I do not own any of the characters in this story. They belong to their respective creators.
Talking
Thinking
"MOKO TAKABISHA!"
The yellow blast shot into the dojo and straight into one Genma Saotome. The blast sent him hurling into the opposite wall of the dojo. As he impacted, only one thought was in his head. Where did that come from? Ranma is no where near here. Who could have…But that was as far as Genma got before impacting the wall.
Akane watched all this occur with a sense of detachment. She was still in shock over everything she had just heard. What is going on? How? Why? He was mine. And she stole him from me. Nabiki, you stole my fiancé. You're no better than Ukyo or Shampoo. Her eyes narrowed as she glared at her sister. You'll pay, Nabiki.
Kiren looked over her shoulder and said to Genma's assailant, "Wow, you have sure gotten fast Sis. It would have taken you twice as long to get here a year ago." She then smiled and ran up to her sister, giving her a hug. Nabiki smiled as she addressed her daughters. "Kiren is right, Hotaru. You have gotten faster."
Everyone turned their attention to the newcomer. She appeared to be around 16 with her dark purple hair framing her face in a similar style to Nabiki's. Her outfit was simple, a white blouse with an ankle length blue skirt. "If I have improved, I have you and Ranma-papa to thank for it, Nabiki-mama."
"I take it this is your other daughter, Nabiki." said Soun.
"Yes daddy. This is Hotaru Saotome, formally Hotaru Tomoe. We took her in after her former guardians were killed in a helicopter accident." said Nabiki.
Hotaru glanced back behind her before saying, "I hope it's alright, but I brought a friend to help me with my things."
"That's fine, Hotaru. So, who did you bring with you?" asked Nabiki.
Hotaru stepped into the dojo and then moved from the doorway to reveal another person.
The young woman with Hotaru had long black hair and deep blue, almost purple eyes.
Nabiki smiled and said, "Hi Rei. Why did you volunteer? I almost expected Makoto."
Rei smiled, though it looked forced, and said, "Oh, I'm just here to help a friend out. Oh, I have something to talk to you about, Nabiki. It's important but it can wait until this is done."
Nabiki studied Rei for a moment before turning back to her family and saying, "Father, as you now know the families are joined. So now, we have come here asking for the promised dowry for fulfilling the agreement."
With this, Akane's eyes widened before narrowing. She then said, "So, now you come asking for the dojo. You left for college in Juuban and didn't bother to come back to see us the whole time you were gone, and now that you finally come back, you're taking not only my fiancé but MY DOJO AS WELL!! WELL, I WON'T STAND FOR IT! THIS DOJO IS MINE, AND IF YOU WANT IT, YOU HAVE TO BEAT ME, THE HEIR TO THE TENDO DOJO!!"
Nabiki stared at her sister for a moment before saying, "I might not have come here to visit, but that never prevented you from coming and seeing me, sister. If seeing me was so important, than why did I not see any of you until the day of my graduation? And since when was Ranma yours? All I remember hearing the whole time he was here was how you weren't going to marry that pervert and now you don't have to. As for the dojo, it is my dowry as the one who joined the schools and married Ranma."
Akane's aura flared as her rage began to take over her mind. She glared at Nabiki for a minute then shouted, "NABIKI, I CHALLENGE YOU FOR THIS DOJO!!"
Nabiki studied her sister for a moment before turning to her daughters and saying, "Well, it looks like our school has its first challenger. Do either of you wish to accept or is it going to be me?"
Kiren turned to Hotaru and they whispered back and forth until they turned back to their mother and said, "You can accept mom. You know more about her style than we do."
Nabiki nodded to her daughters and turned back to Akane and said, "Looks like I will be your opponent, Akane. Are you sure this is what you want? If you do this, there won't be any going back."
Akane growled out, "I'm sure, sister. Are you ready?"
Nabiki stood there watching her sister for a moment before turning to Soun and saying, "Father, I would like you to officiate this match. Should Akane win, she gets the dojo. Should I win, I get to keep my dowry." Nabiki then turns to Akane and says, "Last chance Akane. There will be no forgiveness if you continue down this path. You will not be welcome in my house if you burn this bridge, dear sister."
At this, Akane's restraint went out the window. She charged across the dojo and cocked her arm back for a knockout punch. At least, it would have knocked Nabiki out if she had stood still. Akane found herself being spun and then thrown back the way she came and glanced back to see that Nabiki had thrown her. How did she do that? She had to have cheated. She can't be better than me.
