Genma had a grim look to him.  The tone of his best friend's
voice right away told him that something had happened.  'And things
seemed to be going so well with them and their daughters.  Dammit,
after all those years with the Master, Tendou deserved better than
that.'  He sighed and went back to putting on his suit and getting
ready to go see his friend.

      "Hey, Pops!" Ranma called as he ran in, all dressed up.  "What
are we in these clothes for?"

      Picking up his son and giving him a tight hug, Genma said,
"Because we're going to a friend's house."

      "Oh?  Who?"

      "Remember the friend I was talking about who has a dojo?"

      "Mr. Tendou?"

      "Yes."

      "But how can we practice in these clothes?  It would be hard and
Mom would get real angry if they got dirty."

      Genma chuckled softly at the naivete of children, before
answering, "Not today, son.  We'll be there for a while, so you can
practice later.  But for today there are more important things."

      He saw his son nod in consent.  "Okay, Pops."

      A small smile appeared as he watched the child leave, glad that
he realized this was more serious than the Art.

***

      After the funeral was over, the Saotome family stayed with the
Tendous through their time of grief.  Genma spent time with his old
friend Soun, trying to bring some joy to a man who had just lost his
wife.  Nodoka went to comfort the three Tendou sisters, who were now
without a mother, something that Mrs. Saotome was all too familiar
with.

      When light shone in his room to signal a new day, Ranma jumped
up, fully awake, and quickly changed.  Being six, everything new was
exciting to him.  This included the Tendou dojo, which he ran towards
as fast as he could.  Once in the boy looked around himself in awe.  It
was the first time he'd ever been in such a place, but his father
talked about them sometimes while they were out training in a park near
their home.

      Then he noticed a girl about his own age there, with short, blue-
black hair and a pale-yellow gi with flower designs on it.

      She turned from looking up at the family altar to face the
pigtailed boy, having heard him come in.  "Who are you?" the girl
asked.

      "I'm Ranma Saotome and I'm gonna practice here."  At least, that
was what his father had told him at times.

      "You can't!  This dojo belongs to me, Akane Tendou.  Mamma gave
it to me!" she practically screamed.

      "I can practice here if I want to!" Ranma answered, who didn't
like anyone telling him what he could and couldn't do.

      "No you can't!"

      "Yes, I can."

      "Can not."

      "Can too."

      "Can not!"

      "Oh yeah?  Well, you can't stop me!"

      "Can too!  I'm gonna beat you up!"

      And then the two six-year olds began to fight with skill that
would have been surprising in kids twice their age.  When the dust
cleared, Ranma won, pinning Akane to the ground by sitting on her.  He
sat, smugly surveying the dojo, until Akane began to cry.

      "What are you doing?" Ranma told her.  "Be a man!"  It was what
his father always told him whenever he cried over losing.

      "I'm a girl, you idiot!" Akane screamed at him through her tears,
kicking her legs in the air in a futile attempt at escape.

      Ranma practically leapt off of Akane.  'Oh no, Mom is going to
punish me good about this!  She's always telling me to never, ever use
what I learned on a girl 'cause she doesn't want me ending up like the
guy who taught my pop.'

      "Are you sure you're a girl?" Ranma asked.

      "Of course I'm sure, baka!" Akane shouted back.  She had stopped
crying and sat up.  She wanted to beat the boy up some more, but she
was still a little too sore from their earlier fight.

      "How was I supposed to know that?  You look just like a boy!"  It
was all this stupid girl's fault for not dressing like a girl.  Now he
was going to get punished for it.

      "What did you say?" Akane asked in a much calmer and colder tone
of voice.

      Ranma failed to notice her tone.  "I just said that you look just
like a boy."

      Unknown to Ranma, Akane had recently started elementary school
and the one thing that got her really mad was the way everyone, even
the teacher, mistook her for a boy because of her short hair.

      "Die, Ranma!" she shouted and leapt for him.  Soon they were
fighting in earnest again.

      The two kids were unaware of their respective fathers watching
from the doorway.  Genma had been trying in vain to find some way to
snap his old friend, who seemed intent on either wailing or sobbing,
out of his depression.  Tendou had been a bit emotional before and
Genma could understand the depth of his loss, but this was a tad
ridiculous.  He had gone out in search of his son to show Soun what
he'd been teaching the boy, and so walked in on the middle of Ranma and
Akane's second brawl.

      "See how well they get along, Tendou?  And they only just met!
The Tendou and Saotome families are sure to be joined."

      "My little Akane is going to be a bride!  Waaaah!"

      Genma shook his head.  Was there anything that could stop his
friend from crying?

***

      "Ouch."

      Kasumi had been looking for Ranma, since Mrs. Saotome had asked
her to, when she heard a boy's voice come from the dojo.  She went
there to find Ranma nursing a bump on his head, and absently noted a
few other bruises and scrapes as well.

      "Ranma," she called out to him.

      He looked up in surprise.  "Kasumi, right?"  They had been
introduced when Ranma had arrived a few days before, but he didn't
really remember it that clearly.

      Kasumi nodded.  "What happened to you, Ranma?"

      Ranma laughed a bit nervously and said, "Just sparring with my
pop."

      "But I was sure that I saw your father go with my father to
celebrate something.  That was some time ago.  Have they come back
already?"

      Ranma decided to just tell the truth.  He was no good at lying
anyway.  "Okay, I was kinda fighting with Akane."

      "Oh, that's wonderful!"

      "It is?" Ranma asked with some surprise.

      "Oh, yes.  Akane has been needing someone to spar with,
especially one her own age.  She hasn't been practicing much since...
well, you know.  Father won't spar with her anymore, so it's good for
Akane to have someone she can work off her frustration with."

      "I don't know about that," Ranma said sheepishly.  Akane always
seemed angrier after their fights than before; definitely not someone
who looked satisfied with the sparring.

      "I'll go get your mother so she can tend your injuries.  She sent
me to find you anyway."

