Not quite part three, but I had decided to include chapters 12 - 15, but
then I realized something... They really sucked, and I wanted to write
something better to replace them...  So, be looking for Chapter 12 pretty
soon, if I can get to it...

Chapter 11

    Ranma sighed as he sat in the train.  Next to him was 
Nabiki, and some how, whether through boredom, she had 
fallen asleep and was resting her head on Ranma's 
shoulder.  Ranma watched intently at Nabiki, her hair, her 
lips and smooth skin.  Ranma sighed.  `And she's going to 
become my step-sister.'  Ranma looked else where as he 
tried to remember the whole point of this little train ride.

    Nodoka had looked at her son.  "You know, I think you 
should spend your vacation over at your Aunt's home.  I'm 
sure that you would like the beach."  Ranma sighed as he 
watched Ranko and Ryoga, both quite asleep and 
practically on top of each other.  Akane had refused the 
trip, citing that Kuno was going to take her to some special 
place, and Kasumi was taking summer classes at her 
college, so she absolutely had no free time.

    Nabiki had been rather quick when she said that she 
wanted to go, citing that she had never been to the beach.  
Ranko well, she had always loved swimming, and she 
immediately agreed, but not before dragging Ryoga along 
with her.

    Ranma grumbled a bit on the train, thinking that Nodoka 
was virtually alone with Soun.  "Damn it, mom and Mr. 
Tendo are going to have a ton of free time together.  
Nothing had better happen when I get back."  Ranma, 
although he knew that he probably couldn't influence the 
marriage anymore, knew that at least he could have the joy 
of not accepting Soun as his step-father.

    Ranma focused his attention back at Nabiki, and he 
noticed with slight mirth that a slight trail of drool was 
dripping down from her mouth.  In his lap, his cat was 
curled up, sleeping away the trip.  "I can't believe that I'm 
the only one awake."  He groaned slightly, and he reached 
over and wiped the drool off her face.

    Some two hours later, Ranma was distressed to notice 
that everyone was still asleep.  "Ah, we've arrived.  Get up 
you lazy girl."  Ranko's eyes fluttered as she looked at her 
brother who seemed somewhat cross.

    "Yeah, whatever."  Ranko yawned a bit, and pushed 
Ryoga a bit.  Her boyfriend started to shift.  "Wake up you 
sleepy head!  We're there."  Ryoga groaned a bit before 
pushed himself into an upright position.

    Ranma picked up his cat, and placed it on his shoulder.  
"You know how Aunt Natsuko behaves when we're late."  
The cat momentarily bared its fangs at Ranko, making her 
shiver slightly.  Ranma tapped Nabiki.  "Hey, we're there."  
Shouldering his knapsack, the pigtailed boy was first off 
the train.

    Ryoga looked at Ranko.  "What's wrong Ranko?"

    "I really have to convince my brother to get rid of that 
cat."  Ranko shouldered her duffel bag.  Ryoga grabbed a 
couple bags for his girlfriend and walked off the train.  The 
others soon followed.

    As soon as all of them stepped off the train, they were 
greeted by Aunt Natsuko.  "Ah, Ranma!  Ranko!  It's been 
such awhile since I've seen you two!"  Natsuko hugged 
Ranko, and turned to Ranma.  He merely walked past her.

    "It's nice to meet you too."  Ranma muttered.  Aunt 
Natsuko sighed, as she had received specific orders from 
her older sister to try to be as nice to Ranma as possible.

    She glanced at Ranma as he seemingly focused his 
attention on his cat, then she turned her attention to Nabiki.  
"And what might be your name?"  Nabiki smiled.

    "Nabiki Tendo.  Soon to be step-sister of Ranma and 
Ranko."  Natsuko's eyes light up.

    "Ah, Nodoka told me all about you and your sisters.  So 
this is the first time you've been to the beach?  It's great 
during this time of year.  Come along now, I'm sure that 
two hours in a train made you all very tired."

    Natsuko eyed Ryoga for a bit.  "And what a nice looking 
young man.  I hope you haven't come here to take 
advantage of my favorite niece."

    Ryoga turned all red.  "Me?  I wouldn't want to.  I 
mean."

