Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story.
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The scene opens on the Tendo dojo. Kasumi was in the kitchen cooking something, the fathers were playing their eternal game of Shoji, Nodoka was polishing her katana, Akane was breaking bricks in the dojo, Nabiki was doing accounting in her room and Ranma and Ryoga were fighting in the yard. Moving over across town Ukyou is seen making okonomiyaki in the shape of hearts while sighing dreamily and thinking about how she can get Ranma to fall in love with her. Shampoo drives by on her bike with a delivery case and Mouse following close behind proclaiming his love. Over at the Kuno mansion Kodachi is brewing potions while Kuno is sitting is his room trying to look noble. A typical scene in the Ranma universe that happens quite often. But peace never lasts for long.
Past choices of the future
A Ranma ½ fan fic by Animeprime
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"Ryoga, how many times are you going to keep attacking me like this?" Ranma stood over the black and wet body of an enraged piglet who was busy trying pull himself out of a fountain in a public park. With a squeal it fell back in and began to thrash about, spraying water everywhere especially on a certain raven-haired martial artist.
"Stupid little pig!" The now transformed Ranma's temper flared as red as his hair and Ryoga soon became one with the sky. Ranma-chan stood hunched over panting while she tried to calm down.
"Why does my life suck so much!!!"
"Because you won't marry my great grand-daughter." Ranma whirled around and growled at his next opponent.
"I'm tired, wet, and female old ghoul. Don't push your luck. Why on earth are you so fixed on seeing me and Shampoo together?!" Cologne hopped down from her stick and sat down on a nearby bench.
"Because you're the first person in a long time that's given me a good work out so I would feel bad if I were to just let you throw your life away with a bad decision."
"Why should I care about that, I'll just take over the Dojo and teach." Cologne arched an eye brow.
"That's what you think."Ranma snorted.
"Yeah right, how on earth would you know?" Cologne smiled.
"Just a little amazon fortune telling. You piqued my interest after you were able to learn the Chestnut Fist so quickly so I read your fortune. The way I see it there are two possible fates for you. You're either going to live a miserable life here or you're going to live a peaceful life in China."
"You haven't been exactly trustworthy Cologne so please don't be offended if I don't believe you." Ranma retorted sarcastically. "Besides, we make our own future. I'm not good at that math and science stuff but I know that mystic stuff is a load bull crap." Cologne poked Ranma-chan in the breast with her cane.
"You're living, bouncing proof to the contrary. The fact is, magic does exist and fortune telling is a precise but legitimate art. There is no way to change the predictions because if you try the fortuneteller will have seen your future altered. That is what fate truly is and why it is impossible to escape." A little subdued Ranma responded.
"Okay fine, but how did you see my future." Cologne smiled and reached inside her robes. A moment later she pulled out a large black sphere.
"Behold our amazon tribes greatest treasure. The great and magical Amazon Aite Bahl!" Ranma face faulted.
"You mean to tell me you saw my future in some stupid kids toy!" Cologne frowned.
"This is one of the most dangerous magical items in the world. When asked a question its answer is correct one hundred percent of the time and sometimes more. How else do you think I know where you are all the time?" Ranma shook his head.
"I still don't believe it." Cologne offered the orb to him.
"I'll swear on my honor as a martial artist that I'm not lying to you. Now take it home and try it. I know you'll find its answer most amusing."
"How do you know that old gho…oh." Cologne began to pogo back to the Cat Café.
"I'll see you latter tonight. And I'd tell you to duck when you get home except it won't do you any good. Put some ice on it if you don't want a permanent mark."
"Huh?"
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Ranma-chan warily stood outside the front door of the Tendo home steeling up his courage and reflexes. He quickly opened the door. Nothing happened so he cautiously began to sneak foreword. Suddenly Akane caught sight of him and growled.
"What are you doing Ranma?" Ranma jumped and landed in a crouched position.
"Nothing, why do you ask you stupid tomboy."
"Ranma no BAKA!!!" Akane swung out with he mallet but Ranma managed to duck just in time and roll to the side. Stupid old ghoul, looks like her fortune telling skills are as accurate as she is pretty. He pulled into a crouched position and was rising up quickly when he thought he felt his back rubbing against something soft and heard a gentle
"Oh my!" The next instant his head collided with something metallic and burning hot.
"ARHGGG!!"
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Ranma sat hunched over in his room grumbling. It turned out that he had stopped directly infront of Kasumi and as he had risen up he had brushed against her clothes. Before he could have stopped however his head had collided with the hot frying pan full of food she had been carrying to the dinning room. This led to a nasty combination burn/bruise on the top of his head, which he was trying to soothe with a bag of ice.
