Hello, it's been a very long time!
I hope this letter isn't sent out more than once. I hope
the Subject header is visible from the in-box. I hope I've
done everything right.
If not, then I'll suppose I'll hear (or read) about it
soon anyway!
Good luck!
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-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: eb1.txt
Eternal Blue
By Troy J. Thomas
The characters in this story, with exceptions, are creations of others. Ranma
1/2 and its characters are the property and creations of Rumiko Takahashi.
Tenchi Muyo and its characters are the property of Pioneer and are the creations
of a genius whose name I don't know. No attempt has ever been and no attempt
will ever be made to gain external profits from these properties and characters.
Any growth by the author will be limited to improved writing skill and expanded
ego, so please don't sue.
Some notes:
-This story is a fusion between Ranma 1/2 and Tenchi Muyo
-I've taken what I liked from each series and used them as fertiliser for this
one so that it can grow big and strong on its own
-The story is set in a new universe different from the ones that have come
before (It won't be as great as those stories, but I'll definitely have fun)
-Also, it begins at the beginning and it isn't set on Earth
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prologue
It was early morning in the city Atlantis. An old man stood in his room watching
the sunrise over the lake. Katsuhito's home, also home to his daughter's family
and his son-in-law's family, had a grand view of the sparkling lake. It was a
gift he never took for granted.
This morning seemed no different than any other that had ever come before in his
long life. Yet the feeling fluttering in his stomach was one that he couldn't
simply ignore. It was the feeling of change.
His entire life had been shaped by change. He tried to never let it get him
down, but sometimes it seemed everything he worked towards in his life was for
nothing. He tried his best, yet it all would end up bringing his family to the
brink of a crisis that could tear apart everything dear to him.
Katsuhito had changed over his long life, he was sure of that much. Dreams in
his youth were turned away for necessities in his prime.
Change. In his youth, it seemed a strange word to Katsuhito. "I've been told
that some people change. I wonder how much I've changed over the years? If I try
remembering who I was, will I recognize him?"
Slowly and mechanically he opened his window and let fresh air flood into his
room. Slowly the smile turned downward and he hung his head and moaned, "My
whole life has been one big, long lie, sometimes I wish I could go back and undo
everything I've ever done!"
Then light forced his eyes to blink. Looking up, Katsuhito saw it was the light
of the sun reflecting off of the lake. He leaned forward taking in the silent
brilliance. "Is that you Achika?" he asked softly.
As quickly as the sight had appeared, it disappeared. Katsuhito tipped his eyes
skyward and smiled. "Perhaps you're right dear child, maybe there is nothing to
moan about. After all, I can't change the past!"
An answer to his earlier question teased his spirit, so he worded it the best he
could imagine it to sound like, "I can't change the past, but I can try to amend
for my mistakes by giving the future a small nudge in the best direction."
Placing his hands on the window railing, Katsuhito launched himself out of the
window. When he landed on the ground, he hit it laughing. "I'd like to see
another man my age try that!" He did a few quick flexes to prove he was the king
of the world and began walking to the shrine he cared for.
Two young men were there already sweeping the dust from the path. "Good morning
Ranma and Tenchi!" Receiving a reply of good morning from both his apprentices,
Katsuhito turned to the wooden fence they had broken the day before. He asked,
"I trust you two will have that repaired by the end of the day?"
"We promise. We'll fix it right after school grandpa." replied Tenchi. "We just
need the keys to get into the tool shed." Both of the apprentices stopped
sweeping to watch their grandfather.
Katsuhito smiled inwardly. His two grandsons were up to something he wasn't yet
completely sure he wanted them to be. He handed Tenchi the keys anyway though.
"Just be sure to stay away from the locked gate, because this key..." The old
priest pointed out the key he was speaking of. "Will open it!"
He had done it, strangely he didn't feel as though the decision to hand Tenchi
the key to the cave the shrine had been presiding over for thousands of years
was very momentous. In fact, he felt relieved.
The eyes of the two boys almost bulged out of their heads. For their entire
lives, Ranma and Tenchi had been taught to stay out of the cave, since a demon
supposedly had been sealed there long ago.
There was little doubt in the priest's mind where his children's children would
head for first. "Just you two promise me that you'll go to school first before
you fix that fence okay? I know that carpentry is all very fine, but I care more
for your education than that fence!"
"Speaking of school gramps, Tenchi and I will be late if we don't leave now!"
Ranma interrupted. They walked away to go change into their school clothes
leaving Katsuhito with his thoughts.
The son of Genma Saotome turned out better than Katsuhito had hoped. It had been
a long time ago when Genma tried to take the boy on a ten-year long training
trip, one Katsuhito was sure would've ended in disaster had he not intervened.
Genma was too greedy to be trusted to raise a child, Katsuhito was sure if Genma
had ever taken Ranma away, the poor boy would've been sold away at the first
dojo they stopped to train.
Fortunately, dishonorable as his father was, Ranma was the most honorable person
one could imagine. In fact, Ranma often stood up against his father in his
principles of defending the weak and protecting their interests, no matter the
cost to his reputation.
People often thought of Ranma as an exact duplicate of his father until he had
saved a young girl from a forest monster and demanded nothing in return. Then
they realized they had misjudged the boy and took him into their hearts. But as
honorable as Ranma was, he had a streak of mischief in him and often ended up in
compromising situations with girls in his age group.
Although Katsuhito stressed Ranma's innocence, people's opinion of him seemed to
be that he is an okay kid with a perverted side that could be eliminated only if
he had a girlfriend. Katsuhito belted out a laugh at the thought. Ranma's
parents had quite a surprise in store for him that would soften people's
opinions of his perverted side. Katsuhito really wanted to see the look on the
poor boys face in two days time when they would finally make good on a promise
made fourteen years ago.
Ranma Saotome was a fireball, the most stubborn of any person Katsuhito had ever
seen. No matter the circumstance, Ranma refused to back down from a challenge,
even if the task seemed impossible. Katsuhito truly enjoyed setting the bar
higher every time the boys found themselves in hot water if only to see Ranma
heading head first into solving the tasks puzzle.
His personality though is what Katsuhito enjoyed the most about him. Ranma's
unquenchable thirst for life is what seems to allow people to forgive him
following each and every one of his misadventures.
Ranma's cousin, Tenchi Masaki was as equally forgivable, yet where Ranma had an
unlimited amount of energy, Tenchi had gentle calmness that surprised most
adults. Where Ranma was as cool as ice in martial arts training and competition,
Tenchi had a style based on drawing from his desire to succeed. In Katsuhito's
wizened opinion, they were as much alike as they were different.
Tenchi was filled with both joy and pain. When Achika had passed away, Katsuhito
thought himself to have lost the entire world, but when he saw the pain in
Tenchi's eyes he knew pain to be second only to that of Tenchi.
Over the fourteen years of his grandson's life, Katsuhito had watched with an
awareness of the tenderness in Tenchi's heart and made sure that no pain could
ever match the days of Achika's passing away. Tenchi could grow and become the
man who Katsuhito wished himself to be.
Watching Ranma and Tenchi leave for school, Katsuhito wished them good luck for
the stormy waters they would soon end up in.
End Prologue