Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma or anything remotely having to do with Ranma. This is a fan fiction created for my own enjoyment and for the enjoyment of others. A lot of the other characters, however, I do own, such as the soldiers, technology, science, magic, and names of the Chaos Empire. If you want to use them, at least ask first.

Also, feel free to review, ask questions, or even flame the story if you don't like it. At least have a point when you review though. Saying it sucks doesn't really do anything other than waste my time. Tell me WHY it sucks and help me to change it. To everyone else, enjoy my first attempt at Fan Fiction.

Ranma sat atop the main building of the academy, ten stories above the ground. He looked down from his spot at the distant battleground, where the Freestyle combat tournament was still going on. A tournament where he had been eliminated in the second round. He sighed and laid down on the roof, the cool stone of the building pressing into his back, and gazed up at the sky.

A familiar presence neared but he didn't feel like talking. He just kept looking at the sky, watching the cloud stroll lazily by. He went over the battle in his mind, wondering what he had done, what flaw in his technique had led to his downfall. Over and over again he replayed the battle, but nothing came to him. He gave an exasperated sigh and finally turned to look at his best friend.

Tristina was hovering, the only way she could make it up there. Ranma remember that she had told him once how hard it was for her to hover, how it took a lot of concentration to keep in the air, as well as a lot of energy. He sat up and moved to the side so that she could sit down, but still didn't say anything. Didn't know what he could say. He had always been the best and now, he had lost.

They sat that way for several minutes, neither saying anything. Finally, Tristina broke the silence. "It's not your fault you know."

Ranma turned to look at his friend. How could she say that? Other than his own school, who could he blame? If it wasn't his fault, whose fault was it? He shook his head. "How can you say that? I lost. Me. Ranma Saotome. Undefeated Freestyle Champion." He turned away and looked back at the battleground where competition was still ongoing.

Tristina sighed then laid a hand on Ranma's shoulder. "Ranma. You have to remember that you are only twelve years old. Most of the fighters down there have been competing longer than you have been alive. Some of them are even older than my great grandfather. You shouldn't hold yourself to the same standard against non-humans that you do against humans. They don't fight the same."

He turned to look up into the face of his friend. She was already taller then him. Must be part of being two years older than he was. "Maybe you're right. Doesn't mean that I have to like."

Tristina chuckled and thwapped Ranma lightly on the shoulder. "Didn't say you had to like it. Just remember. You're Ranma Saotome and you never lose. Anything but a win is just a step on the way to another victory. You told me that yourself once. When we first met."

Ranma smiled up at his best friend. "Thanks Tristina. Guess I just needed to remember that. I'm not used to losing. That's why I train all the time. One day I'll be out there, helping to protect the people. Can't do that if I let getting beaten by a non-human bother me. Most of the galaxy isn't human."

He grinned, his old confidence back in his eyes. He then scooped up his friend and started bounding down the building, the wind rushing through his long hair. He loved the feeling of flying through the air. It felt so right. Like he belonged in the air.

He was only a couple dozen feet from the ground when a furry missile intercepted him in midair. "Brother Ranma!" cried the missile as it crashed into him, sending all three people rushing towards the ground. Ranma rotates his body, putting himself between the two girls and the ground as he braces for impact.

Ranma crashes into the ground, struggling to get loose from his blanket. He opens his eyes, squinting into the darkness. What had he been doing off the ground in the first place? He shook himself awake, surprised that he didn't instantly awaken like normal. Something was confusing his senses. A faint tingling all over his skin. Suddenly, the events of last night flooded into his mind.

He groaned in frustration. It was hard to think with her scent heavy in the air. This was supposed to be a relaxing opportunity to meet his family. He didn't need the stress. It was still early in the morning, with the light of false dawn trying to penetrate the curtains. It was more than enough light to see by though.