"I can't believe it, the old ghouls predictions came true. You really can't escape your fate." Nervously he picked up the fortune telling device and shook it. The window in the bottom turned black but then words began to appear.
-What do you want to know?-
"Well, what would my life be like if I really did marry Akane. I would just take over the dojo and live happily ever after right?" the letters disappeared and the appeared again.
-Well you got the first part right. Let me show you what will happen.- The next instant the ball began to glow white and the room was bathed in its bright light. For an instant Ranma felt as though he were being pulled out of his body and then there was blackness.
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Ranma sighed as he walked through the gates of the Tendo property. He looked sadly at the empty space where the dojo sign proclaiming that Anything Goes Martial Arts was taught here used to be. Martial arts in the twenty first century was limited to self defense and exercise. No more were dojo's scattered over Japan, having lost their money over the years or sold out to fitness companies. They hadn't had a challenger in ten years and he had finally stopped teaching the few students he had. He didn't understand why he and Akane even bothered to stay here, without the dojo it was only a huge piece of land that meant more taxes to pay that he couldn't afford. He walked down the walk and around the house to see the dojo, it was worn down and needed serious repair if it was going to ever be called a training hall again. And yet, as he pushed the creaky door to one side and walked into the building he remembered that this was the closest thing he had ever to a real home.
The house across the yard was just that, a house. This building with its history of practicing the art was the only place that he felt he could be at peace, the only place where he felt safe and happy. He unconsciously began to run through several complex kata, making his body conform to moves that he had ingrained into his mind over his years of fighting. Bringing himself to a stop he faced the family shrine and closed his eyes in meditation. Even if the place was rundown it was still the only place that could help him unwind from his days work and put his mind at peace. Suddenly his heightened senses picked up a person approaching from the house. He smiled, if the dojo was the place that calmed his mind the girl approaching was the person that could do the same thing. He felt her jump and lunge at him with a roar.
"I got you Daddy! Huh?" Ranma disappeared just as the little girl was six inches from grabbing him. She fell on her face and the felt a heavy weight on her back. She giggled and then laughed as Ranma began to tickle her from his sitting position on her back. He reflected that years ago his father would have beaten him and made him go with out supper if he had failed like this, but he had no intention of ever using any of his fathers training techniques again. He stopped the Anything Goes tickling match and ruffled the little girls red hair.
"How was your day Shinja?" the little seven year old that looked like a young version of Ranma's cursed form wiggled out from under her daddy and twirled around in a cute kimono
"Great! Granma Nodoka is coming over for supper so I get to dress up! And I got a hundred on my math test today." Ranma smiled and grabbed her in a bear hug.
"That's my little girl! I knew you could do it." Shinja giggled and then broke away in mock disgust.
"Eww! You still smell like fish!" Ranma's cheerful face fell a little. After he stopped teaching the art he had had to find a real job to support his family. Thanks to Genma's training trip Ranma had barely been able to pass through high school and his only real talents were martial arts. He could jump fifty feet in the air, form a ball of ki with out a second thought, fight against dragon humans and Phoenix gods, and what was the only job he was qualified for? Gutting fish in a sushi factory.
He didn't exactly enjoy ripping live fish in half and tearing out their organs all day but it paid the bills and he was good at it. The only problem was the smell of fish blood and guts that seemed to linger on him all of the time. That was the other reason he considered the dojo his true home. Akane could rarely stand the smell no matter how hard he scrubbed and he was often forced to sleep out here. He steered his daughter towards the house.
"Well if you don't want to smell like fish when you grow up you just keep getting those A's in school and stay out of trouble. Now let's go help your mother cook diner or we might not live to see tomorrow.
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Akane watched her "Husband" steer their daughter towards the house. She over heard his last comment and frowned. She tried hard to cook damnit! Why did he have to go and insult her every chance he got. She would just have to give him a piece of her mind when he came in. A loud bang followed by smoke echoed from inside the oven and she moved to turn it off. Even after fifteen years of marriage the only thing that she had learned to cook was rice. Ranma did most of the cooking when he was home but Akane still believed that all she needed was practice. Ranma and Shinja came through the door and she regarded him with a suspicious eye.
"You're late." Ranma reached into his pocket.
"Today was payday so I stopped by the bank." He handed her an envelope filled with yen that she quickly counted.
"There's money missing, did you take your girlfriend out for drinks again?" Ranma sighed.
"For the last time Akane, I don't have a girl friend. I put some in the college fund for Shin, we were behind for the month." Akane looked him over with a steely eye.
"You know that the mortgage payment is due in a week, how are we going to make it? Why do you insist on throwing our money away like this?! I never went to college and look how I turned out." Ranma took that as a sign that he was doing the right thing but knew that in a matter of minuets they were going to be in a massive brawl, Akane always got this way when she saw him take away so much money. Not wanting Shinja to see their fight he motioned for her to leave.
