Wild Hearts, a ranma fanfic

Crossover Challenge (serious)
by: Kinoth
kinoth@kaerinoth.net The Crossover Challenge can be found at

This was rolled at work with a dice roller I found on the internet (), since I didn't have any handy. Blame all rolls on it!
A: 5; An 18th c. poem. (+1 to rolls)
B: 4+1=5; Ranma is GOD!
C: 3+1=4; Ranma moves in with Mom; she lives in Juuban.
D: 4+1=5; Plot? What plot?
E: 6+1=7; (Since there's no 7, I'll just make it a 6) Occasional comic-relief.
F: 5+1=6; Takes place after canon.
G: 5+1=6; Related as [5+1=6] Third cousin, once removed, by marriage through a great aunt to [(4+1=5); (4+1+1=6); (4+1+4=9)] Sailor Moon, and involved with [(5+1=6); (1+4+1=6); (5+1+4+4=14); (4+1-1+4+4=12)] Sailor Pluto. (I'm glad I rolled this online, I'm getting tired just looking at all the rolls.)
H: 1+1=2; If not already taken by Ranma, [(5+1=6); (4+1+4=9)] Sailor Moon (again? Dammit!) has relations with [6+1=7] Sailor Terra. (I'll keep this in mind for
later, I suppose)

I know there are a lot of Robert Burns' poems used for this, but it was the first hit I got when I searched for '18th century poets' that sounded decent.

"My Luve is Like a Red, Red Rose"
Robert Burns
My Luve is Like a Red, Red Rose
O, my luve is like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June.
O, my luve is like a melodie,
That's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonie lass,
So deep in luve am I,
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi the sun!
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only luve!
And fare thee weel, a while!
And I will come again, my luve,
Tho it were ten thousand mile!

"Wild Hearts"

