The Eternally Lost Lurker posted a couple of 'starter' fics (I.E.- fics he
started but wasn't ever going to finish) and I picked up one of them.  Here
is chapter 1.  I've already written to Chapter 6 (and I've almost finished
Chapter 7 as well).  I will release Chapter 2 in one week, or by the time I
finish Chapter 8 (whichever comes first).  Chapters 2 & 3 are really rough,
so I ask that you be prepared to give me a lot of C&C for those, when they
come up, but since then things have been going... smoothly.  If you want
other stories of mine, my web page is listed at the bottom, and if you
don't have web access you can e-mail me.  Please send c&c, MSTs, or even
flames (provided you prove to me that you read it) on this story.  I'm
probably forgetting to say one or two things here, but I suspect most of
them are covered in the authors notes below.

Ranma 1/2:  The Return of the Sisters
by David A. Tatum and The Eternally Lost Lurker

Disclaimer:  Ranma 1/2 obviously does not belong to me, but I do ask its
creator, Rumiko Takahashi, and anyone else who owns the copyright on it,
that they not sue me for what I feel is simple tribute to the fabulous
world they have created. If you do decide to sue me, realize I'm a third
year college student who is a journalism major and a creative writing
minor- so I'm a broke kid with no real prospects for employment.... 

Author's Notes:  A while back, The Eternally Lost Lurker sent a couple of
his discontinued stories to the FFML looking for someone to pick them up. 
Well, I picked this one up, and ran with it.  I decided to keep what he
wrote word for word, and write around it.  I wasn't planning to put my
trademark character, Desaix, into this fic- I figured I wouldn't have a
spot for him.  Then I came up with one, and so I guess I need to warn you
that this is NOT in either the continuum of 'The Big Guy,' which is a
collection of prequels written or currently being written that are linked
with a much larger fanfic which is about a third of the way through (60+
pages currently).  This is ALSO not in the continuum of my just completed
'The Second Charlotte Cup,' which ALSO uses my trademark character Desaix. 
Sorry if this causes any confusion...  Oh, and if you AREN'T a Ranma\Akane
matchup fan, then I suggest you not read my major works (and I'm going to
consider this one of them, I suppose).  If possible, I will put them
together... (any evidence of said relationship in this fic was NOT the
Lurker's idea- or if it was, he didn't tell me about it).  I've made it
about 1/3 Ranma\Akane WAFF, 1/3 Dark-As-I-Can-Make-It, and 1/3 Action and
Fighting, so hopefully there is something in there for everyone who reads
it (of course, how it turns out is anybody's guess).  By the way, as with
all good epics, I begin this story 'en media res,' so as to NOT have all of
the Lurker's work be at the beginning...  By the way, I'm starting to use
the Fanfic Standard Japanese\English mix  (What do you call that?  Japish? 
Enganese?).  If I make a major mistake in usage, please let me know.

Chronological Notes (kept separate for those people who NEVER read author's
notes):   
The Lurker didn't say when he set it.  Obviously, this takes place some
time after the events in 'Akane and Her Sisters,' though how long after
(or, for that matter, where that actually fits in the manga) is debatable. 
Considering I don't want to mess around with the differences in timelines
between manga and anime (I use a manga\anime mesh), I'll just set this some
time after the last manga.

On with the story...
------------------------------
Prolog:

Ranma stoked the camp fire.  'Five... four... three... two... one... go!' 
In a flash, his hands moved in and out, each one holding about a dozen
chestnuts.

"They're ready, Akane!"  He shouted in the direction of the tent, placing
them in the tin pan that was part of his mess kit.

"Be right out!"

Ranma gawked at her as she left the tent wearing just a VERY flimsy
nightgown, with obviously nothing underneath the translucent material. 
Then he remembered- 'Oh, yeah... this is our honeymoon... she's supposed to
wear stuff like that for me...'  Then he smirked, remembering how they had
decided a trip through the woods would probably be more private than the
dojo, and more romantic than a motel.  His reflections were distracted by
Akane grabbing the plate and counting the number of chestnuts.

"Ack!"  Ranma cried as he was jostled by Akane.  Recovering his balance, he
looked back at his new wife.  "Why're you counting, Akane?  The bag had
twenty-eight chestnuts in it."

She frowned.  "But I only see twenty five here..."  A loud popping sound
came from the fire, and a chestnut piece went flying between them. 
"Aaaaagh!"  Akane shouted, narrowly dodging one flaming fragment.  "You
baka!  You left a chestnut in there, and now it's ruined.  Oh, well- it'll
just have to come out of your half- I get fourteen, and you get thirteen." 
Ranma looked down in mock distress.  Akane laughed.  A gleam came into her
eye.  "Tell you what, Ranma... I'll split that thirteenth chestnut with
you... but you have to come get it."  She placed one of the chestnuts in
her teeth, leaving enough of it out for Ranma to grab onto with his own.

