Disclaimer:
I don't own Ranma Nibunnoichi. I don't own Sailor Moon. Yet. Once my grand scheme for world
domination falls into place... Hehe...
-------------------
Ranma awoke with a start. Something about his body felt... off. Quickly doing an internal
assessment, he felt several problems. His ki-flows were wildly distorted, feeling as if something
had taken his life force and stirred it around with an eggbeater. His knees showed signs of old
injuries, ones that had never properly healed. In fact, if he read them right, they had been
inflicted before his bones had fully hardened after birth. Only a few people he knew of had the
ability to cause this, and he quickly decided who it must've been.
"Oh, great. Pops must've really pissed off Happousai this time," he thought as he began
losing himself in the lengthy process of repairing his life-force, "Wonder what he did to the
Pervert to warrant this."
As he realized just how long it was going to take, he began to grumble. "Thank goodness it's
a Sunday," he murmured, untangling a particularly nasty knot.
-------------------
Reflection,
By
Aleh,
Chapter One: Through the Looking Glass
-------------------
Saotome Nodoka was worried. Even allowing for Ranma's habit of sleeping in late and the fact
that there wasn't any school today... "He should have been down an hour ago, at the latest," she
thought, walking over to the back yard where Ranko and Genma were sparring.
"Have either of you seen Ranma?" she asked, and watched in amusement as they fell to the
ground in a tangle of limbs as they turned to respond, forgetting that they were currently in the
air.
"No, Mom," Ranko said after she had managed to untangle herself, "Maybe he's still asleep?"
Genma just grunted. "What a worthless excuse for a boy. Not only is he a cripple, but
sleeping in?"
Nodoka quietly hit him over the head with a small mallet. "None of that, Dearest. You know
what I think about you talking like that about our son."
Genma grunted again, managing to look almost put-upon.
"I'll check his room, then," Nodoka said, turning around and walking to the staircase.
"You do that!" Ranko yelled as she and Genma started up again.
-------------------
Nodoka opened her son's door quietly, trying to avoid waking him up if he was still asleep.
What she saw shocked her beyond belief. Ranma was sitting on his bed, glowing. Nodoka had been
around martial artists long enough to recognize a battle aura when she saw one, so she *KNEW* what
it was, but for her son, who had never taken an interest in fighting, to show one... the thought
boggled her mind. She quickly shut the door, being careful not to disturb him, and practically ran
downstairs. "Ranko, Genma, come quickly! Something's wrong with Ranma!" she yelled, putting quite a
bit of urgency into her words.
"Coming, Mom!" Ranko called back, missing a kick and being slammed to the ground in her
distraction.
"Bah," Genma said, "A true martial artist never loses his... or her... *grumble* focus!"
"Stupid Pops," Ranko said, standing up and walking in, "I don't care what's wrong with the
bakayarou, but Mom would be really upset if anything happened to him."
Genma just grumbled some more.
-------------------
Ranko just stared. Her brother, the wimp, was literally glowing with ki. What's more, she
hadn't sensed it until she stepped into the room. The level of ki-mastery required for that... she
didn't think that even her father had that kind of control. As if that wasn't enough, the *AMOUNT*
of ki that she *DID* sense was... well... impressive, to put it mildly.
She was shocked out of her ruminations when Ranma lifted his head and stared her in the eyes.
"You can close your mouth now," he said lightly, instantly dropping the aura and hiding his
reserves.
-------------------
As Ranma finished repairing his ki, he became aware of another presence in the room with him.
He opened his eyes to a comical sight. An exact duplicate of his old cursed form was standing in
the doorway, her jaw agape. Ranma inwardly chuckled at the image. Quickly hiding his ki, he spoke
up. "You can close your mouth now."
-------------------
"Wha... how... where..."
Ranko was standing, stuttering somewhat, as she tried to reconcile what she had just seen
with her mental image of her brother. Ranma just raised an eyebrow, inwardly laughing at the sight.
The years had mellowed him considerably, and the 'Ancient Wise One' act was almost second nature
to him.
"Please," he said, gesturing to the chair next to his desk, "Take a seat. I have a story to
tell you."
Ranko quietly sat down and looked towards her brother. Ranma sighed. "I'm just glad that
you're the only one who saw that," he commented idly.
"I'm not," she remarked, beginning to get over her shock, "Mom called me over when she did."
Ranma sighed and buried his face in his hands. "Damn. At least it wasn't Oyaji."
The shock evaporated off of Ranko's face as she began to grin. "Yeah. He's not exactly
trustworthy, is he?"
"Bingo," Ranma said, chuckling, "He'd do anything for food."
Ranko laughed a little more before she remembered why she was here. "So, what's the story?"
she asked, not quite as serious as before.
"Well... First, I need you to promise that you won't tell any of this to anyone. Not a word
of it leaves this room unless I decide otherwise."
Ranko paused for a moment, considering. "Deal," she said reluctantly, "So what's going on?"
"Once, a long time ago, there was a martial artist. He was the best of his generation; some
would say the best who ever lived."
Ranko nodded in understanding. "So what does this have to do with you?" she asked.
"You'll see," Ranma replied.
Ranko just motioned for Ranma to continue.
"Well, he was persued by a number of women, each of whom claimed to be in love with him. He,
however, didn't return their affections. He went through a number of adventures, eventually growing
close to a girl. One day, he left on a training trip, planning to return to challenge the
grandmaster of his school for his title."
Ranko nodded slowly.
"One of his suitors, an Amazon named Xian Pu, saw something in his bag. An engagement ring.
She guessed, correctly, that he was planning on asking the girl that he loved to marry him upon his
victory."
Ranko was now listening intently. "So what happened?"
"The man returned to find the woman he loved dead, murdered by Xian Pu. His family, as well
as his beloved's, helped him recover. He avenged her death, but was left hollow inside afterwords.
