I know it's been nigh on forever but I didnt' abandon it.

I told you people it'd come around and it did! See?

Here it is! On with the show.

Chapter 4 Be for the Past

Letetsu looked at Ranma with an apprasing eye. Ranma

was almost sure he had no chance to win from his stance,

but it was better not to underestimate an opponent.

Letetsu was in a heavily offencive stance. Amazing how

pathetically confident he was.

Ranma however stood in a defencive stance wanting to

catch his opponent off gaurd. It worked like a charm...

Ranma made sure his stance looked horribly sloppy,

hoping Letetsu's parents would tell him of Ranma's styles

and secrets. Of course he had many, It probably wouldn't

matter in the end if they did anyway. Letetsu smirked.

"You can't possibly beat me! Not with a stance like

that especially!" he cried.

"I'm confident," Ranma replied slackening his worthless stance

even more. To Letetsu it looked like a feeble attempt to shape

the stance up that had failed and ended it worse.

In the corner of the Room Ryoga and Ukyo whispered to each other.

"He doesn't stand a chance you know," Ukyo told Ryoga.

"Yeah, I know. But Ranma's gonna teach him what I've been

failing too. Never underestimate an opponent. He just can't

seem to figure this out just because of the fact that he's never

lost a challenge," Ryoga said.

"Neither has Ranma in the long run. Anyway? What makes

you so sure that is Ranma?" She asked.

"Look at him and tell me otherwise," Ryoga replied calmly.

Ukyo said nothing.

"Come on! Are you gonna just wait there all day? Or are you

afraid?" Ranma taunted. Ryoga stifled the urge to laugh.

Remembering how this had always ticked him off. It had made

him lose his control and fight sloppy. Just as he figured his son

would. Once again, it worked like a charm. Letetsu had allready

taken Ranma's bait and now had the hook in his mouth.

Letetsu charged and hit Ranma square in the face. It connected

and sent him into a wall.

"Hmph! Pop! This guy is pathetic! Why would you even have

me fight someone like...!" But he was interupted.

"If I were you Letetsu, I'd watch your back!" Ryoga shouted back

to his son. Letetsu turned around to a punch headed directly for

his face. It connected and then sent him to a wall.

"WHY YOU! THAT WAS A CHEAP SHOT!" The boy shouted.

"Heh, It wasn't my fault you didn't see it coming," Came the reply.

Letetsu was getting angrier by the second. "I'll get you!"

Now the fight began in ernest. Letetsu throwing punches and kicks

left and right, and Ranma dodging wishing he had a book to read or

something of the sort, so he could tease his rival's son.

"Come on! You'll have to move faster than this! Your just like your

pop! You value your strength over your speed! If you don't get over

that you'll never have a chance of beating me!" Ranma shouted. This

of course, infuriated his opponent. However it interested Ryoga.

"Is that why I always lost to him? Why would he give out the information

to my son? Why not me? I didn't value my strength THAT much more

than my speed and agility did I?" Ryoga thought. "I was such an idiot

back then. But I suppose I had a good reason to be. Good thing I finally

cured my sense of direction problem. And my love life problem," Ryoga

looked out to the floor and saw exactly what he expected. Ranma toying

with his son.

"LETETSU! YOU'RE BETTER THAN THIS! YOUR MAKING THE

SAME MISTAKES I DID! CONSENTRATE! STOP LOSING YOUR

TEMPER OR YOUR GOING TO LOSE THE FIGHT!" He shouted.

Oddly enough. It helped. Suddenly Letetsu's red aura cooled. He became

calm and collected and began to attack Ranma at a much faster rate. Ranma

still dodged with ease, however there were a few close calls.

"Good job, kid! Your way better than your pop was!" Ranma yelled.

Ryoga fumed but only for a minute before he remembered how infuriating

Ranma could be. There was something about him... It was just there! A

call to him... he was allways just so, smashable. Just smashing him into a

wall provided so much happiness to anyone and everyone in his vicinity.

He never could figure it out. He knew now for sure though that this was

Ranma. He hadn't fumed in so many years, that only THE RANMA

could do that to him... Well, his wife and kid did it every now and

then... but it still wasn't Ranma.

"Don't Call me a kid!" Letetsu returned.

"Don't lose your focus and I won't, kid!" Ranma said and then

punched him directly in his stomach.

Letetsu doubled over. Ranma smirked.

"If you hadn't been worried about me calling you a kid and had

worried about where I was aiming then you coulda read that

move miles away!" Ranma exclaimed.

"Well, what about you? I don't see you under complete focus!"

Letetsu taunted as he stood up and took a stance. This time it

was more defensive.

"Heh... you got a lot to learn kid," Ranma said. He then proceeded

to break through all of Letetsu's defences in a matter of seconds, connect

about twenty punches in the gut and knock to boy unconcious.

