The Light Hawk War

by Chaos Lord

Ranma joins the Tenchi crew to battle a foe more powerful than any that he has faced before.

3. Chapter 2 Meeting the Family

The Light Hawk War

By: Chaos Lord

Disclaimer: The characters in this story belong to their respective owners. The concepts dealing with the Time Gates the Ultimate Good and Evil and the Forbidden belong to PacMan.

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Chapter 2

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Ranma shook himself out of his remembrance. "Yeah, I remember how I ended up in the clearing. What I don't remember is how I got here," he asked as he looked at Tenchi.

Tenchi scratched the back of his neck the back of his neck. "Eh, well you see. The thing is. . ."

Seeing that Tenchi could take forever with his hemming and hawing, Washu butted in, "What Tenchi is trying to say is that one of our friends found you in the woods near here and brought you back."

"Well where is he, I'd like to meet him."

"It's her and you'll meet her in a little bit, but first there are some things that we need to talk about," she said in seriousness.

"What kind of things? This doesn't have anything to do with what Tenchi said about me being a danger to others, does it," asked Ranma in concern. He didn't want to be a greater danger than he already was.

"Yes, it does, but I'm not the one to tell you, Tenchi is," Washu replied, her regret at not being the one to tell him rang through her voice.

Ranma looked over at Tenchi and what he saw did not bring comfort to him. Tenchi's head was down and he was looking at his feet.

Tenchi was in turmoil, how do you tell someone that because of you their entire life has been irrevocably changed. "Ok, I'm not quite sure how to say this," he then brought his head up and looked at Ranma. When he did Tenchi saw the look on Ranma's face and quickly clarified. "First off you aren't going to die," at seeing Ranma's worry lessen, he continued with what he was saying, "in fact it's a good chance that you aren't going to die for a long, long, long time."

Ranma was confused, "What does that mean?"

Tenchi scratched his head as he tried to explain. "What do you know about genetics?"

Ranma thought about that a bit and he couldn't think of a thing, "I remember hearing the word somewhere but I don't remember where."

In a way Tenchi was relived, since Ranma didn't know about genetics he could explain it to him. This will let him explain it in a round about way. "In every living being there are cells. At the center of these cells there is something called the Nucleus." He stopped to see if he had lost Ranma, "You still with me?"

Ranma nodded his head, "Yeah I'm with you." And he wasn't lying, he remembered the bit about cells from biology class.

"Ok, now in the Nucleus there is something called DNA. DNA is the building blocks of life and are made up of something called Genes. These Genes are what decides things like your eye color or your sex and genetics is the study and use of those Genes." Tenchi was proud of himself, he had been able to recall everything Washu had taught him and explain it to someone with limited scientific knowledge.

Washu was also proud, she had been able to teach Tenchi so well that he could teach others.

"Ok I got that, but how does that deal with what happened to me," asked Ranma.

"It has everything to do with it, you see when you where brought to us you were seriously injured. You had major internal damage and many of your bones were broken. Also because of massive internal bleeding you needed a blood transfusion. The only one of us that could donate blood was me, now normally this wouldn't be a problem but this time something went wrong."

"What went wrong?" All of Tenchi's beating around the bush was killing Ranma. "I want to know what's wrong with me now," he thought.

"Weeellllll, to explain that, I need to know something." Tenchi was a little nervous. How do you ask someone if they believe in aliens and not sound crazy. Deciding that the straight way is the only way to do it, Tenchi asked, "Do you believe in aliens?"

Ranma thought about that for a moment, "Well, given how my life has been so far, I would have to say that I don't not believe in aliens."

Tenchi breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good, because you see, Washu and I are aliens."

Ranma leaned towards Tenchi and squinted his eyes, "Really? Well where's your antenna and pointy ears, hmm?"

Tenchi looked at Ranma in disbelief, "We're not that kind of alien. While we look human, we aren't."

Ranma stood-up straight and shrugged his shoulders, "If you say so. How does this effect me?"

Tenchi was stumped, "How can you accept that so easily?"

"I've seen some weird shit in my life. You being an alien isn't as weird as some of the other stuff I've seen," Ranma said nonchalantly.

Tenchi shook his head in disbelief, "Oh well, now about your situation. When Washu here," he pointed over to Washu. "Worked on you, the process she used combined with the alien portion of my DNA and your high heeling caused some unforeseen changes in you."

"What kind of changes," Ranma looked into himself in a panic. As he did so, Ranma saw that his aura was definitely different, unlike any he had ever seen.

Tenchi was worried, he watched as Ranma went into a panic, then his whole expression went blank. Tenchi's worry was quickly relieved when Ranma's became one of confusion again.

"My aura is off, what the hell is wrong with me," asked a confused Ranma.

"You're now partially Juraian, that's where my family is from. You are about as Juraian as I am, genetically that is."

"So what does that mean for me? I mean you said that I might hurt others with some kind of power, what does that mean," asked Ranma, his need to know shown through his voice.

"As a Juraian you are able to use Juraian power. With this you can create an energy sword and shields, fire energy beams and other things. We need to train you how to use this power so that you won't use it by accident."

Ranma's shoulders dropped, "Great, another thing for me to worry about," he mumbled.

At hearing that, Washu and Tenchi looked at each other worriedly. Tenchi decided to change the subject, "Since you're going to stay with us for awhile, would you like to meet the other people that live here."

"Sure why not. I just have one question, how do we get out of here," he asked as he looked about the room.

Washu took this opportunity to talk, "Well that's easy, we use the door." When she said this she pointed behind Ranma.

Ranma spun around and saw in a place that there was nothing, there was now a wooden door with a round porthole near the top. He looked back at Washu and asked, "How did you do that, because I know it wasn't there before."

"I could tell you, but the answer would drive you mad and send your soul to the bowels of Hell. Mwa. Ha. Ha." Washu laughed maniacally.

Ranma and Tenchi stared at Washu dumbfoundly, then they looked at each other. Instead of waiting for Washu to come down from her psycho trip, Tenchi decided to answer Ranma's question. "Washu can create doorways where ever she wants to while she is in her lab."

Ranma looked around himself, "She made all this, how? She's like twelve years old," he said in disbelief.

"The first thing you need to remember while living here is, nothing is what it seems."

Washu placed her hands onto Ranma and Tenchi's shoulders, "Well, we were going to introduce Ranma to the others, right Tenchi?"

Tenchi looked at Washu, "Right." He then looked back at Ranma, "Well, what do you say. Think you're up to meeting some other people," he asked with a smile.

"Sure, I guess," he replied leererly. As far as Ranma was concerned new people were more often than not potential enemies.

Washu caught the undertone of unassuredness in Ranma's voice and said, "Hey don't be that way, I'm sure they will be happy to meet you." With that the trio headed towards the door. When they were completely inside the inky blackness the door closed and disappeared.

******** The Masaki Living Room 20 Minutes Ago

From her perch in the rafters of the Masaki living room, Ryoko watched as Tenchi followed Washu into her lab. She hoped that the man Mihoshi brought in a five days ago was ok. Washu had told the family that the man was going to live, but that was three days ago. When she had come out of her lab this morning she had bags under her eyes and she looked like she hadn't seen any sleep in several days. After several hours of sleep she came down from her room refreshed and hungry. As she ate the meal that Sasami had prepared, she never said a single word and despite the fact that every one wanted to know how the man was doing, they let her eat her meal in peace. When Washu was finished eating her meal, she pleasantly thanked Sasami for her efforts and stood up. Turning towards Tenchi, who was sitting on the couch, Washu asked him to come with her to discuss something about the man. At that she headed back towards her lab, not a single word of comfort to anyone to explain her actions. Even the link that Ryoko maintained with her mother could provide any insight into what was going on.

"Damn it Washu! You could at least say something," she grumbled.

On the floor stood Ayeka, the towel in her hand nearly rung apart. She looked up at the rafter with Ryoko on it, "So, do you think that poor man is all right?"

Ryoko looked down at the princess, her face full of worry. "I don't know. I'm getting nothin from Washu."

Ayeka's face matched that of Ryoko, "What could be wrong? She said that he would live, but that was days ago. What could be so wrong that Miss Washu would need three further days?"

