Disclaimer:

Sadly, I do not own the amusement park that is Nerima, nor the colorful characters Rumiko Takahashi has so graciously created for us. I wanted to tell a resolution story where Ranma feels comfortable as a girl even though they don't necessarily identify as one, at least at the beginning. As the title suggests, Ranma must look to their own heart for answers about who they are as a person and what they want out of life. I hope you enjoy it.

#foreign language#, *panda signs*, "spoken", 'thoughts'

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The Heart of Ranma Saotome

Prologue

Aftermath of a Failed Wedding

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(Sunday, February 28th, 1988, Early Evening)

Ranma sighed deeply while she sat on the roof, her knees scrunched against her chest as she stared unseeing at the charred remains of the Tendo's dojo. For once she didn't particularly mind the light rain falling all around her. In fact, she was grateful for it because it meant no one was likely to bother her. She had no desire to deal with anyone, least of all the multitude of meddling adults, money grubbing mercenaries, crazy fiancées and irritating rivals that plagued her existence on a regular basis. She just wanted to get away from everyone and everything for a while and a rainy afternoon on the Tendo's roof had seemed like a decent choice.

While she hadn't set out to marry anyone that day, bombing a wedding and injuring or nearly killing innocent people was beyond the pale. She knew the fiancées or wannabe fiancées were selfish and insane but the whole situation was ridiculous. Granted, having three girls, possibly four, chasing after her male side had been a great boost to her over inflated ego but enough was enough. It was time for the madness to end, one way or another.

She was so sick of Nabiki's constant scheming, always making things worse just to line her own pockets with petty change. She was also tired of Shampoo, Ukyo and Kodachi constantly throwing themselves at her in vain attempts to "win" her. She wasn't a prize to be won damn it! Couldn't they understand she was a person with feelings and wasn't interested in them like that? Truth be told, she wasn't sure whether she was interested in anyone that way considering her experiences to date and how dysfunctional her relationships in general were.

As the rain continued to lightly pelt the area around her, Ranma started thinking about some of the events that had happened within the last few months. She wanted to be angry, not just with the others for pushing and pulling at her constantly to be what they wanted her to be, but herself as well for allowing it to continue for so long. Instead, she was just mentally and emotionally exhausted and felt she needed a long vacation away from everyone. Unfortunately, there were still two weeks remaining in the final term of her junior year and she'd already missed a great deal of school due to her unplanned trip to China.

'Now what do I do?' the redhead wondered for the umpteenth time as she slowly climbed to her feet and started pacing along the roof. 'I don't really want to stay around these lunatics and control freaks anymore, but I can't just leave, can I? What about school? Where would I live and how would I support myself?' Pausing for a few moments, Ranma stared into the distance as she thought, 'Tofu-sensei. I bet I could move in with him and work as his receptionist or something… I know he has a clinic somewhere in the Minato ward I'm pretty sure no one around here knows about, not even Nabiki. It's probably not far enough away for a permanent solution but at least it's a start. That doesn't change the fact I still have two more weeks of Furinkan to deal with before I can transfer to another high school. Two more weeks of madness and stupidity…'

'I wonder…' Ranma mused as she resumed her pacing. 'Would I be able to ignore everyone and make it through the next two weeks without feeling like I want to kill any of them? Doubt it, but I suppose it's possible. It would be tough, but then it could also be the greatest challenge I've ever faced. It really says a lot about my life when I'd rather fight a phoenix lord to the death than deal with family and the rest of the Nerima idiots. I suppose if I do somehow make it through these next two weeks I could always tell everyone I'm just going on a training trip and then simply disappear. Then again, why bother telling them anything? I could just leave after finals, or now even…'

'No, I can't leave now,' the Saotome heiress thought with a frown and stopped her pacing as she turned to gaze at the remains of the dojo. 'Those stupid girls will never leave me alone and even if I somehow succeeded in hiding from them, they would eventually find me and start the insanity all over again. Besides, what kind of life is that? I'm Ranma Saotome, I don't hide from anyone, least of all some dried-up old mummy, a stupid lavender haired bimbo, an old friend who can't seem to get a clue and an insane gymnast. I'm going to need some time to plan and implement said plans though. So, for now, I guess I'll play along and see what I come up with over the next two weeks.'

