Hellos! Here's a new chapter. You guys have no idea how many times I read and edited this to make it something I liked. No idea o.o

Chapter 6

"Ughh." Ranma mumbled. His head was down on the desk with his arms as pillows. It was only three days since he enrolled, it felt much longer though. School was so boring. And as much as hated to admit it, he prefered Alfred to it. At least with Alfred, the butler purposely tried to challenge his mind, though, it wasn't for the sake of Ranma's education, but for the sake of making Ranma feel stupid. Not to mention it was lots of fun to bug the heck out of the stingy butler.

The school was fairly large and stone built. It had only one floor but with multiple rooms for the many teachers. It was pretty clean but seemed very old fashion. The school had no air conditioning. He was pretty sure the school he went to with Ucchan had air conditioning. As a matter of fact if he thought about it, the castle and town itself was pretty old fashion. He mentally shrugged, maybe it's a European thing(1). The school held both boys and girls but the classes were separated between male and female. Obviously, he was in a male class. Why would he be in a female class? He also noted the school was for the middle and bottom class. Guess the upperclass was privately tutored.

When he was first introduced to the class, it was obvious that the kids didn't like other people who were different from them. Neither did the teacher for that matter. This was evident at the 'attempt' to push him around during recess time, he beat them up of course. But when the teacher came out to see what the ruckus was, all the boys that tried to pick on him blamed it on him. The teacher believed them too! The only reason he wasn't punished harshly was that the King favored him, much to the annoyance of the boys in his class. They tried to ask him questions about the castle and about the princesses, but if they wanted to push him around, why in world would he answer their questions. Needless to say, he wasn't going to complain about these annoyances to the King. Like his pops said, only a girl would complain and whine. Was he a girl? No. He's a man. Besides, it wasn't all too bad. He was outside and moving, if he woke early enough he could go explore the streets of Arendelle. On that matter, everyday that passed he felt guilty about not training. He made a promise to his father and he wasn't living up to it. But it wasn't like he could do anything about it, he couldn't travel on his own and no could really train him in martial arts.

The sound of a stick hitting the wall resonated in the classroom, bringing him back to reality. Snickers rang around the classroom. "Ahem, Ranma keep your head up and pay attention." The teacher demanded firmly, his hands on his waist. "When you are in this room I expect you to pay the utmost attention to me, and me only. Just like the other students around you."

The 'other' students snickered to themselves.

"Gotcha." Ranma let out halfheartedly.

"Yes sir" The teacher said, expecting the boy to treat him respectfully.

With a little grumble Ranma repeated the demand, "Yes sir." He stretched the last word in a condescending manner. The teacher seemed not to notice and continued his lesson.

A couple minutes after, the bell rang for lunch and the students rushed out the school.

Outside the school was a considerable amount of land. In front of the open doors boys and girls alike were mingling with each other. On the right to the open doors were several tables where students were cheerfully having lunch. Further than the tables was the start of a forest, and that was where Ranma sat, alone from the other students. It was the autumn, the beginning of November. The leaves of the tree he sat under were a vibrant red, a color that he seemed to like. He took out a green sack that held the food the Head Chef had prepared for him. The Head Chef may not like him, but he liked Ranma enough to make him the best sandwiches he ever had. He could feel his mouth salivating just by thinking about them. Smiling gleefully to himself, he took one slice of the sandwich, and prepared to chow down.

"Get back here!" A voice cried out.

"Gah!" A high pitch voice yelped.

"Ow! My sandwich!"

Ranma was tackled and plowed to the ground. He had a mouthful of brunette hair and his back was grinding to the coarse tree behind him. And worst of all, his mouth-watering sandwich was on ground. He gave out a sorrowful whimper at the lost of his lunch."Hey!" A couple voices cried out. Ranma got the hair out of his mouth and inspected what was happening. There was a group of boys in front of him, and on top of him was a crying and shaking girl. She looked familiar.

"Corona has been and most likely always will be, a powerful ally to the Kingdom of Arendelle. Now you must remember..." A baritone rambled on.

