Okay - Mandatory Stuffage:
C&C always welcome
Please send me responses to this at TnekG@aol.com

Ranma 1/2 is the creation of Rumico Takahashi: My use of her 
characters is without official permission and is intended for the non 
profit amusement of other Ranma 1/2 fans out there. No Infringement 
of the creators copyright or her authorized publishers or distributors 
is intended: If you like this stuff go buy the real thing it's better; 
and the cash will make Viz happy.

Ps. - this is a continuation fic - meant to pick up at the end of 
volume 38 - unfortunately I have only read the very last issue of V38 
and synopsis' of volumes 14-38 

What has gone the before:
	In the beginning there was void - into the void came - no no. 

Quick synopsis of V37-38: 
	Akane is kidnapped (again) and taken to China. During the 
shenanigans at Phoenix mountain Akane nearly dies, Ranma declares "that 
he never had the chance to tell her that he loved her" and begs her to 
be all right, he later denies everything. The Jusenkyo Springs are 
broken, and there now exists a spring of drowned Akane. 
	The return to Nerima is marked by a wedding. Ranma and Akane's 
wedding is broken up by their friends- Shampoo and Ukyou actually throw 
bombs and damage the house, Ranma looses another chance at being rid of 
his curse as Happosai drinks the Nannichuan water thinking it is saki. 

Quick Synopsis of what I've been up to:
	Kurumi and Natsume (the orphan girls from the Viz OAV Akane and 
her sisters) have moved in with the Tendos. Akane, Ranma and Natsume 
have taken part time jobs to help with the extra costs and Ranma's 
parents have moved back to their own house to make room for the new 
Tendo daughters. Natsume has challenged Akane to a duel for the right 
to carry on the Tendo Dojo (winner has to take Ranma too).

Quick notes:
"" - quotes for spoken text.
[[]] - thought bubbles.
{} - sound effects.

	
--------------Begin Episode 4 -----------------------------
Chapter 4 - Sweet dreams are made of this?

	Nerima was enjoying one of the more peaceful nights in recent 
memory. The soft sound of raindrops on roof tiles was the only noise over 
this part of the city. The last few weeks had been a blur for Ranma, his 
parents sudden departure, preparing for finals at school and his new job
at the restaurant had consumed all of his time. Kurumi and Natsume had 
moved into the room that he had shared with his father. No one had wanted 
to try and budge Happosai out of his room, so that left Ranma as the odd 
man out. Usually he would sleep in the Dojo or on the rooftops but tonight 
the rain was hard enough to make either needlessly unpleasant. Tomorrow he 
would move into his parents house, to live there for the all too brief 
summer vacation that Japanese students enjoyed. No one had discussed it 
with Ranma but he silently vowed to finish his last two years of school at 
Furinkan; after all, this was where his friends were.

	As Ranma made the couch up to use as a bed he reflected on his 
accomplishments in the last three weeks. He was enjoying being a waiter; 
mixing martial arts in with his service had allowed him to make a killing 
in tips and the cooks were showing him a couple of recipes that he liked.
He had still found time to study for finals and practice with Kurumi every 
dawn; Akane still hadn't found out that Kurumi was just passing on Ranma's 
lessons every afternoon. That was probably for the best, she might not have 
accepted help she knew was coming from Ranma. 

	Ranma had been surprised by how quickly Kurumi and Akane had become 
close friends. The two girls were almost inseparable at home and while 
Akane and Natsumi's relationship was still icy at best she obviously had 
accepted Kurumi as a sister and confidant. 

	Shampoo and Kodachi had been unusually quiet; Ranma had been able 
to enjoy one of the all too brief periods of quiet in his life, there had 
been only one incident to mar an otherwise perfect fortnight...

	It had been an otherwise peaceful evening a week after Kurumi and 
Natsume had joined the Tendo household; Akane and Kurumi had finished 
practice early and were in the house helping Kasumi. Ranma was walking home 
from work his waiter's outfit slung over one shoulder. He stopped outside 
the gates and contemplated the place he had come to consider his home. 
He walked into the house and was a little surprised when Kasumi greeted him.

"Welcome home Ranma! How was your day?"

"Oh pretty good. Is dinner ready already?"

"No not yet, Can I get your work clothes into the wash for you?"

"Arigato Kasumi."

	Ranma sat at the living room table and began to study. Shortly he 
grew concerned about a few simple facts.
#1 - Kasumi was still cleaning house.
#2 - Cooking type noises were coming from the kitchen.
#3 - There was no sign that Natsume had gotten home before him.
This lead him to the terrifying possibility that Akane was once again 
trying to help out by cooking. Ranma stood up and peeked into the kitchen.
Akane and Kurumi were side by side in the kitchen. Akane stirring a big wok 
and Kurumi handing her ingredients as she asked for them, Kurumi was 
apparently taste testing things too and occasionally making suggestions 
along the lines of "Needs more daikon" or such. Ranma - greatly relieved 
that it was someone who was likely to read the labels of what she was 
cooking went back to his homework. 