He threw himself into his Art, reaching levels that he had never dreamed of before, but then
something else happened."
"What?" she asked.
"Xian Pu's villiage attempted to 'avenge' her loss," Ranma said, almost spitting out the
words, "They sent a hunting party after him. They couldn't harm him... but one day, they attacked
and murdered his mother."
Ranko's eyes widened.
"Their people ceased to exist shortly after that."
Ranko's jaw dropped somewhat.
"The man returned to his home, feeling even more hollow than before. He walked to the
graveyard where the woman he loved and his mother were buried, curled up on the ground, and cried.
It was almost two days before he left."
"What does this have to do with you?" she asked again, still not understanding.
"Let me finish," Ranma replied, "The story doesn't end there."
Ranko again nodded and sat back in her chair.
"Two months later, he found that he wasn't aging."
"What? Why?"
"According to the man who was grandmaster of his school, it's possible to slow or even stop
aging by using ki. Most masters of the Art are at least seventy before they even begin to reach
that level; he was doing it subconsciously at eighteen."
Ranko's eyes widened again. "Wow. He was good, wasn't he?"
Ranma smiled at her unintentional compliment. "Yes," he said with a smirk, "He is."
"Is?"
"He's still alive."
"Oh."
"Anyway, he finally got around to challenging the grandmaster. After he won, he left home,
hoping to leave the memories behind. He travelled the world, becoming known as 'Tenmou no Heijin',
the Blade of Heaven's Vengeance, as he killed demon after demon, youma after youma. He had a number
of adventures, none of which are terribly relevant, before settling down once again, hoping to
train an heir in the Art."
"Is that you?" Ranko commented in amazement.
Ranma chuckled. "No," he said, "He never found one. He wanted someone who understood the Art
as he did, who could live it. If you haven't noticed, such people are rare."
Ranko nodded. She had noticed that, too.
Ranma sighed. "After many years, he left, taking up the mantle of the Tenmou no Heijin once
again. The cycle repeated until the three hundredth anniversary of his love's death."
"What happened?"
Ranma smiled. "A kami made him an offer."
"Oh?"
"Budou-no-kami, actually. He told the man that he had been asked to save another world, one
parallel to the one that the man was from. Because of the rules that the kami operate under,
Budou-no-kami couldn't do it himself, so he chose a champion."
"The man, right?"
Ranma nodded. "The man's counterpart on that world was destined to die within a few days.
Budou-no-kami offered to take the man's mind and soul and place them within that his counterpart's
body. The other world, you see, was, and is, much like the world of the man's youth, only differing
slightly. His counterpart wasn't a martial artist, despite being in a family of such, and...
well... was rather pathetic, according to Budou-no-kami. Actually, upon arriving, the man found
that his counterpart had been subjected to several shiatsu and other ki-manipulation techniques
which would pretty much rob him of any potential to learn the basics of his Art."
By now, Ranko had figured out what was going on. Her eyes widened considerably as
understanding dawned.
"So, the man set about removing those influences and straightening out his aura.
Unfortunately, he lost trach of time, and his counterpart's mother, his mother's counterpart, or
his mother, depending on how you look at it, came in to check on him and found him showing his
aura as he worked."
Ranma casually gestured towards Ranko. "And you know the rest," he finished, looking into
his sister's eyes. "His mother panicked and called his sister, who saw the same thing. He
remembered Budou-no-kami's advice, that she was worthy of his trust, and took her into his
confidence, telling her his story. And so, here we are, talking about my life."
Ranko's jaw dropped.
"Ranma, Ranko," Nodoka said, opening the door and sticking her head in, "Are you alright?"
Ranko briefly shook her head, fighting off the effects of shock. "We're fine, Mom," Ranma
replied, "We were just talking for a bit."
"Okay, dear," Nodoka commented, leaving, "Lunch is ready by the way."
Ranma just nodded and turned to Ranko. "We'll finish this later. For now, lunch is waiting."
-------------------
Lunch was a relatively quiet affair. Ranko was preoccupied with her thoughts, to the point
that Genma managed to steal a good portion of her food. Ranma was busy assuring Nodoka that yes, he
really was alright, and that no, she didn't need to worry about him. Genma, well, he wouldn't
notice if Ranma suddenly grew wings and started calling himself 'Saffron'.
Meanwhile, Ranma thought about what to do about the morning mob. He couldn't stand to see
Akane go through that hell one day longer than he had to, but the only permanent solution,
challenging Kunou, would have to wait until he had gotten somewhat into shape. Throwing a ki-blast,
or some such, at Kunou before he attacked Akane would be too obvious and would attract attention
of a sort that he couldn't deal with until he could recover his ki-reserves at a decent rate. He
was certain that he could beat any challenger who might come as a result, but the resulting ki-
depletion would leave him weak for days, or weeks in the case of Herb or someone like him, and
would leave him unable to fight in an emergency. Magic was also out, as he both didn't want to lend
credence to Kunou's inevitable claims of him being a 'foul sorcerer' and didn't have the materials
for most of his tricks available. It was then that he remembered one of his adventures shortly
after challenging Happousai, when he learned more than he wanted to know about the source of the
Kunou family's... eccentricity. With that, he inwardly smiled as he thought of the perfect
solution.
