Echoes in Time (v1.05 Revision, 05/01/03)

Chapter 2: Pasts Revealed - Ranma's Story

By AllWhacked

Send C&C to allwhacked@hotmail.com

http://www.geocities.com/allwhacked/

--- Disclaimer ---

Ranma 1/2 and its characters are the property of Takahashi Rumiko,
Shonen Sunday Comics, Shogakukan, Kitty TV (Japan) and Viz
Communications (USA). The characters of Tenchi Muyo belong to Kajishima
Masaki. The characters of Highlander belong to Davis/Panzer Inc. All
other characters and trademarks to appear are owned by their respective
owners. Note that this work of fiction is for free entertainment
purposes only. No compensation has been or will be received.

Please do not archive this work without the author's permission. Thank
You.

--- Note to Reader ---

This is an alternate universe/divergence fic with the bulk of the story
occurring after the Nanban Mirror episode (anime only). Now Ranma finds
himself stuck 400 plus years in the past with no means of returning
home.

"..." = spoken speech

'...' = thoughts

--- End Note to Reader, Start of Chapter ---

*** Late 16th Century, Qinghai Province ***

'Man, she's got a mean uppercut,' thought Ranma as he absently rubbed
his lower jaw line. It had been nearly an hour since the group had
disappeared and he was beginning to get a little worried.

"Shouldn't they have come back by now?"

He knew that given the Nanban Mirror's time traveling capabilities, the
group should have come back to retrieve him the very moment he noticed
that they were even gone. Yet they hadn't and Ranma was left waiting-
-waiting in silence as thoughts of what could and must have happened to
them took form.

On the one side of his brain, he fathomed that perhaps they had simply
forgotten about him; that they didn't care enough about him to bother
rescuing. On the other side, he guessed that instead of abandoning him,
the group probably met some grisly fate. That perhaps the mirror's
magic had somehow screwed up and now they were in a worst position than
he was. This last thought didn't appeal to him anymore than the first
and so Ranma was ever grateful when he heard the crack of distant
thunder to get his mind off the subject.

'Man, that doesn't look too good.'

He was eyeing the formation of dark cumulus clouds that from within
their folds, would flash and then sound off a series of loud rumbles a
few seconds later. At the sight of this, one didn't need to be a
meteorologist to know that a storm was brewing. And after taking a look
at where the sun was in the horizon, there was also the realization that
he had less than another hour before nightfall. He needed to hurry.

Throwing an absent-minded curse to the wind, the temporally challenged
sixteen year old picked himself off the ground and started jogging
towards the Amazon village. He began to hasten his steps as he felt the
light nips of drizzle touch his skin.

*** A Few Minutes Later ***

"You there, halt!"

Ranma stopped at the tail end of a raised pudao(1). He looked puzzled
for a second. The first time he had entered the village there had not
been any guards, but this time there were at least two sentries at each
of the village's four cardinal gates.

He then remembered that during his travels, in some rural parts of Asia,
small villages would close their walled gates at night--keeping
strangers and bandits out as well as the villagers in. He supposed that
the same must be true in this case. The sight of the setting sun
prompted him to act fast; if the gates closed with him on the outside,
he'd likely have to face the evening fighting off hunger pangs and a
night of bitter cold. He shivered at the thought.

"Stranger, state your business here."

Ranma paused. 'What the hell did she just say?' He didn't know the
local dialect but it didn't really matter, Ranma had a fair guess that
she probably wanted to know what business an obvious outsider had with
entering their village so late in the day.

"I would like to speak with Cologne," he began in Japanese.

The two sentries simply stared at him with puzzled looks. They after
all did not understand Japanese; however, from their experience with
Happossai they knew enough to understand when Japanese was being spoken.

"Shit, just what we need, another one of those filthy Japs," spoke the
taller of the two guards. She began to clench her pudao in uneasiness
as she then cocked her head slightly to her partner. "First we had to
deal with that thieving Happossai and now another one of these Japs
shows up at our doorstep. How much do you want to bet that this guy's
appearance here and Happossai's atrocities aren't just a coincidence?"

The other guard nodded her head in agreement but added her own two
cents. "I don't know... he might be a filthy Jap but he sure is a cute
one." She proceeded to bat an eye at a clueless Ranma whom seemed to
blush under the attention. Giggling at Ranma's modesty, the taller
guard merely rolled her eyes in disgust at her friend's flirtatious
behavior.

"Honestly Su Lin, how the hell are we supposed to look intimidating with
you acting like that?" Su Lin in turn simply ignored her friend's
admonishments as her eyes began to run across Ranma's form and features.
Narrowing her eyes a bit, something seemed to click in her mind as she
realized something.

"You know what Mai Lin? I think I've seen this guy before. He came
into the village earlier today with an old woman, two girls about our
age, and two middle-aged men. I remember him fighting with that devil-
Happossai before we ran the pervert out of the village. That boy was
with Cologne at the time, perhaps the two know each other." At the
mention of Cologne's name, Ranma's eyes perked up. He might not have
understood what the two guards had been saying, but he did catch the
mention of "Cologne's" name.

"Yes, Cologne," began Ranma in slight eagerness. "Can you please take
me to Cologne?" The two guards didn't seem to understand Ranma's
Japanese, but they too caught the repeated use of Cologne's name.
Putting one and two together, one of the guards went off to retrieve the
aforementioned girl while the other kept Ranma at bay.

++++++++++

While one of the guards ran off into the village, Ranma began thinking
to himself. 'Man, what the hell am I going to say to her? I can't tell
her the truth. It sounds so absurd that I wouldn't believe it myself.
But... then again, that mirror does belong to Cologne so perhaps she
knows of its magic and maybe she'll be more understanding than--'

As Ranma thought of some plausible sort of excuse to gain Cologne's
assistance, the guard and Cologne arrived around the corner. There was
an immediate pause as Ranma looked at Cologne and Cologne at him.
Smiling, Ranma was about to introduce himself again when the girl looked
at him with first surprise on her face that soon contorted into a look
of anger.

Watching Cologne, Ranma witnessed as the girl's hair seemed to come
alive and raise straight up when her aura of anger took hold. Ranma had
only seen this twice before, once back in Nerima and later when he was
in the village with the young-Cologne. In each instance, Happossai had
done something to cause her to get extremely upset which was then
followed up by Cologne beating or trying to beat the shit out of
Happossai.

Gulping in response to the girl's obvious displeasure towards him, Ranma
proceeded to back up and away from the gate. From his experience in
Nerima, the boy knew well enough when to avoid the wrath of a woman
scorned.

++++++++++

From Cologne's persepective, she only saw red. Here before her was the
boy that must have been in league with that louse, Happossai.

"You!?" she shouted at him in Japanese. "Die!"