Prologue

-=-
Satome Ranma sat on the roof of the Tendo house, gazing sightlessly out over the horizon. His fitful attempts at meditation had failed, leaving him staring, thoughts shifting like the tide.
He had almost gotten married recently. He wasn't quite sure what to make of that. He assumed that he and Akane would have learned to live together, love each other, and be happy. Now he was learning how to avoid her, redirect her anger, and disarming her via wordplay. The youngest Tendo had always had a proclivity for anger and violence, though she inflicted it on him infrequently. The failure of their wedding- or as she called it, her wedding- had meant a marked increase in venomous invective and angry blows. He was currently nursing a bruise from a shinai on his ribs from a scant hour ago, his cheeks were sore from a slap at lunch, and he was wondering if all of the malleting of the past week had killed more brain cells than his father's entire history of drinking and debauchery.
The pigtailed boy drew in a breath to sigh, stopping when his new injury twinged. He had cared for the tomboy; maybe at one time he had even loved her. Now he couldn't honestly say he did. He did want her to be happy, though, and even he could see she was far from content at the moment. Perhaps with time, and the right words to say, he could defuse the situation between them, and they could try again.
Almost as soon as the thought crossed his mind he discarded it. He was hardly as quick with words as with his fists, unless you counted getting in to arguments- that was a natural Satome talent. Getting out of trouble without a fight was a Sisyphean task for him, and talking with Akane- the definition of 'short fuse'- was just begging for problems. And begging for problems was a bad idea in Nerima- the kami were only too happy to hand them out generously, even when you didn't ask.
Sighing- a bit more carefully this time- the martial artist tried once again to settle himself into a meditative state. This time he found his mind and mood more receptive, and the cool detachment of the light trance settled over him. On a whim, he let the question of Akane bubble to the surface of his thoughts and was rewarded with new ideas and observations flashing by at the speed of id. A possibility occurred to him, a happy way out. He reached with his mind to encompass it, and-
"RANMA no BAKA!"
-dammit.
The Wrath of Akane stormed into the Tendo compound, bringing a downpour of anger with occasional squalls of explosive outbursts. The eye of said storm swept indoors, to her room, and down to the dojo without slackening. The power and fury abated slightly once contained within the dojo walls and Ranma breathed a sigh of relief. He opened eyes shut tight against the volume just in time to hear the dojo door slam open, and see a cinderblock hurtle over the eaves to impact his forehead.
Staring lazily at the sky as the world spun around him, that final answer to the Akane problem hit him like a brick.
"I've got to get the hell out of this place."
=-=
Stifling a forlorn sigh, the Senshi of Time looked at the gathered warriors. Ami was paying more attention to her studies than the conversations, Usagi and Rei were either about to come to blows or about to start making out- she was never really sure about those two- and the rest were engrossed in a discussion than did not include her.
Silently she teleported back to her bedroom and flopped bonelessly on the bed. Her big, soft, empty bed.
Setsuna allowed herself that huge sigh this time, curling herself into a fetal ball on her side, crimson eyes staring sightlessly at the expensive tapestries that adorned her walls. She had acquired them while shopping. Shopping was something she did when she needed a pick-me-up, or was bored or lonely. Lonely.... when was the last time she'd had a date? Her mind's idle free-association stopped as she tried to recall. It had been shortly before she became Sailor Pluto. She had been sixteen. Now she counted her years in millennia. She didn't even have close friends, couldn't claim the familial ties that the other Outers had created for themselves. Her job, her post was everything, and now that Crystal Tokyo was all but a reality, why shouldn't she try and get out more, be social? Perhaps she could even go on a date or two.
She dimly heard the door open, and knew that Haruka, Michiru, and Hotaru were home. Smiling now, she uncoiled herself and padded to the door, happier than she'd been in a long time.
-=-
While Ranma was clueless about social interaction and hopeless in non-battle situations in general, he also knew that trying to enlist someone's help in escaping this insanity was a laughable idea at best. The fiancées would keep him close by until he chose one over the others. Soun and Genma were idiots on a quest to marry him to Akane, Ryouga and Mousse just wanted to kill him (or have him stop courting women he didn't want to marry in the first place), Kasumi seemed to think that her little sister was a perfect match for him, and likely wouldn't be able to offer much concrete assistance anyhow. Happosai- heh. He knew what the little lecher wanted. Him leaving wasn't it.
That left Nabiki. While the pig-tailed martial artist was generally clueless, he also knew that he provided a decent source of income that Nabiki exploited to keep the Tendos' bills paid. Of all the people he could ask, she might have had the best reason to keep him around. That was why he had to avoid her. If she caught him before he could escape, he'd never find a way out of this mess.
This left Ranma once again at his favorite spot on the roof. Instead of meditation, however, he was doing something that would be considered unspeakable.
Studying.