This was an eerie sight, Elsa decided. She was sitting at the desk in what her father dubbed the study hall. There were oak shelves filled with books, couple tables, several paintings of knights and princesses, and two windows that let in the natural light. On one wall there was a board with scribbles of words on it. That was where Alfred was teaching her some history and the hierarchy of Arendelle. That part was completely normal, but the eerie part was that Alfred seemed happy. The normally stern and unforgiving butler was actually smiling. He still had his bandaged face and his arm in cast, but he walked with a spring in his step and taught with a grin. It was actually scaring her.

'Someone's happy that Ranma isn't in the castle' Elsa thought forlornly. In the last three days the castle was relatively silent. There was no clashing of wood from training swords. There was no rumbling of bodies on the ground. There was no trampling of feet. No squeals of delight. No angry shouts among the sounds of clashing pots. Ranma was only gone for eight hours at a time but it made a huge difference. Her father decided to put the free time in good use. Anna was currently being taught by Gerda, learning the basics of being a proper woman. Elsa snorted, her little sister was too stubborn and hyper for that. But, Gerda was a very patient and clever lady, maybe her sister will learn a thing or two.

"When you are of the age and marry, your parents may choose to step down from the throne and relinquish the crown to you." Alfred spoke, snapping Elsa out of her wonderings. Elsa paid rapt attention to what the man was saying. The butler continued, "It is extremely paramount to wed with a prince of another Kingdom. This is required in order to expand the influence of Arendelle." Elsa made a face that Alfred noticed and in huff, remarked, "Princess Elsa, it is for the best, there are many economical and political benefits in your marriage. Think for the people, not yourself. The Kingdom would be financially stronger and in potential wars and the Kingdom will be able to call upon other nations as allies."

The butler locked eyes with the eldest princess.

After a moment, he cleared his throat with his good hand, "However, if death would find the Queen and King before your marriage, an event that is quite unlikely during these peaceful times, at eighteen years of age you will have your coronation. After the coronation, you will become the Queen of Arendelle. The Kingdom will still run without a King, but you will hold power. Naturally there will be princes arriving for your hand in marriage."

Alfred rambled on other subjects as Elsa thought about what Alfred said.

Elsa let out a puff of air. A Queen... did she want to be Queen? Did she want to be a leader of a kingdom? What about Ranma? More importantly, what about her powers? Would people fear her when they find out? Would they try to… kill… her? Maybe, if she was Queen the people could be more accepting of her 'difference'.

"New boy! Give us back the witch!" A voice barked out.

Ranma glared defiantly at the older boy in front. He was currently guarding the brunette girl who was hiding behind the red leaf tree. He had no idea why they were targeting the girl, but as pops always said, 'A martial artist always protects the weak.' If he was going to be the best, what better way to start than the present?

Ranma growled, "No! Why should I hand her over?"

The leader of the group snidely replied, "'Cause she's a witch!"

"How would you know that?"

"Look at her eyes! Only witches have eyes like those!"

Ranma spared a second to look back to the girl who was hugging the tree. Her eyes were a brilliant red. She was the girl from the market. Sure the red color was strange, but it wasn't something that warranted being picked on.

"So what?" Ranma yelled back.

"So? Witches are evil, dangerous, and vile monsters!" The head boy declared. His companions nodded their heads in agreement. There was a choked cry behind Ranma.

"She's not even a witch! Red eyes don't mean anything!"

"Yea! They do, my mom said so!" There was nodding behind the boy. "If you don't give her yourself, then we'll just make you give her."

"Oh yea? I can take you all on!" Ranma tensed his body. His heart hastened in anticipation.

After that declaration, the group of boys approached Ranma threatenly but the stopped when a boy came up sprinting and frantically said, "A teacher's coming!"

The group of boys all whipped their heads back and noticed a tall slender woman nearing their direction. In a matter of seconds, the group of boys quickly dispersed, leaving a teary girl and an irked Ranma.

In contrary to the boy's worries, the woman had her attention on another circle of students, even so, she had gotten the bullies to scatter.

Ranma's heartbeat returned to normal and he turned to the apprehensive girl behind him. She had a very thin structure and wore rags just as he saw her last.

"Hey." Ranma simply said. The girl didn't reply and had her head down. Her head would bob up when she sniffled. Ranma moved closer to the girl. It felt unusually warmer when he approached calmly.

