DISCLAIMER: I don't own Ranma ½ or any other property which might show up. What I do own is the idea for this story it's self. I make no money writing this, nor do I desire fame. It's purely for my own entertainment. If others enjoy this story too, that's all I could ask for.

Warning: This story is an Alternate Timeline. There will be out of character interactions. If everyone stayed in character, events would never have deviated from cannon. While I hope for humor, the story may take several serious and/or dark turns at times. Then again my sense of humor may not be yours.

Strange Days of Sasami Jurai

by FaerieKnight197

There are times in a man's life when emotion overwhelms. At these moments the only thing one can do is cry. For a man named Tendo Soun, such moments came rather frequently. When they arrived his eyes became twin waterfalls. And this was such a time. As salty liquid arched from him several feet to each side he wailed in sorrow and disappointment. His cry of emotional anguish was loud, and rather annoying.

"Waaaaaah! Now the schools will never be joined!"

The cause of his distress was a young boy, about twelve by appearance, with long blue hair. The boy's name was Anmai Masaki Jurai, and he was happily trading recipes and cooking tips with Soun's eldest daughter. While he wasn't from earth, the boy had been living there for a while at the Masaki shrine. A small Shinto shrine in the wilderness. A fact which had come as a surprise to almost all the shrine's residents.

Anmai was not happy about this latest development either. The man impersonating a water fall had gotten him soaked. To those who had come with the Tendo family, this came as a huge shock. After all, Anmai Jurai had retained his gender after being hit with cold water. A feat which should have been impossible in the minds of half the room's occupants. The reason for their shock was simple. Not ten minutes ago Anmai had been a girl. And the rules of this transformation were being blatantly violated.

"Oh to have such a disrespectful son! To have found a cure and not shared it!" A bald man wearing a dingy white karate gi and white bandana wailed.

"Mister Saotome," Anmai began as he turned from his conversation, "I am not your son. I invited you here as a form of closure. It is only fair to inform the family and friends of my former life what is going on. After all, Saotome Ranma did make a promise to his mother."

I know Tsunami says it's all psychological, but what can I do? The boy thought as he changed back into a girl. Now a female, she retied her hair into it's customary twin pony tails. Her dress like blouse had to be readjusted a little too. With a warm smile she skipped back into the kitchen to fetch tea for everyone. Her sister's exasperated sigh didn't even register. Nor the dropped jaws of the other two Tendo sisters.

"You must excuse my sister," one of the shrine's residents said. "Sasami has long disliked people trying to control her life. Even our parents are given respect, but not automatic obedience. I think I understand why now."

"What I don't understand is how she became Ranma." A girl with short brown hair said.

The girl's name was Tendo Nabiki , and she was clearly not happy. After all, a main source of income had died just two days ago. Yet now one of the local residents claimed to always have been Ranma Saotome. Despite Nabiki having seen both in the same room at the same time. It was enough to make one's head hurt. So it was that while everyone else was distracted, the middle Tendo sister slipped into the kitchen.

"So Saotome, how'd you pull it off? I watched you vanish, along with everyone who lives here watching it."

Sasami smiled sadly. Watching her own death had been painful. More painful then anyone here probably knew. A lot had happened since then. But at the same time it had only been a few days. Time sure is funny sometimes. But the presence of one who had abused trust so often in the past made it hard to completely lose herself. Instead Sasami donned a smile and started heating water.

"You know magic is real, right Nabiki-chan? Ranma was living proof of it. Magic isn't the only thing he learned is real. He was dead you know. Maybe not physically yet. But he was dead. And then a goddess gave him a choice."

"But," Nabiki started before being interrupted.

"No Nabiki-chan. Ranma Saotome died three days ago. While I remember his life, I am not him."

XxXxX

As the final kata wound to a close Anmai panted. It had been too long since he'd practiced. First because of cryo stasis during the centuries long trip. Then because he didn't want the family he and his sister stayed with to know. Not yet anyway. The time hadn't been right, and revealing his full self would have raised too many questions. Thankfully he'd not had to worry about the others being told.