      "No, don't!" Ranma called out to her as she began to walk away.

      Kasumi stopped and turned back around.  "Why not?"

      "Cause my mom will punish me if she finds out that I've been
fighting girls.  You can't let her find out," he pleaded to her.

      Kasumi thought about this for a few moments, being more
thoughtful than most nine year olds.  She hated the idea of lying to
anyone, especially a person as nice as Mrs. Saotome, but Ranma seemed
convinced that she would be against their sparring.  Akane had been
acting better lately, and now Kasumi knew why.  Fighting with Ranma
seemed to be her little sister's way of coping with their loss.  In
short, Akane needed to fight Ranma and there was a good chance that
Mrs. Saotome would put a stop to it if she ever found out.

      "All right, I won't tell her.  I want you to lie down on one of
the mats over there."

      "Huh?  Why?"

      Kasumi opened up the first aid kit that her father had put in the
dojo and took out some things that she was going to need.  She wasn't
entirely sure of what she was doing, but she had seen a doctor take
care of her family's martial arts related injuries several times.
Someone needed to take care of Ranma if they were going to keep this a
secret from Mrs. Saotome.

      "Thank you," Ranma said with a small bow after she had finished
taking care of his injuries.

      Kasumi smiled a little.  "You're welcome."

***

      Ranma had been staying at the Tendou Dojo for a week, and every
day Akane would challenge him to a fight to prove that he didn't have
the right to practice in the dojo.  Ranma didn't want to fight a girl,
but Akane gave him no choice.  It never occurred to either of them that
both got all the practicing they needed with the daily challenges.

      Nodoka was currently unaware of her son's sudden rivalry since
she was much too busy with the older Tendou girls, Kasumi and Nabiki.
Kasumi was very interested in cooking as well as medicine.  Nodoka had
been helping Kasumi prepare all of the meals and showing her what she
knew about first aid.  Little did Mrs. Saotome know that Kasumi had
been using her teachings on the latter to tend to Akane and Ranma.

      Nabiki, however, had no interest in that 'girlie' stuff, as she
saw it, but was very intrigued by the fact that it was the woman's
traditional role to manage the finances of the house.  The middle
Tendou sister had always enjoyed using her brain and it seemed to her
that trying to earn money was a game that was both fun and challenging.

      Nodoka sat in the living room with Kasumi and Nabiki.  She was
showing the former how to mend clothes, while instructing the latter on
the finer points of managing one's finances.  Personally, she thought
that both daughters were a bit too young to be worrying about such
things, but they seemed genuinely interested and it kept their minds
from their grief for at least a little while.

      She was distracted from her thoughts by the sound of a loud
splash coming from the koi pond.

      A little before this, Ranma and Akane had been brawling in the
dojo.  Nodoka wasn't concerned for either of them because she didn't
know about their fighting, thinking that they were only being taught,
and her husband had assured her that he'd watch out for both of them.
While Genma had been unreliable at times in the past, he had shown to
be serious about helping out Soun and his family.  Genma had been
watching their matches, if just to gage the boy's skills against a
somewhat lesser opponent.  This time, however, he had decided that they
would be fine left alone and took Soun to get a little drink.

      The 'sparring' matches between Ranma and Akane were normally
confined to the dojo, but due to one of them forgetting to shut the
door, the fight soon spilled over to the lawn.  Both were too focused
on 'sparring' to notice their change in surroundings, until they ended
up in the koi pond.

      Nodoka rushed outside and was shocked to see Ranma and Akane
bruised, dirty, and dripping wet.  Despite all this, they were still
fighting.  There was also no sign of Genma or Soun anywhere.

      "Just what is going on here?" Nodoka shouted.

      That stopped their conflict immediately.  Ranma, feeling bad for
doing something his mom had told him not to, tried to hide behind
Akane.  He ended up slipping back into the pond instead.

      "Ranma, what did I tell you about fighting girls?"

      "But, Mom, Akane started it."

      "Did not!"

      "Did too!"

      "Did--"

      "I don't care who started it!  This is going to stop right here
and now!  Am I clear?"

      Both children had their heads bowed and answered at the same
time.  "Yes."

      "Good.  Akane, why don't you go in and take a bath?  I need to
talk to my son privately for a few moments."  Nodoka failed to realize
that her hand was resting on the hilt of her katana.  The children
noticed though.  Ranma gulped and Akane fled into the house.

      "Now what were you doing fighting with a girl when I told you not
to?" Nodoka asked her son as soon as Akane had left.

      "Jeez, Mom, I was just sparring with Akane, sort of like I do
with Pop."  Though Ranma had been resistant the entire time due to his
mother's disapproval, he actually had found himself looking forward to
his and Akane's daily matches.  They were fun, and him and Akane kind
of had a good friendship going, in their own way.  It was like what he
had with his cousin Tenchi, only different at the same time.

      "First of all, what you and your father do is closer to real
fighting than sparring and Akane is still a girl regardless."

      "Mom, it's not like Akane is a real girl."

      "What do you mean by that?"

      "Well, she isn't like Kasumi.  Akane acts and dresses like a boy
all the time."

      "That may be so, but that doesn't change the fact that she is a
girl.  Now I don't want you fighting with her again, is that clear?"

      "Yes, Mom," Ranma answered reluctantly.

      "Now, why don't you go inside and take a bath once Akane is done
with hers."

      Ranma nodded and ran inside.  Nodoka's fingers idly tapped on the
hilt of her katana as she planned to have some words with her husband.

***

      After coming home from their extended stay at the Tendous, Genma
had convinced his wife that he should take a short training trip alone
with the boy.  She eventually agreed and he might have extended it to
ten years if it wasn't for Nodoka's promise to send her father after
them if they were late.  Genma shivered; only the master could equal
the level of fear that Katsuhito inspired in him.  It was a wonder that
he'd had the courage to go against him and marry Nodoka in the first
place.  It was even more of a wonder that he did so and lived.