"I think I hear Granma coming, why don't you go and great her." Shinja nodded and scampered off, she knew that Granma probably wasn't there but it was better then seeing her parents fight. She leaned up against the gate and sighed, from the house she could hear her parents yelling at each other. Her eyes started to mist over a bit but she refused to cry. Suddenly she felt a soft hand on her shoulder and jumped.
"My goodness dearie, why are you so jumpy?" Shinja whirled around to look up into the elderly face of Nodoka Soatome. Time had taken its toll on the women, her formally red hair was now mostly gray, and her body had gotten a lot older and frailer then when she had first met Ranma. But her eyes still held a glimmer of happiness in them that instantly cheered Shinja up. She launched forward and latched onto Nodoka's legs.
"Granma!" Nodoka patted the little girl on the head and looked over to the house where the sound of fighting was becoming louder.
"Why don't we go for a walk around the block Shinja? I think that I could use some more fresh air." Shinja nodded and took her grandmothers hand as they walked out of the gate.
Soun, Genma, you two don't deserve to rest in peace with what you've done to our children.
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"Just admit it, you think I'm a failure!"
"Well duh! I was supposed to marry a martial artist! Not some fish worker! I sacrificed my future to be married to a creep that doesn't even hold up his end of the bargain!"
"You think I'M the one who broke the bargain. I was supposed to get a wife! Not some psycho kitchen destroyer. I would have been hundred times better off with Ukyou or Shampoo. Heck! I'd be happy to get Kodachi now! At least she admits to when she's poisoning some one." Akane slapped Ranma harder then normal across the face.
"YOU ARE SUCH A JERK!!! Get out of MY house!" Ranma grabbed his coat and turned to go.
"YOU CAN HAVE THIS DUMP!!! ITS ABSULOUTLY DISGUSTING!!! AND THAT'S COMING FROM A GUY WHO SPENDS HIS DAYS ELBOW DEEP IN GORE!!!" Ranma slammed the door so hard it snapped on of its hinges and began storming down the sidewalk. From around the corner Nodoka held her crying granddaughter in her arms and frowned.
Yes, you two old fools definitely don't deserve to rest in peace.
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Ranma sat in a bar trying to stare down a glass of sake.
"No matter how you try your still not going to get it to start boiling you know. Barkeep, I'll have what he's having." Ranma sourly smiled as the woman sat down and took a sip of her drink.
"Going cheep again huh? Let me guess, you want to get drunk fast and hard." Ranma nodded.
"Dulls the pain." He finished his glass and tapped it on the counter to signal for more.
"Work tough today?" The woman snorted.
"You're right there next to me, you should know." Ranma smiled a little less cynically. In all his adult life he had only managed to make one true and lasting friend. Her name was Ryoko and she worked next to him at the factory scaling the fish and then handing them over. After nearly ten years of working together with out being able to talk they had developed a unique kind of friendship that didn't need words to communicate what they were feeling.
"So what was it about this time? Money, family, cooking?" Ranma finished his drink but then frowned. Apparently this brand was cheap because it was watered down, not because it tasted bad and was mostly alcohol.
"All three." Ryoko whistled.
"Wow, sounds like you're in the dog house for at least the next week."
"Yep." He put some bills on the counter to pay for his and Ryoko's drink and turned to leave.
"See you tomorrow. I'm going to try and see if Benny can put me up for the night."
"His family is sick with the flu. Remember, he wasn't at work today." Ranma frowned.
"Then I'll try Fujimotos." Ryoko flicked a piece of lint off her shirt.
"He's throwing a bachelor party at his house for Takeda. No chance of sleep there." Ranma rolled his eyes.
"Great, he was my third option. Well, looks like it's the Hobo Suit of the under-the-bridge hotel for me." Ryoko finished her drink and picked up her coat.
"How about the Sofa Suit of the Ryoko Hilton instead?" Ranma shook his head.
"I couldn't do that. you put me up two weeks ago remember?" Ryoko patted him on the back.
"This isn't about you. Every time you lose a night of sleep we have a fish pile up the next day and the boss yells at us. I'm just trying to do a courtesy for the other employees. Now cheer up. Life can't be all that bad." Ranma smiled grimly.
"Yeah, but I could have made it a lot better."
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The next instant Ranma found himself back in his old room covered in sweat.
"No...way...me...a low class wage slave?! I'm a martial artist! I can't live out my life like that!" He rushed to the window and began running to the cat café. Cologne had some explaining to do.
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Colenge smiled as she heard a certain someone crash into the garbage cans outside. She walked over to a table and poured herself a cup of tea to make it look like she hadn't been waiting for Ranma's arrival. A few seconds later he burst through the door.
