Subject: TWTA Preludes [Beta]
From: Kevin Eav
Date: 2/27/1996, 2:49 AM
To: Fanfic ML

I would really appreciate some C+C on this one, so I can edit it and then 
get to the rest of the story :)
			-------------------------------
			 Ranma 1/2:The Way Things Are
			-------------------------------

 			      a Fan-Fiction by

	               	           Kevin Eav

		               edited by : RPM

			based on: The More Things Change 
			              and
		            The Pursuit of Happiness

			 inspired by: Rumiko Takahashi

			     characters owned by: 
			       Rumiko Takahashi

			  with the exception of those
			        owned by: RPM

			     ------------------
			      Act I : Preludes
			     ------------------

     [Somewhere in China, 3 weeks ago]

     Deep in the mountains of Japan, a young man was running.  He wasn't
running for the joy of running, nor for the exercise.

     He was running because he feared for his life.

     The young man didn't know *why* he was scared, just that he was, and
that there were people out there chasing him, trying to kill him.  People
that wouldn't hesitate to clear out an entire town to get to him.

     The young man ran until his endurance was depleted, then he sank to 
the ground and began to do what he always did when he was resting.  He 
tried to remember what he was running from, and why, and who he was.

     The young man had a few problems.  First on the list was that he 
didn't know his own name, admittedly a problem when you need to seek 
help, and the first thing people ask is "what's your name?"  Not only 
that, but he didn't know anything about himself.  His memories are like a 
huge blank slate; the only thing he can remember is running.   As far as 
he knows, he's been running for his whole life, though his dreams are 
filled, sometimes, with images of a life wholly different from his, 
images of happy times, of training in martial arts with two 
kindly-looking men he believed to be his father and (possibly) 
grandfather, of watching them fight for the glory of combat, of testing 
their skill versus anothers.  But the dreams always slipped away, leaving 
him with nothing but cold, hard fear and the overwhelming need to flee.  
He sighed, hearing the now-familiar sounds of pursuit.  Time to run 
again.  He sighed again. <Maybe I'll be able to find help in Japan, like 
that old ghoul said.>  <Wait a minute, I don't know my own name, much 
less where Japan is!  Oh well....the ghoul said to go east, so I'll go 
east...I sure hope that she's not one of them...  Nah, she couldn't be, 
she was wonderfully helpful after that one girl attacked me...dunno what 
happened then, but after that, she was real helpful, pointing out the 
way to Japan.  She said that she had family there that could 
help...lessee, name of are...Cologne ....weird name, just like all of 
them.  Who'd name people after hygiene products and such?  Oh well, at 
least I got that girl to stop following me and calling me airen, 
whatever that means.>

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

     [Morning at the Tendo Dojo]

     Ranma stretched. <Wow, that felt good.>  He sniffed the air, catching
the aroma of miso soup and rice.  <MMmmm....breakfast time, better get down
there before the food's all gone.>  He got up, going by the room he used to
share with his dad before his mother had come by, and sighed.  <Those two
make so much noise...I'll have to ask Nabiki about soundproofing my room.>
He arrived at the table, greeting everyone with a hearty "Ohayo!", and 
giving Akane a quick hug.  Now, normally, everyone would have face-faulted
and expected a earth-to-LEO express, but as Ranma and Akane had admitted
their love for each other sometime ago, it didn't even draw a blink.
Ranma was happy.  <Yep, life is good.> He grabbed his food and began to
inhale it in the usual manner.  Again, normally this would draw a comment 
about eating like a pig from Akane, but Normality[1] had adjusted her to 
this fact of life, and she just took it in stride.  "So, Ranma, whatcha 
got planned today?"  

     "C'mon, Akane, you know I *never* plan ahead!" Ranma replied 
matter-of-factly.  "But I did want to visit Ukyo and Ryoga, see what 
they're up to.  Maybe we could all go on a picnic or something."

     "Hmm, sounds good, Ranma...what say we go about 11:00?" Akane said.

     "Ok."  Ranma sighed, since he _knew_ what was coming next, and 
though he never passed up the chance to work on his martial arts, he 
wasn't feeling particularly alert yet, and he knew that'd be a problem.

     "So, Ranma, ready to get your butt whipped?" Akane challenged him, 
as had become common, since Genma never seemed to have the energy to get 
up and train with Ranma ever since Nodoka had come by the Dojo.  Ranma 
sighed.