Ranko, on the other hand, was simply digesting what she had heard from Ranma. It was obvious
that he could help her in the Art; she boggled at the thought of the level that he'd have to be at
after even half of what she had heard him mention, and she *KNEW* that there was a lot that he had
left out. At that thought, though, she paused. Ranma, the one she knew, was a notoriously poor
liar. Was this new Ranma just as bad? She realized that she had assumed too much when talking with
him, and would have to be more suspicious from now on. As for her 'old' brother, she considered
what had happened. According to Ranma, her 'old' brother was destined to die anyway. She thought
about blaming Ranma for his, in a sense, death, but she realized that she couldn't really. After
all, he *HAD* said that he came here to save the world. Besides, he was a worthless, pathetic
excuse for a human being anyway, and this way, her mother was spared the grief that would
inevitably follow otherwise. Now... well, she didn't love this new Ranma (AS A BROTHER, you
hentai!), at least not yet, but she could see herself coming to... assuming he was telling the
truth, anyway.
Nodoka was worried about Ranma, as shown by her tendency to ask him every few seconds if he
*REALLY* was feeling alright. Of course, she had some basis for it; Ranma had been a weak and
sickly child ever since that... incident... when he was almost a month old.
Genma was just eating, only noting that Ranko wasn't defending her plate as well as she
usually did. "The girl's getting soft," he thought, clueless as always.
-------------------
After they finished eating, Ranma excused himself from the table and went upstairs to his
room. Ranko followed shortly, planning on continuing their earlier conversation. Nodoka left to
clean up, and Genma went off to go get drunk.
Ranko found Ranma searching through his desk, eventually withdrawing a quantity of paper and
ink. She sat on his bed, watching him continue as he took out a calligraphy brush.
"Ahehem," she said, clearing her throat to get his attention.
"Just a moment, Ranko," he replied, "I'm getting ready for tomorrow."
"Oh," she added, waiting until he sat down and faced her.
"So," Ranma started, "Where were we?"
"Well, I thought about what we talked about..."
Ranma nodded. "I don't doubt that you have a lot of questions."
"Yeah," Ranko agreed, "I do."
Ranma just gestured for her to continue.
"Well... first off, what happened to 'my' Ranma?" she asked, putting some emphasis on the
'my'.
Ranma chuckled. "You don't know much about dimensional counterparts, do you?" he asked,
smirking slightly.
"Huh?" Ranko asked, thoroughly confused.
Ranma held out his hand, summoning a ball of light. "I suppose that you've heard of the
theory that all things are fragments of the same being," he started, waiting for Ranko's nod,
"Well, imagine that this ball is that 'first' soul."
Ranko nodded again, understanding.
"Now," he said as the ball split into pieces, "Each of these is a universe."
"Right," she said, "An infinite number of worlds. I've read enough science fiction to get the
idea."
Ranma just nodded in confirmation as each ball became a hollow sphere filled with smaller
motes of light. "Now, imagine that each of these smaller lights is a person's soul."
"Okay..." Ranko replied, following but not understanding what this had to do with the
question.
"Now, then, universes periodically hit junctions where they branch off from eachother,
becoming two or more 'new' universes."
"Huh?" Ranko grunted, becoming lost.
"How to explain..." Ranma mused. "Okay," he started after a moment, "Occasionally, an event
can go two or more ways; two or more things can happen. If the event is important enough, it causes
a split. In one universe, the first possibility happens; in the second, the second occurs, and so
on."
"Okay..."
The miniature lights within some of the spheres began to split, eventually gathering on
either side of each their respective globes, which then split as well. "Now, then, you have two
versions of each person, one in each universe."
Ranko nodded yet again, still not understanding why he was saying this.
"Now comes the tricky part. Each 'version' of the person is essentially a piece of the same
soul. It's a heck of a lot more complex than that, actually, and there are exceptions, but it's a
useful concept."
Ranko started to see where Ranma was going as she nodded her head again.
"Now, my soul was taken from my universe," Ranma continued as one of the smaller lights left
its sphere, "And placed in this one." The light entered another 'universe'.
"I see," Ranko said.
"Once it entered," Ranma went on, "it was placed in this body, where it encountered its twin,
another of its fragments."
Ranko now understood. "So the two pieces..."
Ranma nodded in agreement as the voyaging light settled next to and fused with its
counterpart in its new home. "Fit together like pieces in a puzzle," he acknowledged as the
elaborate ki-manifestation faded. "Of course, it's a lot more complex than that," he continued,
"but it's the best way to explain it."
"So why don't you have his memories? His personality?"
Ranma smirked. "As I said earlier, it was an oversimplification."
"Oh," Ranko said, somewhat confused.
"Just don't ask me to give that demonstration again; generating ki-illusions like that is
quite draining."
Ranko boggled. "You were doing that with ki?!?" she gasped, "I didn't sense anything!"
Ranma smiled. "I cloaked my aura," he replied, "And I'm afraid that I can't do anything with
much more detail than that. There are limits to even my control of my aura."
"Oh," Ranko said, inwardly goggling at the insane levels of ki-control that Ranma had just
shown.
"Anything else?" Ranma asked amusedly, reaching over and starting to work on one of the
pieces of paper with his aura.
"What *ARE* you doing?"
Ranma chuckled. "Making wards," he answered, "You're really supposed to use special materials
for this, but normal ink and paper will do in a pinch."
"Huh?"
Ranma just chuckled some more as the paper picked up a golden glow from the energy he was
forcing through it. "I've been hunting and killing demons for hundreds of years, Ranko," Ranma
commented, "Don't you think that I'd manage to pick up a few tricks?"
"Oh," Ranko said, "Why're you doing that with your ki?"
"What?" Ranma asked, "Channeling it into the paper?"
"Yeah," Ranko replied, "And what're they for?"
"Well, one question at a time," Ranma answered, "Most spirit wards use specific kinds of
paper, with ki-patterns locked in through the ink and a minor investment of ki from the person who
makes them."
"Okay."
"We use the kind of paper we do because we've found that it's easier to charge, and the ink
we do because it alters the ki-related properties of the paper in the best way. Different kinds of
ink and paper combinations have different effects on ki, so I can't really be more specific.