Ranma got the idea right away- though he was a bit nervous about it, and
Akane wasn't holding the chestnut quite right for what she had in mind. 
After some fumbling, however, they were soon locked in a chestnut-induced
kiss.  Akane's arms, running along Ranma's back, slowly worked their way
around and started to unbutton his silk shirt.  Before things could go any
further, however, Ranma broke away, startling Akane.

"Akane... I don't think I'm ready for this just yet..."

Tears started forming in Akane's eyes.  "Wha... what?  But I... you...
we... we're MARRIED... and it's all right for us to..."

Ranma panicked.  If there was anything that inspired more fear in him than
cats, it was a girl crying, and it was even worse if that girl was Akane. 
"Akane- calm down.  That's not what I meant... please, calm down, Akane..."
 He tried to hold her.

"NO!"  Akane shouted, tearing away from him.  "If you don't want me, fine. 
But quit acting like you care, if you don't."

She jumped up and was about to leave, but Ranma grabbed her shoulder before
she could.

"Akane, please... listen-"  He was cut off as Akane tried to smack him with
a powerful right cross.  Ranma blocked, thinking 'She really is upset- she
didn't even think to use something better than a simple boxing move to hit
me with.'  He caught her other shoulder and turned her to him, not letting
her go despite her struggling.  "Akane, please, calm down and hear what I
have to say- please, I don't want you to think that I don't love you,
please... listen to me.  Akane... AKANE, I LOVE YOU!  Please, calm down and
hear me out first."  Akane stopped struggling.  'He just said that he...
he... loves me!'

'Thank god,' Ranma thought.  'I knew she'd listen to that.

"Ranma... if you love me, and I l... l... love you, and we're MARRIED, than
what's the problem?"

Ranma sighed, letting one arm go.  "Akane, it's nothing about you.  I'm
just not sure I'm ready for what'll happen if we do."

"Huh?  What do you mean?"

"Well, you know the mess that's happened to us the last nine months... how
much suffering we and our friends have gone through.  I don't want to have
to go through that again so soon, you know?"

Akane's mood lifted a little.  "Oh, is that all?"  She giggled a little,
though her mood was effected by the memories of what happened.  "Well, for
one thing, you don't need to worry about that- I've got protection... I
went on the pill when we decided on a wedding date.  Second, if it weren't
for that 'mess,' you and I never would have found out how we felt about
each other.  And finally, I doubt if most pregnancies are quite so...
hectic... as that one was...."

-------------------------
Chapter 1:  Natsume's WHAT?

Nine months earlier...

Another summer morning was proceeding at its usual pace at the
Tendou residence. Kasumi had just laid breakfast out on the table,
Saotome Genma was busily pouring his miso soup down his throat,
Tendou Souun picked at his breakfast as he read the morning newspaper,
Nabiki fiddled with her abacus as she ate, and Ranma and Akane sat
silently, for a change, simply eating and not arguing. Of course,
tranquil scenes like this rarely last long without some form of
interruption.

There was a knock at the door. Kasumi rose to greet their guests.
"Good morning...oh, hello again! It's been such a long time!" she
said cheerfully. Everyone at the table turned to see who had come to
visit.

Two girls walked into the family room. One was tall, wearing a dark
blue dress, her long black hair pulled up in a somewhat traditional
style, bound stiffly by a strip of white cloth, flowing freely down
her back from the top. Her face, which served to make her look more
mature than her apparent age would suggest, was currently contorted
into an irritated scowl, which was aimed at the other girl.

The second girl of the pair, rather short, and quite young in
appearance, wore a simple sailor-fuku, her dark hair tied back with a
long red ribbon. She was hanging onto the older girl as though
supporting her.

"I told you, I'm FINE, Kurumi!" snapped the older. "You don't have
to treat me like I'm going to fall apart at any second!"

The younger girl, Kurumi, if affected by the harsh tone with which
the other spoke, gave no indication of anything other than worry.
"I'm only looking out for you, Natsume," she said gently.

Everyone at the table smiled. Souun stood, and moved to greet the
two girls. "Well now, welcome! It's been such a long time since we
last saw you two!" 

Natsume and Kurumi bowed, Kurumi still holding onto her older
sister. Natsume flashed her a glare which was ignored. "It is good to
see you again as well, sir," Natsume said. 

Ranma and Akane stood before the pair, both smiling. "Hello you
two! How've you been?" Akane asked. 