"Ranma!" Ryoga shouted. "Don't you think you could go a little easier on

him?"

"Hmph, with an attitude like that Ryoga, no wonder he couldn't lay a

finger on me!" Ranma replied.

To Ranma's amazement, Ryoga agreed.

"I suppose your right... Ranma, could you do me a favor and train him?

I don't seem near as good a teacher as I thought that I was," Ryoga asked.

"Damn... And here I thought you were the same old porky! Admiting weakness

is definantly a change! Sure Old man! If you spar me. I think I've changed

my mind. Without me around, who know's how much you've slacked off!"

Ryoga was stuck on once phrase however. "I AM NOT OLD!!!!! RANMA

PREPARE TO DIE!"

However, instead of charging Ranma in a mad rage, Ryoga walked to the center

and bowed to his ex-rival and took a stance as Ukyo removed Letetsu from the

floor. Meanwhile, All of the other students who had stayed to watch the fight,

expecting Letetsu to win hands down were amazed to find him unconcious.

Believing this kid was Ryoga's ex-rival was a hard thought but it seemed proven

true. However, no one had EVER beaten their sensei Ryoga, and they didn't plan

on his defeat coming from the fist of a fourteen year-old-kid.

Ranma began to taunt Ryoga just like he always did. "You first P-Chan!

Or will you need some time to find your fist?" However Ryoga was cool

and collected. He had little arrogence. His eyes were hard to read but they

spelled confidence to Ranma.

Ryoga charged Ranma head on. Unlike his former style of charge directly

and never change direction, he instead moved to the left and began a very

fast combination of punches and kicks while running as Ranma had moved

with him. Neither were getting any hits in. Ranma knew Ryoga had

improved, but not TOO much. After all, how could he improve without

Ranma around? Fight angels? When Ranma actually thought about that

he found that it was quite possible that Ryoga DID fight angels even though

he had yet to see one.

The fight lasted almost an hour. When Letetsu woke he was amazed to find

his father struggling for the upper hand in a battle with someone like Ranma.

However it made him feel better knowing that his father had trouble with Ranma.

If his father had trouble, he couldn't possibly win.

Sooner or later they finally called a draw when both of their stomachs gave in to

the call of food long before their energy ran out. ... Basicly Ukyo was

cooking in a corner of the dojo for the students that had stayed to watch

Ranma and Ryoga's battle. She hadn't changed much at all. After all, she

was selling them at an amazingly high price but they still sold just as they had

fifteen years ago when she sold them at low prices. Very well.

"Well, Ranma... I think were gonna have to have a rematch... some other time,"

Ryoga said, taking long intervals in between phrases.

"Yeah, your not bad Ryoga," Ranma said, equally tired.

"Hey? You two done yet? Come get some food! I made your favorites... Well

Ryoga's anyway. Can't remember yours Ranma!

"Anything is my favorite!" Ranma replied having become refreshed at the thought

of food.

"So Ryoga? How'd ya cure your sense of direction? And how about P-Chan?"

Ranma asked after they had sat down inside their home's living room. All the

students had gone home now that the fight was over. They sat on couches eating

their okonomiyaki.

"Well... Long story that one." Ryoga said.

"I've got time," Ranma replied.

"Well, in that case.... After you and Akane died I had no meaning left. My only

mission was to find a cure for my curses." Ryoga began.

"I'm going now. Been here, heard this." Letetsu said turning to go up to his room.

"Ok, later kid!" Ranma yelled after him.

He snorted and walked upstairs.

"I traveled for a long time serching for a way to cure the direction curse. I found a way

to cure myself too. I got a map from my father... But of course, I couldn't use it. I

followed it as best I could but I simply couldn't follow it. Well, sooner or later I bumped

into Ukyo... litterally." Ryoga told. He began to blush slightly and Ranma caught on.

"OH! WHAT HAPPENED?" Ranma asked. "You didn't happened to accidentally walk

in on her when she was in a natural hot spring or something like that, didja?" Ranma asked.

"How did you know?" Ukyo asked him.

"Oh just a guess. It used to happen to me all the time... still does actually." Ranma said.

"Pervert," Ukyo said.

Ranma denied it, of course. But Ukyo had grown up and could tell when Ranma

was joking now. Ranma was being completely serious, however, when he said

this still happened to him, but Ukyo figure he actually was joking and had grown

up a little not realizing that when he had walked into girls locker rooms and such

back in her past that he had never ment to do it to see them.

"Well, Basicly Ukyo led me to the magician who could lift my curse. So I got

cured of that. Jusenkyo though? It's a curse that don't let go. Just give up looking

If you still are Ranma." Ryoga finished.

"Hmm... So you and Ukyo got married and had a kid?" Ranma asked.

"We... ahem, got to know each other on the trip," Ukyo said.

Ryoga blushed.

Ranma burst out laughing.

(END CHAPTER)