Ryoko teleported to in front of Ayeka. When Ayeka's gaze landed onto Ryoko's new location, Ryoko shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows? He might have lost too much blood and it messed up his brain or something like that."

"I hope that is not the case."

"Yeah." Ryoko looked towards the second story, "So, how's Mihoshi handling it."

Ayeka also looked at the second story, "I do not know, the only time I have seen her is when she comes down to eat. And when she does her eyes are always red and puffy like she has been crying a lot. Other than that I do not know," she said worriedly.

"Yeah, finding some guy's body in the woods can't be good for anybody, mentally that is."

"Yes, but I feel that it is more than just that."

"I don't know."

********

While Ryoko and Ayeka were discussing what could be wrong with Mihoshi, the object of their worry was sitting in her room. Mihoshi was sitting on her bed Indian style, her clothes wrinkled and dirty. Her eyes were red but there were no tears. No, there had been tears but they would no longer come to her. She remembered that day well, the day when her training was for naught.

Mihoshi Kuramitsu started her day like she always did, a bath and breakfast. After eating breakfast with the people she had come to think of as her second family, Mihoshi sat in the living room and watched some TV. She watched TV until lunch and afterwards she decided to head to her ship, Yukinojo, to write that week's status report. She had pulled out her control cube and, after making a cup of coffee and a waffle iron appear out of nowhere, she finally got the right combination to teleport. But as she re-materialized she found that she was not inside Yukinojo, instead she found herself in the forest outside the shrine. At her feet lay a man, beaten and bloody, his legs bent at unnatural angles and blood coming out of his mouth. And the first aid training that had been so ingrained into her at the Academy come flowing through.

As she tried to save the man, she used the techniques she learned to help him. Unfortunately, for the man that is, Mihoshi doesn't know first aid for humans. So she used the techniques necessary to save a Juraian, but alas they only injured him further. For you see the very first thing that she did was flip him on his back, therefore any injury to his ribs was only made worse. As she checked his pulse, his heart stopped. In a panic she pulled out her cube to retrieve something to restart his heart, as a result she made a baseball materialize right over the man's chest. This had two effects, one was that the ball hitting the man's chest restarted his heart and two the impact caused further damage to him. Deciding that it would be better to get him to Washu than risk her hurting him more, Mihoshi picked up the man as gently as she could. For the first time in her life, she used her cube and was able to do exactly what she wanted to, she teleported into the Masaki living room.

When she appeared in the Masaki living room she was a sight to see, she was carrying a bleeding man and crying. "Please, somebody help me!"

Before she could finish Washu was already in action. Out of her lab rushed a gurney with red blinking lights attached to it. "Mihoshi, put him on the gurney," she said from her position by the gurney.

But Mihoshi didn't move, she couldn't move. She tried, she really did, but for some reason her body wouldn't follow. It was like she was in a daze, Ryoko ended up having to put the man on the gurney. Mihoshi stood there and watched as the man was wheeled away, unable to move a single inch. When the man disappeared into Washu's lab Mihoshi was finally able to move from her spot and that was just to sit on the couch. And that was where she remained for two days, the only time she left her place was when nature forced her to.

When Washu emerged from her lab two days later and told everyone that the man would live, Mihoshi's mind restarted. Before she could begin crying she quickly ran to her room, leaving every one else in shock. In her room Mihoshi sat on her bed and cried her eyes out. As she rocked back and forth she continuously mumbled, "I couldn't save him, I made him worse." She could hear the way his chest sounded when she flipped him over and then when the baseball landed on his chest she could here the meaty noise that made to. When she joined the Galaxy Police, Mihoshi was ecstatic to learn the various first aid methods and since then she had used them several times, each time resulting in a saved life. But with this time the damage to the man's chest wasn't evident, but when she moved him, she could tell she had done something wrong. With her acute hearing, she could hear as the bones in his chest grated and grinded against each other. When the man's heart stopped so did her's, she pulled out her cube and tried to find anything that she could use to start it. She had wracked her mind to find the combination to materialize the miniature defibrillator, but instead of that, she got a baseball. She was happy that the ball started his heart, but she hated that the ball did more damage to him. As she sat in her room the next three days after that she went over the entire event many times, from every single angle. After three days she came to a simple conclusion, it wasn't her fault, she had to turn him over and if the ball hadn't fallen on the man then he wouldn't be alive today. Although she knew this intellectually, it didn't stop the pain.

********

At the top of the hill beside the Masaki home stood a Shinto shrine. The master of this shrine was Katsuhito Masaki, otherwise known as Yosho Crown Prince of Jurai. For seven hundred years he had lived on this green orb and yet he has never tired of it. Ever since his parents came from Jurai life in this little portion of the world had been relatively stress free, for him that is. That was until five days ago, on that afternoon when Mihoshi had brought the stranger to them to receive medical attention. He had been at the shrine at the time, sweeping the sidewalk. All was peaceful and he was taking in the beauty that never ceased to amaze him, the beauty of nature. As he swept the walk, Sasami came running up with the news that Mihoshi had brought back a wounded man. He quickly ran down the stairs to see if he could provide any assistance, either physical or emotional. When he reached the house, Katsuhito saw several things: #1 Ryoko standing there looking at Washu's lab, blood on her hands, #2 Ayeka standing beside Ryoko, she was also looking at Washu's lab, #3 Mihoshi sitting on the couch, blood on her clothes and a blank expression on her face. Deciding that Mihoshi was in the most need of help he went over and sat beside her. He tried to talk to her for several minutes and when she wouldn't respond he spent several hours just sitting beside her, so if she needed to talk he would be there.

The next day he spent at the shrine, praying and hoping that the man would live. As he waited for Washu's verdict, Katsuhito busied himself with the day to day shrine duties. He felt relief when Sasami brought him the news that the man would live, and yet he was still worried. Not for the man's life, but for whatever else may be wrong with him. Admittedly, Katsuhito had not been able to talk to the redheaded scientist, and all of his knowledge came from what he could gleam from Sasami. And though she is but a child, she is very perceptive to others emotions and reactions and she gave him the impression that Washu felt that something was wrong, but that she was unwilling to say anything.

As he sat in the shrine he drank tea, for he could do nothing else. Washu's lab was locked tighter than the Imperial Treasury on Jurai, and Katsuhito's entreaties proved for naught when he attempted to use reason to get her to open the door. And so he sat there and sipped tea and hopped for Washu's patient. As he knelt before the low table and drank his tea, Katsuhito felt a presence. A vast and awesome power that he had felt many times before. Before the one with the awesome power could say a thing, Katsuhito addressed it, "Hello Tsunami." On the other side of the table various motes of light appeared. This light coalesced into a humanoid figure and began to get brighter. When the light reached it's crescendo it burst and in it's place stood Tsunami, Goddess of Jurai.

"Hello, Lord Yosho," greeted Tsunami, as she sat down at the table.

Katsuhito held up a single finger and shook it, "Tsk, tsk. What have I told you about my name Tsunami," he asked with a frown.

Tsunami pouted, "You said to always call you Yosho," she finished with a giggle.

Yosho smiled, it's so good to see her so carefree. "Ah Tsunami, so what brings you here?"

With that, all traces of Tsunami's jocularity disappeared, she sat up straight and looked Katsuhito square in the eyes. "Yosho, there is something that you must know about the man that Mihoshi found."

Katsuhito's concern about the man grew at that. "He will not be a problem will he?"

Tsunami shook her hands in front of her, "No, no, no. He won't be a danger to you."

Katsuhito breathed a sigh of relief, "That is good know."

"The man's name is Ranma Saotome and he is now of Jurai."

Katsuhito was astonished, "How!"

Tsunami shook her head and raised her hand, "It is not my place to say. Suffice it to say, he now has access to the same power that all those of royal blood posses. It will be up to you and Tenchi to train him in the use of his newfound power. Further more, it seems that he possesses most of the potential that Tenchi does."

Katsuhito's astonishment multiplied ten-fold, "You mean!"

Tsunami nodded her head, "Yes, if I so wish it, he will be able to use the power of the Light Hawk Wings." At that she turned her head towards the area of the Masaki residence. After a few seconds, she stood up, "I must go."

Katsuhito stood as well, "Thank you for this information, Tsunami."

