I "posted" this to the tempffml, when ffml was down. Since ffml is back
up and not everyone gets the tempffml. I'm posting it to ffml now.


"Mother's Son" (working title)
A Ranma 1/2 FanFic
by Zaxxon

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Author's Notes:

(1)	All characters are the property of  Rumiko Takahashi and are
used solely for the entertainment and, hopefully, enjoyment of her
fans.

(2)  This is an ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. Something will be the same and
other things will be different. I am using VIZ's graphical novels (one
through eight) and what I can found on the Web and in the fanfics I
have read as source material.

(3)  Suffixes, such as -chan, -panda, and -neko, will be used to denote
people in their cursed forms.

(4) Conventions that shall be used:
	Words that are italic will be between // //, 
	Words that are bold will be between * *, 
	Words that are underlined will be between _ _, 
	Translations will in within << >>, 
	Thoughts will be italicized.
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	Soun Tendo went to get the mail as he usually did. The mailman
handed Soun the usual stuff, bills, advertisements, and the typical 
junk mail. With an embarrassed face, the mailman handed Soun a large
envelope. The large envelope had a message on the face which basically
explained that mistakes happen and that the postmen is sorry for the
delay.
	Curious as to the contents, Soun opened the envelope and saw a
postcard dated last month addressed to him. The postcard simply said, 
'Visiting on 30th. Bringing Ranma.' It was signed just as simply, 
'Saotome.'
	Soun ran into the house excited. He had been awaiting this day
for the last ten years. He was also slightly nervous since today was 
the 30th. As soon as he was in the entrance hall Soun called out for 
his three daughters, "Kasumi! Nabiki! Akane!" 
	Because of their lack of responses Soun concluded that they were
not within shouting range of his voice so he went in search of his
daughters. Kasumi, the eldest daughter, was the easiest to find since 
she was in the kitchen preparing some melon for the family snack after 
dinner as they watched the evening television programs. Nabiki, the 
middle daughter, was in her room reading some mangas. When Nabiki 
asked what was going on, Soun simply replied that he was going to tell 
all three of his daughters at the same time. Therefore, Soun suggested 
that Nabiki needed to find Akane, the youngest daughter, for him, if 
she wished to know.

	Nabiki, knowing her sister, headed straight for the Dojo. There
she found Akane, who had just finished her run, cooling down by
breaking some bricks. Nabiki simply watched her sister as Akane broke 
three bricks with her bare hands. It was clear to Nabiki that Akane 
enjoyed destroying the bricks. She could not help tease her sister by
saying, "No wonder all the boys think they have to defeat you to date 
you."
	"The world does not revolve around boys, Nabiki," Akane said.
	Nabiki just shook her head sadly and informed Akane of their 
father's desire to talk with them.

	Once all three daughters were seated in front of him, Soun began
to explain, "Before your Mother...." Tears began to fall from Soun's
face. "... died. She made me promise that the family Dojo would
continue. To this end an old friend of mine is helping me keep that 
pledge by having his son marrying one of you. If one of three girls 
were to marry Ranma Saotome and together carry on the Dojo, out 
family legacy would be secured."
	"What?!?!? Don't we have a say in this?" an outraged Akane
asked while Kasumi had a confused look on her face.
	Nabiki pointed out, "We've haven't even met this Ranma before."
	"Not true," Soun answered smiling.
	"You don't mean Ranma, the little boy that came with Mother's
friend when she baby-sat us..." Kasumi began.
	"Correct. Ranma is Mrs. Saotome's son," Soun said nodding. "The
Saotomes are coming to visit us today on their way home after
completing a training trip through China."
	"Wow! China!" Nabiki exclaimed as thunder rolled through the
house.
	"What's so great about China?" an uninterested Akane asked.
	"Is he cute?" Nabiki asked.
	"Is he mature?" Kasumi asked. "What is Ranma like now?"
	"I don't know," Soun stated simply.
	"You don't know?" Nabiki asked incredibly.
	"It has been years since we last saw Ranma... Who knows how he
grew up," Kasumi said.

	There was a knock at the door. Excited, Soun leapt up to get the 
door saying, "It must be Ranma..."
	The three girls followed their father to the door. The sight that
greeted them was a sixteen year old girl wearing a red chinese outfit 
that clinged to her body since it was soaked and a soaked, panda 
wearing a kimono. In the girl's hand was a traditional visitor's 
gift[1]. The gift was a fresh fish wrapped in a special rice paper with 
seven white and crimson paper chords. In the upper right hand corner 
was the noshi, a piece of awabi -- ear shell -- stretched tightly to 
symbolize long-life and protect from harm.
	As the girl handed the gift to Soun, she said, "I'm Ranma
Saotome and this is my mother, Nodoka. If you would be as kind as to 
get us some hot warm. I'll explain..."

	All four Tendos could not help stare at the Saotomes. Before
their very eyes, the one who introduced herself as Ranma, son of Genma
and Nodoka, clearly female, poured the hot water over herself and
became a boy. The now male Ranma then poured some more hot water on
the panda, who turned into an older version of the girl who sat down
with them. The kimono which was small on the panda's frame was large
on the woman. Ranma then took one of the cups of water that he had
been cooling off and poured the water over himself, thus turning back
into a girl. Ranma-chan then poured the last cup of water onto herself
reverting back into a boy.
	Akane was the first to find her voice and asked, "How?!?!?"
	"It's a curse," Nodoka replied. "The Cursed Springs of Jusenkyo.
Whoever falls into one of the cursed springs, emerges with the shape
of whatever drowned in the spring."
	Nabiki looked skeptical while the other three Tendos nodded
and accepted the facts in front of them.
	"What happened?" Nabiki asked trying to appear uninterested.
	"An accident," Ranma answered quickly. Nodoka simply looked sadly
at her son but said nothing.
	"The ledge that overlooked the springs gave way while Mother and
I practiced," Ranma continued. "Mother fell into the shonmaoniichuan,
hence the panda shape, and I fell into the nyanniichuan."
	"What were you doing at 'the Cursed Springs of Jusenkyo?" Nabiki
asked.
	"It's a training ground that my husband, Genma, wished to take
Ranma to," Nodoka replied. "It was his hope to take Ranma to all the
famous training grounds in Japan and China, so they could follow the
great martial artists of the past."
	"What happen to my good friend, Genma?" Soun asked.
	"A demon killed him," Ranma answered too quickly.
	"My husband died six years ago, Tendo-san, I'll explain later," 
Nodoka said softly to Soun. She turned to his three daughters 
saying, "When your mother and I agreed to our husbands' plans, we 
didn't foresee all that had happen since then..." 
	Nodoka sighed as she noticed the various reaction on the girls
faces and she added, "I would understand if Ranma's curse would interfere 
with the marriage between our fam..."
	"It's not that, Nodoka-san..." Nabiki interrupted.
	"... It's just that it's been ten years since we last seen Ranma.
He's like a stranger to us," Kasumi finished for Nabiki. "We need time
to get to know him and he us."
	With a slight smile Nodoka said to Kasumi, "So much like your
mother."
	To all three girls, Nodoka said, "True, Kasumi. You raise a good
point. To correct this, I'll enroll Ranma into your high school and
Ranma can come over here upon occasion, to help Tendo-san with the
Dojo and to spend sometime with you all."


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Footnote:

[1]	Traditional visitor's gift was taken from Eric Van Lustbader's
_Jian_.
-- 
Zaxxon <sachs@knuth.mtsu.edu>			http://www.cs.mtsu.edu/~sachs
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"That's the difference," the Phoenix said. "You see only black and white 
with the occasional grey, me, I see shades of green, blue, and brown."