Charging up to him in full battle rage, she leapt up to drive a powerful
jump sidekick into Ranma's temple. As Cologne sailed through the air,
it didn't occur to her until a split second later that she had only made
contact with thin air.

'Shit! Where is that male so I can kill him?' she thought lividly.

Twirling around to the sight of slight movement, she lashed out with a
powerful punch that to her surprise was caught. Feeling her wrist being
grabbed then somehow twisted around her back into an uncomfortable arm-
lock, she realized that she had seriously underestimated her enemy.
Struggling to break free, she felt her center of balance give way as
Ranma swept both feet and slammed her face first into the ground.

Positioning himself to take further advantage of Cologne's
disorientation, Ranma proceeded to twist Cologne's arm and place it in a
firm wristlock while grinding his heel into her shoulder blade. As
Cologne struggled somewhat, he applied slight pressure to alert Cologne
that if she continued to resist, he'd not only break her wrist but also
pop her shoulder out of its socket.

The entire attack was over in less than five seconds, as Cologne found
herself helpless before her opponent. 'Great,' she thought
sarcastically. 'Not only does Happy humiliate me and dishonor my
family, but I've also just lost to an outsider. Well, at least he's a
lot cuter than Happy.'

Feeling the slight twinge of pain as Ranma applied pressure to Cologne's
struggling, she in turn gave up; she knew that at this stage it was
rather pointless. Her only options were to either resist and receive a
broken arm, or give up and accept her fate. Twisting her head up
towards Ranma's direction, she watched in surprise as he looked down at
her in concern.

"Uh Cologne?" he started to say hesitantly. "I'm sorry that I slammed
you so hard on the ground. You attacked so fast that I didn't have a
chance to think before I guess my training took over. Umm.. if you
promise not to attack me again, I'll let you up. Okay?" Ranma looked a
bit frightful as he waited for Cologne to answer.

Receiving a meek yes, Ranma smiled as he realized Cologne wouldn't be
attacking him again. He began to wonder why Cologne had attacked him in
the first place as he proceeded to help her up. Still in thought, he
was totally taken by surprise when Cologne snaked her arms around his
neck and kissed him firmly on the lips.

"Woda ai ni" she said as a slight smile formed on her lips. Ranma could
only look on bug eyed as he realized that he was a complete and total
idiot.

'Damn it Saotome! When you are finally rid of your fiancée problems,
you'd just have to get another one didn't you,' he thought. Rolling up
his eyes at the sudden realization that he was now engaged or married to
Cologne, Ranma promptly fainted. Off to the side, Su Lin was visibly
upset.

"Ah man" she whined. "I was just about to challenge him too." Mai Lin
could only shake her head at her friend's behavior.

"What are you complaining about Su Lin? Can't you see that those two
are obviously in love? From what you said, that boy must have been
fighting Happossai so that little runt would stay away from Cologne.
Now that this boy has returned, Cologne must have realized that she
loved him too which is why she challenged him."

Hearing Mai Lin's statement, Su Lin perked up. "I suppose you're right
Mai Lin, I guess our love wasn't meant to be. You know what, I never
saw someone defeat Cologne so quickly. She must really want to get that
boy in the sack to lose to him so easily." Mai Lin only smiled at her
friend's statement.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. He is a cute one and I don't blame her
either." The two girls shared a laugh as they watched Cologne get red
faced from hearing the gossip going on behind her. Looking down at
Ranma's inert form, Cologne gave a hidden smile. She wouldn't admit it,
but she was somewhat thrilled at being married to Ranma.

"He sure is cute... and a great fighter too," she said to herself.
Cologne proceeded to look down at him as she became absorbed with his
features. So absorbed was she that she failed to feel the slight
trickles of rain that soon came down in a pour; in that instant,
Cologne's handsome husband transformed into a blossomy redheaded girl.
Feeling shocked at the sight, Cologne too began to roll up her eyes and
promptly fainted; the flood of conflicting emotions that had run through
her system that day had finally caught up to her.

Behind her, Mai Lin and Su Lin who had witnessed all this were in equal
amounts of shock, but due to their detachment from the situation, they
held themselves together well enough to gather up the unconscious forms
of Ranma and Cologne and bring them to the village healer. It would be
many hours later before the two woke up again to have things fully
explained.

*** Nerima Japan, Tendo Living Room ***

"... and that is how Cologne and I got engaged," finished Ranma.

He then took a sip of his tea to quench the dryness in his throat as he
began to gather more of his thoughts in preparation for explaining the
next chapter of his life.

Soun and Genma in the meanwhile looked ready to explode at the seams.
They were on the verge of berating Ranma for having betrayed his
fiancée, Akane, however a gaze from Nabiki reminded the two that they
weren't supposed to interrupt.

There was a momentary pause as Ranma began to clear his throat. Once
done, he continued on with his story.

*** Late 16th Century, Amazon Village ***

*Splash*

"Bleh! What the hell!" sputtered Ranma as he, now turned she, began.
Her red hair was now dripping wet as the martial artist sat upright to
stare head on into the gaze of a mean looking, shriveled up old Chinese
woman.

"Ah! It's Cologne!"

*Smash*

Ranma was promptly bashed in the skull and knocked unconscious.
Standing next to him was the young-Cologne who looked slightly abashed
for letting her temper get the better of her.

"Daughter? Was that really necessary?" voiced Perfume, Cologne's
mother.

"Sorry Mother, but when he looked at Great-Grandmother and then said my
name... I... I just couldn't help myself. How could he think that I
looked so.. so?" Cologne eyed her great-grandmamma nervously; she had
wanted to say 'ugly, old, and decrepit,' but she held her tongue in
check--she after all, didn't want to insult her favorite great
grandmother.

Turning her head in shame, Cologne then focused her attention to the
sleeping redhead. At first glance, the blue haired girl noticed Ranma's
amble bosom and just to test her curiosity, she poked a finger into one
of the mounds.

"Aiyah! They're real." Cologne silently kept to herself that Ranma's
breasts were also larger than her own.

"Great-grandmother, how come my husband turns into a girl?" Cologne had
an annoyed expression on her face.

"Good question," began the old matriarch. "And it comes with a simple
answer--Jusenkyo."

Cologne gasped. "You mean... the stories about that place are true? I
just thought that--"

Lotion simply gestured back to the girl and poured some warm tea over
Ranma's forehead. In an instant, the once buxom redhead turned from a
pretty, small petite girl into a taller, handsome raven-haired boy.

"I'm afraid that the boy has been cursed with water from the Spring of
Drowned Girl."

"Is there a cure for this, grandmother?" voiced Perfume.

"Well, yes there is--"

Ranma immediately bolted upright and turned towards Lotion. "You mean
there is a cure?"

All three women looked stupefied at Ranma's quick recovery.

'My my, the son-in-law is quite resilient,' thought Perfume and Lotion
in unison.