Ranma sighed deeply and resumed her pacing as she considered what she might be able to do to get everyone to back off and leave her alone. After frantically pacing for nearly an hour and practically burning a hole through the Tendo's roof in agitation, she finally decided to stop and address the elephant that had been standing beside her since the beginning. The redhead sighed as she looked down at the remains of the charred tuxedo still covering her womanly figure and thought, 'The easiest way to get them to back off might be to remove myself from the equation. If there's no Ranma Saotome, there are no engagements or rivalries and everyone's free to go on with their lives. I'm the common factor in this whole mess but if you were to remove me, the entire web of insanity falls apart.'

"Dinner's ready everyone," a motherly voice called from deep within the house, interrupting her thoughts as her stomach growled in response.

Ranma grinned as she leapt off the roof before walking into the family room where Kasumi and her mother were bringing out an assortment of dishes for dinner. She frowned slightly when she noticed her mother narrow her eyes at her and sighed before shaking her head and sitting in her usual place.

"Why are you a girl, son?" Nodoka asked frostily as she glared at her currently female child while still holding a couple of dinner dishes.

"Um, it's raining outside, and I was just out there?" Ranma retorted in a 'duh' like manner as she rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Well, if you've been outside all this time you should really dry off and change into some warmer clothing Ranma-kun," Kasumi chimed in sweetly as she finished setting her dishes on the table. "No sense in you getting sick and dinner will keep for a few minutes."

"Yes, son, go dry off and change," Nodoka said in a slightly warmer tone even as she emphasized what gender she expected her child to be when he returned.

"Fine, fine, I'll go clean up. I just didn't want Pop eating my share like he always tries to do," Ranma replied sourly as she glared at her father.

"Don't worry about your father Ranma, I'll handle him," the elder redhead said as she too glared at her husband.

Genma glowered at his son turn daughter for a moment before catching his wife's glare and gulped nervously. Damn it, having Nodoka around was seriously cramping his style when it came to meal times and training. It was bad enough he had to eat in a somewhat civilized manner but now he couldn't even engage in a little Anything Goes Martial Arts Eating? What would be next?

A few minutes later, a dry and very male Ranma dressed in his standard Chinese clothing joined everyone sitting at the table. As he approached his usual position beside Akane, he paused for a moment and frowned when he noticed a certain pot-bellied piglet sitting in his fiancée's lap. Deciding to ignore his sometimes rival/sometimes friend's presence, he took stock of the other changes in their seating arrangements. Rather than sitting beside him like usual, Genma was sitting between Nabiki and Soun on the other side of the table and head respectively. Instead, it was his mother who was sitting beside him. Kasumi was sitting at the foot of the table just as she always did with a placid smile on her face.

"How nice, all of us together again," Kasumi said in an artificially chipper tone as she smiled at the rest of her family.

After a quick "Itadakimasu" from everyone present, the combined Saotome-Tendo family began eating more or less in a sedate manner. Genma frowned while he ate, his food not tasting nearly as appealing as usual since he couldn't wolf it down or steal his son's like he'd been doing for the last twelve years. Ranma was glad he could eat at a more reasonable pace and taste his food for once.

Noticing his father's unhappy demeanor, the pigtailed youth smirked and taunted, "What's the matter old man, food not good enough now that you can eat only your own?"

The elder Saotome glared at his son and said around a mouthful of food, "Watch your mouth boy."

"Eww," several of the girls chorused before Kasumi continued, "Please don't talk with your mouth full, Saotome-san. It's rather impolite, not to mention disgusting."

P-chan grunted in agreement as he looked at everyone's plates with jealousy. He was hungry but knew he would have to wait until Akane remembered him enough to get around to feeding him.

"Oh, I'm sorry baby," Akane cooed, having forgotten her pet pig was sitting in her lap.

