Ranma ½: A New Beginning
Episode 2: The Abduction to Nermina
Notes: ' '= Someone is thinking. I refer to Ranma as Ranma-chan when he is in his
female form and Genma as Genma-panda when he is transformed.

'Cold. Very cold. Something very cold is washing over me!' Ranma awoke with a
start, flinging his arms about to try and get the water off. But he stopped as his
shoulder and side screamed out in pain.
"Stay still." Whispered a voice behind him and he felt a pair of cool hands
press him back down onto something soft.
"Shampoo?" He asked, disbelieving his ears.
"Yes." She moved in front of Ranma, her eyes downcast and her hands
covered by a slimy white cream. "Stay still." She reiterated as she began massaging
his shirtless, wounded side. At first, the wound seemed to inflame at her touch, but
then it subsided into a cool pleasure. Shampoo pulled her hands away from his side
and moved behind him.
"Shampoo?" The hands paused,
"Yes?"
"What is that stuff?" The hands resumed massaging the cream into his
shoulder.
"Is ancient chinese healing salve, make wounds heal much faster." Shampoo
remained silent as she finished Ranma's shoulder. "Stay still, if you move, it break
seal." Ranma nodded slightly. Shampoo then moved in front of Ranma again, still not
looking him in the eye.
"So, why are we in this cave?" Ranma asked, looking about from the corners of
his eyes.
"After Ranma collapse, storm hit, strong storm, this nearest shelter." As she
spoke, a small drop of liquid fell to the floor from under her bangs. Ranma watched
curiously as the liquid mingled with the water in a puddle.
"Why are you crying?" Shampoo shook ever so slightly, then finally looked up,
tears welling up in her eyes.
"Shampoo sorry! Ranma right, Shampoo no want kill Ranma!" If it was
possible, Shampoo began to crying even more. Regardless of the pain, Ranma
moved forward and hugged Shampoo to his chest.
"It's okay Shampoo, I forgive you. I know what it's like to be angry and
confused." Under Ranma's gentle whispering and reassurance, Shampoo eventually
stopped crying. As she wiped her eyes on her sleeve, Ranma suggested, "How about
I tell you my life story while you put some more creme on these." Ranma gestured to
his reopened cuts. "And then you can tell me yours." Shampoo smiled happily,
"Shampoo like." Ranma smiled back, then lay back.
"Well, where to start . . ." Ranma thought for a moment. "When I was really little.
I didn't have many friends, except for one kid named Ukyou, my best friend, in fact, my
only friend. We played together all of the time, until I turned six and my dad made a
stupid promise to my mother. He told her that he would take me on a training journey,
and he would make me a man among men. But there was one problem." Ranma
paused, and Shampoo nodded for him to continue. He sighed, "If he failed to make
me a man among men, he and I would commit seppuku." Shampoo gasped.
"How could he, you only six!" Ranma shrugged,
"He already decided who I was going to marry before I was born, It wasn't that
big of a step." Shampoo was speechless. They stayed silent for several moments,
until Shampoo finally asked.
"Will you honor them?"
"I don't know. I'm hoping I won't have to deal with either of them anytime soon."
There was another small moment of silence, then Shampoo said.
"Please continue."
"After that I spent ten years on the road, with my dad teaching me the martial
arts. Not much really happened to me." Shampoo frowned, a cute expression since
her face didn't seem accustomed to doing it.
"Stop pulling leg, you good, something special happen." Ranma scratched the
back of his head.
"Well there was this one time pop thought I wasn't fast enough, so he tied me
to a train." He laughed, "I sure ran fast, though my legs were a little sore afterwards!"
Shampoo horrified look went unnoticed since Ranma had his eyes closed. 'He's
laughing about his father tying him to a train, something is very wrong here.'
"What about parents?" Ranma laughed even harder,
"Well I don't remember too much about my mother, just that she was a kind
woman with a big heart. Pop on the other hand is an arrogant basterd. he steals and
makes pathetic attempts to justify it. He also wears a gi, bandanna, and geta
everywhere. Have you ever been kicked by a geta? It hurts." Shampoo paused.
"Shampoo think that good enough, for now, Shampoo tell." Ranma smiled
and waited. Shampoo took a breath and started. "Shampoo born unto great warrior,
strongest of all Amazon. Taught to fight without weapon when she six. When Shampoo
mastered unarmed technique at eight, she move onto bow and arrow. Master fast,
only nine when she go onto bonbori and other bashing weapons. Didn't like bonbori,
but mastered them anyway in three years. At twelve, started learning sword, mastered
last year." Ranma blinked several times.
"Wow, that was quick and simple." He looked at Shampoo. "Isn't there anything
else?" Shampoo hesitated, then whispered.
"Mother no like Shampoo."
"What!? How?!" Ranma asked.
"Shampoo learn faster and better then mother, mother no like."
"But shouldn't she have been happy that her student surpassed her?"
"Mother no train, great grandmother train." Ranma blinked again,
"Okayyyy." Shampoo looked Ranma over.
"Ranma move now." She looked again. "Ranma heal fast." He stood and
stretched his muscles.
"Feels good to move again." He commented as he cracked his neck. He then
turned to Shampoo, "Domo Arigato." Shampoo smiled.
"Welcome." The pair then noticed that the storm had stopped, and the sun
had dipped below the horizon. "We sleep now, talk more in morning." Ranma agreed
and lay back down onto what he now knew was his bed roll.
"Goodnight Shampoo."
"Goodnight Ranma." 'Sleep well.' They both thought in there own respective
languages.

