OK here's part 2... First things first, All Ranma 1/2 characters
are owned by Rumiko Takahashi and the rights to Fist of
the North Star are owned by Tetsuo Hara (art work) and 
Buronson (story) 


Thank you to everyone who C&C'd me after part one!  I appreciate
it and I thrive on e-mail.

Special thanks go to James Jones: The Blood Phoenix.  You really
motivated me to continue with the story and (unknowingly) gave me
some new ideas and directions to take while writing it. thanks much. 

===========================
Return of the Fist - part 2
===========================

It was a beautiful spring day.  Ranma was sitting in the park
with his parents and the Tendos.  They had all decided to
go on a picnic.  His mother and Kasumi had prepared the most wonderful
meal he had ever eaten.  He and Akane had not even had one
fight the whole day.  Ranma sighed contentedly; yes, it was 
turning out to be a perfect day.  All of a sudden several men
fell from the sky and surrounded them.  Ranma tried to get to his
feet but he couldn't move.  His father, Mr. Tendo, and Akane
all got into fighting stances.  His mother drew her katana.  Even 
Kasumi and Nabiki had risen into fighting positions. When had they
learned the art?  Ranma still couldn't move.  He looked up at one of
the men who fallen from the sky, it was Shin!  All of a sudden Ranma's
chest hurt.  He looked down at himself, and found seven bloody wounds
on his chest and stomache.  When did they get there?  Why couldn't
he stand?  Why was he so weak?  The men in front of Nabiki and Kasumi
attacked, ripping their bodies apart.  Ranma looked at the two
men in horror.  They were both Shin!  But wasn't Shin standing in
front of him?  The two Shins spoke, "Your School is dead."  
The man in front of his mother took her katana and impaled her with it.
He turned around to face Ranma. Shin again!  He said, "Your school is
dead."  Suddenly this father and Mr. Tendo fell, blood pouring from
fatal wounds on their bodies.  The Shins who had killed them turned 
toward Ranma and said, "Your school is dead."  Suddenly, he heard Akane
scream behind him. He turned around to see Shin holding Akane in the
air, with his hand impaled into her stomache and sticking out her
back.  

"Your school is dead.", Shin said.  Then he started laughing, a cold
evil laugh, and all the other Shins joined with him.  

Ranma screamed, "Stop it!  Stop it!  Nooooooooo-"

			**********************

Ranma woke up. He looked around, he was feeling rather disoriented. 
His chest was bandaged up tightly, and there were several tubes and
wires connected to his body.  Ranma had been in enough hospitals
to realize when he was in one.  His chest hurt every time he took
a breath.  He turned his head to the side and saw his mother, asleep
on a chair pulled up next to his bed.  He suddenly remembered his 
dream.  

"Mom..." , he croaked.  He tried to get up, but he was too weak and
in too much pain.  Nodoka woke up and quickly kneeled in front of
Ranma's bed.

"Calm down, please, everything's going to be alright." she soothed.

Ranma tried to get up again.  "A-Akane.... gotta protect..."

"Ranma, Akane is alright. she's at school right now. She will be
here this evening.  She's been sleeping here every night with you
for the past week."


"I've been asleep for a week?"

Nodoka fell silent and gently caressed her son's face.  The tears
that had been building up for the past week gently started streaming
down her face.  

"I knew you would come back to us, my son.  I knew you were too
strong to die."

"What happened?"  Ranma asked weakly.

Nodoka dried her eyes.  
"Actually, Ranma-chan, that's something we wanted to ask you.
After you failed to return to your Hotel, the night of
your field trip, Akane and her friends looked for you.  They could
not find you anywhere.  That night we got a call at the Tendo dojo;
someone had found you in some ally near your Hotel and had immediately
called for an ambulence. You had lost a lot of blood and one of
your lungs was punctured.  They just took you off the respirator last
night.  Your wounds were terrible, y-you nearly died."  

The tears started flowing again.  Nodoka had not told
Ranma everything, nor would she.  The first night Ranma had
spent in the hospital, his heart had stopped.  The minute it
took to get his heart beating again was the worst moment of 
her life.

"What happened to you my son?"

Everything that happened that night in the ally suddenly flooded
back into Ranma's mind.  He paled visibly then said, "I got
into a fight....and I lost." 

Obviously there was more that Ranma was not telling her, but Nodoka
decided not to stress the point.  Her son seemed to be reliving
what had happened.

"Just rest, Ranma-chan.  Akane will be here later.  She'll be
mad if you are not awake to greet her."  