"Old Ghoul! Tell me what I saw was a lie!" Cologne arched an eye brow.
"What, you don't like fish?" Ranma smashed his fist against the side of the doorframe, producing several large cracks.
"That's not funny!" Cologne motioned for him to sit down.
"Well if you'll stop destroying the place I'll explain. First of all tell me what question you asked."
"I asked what it would be like if Akane and I got married." Colonge nodded understandingly.
"I see, well that explains a lot. Ranma, the aite bahl doesn't lie. It always shows the future. But it also will only show you what you asked for. You asked it "What if?" you had married Akane and it showed you. But what if you decided to marry some one else, like, perhaps my great granddaughter? Well that would definitely change things around wouldn't it?"
"But I thought you said we can't escape fate."
"We can't, but who's to say that it was your fate to marry Akane? Fate is like a piece of cloth. Every action you make is like a piece of thread and enough actions will form a picture of your life. When I looked into the Aite Bahl I asked it "What will?" and saw you living with us back in China, happily teaching your children how to fight. That is why it is so dangerous; it will show you anything that you have ever wanted to know about your future depending on the choices you make." Ranma thought for a moment.
"And you're sure that you're not lying to me?" Cologne nodded solemnly.
"I'll swear by the spirits of our tribes ancestors and my honor as a warrior. What our artifact showed you will happen unless you change your course dramatically." Ranma nodded.
"Well, I kinda need some time to think about this. It's a lot you know." Cologne smiled.
"Take all the time you need. I'll just take back the aite bahl now."
"Huh?" Cologne frowned.
"Tell me that you did not just leave it unattended at your home." Ranma rubbed the back of his head.
"Well, yeah sorta." Cologne sighed in exasperation and called upstairs.
"Shampoo, Lo Shun! Get down here quickly!" A second later Shampoo and a girl with black hair that Ranma had never seen before appeared.
"Ranma let me introduce Shampoo's cousin. Lo Shun." The raven-haired beauty stared at Ranma's body and gave a low whistle.
"Lucky cousin. You wouldn't want to trade would you? How about my favorite spear? You always liked it." Shampoo shook her head and glomped onto Ranma's body.
"No way. Shampoo never give up on Ranma! She love him too too much!" Suddenly she felt Ranma put his arm around her shoulder and give a squeeze.
"Uh, I guess I like you too?" for a split second Shampoo froze and then her eye's rolled into the back of her head and she fell on the floor. Cologne began to cackle.
"Well son in law! It looks like you defeated her once again! That makes three times now!" Ranma was on his knees trying to make sure Shampoo was okay.
"What happened?!"
"Well, it seems to me that you caught her off guard. She's become so used to you pushing her away that actual acceptance was too much for her to process. She'll be fine in a few seconds." At that instant Shampoo came awake and struggled up.
"Ranma really love shampoo?"
"Uh well, yeah, I guess." Shampoo grinned.
"You prove by kissing Shampoo?" Ranma's eye's bugged out.
"Well okay, I guess." A few seconds later Shampoo was smiling even more.
"BONZAI!!!" She threw him over her shoulder and began to head towards the stairs.
"Shampoo what are you doing!?"
"Amazon wedding complete after groom kisses bride back. Now time for fun fun!"
"Fun fun? Wait…oh no…Shampoo! No! I…I can't! I mean I can but I…can't….It's too early!" Cologne tuned out the sound of ripping clothes and turned to Lotion.
"Well being a male he forgot to bring it back. You need to go to the Tendo dojo and find it. Do you remember what it looks like?" Lotion nodded her head.
"Well I did carrying the thing here from china so I should."
"Okay, good luck." Crk-A! Crk-A! Crk-A! Crk-A! Cologne looked at the ceiling puzzled. Since when did Shampoo's futon have springs?
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Back at the tendo's home Kasumi was feeling guilty. Poor Ranma now had a sore on his head because she had so carelessly walked into the hall. After getting some ice he had left for his room saying he had something to take care of and that he wasn't hungry which meant that his feelings must have really been hurt. She softly knocked on the door while holding a plate of food in her free hand.
"Ranma, are you in there?" No answer. After knocking a few more times she carefully slid open the door and looked around inside. Except for the open window the room was completely empty. Well, except for that black sphere on Ranma's bed.
"Hmmm, what's this?"
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Authors notes.
This idea came to me about a year ago and was originally going to be a one chapter fic showing where all of the cast would be in twenty years. I put it aside for awhile and then got the idea for a magic eight ball from a talking hot dog in a dream I had after eating to much on thanksgiving. NO JOKE! Anyway I'll try to finish editing the other chapter I wrote quickly but if I get enough reviews I'll make this story one of my priorities instead of just a side project.