'Finally, it took me forever to find that damn boy!' Genma thought furiously as
he looked down at the sleeping form of his son. He then noticed Shampoo.
"Wow." Genma said aloud as he stared at the beautiful chinese girl. 'What a
son,' He thought proudly as he reached for the small pouch fastened at his waist. "Just
a little in the mouth, and nothing will wake them up for hours." He pulled out a pinch and
put it on Shampoo's tongue, then gave Ranma some. But then Genma caught a
glimpse of Shampoo's sword and thought for a moment. "Better safe then sorry." He
whispered as he gave Shampoo and an extra dose. "Alright boy, c'mon, we've got a
deal to honor." He said to himself as he slung the burlap sack his son was now
sleeping in over his shoulder.

"Turn out the lights Shampoo, I'm trying to sleep." Ranma pleaded as his
eyelids were assaulted by a bright light that sent lances of pain through his brain.
Then someone pulled one of his eyes open.
"Well nuts Akane, I owe you a buck, he's not in a coma." Ranma looked
around. There was pop, smiling happily about something. A man in a dark green gi
with a smile just as wide as his father's. Then there were three girls, the first being a
kindly looking one, wearing a dress with an apron over it and currently holding a
feather duster. She had brown hair done up in a huge braid that was slung over her
shoulder, and he face had rather large dimples, indicating an easy smile. The next
one had blue-ish black hair, cut short besides two bangs on the side of her head, she
wore a simple T-shirt and denim shorts outfit, and had a look in her eyes not unlike
pure unchecked hatred. Last but not least was a girl with chestnut hair, cut in a weird
way so that it would cover most of her head, but not her face. She wore a similar
outfit to the last girl, but this ones seemed newer and better cared for. She wore a
smile that reminded Ranma of a crocodile's smile, and a calculating look in her eyes
that completed the frightening ensemble.
"Where am I?" He asked as he squinted. For an answer, Ranma found himself
hauled to his feet and being hugged by the other man, who was currently crying like
there was no tomorrow.
"Finally," He began through sobs. "Our dojo's will be joined!" Hearing those
words made Ranma realize exactly where he was.
"You're the Tendos?!" The girls nodded, their faces barely changing. 'Oh shit!
How the hell did I get here?!' He then noticed that Genma's sleeping herb pouch
looked a little lighter. 'Dammit! That basterd must have found me in the night and
brought me here! Dammit! I didn't want to deal with this now, especially because
of Shampoo.'
"Now my boy," The man said as he clapped Ranma on the back. "We need
to introduce ourselves. I'm Soun Tendo, master of this dojo and father to these three
young ladies." He then began gesturing to the girls. "This is Kasumi, she's the
oldest." He pointed to the kind looking girl. "That is Nabiki, she's about one year
your senior." The calculating one. "And this is Akane, she's your age and the heir to
our school's knowledge." The hateful one. Ranma looked about several times, at the
smile, the frown, and the scowl. "So Ranma, which one will it be?" Soun asked
anxiously. Ranma sighed, unclenched his muscles, wiped the sweat from his
forehead, and spoke.
"I'm sorry. But I can't choose to be engaged to any of you." Genma and Soun,
who had both eagerly been awaiting Ranma's decision, face faulted. Genma was
the first to get up.
"What the hell do you think you're doing boy! You've got the perfect chance to
be with any of these beautiful girls!" He whispered fiercely to his son. Ranma scowled,
"Well excuse me for nitpicking, but I'm not going to marry a total stranger,
especially if I don't love her!" He fired back. Suddenly, Ranma felt something latch
onto his leg and start wetting it.
"Please son!" Wailed the hysterical Tendo patron. "You have to do it, I've been
waiting for this moment since before you were born!"
"Get it off of me!" Ranma shouted, having realized that if Soun kept crying at
the volume he was, he'd be Ranma-chan in mo time. Ranma danced about wildly,
trying to fling the sobbing Tendo off of himself. But Soun's grip was like a steel bear
trap, he just wouldn't come off. Ranma hopped about until his thrashing knocked a
small bucket of water into the air. Both Ranma and Genma watched the bucket reach
the top of it's ark, and begin to spill it's contents.
"Oh no." They both whispered as the water flew out of the bucket. Next thing
the Tendo family knew, they were slightly damp and looking at a busty redhead and
a panda in a similar predicament. Akane was the first to speak,
"Aieeeeeee!" She screamed. Ranma-chan held up her hands while
Genma-panda wrote frantically on a sign that said,
"It's us!" Soun was speechless for several moments.
"How did this happen Genma?" Ranma-chan stepped forward.
"I'll tell you, but first, can you get us some hot water?"
"Sure." Kasumi said as she went into the kitchen.
"Any ways, it all started in China . . ."