"Perhaps there is," continued Lotion from where she was cut off. "But
before I tell you, perhaps we should introduce ourselves. My great-
granddaughter told us that your name is Ranma."

Ranma nodded.

"I see, well I am Lotion--village matriarch. This here is my
granddaughter, Perfume and next to her is her daughter, Cologne whom
you've already met."

Ranma nodded again, remembering in detail how she had attacked him and
how he was forced to defeat her. 'And now marry her,' he silently
added.

"So Ranma," began Lotion as she interrupted his train of thought. "Tell
us a little about yourself. I do after all like to know something about
my future son-in-law."

"Now wait here just a minute, granny, I ain't marrying nobody."

Cologne looked a bit hurt by Ranma's proclamation while the two older
women gave him an amused glance.

"Oh?" exclaimed Perfume. "Are you saying that my daughter isn't good
enough for you?"

Ranma panicked for a second. "No no, that's not it. I mean, I didn't
even propose to nobody so how can I even be married to her?" Ranma was
hoping that perhaps if he played ignorant he might be able to escape the
Amazon marriage laws--he was hoping but the look Lotion gave him already
told him the answer. He had seen the same look from his 'Cologne,' back
in Nerima.

"Sorry there sonny-boy," interrupted the Matriarch. "But per twenty six
hundred years of Amazon tradition, you're already married to my great-
granddaughter. By our laws, if any Amazon is defeated by an outsider
male, that Amazon is to give him the kiss of marriage and make him her
husband."

Ranma had heard all this before and decided he had to go to plan B.
"Uh, well you see I can't marry Cologne because... I'm already engaged."

"Oh really? Well, that shouldn't be a problem. Just work hard and you
should be able to afford having two wives. Just remember to tell your
fiancée, that she'll have to settle for being Second Wife since by our
laws, you're already married to Cologne."[2]

*Blink* *Blink*

'Huh?' thought Ranma. That wasn't the response he was expecting.

"Well, uh..." he then began. His mouth felt dry as he searched his mind
for something intelligent to say, to at least respond to Lotion's
statement. Then it hit him.

"Hey," he remarked. "Isn't poly.. polygamy illegal?"

All three women stared at him for a second before erupting into a trio
of laughter.

"Where exactly are you from again?" questioned Perfume as she strived to
regain her composure.

Ranma simply sat there and sulked.

*** Nerima Japan, Tendo Living Room ***

"What!?"

The two fathers were in an uproar.

"So, you just accepted!?" blurted out Genma. "And here you've been
fighting tooth and nail to avoid 'your' duty to marry Akane. Oh, the
shame! To have such a dishonorable son who would forsake his fiancée
and his family's honor!"

Soun immediately made use of his "demon's-head" technique, as an
expanded devil horned specter of his face loomed over his head,
bellowing out words of outrage. "RAN-MA! HOW DARE YOU CHEAT ON MY
SWEET AKANE? I--"

His words were cut short when Ranma snapped his fingers, using a slight
application of ki to cause the snap to resonate throughout the household
like a gunshot--instantly sobering the two fathers into a mollified
alert silence.

"Are you two done whining like a bunch of old women?" asked Ranma. He
had an annoyed expression on his face as he eyed the two fathers
dangerously. His eyes momentarily glowed a demonic blue as he
consciously applied the "soul of ice" technique to lower the room's
ambient temperature. Everyone gave an involuntary shiver, as Ranma
continued--not waiting for the two fathers to respond.

"I can understand that you two are upset. You've probably spent the
past two decades dreaming for the day when your two children would marry
and carry on the two schools for you. However, our little romp in the
past left me there stranded for four hundred years. So before you two
begin passing judgment upon me, I think it's wise that you two learn to
shut up and listen and hear what I have to say!"

"I didn't come back here just so that you two could yell at me. I came
back because even after all this time, I still care about you--all of
you," he said as he cast his gaze from his father to each and every
Tendo. "I could have simply faded away and let you guys wonder what had
happened to me. I could have easily walked away from my
responsibilities and let you all think that I had died of old age.
However, like I said, even though you 'Father' and you 'Mr. Tendo' are
acting like two whinny little-shits, I still love you guys because after
all we're family."

He then gave a sigh as he added, "and besides, what's done is done.
Everything I'm telling happened well over four hundred years ago. It
was another time and another place. I did what I did and that's the end
of it."

There was a momentary lull in the silence, before a soft voice from
upstairs interrupted.

"But Ranma? Couldn't you have at least.. at least have waited for me?"
spoke Akane. She had come out from her hiding spot, losing much of her
earlier bravado, as she listened with a dull ache in her heart while
Ranma relayed to the others the events that had led up to his
abandonment.

Ranma looked up towards her with a sad frown, then motioned for her to
come sit. Once she came down, he continued. "Akane, one thing that I
didn't get to mention before I was interrupted was that I did wait for
you. I waited for a WHOLE YEAR for you guys to come back for me. When
I told Cologne and the village elders about my situation, they were all
very understanding and were willing to annul the marriage if you guys
came back. But then you never did come, and I suppose now... I know
why."

A few eyes shifted from him towards Nabiki, who in turn shrunk back into
herself at their accusing glares. Seeing this, Ranma interjected.

"Oh don't anyone here go blaming Nabiki for this or Akane for that
matter either." His gaze rested on Shampoo when he mentioned the latter
part--making sure she understood that any retaliation against her would
not be accepted. "If there is anyone here who should be held
accountable, I think that in the end I only have myself to blame."

A few looks of puzzlement followed as Ranma continued. "When I said
that I waited for you guys to come, that was only part of it. I spent
the first year waiting--working in the village as I eagerly awaited for
your return. I woke up every morning thinking that today would be the
day that I would go home. That you guys would just pop up and whisk me
away back to civilization."

"But when the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months.
I think you can understand that by winter, with all that time spent
holed up in the village, that I realized that you guys weren't coming
and that I should start thinking of China as my home. But I didn't let
it get to that; I didn't want to simply give up--even after all the
signs were there."

"I think it was after two straight weeks of snow and I suppose I was
suffering from a bit of cabin fever that I just snapped. I decided then
and there that come spring, as soon as the snow begins to thaw, I was
going to hunt down Happossai and get the mirror back. I wasn't going to
take this sitting down--at least not without a fight."

"For nearly two years I stalked and preyed after any clues to find him,
for any rumor that may have led me to him. With the help of Cologne and
a few friends we made along the way, we succeeded in tracking him down
to a small village where we managed to get the mirror back intact. But
by then, things had dramatically changed that would forever prevent me
from returning home."

Ranma's eyes glazed over at the memory of it.

*** 1595 AD, Qinghai Province ***

"Husband, what's the matter? You're frowning. Did you not enjoy
yourself?"

