Greetings, folks!

Here's the first draft of Chapter 2.

The previous chapters are posted to my website at

http://www.sfcmd.com/fanfic/relabs

Please send feedback offlist to relativelyabsent@sfcmd.com. My editor is
currently fighting off migraines, so if someone feels up to doing a full
technical edit (spelling/punctuation/grammar) I would really appreciate it.
Please message me first so we don't end up duplicating effort. :)

=========================================================================

Editing Note: The web site contains the edited versions of the previous
   chapters which contain the pronoun usage switch when referring to
   Ranma as a girl.

Formatting Note: {{text inside double brackets indicate thoughts}}

==========================================================================

Chapter 2: All In The Family

--- Tokyo ---
Aiko Yamada stood quietly in the middle of her private garden. With a
look of intense concentration, the diminutive clan matriarch inspected
the miniature rose bushes that stood as the garden's featured
centerpiece. The three MORousel roses had been extremely difficult to
obtain, and she had been husbanding them along now for the last year
and a half. It appeared as if all of her efforts had finally paid off
as the plants were now showing signs of having taken root properly.

She carefully pruned each bush until it was shaped properly for the
upcoming blooming season, then spent the next hour and a half arranging
the center bed just so, making sure that every rock and plant was
shaped and placed for maximum harmony. This was a task she both
excelled at and took great enjoyment in; it was such a pleasant and
relaxing contrast to the grindingly ever-present duties required to
help keep the vast and diverse Yamada interests operating smoothly.
Aiko had just started rearranging the first of the four side planting
beds when she noticed her senior aide waiting patiently in the
entranceway.

"Seiko-chan, I'm assuming that something has come up that couldn't wait
until I was finished, ne?" She cocked an eyebrow slightly at this
unexpected interruption, since everyone in Aiko's personal staff knew
better than to interrupt her during her 'quiet time'.

"Many pardons, Okusama. Your grand-niece Harukichi just arrived from
Ehime and is waiting for you in the Green Room."

Aiko's eyebrow arched even higher at this announcement. {{Something
serious must have occurred, Midori-chan would never have submitted a
report in this manner otherwise.}} She nodded once in acknowledgement
before turning to go find something more appropriate to wear. Greeting
one of her grand-nieces while in gardening clothes simply wasn't done,
no matter how pressing the emergency might be.

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

Harukichi stood up and bowed respectfully as Aiko entered the room.

"Obasan."

Aiko smiled as she held her arms out to the short fuku-clad schoolgirl.
"Oh, don't be so formal, Haru-chan. Come and give your Auntie a nice
big hug."

The pleasure the Yamada matriarch gave in greeting was quite genuine.
Not only was Harukichi a personal favorite amongst the clan's 'stray
kittens', she was also one of the few girls that Aiko could look
directly across at without having to crane her neck all the time.

The familial greeting served another purpose as well; it allowed the
elder woman to read her grand-niece's body language directly. Aiko
smiled to herself when she evaluated how difficult this was starting to
become. Harukichi had made significant progress in being able to mask
her inner feelings from all but the most discerning reader. Not that it
impeded Aiko's own scan in the slightest at the moment, but given
several more years of practice and Harukichi would be all but
unreadable. She definitely had a natural talent for this.

Aiko was not surprised at the tension that she felt in the younger
girl's frame. The amount of unfocused rage was higher than normal, but
considering the girl's initial upbringing a certain amount was to be
expected. The thing that caught Aiko's immediate attention was the mix
of sorrow, fear, concern, and yes even rage directed at *her*. She
blanched as the import of this made itself known.

None of this exchange showed on the outside, of course. A kunoichi's
primary training involved deception, disguises, espionage, and hidden
weapons skills, and Aiko was the clan Grandmistress. Smiling as she
broke off the embrace, Aiko led her young charge back over to the table
and sat down to the waiting tea serving.

"I trust the train ride from the island was comfortable?"

"Yes, Obasan. I've always enjoyed riding on the Shinkansen."

"How are the other girls? Have you all kept up on your schoolwork while
you've been on vacation?"

"Hai. Midori is still struggling with her math, but I think that Kioko
has finally gotten her to understand at least the basics of Analytical
Geometry. Tsuya is the farthest behind, since she prefers to spend
almost all of her time drawing instead of studying."

"And yourself? Have you improved your spoken English like I asked you
to?"

Harukichi blushed. "I'm sorry, Obasan. I'm afraid that I still find
English rather ... puzzling."