Animeprime1@hotmail.com
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The scene opens on the Tendo dojo. Kasumi was in the kitchen cooking something, the fathers were playing their eternal game of Shoji, Nodoka was polishing her katana, Akane was breaking bricks in the dojo, Nabiki was doing accounting in her room and Ranma and Ryoga were fighting in the yard. Moving over across town Ukyou is seen making okonomiyaki in the shape of hearts while sighing dreamily and thinking about how she can get Ranma to fall in love with her. Shampoo drives by on her bike with a delivery case and Mouse following close behind proclaiming his love. Over at the Kuno mansion Kodachi is brewing potions while Kuno is sitting is his room trying to look noble. A typical scene in the Ranma universe that happens quite often. But peace never lasts for long.
Past choices of the future
A Ranma ½ fan fic by Animeprime
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"Ryoga, how many times are you going to keep attacking me like this?" Ranma stood over the black and wet body of an enraged piglet who was busy trying pull himself out of a fountain in a public park. With a squeal it fell back in and began to thrash about, spraying water everywhere especially on a certain raven-haired martial artist.
"Stupid little pig!" The now transformed Ranma's temper flared as red as his hair and Ryoga soon became one with the sky. Ranma-chan stood hunched over panting while she tried to calm down.
"Why does my life suck so much!!!"
"Because you won't marry my great grand-daughter." Ranma whirled around and growled at his next opponent.
"I'm tired, wet, and female old ghoul. Don't push your luck. Why on earth are you so fixed on seeing me and Shampoo together?!" Cologne hopped down from her stick and sat down on a nearby bench.
"Because you're the first person in a long time that's given me a good work out so I would feel bad if I were to just let you throw your life away with a bad decision."
"Why should I care about that, I'll just take over the Dojo and teach." Cologne arched an eye brow.
"That's what you think."Ranma snorted.
"Yeah right, how on earth would you know?" Cologne smiled.
"Just a little amazon fortune telling. You piqued my interest after you were able to learn the Chestnut Fist so quickly so I read your fortune. The way I see it there are two possible fates for you. You're either going to live a miserable life here or you're going to live a peaceful life in China."
"You haven't been exactly trustworthy Cologne so please don't be offended if I don't believe you." Ranma retorted sarcastically. "Besides, we make our own future. I'm not good at that math and science stuff but I know that mystic stuff is a load bull crap." Cologne poked Ranma-chan in the breast with her cane.
"You're living, bouncing proof to the contrary. The fact is, magic does exist and fortune telling is a precise but legitimate art. There is no way to change the predictions because if you try the fortuneteller will have seen your future altered. That is what fate truly is and why it is impossible to escape." A little subdued Ranma responded.
"Okay fine, but how did you see my future." Cologne smiled and reached inside her robes. A moment later she pulled out a large black sphere.
"Behold our amazon tribes greatest treasure. The great and magical Amazon Aite Bahl!" Ranma face faulted.
"You mean to tell me you saw my future in some stupid kids toy!" Cologne frowned.
"This is one of the most dangerous magical items in the world. When asked a question its answer is correct one hundred percent of the time and sometimes more. How else do you think I know where you are all the time?" Ranma shook his head.
"I still don't believe it." Cologne offered the orb to him.
"I'll swear on my honor as a martial artist that I'm not lying to you. Now take it home and try it. I know you'll find its answer most amusing."
"How do you know that old gho…oh." Cologne began to pogo back to the Cat Café.
"I'll see you latter tonight. And I'd tell you to duck when you get home except it won't do you any good. Put some ice on it if you don't want a permanent mark."
"Huh?"
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Ranma-chan warily stood outside the front door of the Tendo home steeling up his courage and reflexes. He quickly opened the door. Nothing happened so he cautiously began to sneak foreword. Suddenly Akane caught sight of him and growled.
"What are you doing Ranma?" Ranma jumped and landed in a crouched position.
"Nothing, why do you ask you stupid tomboy."
"Ranma no BAKA!!!" Akane swung out with he mallet but Ranma managed to duck just in time and roll to the side. Stupid old ghoul, looks like her fortune telling skills are as accurate as she is pretty. He pulled into a crouched position and was rising up quickly when he thought he felt his back rubbing against something soft and heard a gentle
"Oh my!" The next instant his head collided with something metallic and burning hot.
"ARHGGG!!"
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Ranma sat hunched over in his room grumbling. It turned out that he had stopped directly infront of Kasumi and as he had risen up he had brushed against her clothes. Before he could have stopped however his head had collided with the hot frying pan full of food she had been carrying to the dinning room. This led to a nasty combination burn/bruise on the top of his head, which he was trying to soothe with a bag of ice.