A dictionary lay open by his side as he bowed his head over a notebook, scribbling furiously. Every once in a while, he'd look at the dictionary, his eyes would cross, and his lips would move, then the pen would descend to paper once more and he would write. Time dragged on as he wrote, debated with himself, and wrote more. Privately, he considered this training of a new type, one that- if his plan actually worked- he would likely need to do more of, no matter how much he hated it.
After what felt like years of work (but was really only two or three hours), he felt ready to test his plan out.
Packing his gear, he casually strolled into the house, and made his way to the phone. Battle-honed senses noted that Kasumi was outside, the fathers were playing shogi our of earshot, Akane was breaking things in the dojo, and Nabiki had left earlier; her recording devices were on. Picking up the receiver, he dialed a number and waited impatiently for an answer. Receiving one, he took a breath and answered.
"Hello mother. Could we talk?"
-=-
The small cafe that Ranma and his mother met at was- as he would expect from a choice his mother made- immaculately clean, with wonderful service. After tea and small cakes she called 'crumpets' were served, his mother got right down to business.
"So, my manly son, what did you need to speak with me about so urgently?"
Said manly son scratched the base of his pigtail nervously before replying. "Well mom, I've come to a realization about life at the Tendos'. If Tendo-san and Pops try another wedding like that, someone's gonna get hurt, seriously. Akane has been getting less rational, despite my trying to talk with her about it, and the other fiancées are starting to once again chase me. I believe that without removing myself from the problems in Nerima to get a new perspective on things, the situation will quickly degenerate to the point where only Pop's and my seppuku will solve things." Ranma let the rest of his breath slowly escape him. That little mini-speech contained more care in its craftsmanship than he had given to his schoolwork all year.
The Satome matriarch paused a moment in sipping her tea and stared at her son with wide eyes. She replaced the teacup on its saucer with exaggerated care and paused a moment before replying.
"Seppuku, son? I have just found you after so many years; I don't want to lose my manly son so soon."
Ranma sighed. He knew his mother wasn't this dense. Perhaps another speech was in order.
"Manly, mom? Look, I don't know where your idea of manly comes from, but all I've ever known is what Pops raised me to be. He taught me to never show emotion- that was girly, that the best answer to any problem was throwing insults and fists, or maybe sneaking away like a thief. He kept me outta school most've the time and taught me only the Art is important. He kept me away from people, so I dunno how to act around 'em. I can't even make friends without a miracle, and mosta the time we still end up fightin'. He engaged me to lots of girls, an' then expects me to 'honor the Tendo arrangement'. Honor?" Ranma snorted derisively, "I'm surprised I know what honor is. Pops has never shown any. I'm not even sure he knows how to respect anything, much less honor it. And I'm not gonna get into the whole N-Neko-Ken thing. With a teacher like that, how in the world can you think I'm manly?"
After finishing his tirade, Ranma calmly picked up his teacup and drank, even managing to keep himself from gulping the small container of liquid down in one swallow. He kept his focus on his tea, giving his mother a moment to assimilate all he had said, and giving himself a moment to calm down. He hadn't even know he was that worked up until he was done, and now he felt the dregs of adrenaline in his veins, like he had just been in a fight. Cursing his slacking on meditation exercises as he tried to achieve calm, he placed the cup back down. He was surprised that his mom hadn't started yelling, calling him a liar, an idiot, hitting him, or otherwise acting like all the people in Nerima. He knew intellectually that that wasn't how most people acted, but it was still odd to not have it happen to him.
Raising his eyes to meet hers, Ranma found what could be described as one of his greatest weaknesses. Nodoka Satome sat silently, tears shining in her eyes. He could hear the accusations now- you made your mom cry? What kind of insensitive, uncaring son are you?! Before he could respond, to take back all he had laid bare, his mother spoke, in a low, sorrow-filled voice.
"I am so sorry, my son. I never knew."
-=-
Ranma's mother returned his gaze solemnly. "Are you certain that you'll be okay, son?"
He almost rolled his eyes before he remembered who she was. He bit back the three or four retorts that the Satome Foot-In-Mouth Syndrome brought to mind, and instead said, "Yeah mom. I'll be fine, and I'll get to visit some people I haven't seen since I was young. Besides, even if it is the only thing I know, I still love the Art."
Nodoka hugged him impulsively then, a show of affection that neither had expected. He tentatively raised his arms and hugged her back, then turned and started down the street.
Ranma walked away from his mother's house with a lightness in his step that had long been missing. Yes, he was leaving his mother behind, but only for a month. Yes, he was leaving his fiancées and friends without warning, but he had left a letter for each of them, warning them not to follow. If they did, it was simply a sign of how much they disrespected him. His training trip would give him a chance to work out questions he had, both of his relationships and with himself. And he'd learn at least one new technique, or he wasn't Satome Ranma!
With a cocky smirk once again settling on his features, the martial artist leapt to the nearest roof, and quickly made his way out of the city.