Nabiki smirked as her sister responded the way she expected. Then she spoke to her sister saying, "Still letting that anger rule your judgment, Akane? Fine, if that's how things are going to be. Bring it, Akane." She then fell into a stance that the Tendo's didn't recognize, but Kiren and Hotaru did.
Mother's taking this seriously. I didn't think she would use this against family. Hotaru thought to herself.
Go mom! Kick her ass! Kiren mentally shouted, silently hoping she would get to fight next, regardless of whoever won.
Suddenly, a voice came from the dojo door. "Nabiki, please refrain from permanently hurting your sister. She isn't thinking clearly. Oh Rei, how nice to see you. I'm glad to see you but why are you here?"
Both Rei and Nabiki turn to the voice and Rei said, "Oh hi, Auntie Nodoka. I'm here to discuss something with Nabiki, but since you're here could I talk to you as well?" Nodoka nodded then turned to Nabiki and Akane. "Please, let Nabiki and I deal with this business of Rei's so we can get on with this challenge with no worries."
Rei glances from Nodoka to Nabiki and back again before nodding and saying, "Can we talk in private for a moment? I promise this won't take long."
Nabiki and Nodoka nod and lead Rei away from the dojo. They are gone for a few minutes before a shout was heard. "WHAT!!!" There was no doubt in anyone's mind that the voice belonged to Nabiki.
After a few moments of silence, Nabiki returned to the dojo, quickly followed by Rei and Nodoka. "Sorry about that Akane, but that was important." Nodoka and Rei sat with Hotaru and Kiren to watch the fight.
Nabiki turned to Akane and said, "Lets begin." As Nabiki drops into her stance, Akane rushes across the dojo again.
What happened last time was a fluke, it had to be. There is no way Nabiki could be better than me. Akane convinced herself as she blindly charged her sister.
Nabiki could guess what Akane was thinking. She smirked at her sister as she stood waiting for the blindly charging form of her sister. She reached her senses out and took a hold of the moisture from the koi pond in the yard and brought it to her, forming a wall of water in Akane's path. Let's see how they deal with this. Nabiki thought as she formed the water barrier.
More than a few eyes widened as the wall of water formed in-between the two sisters. The only ones that seemed unaffected were Kiren, Hotaru and surprisingly, Rei. Nabiki's face broke into a confident smirk as her sister gawked at the water before her.
"You look surprised Akane? After talking to Kiren and spending the remaining time I had at Furinkan High on the road with her, he found he could mimic her pyrokinesis. You know how Ranma is, once he learns something, he goes about trying to improve it." Nabiki taunted. "Well, as you can see, he did just that. After he figured out Pyrokinesis, he quickly adapted it and managed to discover Aquakinesis, Aerokinesis, and Terrakinesis."
Kiren, Hotaru and Rei again were the only ones unaffected by this revelation. As the wall of water dissipated, Nabiki dropped into a defensive stance, water flowing up and over her hands and taking the form of gloves. "So sister, are you ready to give up?"
Needless to say, Akane was livid. Why did that pervert teach her and not me? What did she do that I didn't? No, she couldn't have… She didn't sleep with him did she? "How did you get him to teach you, slut?" Akane half accused her sister. "What did you do for him that I didn't do?"
It was Nabiki's turn to gawk. Did she just call me…? Okay Akane. That's all I needed to hear. Nabiki's face hardened and the water moved up her arms, stopping at the elbow. "All I ever did for Ranma was give him a home and a shoulder to lean on. None of you ever listened to what he had to say, me included. We all wanted him to do what we wanted, never asking the important questions, like what he liked to do or what he wanted."
"After seeing Ranma with Kiren, I couldn't help but think about the wrongs I had committed against him. All the times I sold pictures of him or sold some information about him. All the times I put making money over everything even my own morals. All these things came to mind as I watched this young man I thought I knew change into someone I didn't recognize, all due to the presence of a single two year old girl." Nabiki continued.
Looking up at Akane, Nabiki asked, "If I had came to you about this, could you honestly have dealt with Kiren's abilities as well as I have? At first, anything could set her off. Ranma told me he had to replace their tent at least 10 times in the time I had left in Furinkan. She had little control over her abilities and used what control she did have whenever she felt threatened."
Nabiki sighed before continuing. "I know what you would have done, Akane. Oh do I know. You would have gone straight to Ukyo and Shampoo and told them exactly why they should leave your unwanted fiancé alone. After hearing you, they would have come directly here, seeking the truth. They would have found Ranma with Kiren and things would have degraded from there."
