Chapter 1
I awoke with a start... my attention drawn first to the wall where a familiar katana hung... I then looked around the room, still feeling a bit dazed and out of it... dining room, kitchen, back yard. I felt a small stinging pain in my head and touched it lightly... my hand came away with a sticky red. I pushed off the floor, leaving a small red print there. Dizzily I walked to the kitchen sink to get myself some water, hoping it would chase away the nauseous feeling in the pit of my stomach. When I reached the counter I was surprised and shocked to find that it was too high for me to reach. Still in a dream like daze I tried climbing up but I just fell flat on my butt. Suddenly a man came in. "Ukyou? Hun, where-", he stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes widened when he saw the blood. "Honey!", he cried as he rushed over...I was surprised when I was easily picked up and lifted high. It made me feel even worse, like I was about to hurl...
He immediately rushed out of the house... I was so out of it that I barely noticed where we were going. I could see huge bare trees scraping the sky, next to the house we'd just left. A few houses down he quickly turned into a building, a clinic I think. "Doc! Come quick! Ukyou got hurt!" In seconds there was a man in a white doctor's coat next to us and we were quickly lead to the examination room. After I was checked over the doc spoke to the man. "Don't worry about it... She should be fine... just a minor concussion that would have meant little to nothing if she were a bit older... all the blood's just from a small cut on her head..." "She'll be okay?", asked the man in a strained voice. "She'll be fine, nothing to worry about. I suggest you start training her in your art through... she needs to build up some resistance to damage... she's such a wild child, she'll get hurt more often than not.
Something in my mind clicked that they were talking about me but I was still to disoriented to notice... "I gave her a little something to help her sleep...We shouldn't move her too far right now so I suggest she sleep here...she'll be right as rain when she wakes up." Dizzily I closed my eyes and nodded off... focusing on my surroundings was too much effort right now. "You should take some of these... It'll help lower your blood pressure...If your not careful..." I slept...
When I woke up I found myself wrapped up in a small blanket. My head hurt like hell but at least I wasn't dizzy anymore. I looked around myself and my eyes widened in shock...The world seemed to be larger than I remembered. Like I was suddenly shrunk down a few sizes...There was a large framed decorating mirror on the wall above me in the waiting room. Slowly I stood and razed myself up in the couch I'd been sleeping on.
I almost jumped away in shock when a curious and unfamiliar three year old face came into view... a three year old girl, for that matter. 'WHa!', I looked at the image in shock touching my nose and watching her touch her nose as well. 'This is impossible!', I cried mentally. My mind vaguely played the sounds I'd heard before I'd fallen asleep. 'Ukyou, I'm... Ukyou?' I raised my hand and placed it against the mirror, surprised at how small it seemed... I wanted to curl up and cry tears of horror and shock... even though I'd been dreaming of being young again, to start over, I didn't really want this... Did I? Some part of me felt relieved... This was a second chance at life... Another chance to live, 'Don't make the same mistakes twice.', I thought, nodding to myself confidently. 'I'll do it...I'll be a better person this time.'
The man from before walked into the room. "Ukyou! You're awake." "Ah... Hello...", I said... "Are you my daddy?" 'Have to play the part right.', I thought to myself, not sure if I wanted to believe this yet, 'Well, it's either that or my body's in an asylum somewhere and I'm insane but I like this option better.' The man pushed me back and held me out in front of him. "You-you don't remember me?" I shook my head, making my chestnut locks sway... I winched a bit at the pain it caused...
It was a while later that I escaped that annoying over-sterilized place. Dad had to go talk to the doctor about my supposed amnesia. The doc told him it was nothing to worry about since most people only started forming solid memories at age four. It was probably just an effect of the trauma... or something like that... I think he's an idiot... If another child had lost it's memories due to head trauma, I'd take them to the hospital right away... He seemed nice though...
Dad started training me in martial arts the next day... He took up the doctor's advice and started taking blood pressure medication. I later learnt that he, well actually we ,since it was in my name as well, owned a string of restaurants called Ucchan's, he'd affectionately named it after me. We were quite well off, even though Dad still kept on cooking okonamiyaki. The memories of the Ranma 1/2 anime I'd loved in my previous life, tugged at the back of my mind with these new revelations though I dismissed them for now... It didn't matter.