	As the expanded Tendo family and Ranma sat down to diner Ranma was 
surprised to see that Natsume was obviously worried about something. Seeing 
her stare at Akane and Kurumi bringing in the dinner dishes he decided to 
be helpful. 

"Don't worry, Kurumi helped- were not gonna die after all!"

	That earned him a bap on the back of the head from Akane. And 
Natsume if anything seemed more worried. The food smelled great, Ranma was 
about to dig in when a sudden flash of insight hit. 

"Hey Akane this smells pretty good! Kurumi must have been a big help Ne?"

	Akane nodded and uncharacteristically was only blushing. Natsume 
was saying something; but Ranma didn't hear what it was as he took the first 
bite. Then it hit him- later Ranma would claim that the food was so hot 
that it should have melted the bowl; indeed from that point on the glaze of 
the ceramic dinner set always looked a little funny. Lying on the floor 
spitting out flames like a circus performer he was able to hear Natsume 
tell the Tendos-

"I'm so sorry, Kurumi was in a bizarre training accident as a child and has 
an absolutely bizzare sense of taste. Gomen nasai."

	Kurumi and Akane didn't know what to say; so they left Ranma on the 
floor to continue his volcano impression and went out to eat.



	Ranma smiled a little at the thought, he had only fully gotten his 
sense of taste back a few days ago. 
[[ Well, tomorrow will tell if all of Akane's extra training has helped her.
But enough for today. I hope I was able to help.]]

	Ranma lay down on the couch and pulled a sheet over him. Waiting 
for sleep to claim him he tried to imagine what the summer would be like 
without the Tendos around. 
	
	On the floor above in a room all too recently that Ranma had used 
as his own the two newest Tendo daughters slept. Kurumi lay on her back 
snoring like a saw cutting timber. Natsume lay on her side curled into a 
tight ball, everything about her showed the tension she felt, even sleep 
was no release for her. They are a study in opposites these girls; heat and 
cold; freedom and structure. One might wonder what they are thinking - 
 

	Tendo Kurumi was happier than she could remember ever being before 
in her life. She was only fourteen but had been living on the road with her 
sister for the last ten years. By any measure she had to consider herself 
lucky, even if she had been an orphan and had spent many hungry nights on 
the road, nothing really terrible had ever happened to her; and now she had 
a family that could show her the love she had always wanted. Finally she 
had a home. 

	In her mind's eye it was summer; she and Akane and the rest of her 
new family were out in the park having a picnic. She and Akane had cooked 
and everyone loved it and complimented her on her hard work. She watched 
the brightly colored butterflies dance in the carefully tended beds of 
flowers. She saw Ranma and Akane sitting together and she wistfully 
wondered if she would ever have a boy that felt that way about her. It was 
nice to be able to defend herself, but now that she no longer had to fight 
to prove that she had a right to be someone's daughter she thought that she 
would much prefer to have someone who was willing to stand up for her. 

	Kurumi continued to dream of the happiness she had found.

	Across from Kurumi is her sister - see how she curls up tightly and
mutters angrily in her sleep. She stirs and strikes. 

{plik}
	Sweat dripped down her brow. The sound of it hitting the floor 
boards was the loudest in the room. Everyone was staring at her. The fight 
had been a hard one but she had finally done it! Akane was at her feet 
unconscious. Never had Natsume felt better. At the end Akane had cried - 
begged for forgiveness for trying to prevent her from being happy. Now it 
was not all for nothing- all the years on the road, all the nights spent 
desperately trying to find some way to protect herself and her sister from 
dying of exposure or starvation. The loneliness; the privation it all 
meant something now. The rough hands of the men she had had to submit to, 
all of that meant something now. Natsume had seen more of the dark side of 
human nature then any seventeen year old ever should. But now it had all 
been justified; standing triumphantly over the broken form of the last 
obstacle preventing her from being happy, she allowed herself to smile. 
Life had forged her into a weapon; the fires of her own personal hell had 
steeled her soul to suffering; made a stone of her heart.
	But why did she feel so empty inside? 



	A short distance from the room where the orphan girls are sleeping 
is a door. On that door is a little wooden duck; there are three doors like 
it in the house. This particular duck has "Kasumi" stenciled on it in 
romanji. Inside the room is immaculately clean and organized, more like the 
inside of a doll's house than the room of a teenage girl, but then for ten 
years now that young girl had also had to be a woman. She lay in bed with 
the sheets pulled up to her neck. Like the room she seemed unreal; too 
perfect in form and placement. Only the slow rhythmic motions of breathing 
attested to the fact that this was no porcelain doll.