Meanwhile, another person was deep in thought about the revelations Nabiki had set forth, if not for completely different reasons. So that's what he was teaching me. I wonder why he took the time to teach me and not the others. I saw the same things, Nabiki. I saw how much he changed when one of his daughters was around. Even when they weren't there, he always put their wellbeing above his own. He's a wonderful father At this thought, she absentmindedly rubbed her stomach. A wonderful father…
"No Akane, if anyone caused you to lose not only Ranma, but this challenge as well, it was yourself. If not for your mistrust and abuse of my husband, he would have come to you for help with this. He would have trained you and I would not have the skills to win." Nabiki's face grew softer for a moment and said, "I am sorry for this, Akane. I had wanted things to be different but you pushed this." Nabiki's face hardened again. "And as I was the one who was challenged, I am going to finish it too."
Akane stood gaping as her sister quickly crossed the dojo and slammed her palm into her chest, throwing her into the dojo wall. Everyone was shocked to see Akane flying across the dojo. Akane groaned as she slowly got up and faced her sister.
Akane slowly started to cross the dojo but stopped halfway when she thought she felt something off in the distance. Nabiki, Rei, Nodoka, Kiren and Hotaru all noticed it as well.
As the feeling grew, Nabiki whispered, "Hiryu Shoten Ha"
With Ranma, 10 minutes ago
Ranma was not having the best of days. Everything had been great in his life; until he found out he was married to Nabiki. He wasn't upset about being married or it even being to Nabiki, no something else weighed on his mind.
"Why didn't she tell me? I wish I had known. I would have done things differently if she had just told me. How am I going to tell Rei about this? It would be this way. I can't ever escape the chaos, can I?"
Needless to say, Ranma's mind was not on the tournament he was attending. Even in his distracted state, he had easily made it to the final round and was currently waiting for the other semi-final match to end. He was so preoccupied in fact; he didn't notice a young woman sneaking up on him.
"Hello there, Ranma. What are you doing here?" the young woman asked.
Ranma turned to look at the girl before telling her, "Hi Minako. I'm here competing. Nabiki entered me in this to win a little extra cash." Ranma went back to his musing until it registered in his brain just whom it was that he had just spoken to.
Ranma manages to recover enough to ask, "What are you doing here? Wait, if you're here than…" Minako smiles and says, "Yes, he's competing as well. In fact, I believe he just won." Minako moves over to where her boyfriend is exiting the area in order to catch him unaware.
Ryoga smirked as he left the arena. That was a good fight. He wasn't as strong as Ranma is but he put up a good fight and didn't quit when things got tough.
Things were looking up for the young Hibiki. Too bad he missed the person stalking him, looking to make him their prey. As he neared the spot where he had been resting between matches, all the sudden someone grabbed him from behind and nearly squeezed the air from his lungs.
"Hey honey, guess who's here." Minako whispered to her boyfriend. Ryoga looked over his shoulder at his girlfriend and said, "I wonder who it could be? Hmm…let me guess, is it Ranma?" Minako giggled and said, "How did you know, Ryoga?" Ryoga smirked and said, "Well you did say Hoatru said he would be here and didn't you say that Rei gave you something for him once she heard he would be here?" Minako pouted cutely and said, "You're no fun sometimes, Ryoga."
Ranma, who was sitting nearby, heard the whole thing and only reacted to the playful banter once a certain temple priestess was mentioned. He then approached Minako and asked, "Rei gave you something for me? Can I have it please?" Minako smiled and reached into one of the pockets on Ryoga's backpack and pulled out an envelope and handed it to Ranma.
Ranma tore open the letter and read the contents. After reaching the end of the letter, his eyes grew wide. Just to make sure, he read the letter again. After ensuring that he read the letter he held correctly, his aura flared, searing the ground at his feet. After his aura stopped growing he did the only thing he could think of. Ranma Saotome, the greatest martial artist of his generation, heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, and chaos magnet, screamed into the heavens at the top of his lungs, "WHY ME?!"
Ryoga stood staring at Ranma. I haven't seen him act like this in a long time. I wonder what has him so angry. After clearing his thoughts, Ryoga approached his rival and said, "Are you okay Ranma? What's wrong?" Ranma lowered his gaze to Ryoga's and said, "Rei's pregnant."
AN: Well, there's another chapter for you. Please read and review.