Said goddess smiled, "You are more than welcome, Yosho, it was my pleasure. Unless I miss my guess, Ranma Saotome will make a welcome addition to the people of Jurai." And with that her body took on a brilliant glow and she then disappeared.

********

In the living room Ryoko and Ayeka waited for any word from Washu. As they waited they sat on the couch, side by side and both up right. While they sat there the two of them were in a quandary, they wanted to comfort the other but how do you comfort a person that is sometimes an enemy and other times a good friend. And so, the two sat there, unable to make up their minds.

After several minutes of sitting there, Ryoko's eyes widen and a smile is plastered on her face. She then bolts up and turns to Ayeka. Grabbing the princess's hands in her own, Ryoko starts talking excitedly, "He's awake, he's awake!"

Ayeka's face was a mask of confusion, "Who?" Her eyes then widen as she realizes who Ryoko is referring to and she to jumps up, "Really? How do you know," she asked in excitement.

"Washu told me through our link. She asked me to get the others so that that guy can meet us." When she finished she continued to stand there, Ayeka's hands still in her own. After a few seconds of staring at Ayeka, a blush formed on Ryoko's face. At feeling the blush, Ryoko quickly dropped Ayeka's hands and turned away. "I. Uh I'll go get the others," and she teleported away.

As Ryoko faded from view Ayeka could only say, "Yes." When Ryoko was completely gone Ayeka placed her hands on her face to cover the blush that now adorned her face. Inwardly she asked, "Why do I feel like this?"

********

In the kitchen hid Sasami. She had been in the kitchen trying to keep herself busy. Ever since Mihoshi had brought that man to the house, Sasami had been out of sorts. When Mihoshi brought him to the house the whole house was thrown into chaos. Washu was in her lab trying to save that poor man, Mihoshi was sitting on the couch barely moving at all and not speaking to anyone. Ryoko hadn't come to her so that they could play their weekly game and the game was going to be Risk, her favorite. If something bad hadn't happened Sasami might have thought that Ryoko's missing of their game was because she didn't want to get trounced like she usually did. And the weirdest thing was that Ayeka and Ryoko were being nice to each other, they hadn't been fighting when Tenchi entered the room, heck they haven't even glared at each other!

She was interrupted in her thoughts by Ryoko's scream. "He's awake, he's awake!"

Sasami's eyes widened at that. "He's awake, there's only one he she could be talking about," she thought. Sasami crept up to the entranceway to the kitchen so that she could listen in on Ayeka's and Ryoko's conversation. While she was thinking she missed what Ayeka said but she did hear Ryoko's reply.

"Washu told me through our link. She asked me to get the others so that that guy can meet us."

Sasami was ecstatic, "He wants to meet us. I better make something, he is sure to be hungry," she then rushed back into the kitchen to prepare something. Therefor she wasn't able to see Ayeka and Ryoko's awkward moment. As she was washing the vegetables Ayeka came into the room, her blush gone.

"Sasami, I have wonderful news," said an excited Ayeka.

Sasami turned to Ayeka, a wide grin on her face. "I know. I heard, isn't it great."

All of the color in Ayeka's drained and she took on a look of panic. "Oh, Tsunami! Did she see anything? What did else did she hear," she thought.

Sasami saw this and grew concerned, "Ayeka are you ok? You don't look so good."

At seeing that Sasami didn't have that mischievous smile that she usually does when she knows something, Ayeka's panic evaporated. But now she had to get her off of worrying about her, so she stared to laugh. "Of course I'm fine. I'll leave you to what you were doing," and with that she turned and walked briskly out of the kitchen.

After Ayeka left the kitchen Sasami smiled and went back to work on the food that she was preparing.

********

In her room sat Mihoshi. By this time she was in her room to wait for Washu's verdict. And while she no longer cried about what she did to the man, Mihoshi knew that if she saw any of the other members of the household she would again breakdown. She was broken out of her musing by a knock at her door.

After the knock, Ryoko's voice sounded through the door. "Hey Mihoshi."

Said woman merely looked up at the door, but she said nothing.

Once again Ryoko spoke through the door. "Mihoshi, I don't know if you can hear me or if you are even listening but I have something to tell you. That man you found, Washu told me that he is awake and he wants to."

Before she could finish her statement, Mihoshi ran out of her room and headed towards the onsen.

********

As Ryoko teleported away from Ayeka she decided that the first person that she would tell would be Mihoshi. When she appeared in front of Mihoshi's room Ryoko hoped that her news would break Mihoshi out of her funk. After settling herself down from her encounter with Ayeka, Ryoko knocked on her door. When Mihoshi didn't answer Ryoko decided to call to her. "Hey Mihoshi." She waited for a few seconds and when she didn't answer Ryoko sighed. "Mihoshi, I don't know if you can hear me or if you are even listening but I have something to tell you. That man you found, Washu told me that he is awake and he wants to." Before Ryoko could finish her statement, Mihoshi flung the door into her, causing Ryoko to get embedded into the wall. After a few moments the door was slowly pushed from the wall and Ryoko slid down the wall.

"Ugh . . . You're welcome . . . Mihoshi . . . gurgle," groaned Ryoko.

After lying on the ground for a few moments, Ryoko pushed herself up. Once she was straightened out she groaned, "Damn that hurts." She turned in the direction that Mihoshi ran off to, "Well at least I got her out of her room . . .dammit . . .she could have said thanks." She shook her head and then teleported off.

********

In the Masaki shrine sat Katsuhito Masaki, the priest and creator of the shrine. As he sat there he pondered on what Tsunami told him. "This Ranma Saotome can use both the power of Jurai and the Light Hawk Wings, astonishing," he shook his head. "I wonder how such a thing came about. How will I teach him to use his power, with Tenchi I trained him for years before he tried to use his and by the way Tsunami sounded he can use it now. Well I guess I'll just have to trust in Tsunami." As he finished his train of thought, Ryoko teleported to right in front of him.

Katsuhito looked up at the cyan haired beauty, "Yes?"

"Hey, old man, Washu said that guy that Mihoshi found is awake and that he wants to meet us." She floated there to wait for Katsuhito's response.

At hearing Ryoko's news Katsuhito stood up. "Thank you Ryoko, I will make my way to the house."

Ryoko made a dismissing gesture, "No problem," and with that she teleported away.

When Ryoko left the shrine, Katsuhito stood up and headed for the house his son-in-law had designed. As he was walking down the shrine steps something was bothering him. "Ranma Saotome, where have I heard that name before?" After a few moments of walking it finally came to him, "Now I remember, he is that young man that came with that no-good excuse for a human being, Genma Saotome." Since he finally remembered Ranma, Katsuhito increased his pace. "Ranma was such a good student before, I should have no problem training him to use Juraian power."

********

After leaving Katsuhito, Ryoko re-materialized inside the Masaki living room. Seeing that Ayeka was still in the room, Ryoko began to talk to her. "Well that's everyone. The old man should be here in a few minutes and Mihoshi is . . ." She stopped talking when saw the blank look on Ayeka's face. She waved her hand in front of Ayeka and she got no response. Ryoko then bent over and making sure that her face was level with Ayeka's, Ryoko gently shook her by the shoulders.

Ayeka came out of her trance when she felt someone shaking her by the shoulders. As her eyes focused on the one who was doing the shaking she saw the concerned face of Ryoko.

"Hey princess, you ok," asked a concerned Ryoko.

Ayeka brushed off Ryoko's hands and stood up, missing Ryoko's hurt look. "Yes, yes. I am perfectly fine, thank you very much. Now what were you saying?"

Ryoko schooled her features and stood up. "I said that I talked to everyone and Katsuhito is on his way. Now if you don't mind I going to wait in the rafters," she finished, her voice has hard as stone and as cold as ice. With that she flew up and sat on her perch.

At hearing the cold tone that Ryoko used, Ayeka inwardly despaired. She wanted to comfort Ryoko. To apologize for her actions, but something held her back. Something that she couldn't figure out, or perhaps, she didn't want to figure out.

And so the two of them waited, both in pain and neither knowing how to express it in a meaningful way. As they waited they were joined by Mihoshi, her hair still damp. She sat down onto the couch beside Ayeka and waited in hope. Hope that the man she "saved" was ok and willing to forgive her. Soon after she entered the room Katsuhito reached the living room. As he came into the room he could feel the stress that was evident. When he looked at Mihoshi he was happy to see that she had left her room. He was even happier when he saw the hopeful expression on her face, he had heard about her walling herself in her room and was glad she was out. As he looked at Ayeka he saw her worry and dismissed it at worry about Ranma. And Ryoko, well he couldn't tell any thing about Ryoko because of her elevation.