Fortunately, Jonathon thought something like this might happen and had prepared for it. Ranma reached into his subspace storage pocket and pulled out a black strap device with a tiny box attached to the outside. He strapped the device to his upper arm, then tapped the outside of a box. There was a soft hiss from the box. Ranma grimaced slightly then finally smiled. He was finally able to think clearly for the first time since Kitt arrived last night. The inhibiter in his system should help reduce the affect of the pheromones, at least enough to function properly.

After some initial stretching, he opened up the door and nearly stumbled over a sleeping Kitt. He managed to dive over her, trying to make as little noise as possible but it didn't work. Her sensitive ears perked and she cracked open an eye. Upon seeing Ranma, she went from sleeping on the ground to charging through the air in a split second. Ranma twirled to the side, dodging her, then flipped down the hallway towards the main room. A second later he was out the backdoors and into the yard, followed close behind by Kitt.

The sound of a body crashing into the roof woke Tristina from her sleep. She blinked into the low morning light, confused at the strange surroundings. This wasn't the city ship. This wasn't home. This was…Ranma's home. So that must be Ranma practicing. But who was he practicing with? She threw on some clothes and headed out of the room, easily finding her way through the house. It was a rather simple design and soon she was outside.

Tristina had to dodge to the side to dodge the furry projectile that came crashing to the ground. A slightly stunned Kitt shook her head before bounding back up to the roof, where Ranma proceeded to kick her out of the air and back to the ground. She came crashing down into the same spot and took a little longer getting her bearings. She squinted at Tristina for a moment before turning back towards a grinning Ranma and charging onto the roof after him.

Ranma smiled at his foster sister. This was the kind of interaction he was used to. The daily sparring. She was fast, even faster than he was normally. But he was always stronger and knew enough to compensate for her speed. Plus, sparring with her for the last ten years had helped him develop his speed so that he was almost as fast as she was. They were a blur on the rooftop, fists and feet flashing through the air almost too quick for the eye to see.

Tristina was surprised that Ranma could even function, considering the way he had acted the night before. Instead of running scared, he seemed to be his old self, confident in his abilities and a skilled combatant. Another swift kick send Kitt flying towards the ground and this time Tristina didn't have time to dodge her. Both girls went down in a heap. Ranma leapt down from the roof and landed softly next to them.

Kitt finally managed to writhe free of the jumbled limbs and turned to glare at Ranma. Sure he had always beaten her before but this didn't match his behavior from last night. "Why you no running, Mate Ranma?"

He shook his head in exasperation. "Will you forget about that mate Ranma stuff? You're my sister and that's how I'll always think of you. Besides, what happened with the cat, that wasn't me. I don't care what you think it meant. Since it happened while I was a cat, it doesn't count for Ranma. As to why I'm not running from you, lets just say I came to my senses."

The cat girl looked at Ranma, a tear glistening in her eye, but she blinked it away and scowled at him. Turning away in a huff, she made her way back inside the house. Ranma watched her go and shook his head again, saddened by how things had turned out with her. He had hopped that she would get over this infatuation with him but it hadn't happened yet. He really needed to find her someone else to get stuck on. After two years, this was getting old.

Ranma turned to Tristina, head tilted slightly to the side as he looked at her. Always she had been there for him, no matter what happened. He should have realized that she would follow him here, where he would need a familiar face. He smiled at her and turned to head inside to help his just waking mother with breakfast.

Tristina felt her heart flutter when Ranma smiled at her. She wanted to tell him how she felt, had wanted to tell him for the past several months but every time she tried, her courage failed her. She snorted in disgust. She could face down charging organoes, but she couldn't face her own heart. Sighing to herself, turned to head inside and resign herself to the day.

Fifteen minutes later, breakfast was set out and Ranma, Nodoka and the two girls were seated at the table. Ranma found himself across from his mother and between the two girls. Kitt kept trying to feed him and Ranma had to constantly deflect her advances. Fortunately, he had finally learned how to use the chopsticks just the day before and was good enough that he could block Kitt while still getting his own food. It wasn't easy though. The only reason he was winning was because she wasn't used to using chopsticks and he was.

