I don't get it yet. Let me think about it.
The past, future, and present are all happening at once, right?

(That's the whole extent of what I know; don't ask me anything more
about that theory, because you'll just get a 'huh?' in response.)

So, if what's-her-name is in the future, then she isn't in the past,

since the past is not the present.

So, if she's in the present, when she wasn't ever before, and since

she's from deep in the past, then Akane and Nabiki and Kasumi couldn't
be there...

Of course, if they aren't in the present, then they couldn't have

possibly cast that spell which brought their mother (who isn't a
mother yet) into the future, because they wouldn't have existed. So
the spell must have been cast into a different dimension; the mother
they reeled into their present isn't the same mother from their past,
because then that would collapse history.

I got it now.

I think.

But then again, I probably don't, so actually, you should probably

just ignore what I just said.

Anyway, I really like the irony, where in the girl's memories, their

mother is kind, gentle, and compassionate, but they're then suddenly
confronted with someone who believes such values are silly with the
casting of the spell. It's just too funny.

I am worried about Kachiko's attitude though, she doesn't seem to

care about what'll happen to 'her daughters', because if she is the
exact same Kachiko from the girls' timeline, then her being in the
present will definately change the present, because Kachiko's present
(the past) is still happening, and that means, something terrible will
begin to happen to Akane, Nabiki, and Kasumi! Unless, of course, it
doesn't, but then it's up to the author. (And I'm definately looking
forward to what the author pulls from out of his sleeve.)

Anyway, it's a terrific story. I hope to see more,
Troy Thomas

Rememer, when Akane made her wish that her mother wouldn't die in a
car accident and would be with them now, she didn't know that her
mother was in a car accident at the age of 17, as well as the one that
(in this Ranma timeline) would end up killing her in her late twenties
(or early thirties).  Or that the car accident at age 17 damaged
Kachiko Tendou's leg so badly that her parents were able to convince
her to give up martial arts and to marry - and have children - at a
young age to continue to the Tendou lineage.

Second off, most stories/movies/tales/ect... show wishes as having
certain limitations, or internal limiters to keep certain things from
occuring.  Like making a wish for *more* wishes.  This has already
appeared in the cannon Ranma-verse.  Remember when Kuno gave the
wish-granting sword (Wishbringer, I believe) to the "Pig-Tailed Girl"
to use, and Ranma tried to wish away the curse.  The sword wouldn't
approve the wish, because then the Pig-Tailed Girl - the person the
wish had been granted to by it's current master (Tatewaki Kuno) -
wouldn't exist anymore.

Likewise, pulling Kachiko entirely out of her time, before she had
Kasumi (let alone Akane) would cause a paradox with Akane being
granted a wish; that she used to pull her mother forwards in time.
But if Kachiko Tendou was pulled entirely and utterly forwrds in time,
how could she marry Soun and have three children (the youngest one
being Akane)?  And if Akane didn't exist, how could Akane make a wish
that her mother was alive at the present time?

Third, most forms of wishes - and *especially* in the Ranma-verse -
are shown to be quirky at best.  And downright sadistic at worst.  The
wishes in Ah/Oh My Goddess!  (well, the Heavenly Wishes anyway) are
IMO the exception, and not the rule.  They'll give you what you ask
for, but not in the fashion you thought you'd get it.  Or they'll
follow the *wording* of the wish, and not the *spirit* of the wish.

In my kinder moments, I think of making a wish to be like writting a
computer program on the fly and then running it without
double-checking it or running it through some type of debugger or
tester.  Like a computer program, the wish does exactly what you tell
it to; but (like a computer program) it normally doesn't do it in the
way you *thought* it would.  It's *possible* you'll get it to work the
way you wanted it to on the very first try.  But more than likely,
it'll either crash or try to do things in a manner you didn't think it
would  (which can be worse than the just a "simple" crash).  And,
unfortunately, the more important/powerful the wish made the more
likely one of these two things will occur.  Not to mention that if all
a mistake wording a wish generally is *much* more dangerous than a
mistake when writing a program.

I'm not the author, obviously, so all this is just my opinion.

One thing I *have* thought of is the following possible senario:

A) The wish looked for any and all car accidents that Kachiko Tendou
(mother of Akane Tendou) would have been involved in during her life.
Of those incidents, it looked at the ones that could/would be lethal
to Kachiko.

B) At the same time, the wish has to preserve the existance of Akane
Tendou (the one making the wish) and arrange things so Akane Tendou
did/does/will make that same wish, despite the requirement that it
bring Kachiko Tendou to that point of space/time.

*****   And here's where the conjecture *really* begins.

C) Kachiko Tendou could (would?) have died at the age of 17 in a car
accident.

D) If Kachiko Tendou did not die in the accident, and made a full
recovery from any injuries suffered, she would continue as a martial
artist with no plans or desires to marry at a young age, give up
martial arts, or have her three children (the youngest being Akane
Tendou) by the age of 25.

E) If Kachiko Tendou survived the accident, but suffered serious
injuries that she could not recover (fully) from, but which did not
overly affect her physical beauty or ability to bear children, her
parents would desire for the continuation of the Tendou genetic line
and martial arts ability.  As such they would do their best to
convince her daughter to give up martial arts, to marry a martial
artist as quickly as possible, and have (again, as quickly as
possible) children who could then be trained to continue the family's
martial arts tradition.

F) If Kachiko Tendou dies in a car accident while all her children are
young, they will all (to one extent or another, and in one form or
another) idolize her.  Thus ensuring that Akane Tendou did/does/will
use her wish in an attempt to save her mother's life.

G) The wish therefore obeys directive one (Wish):  keeping Kachiko
Tendou from dying from a car accident.  The accident in question,
however, is at age 17.  And not the one that did (in Akane's personal
timeline) kill Kachiko Tendo in her late twenties (or early thirties).

H)  The wish obeys directive two (Internal):  preserving the timeline
so Akane Tendou exists to *make* the wish.  It does this by ensuring
that while Kachiko survives, she suffers permenant injuries that will
result in her career as a martial artist coming to an end.

I) The wish then finishes by obeying  directive three (Wish):  that
Kachiko Tendou be there now.  It does this (and this is *really* just
conjecture on my part) by "cloning" Kachiko Tendou (including all
memories, her personality, and any and all items she had on her *at
the time*) just before the car accident she is in at the age of 17
occurs.   The clone of Kachiko Tendou "appears" at the same point of
Time that Akane Tendou is currently in, at the same location where she
was at that point of her life (age 17).  (Which would explain why
Kachiko didn't wonder how the hell she ended up in front of her home
suddenly.)


If the senario given above is close to being correct, the wish not
only saved Kachiko from dying from a car accident and brought "her"
forwards in time (as Akane wishes for), it also saved Kachiko's life
in a fashion that would result in her marrying Soun and giving birth
to three kids (including Akane).

Of course, I could be entirely incorrect.  But wishes are enough to
warp anyone's mind, if you think too long about them.  Wishes *and*
time-travel (of one of your direct ancestors at that!)?!?  Reach for
the extra-strength Tylanol and a couple bottles of moonshine.

The Apprentice


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