As Katsuhito stood there the door to Washu's lab and out came Tenchi. At seeing him, Ayeka Ryoko and Mihoshi grouped in front of him. They bombarded him with questions for a few seconds until he stopped them by holding up his hands.

"Ok, first off everyone back away," he waited until the girls backed away. "Now so you know, he is awake and right behind me. Right now he seems a little leery of groups so everyone just sit down, get comfortable, and I'll bring him in."

Out of the black portal everyone heard a voice, "Jeeze Tenchi, you don't have to say it like that." Accompanying that voice came a man in a red chinese-style shirt and black pants.

"Eh . .he . . .he. Sorry Ranma." Tenchi then turned towards the seated women and Katsuhito. "Everybody I would like to introduce Ranma Saotome."

Before Ranma could say a thing, a blonde-hared blur impacted with him crying, "I'm sorry," over and over again

******** Washu's Lab A Few Minutes Earlier

As Ranma was pushed thought the black portal he was a little scared. "Where am going to end up now, the Moon, Nerima, the center of the Earth? With my luck I'll end up appearing right over Akane's bed." Of all the places Ranma figured he would end up a large multi-story room with trees was the last place he figured he would be. As he stood there in awe at the size and openness of the room Tenchi and Washu came up behind him. After they were completely in the room, the door closed and disappeared. They watched as Ranma slowly turned his head and took in the room. In an awed whisper he asked, "Where are we, what is this place?"

"We're in my lab," answered a proud Washu.

Ranma turned to her, "I thought the other room we were in was your lab," he asked in confusion.

"Oh we were. It's just that we were in one of the medical suites. What we are in now is the entry level of the lab, along with my primary work space."

"Oh, ok. So why are we here? You need to pick something up."

Washu shook her head, "No, no this level is the only place that we can leave the lab from."

Ranma nodded his head in understanding, "Ok. So where's the way out."

Tenchi took this moment to cut in, "Before you go into the house I'd like to go ahead of you to calm them down. If I don't, they be on you as soon as you get through that door," his face full of helpfulness. Tenchi knew first hand what the girls could be like if they wanted something.

Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "That's fine with me. You're the one that lives with them."

Tenchi breathed a sigh of relief, "Great! You wait here and I'll be back in a moment."

He then headed towards a spot several feet away from the balcony. As he was walking a door appeared out of no-where. Ranma was still amazed at that, he turned to Washu and asked, "The place we're going, do all the doors do that?"

Washu shook her head, "No, only the one's in my lab. Tenchi won't let me put them in the house, the big meanie," she finished with a pout.

Ranma looked at her in disbelief, "Riiigghhtt." He looked back at Tenchi but he didn't see him. What he did see was an open door and another black portal. A little curious Ranma walked up to the portal and when he got close enough he was able to hear voices coming through. They were so many voices and they were talking so fast he couldn't understand them. What Ranma did know was that all the voices came from women. "He lives with a lot of women. Good lord he's one unlucky bastard," Ranma had lived with women before and it wasn't the best of experiences. In his opinion women are great, next door that is. When he lived at the Tendo's he learned things about permanent women that he never wanted to know. He heaved a sigh, "It looks like I'm going to have to live even more women than before," he shrugged his shoulders, "oh well. They can't be any worse than the last bunch." That's when he overhead what Tenchi said to the people on the other side of the portal.

"Now so you know, he is awake and right behind me. Right now he seems a little leery of groups so everyone just sit down, get comfortable, and I'll bring him in."

"Leery, LEERY! I am not leery I'm . . .cautious. There's a difference," Ranma mentally ranted. He then talked through the door, "Jeeze Tenchi, you don't have to say it like that." Ranma decided to walk through the portal and meet the people he was going to live with for awhile.

As he entered the new room he saw several women and the old shrine keeper that he remembered from his time at the Masaki shrine. The hair colors and styles of the women varied greatly. From the wild spiked cyan hair girl to the one with the blonde hared beauty to the one that greatly disturbed him, the girl with purple hair, it reminded him of what he left behind. And he didn't want that. The old man, well he looked really familiar but Ranma couldn't put a finger on where he remembered him from.

"Eh . .he . . .he. Sorry Ranma." Apologized Tenchi, he then turned towards the seated women and the unknown old man. "Everybody I would like to introduce Ranma Saotome."

Before he could forgive Tenchi or greet the people in the room the blonde-hared girl ran into him and began to cry, "I'm sorry," over and over again. Ranma awkwardly put his arms around her and began to pat her on the back.

"Hey It's ok, really it is," comforted Ranma.

The girl pulled away a little and looked at Ranma with her big blue eyes, still filled with tears. "But, but I made you worse. I couldn't help you."

Behind the two came Washu's voice, "Actually Mihoshi you saved him in several ways."

The girl called Mihoshi pulled away completely at that and, for some reason that Ranma couldn't understand, he felt sad. When he held her shapely body in his arms, he felt something that he had never felt before. The emotion was so foreign to him that he couldn't even describe it, but he did know that he liked it. And when he looked into her crying eyes he felt something that he could only describe as the need to protect. Deciding to put these thoughts on the back burner for now, less he miss something important.

"What do you mean Washu? How could I have helped him, I heard the way his ribs grinded against each other. So how, how could that have helped," she asked with a wail.

Washu walked over and placed her hand on Mihoshi's shoulder, "Yes what you did, did move his ribs around but in doing so you moved them in a way that got them away from his heart. Because of that, when you restated his heart with that blow, none of his ribs punctured his heart. Which would have happened if you hadn't done what you did. So you see, you really did save his life," she finished with a comforting smile.

Ranma placed his hand on Mihoshi's other shoulder and when the sniffling girl turned to face him, he smiled at her. "See you saved my life, and for that, thank you." Ranma's smile got even bigger when Mihoshi began to smile.

******** At seeing Mihoshi tackle Ranma, Tenchi grew concerned. He didn't know what Ranma would do to some one running into him. He was also worried about Mihoshi, when he had entered the living room he saw how calm and hopeful she looked. But now he saw none of that. As she was crying into Ranma's shoulder, Tenchi wanted to go and comfort her but he stayed put to see what the panicked Ranma would do. When Ranma put his arms around her and tried to stop her from crying, Tenchi settled down to let Ranma continue what he was doing. When Mihoshi pulled away from him to question him, Tenchi recognized the smile that Ranma had on his face, it was the same one that he always had when he held either Ryoko or Ayeka.

At thinking about the two loves of his life he looked over to them and he once again mentally apologized to the two, "I'm so sorry you two, but I can't make a choice. I won't make a choice," whenever one of the girls asked him to make a choice he grew afraid. He had made his choice along time ago and he knew that it was one that neither of the girls would like. They each wanted him for their self and he knew that they wouldn't want to be together like he wanted. He loved and needed them both and if one of them left for any reason, he would be crushed.

He stopped himself from that line of thought and turned back to the conversation at hand.

"Yes what you did, did move his ribs around but in doing so you moved them in a way that got them away from his heart. Because of that, when you restated his heart with that blow, none of his ribs punctured his heart. Which would have happened if you hadn't done what you did. So you see, you really did save his life," Washu finished with a smile.

Tenchi watched as Ranma placed his hand on Mihoshi's other shoulder and say. "See you saved my life, and for that, thank you." His words made both Mihoshi and Tenchi smile. He was glad that she was receiving the comforting that she so deserved.

Tenchi decided to break everyone off this line of thought and back on to the introductions, but before he could Sasami beat him to it.

********

Sasami walked up to Ranma and tapped him on the shoulder. When Ranma turned to see the source of the tapping, she said, "Hi there. My name is Sasami what's yours."

Ranma smiled at the girl, "My name is Ranma Saotome. It's nice to meet you Sasami."

"It's nice to meet you too. I thought you might be hungry, so I made some snacks. Would you like to try some," she asked with a smile.

Ranma's smile grew at the mention of food, "Sure I would. Want some help bringing them in here?"

