Ranma 1/2:  The Return of the Sisters
by David A. Tatum and The Eternally Lost Lurker

First comments: (1) Don't put my name in the "by" line. Just mention
in the author's notes that I came up with the original idea that
started this fic. (2) It's Eternal Lost Lurker, not Eternally Lost
Lurker.

all good epics, I begin this story 'en media res,' so as to NOT

have all of

the Lurker's work be at the beginning...  By the way, I'm starting

to use

the Fanfic Standard Japanese\English mix  (What do you call that? 

Japish? 

Enganese?).  If I make a major mistake in usage, please let me

know.

Japlish, actually...but that only counts for speech patterns like
Kunou-kouchou's...for the fanfic mix, I'd call it...hmm..."Standard
Japanese Usage in an English-Dubbed Fanfiction."

The Lurker didn't say when he set it.  Obviously, this takes place

some

time after the events in 'Akane and Her Sisters,' though how long

after

(or, for that matter, where that actually fits in the manga) is

debatable. 

It doesn't fit in the manga. So all concepts of continuity are pretty
much wide open.

Considering I don't want to mess around with the differences in

timelines

between manga and anime (I use a manga\anime mesh), I'll just set

this some

time after the last manga.

That'll work.

Ranma stoked the camp fire.  'Five... four... three... two...

one... go!' 

In a flash, his hands moved in and out, each one holding about a

dozen

chestnuts.

Hmph. Showoff...

Ranma gawked at her as she left the tent wearing just a VERY flimsy
nightgown, with obviously nothing underneath the translucent

material. 

<nosebleed>

"Ack!"  Ranma cried as he was jostled by Akane.  Recovering his

balance, he

looked back at his new wife.  "Why're you counting, Akane?  The bag

had

twenty-eight chestnuts in it."

She frowned.  "But I only see twenty five here..."  A loud popping

sound

came from the fire, and a chestnut piece went flying between them. 
"Aaaaagh!"  Akane shouted, narrowly dodging one flaming fragment. 

"You

baka!  You left a chestnut in there, and now it's ruined.  Oh,

well- it'll

just have to come out of your half- I get fourteen, and you get

thirteen." 

<piku> Is it just me, or did she just get 27 chestnuts out of 25 of
28 chestnuts?

Ranma looked down in mock distress.  Akane laughed.  A gleam came

into her

eye.  "Tell you what, Ranma... I'll split that thirteenth chestnut

with

you... but you have to come get it."  She placed one of the

chestnuts in

her teeth, leaving enough of it out for Ranma to grab onto with his

own.

ooooooooooo.............

Ranma got the idea right away- though he was a bit nervous about

it, and

Akane wasn't holding the chestnut quite right for what she had in

mind. 

After some fumbling, however, they were soon locked in a

chestnut-induced

kiss.  Akane's arms, running along Ranma's back, slowly worked

their way

around and started to unbutton his silk shirt.  Before things could

go any

further, however, Ranma broke away, startling Akane.

"Akane... I don't think I'm ready for this just yet..."

!? Good lord...

"Ranma... if you love me, and I l... l... love you, and we're

MARRIED, than

what's the problem?"

Ranma sighed, letting one arm go.  "Akane, it's nothing about you. 

I'm

just not sure I'm ready for what'll happen if we do."

Figures.

"Huh?  What do you mean?"

"Well, you know the mess that's happened to us the last nine

months... how

much suffering we and our friends have gone through.  I don't want

to have

to go through that again so soon, you know?"

Akane's mood lifted a little.  "Oh, is that all?"  She giggled a

little,

though her mood was effected by the memories of what happened. 

"Well, for

one thing, you don't need to worry about that- I've got

protection... I

went on the pill when we decided on a wedding date.  Second, if it

weren't

for that 'mess,' you and I never would have found out how we felt

about

each other.  And finally, I doubt if most pregnancies are quite

so...

hectic... as that one was...."

<snicker> The impending flashbacks should be most interesting...