"And that's how I ended up here." The now male Ranma finished. Although
he conveniently left out the parts about Shampoo and his father's abduction of him,
he wanted to speak to Genma privately about those.
"Oh my . . ." Kasumi said simply.
"What a story!" Genma said proudly.
"What a tale!" Soun said proudly for an entirely different reason then Genma.
Nabiki just smiled evilly with money in her eyes.
"What a load of crap!" Yelled Akane. She stomped over to Ranma. "I bet you're
not good enough to beat a normal girl, let alone me!" Ranma fairly burned with anger.
"Let's see!" Ranma yelled back. For just a moment, you could see lightning
flying between their locked eyes, then Akane stormed off.
"Follow me."

A minute later, the pair stood facing each other, Ranma in a borrowed gi and
Akane in her own pure white gi. "Let's see how good you really are Saotome!" Akane
screamed as she charged forward. Ranma smiled, and dodged the attack when it
came, giving Ranma a free hit on Akane's unprotected back. She stumbled a bit,
but regained her balance quickly and spun to face Ranma. But he wasn't there, he
was coming at her from above. Akane barely managed to dodge, then countered
with a swift punch. But still, Ranma wasn't there, this time he ducked below the punch
and grabbed her arm as it passed over him. With one powerful heave, he threw her
head over heels to land several feet away. When Akane's vision cleared, she saw
Ranma standing above her, hand outstretched. Akane scowled and smacked his hand
away. "Lucky shot." She grumbled as she regained her feet and went inside.
"What's her deal?" Ranma asked no one in particular as he went inside as
well. When he went down the hall, a sound reached his ears from the shadows.
"Ranma." Genma stepped out of the shadows. Ranma smiled, "Just the thief
I wanted to see, we've got to talk old man." Genma's face remained stoic.
"I agree, follow me." Genma walked out into the garden. "Ranma." He said
again as he stopped in the middle of the path. "You have to do this, the Saotome
family honor is on the line." Ranma laughed bitterly.
"It's on the line now? Give me a break, you've destroyed it a hundred times over.
Stealing from people, pretending to engage your son to girls just so you can steal their
doweries, abducting your own son in the middle of the night, forcing him to live a life of
hardship almost completely deprived of his mother's love! The list just goes on and
on!" Ranma's whisper quiet voice had risen to a shout. "Our honor's not on the line, it's
gone. If Mom were here right now, she'd have you commit seppuku on the spot!"
Genma frantically tried to silence his son, hoping that the Tendo family had not heard
his foolish ranting. "And last but not least, you're forcing me to marry a girl I just met,
when I'm in love with the girl you took me from!" Ranma's voice veritably echoed
around all of Nermina, and as soon as Ranma realized what he had said, he clapped
his hands over his mouth.

"Ranma?" Shampoo whispered as her eyes fluttered open. 'I could have sworn
I just heard Ranma say he loved me.' She looked about the cave. "(Where is
Ranma?)" Shampoo whispered in Chinese. "Ranma! Where you be?" Shampoo
shouted down the cave. But when no answer came, she started to think. 'He ditched
me! I can't believe he ditched me! That . . .' But the flaring anger in her breast died
when she noticed all of Ranma's things still sitting in his spot, and the small prints in
the muddy cave floor, geta prints.

Author's Notes: Oooh! Do I smell a lead in? Anyways, as always C&C is appriciated,
send it to immortalwriter@sailormoon.com. (Sorry about the change, but I found out
after I sent the first fic to the fine sites that are displaying it that the password to my
hotmail account didn't work, so then I made another and it didn't work. After that I just
said "screw it" and got one at sailormoon.com. You might want to get one there too, the
accounts are free, they have 200 megs of space and no unwanted spam!)