"I can't believe it, the old ghouls predictions came true. You really can't escape your fate." Nervously he picked up the fortune telling device and shook it. The window in the bottom turned black but then words began to appear.
-What do you want to know?-
"Well, what would my life be like if I really did marry Akane. I would just take over the dojo and live happily ever after right?" the letters disappeared and the appeared again.
-Well you got the first part right. Let me show you what will happen.- The next instant the ball began to glow white and the room was bathed in its bright light. For an instant Ranma felt as though he were being pulled out of his body and then there was blackness.
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Ranma sighed as he walked through the gates of the Tendo property. He looked sadly at the empty space where the dojo sign proclaiming that Anything Goes Martial Arts was taught here used to be. Martial arts in the twenty first century was limited to self defense and exercise. No more were dojo's scattered over Japan, having lost their money over the years or sold out to fitness companies. They hadn't had a challenger in ten years and he had finally stopped teaching the few students he had. He didn't understand why he and Akane even bothered to stay here, without the dojo it was only a huge piece of land that meant more taxes to pay that he couldn't afford. He walked down the walk and around the house to see the dojo, it was worn down and needed serious repair if it was going to ever be called a training hall again. And yet, as he pushed the creaky door to one side and walked into the building he remembered that this was the closest thing he had ever to a real home.
The house across the yard was just that, a house. This building with its history of practicing the art was the only place that he felt he could be at peace, the only place where he felt safe and happy. He unconsciously began to run through several complex kata, making his body conform to moves that he had ingrained into his mind over his years of fighting. Bringing himself to a stop he faced the family shrine and closed his eyes in meditation. Even if the place was rundown it was still the only place that could help him unwind from his days work and put his mind at peace. Suddenly his heightened senses picked up a person approaching from the house. He smiled, if the dojo was the place that calmed his mind the girl approaching was the person that could do the same thing. He felt her jump and lunge at him with a roar.
"I got you Daddy! Huh?" Ranma disappeared just as the little girl was six inches from grabbing him. She fell on her face and the felt a heavy weight on her back. She giggled and then laughed as Ranma began to tickle her from his sitting position on her back. He reflected that years ago his father would have beaten him and made him go with out supper if he had failed like this, but he had no intention of ever using any of his fathers training techniques again. He stopped the Anything Goes tickling match and ruffled the little girls red hair.
"How was your day Shinja?" the little seven year old that looked like a young version of Ranma's cursed form wiggled out from under her daddy and twirled around in a cute kimono
"Great! Granma Nodoka is coming over for supper so I get to dress up! And I got a hundred on my math test today." Ranma smiled and grabbed her in a bear hug.
"That's my little girl! I knew you could do it." Shinja giggled and then broke away in mock disgust.
"Eww! You still smell like fish!" Ranma's cheerful face fell a little. After he stopped teaching the art he had had to find a real job to support his family. Thanks to Genma's training trip Ranma had barely been able to pass through high school and his only real talents were martial arts. He could jump fifty feet in the air, form a ball of ki with out a second thought, fight against dragon humans and Phoenix gods, and what was the only job he was qualified for? Gutting fish in a sushi factory.
He didn't exactly enjoy ripping live fish in half and tearing out their organs all day but it paid the bills and he was good at it. The only problem was the smell of fish blood and guts that seemed to linger on him all of the time. That was the other reason he considered the dojo his true home. Akane could rarely stand the smell no matter how hard he scrubbed and he was often forced to sleep out here. He steered his daughter towards the house.
"Well if you don't want to smell like fish when you grow up you just keep getting those A's in school and stay out of trouble. Now let's go help your mother cook diner or we might not live to see tomorrow.
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Akane watched her "Husband" steer their daughter towards the house. She over heard his last comment and frowned. She tried hard to cook damnit! Why did he have to go and insult her every chance he got. She would just have to give him a piece of her mind when he came in. A loud bang followed by smoke echoed from inside the oven and she moved to turn it off. Even after fifteen years of marriage the only thing that she had learned to cook was rice. Ranma did most of the cooking when he was home but Akane still believed that all she needed was practice. Ranma and Shinja came through the door and she regarded him with a suspicious eye.
"You're late." Ranma reached into his pocket.
"Today was payday so I stopped by the bank." He handed her an envelope filled with yen that she quickly counted.
"There's money missing, did you take your girlfriend out for drinks again?" Ranma sighed.
"For the last time Akane, I don't have a girl friend. I put some in the college fund for Shin, we were behind for the month." Akane looked him over with a steely eye.
"You know that the mortgage payment is due in a week, how are we going to make it? Why do you insist on throwing our money away like this?! I never went to college and look how I turned out." Ranma took that as a sign that he was doing the right thing but knew that in a matter of minuets they were going to be in a massive brawl, Akane always got this way when she saw him take away so much money. Not wanting Shinja to see their fight he motioned for her to leave.