The younger girl, Kurumi, if affected by the harsh tone with which
the other spoke, gave no indication of anything other than worry.
"I'm only looking out for you, Natsume," she said gently.

Everyone at the table smiled. Souun stood, and moved to greet the
two girls. "Well now, welcome! It's been such a long time since we
last saw you two!" 

Natsume and Kurumi bowed, Kurumi still holding onto her older
sister. Natsume flashed her a glare which was ignored. "It is good

to

see you again as well, sir," Natsume said. 

Ranma and Akane stood before the pair, both smiling. "Hello you
two! How've you been?" Akane asked. 

"We've been well, thank you," Natsume said. Kurumi's expression
indicated that her sister wasn't giving the whole story.

<snort> Not by a longshot...<pikupiku> Heyyy....waitasec...<smacks
himself> Way to go, dipshit. Y'just MSTed yerself. <chuckle>

Kurumi took a deep breath, and said, "This is going to come as a
shock, but...the reason we need a place to stay for a while is
because..." She paused. Natsume nodded, and she continued. "Well,

you

see...Natsume is...is with child."

The Tendous and Saotomes fell into a stunned silence.

Kasumi was the first one to break that silence, with her typical

response

of "Oh, my!"

<falls over laughing> What a perfectly timed Kasumi-ism!

"With... child?"  Souun asked gutturally.  "As in... pregnant?" 

Natsume

and Kurumi both nodded.  "A- are you..."

"No, she's not married," Kurumi said.

"Who's the father?  We can at least get him to pay for the hospital

bills,"

Nabiki asked.

"Er..."  Natsume began.  "I- I'm not sure."

<sweatdrop>

"How did it happen?"  She asked.  It wasn't quite in her usual
business-like tone of voice, but it was at least she didn't put TOO

much

emotion into it.  Her reputation for being imperturbable must be
maintained.

<snort> But of course.

Kurumi frowned.  "Isn't that getting a LITTLE too personal?"

Natsume sighed.  "I don't need my little sister to protect my,

Kurumi. 

Besides, they have a right to know."  She turned to Nabiki.  "About

two or

three weeks ago, we were still searching for our parents, as we

have been

since before we were six years old.  Having found that your father,

Souun

Tendou, was not the one we sought, we no longer have any leads to

assist us

in our quest.  I was dwelling on this point, sitting in a...

bar...."

Akane blinked.  "A bar?  How much older than me are you?"

Natsume squirmed.  "I'm... eighteen."

"But I thought you had to be twenty to legally get a drink in a

bar?" Ranma

said carelessly.  Akane elbowed him hard and shushed him.  Nabiki

smirked. 

She knew where this was going.

<sighs> Japan, remember? Japan? Country with different rules than
ours? I'm not entirely sure they have an age limit in bars...

"You do... I was drinking illegally."

<shakes head> Can't drink illegally in a country with no legal
drinking age...

Natsume coughed.  "Anyway, I was sitting in a bar, and got rather

drunk.  A

young man approached me... I doubt he was in the bar legally

either, but

from the look of things the bouncers were too afraid of him to do

anything

about it.  I looked familiar to him, and he to me, and we began

talking

about... nothing in particular..."  She smiled sadly in

recollection.  

<crack*boom*ominous thunder>

"I would recognize him," Kurumi interrupted.  "I know I've seen him

before-

I think I, er, borrowed some food from him before."

<snicker> Has anyone else figured out where this is going yet...?

"One thing let to another," Natsume continued, "And... well, you

can

probably guess the rest.  In his drunken state, all he wanted was

revenge

on his fiancee, and I, in my drunken state, wanted some...

companionship. 

A few days, maybe a week afterwards, I started getting sick in the
mornings.  I was recovering from these bouts after only a short

time, but

it still worried Kurumi, so I went to see a doctor.  The doctor

told us

that I was pregnant, and that's when Kurumi and I decided to return

here,

to where the closest things we have ever had to a... to a family...

lived."

Silence rained for a few seconds.  Surprisingly, it was Souun who

broke it.