"Now, you can theoretically lock any pattern you want into any object, but it's extremely
difficult to do so. Right now, I'm priming the paper, forcing it to accept a pattern very close to
the one I want it to pick up eventually."
"Why aren't I sensing anything?"
"Three reasons, really. First off, despite the glow this stack of paper's picked up, it only
uses a minute amount of personal ki. The vast majority of it is environmental ki filling the paper
as I'm forcing it to accept it."
"Go on," said Ranko.
"Secondly, I'm still cloaking my aura. I don't want Oyaji noticing anything until I'm ready
to deal with him."
"I see."
"And, thirdly, I'm reabsorbing what personal ki I'm using almost as quickly as I'm using it.
It's slower going, but it's far less tiring, and I'm going to need to save as much ki as I can in
case of an emergency. The reabsorption process interferes with most beginners' ki-senses."
"Hey!" Ranko yelled, "I'm NOT a beginner!"
Ranma chuckled. "I can tell by your aura that you're pretty talented, yes, but it's equally
obvious that you haven't been seriously trained. You only know a few, very basic, methods for
detecting and manipulating ki."
Ranko looked half-mollified, half-angry.
"Frankly," Ranma continued, "I'm surprised that Oyaji's even taught you as much as he has."
Ranko looked ready to explode. "You mean he hasn't been taking me seriously?" she asked, her
voice a dead calm.
"Nope," Ranma replied, "Ask him about the Yama-sen-ken and Umi-sen-ken sometime. Not to
mention that he's only taught you the basics of how to use ki to boost your strength, speed and
stamina. Actually, he's only taught you about as much as you can learn in just about any kenpo
dojo."
Ranko was now quietly steaming. "He's dead," she said flatly.
Ranma sighed as he finished with the paper, casually cutting it into strips of the proper
size with his ki.
Ranko's eyes bugged out. "How'd you do that?!" she exclaimed, looking at where he had cut the
proto-wards.
"When I was ten, Oyaji got a manual for a supposedly invincible martial arts technique, the
Neko-ken."
Ranko gestured for him to continue.
"Of course, he made me learn it, even though he hadn't finished reading the instructions."
Ranko shook her head. "Stupid pops," she grumbled.
"Yep," Ranma replied, "The manual went on to say that it was a technique that only an idiot
would teach, but he taught it without reading that part."
"That's Oyaji, all right," Ranko commented.
"Well, the training involved wrapping me up in fish sausage and throwing me into a pit of
starving cats."
Ranko gasped.
"Obviously, I became ailurophobic."
Ranko chuckled.
"Anyway, when my fear of cats reached its peak, my mind would retreat, and I'd actually think
I was a cat. When I was like that, I pretty much acted like one, including manifesting ki-claws."
Ranko nodded in understanding.
"Anyway, Happousai, Oyaji's old master, helped me get control of it. I'm not afraid of them
anymore, and I can call on the Neko-ken's power as needed. I just used the ki-claws to slice the
paper."
"Wow," she said, "They don't use much ki, do they?"
Ranma shook his head. "Not for small things, no. The larger I make them or the harder the
stuff I cut through, the more ki they use. I'd just use scissors, but these wards," he said,
gesturing at them and grabbing the ink, "need to be cut precisely."
"Oh," Ranko replied.
"So," Ranma added, grabbing the brush and dipping it into the ink, "Anything else?"
"Well...," Ranko asked, "The girl you fell in love with..."
Ranma looked up from where he was carefully caligraphing a kanji. "Yes?"
"Do I know her?"
Ranma chuckled. "Not really," he said after a moment, "But you do know *OF* her. Budou-no-
kami told me that you'd never gotten to have much of a conversation with her."
"What's her name?" Ranko asked curiously.
"Tendou Akane."
-------------------
Old A.N.:
So... another chapter done. Heh. Apparently, Tannim's e-mail link for this story has been
sending comments to Fred Herriot. Just to clear up the confusion, my e-mail address is
CheezeA@clemson.edu or Aleh@aol.com. I generally prefer the clemson.edu address; I just use the AOL
one for FFML-related stuff and a few other things.
Sorry this is as short as it is, but my writing style just seems to work best with short
chapters; go figure.
Anyway, I hope that I answered a few of the questions that I mentioned in the first prologue,
and hinted at the answers to a few others. As for new questions... oh, there were quite a few holes
in Ranma's story, weren't there? I didn't mention the fates of the Nerima Wrecking Crew, except
Akane, Ranma, and the Amazons, so that's still up in the air. Why did Budou-no-kami say that
Ranma's counterpart was pathetic? What happened between Genma and Happy after Ranma's birth?
Expect some answers next time... just not too many. :-). I know and you don't! Biiii-da!
Hehe. I'm in a good mood, aren't I?
Current A.N.:
I started writing Chapter Two, then realized that it didn't really deserve its own chapter.
Hehe. Oops. Anyway, I folded it into Ch. One, so to speak. Oh, well. At least those of you who
complained about Chapter One being too short get a new, longer version.
Anyway, on reflection (pardon the pun), I realized that a good portion of the backstory for
this was probably influenced by a rather lengthy e-mail discussion I had with Arun, the author of
Destiny. Sorry for not giving you credit earlier. :-).
(For the record, the conversation was on just what it would take for Ranma to kill the
Amazons, for his upcoming new version of his fic 'Heaven and Earth', which bears little to no
resemblance to the original version.)
Additional kudos to Mike Rever, for making me think about Ranko's reaction in more detail,
and to Cory D. Rose, for being the first other good fanfiction writer to give me positive feedback
on this work.
(Others have done so for my other writings, but Cory was the first for this one. :-).)
Oh, and as to why Ranko didn't press her question about what the wards were for... she
forgot. With everything else that Ranma told her, she kinda got distracted. :-).