"I think I hear Granma coming, why don't you go and great her." Shinja nodded and scampered off, she knew that Granma probably wasn't there but it was better then seeing her parents fight. She leaned up against the gate and sighed, from the house she could hear her parents yelling at each other. Her eyes started to mist over a bit but she refused to cry. Suddenly she felt a soft hand on her shoulder and jumped.
"My goodness dearie, why are you so jumpy?" Shinja whirled around to look up into the elderly face of Nodoka Soatome. Time had taken its toll on the women, her formally red hair was now mostly gray, and her body had gotten a lot older and frailer then when she had first met Ranma. But her eyes still held a glimmer of happiness in them that instantly cheered Shinja up. She launched forward and latched onto Nodoka's legs.
"Granma!" Nodoka patted the little girl on the head and looked over to the house where the sound of fighting was becoming louder.
"Why don't we go for a walk around the block Shinja? I think that I could use some more fresh air." Shinja nodded and took her grandmothers hand as they walked out of the gate.
Soun, Genma, you two don't deserve to rest in peace with what you've done to our children.
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"Just admit it, you think I'm a failure!"
"Well duh! I was supposed to marry a martial artist! Not some fish worker! I sacrificed my future to be married to a creep that doesn't even hold up his end of the bargain!"
"You think I'M the one who broke the bargain. I was supposed to get a wife! Not some psycho kitchen destroyer. I would have been hundred times better off with Ukyou or Shampoo. Heck! I'd be happy to get Kodachi now! At least she admits to when she's poisoning some one." Akane slapped Ranma harder then normal across the face.
"YOU ARE SUCH A JERK!!! Get out of MY house!" Ranma grabbed his coat and turned to go.
"YOU CAN HAVE THIS DUMP!!! ITS ABSULOUTLY DISGUSTING!!! AND THAT'S COMING FROM A GUY WHO SPENDS HIS DAYS ELBOW DEEP IN GORE!!!" Ranma slammed the door so hard it snapped on of its hinges and began storming down the sidewalk. From around the corner Nodoka held her crying granddaughter in her arms and frowned.
Yes, you two old fools definitely don't deserve to rest in peace.
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Ranma sat in a bar trying to stare down a glass of sake.
"No matter how you try your still not going to get it to start boiling you know. Barkeep, I'll have what he's having." Ranma sourly smiled as the woman sat down and took a sip of her drink.
"Going cheep again huh? Let me guess, you want to get drunk fast and hard." Ranma nodded.
"Dulls the pain." He finished his glass and tapped it on the counter to signal for more.
"Work tough today?" The woman snorted.
"You're right there next to me, you should know." Ranma smiled a little less cynically. In all his adult life he had only managed to make one true and lasting friend. Her name was Ryoko and she worked next to him at the factory scaling the fish and then handing them over. After nearly ten years of working together with out being able to talk they had developed a unique kind of friendship that didn't need words to communicate what they were feeling.
"So what was it about this time? Money, family, cooking?" Ranma finished his drink but then frowned. Apparently this brand was cheap because it was watered down, not because it tasted bad and was mostly alcohol.
"All three." Ryoko whistled.
"Wow, sounds like you're in the dog house for at least the next week."
"Yep." He put some bills on the counter to pay for his and Ryoko's drink and turned to leave.
"See you tomorrow. I'm going to try and see if Benny can put me up for the night."
"His family is sick with the flu. Remember, he wasn't at work today." Ranma frowned.
"Then I'll try Fujimotos." Ryoko flicked a piece of lint off her shirt.
"He's throwing a bachelor party at his house for Takeda. No chance of sleep there." Ranma rolled his eyes.
"Great, he was my third option. Well, looks like it's the Hobo Suit of the under-the-bridge hotel for me." Ryoko finished her drink and picked up her coat.
"How about the Sofa Suit of the Ryoko Hilton instead?" Ranma shook his head.
"I couldn't do that. you put me up two weeks ago remember?" Ryoko patted him on the back.
"This isn't about you. Every time you lose a night of sleep we have a fish pile up the next day and the boss yells at us. I'm just trying to do a courtesy for the other employees. Now cheer up. Life can't be all that bad." Ranma smiled grimly.
"Yeah, but I could have made it a lot better."
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The next instant Ranma found himself back in his old room covered in sweat.
"No...way...me...a low class wage slave?! I'm a martial artist! I can't live out my life like that!" He rushed to the window and began running to the cat café. Cologne had some explaining to do.
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Colenge smiled as she heard a certain someone crash into the garbage cans outside. She walked over to a table and poured herself a cup of tea to make it look like she hadn't been waiting for Ranma's arrival. A few seconds later he burst through the door.