Nodoka smiled and started caressing Ranma's face again.  He slowly
drifted off into sleep.    

			*************

When Ranma woke up hours later, Akane was sitting on the chair that
his mother had occupied earlier. As he looked at her he noticed 
that her eyes were red and she had big puffy bags under them.  She
looked so tired.  

"Man Akane, you look like hell.", Ranma joked.

Akane, startled, looked at him.  She had not realized that
he had awoke.  

"Baka!  You almost die, and here I am worried about you and the
first thing out your mouth is an insult!  Ranma I-"

At this point Akane grabbed Ranma's hand beneath his blanket
and continued, "I, I'm glad you're going to be alright..."

"Ranma, what happened to you?  Your mom mentioned that you
were in a fight, but who did this to you?"

"It's none of your business!" Ranma replied, a little more
coldly than he wanted.  

"I'm sorry Ranma, I was just worried about you!"

Akane tried to get up to leave, but Ranma squeezed her hand.

"Akane, I'm sorry.... I'm just tired, that's all."  

Akane looked mollified, "OK, I'll let you rest then."

As Akane left, Ranma sighed and tried to bury himself
in his bed.  *How could he tell her?*  He had been utterly
defeated, proabably doomed _anyone_ associated with 
the Anything Goes school, and to top off everything,
he was feeling real fear.  For the first time in his
life he was afraid of a fighter.  *No, he wouldn't tell
her.  He wouldn't tell anyone.  Why couldn't he have just died?*

			**********

Ranma, as usual, recovered very quickly.  Within a week 
of waking up, he was able to walk around and his breathing was
regular and considerably less painful.  He really didn't need
any kind of physical thearpy, so he spent all of his time sleeping
or walking around the hospital.  His doctors were amazed at his 
at his rapid recovery, at the rate he was healing he would be able
to return home in a couple of days.  Ranma's mental state was 
another matter entirely.  He did not talk to anyone beyond
anwsering simple questions and he never initiated any sort of 
conversation.  If anyone tried to talk to him about his fight
in the ally, he would shut down completely until the subject
was dropped.  No one seemed to be able to cheer him up; not even
his mother or Akane.  One time, Akane even tried to get into an 
arguement with Ranma, calling him an idiot, pervert, half-man, and whatever
else she could think of.  Ranma did not insult her back even
once.  The fight seemed to have just gone out of him, and 
that scared everyone more than anything else.  

Akane, grudgingly, decided to let Ukyo and Shampoo have a try
at cheering Ranma up.  They had not been by to see him since
he was admitted into the hospital.  Ranma's doctors had said
that too much excitement and stress might cause Ranma's lung
to get reinjured, and three fiancees is more excitement than
even a healthy man needs.  

As soon as Shampoo and Ukyo saw him, they recognized his
change in demeanor.  His shoulders were slightly slumped and
he looked away from them almost shyly.  

Ranma was sitting up in his bed as Shampoo and Ukyo
walked over to him.  

"Airen... you OK, yes?" Shampoo asked.

"Hai." 

"Ranchan," Ukyo started, "I know how much you hate hospital
food, so a brought you an Okanomiakyi." 

Ukyo pulled out a dish that she was hiding behind her back and
placed it in front of Ranma.  

"Thanks." Ranma said, without touching or even looking at the plate.   

Ukyo and Shampoo glanced at each other.  If there was one thing
that excited Ranma more than anything, it was good food.  Especially
good _free_ food.  Both girls made several more attempts 
at starting a conversation with Ranma, and after failing, decided
to leave.  

Akane had been waiting outside Ranma's room.  When Shampoo
and Ukyo came out of the room she asked, "Any luck?"

Ukyo shook her head and said, "He's really out of it.  I've
never seen him like this."

Shampoo had a thoughtful look on her face, "Maybe Great-grandmother
can help, when Shampoo return to China after not killing Ranma,
great-grandmother helped me train.  Not just body, but mind as well."

Akane looked at Shampoo with new respect in her eyes, she never
considered how hard it must have been for Shampoo to return
home after her failure.  In many ways, Shampoo was similar to
Ranma.  Failure is never easy, but it was especially difficult for
people like Shampoo and Ranma.  

Akane decided that she did not want Cologne talking to Ranma
in the condition he was in; she would probably try to manipulate
him in some way.  

"Thanks for the offer Shampoo, but I think Ranma will be
OK once he gets home and starts training again..."  

Shampoo didn't look very convinced.  