Things had been somewhat chaotic ever since they crashed on this planet. So Anmai had decided to stay a girl until last night. Better to not attract still more chaos after all. It was funny in a way. While a girl it felt wrong to practice martial arts. Or to fight. Oh sure, he could do so. But it felt wrong. Similarly it felt wrong to cook or clean as a boy. It didn't seem like different personalities. Not exactly anyway. It was more a case of each body feeling more natural for certain tasks.

Then there was the fact that more and more it felt good to be a girl. That he reflected was possibly due to the goddess he was slowly merging with. In time there would be no separation between them. But that was a while away. He wasn't even mad at Tsunami. Not anymore. After all, he'd had a good amount of time to accept what had happened, and why. It was sort of his fault too after all.

If he hadn't been skipping through the area when the attack came, he'd not have fallen. It wouldn't have been necessary to merge with Tsunami to save his life. But then again, it was a small price to pay. The goddess had given him a second chance at life. Giving her freedom was only fair. And it wasn't like his goddess was taking him over. When they finished merging it wouldn't be either Anmai or Tsunami. It would be a blending of the two.

The others would be getting up soon. Which meant it was time to start working on breakfast. With a happy smile Anmai splashed water from the lake on his face. At the same time he relaxed his grip on manhood. As skin and muscle flowed into new forms the young noble skipped back to the house. Today would be a great day, Sasami was sure of it. As sure as she was of her love for Tenchi.

And that was something that concerned the girl. How would Tenchi feel about this revelation? She knew he loved her. He'd said so a few years ago. He was just waiting for her to grow up a bit more. Learning her age hadn't daunted Tenchi. Nor the fact that she's a princess. Merging with a goddess hadn't even mildly fazed him for that matter. But this was much more problematic then her age or Tsunami. Would he still accept her now? And where was Tenchi? She'd not seen him since the meeting.

XxXxX

If anyone found out what he planned, the teenage boy knew he'd be in serious trouble. He'd known the basics of how Ranma had gotten cursed. His friend had told them all when he visited that one time. He'd not paid too much attention to the details though. And now he wished he had. So when Sasami had revealed her other side, the boy hadn't been as shocked as he could be. Shocked sure, but not horrified.

Which was why he'd cornered the elder and spoke to her. He'd come to a decision, and needed information. At first he'd thought to cure whatever curse Sasami was under. But she didn't seem to mind becoming a boy. And while he wasn't interested in boys, Sasami was his friend. Maybe more then a friend. But there was something he could do. He could try and acquire the same curse Ranma had. And so he'd left with Cologne for China.

Tenchi knew he was being followed. Of course those two would follow him. It's not like his privacy mattered to Ryoko. And his wishes barely mattered to either of them. And that was on a good day. Sometimes he thought he loved them. But being treated as a possession to fight over made him doubt those feelings. He doubted they actually even liked him. They just wanted to claim ownership. At least, that's how it seemed to him.

"You two may as well stop hiding."

Almost immediately Tenchi found himself unwillingly pressed against a busty woman. Not that it was a new experience. Just an unwelcome one. Just once I wish she'd ask first. The cyan haired beauty ignored his discomfort as if it didn't exist. Having another woman, this one with dark brown hair pulling on his other arm was an equally familiar experience. He winced as it began to hurt more and more.

"Ayeka... Ryoko... please... stop..."

A gnarled wooden staff impacted the foreheads of both girls, knocking them to he ground. It was wielded by a diminutive old woman. The goblin-like women was named Kuh Lon, although in Japan many called her Cologne for reasons she still didn't fully understand. Without further word the elder started to pogo hop on her staff deeper into China. Tenchi was the first to follow her, with the girls soon following. Silently they exchanged puzzled looks.

Author Notes:

This is a direct sequel to Ranma's Honor that I've been working on for a while now. This story was originally going to be a one shot. But it looks like it'll be at least two or three chapters long. It is coming along slowly however. Sometimes only a sentence or two a week. Enjoy, or not. Whichever you please.

Notice any spelling or grammar errors that weren't clearly intentional for dialog? Please let me know. I'm not perfect, and spellcheck has it's flaws.