Finally, as Ranma came close enough to touch her, the girl replied in a meek voice, "Thank you"

Ranma beamed at receiving a response. He asked, "Are you okay?"

The girl nodded her head, dirt and cuts marked her face.

"I don't get why they picked on you. Just cause your eyes are little different don't mean anything. You're not witch."

Ranma locked eyes, his blues to her reds. Eventually the girl turned away and whispered, "Ruby."

"Huh?"

"My name is Ruby because my eyes."

"Oh."

Ranma's stomach emitted a growl. His eyes turned to the sandwich on the ground and he sighed. Well, at least he had some fruit in his bag. He moved towards the bag and pulled out an apple. Suddenly a growl erupted from Ruby's stomach, Ranma scrunched up his face for a second and then tossed the apple to Ruby, who tore into the apple.

"Are you an orphan?" Ranma asked.

She nodded. "I have to go to school even though I don't want to." There was a pause. "Are you an orphan?"

"Yea I guess so. But the King and Queen took me." Ruby's face fell to Ranma's dismay. Before Ranma could do anything to placate the girl, the bell rung and all the students started to walk back to the school. "Hey, if those bullies ever come after you, come to me!" Ranma stuck a thumb to his chest. Ruby nodded with a small smile.

The two children walked into the school and continued their classes.

"Is Rammie back yet?" Anna had her face jammed on to the window, she was trying to get a good view of the castle gates.

"Well, can you see him?" Her sister replied.

The youngest princess pressed her face harder onto the glass. "Nope." She answered.

"Then he's not back yet."

"Aww." Anna whined. It's so boring without Ranma! All she did for three day was learning to be a princess. How to talk, sit, eat, walk, greet, blehhh. "When Ranmie gets back lets play Princesses and Knights!"

"Hm... I think Ranma might a little tired of that." They would play Princesses and Knights every other day, and it was blatantly obvious how much pain Ranma was in. Not physical pain, but pain in his pride. He couldn't say no to Anna nor could he say no to the glare Elsa gave.

"No he's not! Nobody can ever be tired of it! It's the bestest!" Anna boasted cheerfully.

Elsa gave a look that Anna was oblivious to and replied, "Well… Oh never mind."

There was several seconds of silence before Anna's voice called out.

"Oh! Oh! There he is!" Anna pressed her finger on the window, in the direction of a walking Ranma. She then let out a cheer and proceeded to run down to the entrance of the castle.

Elsa looked out the window at Anna's exclamation. Sure enough Ranma was heading back to the castle. Elsa followed after Anna after a second.

The two girls found Ranma in the kitchen. The kitchen was a large room, in the center was a large table cluttered with various vegetables and containers. There was a giant brick fireplace containing a roaring fire. There were many pans and tools hanging from the wall above the fire. Natural light filtered through the glass windows to the right wall of the fire place. In the room there was a large man, two maids and Ranma.

"I wanna sandwich!"

"Make one yourself" A gruff voice replied. *Chop chop* Steel hitting wood could be heard.

"But I'm hungryy" Ranma whined.

"You had sandwiches for your lunch." The head chef pointed out. The big man was chopping up lamb for that night's dinner, he did not look to the boy when answering Ranma's questions.

"Yea but they fell on the ground. And I didn't eat the apple."

"And why not?"

"The sandwich got knocked out of my hand and I gave the apple to a girl."

The chef grunted, the Eastern boy was always getting in trouble, not too mention dishes. Still chopping away he replied, "Well, if you weren't always looking for a fight then you would have your lunch."

Ranma exclaimed, "They started it!" At receiving no response, Ranma added "Pleaseeee?"

The chef took a lamb chop and threw it in the air. "Fetch." And the boy bounded after the flying piece of meat and caught it and ate it with delight.

Elsa looked aghast at the two's interaction.

After finishing the lamb chop, Ranma noticed the girls and greeted, "Heya."

"Rammie let's play!" Anna cried out.

"Let's go to my room." Elsa suggested. Ranma nodded and followed the two while licking his fingers.

The three children got to Elsa's room and sat in a circle on the purple rug.

"Okay!" Anna chirped. "Let's pla-"

"Ahem." A short cough interrupted the youngest child. At the door was Alfred, and after casting a face of contempt at Ranma, he spoke to Anna, "Your mother requests your presence."