      A few days later, and away from the diet that Nodoka had been
imposing on him, Genma was starting to feel that he hadn't brought
nearly enough food to last him and the boy for a month.  Luck was with
him when he spotted an okonomiyaki cart.  He didn't have enough yen for
the both of them, but he did have a plan.

      "Ranma, my boy, would you like to play a game?"

      "Wow, a game!" little Ranma enthused.  His dad always came up
with the best games.

      "Do you see that okonomiyaki cart over there?"

      The boy nodded.

      "Well, if you manage to take one of the okonomiyaki without
anyone catching you, then it's free!  Doesn't that sound like fun?"

      Ranma nodded again and was off in a flash to begin the game.

***

      Akira Kuonji smiled as his daughter assisted him in tending to
the eager customers of his cart.  Things just couldn't be better.
Their cart was doing great, Ukyou was picking up on the family business
much quicker than expected, and best of all, he had almost enough money
saved to open his own restaurant.

      Ukyou smiled along with her father.  Working as a chef was so
much fun that it didn't matter that no one at school could understand
why she did it.  She dreamed of a day when she'd have her own cart to
tour around Japan with, selling warm okonomiyaki to the eager
customers.  She was so caught up in this dream that it was a few
moments before she realized that the okonomiyaki she had been working
on was missing.

      "What?" Ukyou said as she looked all around, her eyes finally
resting on a boy in a dirty gi, half eaten okonomiyaki in his mouth.

      "You!" Ukyou yelled and ran after him, waving her spatulas in the
air like weapons.

      Ranma, being mindful of not getting caught, executed the Saotome
Final Attack as he father had shown him.  In other words, he ran.

      Ukyou had finally managed to catch him, leaping over the boy to
get in his way.  Ranma was a fast runner, but the aspiring chef knew
the area much better than he did.

      "Wait," Ranma said just before they started fighting.

      After his experience with Akane, he had learned not to always
judge a book by its cover.  "Are you a girl or a boy?"

      Momentarily stunned by the question, she retorted, "I'm a girl,
you jackass!"

      "You are?  Then I can't fight you."  Ranma's tone conveyed his
disappointment.  He really wanted to fight; it would be fun.  It didn't
matter to him if he fought a boy or a girl, but it did matter to his
mom; even if she was far away.  She had been really upset when she had
caught Ranma and Akane in the middle of their brawl.

      "Why?"

      "Well, my mama says I ain't supposed to fight girls, only bad
people do that."

      Ukyou thought about this for a moment.  While she was initially
angry about the stolen food, the chase after Ranma was one of the best
times she had had in a while.  Putting the skills her father had been
teaching her to the test would make it even better.  If she got to do
this every day, then it would be worth the price of a meal.

      "Okay, why don't we just pretend fight instead?"

      "Pretend fight?"

      "Yeah, me and my father do it all the time."  It was at least the
excuse that she heard her father use on her mother, who thought martial
arts training would be bad for their daughter.

      "I don't know..."

      "I'll give you another okonomiyaki if you win."

      "Deal!"  Ranma reasoned that his mom couldn't get angry over
that, since it would all be just pretend.  It might be fun trying out
this pretend fighting stuff on Akane and his cousin Tenchi.

***

      From that day on, the two kids settled into a familiar pattern.
Ukyou would cook okonomiyaki and try to defend it from Ranma, who would
do his best to steal her food.  Contests between them usually ended up
as duels, with Ranma always the victor.  Ukyou didn't get mad the way
Akane always did when she lost; instead swearing that she would win the
next day.

      Genma watched, happy that Ranma had someone at his own level to
spar with, while Akira was glad that his daughter had a playmate.

      "Here I come, Ucchan!" Ranma shouted as he ran in for the attack.

      "You won't beat me this time, Ranchan!" Ukyou declared as she
readied her small combat spatulas.

      There was a small smile on her lips as she thought of the
nicknames that they had come up with for each other.  Ranma had just
started calling her 'Ucchan' one day, so naturally he became 'Ranchan.'
It made Ukyou feel special that Ranma had come up with a name just for
her.

      Several minutes later, both kids were sitting on a rock, each
happily munching on their okonomiyaki.

      Ukyou was the happiest she had ever been in her life.  Her
cooking skills were getting better each day, she got to practice her
martial arts often, and she had found someone who made her smile and
laugh all the time.  Ukyou also loved to rub it in the face of the
neighborhood girls that she had a boyfriend.  She hoped that the days
like this would last forever.

***

      Lying down on the soft grass and staring at the clear blue sky,
exhausted from the day's workout, Ukyou asked the person next to her,
"Where do you live, Ranchan?"  During all their time they spent
together, Ranma never told her anything about his home.  She just
assumed he recently moved to an area nearby.

      "I'm from Juuban," Ranma responded, his attention on the tree-
shaped cloud floating above.

      "You mean you're not from around here?" Ukyou asked in surprise.

      "Nope, Pops wanted to take me pretty far away from home since we
had a whole month to train."

      "A month?" Ukyou said as she started to count on her fingers how
many days she had known Ranma.  The girl was surprised to find that it
had been three whole weeks already.  "When are you going back home?"

      "In a few days, I think."

      Ranma suddenly found himself caught up in a fierce hug.  "No, you
can't go!"

      "Huh?  Why?"

      "I don't want you to.  It won't be fun anymore.  You're my best
friend, Ranchan."

      "You're my best friend, too, Ucchan.  I want to stay and keep
playing with you, but Pop says we got to go in a few days.  Besides, my
mom is waiting for me."

      "Okay, but you got to promise me that we'll be best friends
forever."

      "Of course we will."

      "Pinkie swear?"

      Ranma nodded.  They both locked pinkies and said, "We'll be best
friends forever!"

      Ukyou hugged him again.  "I'll miss you, Ranchan."

      "Me too, Ucchan."