Cologne had a concerned expression on her face as she looked up at her
husband. She noticed that Ranma was not asleep, despite the two having
made love all that night. He looked troubled and she was worried that
he was now having second thoughts about them finally consummating their
marriage after three long years of courtship.

The man looked down at her and smiled--shaking his head. He leaned
forward and kissed the top of her hairline as he squeezed her naked body
against his. Ranma had no regrets; to the contrary, he had wanted it as
much as she had, but in the back of his mind he couldn't help but feel
as if a little part of him had died that night.

Looking Cologne in the eye. "Don't think so little of yourself, I
couldn't ask for a better wife."

Cologne smiled at his compliment; she had enjoyed herself too--many
times that night in fact. She consciously brought a hand to her groin
area, feeling its soreness. She then brought her hand up to her belly,
tracing her index and middle fingers over her navel as she imaged what
it would feel like to be carrying Ranma's baby.

"I'm glad," she absently remarked. "But that doesn't explain why you're
frowning."

Ranma sighed, "there's nothing wrong, Dear. I'm fine, I'm just thinking
about a few things."

"What kind of things?" she asked innocently.

He cracked a smile. "Can't a married man still have some secrets?"

"Yes he can," Cologne began sweetly. "Just as long as those secrets are
shared with his wife and no one else."

Ranma thought about this and consented. He knew he shouldn't start out
a marriage based on secrets and lies--even if those secrets might get
him kicked in the balls. He wanted a marriage founded on love and trust
and he knew enough from his experience in Nerima to see what a lack of
trust could do to a relationship.

Choosing his words carefully, he slowly began to relay his thoughts.
"Well Dear, since you asked, I was just thinking about Nerima and
thinking about everyone at home. I was wondering if everyone got back
alright and if they did, why didn't they come back for me?" Ranma
immediately felt Cologne go stiff in his arms as she listened; he could
tell that she didn't exactly like the direction his words were heading.
Sensing this, he closed his eyes briefly in frustration, wishing he had
instead lied. In his pause, he heard Cologne whisper something, but it
came out rather muffled.

"Huh? What was that?" he asked.

"I said: 'if you do regret being here and still wish to go back... I
won't hold you here anymore. Tomorrow, I'll get father to give me the
mirror and you can use it to go back home.'"

There was a dull ache in Ranma's heart as he heard this. Cologne didn't
really mean what she was saying, did she?

"So, does that mean you want me to go?"

"No. But I want you to be happy--"

"Then I'm staying."

There was an odd silence as the two simply lay into each other's
embrace. Now Cologne was holding on to Ranma tighter than he her. He
heard her sniffle and Ranma broke the embrace so that he could use his
free hand to turn her chin upwards. Upon seeing his wife's face, he saw
twin trails of tears running down her puffy red cheeks.

"Tomorrow, I'll ask father to give me the mirror," Cologne said between
hiccups, her body was shaking as she tried to regain control of her
breathing. "You can.. you can still have it and.. and use it to return
home--so that you can be with your friends and family."

Ranma questioned Cologne's words. In his mind he wondered what was
driving her to push him away like this. Didn't she love him? Didn't
she want him to stay? Hadn't he already said that he would stay?
Wasn't that enough? The answer to those questions immediately struck
him. 'Of course she wants you to stay, you idiot. But she wants to
hear you say it; to know that YOU want to be here as much as she does.'

"I can give you the mirror," she said again between sobs, her voice
small as she fought back the tears and the phlegm in her nose and
throat. "You can use it to return home--to be with your friends and
family. I don't want to deny you that..."

Ranma stopped listening as he pulled his wife's face up to his. He
didn't care about Nerima; he didn't care about Akane or the others.
What he cared most about now was bringing back that smile, that constant
look of optimism and mirth that hallmarked the reasons for why he'd ever
allow himself to fall in love with a woman who would indelibly become
the "Old Ghoul" who tormented his early teen years.

Palming her face up to his, angling it just so, he thrust forward to
capture his wife's lips in a passionate kiss--shutting her up to silence
Cologne's early destructive tirade of self loathing and doubt. As she
took to Ranma's action with a touch of surprised apprehension, that
apprehension soon melted away into feelings of contented bliss as she
relished the feel of his hard body against hers, the feel of his
rapacious tongue intertwined with her own. After a full minute of
continued oral fencing, with their hands tied together across each
other's backs, they broke their embrace with wide-eyed expressions.

Panting for breath, it was Ranma who spoke first.

"Cologne, if that didn't tell you how I already feel about you, then let
me just say that just because I wonder about Nerima, that just because
I'm curious about what happened to my friends and family, that doesn't
mean I don't love you also. Don't be jealous about them; they were my
past--you can't change that. But in turn, I have accepted you as my
future."

"I love you. I can't imagine my life without you. I want to be with
you forever, to tell everyone that you are my wife and that I'm the
luckiest man on Earth for having you. So don't you ever... ever-ever
think otherwise. Because remember Cologne, I didn't have to stay
married to you. I CHOSE to stay because I WANT to, because I've fallen
madly in love with you and I could never bear the thought of--"

Ranma's words were silenced as he felt his lips being pressed against by
those of his wife's. This second kiss lasted even longer than the
first, and as he recovered panting for breath, Ranma saw the shine of
joy return to his wife's eyes as Cologne let out another sob. Which
precipitated yet another deep kiss that Cologne followed up by gripping
her husband's head by the ears to force his nude body down against her
own.

"Iloveyou,Iloveyou,Iloveyou..." she whispered as she felt his lips
tickle the side of her neck, while she gripped his head--steering it
across her collar bone and down towards her breasts.

For the duration of night and the following morning, Cologne would try
her hardest not to let this man go from her embrace. So between her
high pitched cries of passion, she would moan out his name while
repeating over and over again her undying love for him. And with each
orgasm she achieved and the subsequent spillage of Ranma's seed, she
would cling to him with a tighter and tighter embrace. Holding him in
her arms, even after fatigue induced sleep overtook the both of them.

*** The Present, Tendo Living Room ***

Ranma still held the same far and distant gaze as he spoke.

"I simply fell in love."

There were looks of wide-eyed shock, as Ranma continued.

"For three years I had tried to keep things strictly platonic between
Cologne and I, but I suppose I was fighting against the inevitable. In
the time it took me to get use to life in the village, it was Cologne
who was there for me: to teach me, to be my friend, to aid me in my
quest to find Happossai. I guess it was only natural that I would fall
in love with her and she in love with me. And even though we got
married under unusual circumstances, I can't say that I regretted it,
only wishing that it didn't have to end under the circumstances that it
did."

As Ranma finished he brought his eyes back into focus, noticing that
Nabiki was looking at him as if to ask a question. Nodding his head,
she began. "Well, I guess that sort of explains why Shampoo can no
longer be considered your wife or why you didn't wait for Akane (Though
who could blame you considering what you went through). However
Saotome, that still doesn't explain everything. If you don't mind, can
I ask you a few more questions?"