Ranma just rolled his eyes and ignored the byplay as he let his mind wander back to what he had been thinking about on the Tendo's roof for a good portion of the afternoon. There had to be some way he could get away from the madness, there just had to be.

Both Akane and Ryoga were pleasantly surprised Ranma wasn't making a fuss about the two of them sitting together and decided to enjoy the relative peace and quiet while they could. The pigtail teen seemed lost in his own thoughts which meant neither of them would likely have to worry about him saying or doing anything that upset either of them. If only every meal could be like this.

"Ranma-kun," Soun started in a solemn tone. When the person in question didn't even look up, Akane elbowed her fiancé in the ribs and hissed, "Wake up baka, Daddy's talking to you."

Ranma glared at his fiancée for a moment before turning to look at Soun with a raised eyebrow.

"Ahem, Ranma-kun, we're going to hold off the wedding until you've managed to get your other affairs in order," the Tendo patriarch continued seriously. In the silence that followed, he studied his future son-in-law and wondered how the boy would respond. Would he celebrate and then do nothing about the other girls, thereby theoretically postponing his marriage to Akane indefinitely, or would he actually do something about them.

The gender bender considered the man's words for several moments and thought, 'Ten thousand Yen says he and Pop start planning another wedding before April, whether I've dealt with the others or not.' Deciding against voicing his true opinion about the matter he simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "Fine. At least that way I know I won't have to worry about it for a while."

"Ranma!"

"What? Do you seriously think I wanted to get married? Did you?" Ranma asked incredulously as he glared at his fiancée for a few moments before turning back towards everyone else. "I'm too young. I'm not even eighteen yet, nor am I out of high school for Kami's sake. Hell, my majority is still more than two years away! Besides," the junior martial artist growled irritably, "I have no idea how you were planning on getting away with today's stunt since I need to be eighteen to get married even with parental consent and I'm not. What did you two do, falsify my age?"

Soun and Genma traded nervous glances and gulped. That was exactly what they had done in order to push the wedding forward.

"You didn't…" Nodoka said with a gasp as she stared at her husband and his best friend in shock. She thought something had been off about the wedding but hadn't been sure what. Back when she had grown up the age a woman could get married with parental consent was thirteen and she'd married at seventeen.

"Of course, they did," Ranma sneered with contempt as he glared at his father. "Pop and Tendo-san have been obsessed with me marrying the Tomboy and uniting the schools since the day we arrived."

"Ranma…" an ominous growl said as an uncomfortable heat started building beside him.

"Oh, come off it Akane, Tomboy isn't an insult, it's just part of who you are," the Saotome heir countered dismissively with a wave of his hand before returning to his rice and teriyaki chicken.

The battle aura forming around her body winked out as Akane blinked in surprise. Ranma wasn't trying to insult her? He seemed to think her being a tomboy was a good thing, something to be proud of because it was a part of who she was? She smiled to herself for a few moments until she remembered it wasn't a good idea to show any positive emotions when it came to her fiancé in front of her older sister and their parents.

"Husband, Tendo-san, we will speak of this later," Nodoka said coolly as she glared at the two men and stroked her katana in a very meaningful and disturbing manner.

"Yes dear/Yes ma'am," the fathers chorused nervously before averting their eyes.

The rest of dinner passed relatively quickly and without further incident. What little conversation was to be had centered on inconsequential things like the weather and upcoming school schedule. No one wanted to talk about what had happened that afternoon at the aborted wedding or the reasons it had failed. Ranma hadn't felt like contributing anything more to the conversation and instead went back to thinking about his situation and what he wanted to do about it. No matter what grand scheme he would ultimately come up with, he knew he would need help. The only person he could think of that would help him without some sort of ulterior motive was Doctor Tofu.

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Once dinner was finished, Ranma stood up, thanked Kasumi and his mother for the food, and walked outside to sit by the Koi pond where he could continue his musings. Since it was still raining outside, even though it was barely a sprinkle, he changed into his female self as he sat down Indian style on the rocks surrounding the pond. The boy turned girl just stared at her reflection for a few moments and sighed.