-=-
Ranma felt a little foolish knocking on his mom's door. He was just about to try opening a window when Nodoka appeared in the doorway, ever-present katana in her arms. "Ranma! Why did you knock, son?"
The martial artist scratched the base of his pigtail absently. "Um, I left my key here when I packed."
The red-haired woman almost- almost- rolled her eyes. "Come in, my son. How was your trip?" She turned and walked to the kitchen; she knew Ranma would be willing to eat. He was always willing to eat. "Have a seat, dear."
"It was wonderful mom! I never knew how enjoyable just being able to practice an' let loose is. Much better than Pops draggin' me around all over the place. I've learned more inna month than I thought I could learn in six!" Ranma was practically bubbling with excitement, something his mother was heartened to see. The angry youth that had talked with her in that cafe was gone, replaced by a much happier, healthier Ranma.
Nodoka favored her son with a smile. "That's wonderful, Ranma. I like seeing you so happy, and I'm afraid to break the spell, but I do have some news for you." She hadn't lost a slight smile as she talked, and was pleased to see he didn't immediately seize up or get suspicious.
"What's that, mom? I suppose it's not that bad, or you'd be more worried about it."
"Well son, if you are going to live with me, I must demand that you begin attending school."
Nodoka was surprised there were no immediate arguments or denials from Ranma, and turned to see him calmly raising an eyebrow.
"Izzat all, mom?" he asked. At her nod, he chuckled a bit. "Heh, I was actually wondering if it was something big for a second. School's nothin' compared to all the other junk I went through on a regular basis. Piece 'o cake."
Ranma's mother looked archly at her son. "Well then, if it's such a 'piece of cake', as you put it, I'm sure you'll have no problems improving your grades significantly. No son of mine will barely pass his classes."
The pigtailed boy winced slightly. "I set myself up for that, didn't I?"
Nodoka smiled. "You do need to do well in school- and that includes college- if you're going to amount to anything, son. Even owning a dojo necessitates a degree nowadays, and that's only if you want to do that. As you said, all you know is the Art- perhaps something else would appeal to you. If you don't study and learn, though, you'll never be able to find out."
Ranma laughed out loud, startling his mother. "Heh, a month of trainin', and I lose the first battle I get in to." Even as he shook his head, he still had a smile, and seemed unfazed by his 'loss'. "I see what you're sayin', mom. I can't promise perfection in anything other than the Art, but I'll try."
"You seem much happier than when you left, dear. I think your training trip did you good."
The pigtailed martial artist smirked. "I learned a lot inna month. It's not really stuff you can put down in a book, but its stuff I never coulda learned at the Tendos'. I wouldn'ta had enough quiet, Pops woulda complained about my gettin' soft, 'n Akane'd clobber me for ignorin' her."
Nodoka had brought over a plate filled with food, and set it down in front of him. She watched as his eyes widened happily and he began eating ravenously. Suppressing a laugh (and a shudder) at her son's eating habits, she spoke.
"Speaking of Akane, she, Ukyo, and- Shampoo, was it? - all showed up shortly after you left. The Hibiki boy also came by at some point as well."
Ranma looked up sharply. "Did they give you any problems?"
"Oh, the girls got into a little tussle, and Ryoga started yelling something, but I took care of them without too much trouble." She patted her ever-present katana lovingly, "And of course, I traveled to the Tendo dojo shortly thereafter and had a discussion with Nabiki. After that, I had no problems for the remainder of the month." She watched as her son stopped in the middle of eating, swallowed, and blinked at her with eyes as wide as pie-plates. He mumbled something that sounded like 'that is so cool' before collapsing in laughter on her kitchen floor. Moments later, she joined her son, laughing until she cried.
In Nerima, Nabiki Tendo suddenly collapsed into a fit of sneezing lasting over five minutes.
-=-
Since there was no dojo attached to the house, Ranma contented himself with using the local park. Flowing through one of his least flashy kata, he felt rather than saw eyes upon him. He brushed the sensation off, however, as he knew even the most basic of moves in the Satome ryu would draw attention. Besides, Nabs likely had her minions out, waiting for the slightest evidence of his return so that the fiancée brigade could descend upon him once again. He smiled as he extended an arm in a palm strike. Truth be told, he was hoping Nabiki would send them.