I don't own Ranma Nibunnoichi. I don't own Sailor Moon. Yet. Once my grand scheme for world
domination falls into place... Hehe...
-------------------
Ranma awoke with a start. Something about his body felt... off. Quickly doing an internal
assessment, he felt several problems. His ki-flows were wildly distorted, feeling as if something
had taken his life force and stirred it around with an eggbeater. His knees showed signs of old
injuries, ones that had never properly healed. In fact, if he read them right, they had been
inflicted before his bones had fully hardened after birth. Only a few people he knew of had the
ability to cause this, and he quickly decided who it must've been.
"Oh, great. Pops must've really pissed off Happousai this time," he thought as he began
losing himself in the lengthy process of repairing his life-force, "Wonder what he did to the
Pervert to warrant this."
As he realized just how long it was going to take, he began to grumble. "Thank goodness it's
a Sunday," he murmured, untangling a particularly nasty knot.
-------------------
Reflection,
By
Aleh,
Chapter One: Through the Looking Glass
-------------------
Saotome Nodoka was worried. Even allowing for Ranma's habit of sleeping in late and the fact
that there wasn't any school today... "He should have been down an hour ago, at the latest," she
thought, walking over to the back yard where Ranko and Genma were sparring.
"Have either of you seen Ranma?" she asked, and watched in amusement as they fell to the
ground in a tangle of limbs as they turned to respond, forgetting that they were currently in the
air.
"No, Mom," Ranko said after she had managed to untangle herself, "Maybe he's still asleep?"
Genma just grunted. "What a worthless excuse for a boy. Not only is he a cripple, but
sleeping in?"
Nodoka quietly hit him over the head with a small mallet. "None of that, Dearest. You know
what I think about you talking like that about our son."
Genma grunted again, managing to look almost put-upon.
"I'll check his room, then," Nodoka said, turning around and walking to the staircase.
"You do that!" Ranko yelled as she and Genma started up again.
-------------------
Nodoka opened her son's door quietly, trying to avoid waking him up if he was still asleep.
What she saw shocked her beyond belief. Ranma was sitting on his bed, glowing. Nodoka had been
around martial artists long enough to recognize a battle aura when she saw one, so she *KNEW* what
it was, but for her son, who had never taken an interest in fighting, to show one... the thought
boggled her mind. She quickly shut the door, being careful not to disturb him, and practically ran
downstairs. "Ranko, Genma, come quickly! Something's wrong with Ranma!" she yelled, putting quite a
bit of urgency into her words.
"Coming, Mom!" Ranko called back, missing a kick and being slammed to the ground in her
distraction.
"Bah," Genma said, "A true martial artist never loses his... or her... *grumble* focus!"
"Stupid Pops," Ranko said, standing up and walking in, "I don't care what's wrong with the
bakayarou, but Mom would be really upset if anything happened to him."
Genma just grumbled some more.
-------------------
Ranko just stared. Her brother, the wimp, was literally glowing with ki. What's more, she
hadn't sensed it until she stepped into the room. The level of ki-mastery required for that... she
didn't think that even her father had that kind of control. As if that wasn't enough, the *AMOUNT*
of ki that she *DID* sense was... well... impressive, to put it mildly.
She was shocked out of her ruminations when Ranma lifted his head and stared her in the eyes.
"You can close your mouth now," he said lightly, instantly dropping the aura and hiding his
reserves.
-------------------
As Ranma finished repairing his ki, he became aware of another presence in the room with him.
He opened his eyes to a comical sight. An exact duplicate of his old cursed form was standing in
the doorway, her jaw agape. Ranma inwardly chuckled at the image. Quickly hiding his ki, he spoke
up. "You can close your mouth now."
-------------------
"Wha... how... where..."
Ranko was standing, stuttering somewhat, as she tried to reconcile what she had just seen
with her mental image of her brother. Ranma just raised an eyebrow, inwardly laughing at the sight.
The years had mellowed him considerably, and the 'Ancient Wise One' act was almost second nature
to him.
"Please," he said, gesturing to the chair next to his desk, "Take a seat. I have a story to
tell you."
Ranko quietly sat down and looked towards her brother. Ranma sighed. "I'm just glad that
you're the only one who saw that," he commented idly.
"I'm not," she remarked, beginning to get over her shock, "Mom called me over when she did."
Ranma sighed and buried his face in his hands. "Damn. At least it wasn't Oyaji."
The shock evaporated off of Ranko's face as she began to grin. "Yeah. He's not exactly
trustworthy, is he?"
"Bingo," Ranma said, chuckling, "He'd do anything for food."
Ranko laughed a little more before she remembered why she was here. "So, what's the story?"
she asked, not quite as serious as before.
"Well... First, I need you to promise that you won't tell any of this to anyone. Not a word
of it leaves this room unless I decide otherwise."
Ranko paused for a moment, considering. "Deal," she said reluctantly, "So what's going on?"
"Once, a long time ago, there was a martial artist. He was the best of his generation; some
would say the best who ever lived."
Ranko nodded in understanding. "So what does this have to do with you?" she asked.
"You'll see," Ranma replied.
Ranko just motioned for Ranma to continue.
"Well, he was persued by a number of women, each of whom claimed to be in love with him. He,
however, didn't return their affections. He went through a number of adventures, eventually growing
close to a girl. One day, he left on a training trip, planning to return to challenge the
grandmaster of his school for his title."
Ranko nodded slowly.
"One of his suitors, an Amazon named Xian Pu, saw something in his bag. An engagement ring.
She guessed, correctly, that he was planning on asking the girl that he loved to marry him upon his
victory."
Ranko was now listening intently. "So what happened?"
"The man returned to find the woman he loved dead, murdered by Xian Pu. His family, as well
as his beloved's, helped him recover. He avenged her death, but was left hollow inside afterwords.
