I've started on another one.  Really must finish my other stories
first.  Anyway, here it is.

Disclaimer:  Characters used in this story are owned by Rumiko
Takahashi, Naoko Takeuchi, and co.

This story takes place after volume 38 of the Ranma manga.  This story
draws ideas from the anime of both series.

This is a side story to my crossover [need help with name] series that
started off with Sailor Moon R 1/2.

C & C wanted.  Flames not.

Preludes and Interludes:  Ami

by

Donny Cheng

Seven years ago...

 "Hey!  Give that back."  Chibi-Ami cried out.

 Chibi-Ranma looked back for a moment and saw the girl was still chasing
after him.  They were already pretty far from the playground where he
had taken the cookies.  She must really have wanted them back badly.

 Ami gasped for breath.  She was tired from running all that distance.
As a result, her next couple of steps caused her slip.  Her knee scraped
against the gravel.  "Oww!"

 Ranma stopped as he heard the cry of pain.  Boy, girls sure were
clumsy.  He walked back to see how the girl was feeling.  "Hey, you're
not hurt are you?"  Ranma felt guilty as he saw the scraped skin on the
girl's knee.

 Ami refused to cry in front of the boy.  Instead, she wordlessly
pointed to the bag of cookies in Ranma's hand.

 "Okay, you can have them back."  Ranma looked wistfully at the treats
as the girl took them back.

 "Don't you know that stealing is wrong?"  Ami got her first real good
look at the boy as she reprimanded him.  He seemed to be near the same
age she was.  He was wearing a tattered gi and his hair was very
unkempt.  Also, Ami had to admit he was cute.  Very cute.

 "Wrong?  I'm hungry, so I eat.  That's the way my dad taught me."  His
stomach growled in agreement.

 Ami tried fighting the urge to feed the obviously hungry boy.  These
were special cookies her mother made for her and the boy was a crook.
However, her nurturing nature got the better of her and she relented.
"Here, have some.  Anyway, your dad is wrong.  You can't go around
taking things, because they belong to other people.  Didn't you learn
that in school?"

 "School?"  Ranma was getting more puzzled by the minute.

 "You don't know what school is?  It's a place where people gain
knowledge that will help them later in life.  You also learn about
certain conventions in society, like stealing is bad."  Ami sighed at
the boy's blank look.  He didn't understand anything of what she was
saying.  "Take me to your father.  Maybe I can get him to understand the
importance of going to school.  By the way, my name's Ami."

 "I'm Ranma."  Ranma grinned.  The cookies tasted wonderful.

   * * * * *

 Genma sweated nervously.  He could imagine how much of a fool he
looked.  A grown man being scolded by a nine-year-old girl.  The crowd,
gathered around the empty lot where his campsite was, was getting quite
large.  Many of the onlookers were joining in with the young girl.  "I
don't see why.  We're only going to be in this area for a couple of
months at most."

 "It doesn't matter whether it's for a few weeks or even a few days.
What matters, is that you get your son get some type of education.  Do
you want your son to be a dumb brawler or a smart fighter?"  Ami knew
that the last sentence would appeal to the martial artist in Genma.

 "Alright, I'll enroll the boy tomorrow."  The crowd finally dispersed
after getting Genma's agreement.  He would never admit it to the little
girl, but the idea of Ranma becoming a smarter fighter sounded very
nice.

   * * * * *

 �Ami-sensei.�  Ranma gave an exaggerated bow to Ami when he met her in
the park for their tutoring session.

 �Hello, Ranma-kun.  Are ready to get started with numbers today?�

 �Yes.�  Truthfully, Ranma didn�t really care for school.  It was very
boring to sit there and listen for a few hours.  The only things he
liked about school were gym and seeing Ami.  She was always kind to him
and would sometimes bring him food.

 A moment later, Ranma soon fell fast asleep.  Ami smiled at Ranma.  Ami
put her jacket over him.  It was sweet of him to pretend that he was
interested in homework for her sake.  She could guess how much work it
took for Ranma just to get to school.  A wild child like Ranma would be
bored if he had to sit in only one place for any long period of time.
She hoped that there was something she could do to reward him for his
effort.