***

      Genma was flipping through an old training manual that he had
found among the master's things while he watched Ranma play with a
stray kitten that had wandered in the yard.  Normally Nodoka would be
watching the boy, but she had gone on a trip with Achika to help boost
her sister's declining health.

      She had warned him, on the pain of his father-in-law and her
katana, to not take the boy away from school on some training trip.
Genma had grumbled, but agreed, not that he had any choice in the
matter.

      Now, Genma reasoned, if he couldn't take the boy off to training
to improve his skills, what he needed was some kind of super training
technique that could be done right in his own home.  Something that
would equal, or even surpass, what his son would have learned in the
training.

      The kitten that Ranma was playing with kept distracting his
thoughts though.  Pity he couldn't give the boy claws or the agility of
a cat.  Not to mention the enhanced senses and absolute fearlessness.
If only there was a technique like that...

***

      Nodoka made her way up to the Saotome home.  The trip had done
Achika so much good that they had decided to cut it short so her
younger sister could spend some of that time with Nobuyuki.  Nodoka
smiled at that thought.  If everything went well, Tenchi might have a
little brother or sister on the way.

      Nodoka was shocked out of her thoughts when something running on
four legs knocked her over.  She looked down in horror to see her own
son curled up in her lap, purring like a cat.  Thinking on just what
could have possibly happened, she came up with her conclusion.

      "Genma!"

      Her aforementioned husband staggered towards the front of the
house, gi in tatters along with scratches all over his body.  He took
one look at the scene and was immediately grateful that his wife didn't
have her katana at the moment.

***

      Genma was pacing about nervously in the backyard.  After having
told Nodoka about what was involved in the Neko-ken training she gave
him a flat stare and told him to wait outside.

      It had been an hour since and there was no sign of his wife.  His
mind was in a frenzy; just what sort of punishment was in store for
him?  Torture?  Sepukku?  Or, Genma gulped at the thought, coming face-
to-face with Katsuhito?

      The sound of the back door slamming caused Genma's heart to
practically leap through his mouth.  Slowly turning to face his fate,
he saw... Nodoka with a casual smile on her face.  Nothing sharp in her
hands and, more importantly, no sign of a certain father-in-law.

      "So... wh... what did--"

      "My decision?"  Seeing her husband nod as his body shook in fear,
she replied, smile never wavering, "Don't worry, husband, it's nothing
anywhere near as bad as you think.  In fact, I'm of the opinion that
you're getting off rather easy, considering that you pulled off one of
the most idiotic, brain-dead things I've ever seen anyone do."

      Genma was surprised as to how serene her face looked, considering
the amount of venom in her voice.  Surprise turned to confusion when
she walked to the middle of the yard and placed a doghouse on it.  "No-
chan?  Your decision is get a dog so that no cat will come near our
son?"

      "Dog?" Nodoka asked in a singsong tone.  "Wherever did you get
that idea?"  Pointing to the doghouse, she said, "This is where you
will be living for the next week."

      "What?!" Genma asked in surprise.  "B... But this is the middle
of the rainy season!"

      "Hmm..."  She contemplated over the issue for a few minutes.
"You're right; let's make it two weeks."  Walking back into the house,
she added, "And don't you worry, dear.  I'll make sure you get enough
water to drink and some rice to eat everyday.  Though you might have to
get a second job if you want anything else to eat, especially since I'm
the one who has control of the money."

      Before his wife could go inside, Genma sputtered out, "What about
Ranma?  What'll he be doing during this time?"

      "Hey, Pops!"

      He looked up to see his son waving at him through the window.

      "Mom said that you're gonna be camping out in the backyard and
that I can watch TV or doing anything else while you're away.  Have
fun!"

***

      The Kuonjis were at a loss over what to do about their daughter
Ukyou.  Ever since that Ranma boy had returned home, she'd been
listless and uninterested in learning how to be a chef.  Akira Kuonji
had tried to get Ranma to stay by offering to engage the two of them,
but his father had turned it down, even after being offered the yatai
as a dowry.  The man had looked tempted, but at the same time afraid of
something.

      About the only good recent thing for the Kuonjis was that they
finally had enough money to start their own restaurant.  The problem
now was picking a location.  Then suddenly, Akira had an idea.

      "Ukyou?"

      "Yeah, dad?"  She was just sitting in her room, not doing
anything, which was normal for her lately.

      "Well, we've finally saved up enough to start our own restaurant.
Now where do you think we should have it?"

      To Ukyou, there was only one place she wanted to be, the place
Ranma said he was from.  "Juuban!" she replied immediately.

      Akira smiled at seeing Ukyou's happy face once again.  If he
finally had his daughter back, moving to Juuban was a small price to
pay.

***

      Ranma was about to walk into the elementary school when he was
unexpectedly tackled from behind.  He prepared to strike back, only to
see who it was.  "Ucchan?"

      "Ranchan!" Ukyou shouted, glomping onto him again.  She was happy
that he had remembered her, being that it had been over six months
since they had parted.  To her it seemed like forever.

      "What are you doing here?" Ranma asked her.  "You and your pops
still traveling with that cart?"

      Ukyou shook her head.  "I'm going to school here.  Today is my
first day.  We sold the cart and are opening a restaurant right here in
Juuban.  Isn't that great?  We can play all the time like we used to!"

      "Cool!"

      Each smiled and laughed, happy to have their friend back again.

***

      Returning from a day of work at a nearby dojo, Genma was stunned
at the sight before him when entering his home.

      Items were strewn all over the living room, some having been
slashed into pieces.  Slowly walking in, afraid of something having
happened to his wife or child, he tried not to make any noise in case
it was some burgler or worse.

      Hearing a soft sound coming from the bedroom, he made his way up.
As he got closer, Genma was able to realize that someone was crying.

      The sight before him as he walked in was one that made even
someone like Genma sad.  Lying on the floor was his wife, clothing all
crumpled and in a disarray, appearing as though she had been weeping
for hours.

