A Changed Story
Section 1, A Hero's Daughter Now A Peasant
By Max-chan

Author's Notes: Hmmm...what to say...what to say? Nothin'. Nada. Zip. :) Hold up, yeah, I'm making the two weddings in the beginning a Western one because I'm not entirely sure how a Japanese one goes. Now you can try to enjoy...:)...

Disclaimers: Ranma 1/2 belongs to (dan dan dan dan!) Rumiko Takahashi.
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Nodoka stared in the long mirror as she gave a soft smile. Her dark, red hair was tied into a neat bun that was covered by her pure white veil. Her magnificent grayish eyes and radiant features held little or no make-up as she found the usage of them ridiculous. Even the simple, traditional wedding dress she wore could not hide the stunning figure. The girl was a beauty and yet she did not want to be, but today she was happy and it showed in the flush on her cheeks. Today she was marrying the man of her dreams and she was happy.
Kimiko's lips quivered as she stared at her own image in the mirror. Her eyes were blotchy with tears and even the light make-up on her face could not hide the pain in her features. Her plain, brown hair was tied into a beautiful crown on her head and a veil adorned it making her into the princess she always was. Her elaborate wedding dress only enhanced her figure and the expensive pearls on her neck were only her tears. Her lively face was pale and she had to suppress the sobs threatenting to overcome her. She didn't want to be here today. Didn't want to marry a man she hated and did not know simply because of his wealth. Damn her father anyways! Making those debts and then running away for her mother to pay them, but of course her mother had to find a simpler route. One that involved marrying her daughter off to the first family that needed a bride.

The two girls turned towards each other at that moment and it seemed as if they were a world apart. The always silent and serious Nodoka was ecstatic with joy and the always optimistic Kimoko was depressed and saddened. How could it be so? When had their lives been so altered? When they were children, Kimiko was the one imagining to marry the man of her dreams while Nodoka was the one saying it was more practical to marry for family connections. How could it end like this? Nodoka marrying a guy that was irresponsible and Kimiko marrying a guy that was simple.

"Nodoka, what am I going to do?" the brown-haired girl sobbed because to be truthful, she was only a girl.
The ever reasonable girl just stood strong and even though she was changing her last name this day she will always be the strong wall, Kimiko could lean on.
"Walk out that door with me and face your destiny whatever it may be," Nodoka said. With a toughening in her eyes, Kimiko walked over and placed her tiny hand in her friend's.
Looking at the door as if it was her death, she raised her chin and said, "Let's go then, Nodo-chan, and remember...whatever happens, I'll always be your friend."
"And I you, Kimi-chan," the other whispered but she knew that things were changing. Her road in life and Kimiko's were altering and though she wished it weren't so...she was losing her best friend.
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Eighteen years into the Future

"Akane, get your lazy butt in here! Why is this floor so dirty?! Aren't you supposed to clean it?! I can't believe I have to deal with such a lazy, ignorant girl of a daughter! I can't see what the boys see in you either, you look such like a lump of dirt rather then a girl. You better work and learn manners to make up for your lack of beauty, girl, if you want to make a good marriage!" and the woman continued her choking rant on the floor of the kitchen.
The middle child's eyes hardened and she stood up at the sound of her mother's voice. With quick steps, she walked out of the house and slammed the front door. 14-year old Akane Tendo watched her older sister leave before turning fearful eyes to her eldest sibling. She cringed at her mother's voice and as always looked to the other child for support and help.
"Go, I'll deal with her," Kasumi mouthed and with a thankful smile, Akane grabbed her schoolbag and ran out of the house.

