door before Naka let Ranma go.

                             (...end...)

                               CREDITS:
Written by: Mike Koos
Pre-readers: Artemis & Luna, Richard Beaubien, Robert Geiger, Tom
             Williams, David Wills

With apologies to Rumiko Takahashi.

Mike 'Makoto Kino' Koos: 

WWW: http://www.fanfic.net/~makoto/