He threw himself into his Art, reaching levels that he had never dreamed of before, but then
something else happened."
"What?" she asked.
"Xian Pu's villiage attempted to 'avenge' her loss," Ranma said, almost spitting out the
words, "They sent a hunting party after him. They couldn't harm him... but one day, they attacked
and murdered his mother."
Ranko's eyes widened.
"Their people ceased to exist shortly after that."
Ranko's jaw dropped somewhat.
"The man returned to his home, feeling even more hollow than before. He walked to the
graveyard where the woman he loved and his mother were buried, curled up on the ground, and cried.
It was almost two days before he left."
"What does this have to do with you?" she asked again, still not understanding.
"Let me finish," Ranma replied, "The story doesn't end there."
Ranko again nodded and sat back in her chair.
"Two months later, he found that he wasn't aging."
"What? Why?"
"According to the man who was grandmaster of his school, it's possible to slow or even stop
aging by using ki. Most masters of the Art are at least seventy before they even begin to reach
that level; he was doing it subconsciously at eighteen."
Ranko's eyes widened again. "Wow. He was good, wasn't he?"
Ranma smiled at her unintentional compliment. "Yes," he said with a smirk, "He is."
"Is?"
"He's still alive."
"Oh."
"Anyway, he finally got around to challenging the grandmaster. After he won, he left home,
hoping to leave the memories behind. He travelled the world, becoming known as 'Tenmou no Heijin',
the Blade of Heaven's Vengeance, as he killed demon after demon, youma after youma. He had a number
of adventures, none of which are terribly relevant, before settling down once again, hoping to
train an heir in the Art."
"Is that you?" Ranko commented in amazement.
Ranma chuckled. "No," he said, "He never found one. He wanted someone who understood the Art
as he did, who could live it. If you haven't noticed, such people are rare."
Ranko nodded. She had noticed that, too.
Ranma sighed. "After many years, he left, taking up the mantle of the Tenmou no Heijin once
again. The cycle repeated until the three hundredth anniversary of his love's death."
"What happened?"
Ranma smiled. "A kami made him an offer."
"Oh?"
"Budou-no-kami, actually. He told the man that he had been asked to save another world, one
parallel to the one that the man was from. Because of the rules that the kami operate under,
Budou-no-kami couldn't do it himself, so he chose a champion."
"The man, right?"
Ranma nodded. "The man's counterpart on that world was destined to die within a few days.
Budou-no-kami offered to take the man's mind and soul and place them within that his counterpart's
body. The other world, you see, was, and is, much like the world of the man's youth, only differing
slightly. His counterpart wasn't a martial artist, despite being in a family of such, and...
well... was rather pathetic, according to Budou-no-kami. Actually, upon arriving, the man found
that his counterpart had been subjected to several shiatsu and other ki-manipulation techniques
which would pretty much rob him of any potential to learn the basics of his Art."
By now, Ranko had figured out what was going on. Her eyes widened considerably as
understanding dawned.
"So, the man set about removing those influences and straightening out his aura.
Unfortunately, he lost trach of time, and his counterpart's mother, his mother's counterpart, or
his mother, depending on how you look at it, came in to check on him and found him showing his
aura as he worked."
Ranma casually gestured towards Ranko. "And you know the rest," he finished, looking into
his sister's eyes. "His mother panicked and called his sister, who saw the same thing. He
remembered Budou-no-kami's advice, that she was worthy of his trust, and took her into his
confidence, telling her his story. And so, here we are, talking about my life."
Ranko's jaw dropped.
"Ranma, Ranko," Nodoka said, opening the door and sticking her head in, "Are you alright?"
Ranko briefly shook her head, fighting off the effects of shock. "We're fine, Mom," Ranma
replied, "We were just talking for a bit."
"Okay, dear," Nodoka commented, leaving, "Lunch is ready by the way."
Ranma just nodded and turned to Ranko. "We'll finish this later. For now, lunch is waiting."
-------------------
Lunch was a relatively quiet affair. Ranko was preoccupied with her thoughts, to the point
that Genma managed to steal a good portion of her food. Ranma was busy assuring Nodoka that yes, he
really was alright, and that no, she didn't need to worry about him. Genma, well, he wouldn't
notice if Ranma suddenly grew wings and started calling himself 'Saffron'.
Meanwhile, Ranma thought about what to do about the morning mob. He couldn't stand to see
Akane go through that hell one day longer than he had to, but the only permanent solution,
challenging Kunou, would have to wait until he had gotten somewhat into shape. Throwing a ki-blast,
or some such, at Kunou before he attacked Akane would be too obvious and would attract attention
of a sort that he couldn't deal with until he could recover his ki-reserves at a decent rate. He
was certain that he could beat any challenger who might come as a result, but the resulting ki-
depletion would leave him weak for days, or weeks in the case of Herb or someone like him, and
would leave him unable to fight in an emergency. Magic was also out, as he both didn't want to lend
credence to Kunou's inevitable claims of him being a 'foul sorcerer' and didn't have the materials
for most of his tricks available. It was then that he remembered one of his adventures shortly
after challenging Happousai, when he learned more than he wanted to know about the source of the
Kunou family's... eccentricity. With that, he inwardly smiled as he thought of the perfect
solution.