'How easy would it be to just run away,' the redhead mused wistfully as she began swirling the placid water with her dainty left hand. 'It's not like any of them would actually be able to stop me. It's just it might not be in my long-term best interest no matter how tempting it is right now. Besides, I'm Ranma Saotome, not Pop; I don't run from my problems. This though…'

Deciding she needed to go for a walk and clear her head, Ranma stood from her seated position and left the Tendo compound without bothering to tell anyone where she was going. Truth was, even she didn't know. With a small smirk, she decided she'd take a page from Ryoga's playbook and let her feet guide her wherever they wanted to go as she allowed her mind to wander. It wasn't like she would get lost the same way the directionally challenged boy did. She would be able to find her way back when she was ready to return.

As she continued to muse about her situation, the petite redhead was shocked when she noticed she was standing outside Furinkan High's wrought iron gates. Ranma groaned and shook her head as she wondered how she had wound up at school of all places. It was bad enough she would need to be there the very next morning for classes.

'Ugh, I really don't want to deal with those idiots tomorrow,' she thought uncharitably as a vision of her classmates clamoring on about the failed wedding and whether she and Akane were still engaged or not flashed before her eyes. Worse, because they were her friends, she knew she couldn't just ignore Hiroshi and Daisuke even though they were likely to be just as irritating as everyone else. Then there was Ukyo. She wasn't sure she could even stand being in the same room with her old friend after the stunt the chef had pulled that afternoon. To top all of it off, there was Kuno. The wannabe samurai was likely to be even more insufferable than usual with his condemnations of her male side while simultaneously trying to date her.

'That bastard actually tried to kill me for real this afternoon,' Ranma mentally growled as she remembered the steel katana the kendoist had tried to skewer her with until a freak hole in the dojo's roof had allowed the afternoon shower to turn her into a girl. What happened next was even worse in her opinion. People trying to kill her was one thing, she was used to that, but molesting her female form was simply unacceptable and she had laid him out with a vicious kick to the groin. A small part of her sadistically hoped she had ruptured the upperclassman's testicles and he'd be out of school for the next several days.

'Not that the prick would ever need them. No woman with an ounce of sense would ever consider letting that pervert touch them,' the redhead thought with disgust as an unearthly shiver ran down her spine. 'Thank the Kami he's an idiot. When he had that wishing sword, he could've made me fall in love with him if he had just worded his wish properly…'

Shuddering with revulsion once more, Ranma turned on her heel and practically sprinted away from the school and thoughts of the delusional kendoist. She wasn't sure how long she'd run trying to outrun her thoughts nor which combinations of directions she had traveled only to find herself standing outside the NekoHanten nearly a half hour later.

'Oh great, why the hell did I wind up here?' the Saotome heiress mentally growled as a scowl formed on her otherwise pretty face. 'This "Ryoga" approach isn't quite working, it keeps sending me to places I definitely don't want to be. I'd better get out of here before the old prune senses my presence. She and that stupid great-granddaughter of hers are about the last people I want to deal with right now. I think only Kodachi and the Old Freak would actually be worse.'

Deciding not to further risk an encounter with the Amazons that evening, she quickly made her way down the street with the intention of guiding her "Ryoga"-sense a little, so she could possibly avoid winding up at Ucchan's or worse, the Kuno mansion. After a few minutes she began wandering aimlessly again and couldn't help but wonder how her sometimes friend, always rival seemed to wind up in random places throughout the world. It just didn't make any sense how the guy could walk to India, or parts of Europe, and be back in Japan to bother her again only a couple weeks later. She'd seen his room a few times over the years and recognized various souvenirs from all around the world.

About fifteen minutes later, Ranma cursed under her breath as her wanderings brought her back to the main street and in front of Ucchan's Okonomiyaki. The redhead just shook her head and wondered, 'I swear, how do I keep winding up at these places? I think once I leave here I'll actually pay attention to where I'm going just to make sure I don't wind up at the Kuno mansion. No amount of introspection is worth risking that.'