Their conversation continued, on the surface and simple and pleasant
family gossip session between a young schoolgirl and her elderly
relation. The real conversation was happening in parallel via the
subtle and almost undetectable hand and body signs of the kunoichi.

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

Your presence here was unexpected, Haru-chan.

Yes, sensei.

I take it that some significant development has occurred in your
current assignment.

Yes, sensei. I regret to inform you that we are submitting our final
report at this time.

...

I see.

...

Were you able to positively confirm his death?

No, sensei. Her final battle resulted in the destruction of a large
portion of a mountainside. Recovery of her body may not be possible.

...

'Her'?

Yes. Ranma was unable to unlock her curse before she lost the fight.

...

Sensei, I have a boon to ask of you once you have observed the tapes
and film in the report.

And that would be?

I respectfully submit that my request should wait until after you have
reviewed the report in detail.

Very well. I sense a large amount of anger held within you, Haru-chan.
Would you care to engage in a bout with Seiko to help you relax?

Yes, please. That would be ... quite useful, provided we can fight full
contact.

Full contact? That is not your normal style, Haru-chan. Are you sure
about this?

YES.

...

Your pardon, sensei. I am still quite perturbed over recent events.

I gathered that. Don't worry, Haru-chan, I'm sure that Seiko will be
more than happy in helping you in ... relieving ... your anxieties today.
She's been complaining about the lack of decent 'training dummies' ever
since I sent you girls out on this assignment.

I hope I will not disappoint her then.

...

Haru-chan, be careful. You cannot afford to become unfocused when
battling an opponent, even if the fight is only a friendly spar between
friends.

Hai hai, I understand.

...

See that you do. I will view your report while you are working out with
Seiko. In the meantime, at least *try* and relax a little. Your face is
too pretty and you are entirely too young to be carrying around a
perpetual scowl like that.

Yes, sensei.

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

"... and you should have seen the look on Tsuya's face when she found out
that all of the local art galleries were closed on the one day we were
staying in Matsuyama. Can you believe that she expected the rest of us
to simply tag along with her for the entire day while she looked at
paintings?"

The younger Yamada continued her idle chatter about the day to day life
of the four schoolgirls on vacation until Seiko entered the room and
began to clean up the tea service. Her return brought to an end the
socializing; it also signaled the completion of the film development.

Harukichi stood and bowed to the Yamada matriarch before following
Seiko out of the room. Sighing, Aiko straightened her shoulders before
walking towards her private study to confront the unpleasant report
waiting for her there.

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

A disheveled Harukichi groaned as she flopped with a thud onto her
futon. She really should have known that Seiko wouldn't just passively
block her attacks and let her vent all her anger and frustration
unimpeded. She rubbed her left hip and winced; Seiko's counter of her
attempt at a Floating Hands, Swords of China combination still stung.
It would probably bruise by the morning, too. Rolling on her back she
stared at the ceiling, trying to sort out the turbulent mass of
emotions roiling within her. She fell fast asleep before she had a
chance to crawl underneath the blankets.

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

Seiko smiled as she gently laid a blanket over the sleeping girl. This
was not the first time she had performed this service for the
diminutive redhead, as Harukichi was very adept at finding a way to
overexert herself on a regular basis. Given what Seiko had seen earlier
from the photos while she was compiling the report for Aiko-san, she
could easily understand why the girl had been so upset.

{{So alike, so very much alike in so many ways,}} she thought as she
quietly exited the room.

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

Seiko knocked quietly on the door of the study and waited. And waited.
And waited some more. She was reaching for the knob to enter anyway,
expecting to find her employer and friend asleep in her chair, when she
heard a soft command from within the room.

"Come in, Sei-chan."

Seiko quietly entered the darkened room and shut the door behind her.
When she turned to look at her friend, what she saw almost broke her
heart. Aiko was curled in her chair with her chin down and her arms
wrapped around a black 8 x 10 picture frame, her face a frozen mask of
pain and grief. But no tears, never a tear. Seiko sat down on the
tatami next to the chair and waited silently for Aiko to speak.

The two women sat next to each other, motionless, for several long
minutes.

"I miss him, Sei-chan. In times like this, I miss him so much."

"Hito never got to see his grandchildren grow up. It's a terrible
thing, not being able to watch your grandchildren grow and blossom, not
knowing their joys and sorrows as they surround the house with cheerful
chaos and noise. Ichiro and Jiro are never here. My sons have wonderful
families of their own, but they both spend so much of their efforts
running YamadaCorp and they've embraced the new ways so thoroughly that
there's simply no room left in their lives for a lonely old woman."