    Ranko burst into laughter.  "Oh don't worry Aunty, you 
don't need to pull out your knives for my benefit.  If Ryoga 
here tries to take advantage of me, it'll be because I asked 
for it."

    Natsuko smiled somewhat.  "I'm sure, and from what 
I've heard from your mother, I'm sure you could standup 
for yourself easily."

* * *

    "I'm so sorry for the lack of space, but if it's not too hard 
to ask, all of you have to stay in one room.  We had to 
convert one of the guest rooms into a storage room.  I'm so 
sorry."  Aunt Natsuko led the foursome to the guest room.  
Opening the door, she allowed her nephew, niece and their 
companions to settle into the room.

    Ranma dropped his duffel bag on the floor, and looked 
around.  `Not bad, but a little small.'  Ranko sighed.  "Only 
two beds.  Are we going to have to pair up during night?"  
Ranko looked at Ryoga, and giggled.  Ranma sighed as he 
looked at Nabiki and at the two beds.

    "Not necessary.  I'll sleep on the floor."  Within Ranma, 
he could feel a tiny voice berating him for not taking 
advantage of the situation.  `I don't know what would 
happen if I got into bed with her.'

    Nabiki seemed somewhat put off.  "Sure Ranma, 
thanks."  She didn't know why he had shot her that glance 
before making his decision.  It sort of made her think that 
something was on Ranma's mind.

    The door behind them opened, revealing a little boy.  
Ranko smiled, and kneeled in front of the boy.  "What's 
your name?"

    Ranma grinned a little bit, perhaps he had a soft spot for 
little kids.  "Hi Tadashi."

    The boy seemed amazed.  "How do you know my 
name?"  Ranko looked at Ranma as well.

    "Yeah, how did you know his name?"  Ranma shrugged 
his shoulders.  The cat leaped from the bed onto Nabiki's 
shoulder, and came to a rest on his shoulder.  The little 
boy's eyes opened wide as soon as he saw the cat.

    "A cat!  Can I play with it?  Please?  I won't hurt it!"  
Ranma looked at his cat, and then at the little boy.

    "Sure, just don't hurt the cat."  Ranma picked up the cat, 
and placed it on the boy's head.

    "Oh yeah, Mom wanted to say that she wanted to see all 
of you having fun, so you can spend all the time you want 
at the beach.  If you just need anything, you can ask her."  
The boy placed the cat on the ground, "Let's go 
swimming."  He ran off with the cat chasing after him.

    Everyone could sort of hear Ranko's sigh of relief.

* * *

    Ranko looked at Ranma.  "Come on, why won't you 
come swimming with Ryoga and me?"  Ranma shrugged 
his shoulders as he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.  His 
sister glared at him.  "Well, I won't stand for it.  Ryoga!  
Help me carry Ranma!"

    "What!?  Hey, let go of me!  You know I don't like to 
swim.  Hey!"  Ryoga and his sister grabbed a hold of 
Ranma, and were carrying him by his hands and feet 
towards the water.

    "In you go!"  shouted his sister, and Ranma found 
himself unceremoniously dumped into the warm, salty 
water.  Everyone else broke into laughter.

    "Ranko!  I'll get you!"  In seconds, Ranko found herself 
briefly submerged.  She spit out a mouthful of water.

    "Hey!  That wasn't fair!"  Ranko glared at the two boys, 
who were sort of laughing.  "Hey, Nabiki!  Would you 
mind giving your step-sister a hand here?  These two 
morons here are picking on me!"

    A smile appeared on Nabiki face as she stood up.  
"Sure."  Ryoga could almost swear that he heard Ranma 
curse under his breath.

    However, that did not become a problem, as the water 
served to cool down tensions and for once, Ranko would 
admit, Ranma did seem quite happy, playing in the water, 
as if he didn't have a care in the world.

* * *

    Ranma walked out of the bathroom, with his face 
somewhat ashen.  His fun in the water had finally caught 
up to him, and after a day of lounging in the sun and getting 
blown by the cool breeze while wet, he could feel a 
sickness coming over him.  He looked so bad, that when he 
walked into the bedroom, three concerned people looked at 
him.

    "You don't look so hot, Ranma."  Ryoga looked at 
Ranma closely.