"We've been well, thank you," Natsume said. Kurumi's expression
indicated that her sister wasn't giving the whole story.

"So, what brings you back?" Ranma asked. "Come for a rematch from
last time?" Akane smiled. While at the time of their last visit
things had been rather tense, and the conditions of their last
meeting weren't the most amicable, no hard feelings remained over the
battle for the Tendou training hall.

Kurumi frowned. "Actually...we were hoping you might be able to
help us..."

Akane furrowed her brow. "What's wrong?"

Kasumi gently guided everyone to the table. "Come, sit, we're just
having breakfast...you two must be hungry."

Once everyone was served, only Nabiki noticed that Kurumi slid half
her breakfast onto Natsume's plate, which earned a quick glare from
the elder sister.

"So," Souun said as he sipped his tea, "You say you've come to ask
for help. What seems to be the trouble?"

"Well..." Kurumi began. Natsume cut her off.

"Sir, we were hoping perhaps you might allow us to stay here for a
while."

Souun nodded. "Of course, of course. Living on the road is never
easy."

"Especially now," Kurumi said. Natsume fired her a glare that would
be hard to miss.

"Is...something wrong?" Akane asked. "You seem to be on edge,
Natsume..."

Natsume frowned, and forced a smile. "I'm...it's nothing," she
said.

"Natsume...you might as well tell them. It's not like you can hide
it or anything, you know." Everyone traded puzzled glances. Natsume
grimaced, then nodded.

"Hey, what's goin' on?" Ranma asked.

Kurumi took a deep breath, and said, "This is going to come as a
shock, but...the reason we need a place to stay for a while is
because..." She paused. Natsume nodded, and she continued. "Well, you
see...Natsume is...is with child."

The Tendous and Saotomes fell into a stunned silence.

Kasumi was the first one to break that silence, with her typical response
of "Oh, my!"

"With... child?"  Souun asked gutturally.  "As in... pregnant?"  Natsume
and Kurumi both nodded.  "A- are you..."

"No, she's not married," Kurumi said.

"Who's the father?  We can at least get him to pay for the hospital bills,"
Nabiki asked.

"Er..."  Natsume began.  "I- I'm not sure."

Except for Nabiki, all of the Tendous and Saotomes facefaulted.  Nabiki
knew of such things happening to girls of Natsume's age before- frequently,
a girl who had gotten into 'trouble' came to Nabiki for help in getting a
secret abortion- but even she was a little stunned that someone like
Natsume would let such a thing happen to her.

"How did it happen?"  She asked.  It wasn't quite in her usual
business-like tone of voice, but it was at least she didn't put TOO much
emotion into it.  Her reputation for being imperturbable must be
maintained.

Kurumi frowned.  "Isn't that getting a LITTLE too personal?"

Natsume sighed.  "I don't need my little sister to protect my, Kurumi. 
Besides, they have a right to know."  She turned to Nabiki.  "About two or
three weeks ago, we were still searching for our parents, as we have been
since before we were six years old.  Having found that your father, Souun
Tendou, was not the one we sought, we no longer have any leads to assist us
in our quest.  I was dwelling on this point, sitting in a... bar...."

Akane blinked.  "A bar?  How much older than me are you?"

Natsume squirmed.  "I'm... eighteen."

"But I thought you had to be twenty to legally get a drink in a bar?" Ranma
said carelessly.  Akane elbowed him hard and shushed him.  Nabiki smirked. 
She knew where this was going.

"You do... I was drinking illegally."

"Oh, my," Kasumi said again.  There really wasn't much else for anyone to
say.

Natsume coughed.  "Anyway, I was sitting in a bar, and got rather drunk.  A
young man approached me... I doubt he was in the bar legally either, but
from the look of things the bouncers were too afraid of him to do anything
about it.  I looked familiar to him, and he to me, and we began talking
about... nothing in particular..."  She smiled sadly in recollection.  

"I would recognize him," Kurumi interrupted.  "I know I've seen him before-
I think I, er, borrowed some food from him before."

Natsume shot a look at her sister that quickly silenced the younger
sibling.  "Somehow, the talking came around to why we had come to the bar
in the first place.  For him, it was because he had just had a major
argument with his fiancee, and was worried that their engagement was over. 
For me, it was a regret that... between my search for Kurumi's and my
parents and our martial arts training, I'd left myself no time for...
matters of the heart."  Nabiki nodded in recognition.  Ranma, ever so
briefly, glanced at Akane with a worried look on his face, but no-one
caught it save Kurumi, who had no reason to think it out of the ordinary. 
"One thing let to another," Natsume continued, "And... well, you can
probably guess the rest.  In his drunken state, all he wanted was revenge
on his fiancee, and I, in my drunken state, wanted some... companionship. 
A few days, maybe a week afterwards, I started getting sick in the
mornings.  I was recovering from these bouts after only a short time, but
it still worried Kurumi, so I went to see a doctor.  The doctor told us
that I was pregnant, and that's when Kurumi and I decided to return here,
to where the closest things we have ever had to a... to a family... lived."