=-=
Setsuna walked aimlessly through the park. She didn't even know where she was offhand; she just contented herself with the wandering. Her latest date hadn't gone so well; the guy was obnoxious, a know-it-all (though he really knew very little), and slovenly to boot. That made the fourth date in as many weeks that she had turned down.
Purchasing a bottle of water from a vendor, she lowered herself to a bench, still in a state of reverie. Was she just really picky about guys? What was she looking for, anyhow? She'd never be able to marry anyone, given her 'job' and the sticky problem of immortality. For the moment, she'd content herself with looks and a decent personality. A kind heart and a sexy body like the one in the clearing over there. Just....
Blinking a few times as her brain reengaged, she watched as the man glided over the ground, each movement steady and sure, and slight smile on his lips. Even with centuries of combat experience, she could not place the forms, but he was obviously their master, showcasing martial perfection in one package. Glancing around, she noticed that the park was almost completely empty, and was debating walking over to introduce herself when a voice interrupted her musing.
"Beautiful, isn't it? Even I can tell he's improved greatly from just a month ago."
A distinguished crimson-haired woman walked into Setsuna's line of sight, dressed in an elegant kimono, and carrying a wrapped bundle. She smiled and nodded to the seated Senshi, then turned her attention back to the figure. "You may wish to leave soon, as there will likely be a fight beginning shortly. My son has many problems he's inherited, and he's dealing with them tonight."
"That's your son?"
The lady nodded, eyes still scanning the area her son practiced in. "Yes, my son. Satome Ranma, perhaps the best martial artist in the world." She turned her attention back to the green-tressed woman on the bench. "May I sit with you for a moment?"
Nodding absently, Setsuna tried to figure out where she had heard of that family name before. Her connection to the Time Gates would occasionally cause a word spoken or written to stand out to her senses- a type of induced synaesthesia- and his name had done just that. Try as she might, though, no reason came to mind. Frowning internally, she filed the problem away for the moment. She had other questions she wanted to ask.
"What kind of battle are you talking about? Will he be okay?"
The woman smiled at the Senshi indulgently. "Oh, I'm sure he'll be fine. If you are going to stay, let me explain a bit about what will happen. After all, there are enough players in this game that you can't keep them straight without a scorecard."
-=-
Ranma noted that his mother was talking with someone, but paid it little mind. They were far enough away from the scene of imminent disaster, and would be in no immediate danger. His senses did note the approach of multiple powerful ki signatures, however, and a moment's concentration allowed him to note that everyone from Nerima was approaching at the same time, led by Nabiki. Leave it to the middle Tendo to do what he least expected. She'd probably make an excellent, coldly calculating martial artist if she ever put in the effort for it.
He dampened his idle speculation and concentrated on what was to happen. He continued his kata, having shifted into one he'd created himself in the past month, and his mind ran through similar mental exercises. Reminding himself of all he and his mother had discussed and the agreement he had come to, he kept his body ready to react to anything while looking as if he was engrossed in his own movements.
A moment later he felt one person in particular surge toward him. He couldn't control the smirk that broke out on his face, but kept with the kata, letting him come closer and closer until-
"RANMA, PREPARE TO DIE!"
-CRACK-
The pig-tailed boy was amused at how wide Ryouga's eyes were as he stared at the broken umbrella in his hand. A few centimeters from where he gripped the wooden shaft, the umbrella had split into pieces, and now looked more like a discarded banana peel with a handle. Ranma cut his amusement short as Mousse leapt into the air and began raining down sharp pointy bits. A cartwheel to the side left him out of immediate danger, and a thrown water balloon turned the Hidden Weapons master into squawking waterfowl. As the liquid weapon left his hand, the martial artist flicked his left hand out and up, spun counter-clockwise quickly, and backhanded a foolish Kendo practitioner into the dirt, then casually caught the bokken he had knocked into the air with his first strike.