    "Yeah."  Ranko looked at him.

    "Never mind, it was too much sun.  I think I'm going to 
sleep."  Ranma unrolled the sleeping bag, and he settled 
into sleep.  But sleep was not going to last long, as there 
was a scream coming from the bathroom.

    Ryoga and Ranko were first to respond, and the two 
were out of their bed and down the hall, and into the 
bathroom.  There was Tadashi, draped in a towel, staring at 
the cat, which was all wet. The cat immediately shook 
itself dry, and ran out of the room.  Ranko couldn't help but 
notice a trickle of red blood dripping from poor Tadashi's 
nose.

    "B-b-big o-on-ones and l-lo-long hair," said the little 
boy.

    Ranko kneeled down next to the boy.  "What did you 
see?"

   Tadashi turned to Ranko.  "I saw a woman.  I was going 
to wash, and when the cat went into the water, it turned 
into a girl."  He paused to wipe his nose dry.

    Ranko turned to Ryoga and started to laugh somewhat.  
"Sure, Tadashi.  I'll be sure to tell that to Ranma."  As the 
two left the bathroom, she couldn't help but laugh a little.  
"Ryoga, whoever heard of a cat turning into a woman?  
Poor Tadashi must be suffering from heat exhaustion."

* * *

    Nabiki was awakened by the sounds of coughing.  
Rolling over in her bed she looked down at Ranma, who 
was not asleep at all.  Contrarily, he seemed to be wide 
awake staring at the ceiling.  "Hey, Ranma are you ok?"  
He coughed raggedly.

    "Yeah, I'm fine."

    "You are the worst liar I've ever seen.  Climb in."  
Nabiki sat up as if she were going to go on the floor.  "I'll 
sleep in the sleeping bag.  Besides,"  she continued, "I can't 
sleep at all with you making all of that noise."

    "What do you mean?  I can't possibly do that.  Good 
night."  Ranma settled back down.  Nabiki grumbled 
something.

    Unable to express her displeasure with his coughing, she 
rolled over and looked at him.  "You sure are stubborn."

    His eyes flashed open, and he looked straight into her 
eyes.  "You are way too patronizing.  And if you excuse 
me, I want to get some sleep."

    Nabiki laid on her back, wide awake as she listened to 
Ranma cough a couple times.  Unable to bear it any longer, 
Nabiki rolled over.  "Get in, now."  Ranma's eyes opened 
again, and she couldn't help but notice a mixture of fear as 
well as interest in his eyes.

    "You what?"

    "You heard me.  Get in, or I'm going to spend the entire 
night listening to you cough."

    "But, I don't think it's right."

    "Shut up, and get in.  But no funny business."  She 
realized that he hadn't moved yet.  "Get in, or I'm going to 
pick you up and put you in the bed."

    With a groan, Ranma climbed into the bed, and Nabiki 
rolled over, leaving plenty of room between the two.

* * *

    At daybreak, a pair of eyes shot open immediately.  
Looking around, the eyes tried to determine the location.  
They looked to the left, and found a bed some distance 
away.  They looked to the right, and found girl no more 
than one foot away.  Ranma practically leaped out of bed.

    He looked around, and had realized that he had spent the 
entire night in bed with Nabiki.  `Oh great, am I a pervert!  
What would the others think!  Oh jeez, am I going to Hell?'  
Looking around, there was not an indication that anyone 
had seen him, and with a sigh of relief, he grabbed his 
duffel bag, and began to dress.

    As sleep slowly left Ranma, details from the night before 
entered his mind.  Glancing at Nabiki, who was deep 
asleep, Ranma bent down, until there faces were no more 
than inches apart.  He tried to move forward, but he refused 
to do so.  Instead, he whispered.  "Thank you."

    He slowly pulled away.  "You're welcome."  He froze, 
and looked back.  Nabiki yawned a bit, and she slowly sat 
up.  "What were you going to do?"

    Ranma locked up for a bit, but he managed to free his 
tongue.  "Nothing.  I'm going for breakfast."  Calmly he 
left the room.  She sighed.