Ranma paused and looked around the room to see if there were any
objections before nodding sagely to Nabiki. Smiling, Nabiki took a sip
of her tea as she prepared to unleash a few of the questions that had
been tickling at the back of her mind.

"Okay, so you've established that you were married to Cologne and why
you remained in the past, but if you're Shampoo's Great-Grandfather, how
come Shampoo didn't recognize you as such? Speaking of which, why
didn't Cologne stop Shampoo from chasing after you? I assume Cologne
knew that her Great-Granddaughter was chasing her Great-Grandfather and
not a potential husband?" At hearing that, Shampoo nodded her head
slightly. The poor girl was hurt and she wanted to know why her Great-
Grandmother would let her work herself up over a man she could never
call husband again.

Thinking for a second, Ranma turned to Cologne who eyed him right back.
Contorting his features as he furled his eyebrows in some sort of
irritation, Ranma proceeded to answer. "Well, your question is a bit
complex but to simplify things, the reason why Cologne did not warn
Shampoo was due to a few factors. I'm no expert in temporal mechanics,
but a scientist friend of mine explained it best by saying that time is
like a river with an infinite number of interconnected tributaries
running along its length."

"Whenever a change occurs in the time stream a new tributary forms
splintering off from the main body, carrying with it the essence of that
change. This river analogy helps explain the possibilities of alternate
worlds and dimensions. I'm sure right now there is probably an Earth
where I was never left behind and things went on unchanged. With that
understood, the reason why Cologne didn't tell Shampoo not to go and
chase after me was because she did not want to create a time paradox."

Seeing that he was receiving a few blank stares, Ranma continued to
elaborate. "Even though time is somewhat linear in how humans
experience it, the concept of time travel makes time more cyclical in
nature. When I talked about a 'time paradox,' I meant that in order for
Shampoo as we know her to exist, it all depends on me marrying Cologne
and us producing Shampoo's mother or rather Shampoo's I think, great-
great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother." Ranma
waited as the information slowly trickled into everyone's head, when
everyone reasserted their attention back towards him he continued.

"Well, in order to avoid a time paradox which would create a world where
Shampoo might not be born because I never met her and cause a continuous
cycle of me meeting her and me not meeting her, Cologne and I felt it
was necessary to push our Great-Granddaughter to pursue me at the
expense of some lost pride. To do so otherwise would lead to
repercussions that are unknown and possibly dangerous."

At hearing Ranma's answer, Shampoo couldn't hold back the tears she had
held since learning that Ranma was forever lost to her. Sobbing, Ranma
leaned over to Shampoo and put a comforting arm around her shoulder as
the girl cried sad tears into his shirt. Under normal circumstances,
Shampoo would be elated at being so close to her "Airen" but that was
the problem.

'He's no longer my husband' she thought forlornly. 'I should be mad at
Great-Grandmother, but.. but Ai.. er Great-Grandfather is right.'
Hugging Ranma, Shampoo let out her emotions as she tried to calm down
her nerves.

Normally the two fathers would be upset at Ranma hugging anyone besides
Akane, but seeing Shampoo's pitiful state they weren't going to object.
Almost a half-minute passed before the girl's crying died down. It was
then that Nabiki asked her next question.

"Ahem, Ranma. I am sorry to interrupt your bonding with your Great-
Granddaughter, but you failed to answer the second part of my question.
You forgot to explain why Shampoo didn't recognize you if you're her
Great-Grandfather... actually, now that I think about it, I'm curious as
to why you don't look as aged as Cologne and Happossai? Does it perhaps
have something to do with your curse?"

Ranma nodded his head. "You're right, I didn't answer that last part.
But no, my youthful appearance has nothing to do with my curse. In
fact, I got rid of the curse a long time ago. But in any case," he said
as he gave a dismissing wave of his hand, "the answer to your first
question all happened about ten years after Cologne and I got married.
I was about twenty-four, no twenty-five at the time and she had recently
given birth to our fifth child, a beautiful little girl we
coincidentally named Xian Pu."

A stray smile from him made its way to Cologne, who replied in kind,
nodding her head at the memory of their youngest child.

"That year the Qing launched a massive campaign to expand their
territory and control westward and when the Manchu horsemen made it to
our secluded valley, we of course resisted any attempts by them to
subjugate us. In the eight-day battle, I can say that we killed a lot
more of them than they of us, but among the dead I was one of them. I
would still be buried in the ground in Cologne's ancestral shrine,
except that the day after the funeral I awoke whole and healed."

"At the time, I didn't know what had happened to me, except that I
should have been dead. I can still remember how I died--a spear through
the heart and about half a dozen arrows in the chest. In any case, I
didn't know what had happened to me or why I was healed. All I wanted
to do at that point was just to go home. But when I did I was greeted
in fear as people I had come to call friends and neighbors all thought
that I was a kuang si(2). Ultimately, because I was considered a hero
by the village I was banished--rather than killed outright--sentenced to
roam the countryside and never return less they send their devil hunters
after me."

"And so I reluctantly agreed, as I was forced to leave behind my
beautiful wife and children. I loved them so very much." His voice was
getting a little weak as his eyes watered at the memory. Ryoko's gentle
hand reached over to wipe away a few stray tears as she enveloped him in
a hug on the opposite side of Shampoo. He leaned into Ryoko's embrace
as he continued. "It truly broke me up inside to do what I did. I
wanted to die, I wanted to kill myself after that... but you see, I
couldn't."

"One thing about the kuang si is that they can't die. And believe me, I
tried." A few startled gasps were heard. "That's right, I tried to
kill myself," he said. "On multiple occasions. I would for example,
slit my wrists to the bone, or jab a knife into my heart, hell... I even
attempted to commit seppuku. I remember in great detail how it felt to
slit my own belly from one end to the other as I watched my stomach and
intestines fall out."

At the memory, Ranma let off a faint laugh. "It's funny. Every time I
attempted to commit suicide, I would wake up from the incident soaked in
my own blood. I would find that each wound--no matter how big or small,
or how severe or insignificant--would heal itself in a matter of minutes
or hours depending on the cut's size. After maybe another half-dozen
attempts to end my life, I simply gave up. Instead, I refocused my
energies on trying to explain my condition--to maybe find a cure for
it."

"For at least a couple of decades, I traveled all across China, Tibet,
and India. I visited countless religious temples and remote shrines-
-whether they be Hindu, Taoist, or Buddhist. I went to them all:
looking, studying, asking for the answers I so desperately sought."