			**********

A few days later Ranma returned home.  His parents had not
found a new place yet, so they were still living at the 
Tendo home.  The family threw a small 'Welcome Home'
party for Ranma; they were desperate to cheer him up.  His
mother and Kasumi cooked all his favorite foods for dinner.
Unfortunately, Ranma's mood set the tone for the rest of
the room.  Ranma slowly picked at his food, and no one
was able to break the uneasy silence that had crept upon them.

Finally Ranma's mother decided to act,  "Ranma-chan?  Since
you just got back home, and are still recovering from your 
injuries, why don't you skip school tomorrow? There's a martial
arts tournament in town tomorrow, your father and you can go 
to it."

Nodoka glanced at Genma, who caught on and start speaking,
"That's right, my boy! We can go to the tournament and maybe
pick up a few pointers!  After all, you're going to need
to learn some new techniques if-"

At that point Ranma looked sharply at his father.  

"If I'm going to what?"

"Well, if you're going to... going to..." One look at Ranma's
face and Genma could not continue.

Ranma stood up and walked away from the table saying,
"If you'll excuse me, I'm feeling kinda sleepy."  

  
When Ranma left the room, Akane spoke up, "What are we going
to do?  He's never been like this before.  He's shutting
everyone out."    

"I think, that this is something my son needs to work out
himself.  Don't worry Akane-chan, Ranma is a strong person;
he'll get through this." Nodoka said hopefully.  

			**********
The next morning, Ranma woke up and got dressed for school.
His father was waiting for him downstairs wearing a practice gi.

"Ranma, I know you are still healing, but would you like
to spar this morning?"

"Maybe tomorrow..." Ranma replied as he started for the front door.

"Ranma-kun?  What about breakfast?"

"Don't worry about it Kasumi, I'm not really hungry."

"But-"

Ranma left before Kasumi could remind him to take his lunch.


Over the next few days, Ranma's mental and emotional state 
digressed.  He didn't talk to anyone.  While in school,
he avoided getting into fights, even with Kuno.  He seemed
to ignore everything around him.  He refused to spar with
his father in the mornings, in fact, since he returned from the
hospital, he never once entered the dojo.  

Everytime Genma approached Ranma about sparring or training,
Ranma replied "Maybe tomorrow."

Finally, one morning, Genma snapped.  (its amazing he lasted 
a week, don't you think?)  "Maybe tomorrow???", Genma replied,
"No my son, we will train TODAY!"  Genma proceeded to
grab Ranma by his shirt front and threw him into the pond.
Ranma's response was to get up, and walk out of the yard and
into the bathroom.  Genma was too shocked and depressed to
be angry.  He looked at his wife, who had seen the exchange from
the dining table.  

"I give up... I just don't know what to do about that boy..."
Genma said as he entered the house and sat down for breakfast.

That night, after dinner, Cologne and Shampoo visited the
Tendo home.  Akane had gotten desperate and had told Cologne
everything she knew.  Even if she manipulated Ranma into something,
it would have to be an improvement over his current state of
mind.  

"So," Colonge started after pleasantries were exchanged, "where
is my son-in-law?"  

"He's upstairs in his room, he rarely spends time anywhere else
these days."

"Call him down here, you all are going to need to hear this."

Nodoka went upstairs and after a few minutes was able to 
coax Ranma into coming downstairs.  Ranma and Nodoka
sat down at the dinner table and waited for Cologne to speak.

"Ranma, I heard about you injuries, may I see your wounds?"

The request startled Ranma, and for a few moments he was like
his old self again. "What for, you old ghoul?"

Cologne smiled and said, "I want to see what we're up against."

Everyone looked at Ranma as he sighed and slowly took off his
shirt.  There were several gasps around the room as everyone
stared at the seven wounds on his chest.  Cologne hopped over
to Ranma and started inspecting the wounds.  Ranma shivered as
she touched him.

"Hmmmmm.  Interesting technique... The man who did this to you,
he used his fingers, yes?"  Cologne asked.

"H-Hai."

"I've never seen a technique like this before, I wonder what school
he trained under?"

Akane exploded, "Who CARES what school he trained under? Ranma-"

She was inturrputed by Ranma who mumbled something.  

"What was that son-in-law?"

Ranma took a deep breath.  This had been building up for days, and
it was time to tell someone what had happened.  

"I said, 'Southern Cross'; he called himself the Fist of the
Southern Cross."

Cologne hopped back away from Ranma, her face pale.  "The Fist
of the Southern Cross.  Son-in-law, you are a good warrior, 
you have the potential to be one of the best in the world.
But you will not be able to defeat this man, only the Fist
of the North Star can defeat the Fist of the Southern Star, and
if the legends are true, the two Fists never fight."