   Not too long later, the other people in the room started to 
stir.  "What a beautiful morning!"  Ranko exclaimed.  
"Hey, wait a sec, where is Ranma?"

    "He went to get breakfast."  Nabiki sat up in bed, and 
yawned again.  She still couldn't believe that Ranma had 
woken up that early.  It still was only 10 o'clock.  "He 
doesn't like to sleep, does he?"  Ranko shrugged her 
shoulders, and thumped Ryoga in the stomach playfully.

    "Geez!  What are you trying to do?  Kill me?"  Sitting 
up, he leaped onto Ranko and started to tickle her.

* * *

    "So, Aunty Natsuko, where is Ranma?"  Ranko asked 
while stuffing her mouth with rice gruel and other stuff.  By 
now, Ryoga was quite used to her appetite, but Tadashi and 
Nabiki sat there staring at her as she finished her second 
bowl.

     Natsuko smiled somewhat as she returned from the 
kitchen with yet another bowl for Ranko.  "I'm not so sure.  
I think Ranma might be outside.  I haven't seen him much 
today, he went outside when I just woke up."

    Ranko frowned some what.  "And I was hoping that he'd 
want to be with Ryoga and me."  Well, that wasn't really 
the case as Ranko really wanted to check up on Ranma, to 
make sure he wasn't in trouble and such.

    Ranma sighed as he sat on the edge of the cliff, looking 
out at the water crashing into the beach below.  He hated 
being alone, but it was one of those rare moments that he 
could feel proud for himself.  He didn't have someone to 
pamper him.  There was no person to do something for 
him.  He just did everything to the best of his ability, and 
he could be proud of that.

    Next to him was his cat, who was seated looking down at 
the smooth white sand.  It shivered slightly.  Ranma 
somehow felt it shiver.  "Scared of falling?"  Ranma 
pushed his cat back away from the edge.  "Funny isn't it?  
It takes roughly 1.5 seconds for you to fall from here."  He 
leaned forwards slightly to get a better view of the ground.

    "Hey, what are you looking at?"  Turning around, Ranma 
was practically face-to-face with Nabiki.  "You know your 
sister is worried sick about you?"  Without waiting for a 
response, Nabiki settled down next to Ranma.  "So what 
brings you to this place?  There certainly is nothing here to 
look at."

    "Exactly."  Ranma turned to Nabiki, and she was 
surprised by the relative lack of emotion in his eyes.

    "So why are you here?"

    "Because it's a chance for me to be alone and to think."  
He felt his cat brushing its head against his arm, and 
automatically like a reflex, he petted it.

    "Sometimes I wish I could do that, but believe me, with 
my sisters and father that is impossible."  Nabiki sighed as 
she dangled her legs in the air.  Strangely enough, being on 
the edge had a certain thrill for her.  One couldn't say the 
same for Ranma.  "God," she said while looking down, 
"falling from here won't be a pretty sight."

    Ranma snickered.  "It's nothing.  1.5 seconds of flight, 
and a nasty hit on the bottom.  The most you get is a couple 
broken bones and a lot of sand in your mouth."

    "And how would you know?"

    "Let's say, one day, a long time ago like when I was 11, I 
decided to take a fall at this very point."

* * *

    "Ranko let me get this straight, Ranma decided to just 
jump from there when he was 11?"  Nabiki was pointing at 
a cliff no more than 50 feet high in the distance.  A young 
man could be seen perched on the edge looking out at the 
water.

    Ranko looked somewhat nervous, and she shoved her 
hands into her pockets.  "Well, what did he say?"  She 
stared at Nabiki, amazed that Ranma would actually tell 
someone that spontaneously.

    "I don't know, I just said that it was scary up there, and 
he practically laughed.  He said that it was nothing."

    Ranko looked as if she was really tired.  "Figures, 
Ranma in those days didn't give a crap about himself."  
She turned to look at Ranma in the distance.  "Well, I 
wouldn't worry about him now."  As she looked at Ryoga, 
a smile crept onto her face.  "Come along, we need to get 
wet."

    "Yes, ma'am."

    Nabiki stood there, and she too stared out at the cliff 
before following Ranko onwards.