Turning her attention towards her oldest friend's business, which seemed fairly busy at the moment, she shook her head sadly and thought, 'Part of me wants to thank both of you for stopping that farce of a wedding earlier. I'm not happy with the way you went about it exactly, but I can understand why you felt you needed to do what you did. Doesn't mean I'm going to forgive you for it, at least for now, if ever. You two could've seriously hurt or killed innocent people and that's just not something I can easily forget. I think it would be best if we didn't see one another for a while, though with both of us in the same class at school that could be difficult.'

Ranma sighed heavily as she looked at her old friend's restaurant one last time before returning home. While she didn't think it would be a good idea to talk to Kasumi about some of the things she'd been thinking about all afternoon, perhaps a friendly ear for some other issues wouldn't be such a bad idea.

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A half hour and a leisurely stroll later, Ranma snuck onto the Tendo's property and immediately hopped onto the roof. She didn't want to advertise she was back except to one person and thought the person in question might be in her room reading. The redhead walked down the length of the roof and hung upside down so she could knock on Kasumi's window. Noticing the light in the older girl's room was still lit, she gently tapped on the glass.

A few moments passed before the curtains separated to reveal a confused looking Kasumi wearing a yellow flowery nightgown. Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, the homemaker unlatched the window before stepping back to allow the shorter girl entrance into her room. Once Ranma had swung into the room, she examined the gender bender and asked, "Are you alright Ranma-kun?"

"I'm fine Kasumi-san, I just decided to go for a walk after dinner and clear my head," Ranma replied softly using feminine speech, not wanting anyone to overhear her while she was in the eldest Tendo daughter's bedroom. She really didn't need Nabiki sticking her metaphorically overly large nose into her business nor did she want Akane to get mad and think worse of her. "I'm sorry; I didn't know you would be dressed for bed. Maybe I should go…"

"Nonsense, it's not as though I'm wearing anything particularly revealing and even if I was, it's nothing you haven't seen before," Kasumi replied gently as she took the redhead's hands into her own and gently squeezed. She giggled softly when she noticed her guest's cheeks turn pink and decided she could have a little more fun with her little 'sister'. "Come sit by me on the bed Ranma-chan and tell me what's troubling you."

"W-what? What makes you think something's bothering me?" Ranma asked in panic, her voice coming out little more than a squeak.

Kasumi gave her a look that said, 'I know you better than you know yourself' and sighed as she replied, "Trust me, I know. You've been reclusive all day, this afternoon's wedding notwithstanding. You barely said anything at dinner and then immediately afterward left to be by yourself again. You're trying to think about your situation and how you want to handle it. I won't judge you if you want to break things off with my family and leave. Our fathers can't seem to get in through their thick heads that if they really wanted you and Akane to marry, they should've left you alone so the two of you could've actually gotten to know one another instead of trying to force you together all the time."

"I do love your sister, but I meant what I said at dinner, I'm too young to get married," Ranma said quietly as she sat beside her hostess. "I mean, we've never even been out on a date or anything. I've rescued her a few dozen times, but I wouldn't exactly call those dates."

"If you don't mind my asking, how do you love Akane? Do you see her as your future wife, just a friend or perhaps as a sister?" the elder Tendo asked gently while slowly stroking the top of Ranma's delicate hands.

"Honestly? I don't know," the redhead replied even as she leaned into her companion's shoulder. "I'm not sure I even understand what love is…"

"Considering who your parents are, plus everything your fiancées have put you through, that doesn't surprise me one bit Ranma-chan," Kasumi said sadly as she wrapped her left arm around the smaller girl's shoulder while maintaining their held hands. She knew she was treading dangerous ground with her volatile and jealous little sister a mere forty feet down the hall along with three other dangerous female martial artists clamoring for the gender bender's love and affection. She didn't care because she also knew Ranma desperately needed genuine affection from someone who appreciated her for who she was, not what they could get out of her.