 "Well, of course you're family... In fact, if you want, I'll make

it

official by adopting you two."

O_o Whoa...

Akane and Nabiki gasped.  Ranma blinked.  Genma started examining

his long

time friend, wondering if there was any physical evidence of what

caused

the sudden loss of his sanity.  Even Kasumi didn't seem entirely
comfortable with the idea.

No *kidding*...doing that would completely and totally screw the
Tendou name...

Natsume and Kurumi both noted the reaction of the assembled clans. 

"Er,

that isn't necessary," Natsume began.  "I would rather keep hope of

meeting

my real father one day."

Many of the assembled company gave out a sigh of relief.  "Then at

least

let me be your foster father until you are able to search for him

again,"

Souun begged, once again throwing everyone else in the room for a

loop.

Natsume saw no polite way to refuse, however, and so nodded

tiredly.  "Very

well... father."  She and Kurumi, after the tension had broken from

the

awkward semi-adoption, were soon made as comfortable as possible by

their

new family.

Well, I have to admit...Souun *does* have a kind heart...and he did
take a shine to those two girls. I can easily see him doing this.

Nodoka appeared oblivious to this, however.  "So, what was so

interesting

that I missed?"

Ranma shrugged.  "Oh, Mr. Tendo took in a couple of new

foster-daughters,

that's all."

Nodoka facefaulted.  "He did what?"

<snicker>

"He took in a couple of new foster daughters.  I told you about

Natsume and

Kurumi, right?"  She nodded.  "Well, they finally returned, but not

to

challenge me and Akane for the dojo but to get some help with a...

little

problem... Natsume's having."

Nodoka considered carefully.  "What problem is it that she's

having?"

Ranma started to say something, but then closed his mouth, and

looked

around.  'Hmm,' he thought.  'Probably not the best of things to be

talking

about in a public street.'  He gestured Nodoka inside.  "Perhaps

you'd

better ask HER that.  I'm not entirely sure she would want me to

discuss

this sort of thing out here."  Nodoka's eyes became slivers.

"Very well.  Can you take me to her, then?"

Uh-oh. This does not bode well. You know how Nodoka is about matters
of honor...

"...and that's how it happened," Natsume finished.  Nodoka was

sitting by

her as she rested on the futon she had been given.  Souun had

already

ordered a new bed to be delivered, but it wouldn't be able to

arrive until

later that week.

"There, there, child," Nodoka patted her shoulder comfortingly. 

"Don't

worry- there are plenty of things we can do, especially in this day

and

age.  If you want, I can take you to a nice, out of the way clinic

where-"

Natsume flared in anger.  "NO!  This is my baby, I'm not getting

rid of

it!"

Heh.

Nodoka smiled.  "That's nice, dear.  I was going to say 'where we

can get

you a thorough check-up,' but it's good to here you're planning on

becoming

a mother."  Natsume looked down, embarrassed.  Nodoka smiled, and

patted

her again.  "Now, is there anything else I or... our family can do

to help

you?"

<whew> I was worried there for a moment...

"I was just talking with Natsume."  Ranma nodded- he had been

expecting

that.  "I asked her if there was anything we could do for her...

and she

asked if we could continue searching for her parents.  She wants to

find

out who her family is before she gives birth.  Could you

possibly... try

and find them?"

That Ranma was not expecting.  "Uh... how?  I wouldn't know where

to

begin..."

Nodoka smiled.  "You probably know as much as they do- they know

nothing at

all."

Ranma sighed.  He still wasn't really comfortable around his

mother- he

never knew what she might consider 'unmanly.'  He'd better do what

she

said, just to be safe.  Besides, she seemed rather insistent on it.

 "Okay,

mom, just give me some time to prepare..."

Hmmm....that's a wrap then, eh? Nicely done. Looking forward to
seeing the rest of this...the story's in good hands. 

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Atama karappo no hou ga yume-tsume komeru

---
The Eternal Lost Lurker
EternalLostLurker@worldnet.att.net
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Garden/9502

Kore wa itten da.
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