Ranko, on the other hand, was simply digesting what she had heard from Ranma. It was obvious
that he could help her in the Art; she boggled at the thought of the level that he'd have to be at
after even half of what she had heard him mention, and she *KNEW* that there was a lot that he had
left out. At that thought, though, she paused. Ranma, the one she knew, was a notoriously poor
liar. Was this new Ranma just as bad? She realized that she had assumed too much when talking with
him, and would have to be more suspicious from now on. As for her 'old' brother, she considered
what had happened. According to Ranma, her 'old' brother was destined to die anyway. She thought
about blaming Ranma for his, in a sense, death, but she realized that she couldn't really. After
all, he *HAD* said that he came here to save the world. Besides, he was a worthless, pathetic
excuse for a human being anyway, and this way, her mother was spared the grief that would
inevitably follow otherwise. Now... well, she didn't love this new Ranma (AS A BROTHER, you
hentai!), at least not yet, but she could see herself coming to... assuming he was telling the
truth, anyway.
Nodoka was worried about Ranma, as shown by her tendency to ask him every few seconds if he
*REALLY* was feeling alright. Of course, she had some basis for it; Ranma had been a weak and
sickly child ever since that... incident... when he was almost a month old.
Genma was just eating, only noting that Ranko wasn't defending her plate as well as she
usually did. "The girl's getting soft," he thought, clueless as always.
-------------------
After they finished eating, Ranma excused himself from the table and went upstairs to his
room. Ranko followed shortly, planning on continuing their earlier conversation. Nodoka left to
clean up, and Genma went off to go get drunk.
Ranko found Ranma searching through his desk, eventually withdrawing a quantity of paper and
ink. She sat on his bed, watching him continue as he took out a calligraphy brush.
"Ahehem," she said, clearing her throat to get his attention.
"Just a moment, Ranko," he replied, "I'm getting ready for tomorrow."
"Oh," she added, waiting until he sat down and faced her.
"So," Ranma started, "Where were we?"
"Well, I thought about what we talked about..."
Ranma nodded. "I don't doubt that you have a lot of questions."
"Yeah," Ranko agreed, "I do."
Ranma just gestured for her to continue.
"Well... first off, what happened to 'my' Ranma?" she asked, putting some emphasis on the
'my'.
Ranma chuckled. "You don't know much about dimensional counterparts, do you?" he asked,
smirking slightly.
"Huh?" Ranko asked, thoroughly confused.
Ranma held out his hand, summoning a ball of light. "I suppose that you've heard of the
theory that all things are fragments of the same being," he started, waiting for Ranko's nod,
"Well, imagine that this ball is that 'first' soul."
Ranko nodded again, understanding.
"Now," he said as the ball split into pieces, "Each of these is a universe."
"Right," she said, "An infinite number of worlds. I've read enough science fiction to get the
idea."
Ranma just nodded in confirmation as each ball became a hollow sphere filled with smaller
motes of light. "Now, imagine that each of these smaller lights is a person's soul."
"Okay..." Ranko replied, following but not understanding what this had to do with the
question.
"Now, then, universes periodically hit junctions where they branch off from eachother,
becoming two or more 'new' universes."
"Huh?" Ranko grunted, becoming lost.
"How to explain..." Ranma mused. "Okay," he started after a moment, "Occasionally, an event
can go two or more ways; two or more things can happen. If the event is important enough, it causes
a split. In one universe, the first possibility happens; in the second, the second occurs, and so
on."
"Okay..."
The miniature lights within some of the spheres began to split, eventually gathering on
either side of each their respective globes, which then split as well. "Now, then, you have two
versions of each person, one in each universe."
Ranko nodded yet again, still not understanding why he was saying this.
"Now comes the tricky part. Each 'version' of the person is essentially a piece of the same
soul. It's a heck of a lot more complex than that, actually, and there are exceptions, but it's a
useful concept."
Ranko started to see where Ranma was going as she nodded her head again.
"Now, my soul was taken from my universe," Ranma continued as one of the smaller lights left
its sphere, "And placed in this one." The light entered another 'universe'.
"I see," Ranko said.
"Once it entered," Ranma went on, "it was placed in this body, where it encountered its twin,
another of its fragments."
Ranko now understood. "So the two pieces..."
Ranma nodded in agreement as the voyaging light settled next to and fused with its
counterpart in its new home. "Fit together like pieces in a puzzle," he acknowledged as the
elaborate ki-manifestation faded. "Of course, it's a lot more complex than that," he continued,
"but it's the best way to explain it."
"So why don't you have his memories? His personality?"
Ranma smirked. "As I said earlier, it was an oversimplification."
"Oh," Ranko said, somewhat confused.
"Just don't ask me to give that demonstration again; generating ki-illusions like that is
quite draining."
Ranko boggled. "You were doing that with ki?!?" she gasped, "I didn't sense anything!"
Ranma smiled. "I cloaked my aura," he replied, "And I'm afraid that I can't do anything with
much more detail than that. There are limits to even my control of my aura."
"Oh," Ranko said, inwardly goggling at the insane levels of ki-control that Ranma had just
shown.
"Anything else?" Ranma asked amusedly, reaching over and starting to work on one of the
pieces of paper with his aura.
"What *ARE* you doing?"
Ranma chuckled. "Making wards," he answered, "You're really supposed to use special materials
for this, but normal ink and paper will do in a pinch."
"Huh?"
Ranma just chuckled some more as the paper picked up a golden glow from the energy he was
forcing through it. "I've been hunting and killing demons for hundreds of years, Ranko," Ranma
commented, "Don't you think that I'd manage to pick up a few tricks?"
"Oh," Ranko said, "Why're you doing that with your ki?"
"What?" Ranma asked, "Channeling it into the paper?"
"Yeah," Ranko replied, "And what're they for?"
"Well, one question at a time," Ranma answered, "Most spirit wards use specific kinds of
paper, with ki-patterns locked in through the ink and a minor investment of ki from the person who
makes them."
"Okay."
"We use the kind of paper we do because we've found that it's easier to charge, and the ink
we do because it alters the ki-related properties of the paper in the best way. Different kinds of
ink and paper combinations have different effects on ki, so I can't really be more specific.