Nodoka watched her son and smiled. It was so nice to see him flirting with his first mistress. Although she had to wonder at the change in demeanor from the other night. He wasn't running away or trying to avoid her like last night. Instead, he seemed like the Ranma she had come to know again over the last few days. She turned to consider the other girl and just managed to catch a soft sigh escape the girl. Perhaps there was more to this girl than she originally though. Oh, her son was so manly.

After ten minutes of breakfast, Ranma finally asked the question that had been bothering him since he woke up. "Hey mom. Where's pops?"

"I don't know Ranma. I haven't seen him since he left last night."

The chopsticks in Ranma's hand snapped as he gripped a little too hard. He had a bad feeling about this. He looked down at his broken chopsticks and realized he was done with breakfast. He bid his mother goodbye, dashed up to his room for his pack, then out the door, heading towards the Tendos.

Genma staggered in from the dojo, his gi smelling of sake and sweat. The Tendo girls looked up from the breakfast table as their father came in beside the fat Saotome. Both men sat down at the table. The girls moved away as the scent became overpowering. Akane stared at Genma, angry that the fat man had moved back in, even if it had only been for a single night. She knew it had to be that Ranma's fault. Didn't know how but it was probably another plan to get one of her sisters in the sack.

Nabiki looked at the fat man and knew she didn't like where this was going. Since Ranma had returned from the military at the beginning of the week, Genma had been living with him back at his own home. The house had been quiet and calm. Akane had even settled down without Genma always insulting her without even trying. She would have to talk to Ranma about this. Besides, she was out of pictures as the girls had bought every copy she had had printed. She needed to get some new ones taken. Besides, with him in her class, it would only be a matter of time before he found out it was her who pimped him out to their classmates. She had to do some damage control.

Genma nudged Soun with his elbow. The older man nodded and cleared his throat. Kasumi smiled and stood up and left the table. The other two girls watched their sister leave before turning back to their father.

"Now girls. It has come to my attention that I have let my martial arts skill falter since your mother died." A single sniffle escaped the man before he could control himself. "However, the time has finally come to move on with my training. My old friend Saotome and I are leaving today on a training trip."

Nabiki stared at the fat man in surprise. Not once in the ten years the two had been together had they practiced. She sensed something else going on behind the scenes. She turned back to her father and waited for the other shoe to drop.

"Now I know you girls are worried that you will be here all alone without me here to protect you, but I've taken that into account. When we leave for our training trip, we will send a letter to Ranma to have him come here and keep an eye on the house. I've also asked him to start training you, Akane, in the Saotome branch of anything goes."

Kasumi entered the room then, carrying two packs for the old men. Akane however was furious. She knew Ranma was behind this. It was all a plan to get them alone, away from the safety of their father. He would be around while they slept and would no doubt try all sorts of perverted things on them. Her hands bunched into fists and she got angrier the more she thought about it.

Genma nudged Soun again, then thanked Kasumi for the pack and started dragging his long time friend towards the door. A few seconds later the two men disappeared outside and started jogging towards the mountains.

Several moments passed in silence while Kasumi cleared the table. Nabiki finally came to her senses and started helping Kasumi. Akane just left to change into her school clothes, ignoring her mess. Nabiki sighed as she watched her younger sister walk away. When would you ever learn sis?

Just as the last of the dishes were dried and put away, a knock at the door had Kasumi leaving the kitchen and Nabiki heading upstairs to prepare for school herself. She stopped halfway up the stairs as she heard a familiar voice.

"Is my pops here?"

Author Notes:

Barely managed to finish this chapter on time. Darn professors and their homework. That and a few other real life concerns, like having to work and sleep. Anyway, hope you all liked this chapter. It's a little shorter than I had hoped, but that means I'll be putting in more stuff in the next chapter.

Who thinks Ranma should go track down his father instead of heading to school? And what do you think Tristina and Kitt will be doing while Ranma is in class? And what will Akane think when she sees Ranma at her home so close after her father's announcement?