Aiko pulled herself into an even tighter ball in her chair.

"All my girls are gone, Sei-chan. I've lost them all."

Seiko reached over and gently placed a hand on Aiko's shoulder.

"Mai. Elegant, beautiful Mai, running off with a gaijin all the way to
New York City. She never calls, she never writes, my letters are always
returned unopened. We might as well not even exist in her world."

"My darling Shizuka, always trying so hard to be better than her older
sister at everything. She never even had the chance to know her own
daughter."

Seiko could no longer hold back the tears at hearing the old pain
buried in Aiko's voice. The death of the youngest daughter in an auto
accident a decade ago had hit Aiko especially hard. The explosion that
claimed the life of Shizuki's husband and child several years later had
nearly shattered her completely; Aiko's granddaughter had always been
loved and adored by all. Seiko cried silently for them both, shedding
tears she knew the elder Yamada never would.

"And Nodoka. How could I have gone so wrong with her? We were alike in
so many ways, and she always enjoyed the training and the challenges of
the Yamada kenjutsu ryuu. She was respectful, dutiful, intelligent, and
beautiful, her aptitude for the Art was amazing to behold, and yet she
threw it all away. All of it, all away for a two-bit thieving shyster
and his perverted monster of a sensei. I lost her as suddenly as I did
Shizuki."

Aiko turned to look at Seiko, her own eyes glistening with tears she
refused to allow.

"We had to disown her, Sei-chan. We HAD to, you know that as well as I.
The clan could never allow itself to be associated with a family such
as the Saotomes. That fat glutton Genma would have emptied Ranma's
inheritance in less than a year, the dishonor that follows his clan
around like a sick plague would have done irreparable damage to the
clan businesses, and letting his perverted grandfather loose on the
family to treat our children like he has Ranma and the Tendo girl was
simply unthinkable. Why couldn't she see what would happen when she
cast her lot with them?"

Aiko pulled the picture frame away from her own embrace, revealing a
small montage of portraits; images of Ranma and 'Ranko' side by side
framed in stark and simple black. Brushing her fingertips over the
glass, she stared at the miraculous duality that had been her grandson
and daughter; two amazing and precious children sharing the same space,
the same time, either just a short splash of water away.

"Poor Ranma. All you had to do was have the courage to walk away. Just
walk away. But you never knew, did you? You never knew that there would
always be someone here to catch you if you could just have walked away
from it all." Aiko thoughts wandered over the images of the battle she
had just recently viewed. "So strong in so many ways, yet such a gentle
soul underneath all that bravado. And the true strength you so
desperately needed was the one thing they so firmly denied."

Aiko clutched the frame tightly to her chest once more and curled back
into a tight ball in her chair, gently rocking the picture back and
forth like a child as she stared blankly at the floor.

"Gone. Everything I touch turns to dust," she whispered so softly that
it could barely be heard.

Seiko didn't know what to do; her friend had become almost as
distraught as she had been over the loss of Shizuki's family. Seiko sat
next to her with her hand on Aiko's shoulder, lending what silent
support she could, until she felt Aiko's hand reach up and gently
squeeze hers in return.

"Thank you, Sei-chan."

Aiko unwound herself from her chair and stood, taking a moment to
stretch her legs after sitting so long in a cramped position. Her
composure somewhat restored, she donned a miniscule smile as she took
one of Seiko's hands to lead her over to the family butsudan shrine.

"I think that it's about time we introduced Ranma to his younger
cousin, don't you?"

Both women sat down in front of the shrine. They lit the candles,
burned the incense, rang the bell, and softly chanted the Buddhist
sutras required to welcome and appease the newly honored family spirit.
After the lengthy ritual was completed, both stood and bowed
respectfully to the spirits of the clan. Aiko then placed Ranma's
picture overhead in memorial, next to the picture of a lovely young
girl with straight black hair and expressive purple eyes.

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

--- Elsewhere ---
Sailor Pluto shrieked in agony as the Gates once more rejected her
commands. The reflected spell wrecked havoc throughout the senshi's
body, its power wild and uncontrolled. The magical feedback tossed the
senshi violently aside to land in a writhing, twitching heap; blue
lightnings coursing visibly over Pluto's body until the spell's
unfocused power had dissipated.

Sailor Pluto wearily staggered to her feet and rested a moment to
regain her strength. She HAD to return to Earth and quickly; the events
she had long ago set in motion were reaching their most critical and
dangerous juncture. Without her presence in Tokyo and the ability to
control the Gates over the next several months, her dream of Crystal
Tokyo could very well shatter and be lost amidst the threads of time.