Sasami smiled and nodded, "Thanks. I'd love to have some help." And with that they headed into the kitchen. When they got back everyone was sitting at the table, Katsuhito at the head of the table. Ayeka, Tenchi, and Ryoko sat on one side of the table, the two girls were sitting so close to Tenchi that their legs were touching his. Washu sat opposite of Katsuhito and was sitting patiently for Sasami and Ranma to enter the room. And Mihoshi was sitting opposite of Ryoko, her face and posture much happier. Sasami and Ranma sat up the dishes and snacks and then sat down.

After eating a bit, Tenchi decided to continue with the introductions. "Ok everyone. As I said before, this," he then points at Ranma, "is Ranma Saotome. Ranma I'd like to introduce you to the others that you will be living with."

At that Sasami spoke to Ranma, "You're staying here, why?"

Washu answered for Ranma, "Well Sasami, that's complicated, let's get through the introductions first and then we'll try to explain it afterwards."

"Ok," she then turned back to Tenchi.

"As I was saying, this is Ranma Saotome." Everyone said "Hi" or "Hello" at the same time. "Now, the man at the head of the table is Katsuhito Masaki, head shrine keeper and my grandfather."

"Hello Ranma, it's good to see you again," greeted Katsuhito with a nod.

"Hi, it's good to see you to," Ranma said in reply.

Tenchi then pointed to his right, "This is Ayeka, Crown Princess of planet Jurai."

At that all the girls at the table but Washu were stunned.

Ryoko's head whipped in Tenchi's direction and she whispered into his ear, "Tenchi, I thought you wanted that kind of thing a secret."

Tenchi patted her leg and in a normal voice Tenchi replied, "It's ok, he already knows."

Ayeka took this time to respond, "Why did you tell him? He is a normal human, are you not afraid that he will tell others."

"Hey, you don't have to worry about me telling anyone. I swear that I will keep secret what ever is said here," Ranma answered.

"He's right, we don't have to worry about him telling, but before I tell you guys why, let's finish the introductions," added Tenchi. When everyone calmed down sufficiently Tenchi continued, "As I said, this is Ayeka, Crown Princess of planet Jurai."

Ayeka did a small bow and said, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Saotome."

Ranma's face scrunched up in distaste, "It's nice to meet you to, but please, for the love of god never call me Mr. Saotome. It reminds me of my "father"," he said the word father with disgust.

Ayeka blinked at that, "Ok would Ranma be acceptable?"

Ranma nodded, "Sure that would be great."

"Ok," Tenchi then pointed to the cyan-haired girl on his left, "this Ryoko Hakubi, adventurer extrordinare."

Ryoko smiled at that, she was afraid that Tenchi would have referred to her as a space pirate. While she placed her hand over Tenchi's, she greeted Ranma, "Yo."

Ranma did a little wave in her direction, "Hey."

Tenchi blinked at the short greetings on both of their parts, "Well you've already met Washu, so we'll go onto the next person." He then pointed at Mihoshi, "This is Detective First Class, Mihoshi Kuramitsu."

At this Ranma turned to the blonde women and extended his hand, "Hi, nice to meet you," he said with a smile.

Mihoshi took his hand and shook it with a smile, "Nice to meet you to."

Ranma reluctantly let go of her hand and looked at Tenchi.

Tenchi watched the way Ranma greeted Mihoshi and mentally raised an eyebrow. "The last but defiantly not the least," he said with a smile towards Sasami, "is Sasami, Ayeka's sister and Second Crown Princess of Jurai."

Ranma looked at the brightly smiling girl and said, "It's a pleasure, Your Highness."

Sasami sat completely upright and in the most regal voice she could she said, "Of course it is. Everyone is awed at my presence . .," she couldn't get any farther because she busted out in giggles.

Katsuhito smiled at Sasami's giggles and said to the group, "Now that we all have been properly introduced, maybe we should go sit in the living room and let Tenchi tell us why Ranma can know about us." Of course he knew why he knew about their other worldly heritage but he wasn't going to tell them that.

"Yeah that would be great Grandpa," replied Tenchi. He then looked at Sasami, "Sasami, do you mind if we leave these dishes here for now and take care of them after we get done with our discussion?"

Sasami shook her head and smiled, "No that's ok, I want to hear what you have to say."

Tenchi clapped his hands and stood up, "Well great, lets go," and with that he headed to the couch.

The rest of the people at the table got up and followed him. On one couch Ryoko and Ayeka sat next to Tenchi, with Sasami sitting next to Ayeka. On the other couch sat Ranma, Mihoshi, and Washu and at the chair sat Katsuhito.

As soon as everyone was seated Ryoko began to question Tenchi, "Ok Tenchi you said you tell us why he," she pointed at Ranma, "can know about us. So fess up and tell us why." It wasn't like she didn't trust Tenchi, it's just that he has been harping that they should keep a low profile among regular humans.

Instead of Tenchi answering though, Ranma's low voice was what answered her, "I can know about you guys because I'm not human anymore."

The girl's reply was a clear, concise, and very loud, "WHAT!"

Ayeka turned to Tenchi, "Lord Tenchi, how is that possible?"

Ryoko nodded, "Yeah, how?"

Washu answered for him, "As you all know, when Mihoshi brought Ranma to us he was bleeding and badly beaten." She waited for everyone to signal that they remembered, when they did, she continued, "When I examined him, I discovered that he would need a blood transfusion, and Tenchi was the only one here compatible with him. There was a problem though, Tenchi's Light Hawk power combined with Ranma's healing ability and my methods of treating patients and gave Ranma the same Juraian genetic structure that Tenchi has."

Ryoko and Ayeka looked at Washu in confusion, and at the same time they asked, "Huh?"

Katsuhito answered, "What she means is that Ranma is as much Juraian as Tenchi. And his Juraian ability is that of the royal family."

All the girls were amazed but they didn't say a thing, it was Ranma who asked the next question, "Does this mean that I'm royalty or something?"

Katsuhito shook his head, "I'm not sure. This has never happened before, so there is no precedent for this."

Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "It doesn't really mean anything to me. I was just curious."

Ayeka bristled at this, "Bu, but how can you say that! I thought everyone on Earth would love to be royalty!"

Ranma waved this off, "I've meet Princes, Kings, and Emperors and none of them were pleasant people. So tell me why would I what to be royalty."

Before Ayeka could argue further, Tenchi placed his hand on her leg and when she looked at him he shook his head. He then looked back at Ranma, "Well now that we have introduced each other, lets trade histories."

"Yeah that sounds good to me. I'd really like to know how you ended up living with so many women," Ranma asked with a grin.

"Uh right, well I guess the best place to start is at the beginning." Before he stared though, Tenchi turned to Ryoko, placed his hand on her shoulder, and whispered, "I'm sorry Ryoko, but I'm going to tell him everything."

Ryoko grew frightened, she was sure that when Ranma heard about her past her would think she is a monster. She knew that no one else in the house thought that of her, even Ayeka, but how would some stranger think of her. But she knew that he had to know so she gave Tenchi the go ahead, she placed her hand over Tenchi's and said, "Ok Tenchi, tell him. I know what you and the others think about me and that's what maters to me," she finished with a weak smile.

Tenchi returned her smile, turned back to Ranma, and started his tale, "It all started seven hundred years ago . ." And with those words he wove the story of his extended family. He started with Ryoko's attack on Jurai and her and Katsuhito's, then Yosho's, battle on Jurai, across space, and finally ending on Earth. Throughout all of this Ryoko remained silent and winced at everything that she did. As Tenchi continued he detailed his wakening of Ryoko and Ayeka's subsequent arrival. Then he went on about how Mihoshi came to live with him and how she found Washu on Kagato's ship. He talked about Kagato and how he nearly died but was saved by Tsunami and how he first accessed the Light Hawk Wings. He described the events with Zero and Dr. Clay. He then talked about the royal's visit. "And for the next year not much happened, we had the occasional mis-adventure but other than that nothing." As he was talking the girls in the room added in their own bits as what Tenchi said related to them.