      Sensing a nearby presence, Nodoka looked up and, through her
tear-hazed eyes, was able to see an outline of the person she desired
the most to be with at the moment.  Instantly she got up and ran
towards her husband, feeling his strong arms envelop her in a hug as
she cried on his shoulder.

      "Gone...  She's gone..." was all that she could say through the
tears.

      Genma didn't say anything, only holding onto her in hopes that
she'll feel better.  It didn't take much thinking for him to know what
had happened.

      A little more than a year and a half after Soun's wife had passed
away, Achika Masaki had succumbed to her long illness.

***

      Genma did his best to run the house on his own, since for days
all his wife would do was cry.  He tried to comfort her, but wasn't
surprised at her level of grief.  He'd only met Achika a few times, but
she had been a kind and gentle soul.  Even he could feel the loss in
her passing.

      The phone ringing snapped him out of his thoughts.  He picked it
up and automatically said, "Hello, Saotome residence."

      There was a moment of silence before Genma heard a voice he'd
honestly thought that he'd never hear again.  "Hello... Genma."

      It was Nodoka's father, Katsuhito, who had forbidden his daughter
to have anything to do with him, ever, or she would be disowned.  Even
after they had married, he never did carry out his threat.  The old
priest still gave Genma the willies though.

      "Hello, Mr. Masaki.  We've already heard about Achika.  I'm sorry
about your loss."

      In the silence that followed, Genma berated himself over saying
something so stupid.  He was even more surprised by the old priest's
response.

      "Thank you.  While it has not been easy on me, there are others
in more need of comforting.  I assume that my other daughter was also
hit hard by this tragedy?"

      "Yes, sir.  She hasn't been feeling well for the past few days.
Would you like me to get her?"

      "No, no.  That's likely to do more harm than good.  Genma, no
matter how much it pains me to do so, I must ask a favor from you."

      "A favor?  From me?"  Genma thought over what he just heard.
'The old guy must really be desperate.'

      "Yes.  As you may be able to understand, Nobuyuki has been
devastated by Achika's passing."

      Genma nodded absently to the phone.  He had been ready before to
take the boy on a ten year training trip away from Nodoka, but for her
to be...  Genma didn't even want to think about it now.

      Katsuhito continued.  "The man has gone into shock.  He refuses
to leave the house and has stopped eating and sleeping.  He has also
stopped taking care of his son.  I've taken in Tenchi, but I'm worried
about Nobuyuki.  I've tried everything I could think of and I can't
snap him out of it, and now his health is starting to go.

      "I've heard that you have a friend who has recently suffered a
similar loss.  I was wondering... I was wondering if you and Nodoka
could come to the Masaki home and somehow get him to the point where he
would at least be able to take care of himself.  I don't know how well
you know Nobuyuki, but from what I hear, he and Nodoka are good
friends.  This might benefit her as well."

      Genma thought about this for a while.  It would take time away
from training the boy, but his first priority was getting his wife out
of her depression.  Having to comfort another might just do it.  Still,
this was a unique opportunity that shouldn't be wasted.  He had the man
whom he had feared for about a decade over a barrel.

      "All right, I'll do it.  It shouldn't be hard to convince Nodoka.
However, my wife and I will have our hands full during this.  Since
you're already watching Tenchi, I was wondering if you could also watch
our Ranma as well."

      There was only a slight hesitation.  "I don't see that as being a
problem.  Tenchi would probably enjoy spending time with his cousin."

      "Good, and while he's there, why don't you teach him that sword
style of yours."

      Genma was still impressed by his wife's ability at kendo, and
continually frustrated by her refusal to teach it, not even to her own
son.  He also knew that getting the old priest to teach his son would
be something the old man would hate to do.  For some reason the old guy
would only teach it to Tenchi.

      "What?"

      "You've already started to teach Tenchi, so it shouldn't be too
hard to teach Ranma as well.  My son picks up things pretty quickly
and--"

      "I don't think I would be able to do that."

      "Well, then I don't know if we'll be able to come.  You see, I'd
like to help you out, but I just can't neglect the boy's training."

      "But I'm teaching a sword style, while you're teaching him hand
to hand.  I don't see what I'm--"

      "Anything Goes Martial Arts means that _anything_ goes.  Armed
skills are part of the art; I've just been concentrating more on the
unarmed portion.  Anything you can teach him can be added in with
ease."

      There was a long silence before Katsuhito said, "Fine, I'll do
it.  Drop the boy off on your way to the Masaki house."

      Genma agreed and they chatted about probable dates and times of
arrival.  After he had hung up the phone, Genma chuckled softly.  He
had finally managed a little pay back against that old coot!

***

      Tenchi was carefully sweeping up the leaves; the soft crackle it
made temporarily helping him forget the recent tragedy.  The shout of a
visitor caused him to stop.

      "Hiya, Tenchi!" eight-year old Ranma greeted his only slightly
younger cousin.

      "Ranma!" Tenchi shouted with glee as he immediately dropped the
broom and ran over to greet his cousin.  Grandpa had mentioned earlier
about a surprise, but he hadn't been expecting this.  "Why are you
here?"

      "I'm going to be staying here a while.  My mom and pop are gonna
be staying with your pop.  They said he's real sad and they're gonna
try and cheer him up!"

      "He's sad 'cause my mom died," Tenchi replied as he dejectedly
looked at the ground.

      Ranma placed an arm around his cousin.  "It's okay, Tenchi.  My
friend Akane, her mom died too.  She was sad for a little while, but
after some time she didn't get sad no more."

      "You cheered her up?"

      "Well, actually she gets mad all the time now, but I guess that's
better than being sad.  I tried asking her what makes her so mad, but
then she just gets even madder.  She's such a tomboy."

      "Tomboy?  What's that?"

      "My pop told me when a girl acts like a boy it's 'cause she's a
tomboy."