The dark-haired girl ran down the road toward her and Nabiki's high school, her breath quick and uneasy. She didn't want this life...hated it...it was so horrible and she was always so afraid. She felt guilty for always leaving Kasumi to deal with everything but she couldn't face it. The wind pushed against the girl's face as she pushed herself harder. She wanted to run away, run away from it all. Tears entered those brown eyes again and she started to cry as she ran. Why was it so unfair? Why?! Where was her hero? Where was Kasumi and Nabiki's hero? Why did they all have to face this alone?! Then the tears turned to sobs. *Please!* she begged to any force unknown *please, I can't do this alone. Please give me a hero to protect me...* Some say she was answered with a hero a year later...others say she was answered with a punishment in the form of a villain a year later. Only time will tell.
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Ranma Saotome grinned in an annoying way at his two little sisters who were trying to attack him. The place they were fighting in was a beautiful garden made specifically in the Chinese fashion with a small koi pond. He had been begging his mother for a dojo for some time now but she just told him that there was simply no space left in the large yard to fit a dojo.
"Ranma Saotome, you stop picking on poor Ranko and poor Roki this minute!" an older voice scolded and the boy just laughed as he turned to the beautiful girl on the doorstep, "Aw, c'mon, onee-chan, I'm only teasing them."
Putting her slender hands on her hip, Nami Saotome just frowned and said, "Don't lie to me, boy, I can see straight through you. Now, stop it, we have a plane to catch. Mom and dad went ahead to the airport and Formen is waiting in the car and we all know how he can get if we take too long."

Raising his hand to stop the fight, Ranma looked skeptically at his sister.
"This spoken from the girl who takes an hour getting ready," Ranko said voicing his thoughts. Ranma grinned at his younger sister and Roki gave a slight giggle.
Giving a betrayed expression at Roki, Nami said in a mock hurt tone, "Oh no! Have you followed these two evil demons and betrayed your loving sister, Roki?"
"Oh come on, give her some credit," Ranko said rolling her eyes and clasping a hand on her twin's shoulder, "she was never on your side to begin with." The middle Saotome boy just rolled his eyes and walked into the large villa.
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A year later (Akane's Story)
The girl stood quietly in awe at the college party, trying to hide herself in the crowd so that no one would notice the underage highschooler there. She knew she shouldn't be here but it was just so tempting to use the flyer/ticket she found outside the Furinkan high school. Actually, she wasn't even going to use it, was going to give it to Nabiki since she seemed to love these things so much...but then things got...hectic...at home and she needed to escape. It took about three hours of wandering the streets before she discovered the flyer she had placed in her jacket pocket earlier that day. It had seemed like a good idea at the time but now she wasn't so sure.

The music was so loud she wondered if her ears would become deaf after this and even the contents of the drinks they were passing around was questionable. Seeing a couple making out in a corner, Akane blushed and pushed her way towards a balcony outside. No one was out there except for a couple making out but the young girl figured she could ignore their presence as long as they didn't make much noise. It was cool outside and the air was brisk but Akane didn't mind, the bright stars in the dark night made up for everything. Leaning against the railing, she sighed and started to dream again. Dream about a charming, handsome, sweet Prince coming in to save her and whisk her away to his castle.
Suddenly, she felt a presence behind her and a voice whispering in her ear, "Beautiful night, isn't it?" Akane turned around quickly in shock to stare at the tall boy. She recognized him as the guy making out with the girl on the balcony earlier. She could also see why the girl would make out with him. With that thought came a magnificent blush.

"Ah, so the beauty does blush. What's your name, little girl?" the boy smiled his perfect, white toothed smiled.
Hearing the guy call her a little girl, Akane pouted and turned away.
"I'm not a little girl," she whispered.
Laughing, the boy leaned against the railing and the 15-year old girl was forced to look into his perfect blue eyes.
"That's okay," he said, grinning again, "I'll tell you a secret. I'm not supposed to be here either. I'm only sixteen."
The short-haired girl's mouth fell open as she looked him up and down. The tall boy looked anything but sixteen but she could see where one might think that with his perfect looks.
"So, what's your name, 'little one'?" she asked mockingly and Akane gulped before replying, "A-Akane Tendo."
"Well, Akane Tendo," the 16-year old boy said holding her chin up with one hand, "Do you mind being kissed?" Before she could reply, his lips had already descended on hers. With that question he claimed her lips. With that question her claimed her heart. With that question he claimed her life. And no, dear reader, his name was not Ranma Saotome.
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He hadn't given her his number but she knew him from his name. From the reputation of his family and of his wealth. Taski Gendo, second son of the Gendo millionaires. She hadn't needed to know that after the first night when she woke up and felt happy about herself. She hadn't needed to know that when she found he wasn't laying beside her and was gone. But she had needed to know that when two months later, the doctor told her she was pregnant. Now, sitting in the 'hall' of the Gendo mansion, she wondered if it had been such a good idea to tell her family, after all. Her father wanted her to get an abortion and her mother had dragged her here. She had been to afraid to refuse. Now, she sat between a half-drunk father and a furious mother.