As Ranma sat and listened to Tenchi's telling of their past he was amazed. "These people have had as many adventures as I have, and they were definitely more important than any that we went on," he thought. As Ranma listened he sympathized with Ryoko, he knew what it was like to fear yourself for things that you have no control of. When Tenchi described the awesome power of the Light Hawk Wings, Ranma's mind did a backflip. "If I have the same power as Tenchi does that mean that I can use the wing too?" When Tenchi began to describe Mihoshi's part in their various adventures Ranma's interest peaked. For some reason that he could not fathom, he felt a need to know all that he could about the blonde-hared beauty.

After Tenchi was done telling his tale he looked at Ranma with a smile and said, "It's your turn Ranma, I bet all of us would love to know why you ended up in the forest a mangled wreck."

Everyone else in the room nodded their heads and simultaneously said, "Yeah!"

Ranma sat there and thought for a moment, "How much should I tell them? My life is full of so much pain, should I trust these people with my entire life story? No, not yet, if they are ok while I'm here then I'll tell them more, but for now I'll only tell them the important stuff."

Ranma then began to tell about his crazy life, "For the first few years of my life I lived at my mother's house. During that time I was happy and carefree but when I was five my pop, Genma Saotome, thought that my mother would make me soft so he took me on a training trip. As we traveled through Japan he taught me his art, the Anything Goes martial arts. His methods were brutal and I ended many days in pain and hungry."

His tale was interrupted by the angry voices of his audience.

"Why that horrible man! How dare he treat his son so," exclaimed Ayeka.

Ryoko nodded in agreement, "You got it Princess! What kind of jerk is this guy!"

Beside Ranma, Mihoshi was crying she then turned to him and began to hug him, "You poor man, to be away from your mother, WAHH."

Katsuhito just sat there and brooded over what Ranma said. As far as he was concerned, this was just another thing to add to the list of crimes that Genma Saotome has piled up.

Washu narrowed her eyes in anger, she was a mother and though she hadn't been the best mother to Ryoko she knew that there was certain thing that you don't do to young children. Beating children and making them go hungry all in the name of training is inexcusable.

From her seat next to Ayeka, Sasami and by extension Tsunami, cried. She loved her mother very much and if she was ever separated from her against her will, Sasami wouldn't know what to do. Sasami couldn't imagine what it would be like for Ranma.

Tenchi was also angry at Ranma's father but he knew that there was nothing that he could do about it at the moment. Besides he wanted to know what else happened to Ranma, so he stood up and waved his hands in front of him, "Guys settle down. If everyone gets uppity when Ranma tells us about something then we might be here all night. Why don't we just sit down and listen to what Ranma has to say," what he didn't say but everyone heard was "then we can kill him."

With that everyone settled down. Ryoko and Ayeka sat down and got ready to listen to more of Ranma's story. Sasami's tears slowed to a bare trickle and Mihoshi let go of Ranma, as she did so her tears also abated. Ranma on the other hand wasn't the happiest person in the world.

********

As Ryoko and the others expressed their anger and sorrow over what, in Ranma's mind, was a rather insignificant time in his life, Ranma was on cloud nine. When Mihoshi hugged him to cry on his shoulder, she pressed her body completely against Ranma. Before he had gone to the Tendo Dojo he hadn't thought much about sex, when he got there he thought about it even less. He had remained afraid that if he even entertained such ideas, Akane might use some strange pervert detector on him. But now that he didn't need to fear any jealous fiancés Ranma received a guilty pleasure in having her shapely body pressed against. Also that protective feeling that he had had earlier returned in full force and so as he tried to stop Mihoshi's crying he also squeezed her some in their hug. When Tenchi called for everyone to calm down and listen to him some more, Ranma was pissed. He didn't want to dredge up old pains, he just wanted to sit there and hold Mihoshi in his arms. And the damnist thing about the whole thing was that Ranma didn't know why, besides feeling protective, he wanted to hold her.

********

As Mihoshi left their embrace, Ranma sighed. He then looked to the group and thought about where he left off. As he remembered his place in his story he felt something rub against his leg. When he looked down he saw a small furry face. Large yellow eyes took up most of the space on the creature's face and the face was topped with a pair of large floppy ears. All these things in Ranma's mind said Rabbit, or rabbit like creature. This perception was put into doubt when the creature happily cried, "Miya!"

********

Ryo-Oh-Ki spent her day, as she was wont to do, playing in the woods and praying to the holy shrine she erected, a shrine to her patron goddess, the goddess of carrots. As she was playing and praying she felt her mistresses emotions coming over their link. She felt Ryoko's confusion at not knowing how to comfort Ayeka, then came elation from Washu's message about the unknown stranger's awakening. When she "heard" the good news she decided to go and meet him, but since she was so far away she would have to fly to get to the house in a reasonable amount of time. As she flew Ryoko's emotion continued to flow across the link. She felt as Ryoko's concern about Ayeka quickly transmute to pain and sorrow and yet among the grief there was an undercurrent of resolution. Ryoko wasn't willing to give up at the small setback, she and Ayeka were playing a game, a game that Ryoko was determined to win. As Ryo-Oh-Ki flew to her destination, she shared Ryoko's excitement that their visitor was finally coming out of Washu's lab. When the small cabbit reached the house she felt of anger come from her mistress and as Ryo-Oh-Ki entered the living room she saw Ryoko and Ayeka both standing in anger. Unlike other times that she had seen this type of seen before they didn't seem angry at each other. Rather their considerable ire seemed directed at no one. As Ryo-Oh-Ki looked at the people in the room she spotted a new face. She assumed that the stranger caught up in Mihoshi's death-grip was the man that Washu had been working on sine Mihoshi brought him. After Tenchi had managed to calm everyone down, Ryo-Oh-Ki hopped over to the stranger to greet him in the way that she felt proper, she rubbed up against his leg. When the man looked down at her she smiled as best as she could and gave off a pleasant, "Hello." Unfortunately she can't speak common, so when she greeted him it came out as, "Miya!"

*********

When the small goofy looking creature at Ranma's feet opened it's mouth, Ranma didn't hear a cute noise belonging to creature of it's stature. No, what Ranma heard was a CAT. Ranma was in a quandary, the information from his eyes told him that he was looking at some kind of mutant rabbit, but his ears told him that the small ball of fluff before him was a member of the dreaded species cat. And so he did the only thing a man with an intense fear off cats and a slightly addled mind can do. He ran, well jumped.

And jumped he did, straight up, over the rafters and landed right next to where Sasami was seated. When he landed, he pointed at the odd creature and, in the steadiest voice that he could manage, he asked, "What. What is that." The panic, or as Ranma would say "concern", in his voice was kept to it's minimum but everyone in the room could here it clearly as a bell.

Ryo-Oh-Ki's eyes were shining with tears as she saw the stranger's apparent dislike of her. Sasami saw her friend's tears she swooped down and hugged her. Sasami looked up at Ranma and said, "This is Ryo-Oh-Ki and she's harmless! Why don't you like her," cried Sasami.

"What is she," Ranma's panic still there.

Washu answered this time, "Ryo-Oh-Ki is a combination consisting of a mineral lifeform and an creature called Mass," she answered seriously. Her face then twisted up in confusion, "Why do you want to know?"

Ranma's suspicion lessened but it did not completely disappear. He looked at Washu with his eyes narrowed, "So she isn't a cat?"

Washu nodded her head, "Correct. While Ryo-Oh-Ki has several traits that appear cat-like, she isn't one. In fast, she is much more that just a cat, she has wants and needs just like the rest of us. Also like the rest of us she has emotions and I think that you should apologize to her," she finished icily.

Ranma's suspicion became embarrassment, "Eh . . . right." He then walked over to Ryo-Oh-Ki and kneeled in front of her. As he reached out and petted her head he said, "I'm sorry, Ryo-Oh-Ki, I thought you were a cat and I was worried what might have happened if you were."

Ryo-Oh-Ki looked at Ranma with wide misty eyes and asked, "Miya?"

Ranma flinched at the sound of her voice but continued on, "Yes, I mean that."

Ryo-Oh-Ki smiled wide and exclaimed, "Miyah," which caused Ranma to flinch again.

Tenchi who had been watching the entire exchange, watched as Ranma flinched each time she spoke and it clicked with him. He looked at Ryo-Oh- Ki and began to talk to her, "Ryo-Oh-Ki I think that you should not speak anymore. I think that Ranma is afraid of cats and you sound allot like a cat."