"Now, you can theoretically lock any pattern you want into any object, but it's extremely
difficult to do so. Right now, I'm priming the paper, forcing it to accept a pattern very close to
the one I want it to pick up eventually."
"Why aren't I sensing anything?"
"Three reasons, really. First off, despite the glow this stack of paper's picked up, it only
uses a minute amount of personal ki. The vast majority of it is environmental ki filling the paper
as I'm forcing it to accept it."
"Go on," said Ranko.
"Secondly, I'm still cloaking my aura. I don't want Oyaji noticing anything until I'm ready
to deal with him."
"I see."
"And, thirdly, I'm reabsorbing what personal ki I'm using almost as quickly as I'm using it.
It's slower going, but it's far less tiring, and I'm going to need to save as much ki as I can in
case of an emergency. The reabsorption process interferes with most beginners' ki-senses."
"Hey!" Ranko yelled, "I'm NOT a beginner!"
Ranma chuckled. "I can tell by your aura that you're pretty talented, yes, but it's equally
obvious that you haven't been seriously trained. You only know a few, very basic, methods for
detecting and manipulating ki."
Ranko looked half-mollified, half-angry.
"Frankly," Ranma continued, "I'm surprised that Oyaji's even taught you as much as he has."
Ranko looked ready to explode. "You mean he hasn't been taking me seriously?" she asked, her
voice a dead calm.
"Nope," Ranma replied, "Ask him about the Yama-sen-ken and Umi-sen-ken sometime. Not to
mention that he's only taught you the basics of how to use ki to boost your strength, speed and
stamina. Actually, he's only taught you about as much as you can learn in just about any kenpo
dojo."
Ranko was now quietly steaming. "He's dead," she said flatly.
Ranma sighed as he finished with the paper, casually cutting it into strips of the proper
size with his ki.
Ranko's eyes bugged out. "How'd you do that?!" she exclaimed, looking at where he had cut the
proto-wards.
"When I was ten, Oyaji got a manual for a supposedly invincible martial arts technique, the
Neko-ken."
Ranko gestured for him to continue.
"Of course, he made me learn it, even though he hadn't finished reading the instructions."
Ranko shook her head. "Stupid pops," she grumbled.
"Yep," Ranma replied, "The manual went on to say that it was a technique that only an idiot
would teach, but he taught it without reading that part."
"That's Oyaji, all right," Ranko commented.
"Well, the training involved wrapping me up in fish sausage and throwing me into a pit of
starving cats."
Ranko gasped.
"Obviously, I became ailurophobic."
Ranko chuckled.
"Anyway, when my fear of cats reached its peak, my mind would retreat, and I'd actually think
I was a cat. When I was like that, I pretty much acted like one, including manifesting ki-claws."
Ranko nodded in understanding.
"Anyway, Happousai, Oyaji's old master, helped me get control of it. I'm not afraid of them
anymore, and I can call on the Neko-ken's power as needed. I just used the ki-claws to slice the
paper."
"Wow," she said, "They don't use much ki, do they?"
Ranma shook his head. "Not for small things, no. The larger I make them or the harder the
stuff I cut through, the more ki they use. I'd just use scissors, but these wards," he said,
gesturing at them and grabbing the ink, "need to be cut precisely."
"Oh," Ranko replied.
"So," Ranma added, grabbing the brush and dipping it into the ink, "Anything else?"
"Well...," Ranko asked, "The girl you fell in love with..."
Ranma looked up from where he was carefully caligraphing a kanji. "Yes?"
"Do I know her?"
Ranma chuckled. "Not really," he said after a moment, "But you do know *OF* her. Budou-no-
kami told me that you'd never gotten to have much of a conversation with her."
"What's her name?" Ranko asked curiously.
"Tendou Akane."
-------------------
Old A.N.:
So... another chapter done. Heh. Apparently, Tannim's e-mail link for this story has been
sending comments to Fred Herriot. Just to clear up the confusion, my e-mail address is
CheezeA@clemson.edu or Aleh@aol.com. I generally prefer the clemson.edu address; I just use the AOL
one for FFML-related stuff and a few other things.
Sorry this is as short as it is, but my writing style just seems to work best with short
chapters; go figure.
Anyway, I hope that I answered a few of the questions that I mentioned in the first prologue,
and hinted at the answers to a few others. As for new questions... oh, there were quite a few holes
in Ranma's story, weren't there? I didn't mention the fates of the Nerima Wrecking Crew, except
Akane, Ranma, and the Amazons, so that's still up in the air. Why did Budou-no-kami say that
Ranma's counterpart was pathetic? What happened between Genma and Happy after Ranma's birth?
Expect some answers next time... just not too many. :-). I know and you don't! Biiii-da!
Hehe. I'm in a good mood, aren't I?
Current A.N.:
I started writing Chapter Two, then realized that it didn't really deserve its own chapter.
Hehe. Oops. Anyway, I folded it into Ch. One, so to speak. Oh, well. At least those of you who
complained about Chapter One being too short get a new, longer version.
Anyway, on reflection (pardon the pun), I realized that a good portion of the backstory for
this was probably influenced by a rather lengthy e-mail discussion I had with Arun, the author of
Destiny. Sorry for not giving you credit earlier. :-).
(For the record, the conversation was on just what it would take for Ranma to kill the
Amazons, for his upcoming new version of his fic 'Heaven and Earth', which bears little to no
resemblance to the original version.)
Additional kudos to Mike Rever, for making me think about Ranko's reaction in more detail,
and to Cory D. Rose, for being the first other good fanfiction writer to give me positive feedback
on this work.
(Others have done so for my other writings, but Cory was the first for this one. :-).)
Oh, and as to why Ranko didn't press her question about what the wards were for... she
forgot. With everything else that Ranma told her, she kinda got distracted. :-).