     "Yeah, whatever, Akane, you know I could beat you any day of the week."
Ranma said, then got up and followed Akane to the dojo. <I have to admit, 
though, she's been getting one hell of a lot better in the past few 
months.>  They took their usual stances, and Akane began the attack, 
snapping off a roundhouse kick and a jab at Ranma's head, both of which 
were dodged.  Akane followed up with a low sweep, knocking Ranma to his butt.
"Ite..." Ranma flipped up and to his feet, then launched his own series 
of attacks, catching Akane twice in the stomach and once in the shoulder 
with a couple of snap kicks and a left hook.  Akane grunted, and attacked 
again.  This time, she was quicker than Ranma expected, and he was 
slower, owing to the fact that he still hadn't quite fully awakened, and 
she caught him unawares with an uppercut that knocked him silly for a bit.
"Oh! Ranma...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit that hard."  Akane was so 
wrapped up in apologizing, she almost missed the fact that Ranma was 
launching his own attacks, upping the speed, and hitting her several 
times, albeit at about a tenth of his full strength.  She winced, but 
managed to recover and countered a few of the attacks, catching Ranma 
with a kidney punch.  Ranma was about to be beaten, though, and quickly 
swept Akane and then followed up as if to give the finishing blow, and 
stopped, just jabbing her lightly.  As Ranma caught his breath, he looked 
at her curiously. "Hey Akane, I want to try something else today." 

     "Ummm...ok, Ranma, whatever you say...what did you have in mind?"  
Akane was tending to her bruises as she normally did after such a match.

     "Akane, you're a very good martial artist.  But I think you've 
reached your limits as a fighter, and to be honest, you're still not as good
as Ukyo or Shampoo, especially when they have the advantage of weapons and
ranged attacks. *WHAM* "ITE!!!" Akane whipped her mallet to the ready 
position, and yelled "So you don't think I'm very good, do you?" 
     "(ite..)  That's not what I meant!  Akane, do you know _why_ you 
couldn't defeat Ukyo or Shampoo unless you really had to?"
     "What do you mean?" asked an Akane whose anger was rapidly deflating 
(whoosh) in the face of Ranma's new-found rationality.
     "It's simple.   Ukyo, Shampoo, Kodachi--they're all better than you 
are, but _not_ skill-wise.  They have better control of their ki, and 
that's one of the most important fighting tools anyone can have."
     "Akane, I think we need to start developing your control of ki, and 
see what happens...."  Ranma considered her for a moment.  "Maybe 
you could even develop a ki-attack, to keep you in the same league 
as the others.  Hmm....no chance of your learning the Shishi Houkoudan, I 
don't think.  The Mouko Takabisha is possible, you're certainly 
confident enough---but...I think you and I should develop 
you a unique attack.  A surprise, for the next person to come around and 
try and take you away, or use you as bait."

     "Ok, Ranma....so, where do we start?"

     Ranma grabbed the back of his head apologetically. "Anoo...well... 
let's see....hmm...ok.  We'll have to start by having you find the point 
where your ki is in balance."

     "Find the...point where my ki is in balance?  How? Why?" Akane was 
puzzled.

     "Just sit down, and start breathing deep.  Yeah, that's it.  Ok...now...
search for your inner reserve of energy.  You know, the one that you use to
make yourself super-strong when you smash me.  As for the why...well, in 
order for you to control your ki, you have to know when it's in balance 
and when it's not, otherwise you can't manipulate it properly.  When I 
use my Mouko Takabisha, for example, I take the ki that's based on 
confidence, concentrate it at my balance-point, and then 'push' it 
outwards.  It sounds simple, but it's hard to do.  I can do it so easily 
only because I've had lots of practice."

     Akane sat, and breathed deeply, mentally searching for the point at 
which her ki was in "balance."  <Ranma said that I would know it...he 
said it would feel like a well of power....strength, he said. I...OH!  
Damn....lost it.>  She came out of her trance-like state and said "Wow.  
So _that's_ what it feels like."
     Ranma nodded.  "Yup, that's it.  You'll get it...it takes time."[2]

     Their training continued for a while, with some progress, then they 
bathed (separately, you hentais :) and headed off for Ucchan's.