The Key, there was something wrong with the Key, there had to be; the
Gates were no longer responding as they should. Perhaps the key had
been damaged in the explosion somehow when she had killed herself by
stopping time over the Mugen Academy. Dying had not been pleasant but
it had been necessary, otherwise the Silence would have quickly
consumed the entire world. She long ago prepared her talisman for this
specific possibility, so invoking her forbidden power had been done
without a moment's hesitation.

Raising the Garnet Rod, she again cast the spell of command on the
Gates of Time.

Her scream of pain reverberated throughout the shadowy mists.

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

--- Tokyo ---
Seiko studied her friend from across the table, noting the deep lines
under Aiko's eyes and the puffiness surrounding them. It looked like
the Yamada matriarch had also been unable to sleep a wink last night.

"I want no expense spared in recovering Ranma's body, Seiko. Have our
contacts down in Matsuyama arrange for the equipment, and send Akahito
to ... no, better make that Tashiro. Have Tashiro fly down with
instructions and authorization for the girls, and have him place
himself under their command. Madori-chan will be in charge of the
operation. I will NOT allow another empty urn to be placed in our
family shrine, you understand?"

Seiko nodded briefly. "Yes, Okusama."

"Good. Please inform Harukichi that I will hear her request tomorrow
after dinner. That should give you sufficient time to compile a visual
summary of my grandson's life over the previous year. Make sure that
you highlight as many images of his curse in action as you can. I want
there to be no possibility whatsoever of misunderstanding just exactly
who 'Ranko Tendo' really was."

Seiko barely suppressed a gasp of surprise. "Aiko, are you sure about
this?" she inquired softly.

"Yes. I'm certain I know what Haru-chan will ask of me, and it is high
time my former daughter learned the true consequences of her continued
foolishness. If she does nothing to atone for her actions, there are
certainly numerous other methods we can use to finally bring the
Saotomes to justice."

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

--- Mt. Horai ---
Midori took stock of their provisions and frowned. It had been three
days since she had sent Harukichi back to Tokyo with their final status
report, and the remaining girls were all getting pretty tired of the
field rations that they had brought along. Not to mention that they
were starting to run out of things, period. Midori fully expected
Harukichi to return with a larger team of workers who would at least
try and recover her cousin's body. A team dispatched by the clan would
include enough provisions for an extended stay, but if Haru-chan didn't
return with help in the next two days she was going to have to send
Kioko by herself to Matsuyama for new supplies.

Well, one good thing about doing that; she wouldn't have to put up with
Kioko's badgering about schoolwork for a few days. Of course, that also
meant she'd be stuck 'babysitting' Tsuya by herself; keeping that girl
out of trouble was almost a full time job in itself. After thinking
about it for a moment Midori came to the conclusion that the pros and
cons just about cancelled each other out equally.

Shaking her head, Midori drew her blades as she moved into an open area
next to their campsite to start her afternoon katas. The Yamada
kenjutsu ryuu was based in part on the Mirumoto Yagyu ryuu, which
itself was based on the old Yagyu Shinkage ryuu. The Mirumoto ryuu was
founded on the belief that a warrior with two blades should be
proficient in using them together. The Yamada ryuu melded elements of
Shaolin long fist and Shaolin saber into the Mirumoto kenjutsu
techniques. It was a very difficult school to master, and even more so
for kunoichi who traditionally avoided most direct jutsu combat forms
in favor of the more subtle ninjutsu schools. Midori wasn't a master by
any means, but she was the only one of the four girls who favored
direct combat when the need arose.

Midori took a horse stance to begin Four Winds, the least complicated
of the school's katas. She enjoyed the serenity that settled over her
as lost herself in the movement; Four Winds also served as an excellent
warm-up and stretching routine for the more difficult routines later
on. It took very little time for Midori to become one with her blades.

She had progressed through Climb the Mountain into Dragon Claws when a
section of the earth a dozen feet to her left exploded in a flash of
brilliant white. The force of the blast threw her sideways several
feet. She lay there stunned for a few moments before picking herself up
and running over to investigate. Kioko and Tsuya arrived at about the
same time, having run from opposite ends of the campsite. What they saw
left them speechless.

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

"MOUKO TAKABISHA!"