"I learned a lot during that time, some of it pertinent to my condition,
while others things more spiritual in nature. Well, I didn't stop in my
search until I reached the site of a remote Shaolin temple in the
mountains of northern China. That's where I came across an elder monk
who would become one of my greatest teachers. His name was Master Long,
and just by looking at me he told me straight out that just like him, I
was no kuang si but rather something entirely different--I was an
immortal."

Ranma proceeded to pour some more tea for himself as he allowed the
group to digest what he had just told them. No one else dared respond,
until Nabiki's curiosity got the best of her.

"Ranma," she began, unsure on how to continue. "Um, thank you for
sharing with us, but um.. you're joking about being immortal right?"

He shook his head. "Nabiki, when I mean immortal I mean forever young.
I'm over four hundred years old, yet I don't look a day over twenty-
five. Cologne and Happossai are just as old as I am, yet you can see
the obvious physical differences. And for them to have lived as long as
they have, it is only because they have learned to focus both their
minds and bodies to attain such a state of harmony that they can harness
their internal chi and manipulate it to such a degree that they have
slowed their aging processes."

"I on the other hand don't age at all. I've met other immortals, some
much older than I am, and they didn't look any older than from the
moment they became immortal.

Nabiki nodded her head with a greater, though still limited state of
understanding. "Okay Ranma, I definitely want to ask you more about
being immortal, but before I do can we backtrack for a moment? This is
about something you mentioned before. You said that you cured yourself
of your curse a long time ago. If I may ask, what did you use to cure
yourself?" Nabiki smiled inwardly as Ranma prepared to answer, in her
mind she knew that with such information at her disposal, she could--for
a price--pass on this piece of information to a few concerned Jusenkyo
victims who just so happened resided in Nerima.

Behind her Genma was thinking along similar lines, though for more self-
serving reasons. Instead of selling the information for profit, he in
turn saw a potential cure for his curse. The thought of finally being a
man and whole again was racing through his head at that very moment.

So as Genma, Nabiki and the rest of the assembled guest waited, Ranma
gave his reply. "Oh, the cure was rather quite simple," he began coyly.
"It was so simple in fact, I don't know why Pop and I never thought of
doing it before. But in any case, you know how Shampoo had those
packets of instant nanniichuan powder, well during my ten years at the
village it finally dawned on me that all I needed to do to cure myself
was to take a dunk in the real spring. So one quick trip to Jusenkyo
and voila, instant cure."

Nabiki was going to continue with her next question when Genma
interrupted. "Boy err, son," began Genma. "By any chance would you
have any water from that spring?" Genma had to ask at the very least,
he knew that even if his son didn't bring any spring of drown man water,
he still in fact knew that the spring would indeed cur him of his curse.
All he needed was a return flight ticket back to China. To Genma's
question, Ranma smiled and nodded his head.

"Yeah Pop, but I don't have any water on me."

Genma looked downcast for a second, but brightened up that at least his
son possessed the cure. And while he did feel a bit somber about not
being cured at the moment, he was elated that not only had his son
returned to marry Akane, but that he was the Grandmaster of Anything
Goes Martial Arts. Turning to Soun who looked at him in knowing
understanding, Genma proceeded to speak.

"Son," he began in full seriousness. "Now that you have returned from
beyond the grave, you can now fulfill your duties and honor the pledge
between the two families by marrying Akane."

"That's right," Soun then added. "You'll marry my sweet Akane. It must
be an act by God that has kept you alive and well. It must be fated in
the heavens that you two were to marry." Soun and Genma proceeded to
break out in giddy laughter as they imagined their dream soon being
realized. However, that dream was just as quickly popped as Ranma
retorted to their request.

"Sorry, as 'lovely' as Akane is Mr. Tendo, I'm no longer in the position
to fulfill the pledge to unite the two schools." The fathers as well as
the rest of the Tendos looked at Ranma oddly. Ranma didn't flat out
reject the idea, as he normally would have, instead he evaded the
subject by stating a prior obligation or handicap that prevented him
from the pledge.

'What could that be?' the three Tendo daughters thought. The two
fathers meanwhile didn't even bother thinking, as they grew angry with
Ranma's resistance to their plans.

"Now why is it that you can't fulfill the pledge, son?" asked Soun with
a stern gaze. His eyes moved from Ranma and then shifted to Ryoko who
was still holding him in an embrace. Everyone had seen how close the
two were when they had first entered the Tendo living room, it wasn't a
far fetched guess to assume that along with Ranma proclaiming her as his
fiancée, that the two were indeed already romantically involved.

Realizing the direction of everyone's thoughts, Ranma answered before
Genma had a chance to browbeat his son. "My inability to fulfill the
pledge isn't just that I'm involved with someone at the moment, though
it does play a factor. The main reason is the practical side of the
marriage contract. I assume that the pledge to unite the two schools
was so that an heir would be produced and thus would secure the
continuance of the Tendo and Saotome lines and in so doing, combine
them?" The two fathers merely nodded their heads as they wondered what
Ranma was getting at.

"Okay," Ranma continued. "Well if that is the case, then I am the wrong
person to fulfill the contract. The reason being is that with my
immortality, I'm also sterile." When Ranma finished a great wail
erupted from the two fathers, while the other Tendo daughters spoke in a
more subdued manner.

"Sterile?" they all questioned.

Ranma nodded his head as he continued. "That is correct. I am sterile,
as in there will be no children produced from my loins." When Ranma
finished, the fathers sat there stunned.

'This can't be,' they thought. The two fathers were about to retort
with something when Kasumi beat them to it.

"But Ranma," she questioned. "If you're sterile, then how was it that
you and Cologne had five children?"

Smiling fondly at the memory, Ranma answered. "Good question, the
answer has something to do with my immortal status as I said earlier.
I'm not sure about the exact science behind it, but according to Master
Long, he was the Shaolin Priest that I mentioned earlier. Well,
according to Master Long he explained that like all fellow immortals,
something is activated in our body, perhaps a gene of some sort that
turns on after we experience a violent death. Obviously not everyone
possesses this gene, but those who do and who die a violent death are
granted the power of immortality."

"We no longer age, we are immune to all disease or cancer. We cannot be
killed by normal means. However, with these powers we also become
slaves to our own condition. We become infertile and are possessed by
the urge or desire to fight and kill one another until there is only one
of us left. This is called the Game and I must ask you that what I have
just said and what I will say next not leave this room. If it does I'll
be forced to kill you."

Ranma didn't smile as he spoke, the seriousness on his face and in his
tone conveyed to the crowd that he would not hesitate to act on his
promise. Seeing everyone nod his or her head in agreement, Ranma
continued. "As I said earlier, our immortality does not activate itself
unless we die a violent death. So before my death I was like the rest
of you, I could still father children and if not for the Qing, I would
have died of old age or disease like the rest of you will. I'm not sure
why immortals exist, why we can't father or mother children."