[1] Normality--as explained in The More Things Change--was in the 
business of getting things adjusted.  When Ranma and Akane decided to 
officialize the engagement they unknowningly destroyed some of the blocks 
keeping Normality from doing it's job; thus, Normality was able to nudge 
Akane into accepting Ranma's eating habits, and into accepting his 
gimme-a-break-i'm-trying-to-learn attempts at romance and affection.
[2] Some of you may be thinking, rightfully so, that Ranma seems a bit, 
well, too rational and calm.  There's a reason for this.  First of all, 
he's _really_ trying not to provoke Akane.  Second of all, he's starting 
to experience the joys of teaching, and that's helping to cancel out his 
quick temper.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     [Ucchan's, about 10:45 am]
     
     Ryoga was, for once, (although frequencies were starting to go up,) 
actually quite happy.  The business was good, but not stifling, the 
weather was nice, and he hadn't gotten lost in the last five minutes.  
Delivering his orders, he started back to the counter to collect the 
next okonomiyakis to deliver.  He had a beatific grin on his face when 
he approached Ukyo at the griddle.  "'k, Ukyo, ready for the next orders."

     "Wow, what's got you so happy?"  Oblivious to Ryoga's blushing, as 
he stared at her with that idiotically happy grin on his face,she 
continued with "'k, here's the next three orders.  You're doin' real 
good, Ryoga...haven't gotten lost in the last seven minutes!"

     Ryoga glowed with pride at her statement as he got the orders. 
"Thanks, Ukyo!"  

     Ukyo looked up for a sec, immediately shading her eyes as Ryoga 
glowed like a halogen lightbulb that'd been struck by Kuno's lightning.
"Hey Ryoga, I'm glad you're happy, but...uh...tone it down, just a bit, 
don't want to blind the customers, now do we?" she whispered, inwardly 
*very* happy that he was glowing with happiness and not depression as he 
was prone to just a few months ago.

     "Oh, sure, no problem, Uk-chan," as he brought his glow down to 
penlight power.  He wandered off to find the tables, not noticing Ukyo's 
sudden start to his use of Uk-chan, or the ruined okonomiyaki that her 
jolt had sent to the ceiling.

     Ukyo, for one, was *extremely* glad to see Ranma and Akane walk 
through the door at this point, as it saved her from having to think 
about her and Ryoga's situation.  "Hey, Akane, Ranma, take a seat, I'll 
be by in a sec," she and Ryoga said, in stereo, as they had taken to 
doing whenever the two came by to visit.

     Akane and Ranma took their "reserved" table that Ukyo and Ryoga left 
for them (which wasn't really reserved, not unless you counted the sign 
that said "For Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo" hanging above it, and the 
glares a new customer got every time he tried to sit there when the place 
was full.) and waited patiently for the crowd to die off.  Die off they 
did, and pretty soon the place was empty, and Ryoga and Ukyo sat across 
from the (somewhat) happy pair.  
    
     "So....what'd you guys come by here for?" said Ukyo.

     "Well, here's the deal....we thought it'd be nice to have a picnic, 
take a day with our friends....you know...and I promise I won't cook 
anything." said Akane, noticing that Ranma made absolutely no comment 
about the last part of her sentence, due mainly to the fact that he was 
really trying hard to be better, especially in public, and also he felt 
that Ukyo and Ryoga wouldn't take to kindly to Akane and him ripping apart
the restaurant.

     Ryoga spoke up for both of them.  "Sure, sounds good....what say you 
go and get ready and we come by about 3:00 pm?" 

     Ukyo stared at him.  "Hey, what about the restaurant?"

     Ryoga stared back.  "We can afford a day off, can't we?  C'mon, 
we've been working for 3 weeks straight, and I know I'd like to take a 
break for the day."

     Ukyo gave in. "Oh, ok, we'll be by about 3:00.  Hey, would you two 
mind if we brought Mousse along?  He's feeling kinda depressed."

     Ranma nodded.  "Yeah, this'll be just the thing to cheer him 
up--we'll grab everyone else (minus the Kuno clan, of course.)"

     Ryoga smiled.  This would be just the thing to lighten everyone up. 
"Great, we'll see ya then," he said aloud to the couple.

     Ranma and Akane quickly said their goodbyes and left to tell 
everyone else.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     [11:30 am, Tendo Dojo]

     After arriving back home, Ranma and Akane decided to call around to 
let people know about the picnic.

     *RING* "Hello?"
    
     "Hey, Gosunkugi, we're having a picnic today at 3:00.  You 'n Manami 
are invited."

     "Ok....we'll be there, I'm sure."