* * *

    "Isn't the moon beautiful?"  The was a small affirmative 
meow that seemed to agree with Ranma.  "Well, it is 
getting late."  With a small groan, Ranma pushed himself 
away from the ledge and stood up.  "We ought to be going 
back, no?"

    The cat meowed again.  "I just hope when I take a bath, I 
don't bother the others.  Want to take a bath with me?"  
Ranma laughed when the cat practically jumped.  "Of 
course you don't, cats hate water."  Bending down, he 
carefully picked up the cat and held it as he walked down 
the slanted, rocky path back to the house.

    Quietly opening the door, Ranma looked at the clock.  
"Great, it's midnight," he whispered.  He dropped the cat 
on the floor to do as it wished, and he walked into the 
bathroom.  Surprisingly the cat followed him in.

    Stripping himself free of his clothes, he grabbed the 
shower head and cleaned himself off before he walked into 
the tub filled with hot water.  Ranma made a personal note 
to thank his Aunt tomorrow for filling the tub.  The cat did 
not look directly at him while he bathed.

    Having been refreshed after some 10 minutes, Ranma 
climbed out of the tub and proceeded to dry himself off, 
facing away from the cat.  This was not a good thing, as for 
once, the cat could see the nasty white lines and scars that 
were on Ranma's back, a permanent reminder from the 
accident.

    Ranma finally put on some clothes, and the cat was able 
to move again.  The first thing that the cat did was rub 
itself against Ranma's ankles.  "Hey, please stop it?  It's 
sort of ticklish."  He managed to easily suppress laughter, 
and he picked up the cat.  "I think it was time that we went 
to sleep."

    After carefully sneaking down the hallway, Ranma 
carefully opened the door and let himself into the room.  
Silently, he was about to climb into his sleeping bag, when 
he heard a tired voice.  "Ranma, what the hell are you 
doing up so late?"  He heard a body move in the bed next to 
him.

    "Nothing.  Go back to sleep.  I'm sorry that I woke you."

    "Oh, it's nothing.  I couldn't sleep at all."  There was a 
tired yawn from Nabiki.

    "That's too bad."  Ranma pulled his sleeping bag a little 
bit.  He could hear the cat crawling around as if playing 
with the sleeping bag.

    "You're not going to cough again tonight?  I really need 
my sleep.  If you want to, feel free to sleep in the bed."  
Ranma could hear her rolling over as if to make room.  He 
stood there for a moment.  `So what shall I do?  Should I 
take advantage of her offer?  Shall I refuse her offer?'

    Well in the end, Ranma grumbled a bit as he climbed 
into the bed next to Nabiki.  With a sigh, he made sure he 
was facing away from Nabiki.  There was an angry hiss 
from his cat.  "You can get in as well."  Ranma lifted the 
covers a little, and he felt something rush past him and land 
between him and Nabiki.  "Not there, you'd get 
suffocated."  Ranma lifted his cat and deposited it on the 
other side of his body.

* * *

    Nabiki woke up to the sound of soft laughter.  Groaning 
a bit, Nabiki found herself snuggled against Ranma.  He 
was still dead asleep.  Evidently he was tired from going to 
bed rather late last night.  "I don't know how you did it, but 
you've managed to get Ranma to be in the same bed with 
you?"  Ranko was perched at the foot of the bed staring at 
the two.

    Nabiki instantly woke up and she practically pulled away 
from Ranma.  "And how did I end up."

    Ranko's face filled with mock horror.  "And wow, you 
even got him to hug you."  Nabiki found Ranma's arm 
indeed had wrapped around her during their sleep.  
Certainly, there had been a lot of interesting movement 
during their slumber.  "You must had done something 
really impressive to get him to do that."

    Nabiki picked up her pillow and tossed it at Ranko.  
"Hey, nothing happened."  But that was not a wise move, 
as the sudden movement caused Ranma's eyes to 
immediately open.  He immediately felt a little pressure on 
his right arm, and turning his head he saw that Nabiki was 
on his arm.

    "Oh great."  Ranma muttered.

* * *

      

Credits.

Chiaki Nakaike for Japanese names. (This is her real name!  
She has no relation to Chiaki Eno. (Thank god!) )

Andrew Huang, Keener, Mike.  For being rather helpful 
with comments.