"Aww." Anna whined and then bounded out the room with Alfred following and closing the door behind him.

For a moment the room was quiet. "What happened at the school?" Elsa asked curiously. She had heard about the events on the first day of his school, while she knew Ranma trained in fighting she didn't think he could actually fight that many older boys.

Ranma replied, "Some bullies were picking on a girl."

"Did… did you beat them up?"

"Nah, they ran away."

"Really." Elsa said doubtfully.

"Really." Ranma repeated.

Elsa studied the boy. His clothing were a bit dirty but they always seemed to be like that. His face did not contort to anything weird. He was telling the truth. "Ranma." Elsa said seriously.

"Yeah?"

"Today, I was taught about being a queen."

"So?"

"Well, Alfred said, I am a princess and when grow older I have to marry a prince." Elsa looked down to the rug. Softly, she said, "Let's make a promise."

Ranma looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Okay…"

"Promise me that when we grow up, you will never hate me for anything." Elsa's gloved fists clenched over her dress.

"Sure." Ranma said nonchalantly. That was an easy promise to keep.

A little miffed, she crossed her arms and said, "I'm serious Ranma. If… when… I marry another boy, you won't leave." Elsa looked into Ranma's eyes. Her voice soften to a whisper, "or if I lose control of my powers, you won't hate me." At the end of her sentence, the platinum girl looked down to her lap. This was silly. Ranma probably would leave to follow his silly dream of being 'the greatest martial artist.'

"I promise." Ranma declared.

Elsa looked up, "You promise?"

Ranma gave a single, resolute nod and repeated, "I promise."

Elsa took off her glove on her right hand and reached out in the air to which Ranma clasped with his own hand. The air around them cooled and dropped a couple degrees.

"Wah?" A voice called out from the side. The two children quickly unravelled their hands and Elsa quickly put her glove back on. Anna was at the door. "Are you guys gonna kiss?"

Elsa blushed furiously, "No, of course not!" Across from her, Ranma was looking away, finding the bookshelf very interesting.

"Okay," Anna merely said, "Let's play!"

The three children enjoyed themselves for the rest of the day.

A month went by and the temperature in the air dropped significantly. The vibrant leaves were falling and the air was cold enough to just barely see a person's breath.

"Rammie! Come over here!" Anna called out. She was peeking out the door of her room she was making a beckoning gesture to get Ranma to come to her room. Ranma walked over to the youngest princess.

"What's up An-chan?" The boy asked.

"Shhhh!" Anna shushed, putting her index finger over her lips.

"What?"

"Be quiet!" Yelled out, after realizing she yelled, she reverted to a hushed voice, "be quiet."

"Okay... why."

"'Cause, Elsie's birthday is coming soon!"

Ranma gave a silent 'ohh.' In a whisper, he said, "When is it."

"December 22nd."

"Okay, what are we going to do?"

"Daddy said he wants to be only us. He won't tell anyone not in the castle. Actually, daddy said he asked a relative but something happened to them."

"So what are we gonna do?"

"I dunno! That's why I'm asking you."

"..." Ranma stared at Anna for a moment. "Why don't we ask Sa-chan what she wants."

"No! It has to be a surprise!"

"What has to be a surprise?" Elsa had walked into the room. She was carrying a book under her left arm.

"Nothing!" Anna yelled out, jumping up in surprise. She covered her mouth with her hands.

Elsa sent a glare to Ranma. Ranma could feel sweat forming at the back of his head. "Uh... Well... We- oof!" Anna tackled Ranma, sat on his chest and put her hands to cover Ranma's mouth. The eldest princess just stared at the two's antics.

"I will be in my room." Elsa simply said and walked out.

After a minute of silence Anna took her hands from Ranma's mouth and said, "We haveta think of something ok?"

"Okay, fine."

"Let's go to Elsie's room now."

The two bounded off towards the room.

(1) Ranma still doesn't know that he travelled back in time. Only Genma knows this, but he's gone ;). Ignore the winking face…

AN: Hoped you enjoyed this bit. The next chapter will be... interesting... for you guys. Reviews are appreciated, criticism or compliments, it matters not.