Ranma's head whipped in Tenchi's direction and shot him an accusing glare, "I'm not! There is no way that I'm scared of some stupid . . . Ah hell, yeah I'm scared of cats. I've got good reason to be though," as he finished his head dropped and he stared at the floor, as he tried to banish the images that Ryo-Oh-Ki's voice invoked.

Tenchi smiled gently and placed his hand on Ranma's shoulder, "It's ok Ranma. You don't have to tell us about anything that makes you uncomfortable."

Ranma shook his head and stood up, and turned his back to everyone. He stood there for several moments and gathered his thoughts. Eventually he began to talk, "No Tenchi, you're wrong. I have to talk about it, it's just difficult. I had hoped to keep this a secret, but if I am going to be living with you guys then you must know this." He turned back to the group and graced them with a brief smile, "Well everyone, sit back and listen. Because this is the only time that I want to say this."

As everyone in the room sat back down, Tenchi remained standing. He placed his hand on Ranma's shoulder and looked him dead in the eyes. "You really don't have to say anything."

Ranma shook his head, "Yes, I do. If something happens and you guys don't know what is going on, someone could be injured, . . . or worse killed."

As Tenchi looked at Ranma's eyes he could see the great pain contained within those blue/gray orbs. He nodded and removed his hand, "Ok Ranma, the show is yours, but if you ever want to stop then do so, ok."

Ranma nodded, "Yeah, I understand." With that Tenchi began to move back to his seat between his two loves. But before he was two steps away, Ranma's voice stopped him, "And Tenchi. Thanks."

Tenchi looked back to Ranma, smiled, and simply nodded. And with that Ranma and Tenchi took their respective seats.

As Ranma sat in his place beside Mihoshi he pulled himself together for the ordeal he was about to experience. And with a sigh he restarted his tale, "After years of training with my old man he found a training manual that detailed a powerful martial arts technique, the Neko Ken."

********

When Ranma mentioned the Neko-Ken, Katsuhito's eyes gleamed. In his travels before settling with his wife and becoming a priest, he had heard of the Neko-Ken. As he traveled through what is now Tibet he came across a village, the huts were destroyed, people lay dying or dead, and all about were great gashes in the earth. It was if some monstrous cat had ripped the village to shreds. As he treated the victims he learned that all of the destruction was caused by a small boy, his father wanted to be able to protect the village and he felt that the only way to save his home from raiders was to teach his only son the Neko-Ken. In the boy's feral state he killed his father and destroyed the city his father so wanted to protect.

If Ranma's father really did teach Ranma the Neko-Ken then he would have to kill him. Not many things brought Katsuhito such ire but the Neko- Ken was one of them. He listened ever closer to Ranma's tale and hoped that his suspicions would prove false.

********

Ranma sat there, his eyes were far off and pain ridden, "The training was so simple," he said with a bitter laugh. "First, dig a large pit and fill it with starving cats. Then take the person you want to train, that would be me, and wrap them in fish. After they are firmly tied up, drop them into the pit. Repeat this until they learn the technique. I lost track of how many times I was thrown into that blasted pit at ten. Each time I was thrown in, the fear only grew. It continued for awhile until I found a way to let go of all that pain and when I took it I paid a horrible price. As I slipped into unconsciousness a new personality took control and I believed I was a cat. What I did while I was like that, I'll never know. All I know is when I woke up, I was in the middle of a shredded clearing and pop was covered in scratches." As he described the horrors inflicted upon him the pain and fear that he still had from that experience crept into his face. Before anyone in the room could express their anger, Ranma started to talk again, "And that wasn't the worst part. No, the worst part is knowing that now, if I stay to long around a cat I will slip back into that cat state and do something horrible," he finished with a shudder and a whisper.

Throughout the room the people's reactions varied.

*********

As Katsuhito sat and listened to Ranma's story his hatred for Genma Saotome only grew. He could conceivably forgive Genma's other transgressions, but this. No, there was no way that Katsuhito could forgive this crime it was very simple Genma Saotome must die.

*********

Ryoko was glowing red with rage, her gems were responding to this just rage and glowed a fierce orange. As she sat there, with he hair flapping in some unknown breeze, she thought over everything that Washu had done to her. Sure Washu left her in her lab, in the cold dark, alone. Her only companions the shirt she wore and her own tortured cries for help. But that was only that one time, since then she had treated her like a normal person, if not like her daughter and she had forgiven Washu for that. But this, this, she couldn't even begin to describe what this was. Not even Kagato at his worst was that bad, he mostly let the atrocities that she committed while she was under his control, torture her. If she ever met up with this Genma Saotome she would show him the price for torturing innocents.

*********

Ayeka was furious and shocked. In her fury she glowed a bright blue to balance Ryoko's red. And in her shock, tears track their way down her face. She was there when Ryoko, under Kagato's control, came and attacked her beloved Jurai. She saw the broken and bloody bodies and in her sheltered life, she thought that was the worst side if life possible. But what that, that creature did to Ranma was beyond the barbarity that she witnessed on Jurai. If she ever met with this monster she would show him how swift Juraian justice can be.

*********

At her seat beside Ayeka, Sasami, and by extension Tsunami, was crying. As she clutched Ryo-Oh-Ki to her chest the tears flowed. "How could a father do that to his son," she whispered.

In her place in Tsunami, Tsunami watched and listened to Ranma's story. At hearing what Ranma's father did to him, it made her weep. Also Ranma's tale made her decision about whether or not she would grant her blessing upon Ranma. If his will was as strong and his heart was as pure as she thought they were then she would gladly allow him to use his Light Hawk Wings.

********

As he sat there Tenchi was shocked. His life had been a relatively sheltered one and the brutality that Ranma described was simply amazing. He knew that people could be cruel to each other, but this, this was unlike any thing that he could conceivably imagine. As he listened his shock turned to an emotion that he rarely felt, anger. Sure when one of the girls blows something up he feels anger but this was different. This was a seething black anger, an anger that not properly controlled could easily become hatred. He wasn't willing to let the evil that Ranma's father did control his life. So yes he would pay, but it would be Ranma to determine the punishment not anyone else.

********

In her seat beside Mihoshi, Washu's face was oddly blank. Internally she felt an intense desire to find this Genma Saotome and completely wipe him out of existence. And yet she knew that she couldn't do that, right. So she sat there, the internal battle never showing on the surface. Except for the red outline of energy surrounding her body.

*********

The only person in the room whose mind was perfectly clear was Mihoshi. As she sat next to Ranma while he told his story her heart reached out to him. Here was someone whose pain equaled her own, so her path was clear, she would try her hardest to cheer him up, so that this horrible injustice can be put to rest and Ranma can live in peace. So with her purpose decided she hugged the now silent Ranma and tried to convey to him that others are there to help.

*********

After completing his story of the Neko-Ken, Ranma sat there and tried to bring himself under control. As he said there he felt a pair of arms bring him into a hug and his mind was soothed. This was the first time that anyone had hugged him after hearing about that terrifying part of his life. Usually when people are told about how he learned the Neko-Ken they vow to kill his Pop or something like that, but this was a first. He turned his head to see was treating him with such kindness and when he looked into the light-blue eyes of Mihoshi he felt hope. Hope for the future, hope that he will beat the Neko-Ken, hope that he had lost at some point but had now found. Thanks to Mihoshi he now had hope again and that is a gift that he could never repay. Her hug, while helping to calm him down, also had another effect, it increased his feelings for Mihoshi. He could now honestly say that he could call her, friend.

*********

Tenchi, seeing that everyone in the room was ready to kill someone, decided to get the group on a decidedly different track than that. He looked over to where Ranma was sitting and smiled, "At least one of us is looking out for him," he thought. He then spoke up, shocking everyone out of their dark thoughts, "Ranma, would you like some time to settle down or do you want to continue?"

Ranma sighed and shook his head, "I'd like to stop but that wouldn't be fair to Ryoko. Her portion of your story was just as bad, if not worse than, mine, and you told me everything. If she can live with it, so can I," he finished with a weak smile in Ryoko's direction.

Ryoko's heart soared, "He doesn't' hate me, he said I had it worse than him! Well babe, now you gotta keep an eye out for him, because he might wind up as family," she mentally said as she watched Ranma and Mihoshi.