      Tenchi nodded sagely and filed away the information for later
use.  Fathers always knew useful stuff like that.

      "So what are you doing today, Tenchi?"

      "I got to clean up around the shrine."

      "Aw, that sounds boring.  Let's go play around that big old
tree!"

      "Ranma, you know grandpa doesn't want you going there."

      Ranma nodded, his grandpa could be a real stick in the mud
sometimes, always forbidding them from doing one thing or another.  Not
that he ever listened to the old man.   Ranma and his parents rarely
visited the shrine, usually only on holidays, but grandfather had
already warned him several times to stay away from the holy tree of the
shrine.  It could have been his habit of tearing off the strips of
paper he found there and throwing them into the water.

      "Okay, how about we go play by that cave again?"

      Ranma could see that that piqued his cousin's interest.  For some
reason, Tenchi seemed to like that cave, even though Grandpa was always
telling him to keep away from there.  And Tenchi, unlike Ranma, usually
did what his grandfather told him.  Ranma didn't really see what was so
neat about some moldy old cave, but he didn't feel like doing chores or
playing alone at the moment.

      "Where's grandpa?"

      "Talking with my parents."

      "Okay, let's leave now."

      As the two boys mock-fought under the shadow of the cave, neither
one noticed the ghostly figure which watched them both with interest.

***

      It was a week after getting back from comforting Nobuyuki, and
Genma was up late at night doing something that he had really never
done before: thinking.  Specifically about the future.  Oh, he had some
vague plans.  Training the boy in the art so he could marry one of the
Tendous and take over the dojo.  Some specific plans on how to train
the boy, not much more than that.

      All of these deaths around him had caused Genma come to realize
that he'd made no plans for the possibility that he might die one day.
It was a chilling thought, but after the passing of both Achika and
Soun's wife, it was one he had to face.  Nodoka would go on without
him.  He knew she was a kind and gentle woman, but with a will of iron
underneath.  It was one of the reasons that he had married her.  The
boy might miss him, but he was a strong one as well.

      His biggest problem was who would train the boy when he was gone.
Both Nodoka and the boy's grandfather could teach him that sword style
of theirs, but Ranma would never reach his full potential if there was
no one who could keep up his training in Anything Goes.  Genma could
free the master, since he doubted that they had really used enough TNT
to do the old freak in, but that would probably only makes things
worse.

      No, there was only one choice: his old buddy Soun.  He had
started training Akane in the Art, only to stop when his wife had died.
Tendou had even stopped practicing himself, but maybe Genma could
convince him to do this, just in case it was needed.  He'd give his old
friend a copy of all of his training plans and make him swear an oath.
Despite being the master's pupil, Genma knew that Soun still had a
strong sense of honor.

***

      Katsuhito had never liked Genma, not from the moment he had first
met him.  It was obvious that he was a gluttonous, self-centered lout
trained by one of the most despicable martial arts masters the world
had ever known.  Genma had been completely unworthy of his daughter...

      And now that man was dead.  Yet the old priest felt no sense of
satisfaction or justice.  It could have been that in the end, Genma had
chosen to save his family rather than himself, showing that underneath
everything, his heart had always been in the right place.  Katsuhito
hated to think that he could be wrong, but perhaps he had misjudged
Genma, and now it was too late.

      He sighed and reached for the phone, not feeling any humor in the
irony of a call he had made in a similar situation.  Instead there was
only bitterness over his past mistakes.  Maybe, though, he could make
it better somehow.

      "Nobuyuki, I need you to do me a little favor..."

***

      Soun Tendou put down the paper with a loud sigh.  Not a single
tear fell in a situation where he would normally be bawling his eyes
out.  His best friend in the world was now dead.  Instead, his face was
marked by a look of determination that none of his daughters had ever
seen before.

      It was a shock to all of them, when after breakfast, he stood up
and said, "I have to go to Juuban on a matter of honor and I might not
be back until late.  Kasumi, please look after your sisters until I
return."

      Even though she was only fourteen, Kasumi took her
responsibilities very seriously.  "Yes, Father."

***

      Soun found the door of the Saotome home answered by a man who was
only vaguely familiar.  "My name is Soun Tendou.  I was a good friend
of Genma's and I am looking for his wife, Nodoka."

      Shaking Soun's hand, the other man said, "Nice to meet you again,
though I'm sorry it had to be under this circumstance.  I'm Nobuyuki
Masaki.  I believe we met during Nodoka and Genma's wedding."

      Soun followed Nobuyuki into the living room, where Nodoka was
poring over the papers before her.  She was still in the process of
selling her house and moving into the Masaki home in Okayama.

      Nodoka finally looked up and noticed him.  "Oh, Soun, I'm so
sorry for not calling you.  Its just that after Genma... well, it
hasn't been easy."

      "I understand," Soun said as he took a seat.  "Are you all right
about talking about it?"

      Nodoka nodded.  "It's only been a week, but I think that somehow
Genma knew something like this was going to happen.  He did a lot to
prepare for this just in case.  He made it very easy for Ranma and I to
say good-bye."

      "If you don't mind, can you tell me how it happened?"

      "It was something so simple really.  It was while walking home
after eating out to celebrate Ranma winning a martial arts tournament.
We were crossing the street when a truck turned the corner and didn't
stop.  Genma managed to push Ranma and I out of the way, but he
couldn't save himself.  The doctors said that he should have died
instantly from the crash, but Genma was always so strong.

      "He told me that I shouldn't be sad, that he had died in a way
that he hoped would redeem the mistakes that he had made in life.  He
wanted me to go on without him, for my son's sake if not my own.  He
made me promise him to raise Ranma to be the greatest martial artist in
the world.  After I agreed, he smiled, closed his eyes, and then faded
away."

      Nodoka started to break down in tears at the end.  Nobuyuki was
immediately at her side to comfort her, while throwing Soun a
disapproving look.

      "I'm sorry for bringing up such a painful subject."