The door opened to one of the main rooms and a butler in a plain, brown kimono stood there with a condescending look on his face.
"Mr. and Mrs. Tendo wishes to see you now," he said. Akane felt a hand pull her and drag her into the room, it's nails biting into her skin.
"Mother, let go," she whispered as tears entered her eyes but the woman paid her no heed. Inside the expensively decorated room sat a stern man in his mid-forties and a tall woman that seemed to just come out of a magazine called 'the torture of bad servants'.

"Have a seat, Mrs. Tendo," the man said, choosing to ignore Soun.
"I prefer to stand," came the classic, defiant reply.
Shaking his head as if it was no matter to him, the man continued, "I understand that there are certain...'issues' concerning your daughter and my son."
"There are no issues!" Kimiko Tendo screamed, "your bastard son made my daughter pregnant!"
Looking at the woman as if he was looking at a stain on his shirt, Warder Gendo said calmly, "It takes two people to make a baby, Ms. Tendo. Now, my wife and I have come to decisions about this and-"
"No!" Kimiko yelled, "that boy is going to marry my daughter!"
"Never!" the woman sitting quietly yelled back meeting Kimiko's shout volume by volume.

"We are not making judgments, but our son can never marry your daughter, he already has a girl whom he will marry when he wishes too. Now, as for your daughter, we are willing to give her an amount to pay her for her trouble-"
"You mean you're going to pay her off," the woman interrupted but the man said, "If that is how you wish to see it, fine. And after the child is born and we can verify it is indeed Taski's child, we will give the child an amount in the bank that it can use later on. What do you say, Ms. Tendo?"
Her once beautiful eyes shooting hate and spite, Kimiko's grip on Akane tightened as she said, "No. And you're not getting away with this, Gendo. I know you're kind and I'm going to expose you and your family until it has nothing left, you hear me? This isn't finished."
The man's eyes fell several degrees as he said, "I suggest you leave now, Ms. Tendo." With a last resentful look, Kimiko dragged her daughter and husband out of that room. She didn't noticed the blood she caused on Akane's arm.
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The six month pregnant teenager pushed herself into the restaurant and sat on a stool by the counter. Placing her small, leather bag on the stool beside her, she grunted and took one of the many menus from the counter. Seeing the prices, Akane sighed and felt a darker depression fall on her. She only had a twenty left and had to find a place to stay at Her stomach growled angrily, but she could not satisfy it for she simply could not afford the meal she so desperately wanted. Akane watched the chef at work...he really was great at what he did, almost like the martial arts she always saw on the small, television set at home. Home. That seemed like such a far away place from here. All her life she hadn't gone outside the vicinity of Nerima and now here she was, all the way in Osaka. She felt differing feelings about leaving though. The sense of freedom and non-responsibility was a plus, but the hunger and days without baths was definitely a downside.

A bouncing teenager suddenly appeared straight in Akane's line of vision. Shaking herself out of her thoughts, the Tendo girl instinctively put her hand on her stomach and began to examine the other girl. The girl in the apron with a spatula in her hand had long, shining brown hair and large brown eyes that were lighter then her own. On her face was a beautiful smile as she asked brightly, "So, what would you have today?"
Feeling embarrassment reached up her spine, Akane got onto the defensive.
"Water," she said with a glint in her eye to challenge the other girl.
The brown-haired girl's smile faded somewhat as she asked, "What's your name, sugar?"
"Akane," the pregnant teenager said abruptly.
Giving a lop-sided grin, the chef's assistant asked in a not entirely fake cowgirl accent, "So, Akane, I see your bag over there. Do you need a job? Do ya need a place to stay, hon?"