Tenchi smiled at Ranma's kind words and looked at him in concern, "Are you sure?"

Ranma nodded his head, "Yeah." He then looked at Mihoshi, "Thank you, Mihoshi. I'm feeling much better now."

She looked into his eyes and saw that he was telling the truth, "Ok." She let go of him and sat back up.

Ranma looked around the various faces in the room and restarted what he was saying, "After the Neko-Ken, Pops dragged me across Japan and made me swim to China. As we traveled, he taught me more of the Anything Goes and eventually I was able to hold my own against him. When that started to happen he took us to a place called Jusenkyo."

Katsuhito's eyes flashed in recognition, he had heard of that place. He also heard all the warnings to stay as far away from that place as possible.

Ranma saw that Katsuhito had recognized that place and nodded. "I see you heard of it."

"Only that you should stay as far away as possible. If you didn't you would be irrevocably changed."

Ranma barked out a laugh, "They got the changed part right. Can I please get two cups of water, one hot and one cold."

Sasami happily nodded her head, "Sure," she jumped up, "I'll go and get them."

When Sasami went to get Ranma's water Ryo-Oh-Ki jumped down to the ground. After landing she scampered over to Ranma, hoping that he would be her friend now. When she heard what Ranma's father did to him she understood why he acted like he did and she had forgiven him. Making sure not to say anything Ryo-Oh-Ki pawed Ranma's leg to get his attention. When he looked down at her she tried to convey her want for him to hold her.

Ranma got her message, "So you want me to hold you?"

She nodded her head and smiled.

"Ok but you need to wait until I tell about Jusenkyo. You don't want to get wet do you," he asked with smile.

Ryo-Oh-Ki shuddered, water, if there was one thing she hated was getting wet. So she decided to get away from him while he is talking then when he is done ask to be held again.

Ranma saw her shudder, "Hey how bout this, Mihoshi here holds you while I talk and when I'm done I'll hold you, ok," he smiled at her look of happiness. He then turned to Mihoshi, "Is that ok, Mihoshi?"

She smiled at Ranma, "Sure, I don't mind. I always love to hold Ryo- Oh-Ki." She then held out her arms to pick her up.

That's when Sasami came back with the water. When she reached Ranma he stood and she handed the glasses to him, "Here you go Ranma."

Ranma smiled at her, "Thanks Sasami." He then sat the glass filled with hot water on the low table and held up the cold one. "Ok when you go to Jusenkyo you see hundreds of poles sticking up from the pools or water there. When the old man and I got there the guide tried to warn us about the springs but we didn't listen. We jumped up onto the poles and fought each other. I was able to knock Pops into a spring and when he came out he was a panda." He smiled at their disbelieving looks, "I was shocked when he came out and he used me shock against me, so he kicked me and I landed into a spring." He then dumped the contents of the glass onto his head and triggered the transformation. "The spring of The Drowned Girl."

********

When Ranma changed into a girl the people's reactions varied, Ryoko and Ayeka were shocked and angry.

********

Sasami was amazed, "That is so cool. How did he do that," she thought. Tsunami was also amazed, but what amazed her was the energy patterns of the change. Now that Ranma was of Jurai she could read the various flows of energy that were in use in Ranma. She saw that the curse was in fact three energy patterns, one was the gender change, another was a trigger, and yet another was a field that caused something to be attracted to him, though what it was she could not determine.

********

Washu was having similar thoughts, "How did that happen? Maybe he'll let me find out. Or better yet I'll let Genma show me how it works," she rubbed her hands together. "Yes. Genma Saotome, you will make an excellent guinea pig."

********

Tenchi's brain was short-circuited, here was a pretty girl with a wet shirt. But she was really a guy and right beside him was Ryoko and Ayeka. So he did the only thing he could, look at his feet and think happy thoughts, like Ryoko or Ayeka in wet shirts, or even better Ryoko AND Ayeka in wet shirts.

********

In Katsuhito's mind the rage at Genma grew. Before his conviction to kill Genma wasn't that firm but now he was sure.

********

Mihoshi showed no response, her face was blank. But on the inside she was drooling and confused. Drooling because when Ranma changed he was standing right in front of her and when he change his wet chest was at her eye level. Confused because she was attracted to Ranma, in both forms, but she didn't want to betray her dead lover. So she sat there and stared blankly at Ranma's now prominent chest.

********

Ranma smiled at the looks on the people's faces, "Well at least they're not yelling," he thought wryly. Internally he was worried, the curse was usually the thing to turn people away from him. At least no one in the room showed any disgust for him, but it might come after the initial shock wears off. Deciding to not let them think too much, he then continued his description of the curse, "Cold water causes the change," he the bent over and retrieved the cup of hot water. "And hot water changes me back," with that he dumped the water on his head and reverted to his birth form. So that they couldn't ask any embarrassing questions he continued with the story. "Well, after Jusenkyo and some other adventures in China we headed back to Japan. When we got to Tokyo the idiot tells me that I have a fiancé and that we were going to live with her and her family. Eventually I had to deal with Chinese Amazons out to marry and kill me. Then my best friend who I thought was a guy but was really a girl showed up and wanted to marry me to. It turns out that Pops had sold me for food a lot, so while I was there all these girls showed up wanting to marry me. Then along with all the girls out to marry me were the guys. They wanted to kill me. As time went by we all had many adventures and even though we worked together a lot, they always went back to wanting to kill me. After a year or so all the pressure got too much, it forced me into the Neko-Ken and I ended up hurting several people very badly. So I left Nerima to finally get control over it. As I was heading here to find any information about the Neko-Ken I was ambushed by one of my rivals and he was the one that beat me up. And that's where Mihoshi found and rescued me," he then looked at Mihoshi and smiled. "By the way, thanks again for that."

As Ranma told his story, Mihoshi listened raptly. When he mentioned that he had a fiancé her heart dropped. When she heard that he had more than one and that his father was responsible she quickly recovered. Then she yelled at herself, "Dammit Mihoshi, get it together, how can you think of anyone like that after Her. Remember what you said, you said that you would never be interested in anyone ever again." She then answered Ranma, "No problem Ranma, I'm just glad you're ok," she finished with a smile.

Clapping his hands together Ranma exclaimed, "Well that's it, so when do we start training?"

******** End of Chapter 2

Authors Notes: This chapter is finally complete, YAY! College is finally upon me so expect chapters further apart. Just so you know, I will finish this, because if I don't all my ideas for Book two will be worthless. I bet there are many things that people have problems with so I'll try to address them. First things first, yes Ryoko and Ayeka do like each other. And yes Tenchi does like them both. Now about why Mihoshi is acting the way she is. I feel that she is an intelligent person, in the OAV. Sure her grandfather probably helped her get her ship but I doubt that he or Mihoshi would allow any favoritism in regards to getting into the GP. And if she is a Detective First Class that must mean that she is good. So when she couldn't save Ranma that brought that into question. Also if you have gotten this far then you are probably asking, "What the hell is up with Katsuhito? He never acted like that in the anime!" If you are saying that then I agree with you, but this isn't strictly a Tenchi universe anymore is it. I have a reason for his hatred of Genma and when I finally reveal it you will understand. And if you already hate someone then it is easier to jump to murder. Also remember something, Katsuhito is only in the guise of an old man, in fact he is really a young man. There are several instances that prove this, such as the time when he grabbed Ryoko's breasts or when he plays the girls off one another. About the way Ranma is acting around Mihoshi, the way I see it is, when Ranma was on the road with Genma he didn't have much time to think about women. When he got to Nerima he had to worry about his curse and he had to deal with the possibility of Akane finding out and calling him a pervert. So here he is at Tenchi's house and this babe, that has no ties to him, throws herself at him why wouldn't he be effected. About Mihoshi reaction to Ranma, yes she is attracted to him but her loyalty to her past lover is at odd with this new attraction. On to Ranma's Light Hawk power, no he will not be as powerful as Tenchi in that regard. And yes Tsunami can keep tabs on all her children, at least she can in this story. Sorry to anyone hoping to that there would be action in this chapter but I felt that this was needed to set the tone for the various relationships among the group and to have some questions that can be built upon in later chapters. If you have made it this far then thanks for reading and look out for further chapters in the future. This is Chaos Lord, signing out.