Silence rained for a few seconds.  Surprisingly, it was Souun who broke it.
 "Well, of course you're family... In fact, if you want, I'll make it
official by adopting you two."


Akane and Nabiki gasped.  Ranma blinked.  Genma started examining his long
time friend, wondering if there was any physical evidence of what caused
the sudden loss of his sanity.  Even Kasumi didn't seem entirely
comfortable with the idea.

Natsume and Kurumi both noted the reaction of the assembled clans.  "Er,
that isn't necessary," Natsume began.  "I would rather keep hope of meeting
my real father one day."

Many of the assembled company gave out a sigh of relief.  "Then at least
let me be your foster father until you are able to search for him again,"
Souun begged, once again throwing everyone else in the room for a loop.

Natsume saw no polite way to refuse, however, and so nodded tiredly.  "Very
well... father."  She and Kurumi, after the tension had broken from the
awkward semi-adoption, were soon made as comfortable as possible by their
new family.

*	*	*	*	*

Nodoka arrived home later that day, and met Ranma practicing a kata at the
gate.  "Ranma!" she waved.

Ranma broke out of his form and walked over to great his mother.  "Hello,
Aun... mom.  Nice to see you!  You missed something very... interesting. 
Where've you been all day?"

She smiled.  "Looking over the repairs to our house.  In a couple of weeks
time, Ranma, we'll be able to move back!  Won't that be wonderful?"

Ranma's face fell a little at the thought of moving out.  "Yeah...
wonderful."

Nodoka appeared oblivious to this, however.  "So, what was so interesting
that I missed?"

Ranma shrugged.  "Oh, Mr. Tendo took in a couple of new foster-daughters,
that's all."

Nodoka facefaulted.  "He did what?"

"He took in a couple of new foster daughters.  I told you about Natsume and
Kurumi, right?"  She nodded.  "Well, they finally returned, but not to
challenge me and Akane for the dojo but to get some help with a... little
problem... Natsume's having."

Nodoka considered carefully.  "What problem is it that she's having?"

Ranma started to say something, but then closed his mouth, and looked
around.  'Hmm,' he thought.  'Probably not the best of things to be talking
about in a public street.'  He gestured Nodoka inside.  "Perhaps you'd
better ask HER that.  I'm not entirely sure she would want me to discuss
this sort of thing out here."  Nodoka's eyes became slivers.

"Very well.  Can you take me to her, then?"

*	*	*	*	*

"...and that's how it happened," Natsume finished.  Nodoka was sitting by
her as she rested on the futon she had been given.  Souun had already
ordered a new bed to be delivered, but it wouldn't be able to arrive until
later that week.

"There, there, child," Nodoka patted her shoulder comfortingly.  "Don't
worry- there are plenty of things we can do, especially in this day and
age.  If you want, I can take you to a nice, out of the way clinic where-"

Natsume flared in anger.  "NO!  This is my baby, I'm not getting rid of
it!"

Nodoka smiled.  "That's nice, dear.  I was going to say 'where we can get
you a thorough check-up,' but it's good to here you're planning on becoming
a mother."  Natsume looked down, embarrassed.  Nodoka smiled, and patted
her again.  "Now, is there anything else I or... our family can do to help
you?"

"As a matter of fact..."

*	*	*	*	*

"Ranma?"  Nodoka approached her son, once again practicing a kata in the
dojo.

"Yes, mother?"

"I was just talking with Natsume."  Ranma nodded- he had been expecting
that.  "I asked her if there was anything we could do for her... and she
asked if we could continue searching for her parents.  She wants to find
out who her family is before she gives birth.  Could you possibly... try
and find them?"

That Ranma was not expecting.  "Uh... how?  I wouldn't know where to
begin..."

Nodoka smiled.  "You probably know as much as they do- they know nothing at
all."

Ranma sighed.  He still wasn't really comfortable around his mother- he
never knew what she might consider 'unmanly.'  He'd better do what she
said, just to be safe.  Besides, she seemed rather insistent on it.  "Okay,
mom, just give me some time to prepare..."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
                   desaix@sysnet.net
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/7872
                    fanfics available at 
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/7872/fanfics.htm