      "It's all right," Nodoka replied as she wiped away her tears.  "I
think it hurts less the more I talk about it."

      "Genma also spoke to me about the possibility of his death.  It
was his wish that I take up Ranma's training.  It might be best for
Ranma if you both would move to the Tendou dojo so I could begin his
instruction in earnest."

      "I don't think that would be a very good idea.  Ranma has been
spending a lot of time here with his cousin Tenchi and that's helping
both of them getting over the loss of a parent.  It also would take him
away from school, where Ranma has several friends.  Besides, I've
already begun to teach Ranma the Masaki family sword style, building on
the somewhat sporadic lessons my father gave him.  I don't know if
Ranma needs to learn more of Anything Goes."

      Soun needed to do this though, not only for Genma and Ranma, but
mostly for himself.  It was his way of regaining part of what he had
lost when his wife died.

      "Perhaps if I were to train Ranma on the weekends?  He can come
to the Tendou dojo at the end of each school week and return home
Sunday evening.  That way he stays with his cousin and the same school,
and you can still train him on the weekdays."

      Nodoka thought it over.  In the end, she couldn't ignore the
pleading in Soun's voice or her husband's last wishes to make Ranma the
greatest martial artist possible.  "All right, he can stay over the
Tendou dojo during some of the school breaks as well.  You had better
not try anything like the Neko-ken though, that alone has caused enough
problems."

      Soun nodded and left.  He had much to plan for.

***

      Trying to close her eyes and fall asleep, Nodoka absentmindedly
placed her hand on the space next to her, expecting to feel the body of
whom she had been used to for many years.

      The incident was too recent in memory for her to _not_ think
about.  Everytime she went over those few seconds that changed her
life, something always felt off.

      'Why, Genma?' she thought.  'Why couldn't you just push us faster
and make it to safety?  I know you were quicker than that."

      Turning on a different side in hope of sleep, the thoughts kept
on flowing through her mind.

      'Were you afraid of not being able to grab onto one of us?  That
we might get hurt or be dead because of it?  Or... was it that and you
were afraid of what father would say and do to you?"

      With that final thought, she finally fell asleep.

***

      Ranma stared at the cave in front of him.  Nothing of it seemed
special to him; there was nothing that stood out and grabbed his
attention.

      "I always wondered what Tenchi sees in this."  Sighing, he
continued, not knowing why he had the sudden urge to talk to the
inanimate object, "Well, eleven years old and I'm suddenly the man of
the house.  Actually, Mr. Masaki is since me and Mom will be living
there now.  You know... I miss Pops a lot.  He knew so many neat things
and was so happy to teach them.  It feels strange now that he's not
around."

      Ranma sighed again and wiped his dry eyes, telling himself that
he was now a man and men shouldn't cry; that's what his Pops always
said.  He looked down as he felt a few drops flow down his cheeks and
onto the ground.

      A sudden feeling of warmth was upon Ranma.  Standing still, he
allowed it to gently caress his face, as if the air around him was
trying to ease his pain.

      The moment ended when he heard someone shout out, "Ranma!"

      Turning, Ranma saw his cousin running up to him.

      Stopping to catch his breath as he finally found who he was
looking for, Tenchi said, "Everyone was looking for you.  Are you
feeling okay?"

      "Yeah... at least, I'm feeling better than before."

      Staring back at his cousin, who did indeed seem well, Tenchi
asked, "So... you want to come back home and play?  You mother's going
to be cooking soon."

      "Sure, let's go!"

      Both boys raced back down towards the Masaki home.

***

      Akane flicked the sweat that was dripping from her hair as she
went into the same kata for about the twentieth time.  She, being a
very determined eleven year old, refused to stop until she had it
perfect.  Finally, she would have the rematch that she had been
training five years for.

      Akane had always been interested in martial arts.  She had tried
to imitate her father practicing as soon as she could walk.  And it was
something that she could do well, better than anyone she knew.  Her
family and friends were all impressed to see such skill in a little
girl.  It wasn't something that she was serious about, but it was
something that she liked doing and being good at.

      That was until she met Ranma, who despite being her age, had
beaten her ten times in a row.  No matter what she had tried, Ranma had
always won.  And then his mother had caught them and forbidden him to
fight her, like Akane was too frail.  She decided right there that she
wouldn't rest until she had beaten him at least once.  And with her
father's announcement of Ranma coming over on the weekends to train,
she finally had her chance.

***

      Ranma smiled as he gathered up his bath things and headed to the
Tendou furo.  It had been so good to fight with Akane again.  And it
was funny how flustered she got when she lost.

      After her first loss, Akane had challenged him to an immediate
rematch and lost even more quickly than the first time.  She even
challenged him to a match over who got to use the furo first.  He
didn't know what sort of training Mr. Tendou had planned, but it looked
like it would mostly consist of Akane trying to beat him up.

      Thinking of this, Ranma failed to notice that the furo was
already occupied until he opened the door just as Nabiki was getting
out of the bath.

      Barely looking at her, Ranma said, "Oh, I didn't know you were in
here, Nabiki.  Just tell me when you're done."

      With that, he left.

      Nabiki had gone from instant embarrassment to anger.  Having
recently hit puberty, her body was developing accordingly.  She had
noticed that the boys have been paying a lot more attention to her
lately, even going so far as to buy her things.  Always looking for a
way to make some easy money, Nabiki had done her best to take advantage
of this.

      She was queen of middle school until her little sister Akane had
come there and then suddenly all the boys had started to ignore Nabiki
in favor of her 'cuter' sister.  She hated how she was almost forgotten
now.  Why did Akane have to come and ruin everything?

      'How dare he pretend he didn't notice that I was naked!' she
thought.  'He should have been struck blind by seeing a cute girl like
me and started showering me with presents.  I'll get Ranma for this!'

