Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and Full Moon o Sagashite are not mine.

Author's foreword:

I'll include all Full Moon related information as the story progresses under the assumption that no one reading this knows the series.

The Ranma timeline will be revealed when needed.

Fumbling for the Full moon

By ToastedPine

Prologue

Ranma relaxed and let his body take over, twisting to catch the air at the right moment so that he would land perfectly from rooftop to rooftop. An easy smile appeared on his face as he enjoyed the freedom that roof hopping afforded. Away from the troubles at home and the pressures of being the best, the air was his sanctuary, enveloping his body in its cool, tender embrace.

It was on this day that he heard singing, barely audible compared to the wind blowing by his ears and the rustling of leaves below. He could almost FEEL the strength behind the voice. Following the sound, he found a young girl; her long black hair was contained in two large spiral curls positioned on either side of her head swayed as she moved. She was wearing faded pink pajamas underneath a thick off-white knitted shawl that hung from her narrow shoulders. She lived in one of the few houses that still had large stone walls, similar to the Tendo dojo. There was even a modest pond lined with smooth round rocks in the yard where the girl stood.

He perched on a wooden pole, listening to her from afar. She sounded really nice so he decided to stick around until the song finished. It was different from what he'd heard before on the television, or the few times Kasumi hummed while she worked. If he didn't know any better, he would've sworn that the girl was projecting some ki into her voice.

Ranma became alarmed when the girl suddenly fell to her knees coughing. Before he could realize what he was doing, he was by her side, asking if she was okay.

"I-I'm fine," she answered, expecting the kindly middle aged housekeeper with pouffy hair. "Please don't tell my grandmother, Tanaka-san...?" She opened her eyes to find an unknown man.

"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" she screamed while running back into her room, grabbed anything light enough for her to throw, and aimed it at the stranger. Who knew what would happen to her. She had assured both her grandmother and Tanaka-san that she would be fine home alone until they got back from city hall for some documents. Now there was this person here would do kami knew what to her... maybe even kill her before they returned.

"Cut that out!" She heard him yell while he deftly dodged a hairbrush and some pencil crayons. "I'm not here to hurt you. I was just around the neighborhood when I heard you singing." The last sentence made her pause.

"You're... you're not here to hurt me?" She peaked cautiously from behind a lens telescope she wielded like a sword to shield herself.

The stranger bristled at her question, making her flinch. "Of course not you flat-chested little girl. I was just trying to see if you were all right!"

It took a few moments before the insult registered. "Hey! I'll have you know, I'm only twelve..." She dropped the telescope and twiddled her fingers.

Ranma sweated. "Err... I didn't really mean it, you were throwing stuff and junk...uh... they'll fill out soon anyhow. Heck, even the tomboy turned out just fine-- but don't tell her I said that." He began to feel the blood rushing to the bridge of his nose when he heard the little girl giggling. He was irritated at first, but her mood was infectious.

Soon, the laughter died down and Ranma noticed her timid questioning look. Mentally kicking himself for not taking charge, he held out his hand, "I'm Ranma Saotome, nice ta meet ya."

"Mitsuki, Mitsuki Kouyama." Her lips curved into a tiny smile as the sunlight danced across her eyes. "I'm glad we met too." Her brows knitted slightly. "How did you get in here? Grandmother always locks the main gate even when Tanaka-san is with me."

"I jumped over the wall--"

"Eeeh!" Mitsuki's raised a hand to cover her mouth.

Ranma smacked himself again for forgetting how much Nerima differed from other wards. "You guy's don't have many martial artists in this area do you? I'm the best person to talk to about them so you're in luck..."

Preview:

Ranma bowed low, she was his only hope. "Please Sensei, let me study your body!"

Authors Notes:

I do try to keep my fics from being glorified retellings so, for those who have watched Full Moon, expect things to be very different. The main motivation for this fic is to simply start writing, therefore I won't pay attention to the harder stuff until I get used to forming sentences that sound decent.