"Old Ghoul! Tell me what I saw was a lie!" Cologne arched an eye brow.
"What, you don't like fish?" Ranma smashed his fist against the side of the doorframe, producing several large cracks.
"That's not funny!" Cologne motioned for him to sit down.
"Well if you'll stop destroying the place I'll explain. First of all tell me what question you asked."
"I asked what it would be like if Akane and I got married." Colonge nodded understandingly.
"I see, well that explains a lot. Ranma, the aite bahl doesn't lie. It always shows the future. But it also will only show you what you asked for. You asked it "What if?" you had married Akane and it showed you. But what if you decided to marry some one else, like, perhaps my great granddaughter? Well that would definitely change things around wouldn't it?"
"But I thought you said we can't escape fate."
"We can't, but who's to say that it was your fate to marry Akane? Fate is like a piece of cloth. Every action you make is like a piece of thread and enough actions will form a picture of your life. When I looked into the Aite Bahl I asked it "What will?" and saw you living with us back in China, happily teaching your children how to fight. That is why it is so dangerous; it will show you anything that you have ever wanted to know about your future depending on the choices you make." Ranma thought for a moment.
"And you're sure that you're not lying to me?" Cologne nodded solemnly.
"I'll swear by the spirits of our tribes ancestors and my honor as a warrior. What our artifact showed you will happen unless you change your course dramatically." Ranma nodded.
"Well, I kinda need some time to think about this. It's a lot you know." Cologne smiled.
"Take all the time you need. I'll just take back the aite bahl now."
"Huh?" Cologne frowned.
"Tell me that you did not just leave it unattended at your home." Ranma rubbed the back of his head.
"Well, yeah sorta." Cologne sighed in exasperation and called upstairs.
"Shampoo, Lo Shun! Get down here quickly!" A second later Shampoo and a girl with black hair that Ranma had never seen before appeared.
"Ranma let me introduce Shampoo's cousin. Lo Shun." The raven-haired beauty stared at Ranma's body and gave a low whistle.
"Lucky cousin. You wouldn't want to trade would you? How about my favorite spear? You always liked it." Shampoo shook her head and glomped onto Ranma's body.
"No way. Shampoo never give up on Ranma! She love him too too much!" Suddenly she felt Ranma put his arm around her shoulder and give a squeeze.
"Uh, I guess I like you too?" for a split second Shampoo froze and then her eye's rolled into the back of her head and she fell on the floor. Cologne began to cackle.
"Well son in law! It looks like you defeated her once again! That makes three times now!" Ranma was on his knees trying to make sure Shampoo was okay.
"What happened?!"
"Well, it seems to me that you caught her off guard. She's become so used to you pushing her away that actual acceptance was too much for her to process. She'll be fine in a few seconds." At that instant Shampoo came awake and struggled up.
"Ranma really love shampoo?"
"Uh well, yeah, I guess." Shampoo grinned.
"You prove by kissing Shampoo?" Ranma's eye's bugged out.
"Well okay, I guess." A few seconds later Shampoo was smiling even more.
"BONZAI!!!" She threw him over her shoulder and began to head towards the stairs.
"Shampoo what are you doing!?"
"Amazon wedding complete after groom kisses bride back. Now time for fun fun!"
"Fun fun? Wait…oh no…Shampoo! No! I…I can't! I mean I can but I…can't….It's too early!" Cologne tuned out the sound of ripping clothes and turned to Lotion.
"Well being a male he forgot to bring it back. You need to go to the Tendo dojo and find it. Do you remember what it looks like?" Lotion nodded her head.
"Well I did carrying the thing here from china so I should."
"Okay, good luck." Crk-A! Crk-A! Crk-A! Crk-A! Cologne looked at the ceiling puzzled. Since when did Shampoo's futon have springs?
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Back at the tendo's home Kasumi was feeling guilty. Poor Ranma now had a sore on his head because she had so carelessly walked into the hall. After getting some ice he had left for his room saying he had something to take care of and that he wasn't hungry which meant that his feelings must have really been hurt. She softly knocked on the door while holding a plate of food in her free hand.
"Ranma, are you in there?" No answer. After knocking a few more times she carefully slid open the door and looked around inside. Except for the open window the room was completely empty. Well, except for that black sphere on Ranma's bed.
"Hmmm, what's this?"
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Authors notes.
This idea came to me about a year ago and was originally going to be a one chapter fic showing where all of the cast would be in twenty years. I put it aside for awhile and then got the idea for a magic eight ball from a talking hot dog in a dream I had after eating to much on thanksgiving. NO JOKE! Anyway I'll try to finish editing the other chapter I wrote quickly but if I get enough reviews I'll make this story one of my priorities instead of just a side project.
Animeprime1@hotmail.com