	She remembered the garden. The cherry tree's ever so carefully 
placed; the ornamental flower beds shaped by loving hands. The trees were 
still there, but the flowers had been taken up; replaced by rows of 
vegetable vines and a few fruit trees. They could never grow enough to 
feed them entirely but what they could grow really helped. Kasumi sighed as 
she ran her hands through the rich earth. She enjoyed tending the garden; 
it helped define who she was; a caretaker; a home maker. She stood and 
brushed a few specks of dust from her apron. She turned and walked back 
into the house. 
	It was clean inside, but she picked up a broom and began to sweep 
the porch anyway aiming for a sort of perfection only perceivable by 
herself. Kasumi stood there on the porch when she was done. She couldn't 
understand how the house had come to be so empty. It felt so good to be 
around the others, they had their faults; but she loved them anyway. 
The life, the vitality they imparted had been sadly missing from their 
home for many years. Kasumi wandered around the empty house. She smiled, 
but she was so very alone. 



	A little further down the hall is the second duck. This one has 
Nabiki carefully inscribed upon it. The duck seems slightly out of place 
here; inside the room is neat and organized but hardly what one would call 
kawaii. There are several tanakubons stacked next to a few girls magazines 
on the desk. The bookshelves have technical works and a few awards on them.
Camera equipment and photo albums take up a set of shelves all their own.
	The girl herself is curled up tight under the covers. A small fan 
blows her hair back slightly from a pretty face. 



It has been determined by the POEE that knowledge of Tendo Nabiki's
innermost thoughts and dreams would cause the collapse of the western 
banking system. As frustrating as this is, it has been determined
that the dream sequence for this portion of the fanfic should be censored 
until the year 3025 to protect this knowledge from those who are unready 
for it. 

Now back to you're regularly scheduled fanfic.



	And now we arrive at the last little duck. We all have seen the 
room before. The window has been replaced more times than anyone would 
care to admit. Akane sleeps peacefully tonight; no pervert fiancees trying 
to sneak into her room, no black piglets copping a feel, no lurking 
gymnasts. The room is a mess but it is obviously a very lived in mess. One 
shelf catches the eye in particular. A set of shiny awards and a single 
silver picture frame sit on the one place in the room that is kept clean 
and neat. The picture is unusual, not a shot of any her idols or admirers 
it is a simple affair much akin to a vacation photo. All of her family and 
most of her friends are there; it is the only thing she seems to keep to 
remind her of the people she cares for. 
	She turns over in her sleep and mutters a few words. Then in a soft 
whisper we can hear...
" oh Ranma..."



	It was that night again. She didn't know how she had gotten back 
here but here she was again. Nabiki had called her to her fathers presence.
Soun had calmly announced the engagement over again. It was all happening 
again. She wanted to scream. It had all gone so wrong so quickly.. If only. 
If only. It felt like she was a marionette and some master puppeteer was 
pulling her strings. She felt her body responding the way it had before. 
Heard herself say things she had wanted to take back a thousand thousand 
times. All to that moment when she had first insulted him and then hit him 
with a table when he claimed to be prettier than her. It reset again and 
again; dozens of times she saw poor luck and ill humor make her hurt someone 
who would become her best friend. Akane was no fool but she was just 
sixteen. The world confused and frightened her at times. There was the boy 
that against all reason she had come to love and they were both too 
stubborn, macho and, well, afraid to open up to each other. Every time they 
would come close something would go horribly wrong or their fathers would 
interfere. She wanted to know if he loved her so badly; she thought he did 
but he never seemed able to say so. And so she lay there - trapped in the 
bizarre loop until finally something seemed - different? She realized that 
she could move now and her father was talking again.

"...His name is Ranma Saotome. He and his father have just returned from a 
training trip to china."

	A voice could be heard from the entrance gate-
"C'mon pop - put me down!"
	Then there was the meow; and the honking; and about six other 
people arguing loudly - oddly it sounded like some kind of echo effect.
"I tell you fool boy.."
"nya nya !"
"..Oyajii you are such an idiot.."

	Soun and Nabiki had run off to greet their guests. Kasumi walking 
behind. Suddenly they were running back towards the house panic stricken.
Akane figured it at least wouldn't be such a shock this time and leaned 
out to see who was approaching. 
	There was Ranma-chan all right- hoisted over a panda's shoulder. But 
behind her? There was another Ranma - no two, no three of them! Two guys
and another girl! And the Duck ! And a CAT! And four MORE pandas!
	Akane fainted.
	When she awoke she was by the table again - Ranma (all 6 of him) 
and Genma (all 5 of him) were explaining about Jusenkyo and the curse of 
the Panda-Spring and Girl-Spring. 