With his male 'friends' either disabled or confused, the initiative fell to the women to do something. He was unsurprised then (and perhaps a bit disappointed) to hear an "Airen!", "Ranchan!", and "Ranma no baka!", and see an incoming Amazon missile followed by his other two fiancées. The looks on Shampoo and Ukyo's faces when he jumped over their glomps were just this side of comical, and almost distracted him from the enormous mallet homing in on his head. Almost, but not quite. Mallet-sama made a nice crackling noise as it met a superhot battle aura and burned to cinders.
With all of the fights he'd been in in his life, Ranma had never seen a battle stop so quickly. Once he disabled Akane's weapon, everyone- including the old ghoul, Nabiki, and his pops- froze in disbelief. Rolling his eyes, he stepped away from a still-stunned Akane and raised his voice.
"Heh, I'd like to thank you all for coming out tonight."
There was a mass blink, and everyone seemed to be collecting their wits. Knowing that some would be quick to regain sense, he decided to continue before anyone tried to get a word in edgewise.
"Now, I'm sure some of you are wondering where I've been for the past month." He looked around, seeing the reactions on the Wrecking Crew's faces "But you shouldn't, because some of you, at least, had letters left for you explaining exactly what was going on.'
"Furthermore, if an of you had paid attention to the letters, you'd know that I asked you to wait for me to get back in touch with you, anyhow. Now, considering that my wishes have not been- maybe have never been- respected, I'm making a few decisions I should have made much earlier. I'm moving back to live with my mother, and as of now, I am cancelling all the engagements."
Even though he had been prepared for the reaction, the volume of the screams was startling. There were the screams about family honor, agreements, how he had hurt this-or-that person and would pay, etc, etc. He was suddenly surrounded by a ring of screaming, angry martial artists. The eruption of a (controlled) battle aura gave him a moment of breathing room, however. Seizing that moment, his ki-enhanced voice bellowed out "Silence!".
And there was silence.
Taking a breath, Ranma continued, "I have discussed all of the engagements and other issues with my mother," he pointed to the figure sitting on the bench, well out of harm's way, "and we have decided that as I have never consented to any of the engagements, and have not been allowed to come to my own decisions," here he glared at his father and the Tendo patriarch- "that until I decide to accept them, all of the engagements are null and void." The pigtailed boy made a sharp cutting motion with his hand and boomed, "Any arguing you do will simply make me less likely to ever consider your engagement valid, not that most of them stand up to any sort of scrutiny anyhow. Now, I have one more thing to do, and then you can all go home."
Smiling, he appeared in front of Nabiki and wrapped her in a crushing hug. Bringing his lips almost in contact with her ear, he whispered "Since you brought everyone here even after my letter pleading for you not to, here's your payback. Now they'll never trust anything you do ever again."
Releasing his embrace, he stepped back a half-step and proclaimed in a loud voice, "I'm sorry Nabs, but I think we've grown too far apart. I'll treasure our relationship always, especially how you fooled everyone into believing it didn't exist. Sorry." Sotto voce he murmured, "You should probably start running now. I'm not so mean I wouldn't give you a head start."
Ranma was sure he'd never seen the normally-composed Ice Queen run so fast in her life.
=-=

Authors Notes: Well, this is my first (somewhat) completed fanfic. Yeah, I've started off with a Ranma/SM fic, isn't that sad? There was no pre-reading done by anyone other than myself so it's quite possible there are errors; I'm quite a fan of the comma, and I overuse it way, too, much.

Speaking of errors, I've probably scrambled both Ranma and Sailormoon canon like an omlette, and I know the characters are OOC. It happens.

I'm unsure if I'll continue this story; I see places it could go, but I'd need some sort of encouragement to work on it instead of this Ranma/Nabiki story I'm playing with. I wouldn't turn down ideas either- I'd be happy to credit you while swiping your hard-thought intellectual property.

I have sent this to Targhan, and he mentioned that it would be posted on the Crossover Challenge site, but I have not heard from him since I sent this submission, so I'm posting it here for C&C instead.

Kinoth.

-================================-

Crossover Challenge (serious)
by: Kinoth
kinoth@kaerinoth.net