"Some of us have theorized that perhaps God of the Gods put us on Earth
as a stepping stone between man and the divine, others have theorized
that we are merely an evolutionary product of natural selection, though
that idea is considered implausible since we can't father children and
we are all bound by this desire to kill one another. I see that I'm
getting off topic, but I think I made my point that a marriage between
myself and one of the Tendo daughters would not work towards carrying on
the two schools."

As Ranma finished Genma gave his reply. "Don't worry son, your
impotence isn't a problem. You can still marry Akane, I mean who needs
children with your immortality. With just you, the Saotome line will
live on forever." Genma was quite proud with himself as he said that
though Ranma retorted harshly that he was sterile, not impotent.

Ignoring his son's comment, Genma went into deep thought. 'Impotent,
Sterile, Who cares? Who needs grandchildren when I can just leech off
my son till my dying day? With him around I can easily manipulate him
to support me in old age.'

While Genma congratulated himself for his brilliant plan, Soun wasn't as
joyous. "So.. so you're saying there won't be any grandchildren?
You're sure on this?" Ranma nodded his head to answer the man, seeing
in Soun's eyes that the Tendo patriarch had deeply wanted to see his
daughters marry and to have children. "I.. I understand Ranma. I
suppose with your condition, I cannot expect you fulfill the pledge."
When Genma heard that, he all but exploded.

"Tendo!" he stated. "How can you call off the pledge? It has been our
life long dream, don't tell me you're backing out now." Soun who was
melancholy before, returned his friends fervor with tears.

"But Saotome," he cried. "With your son shooting blanks, however will
the Tendo line continue?" Soun made a valid point: how was the Tendo
line to continue without any heirs? Thinking quickly Genma was hit by
insight.

"Don't fret Tendo. Who said the Tendo line would end? You still have
two others daughters, they can carry on your family bloodline, while
Akane marries Ranma." Then lowering his voice, Genma whispered.
"Besides Tendo, we'll just take one of your other daughter's sons and
have Ranma and Akane adopt him as their own. It's perfect. Plus, with
Ranma's immortality, we no longer have to fear of him getting killed by
Akane's cooking. It's truly a match made in heaven."

Perking up at Genma's words, Soun concurred with words not as discreet
or secretive as Genma's. "Quite right Saotome" he said for all to hear.
"We'll just take one of Nabiki's or Kasumi's sons and give him to Ranma
and Akane to adopt and train. Why, that's a perfect plan." Soun was
about to high-five his friend, who during all this was trying to shush
the man. However, Genma attempts to keep his plan a secret was met by
startled looks.

"Father!" admonished Kasumi. "How can you even think of something like
that? I will not give up my unborn son to anyone, even if it is to my
own sister." Nabiki was right behind her sister when she added her own
retort.

"That's right daddy. I can't believe you'd go along with such a plan.
And what of Akane, do you think that she'd want to marry Ranma knowing
that she can't have children?" The Tendo patriarch shrunk back
immediately in shame under the fiery retorts and gaze of his two
daughters. Hearing their harsh statement made him rethink the validity
of the whole plan. Soun was about to call off the whole thing when
Ranma interrupted.

"Look Mr. Tendo" began Ranma. "Even if your daughters can get behind
the fact that they can't have children or if they do it would be
illegitimate, I should also add that even if they could get past that, I
wouldn't marry them. I'm already involved with someone whom I love very
much." As Ranma said that, everyone eyed him and then eyed Ryoko as the
two held one another's hand in a sign of unity and support.

Genma just looked at his son with a promise that he would have him wed a
Tendo, Soun on the other hand no longer held the same adamant desire in
his heart. He still wished to unite the two schools, but coupled with
Ranma admission of being both sterile and in love with someone else and
combined with the stinging words from his two daughters, Soun was having
second thoughts on the pledge ever being fulfilled.

While thinking thoughts that all had been lost, Soun was revitalized by
Ranma's next words. "Mr. Tendo, although I can no longer fulfill the
pledge I did not come back here just to dash your dreams. I have
several proposals that should still satisfy everyone's honor and
hopefully do what the original pledge sought out to accomplish. Would
you care to hear them?"

Everyone nodded their heads as they curiously wondered how the once
clueless Ranma could come up with a plan to satisfy all that he had
promised. Seeing that he had their attention, Ranma proceeded to take a
moment to sip his tea and collect his thoughts.

"Before I begin, I would like to talk a little bit about the pitfalls of
the pledge and why it was so difficult for both Akane and I to get
married. For starters, I think we can all readily agree that if not for
my father engaging me to multiple girls, the legitimacy of my engagement
to a Tendo would never have been questioned and a lot of our problems
could have been avoided." Everyone nodded their heads while some looked
daggers at Genma who was totally oblivious to their gazes.

"With that agreed," Ranma continued. "I would like to add that right
now with Shampoo no longer eligible to marry me, there is only two real
engagements that my father has made that I feel need to be honored. One
is of course the pledge between the Tendo and Saotome clans; the other
is my engagement between Ukyo Kuonji and myself. I have already dealt
with Miss Kuonji so you no longer need to worry about her. However, in
your case the fact that I cannot father an heir is the main problem. To
that I have several proposals that can alleviate that."

Ranma paused as he built up the suspense. "Option number one would
require that my father commit seppuku so as to clear the Saotome name of
all the dishonor he brought upon it by engaging me to multiple girls.
This act will therefore allow for the Saotome clan to invalidate all the
previous engagements and retain its honor. In doing this, I also in
turn will promise to train the Tendo heir in the Saotome style of
Anything Goes Martial Arts and thus uniting the schools that way." When
Ranma finished, Genma looked bug eyed as he saw everyone, even Soun nod
his or her head in agreement to Ranma's proposal.

"You can't be serious son?" queried Genma warily. 'This isn't looking
good,' Genma noted to himself as he started edging away from the table.

However, before Genma could bolt, Ranma continued. "Yes, we could have
my father commit seppuku but I wouldn't like that. As much as I hate
you father, I love you just as much. No, having you die won't be a real
option, but I merely suggested it to see if the others would agree to
it..."

Taking a breath, "my next suggestion which although doesn't clear the
Saotome name completely would unite the two schools in blood. During
our ten-year journey, father never mentioned my mother to that I could
only assume that he is no longer married, either through divorce or
death. The same applies to Mr. Tendo, him being a widower. With that,
either my father can marry one of the Tendo daughters or both Mr. Tendo
and my father can get remarried, produce a few kids and hopefully there
will be a boy and girl match. Does that sound satisfactory to any of
you?"

Soun immediately shook his head as he voiced his opinion. "Ranma,
although you mean well, I will not betray my wife's memory by marrying
another. To that, Genma must marry one of my daughters." When Soun
said that, both Nabiki and Kasumi all but shouted their protests, while
Akane remained in a state of numbed silence.