"b, but - how did there get to be so many of you?" Nabiki stuttered.

"Well - When I found out I was a girl I was furious at pop for dragging 
me there. I started chasing him all around Jusenkyo. Unfortunately there is 
also a spring of drowned twins.. "

"Twins? But there's almost a dozen of you! And some of you have different 
curses!"

"well, ah , we didn't realize what was happening and we were wrestling 
around a lot- by the time we noticed what was happening it was too late."
Ranma was almost whispering.

"So now there's six of you and 5 of your father huh?"

"um no.. we just ran outta room on the last bus. The other 137 should be 
along shortly."

"Oh I think Akane would be the best choice-"Kasumi slid behind her.

"Oh yes, definitely Akane!" Nabiki added helpfully


	Akane bolts up in bed with a gasp. A short look around her room 
calms her and then the laughter begins. Soon she is using a pillow to 
prevent her hysterical laughter from waking anyone.

"Well,", she gasps, "I guess that would be worse than having a fiancee who 
turns into a girl."

	With a final few giggles she curls back under the sheets.

	Downstairs it is quiet. In the bedroom of the Tendo patriarch all 
seems to be calm. This mercurial man seems to find peace in his dreams.



	He was there again. In that summer land that seemed to exist behind 
the veil of tears. And again she was waiting for him.
"Soun-sama."

"Hello again, beloved."

	She turned to face a waterfall and the birds that swooped around it.
She addressed him but her voice was soft, reluctant.

"Soun, this is the last time I will be able to visit you- you have raised 
our three wonderful daughters well- as well as any father could do."

"I hope, I pray that they are a tribute to you my love."

"Thank you Soun, but it is time for them to seek their own happiness- and 
for you to seek yours."

"But I am happy here love!"

"That is precisely the point. You are happy here- outside of the world of 
dreams your hopes and happiness are as fragile as glass. It is time for you 
to marry again beloved. I will carry you in my heart always."

	She started to drift away - as if she were made of eiderdown 
floating on a breeze imperceptible to him.

"But, but Wait!- how am I to find a wife at my age- And I have vowed to 
always be true to you!"

"Ranma will show you the way love- and I release you from your vow."

	She faded from his sight, and again he was left crying and alone.



	Ranma tossed fitfully on the couch. He cried out once or twice 
occasionally recoiling as if he had been struck. His face was twisted 
into a desperate scowl for a few minutes then it dropped into an aspect of 
pure sorrow. He was whispering - talking to his dream.
"A- Akane, I never told you I loved you. I, I'm not good at saying what 
I mean but, Oh Akane don't leave me...."



	He was on that cliff again. Akane nestled in his arms, his heart in 
the deepest pit he could imagine. Slowly, like the sun rising, he saw her 
eyes open and his heart flew into his throat. He cried as he held her.
"I, I'm sorry I scared you, I was unconscious for a while and I couldn't 
move, but I heard everything."
	He held her closer. He knew he was closer to her now than he had 
ever been before. He had a chance now, all of his friends were here and 
they were too tired to interfere. He pulled Akane closer and kissed her on 
her forehead. He whispered into her ear.
"Don't scare me like that tomboy. I don't ever want to loose the woman I 
love."
	Akane was in shock. They just lay there exhausted and held each 
other as the sun set on Jusendo.
"I love you too baka."



	The Tendo house was full of dreams indeed. Desires and fears, 
Premonitions and memories, the tapestry was woven thick with hopeful 
tension. 
	But wait - there's one bedroom we haven't looked into yet! As we
creep along the hall a voice can be heard faintly muttering. A ricepaper 
door slides open to reveal a small and austere room. Few would guess that 
within this room resides the most evil man in all of Japan, fewer still 
would guess that the room contains more magic items than any ten ancient
Chinese antique stores combined. Only those who knew the house would guess 
that it also held more women's silky undergarments then Sylia Stingray's 
boutique. The voice begins anew.

"ohh such wonderful panties! Let me free you dearies!"

	There are some places man was not meant to go.

---------end chapter 4

Coming soon: Part 5 - What the Dawn May Bring. 

PS MUCHOS GRACIAS to the following!
Rumiko Takahashi - for making this world up for us to play in.
ZEN AND the Lost Lurker- I promise to get at least one of the characters 
	names right on the first try before this fic is over! really !
DRM - for the constructive criticism
and the others on the FFML who commented or told me they wanted to see 
more of this.

Kent Armstrong 
TnekG@aol.com
or
armstk@uf4965p01.BentonvilleAR.ncr.com 

web page-find parts 1-3 and the rest as I write em.
http://members.aol.com/TnekG/index.html

Thanks for reading this!