"Who is the Fist of the North Star?" Ranma asked.

"It's funny you should mention that. Ranma, do you remember the
scroll you gave me to translate for you?"

"Yes... It had a bunch of weird techniques on it..."

"Well, not really... the scroll is more a contract between
the Fist of the North Star and a some village in China.  The scroll
is at least 300 hundred years old, apparently it was common for renegade
soldiers to terrorize villages at the time.  Some of these villages
posted scrolls such as this one as a warning that they were protected
by the Fist of the North Star.  Whether they were truly protected
or not is another story, but the threat alone protected some
of the villages.  The diagrams  on the scroll were not techniques at
all, rather they described in detail what the Fist of the North Star
would do to anyone who harmed the villages he was protecting."

Ranma didn't look impressed.  "So what does that have to do with
Shin and the Southern Cross?"

"The Fist of the North Star is the master of the School of the
Great Bear.  Both the Great Bear and the Southern Cross are
schools of assassination.  It is said that their techniques
differ greatly, but they are equally powerful.  Only one can
counter the other."  

For the first time in many days, Ranma looked hopeful.  

"So all I have to do is find this North Star guy and have
him teach me a technique or two so I can defeat Shin!"

Cologne shook her head sadly, "I'm afraid its not that easy
son-in-law.  First off, no one knows where the school
of the Great Bear is located.  Some rumors say that their
dojo is located some where in the Kunlun Shan mountain range, but
no one knows for sure.  Secondly, the techniques of the Great
Bear are not taught to just anyone.  It is said that the techniques
are passed on from a father to only one son.  That's why
I was suprised when I first saw the scroll.  Even if you were
to find the Fist of the North Star, he would not teach you anything."


Ranma dropped his head, sighed, and slowly got up and went
upstairs to his room.  

			*******

Ranma layed out on his futon and stared at the ceiling.  He 
felt lost, he really didn't know what to do.  There was a knock
at his door and his mother walked in.  

"Ranma-chan, are you feeling all right?"

"I don't know... I just, just don't want to fight any more...
Would you be ashamed of me if I became a doctor?" Ranma asked half-jokingly.

"My dear son, I am your mother. I would love you no matter what 
you decided to do with your life... but I know, deep down, you
will never be happy being anything but a martial artist.  Can
you admit to yourself why you want to stop practicing the art?
Why you refuse to even enter the dojo?"

"Because....because I'M AFRAID!  I can't beat him, it's HOPELESS!
If I face him again, he'll kill me...and then-"

Nodoka bent down and gently cupped her son's face. "Ranma-chan,
nothing is impossible for you.  You are Ranma Saotome of the
Saotome School of Anything Goes martial arts.  You just need to
remember that.  Through the loss, the pain, and the fear, you've
forgotten who you are.  Find yourself Ranma.  Here or on a training
trip, but find yourself, and nothing will be able to stop you."

Nodoka looked her son straight in the eyes, and she could see
the resolve start to build there.  Ranma grabbed his mother in
a hug.

"Thank you Mom,  I know what I have to do now."  

Nodoka released Ranma and smiled knowingly, "I'll go tell
everyone that you'll be leaving tonight."  

As soon as she left, Ranma started packing.

			***********

When Ranma went downstairs, everyone was waiting for him.
Genma looked excited.  "That's the spirit, Ranma! Your mother
just told me that you decided to go on a training trip.  Give me
a few minutes to get ready, then we'll be on our way."

Ranma looked at his father for a moment.  He walked out in front
of him and slowly bowed.  "Forgive me father, but this... is
something I need to do on my own."

Genma stood silently for a few moments then returned Ranma's
bow.  "I understand my son,  there are some things that a man
must do for himself."  The people standing around Genma looked
suprised; it was the most mature thing the man had ever said!

Ranma headed for the door, but Akane stopped him.

"Ranma, w-where are you going?"  That wasn't what Akane _really_
want to say, but it was the _safest_ thing to say.

Ranma turned towards Akane and his family and said, "I'm
going to China; I'm going to find the school of the Great Bear."

********************************
End Part 2
********************************
Whew! this was hard to write!  My mind
had definitely moved beyond Ranma's recovery
period and onto his training in China, so
coming back to this was kinda a chore.  Well,
part 3 is coming soon, and so are some new
characters.  C&C is welcome and encouraged (anandr@earthlink.net)

Once again, thanks to everyone who wrote to me after part 1!



==========================================================
Anand Rao
anandr@earthlink.net
Read my fanfics at http://home.earthlink.net/~anandr
==========================================================