      Immediately, she thought of her first step.  Finding her sister,
she told Akane that she could have her bath now.  Waiting a few
minutes, she went and told Ranma the same thing, acting like nothing
was wrong.

      "Ranma no Baka!" Akane shouted loud enough for the neighbors to
hear and then punted a half naked Ranma into the koi pond.

      When Ranma glared at her accusingly, Nabiki only smiled.

***

      Ranma cautiously approached his mother as she prepared dinner,
having just come back from his weekly training at the Tendou Dojo.  He
was surprised to realize that it had been four years since he had
started his training with Tendou-sensei.

      His mother had always been protective of him, but ever more so
after his father had died.  Mr. Tendou had tried many times to persuade
her to allow Ranma to go on a extended training trip, but Nodoka
refused to have her son out of her sight for more than a week.

      Ranma knew his father had planned many trips, but the one that he
had always talked about was to China.  Due to the good business of the
reopened Tendou dojo, Tendou-sensei had finally saved more than enough
to pay for the trip, but was afraid that Nodoka would say no without
even hearing him out.  That's why he had persuaded Ranma to ask
instead.

      Ranma had agreed since he really wanted to go on this trip, but
that didn't make asking his mom any easier.  Nodoka was normally very
sweet and loving, but when Ranma stepped out of line she could become
very stern.  Ever since his pop died, any time Ranma did something
wrong she'd call for a training session in kendo, which would last
until he fell down in exhaustion.  It was good training, but it wasn't
something Ranma looked forward to.

      "Um, Mom..."

      "Oh, Ranma, welcome home.  Dinner will be ready in a few
minutes."

      "That's great, but there's something I've got to ask you..."

      "Tenchi is upstairs in your room."  Nodoka thought it was odd
that the boys had insisted on sharing a room despite the fact that in
the large Masaki house they could each have their own.

      "That wasn't it.  You see, the Tendou dojo has been doing really
well and there's vacation from school coming up.  Tendou-sensei was
thinking that..."

      "Ranma, please sit down and tell me what you want."

      The pigtailed boy did as he was told.  "Tendou-sensei wants to
take me on a month-long training trip to China."

      The only sign that Nodoka's calm had wavered was the fact that
she had nearly dropped the knife she was holding.  "Ranma, you know
that even though I'm only working part-time, my job as a kendo
instructor is very important to me, so I can't just take a month off
right now.  I also don't like the idea of you being away from me for so
long, especially to China.  That's not the friendliest place for
someone Japanese to go."

      "Please, Mom.  Pops always wanted to go to China and Tendou-
sensei has been talking about all the things we can see there.  It will
only be for a month and I doubt there's much that me and Tendou-sensei
won't be able to handle.  I really, really want to go."

      Nodoka considered her son for a while in silence.  He had grown
up so fast.  It seemed only yesterday that Genma was trying to sneak
off with the boy on a training trip.  He had proven to be able to take
care of himself.  Maybe it was time that she let him go off without
her, at least for a little while.

      "All right, you can go, _but_ I don't want you missing any more
school days then are needed and you'll still be responsible for any
homework you have over this trip."

      "Okay, sure thing," Ranma answered readily, having just about
ignored everything she had said past the part about allowing him to go.

***

      Cautiously looking around to see if anyone was nearby, Soun and
Ranma slowly walked along, trying to sneak out of the Tendou home.
Their progress was halted as they were confronted by a very angry
ponytailed teenage girl wearing a gi and carrying a backpack.

      "Going somewhere?" she asked in a voice that was just barely
holding back from shouting.

      "Just taking Ranma on a little training trip," Soun told his
youngest daughter.

      "Forgetting someone?"

      "Like who?" Ranma asked, not catching on.

      "Like me, you baka!" Akane shouted right in his face.

      Even though he was used to it, somewhat, anyway, Ranma took a
step back.  He could understand her being upset, though.  He wouldn't
have been pleased if he was the one that was being left behind.  Ranma
had actually been surprised that Akane wasn't going with them.

      "Well, I didn't think that you would want to go on an extended
training trip, being away from you friends and missing some school,"
Soun told her.

      "Besides, going all the way to China on a training journey is too
rough for girls, even tomboys like you," Ranma added, putting his foot
in his mouth.  Akane showed her appreciation of his figurative
contortion by applying her elbow to his stomach.

      That was just how they got along; neither of them really meant
anything by it.  Ranma didn't actually think that women were weak,
especially Akane; and in turn, Akane really didn't think that every boy
was a pervert.  Nor did she ever hit him hard when they weren't
training.  It would have been hard spending every weekend and about
half of the holidays with someone who you truly hated.

      Soun took a step back.  Even he was frightened of his little girl
when she got really mad and she looked ready to explode at any moment.

      "I am going with you."  Akane said it as a flat statement of
fact, making it very obvious that it wasn't open to negotiation.  "Or
else I'll persuade Kasumi to let me cook for the both of you when you
get back.  For a month.  No... make that two months!"  She didn't very
much like admitting that her cooking needed some help, as others around
her did, but considering the situation...

      Soun and Ranma exchanged defeated looks.  Both knew that they
wouldn't be able to survive a week of nothing but Akane's cooking, much
less two months.  Trying to get food elsewhere would be no good; the
Tendou girl would force-feed them if she had to.

      "All right, you can come," Soun said as if it were the last thing
he wanted to happen.

      "Yatta!" Akane shouted, dancing around Ranma while having a
gleeful look on her face.

      Only when both Ranma and Akane's backs were to him did Soun allow
himself to smile.

--------------------------------------------

Well... what else to say other than it's back?

To those who've asked from time to time about the series being
continued, I hope this can be as interesting as the original was.

Thanks to those who've pre-read the original: Angus MacSpon, Larry F,
Jonas Fang, and Lord Talon.

Thanks to those who've helped pre-read this chapter:
Brian Randall
Corwin
Larry F
Slacker

And thanks as always to Ammadeau for allowing me to revise/continue his
series.
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