"Father" or "Daddy" the middle and eldest Tendo daughters both said. "I
will not marry him!"

Soun took their protests in stride while noticing Akane's silence as he
replied. "Don't worry dears; we'll just pass the original engagement
onto Akane." To that, Genma all but crapped his pants.

"No.. no thank you Tendo" sputtered Genma. "I can't possibly marry
Akane, hehe. Because I'm already married." Genma proceeded to wipe the
sweat from his near death experience of possibly betraying his wife,
Nodoka or being forced to marry the extremely angry and violent, Akane
Tendo. "Boy" Genma began. "Your ideas are ludicrous. Why don't you
give up this foolishness and marry Akane?"

Ranma merely rolled his eyes as he answered his father. "Pop, you must
have some learning disability. If you cared to remember, it's already
been established that I can't marry a Tendo, that's why we're having
these talks. Speaking of which, from your reaction I can see that none
of my options are particularly acceptable." Pausing, he then took
another sip of his tea.

"Originally I didn't want to bring this one up seeing how improbable
success would be... You know Pop, are you positive you don't want to
commit seppuku? I mean you didn't do anything really productive to
begin with. It's not like you'll be missing anything or any of us
missing you."

Seeing Genma glare at his son, Ranma smirked as he continued to speak.
"Okay, okay. So no one is in the mood for ritual suicide or remarriage.
No problem, this last option requires none of that. Instead, it'll only
require one of the Tendo girls being able to woo my grandson and heir,
Tenchi. Ah-ah-ah. Before you guys jump the gun, Tenchi is not related
to me by blood but that doesn't mean that I didn't remarry over the last
300 years."

"Tenchi is technically the Great-great-great-great-grandson of a boy
that I adopted back during the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, therefore
making me Tenchi's Great-great-great-great-grandfather, though Tenchi
just calls me Grandfather for short. Anyway, my Grandson is a skilled
martial artist and since he could walk, both his father and I have been
training him to carry on the legacy of the Masaki Musabetsu Kakuto
Ryuu."

Pausing, Ranma waited to hear the eventual response. To his surprise,
it was Cologne who spoke first. "Ranma" she said in a wizened tone.
"Can your Grandson marry any girl, or will this be an arranged
marriage?" At first puzzled by Cologne's reason to question him, Ranma
smiled in understanding.

"Oh, this is no arranged marriage. I may be the boy's Grandfather but
his mother would kill me if she heard that I arranged a marriage for her
only son--especially without her consent. No, Tenchi is free to marry
whomever he wants, even Shampoo if she were to win his heart."

Cologne face broke out into a large smile as she heard that. Speaking
quickly in Chinese, Shampoo broke out of her stupor at her Great-
Grandmother's words. "Thank you for talking with us Ranma, but Shampoo
and I must return to the Café to prepare for the early dinner rush.
However, please come in anytime so we can catch up on old times."

Ranma smiled as he watched the two get up and thank their hostess. "I
would like that very much" began Ranma. "Perhaps I'll come in later
tomorrow." Cologne merely nodded her head and waved goodbye, behind her
Shampoo paused as she took a look at Ranma.

"Bye bye, Air.. er Great-Grandfather." Shampoo still held a sad look on
her face, but Ranma could tell that the girl had lost a lot of her
initial grief.

'I hope she'll be okay' Ranma remarked to himself.

As the Amazons left, Kasumi alerted everyone to her quiet cry of alarm.
"Oh my" she said. "Look at the time, I really must get ready to prepare
dinner." At that statement, Ryoko looked to Ranma and then to the
eldest Tendo girl.

Realizing what she wanted, Ranma called out to Kasumi. "Oh Kasumi" his
voice rang. "If you don't mind, Ryoko here is a whiz in the kitchen,
she was wondering if she could help out." Kasumi only smiled and
welcomed her in as the two women headed out of the parlor to prepare the
family's meal.

With the room's inhabitants thinning, Genma and Soun preceded to leave
and have a game of Shogi, while Happossai bounded over to Akane to cop a
quick feel, which in turn enraged the previously silent girl into a
violent rage. With fury in her eye, Akane chased after Happossai who
gleefully fled out through the veranda and up onto neighboring rooftops-
-dodging and weaving as various blunt objects were thrown at his
direction.

With everyone now gone, only Ranma and Nabiki remained. Seeing that she
now had Ranma alone, Nabiki spoke in her usual cool collected manner.

"Saotome, I have to say you really changed. I'm not sure if that's a
good or bad thing."

Ranma for his part only smiled and said "you're right, I have changed
and like you, I'm not sure if its for the better..."

--- End of Chapter ---

Please send C&C to allwhacked@hotmail.com and if you're going to
criticize, please give reasons why. Thanks.

Glossary:

1. Pudao - A cross between a spear and a glaive or voulges. Sort of
like a Japanese naginata, except the staff is a bit shorter and the
blade is thick and wide, whereas the naginata is thinner and curved
back.

2. Marriages back in China's hay day allowed for a man to have as many
wives as he wanted or rather how many he could afford. Men literally
had to pay for their wives, so the option of having plural wives was a
luxury relegated only to the rich.

3. Kuang Si - A sort of Chinese equivalent to an undead zombie.

Q&A:

Q1. Is Ranma's rebirth as an immortal similar to Connar McCleod?

A1. Yeah, it is. Not too original but I'm at least going to make
things as historically accurate as possible.

Q2. Ryoko cooking, are you insane?

A2. Yeah, I'm a little insane since I've been pushing back working on
this big paper that's due tomorrow and have instead been working on
this. Pretty stupid if not insane.

Q3. Did you change Tenchi's relationship to Ranma? Wasn't Ranma,
Tenchi's Great-Grandfather in your previous versions?

A3. To answer that, the answer to both is yes. I originally had Tenchi
being Ranma's Great-Grandson or rather Great, great... grandson however
I decided to change Tenchi's father and so things have changed. I won't
spoil for you who Tenchi's father is however it will be revealed after
chapter so stay tuned.

Q4. Didn't the Qing take over China in the 1640s? And if so, how or
why could the Qing attack Ranma's village during the early 1600s?

A4. Well, because I changed the dates from Cologne being over 300 years
to over 400 years (so that I can make this fic more historically
accurate with my Ninja Scroll prequel) I decided to tweak the dates
during my revision of this fic. In any case, historical dates are
getting butchered, so live with it.

Q5. What is different in this revision (version 1.05)?

A5. For those who haven't read previous versions of this chapter, just
know that I changed events in the chapter to portray Akane is a nicer
light. I've also added more "touchy-feely" and consequently "limish"
content between Ranma and Cologne. I've gotten some complaints that I
didn't include enough content between the two and so I inserted that
whole scene as a test run, to see what the audience thinks. Hint: send
me a review whether good or bad.