Taken aback by the other girl's openness and friendliness after all that she faced in her life, Akane stuttered, "I...yes...I mean no...I mean maybe if...I...oh, I don't know what I mean!"
Not flinching a hair, Ukyo asked, "You want a job, Akane with no last name?"
After a moment, the other girl answered, "Yes."
"You want a place to stay, Akane with no last name?"
"Yes!" she said more strongly.
"You got it," the chef's assistant smiled before bundling off to whisper something into the talented chef's ear and pointing at where Akane chef. The old chef looked over at Akane for a second before nodding and whispering something back at his assistant and protege.
Jumping back to stand in front of Akane, behind the counter with a brilliant upturned of the lips.
"Well, congratulations Akane with no last name, you got yourself a job as the greatest Okonomiyakji's chef in the world's second assistant. You should feel grateful, y'know, he never accepts anyone. Shoot, he only accept me 'cause I'm his daughter. Naturally, you'll have to live with us upstairs so that the secrets of the sauce won't get out," the behind-the-counter girl winked at Akane.

The Tendo girl's jaw just fell and she asked, "But...I...you're not lying?"
"'Course not! Why should I? Now, follow me, I'll take you upstairs and show you where you can keep your bag. You'll have to work hours here to pay off your room and board though. Oh yeah, by the way, my name's Ukyo. Strange, I know, but hey nobody's perfect, right? Now, come on, what are ya waiting for?"
Akane struggled to stand up and took her bag in her small hand. Ukyo leaned over the counter and her eyes widened.
"Whoa," she gasped and instantly Akane's mistrust was back.
"Is this going to be a problem? Because I can just leave."

"No!" Ukyo laughed and said as she walked from behind the counter to stand next to Akane.
"After all, the more the merrier, right?"
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A chirping bird could be heard and sunlight peeked through Akane's eyelids as she opened them. Feeling the soft futon beneath her, the girl immediately remembered her surroundings and why she was here. The door to the room she shared with Ukyo was open and a delicious aroma of cooked Okonomiyaki floated in. A bright smile on her face, Akane got up and made her way down the hallway to the bathroom that Ukyo had shown her yesterday when she arrived. When that was finished, the teenaged girl made her way down the steps until she entered the bright restaurant. Mr. Kounji was cooking while Ukyo was busy cleaning the tables and floors before the restaurant opened.

Hearing her, both father and daughter looked up with dazzling smiles. Dropping her broom on the floor, Ukyo walked over to help Akane walk.
"So," the girl with a boy's name asked, "how was your first day here?"
Giving a cheeky upturn of the lips, Akane answered, "Okay, I guess. Um...thanks...really, you both don't know how much I appreciate this."
Flicking her wrist as if it was nothing, the Okonomiyaki chef said, "It's okay, girl. We needed an extra helping hand anyways and besides...it's always better to have two students in case Ukyo decides to do off with me one day."
Shooting her father a fake glare, Ukyo said, "Yeah, now get up girl, it's not good for you to just be sitting around all day with that baby. You're going to help me waitress and after that big bundle of crying spit is born, dad'll teach you the secrets of Okonomiyaki cooking and Martial Arts."
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"Now, Akane, listen carefully to what I am about to tell you for it will be very important in your training," Mr. Kounji said in a commanding tone.
Giving a brief glance to her left where Ukyo was rocking her eight month baby, Akane nodded.
"Good," the chef said before starting his lesson, "Every martial artist has a hidden weapon of ki uniquely his or her own. Ukyo's weapon is her large Spatula and mine is my magnificent knife. Yours still remains to be seen, my dear. Now, seeing as how you were not trained before, it might be difficult in finding your weapon. Instead of simply making you concentrate to get the weapon, I will have to push you to your limit for then it will appear. Are you ready, Akane?"