     "Alright.  We're meeting here at 3:00.  See ya then." *CLICK*
   
     *RING*

     "Hey Akari!  I was just calling to let you know that we're planning 
a picnic at 3:00 here.  Well, not here, but we're all meeting here. 
*murmur*  Yeah.  Ok.  Umm...you might not want to bring Ryo, or it could 
get ugly.  Yeah, I know.  Ok.  See ya then."

     etc.etc.etc....eventually, the whole cast gets invited.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     [2:30 pm, Maison Ikkoku, room 3]

     Kyoko was bored.  There wasn't much to expound on.  She was bored.  
Kyoko had just returned to musing about her current state of lethargy 
when Ryoko walked in.  "Hey, Kyoko, whatcha doin'?"

     Kyoko sighed.  "I'm counting the holes in the ceiling, what else?"  
She suddenly got a bright idea, and bounced up happily, saying "Hey 
oneechan, wanna go to the park or something?  We could go get Megane and 
take a little walk, you know!"  

     Ryoko smiled.  "I've got an even better idea.  The poker group 
invited us on a picnic--feel like goin'?"

     "AWESOME!!!! Let's go!"  Kyoko brightened considerably.

     Ryoko nodded and said "Ok, let's go collect Megane and get going.  
We have to be there by three.  Oh, and let's not alert our neighbors.  
The manager and that Godai fellow ain't bad, but the rest of them...."  
Ryoko let her voice trail of as she thought about having Yotsuya, Mrs. 
Ichinose, and Akemi at the picnic.  <No. It'd be _way_ too embarrasing.>

     They gathered their stuff and proceeded to King's place, then to the 
Dojo.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     [3 pm, one week ago, the Nekohanten]

     Cologne looked up as Shampoo entered the ramen shop.  "Hello, 
great-grandmother! Shampoo back from deliveries."  Shampoo looked 
curiously at the letter which Cologne had been reading.  "What that, 
great-grandmother?" 

     Cologne smiled.  "It's a letter from your great-great-aunt Perfume.  
Apparently, they had a young man come through the village since we left, 
and he's defeated Hairspray.  Shampoo hissed.  She had a running grudge 
against Hairspray, against whom she suffered her only defeat.  Of course, 
it was when they were 5, but that didn't matter to Shampoo.  Cologne 
continued with "She also writes that he's on the run from a 
group of assassins that wish to kill or capture him.  She has sent him in 
our direction, hoping that we can help.  Since he is now part of the 
tribe, we are required to help, even if we were exiled, since were are 
still part of the tribe."

     Shampoo nodded.  "What this boy's name, Great-grandmother?"

     Cologne frowned.  "That I do not know.  But Perfume has described 
him as about 5' 9", well-built, with violet eyes.  He's wearing a brown 
shirt, and blue trousers, and looks continually lost and frightened.  
Here in Nerima, not many answer to that description.  We will find him, 
no doubt."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     [2:50, outside the Nekohanten]

     Cologne looked around one last time, making sure that she hadn't 
forgotten anything for the picnic.  "Everybody ready?"  <Hmm...let's 
see.  Staff, passion spice, sleep spice, cold water for Mousse, yep, got 
everything.>  The three former Joketsuzoku amazons met up and started off 
for the Tendo Dojo.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     [3 pm, outside the Nekohanten]
     
     The young man looked up.  <Finally.  At last I've made it to Japan.  
Now, to find this Cologne person.>  He walked up to the nearest person 
and said "Which way to Nerima?" after consulting the instructions written 
down for him by the old ghoul. After a week of walking, he'd made it.  The 
only problem was that he didn't know his way around Nerima, which 
would've been a big problem just a few minutes ago.  Now, however, it 
didn't really seem to matter.  Not much of the extraneous stuff does, 
when you're running for your life.  Oh, he was running before, but now, 
he was _running_.  The goons had caught up with him, and currently six 
of them were chasing him down the street.  He looked up from his 
dead-heat run to see six more pop out in front of him, smirking as they 
brought their weapons to ready position.  He sighed.  <This is just not 
my lifetime.>  He looked around, assessing the battlefield, such as it 
was, and had the time to notice the sign reading "Nekohanten" and think 
<Hey! I've found the place! Too bad they caught up with me now, 
though...> before all hell broke loose.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------


 Soun:"When he's a boy, she just wants him.  When he's a woman, she wants 
       him dead."
Ranma:"...salad sandwich, and soup bread.  Wait. Soup bread doesn't exist."  
Akane:"Pile up enough dust and you've got a mountain, right?"
"KEEP YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF SHAMPOO!!! *SLAM*" -Mousse, in full kick-ass mode
"Only the supremely wise and the ignorant do not alter." -Confucius
email at:geist@holly.colostate.edu -- Ishido on IRC at #ranma!