The powerful ki blast cleared the last remaining feet of the tunnel.
Wearily crawling free of her imprisonment, Ranma curled into a partial
fetal ball as her ki aura flickered and extinguished. She spent the
next several minutes in a paroxysm of coughing, gasping, and choking;
her abused lungs trying to make up all at once for far too many hours
of bad and inadequate air.

Once the coughing fit had subsided she remained huddled in a shaking
ball, clutching her sides in pain. Her left forearm was broken, several
ribs were severely bruised, and her entire body felt like it was on
fire from the inside.

"Eiko?"

{{Yes, Ranma?}}

"I though you ... [cough][hack] ... said I wouldn't run out of ki."

{{I did, and you did not.}}

"Then ... [cough] ... how come I feel so crappy?"

{{I did caution you that this would seriously challenge your ability to
control and direct your ki. The pain you are currently experiencing is
the direct result of the overloading of your internal energy pathways.
Until you've had a chance to recover normally, further usage of your ki
for accelerated healing or otherwise runs the risk of incurring
permanent and irreparable damage.}}

"Damn. Guess I'm just gonna have to train some more." Making this last
comment triggered another brief bout of coughing and spasms.

{{Ranma, mastering your ki requires a specific metal discipline that you
currently lack, and one that has been deliberately trained out of you
by your father over the years. You have already reached the limit of
what you can accomplish through raw talent and willpower alone. If you
wish to expand your capacity to control and direct your ki any further,
you will need to train your intellect with the same fervor that you
current apply to the Art.}}

Ranma discovered that her thoughts had become too fuzzy to make sense
of Eiko's words outside of the fact that there *was* a way to train for
ki. She'd have to pursue this later when she could think more clearly.
She carefully rolled onto her back and lay there a moment staring at
the clouds in the sky. She had never seen a more beautiful sight in her
life. Her silent revelry was interrupted by the whispered sound of
rustling cloth and drawn weaponry.

Sitting up suddenly was a big mistake. A nearby giant decided that her
head was a really nifty thing to sit on and her vision broke out in
pyrotechnic swirls mixed with popping lights. Through the bleary haze
Ranma managed to make out the shape of several girls dressed in hiking
clothes holding various weapons in defensive positions.

"Don't look like Amazons," was her first shaky thought. She
subconsciously classified the other girls as 'possibly friendly' when
the nearest girl sheathed her twin blades without immediately glomping
her.

{{God, I must look a mess.}} She clutched her sides as another paroxysm
of coughing shook her body.

{{Ranma, you may wish to conceal your identity until you can more
properly determine why such a group has gathered in this specific
area.}}

Nodding in agreement, Ranma tried putting on a friendly smile before
greeting the group.

"Hi. I'm Ranko. Sorry 'bout this."

Suffering from the effects of unhealed injuries, partial hypoxia,
dehydration, malnutrition, and total exhaustion, Ranma's eyes rolled to
the back of her head as she collapsed into unconsciousness once more.

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

'Eiko' briefly pondered the current condition of its new Guardian
before deciding upon the proper course of action to take. Her injuries
were not life threatening and it could detect no hostility in Ranma's
new companions during the brief threat scan she had automatically
performed before blacking out. Without a single standing directive
implemented, no direct action on its part was warranted. Satisfied, it
continued to passively monitor as much of the situation as it could and
waited patiently for its Guardian to regain consciousness.

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

Midori stared in shock as the brightly glowing thing that had just
crawled out of the earth suddenly resolved itself into the shape of a
short naked girl. She was an absolute mess; her skin was caked in dirt
and blood and her hair so matted with mud that it was impossible to
tell what its original color was supposed to be. She was also pretty
badly injured, judging by the coughing and spasms shaking her body, the
obvious break in her left arm, and the numerous visible wounds
scattered over her entire body.

Gods, she must have been buried alive. Midori shuddered at this
thought.

The girl was also quite delirious; Midori could hear her holding a
conversation with someone who definitely wasn't there.

Midori quickly hand signed to the Tsuya, instructing her to retrieve
some blankets, extra clothing, and the med kit from the camp. When the
girl suddenly sat up and looked in her direction, Midori was
embarrassed to realize that she was still holding her swords in a low
guard position and quickly sheathed them. She looked back up just in
time to hear the girl address the group.

"Hi. I'm Ranko. Sorry 'bout this."

{{Oh God oh God it's Ranma he's alive oh God he's still alive it's a
miracle oh God it's Ranma.}}


============================================================
Mark Shurtleff
  email: gaijin@sfcmd.com
  irc alias: Gaijin -or- togashi_gaijin
============================================================


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