The girl nodded before she felt a series of blows hit her dead center. She flew across the room and smacked against the wall before realizing that Mr. Kounji had pulled the punches.
Getting up slowly, she heard the man say, "Use the blocking techniques I've shown you!" Then, another onslaught of punches and kicks were thrown her way and this time she managed to block a few. The third time it happened she managed to hold out for a few minutes with her blocks. The fourth time, however, Mr. Kounji did something different and aimed a fatal kick towards her head. Akane didn't know what happened but she felt a burning heat flow through her body before it solidified in her outstretched hands. With a bam, a large mallet connected with Mr. Kounji's head.

With a shout, Akane let the hammer go and it disappeared. Standing up, Mr. Kounji gave one of his rare, genuine smiles as he said with a clasp on Akane's shoulder, "There's hope for you yet, my dear."
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A bell chimed as the 17-year old boy entered the restaurant called 'Okonomiyaki!'. It was full and crowded even at this time and there was a line of people waiting to be seated. The teenaged fighter's ever observant eyes watched the great chef behind the counter. The man was obviously very skilled not only in Okonomiyaki, but in Martial Arts as well. Despite the crowd, there seemed to be only two waitresses and by the agile and quick way they were moving, the martial artist figured they were good at Martial Arts as well. The first was a tall girl with long brown hair tied in a pony-tail and large, light brown eyes. She wore the traditional Okonomiyaki outfit with the top robe and tight pants. The second was a dark, blue-haired girl with large dark brown eyes like chocolate.

Suddenly, the brown haired girl jumped over to where the line was with grace and agility. When she landed and looked up at him with those mocking, brown eyes, Ryoga felt his face flush.
Noticing, the girl grinned in amusement and said off-handedly, "Cute bandanna. Now, follow me, sugar if you want to get a table." With that she started off with a blushing Ryoga to follow her. They edged this way and that through the swarming groups of tables but then a scream cut them in their tacks. Ryoga turned around to see the chef clutch his chest and fall down as the blue waitress jumped over hordes of people to get through him. He felt the brown-haired waitress next to him scream, "Daddy!" before dropping her notepad and running over also.

The crowd of people swarmed now and though Ryoga tried to make his way to the center where the man was...he soon found himself out of the shop and having no idea where he was. Well, Ryoga hoped the man would end up alright.
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Akane held the little two-year old on her side as she walked down the hallway to the restaurant. It was morning and the windows allowed the sunlight to enter. Akane saw Ukyo standing behind the counter and cleaning it slowly as tears dropped down her cheeks unnoticed. Putting her baby down, Akane told her child to run off and play while she spoke with Auntie Ukyo. Slowly, she made her way towards Ukyo as she stared at the large restaurant. What was she doing here? She and Ukyo weren't even eighteen yet and now they have no one to depend on. Akane stopped in her tracks as her thoughts went to where she was always afraid of going.

She and Ukyo were only seventeen and she, herself, had a two year old child to raise. It's been two months now and the money holders would be knocking on their door any minute now. True, the pain of losing her teacher and father-figure still lingered and ate at her insides, but the worry was there also. What were they going to do now? Who were they going to depend on?
Suddenly, Akane gave herself a mental slap. A new voice that she never knew existed spoke up, disgusted with herself. *I need someone to depend on! Where's my hero?* the voice in her head mocked her scornfully *that's how you always were Akane. Selfish. Thinking of only yourself. How pathetic is that. Always asking 'why' and never doing anything. Why don't you wake up for once? There's no hero but yourself. Why don't you stop whining and complaining and do something? Look around you, Akane, if your selfish-blinded eyes can. There's a little kid and a teenage girl who just lost her father, the only family she's ever known until you. *They* need a hero! For once, why don't you think of someone else besides yourself?*
Tears ran down Akane's cheeks as she tried to block out the voice but it continued on relentlessly, that little voice called conscience. It continued on until she accepted what it said and learned her lesson.

Ukyo looked up from her dull haze of pain when she felt a sptula slapped in her hand. Akane stood beside her with a determined look in her once broken eyes. Ukyo saw that there was a spatula in Akane's hands as well.
"C'mon, Ucchan," Akane said, "It's time we stopped lazing around and got to work...d-dad would have wnated us too."
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