"This is nice," Ranma said in a dreamy voice as she pressed her small body closer to Kasumi and closed her eyes. For once she felt at peace. Akane never held her in such a loving manner. In fact, the tomboy would sooner bash her over the head with a table or some other piece of furniture than show her a fraction of the affection Kasumi had shown her within the last few minutes. Ukyo? Well, the chef did get a little clingy sometimes but since she viewed the girl as a friend and wasn't interested in anything beyond friendship, such contact generally made her uncomfortable. Shampoo and Kodachi? Their touch was pure poison as far as she was concerned. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with them, not even as friends or mere acquaintances. If she never saw the slutty Chinese bimbo or looney gymnast ever again she would be content.

Kasumi smiled as she ran her fingers through the smaller girl's hair and said, "Yes, it is. Ranma-chan, how do you feel about the others?"

"The others, oh you mean Ukyo, Shampoo and Kodachi?" At her companion's nod, the redhead grimaced and continued, "Well, that's a tricky question to answer. Do you mean in a general sense or after what they did this afternoon?"

"In general, but I suppose today's events might have changed things a bit," the elder Tendo said quietly.

"Not as much as you might think," Ranma retorted with a soft giggle. "I've never liked Kodachi. I don't want to go so far as say I hate her exactly because I really don't want to hate anyone, even the Old Freak, though he makes it difficult not to. Suffice to say, my opinion of her is as low as it's ever been. I feel pretty much the same way towards Shampoo as well along with her great grandmother. She went from chasing me for weeks through the wilds of China trying to kill me to trying to force me to return to her village all because of some dumb law. Worse, I read in that little book she dropped that a warrior on an 'Airen' quest is required to complete it all by herself, no one else is allowed to help."

"But Cologne…"

"Exactly, they've violated their own laws trying to bully me into returning with them and yet they expect me to uphold theirs," Ranma interrupted in a derisive tone as her irritation with the Amazons started to leak through her sleepy state. "I fully intend to confront them about this, but not just yet. I want to take care of a few other things first. Please don't say anything Kasumi-san, I need them to remain unaware I know more than I've let on about their laws."

"I won't tell anyone, I promise," Kasumi said with conviction as she gently hugged the smaller girl sitting beside her. The two girls fell silent for several moments as they basked in one another's presence, both feeling content just holding one another. "What about Ukyo?"

"Ukyo… Well, before today I considered her my best friend," the Saotome heiress replied quietly as her eyes started to tear. "I've never been interested in her romantically, mostly because I thought she was a boy for ten years I suppose. I saw her as a friend, a good friend to be sure, but that was it. Now though, after what's she's done I'm not sure I can even call her a friend anymore. This is the second time she's gone overboard and destroyed someone else's property. The first time was my mother's house during that whole engagement ring fiasco Nabiki engineered before I went to China. Today was the second and I just don't think I can give her a third chance."

"I'm so sorry Ranma-chan, I know how much your friends mean to you," the elder Tendo said sadly.

"Friends? What friends?" Ranma scoffed with contempt as tears started rolling down her cheeks. "Friends don't blow up your ancestral home trying to steal a family heirloom. Friends are supposed to support you, not pull the rug out from under you every chance they get. Pfft, I have no friends…"

"You have me…"

"Really?"

"Do you really have to ask? Of course, I'm your friend Ranma-chan. That is, if you want to be," Kasumi said uncertainly as she squeezed her companion's hand.

"I would love for us to be friends Kasumi-san. At least I know you'll never stab me in the back," Ranma replied bitterly even as she tried to relax in Kasumi's warm embrace. Even as agitated as she was with her fiancée situation she couldn't help but relax in the older girl's arms. She closed her eyes as she thought, 'This is how things are supposed to be. No Amazon glomps or bicycle "accidents", no insane laughs or paralysis powders, no mallets or furniture, no "Ranma, prepare to die!" nonsense…'

"Of course not, I would never do that to a friend…"

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Author's Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I want to thank everyone who has read this story so far and hope I can retain your interest. Please read and review. Comments and criticism are welcome, I just ask you to be nice about it.

Publish Date: June 1st, 2019