   * * * * *

 Ranma gave yell of joy as his father fell to the ground.  His first
win.  He had beaten his father for the first time and it was all thanks
to Ami.  �Thank you, Ami!�

 Ami blushed as Ranma picked her up into a hug.  She didn�t really do
all that much.  She noticed that all of the battles Ranma had with his
Father started almost exactly the same way.  After a few rounds of
sparring, the match would continue on into any number of ways.  Ami told
Ranma of her findings.  Ranma and her came up with a couple of counter
attacks to use at the beginning of the fight.  It would only work once
against a master of Genma�s capacity.  The fights would get harder for
Ranma to win now that Genma would be more prepared, but that would only
end up helping Ranma in the long run.  �You did all of the real work,
Ranma.�

 Genma tried hard to conceal the grin on his face.  Ranma was learning
faster than he had anticipated.  A little girl with absolutely no
martial arts experience helped defeat an Anything Goes School Master?
Maybe school did have some use after all.  At the very least it would
help expand Ranma�s mind and make him more adaptable to new changes.

   * * * * *

 Ami and Ranma stood in front of each other.  Both of them were looking
at the ground, too shy to express their feelings.  Ami finally broke the
silence and hugged Ranma.  �Goodbye, Ranma-kun.�

 Ranma awkwardly hugged her back.  �Goodbye, Ami-sensei.  I won�t ever
forget you.�  Ranma then turned and followed after his father.  He would
miss his smart little friend.

 �I won�t ever forget you too, Ranma.�  Ami whispered as tears flowed
down her face.

   * * * * *

Present day�

 Dr. Mizuno awoke to see her daughter busily baking up a storm.  She
also noticed Ami was wearing a bit more makeup than usual.  Who was the
lucky boy, she wondered.

   * * * * *

 Ami handed the cookies to Kasumi as she entered the home.  �Do you know
where Ranma is?�

 �Yes, he�s in the dojo practicing.�  Kasumi proceeded to take Ami to
Ranma.  She left Ami at the entrance and went back to her house
cleaning.

 Ami stood at the doorway staring in rapt fascination.  Ranma was
gracefully doing a complex kata.  �Beauti� I mean, what a aesthetically
pleasing technique.�  She blushed furiously at her slip of the tongue.
Ami was usually a practical person, but her father�s influence left her
with an appreciation for good art in all it�s forms.

 �Hi, Ami.  What are you doing here?�  Ranma asked as Ami walked into
the dojo.

 �Oh, I was wondering if I could sign up for a martial arts class.�
That was only part of the truth.  Ami knew that her fighting skills were
not quite up to par with the other senshi other than Usagi.  The other
part of her just wanted to see Ranma again.

 �I don�t think Mr. Tendo teaches anymore, but I guess I could teach
you.  I still haven�t repaid you for helping me beat pop for the first
time a few years ago.  Do you want to spar first?  I have to see how
skilled you are first.�  Ranma grinned at Ami as he got into a ready
stance.

 �Okay, ready when you are Ranma-sensei.�  She and Ranma both smiled at
their private joke.

   * * * * *

 �Whoa!�  Ranma yelled out as he flipped out of Ami�s throw.  He landed
on his feet.  �I think you�ve mastered the Saotome Secret Technique
without even trying.  You�re good, Ami.  I think that it should be you
that should teach me a few moves.  I don�t even recognize the style
you�re using.�

 Ami bigsweated.  She had forgotten that the fighting style that Luna
and Artemis trained her in dated back to the Silver Moon Kingdom.  �Uh�
It�s a very old style that you�ve probably never heard of.  Anyway, I
know that in a real fight I wouldn�t have been able to throw you.  You
weren�t even going all out against me.  The reason I wanted to learn
from you is that I�m just not as good as the rest of my friends like
Makoto.�

 Ranma shook his head.  �You�re wrong Ami.  I think you still would�ve
been able to do that throw in a real fight.  You were very cautious in
that fight.  You evaded all of my blows and only attacked when you saw
an opening.  Makoto and the other girls might have better skill than you
might, but you can think better that they can.  I wouldn�t place any
bets on a fight between you or any of your friends.  I just wouldn�t
know who would win.�

 Ami blushed at Ranma�s compliment.  �Thank you, Ran��  Ami stopped in
mid sentence as the door to the dojo was suddenly flung open.  Kodatchi,
Ukyo, Shampoo, Usagi, Chibi-Usa, Rei, Makoto, Minako, and Hotaru came
rushing into the dojo.

 �We want to learn from you too!�  The girls all yelled out in unison.

 Ranma bigsweated.  Nabiki.  It had to be her.  I�ll get you for this,
Nabiki.

   * * * * *

 Nabiki sneezed as she was counting the money in her hands.  Life was
good.

   * * * * *

The End. (maybe)