Dad taught me well, though it was my grandfather that taught me the more advanced techniques of our ninja clan. Apparently our family had once been the most loyal protectors of the some of the most important people in Japan. Grandpa taught me about a lot of things...illusion(which is really hard!), shuriken, bare handed combat, weapons combat, disguise and some of the more secret techniques of my family, like ki manipulations, transformations(easier than illusions but still hard) and empathy. Some of the techniques I could only barely accomplish even after a year of intensive training.
I think empathy is one of the techniques I used the most the ability to make other feel what you felt was quite a gift. I could never master feeling other's emotions though, no matter how I longed for it... the ability usually got animals to like me in at first sight... and I made many friends among the wildlife in the area... I wasn't interested in the kids around the district though... their little games bored me, I'd rather just sit around and stare off into nature, with my favorite pet, a small falcon named Racon.
One of the main concepts of our art was okonamiyaki. Dad made sure I knew the meaning of our art through intensive training. He eventually forced me to use his old stall to sell some of my creations... called it an important lesson in life. 'How can you take over the enterprise if you don't get experience in the field...', he'd always said before grandfather had died and he'd become sickly... He had a weak heart and barely even go outside anymore. I was only six at the time through but I obeyed without hesitation because I was afraid of upsetting him. Of course, that's when the little black haired boy appeared and started stealing all the food I was making... Once more the old memories of an anime I'd loved long ago came to the forefront of my mind. The memories were vague and I could only barely remember the plotline. It was at that time that I'd decided to write down what I could remember.
Whenever Ranma came around I always found the food I was cooking blurring and then disappearing. I always looked up into his innocent and carefree face...I couldn't blame him for what he was doing... instead I found I actually started enjoying his visits. He was one of the few kids I've met that actually seemed interesting. At first I didn't trust him though... I still had some doubt in people that lingered around from my previous life... but Ranma was different... he... he had this aura of innocence about him that made my heart skip a beat every time I saw him. The 'food stealing' quickly turned into a game where I would try and catch him before he got the food and then chase him when he had it. Of course I held back tons... (AN: Just being arrogant.) what's the fun if you keep winning, besides, it'd hurt his pride if he were to be beaten by a girl. I always taunted him by showing off and moving chasing after him with the same prowess he displayed. He never seemed to notice though. In less that two weeks we were such good friends that we played together each day... I loved being around him... it was like he chased away all my troubles and fears. I could forget about the world when I was with him...I was just a normal kid having fun.
I took him and Genma to meet my dad. I'm not sure what happened with those two but eventually my dad told me I had to go with them when they left. I was overjoyed...It was great fun being with Ranma and I'd give anything to make the feeling last. Of course… I was worried about my dad but he assured me that I needed the world experience.
Playing with Ranma really helped me learn more about martial arts that I'd thought was possible at my age. Sometimes I'd even train secretly by myself just to get that extra boost... I don't know why but for some reason dad never put me in school even though I was already six... I think it might be because he expected me to go with Ranma. The doctor came to visit dad almost every day now... I walked outside to my yattai for another day of working before play. But when I got there I saw Genma picking up the yattai and walking. "Hey! What're you doing!", I cried. "Go away kid.", said Genma. "Your dad gave us this." "But he said you'd take me with you!", I cried. Suddenly Genma was off...I started off after him but stubbed my toe and fell to the ground, dirtying my clothes. I got up immediately and started running after them, trying to ignore the pain. Even with the yattai he was a bit faster than me so as I ran after him I couldn't catch up. I saw Ranma sitting on top of the yattai idly waving at me... "Ranma!", I cried. "I'm supposed to go with you!" He didn't respond and only kept waving. "Ranma!", I cried, tears already streaming down my face.
He just sat there... "I TRUSTED YOU!", I cried before stopping dead in my tracks...and fixing a glare on the little boy, tears still streaming down my face and my heart catching in my throat. Betrayed again... by the first person I'd trusted in over nine years. He seemed shocked for a second but then they were gone, over the hill and around the bend. Never trust anyone... they only think of themselves...I tried to envision of it from Ranma's point of view but he had to know what he was doing to me...right? Or was he mentally disabled?
I slowly headed back home with a depression clinging to my heart... When I went into my dad's room the doctor looked up, shocked... "What happened to you!", he asked as he moved over and dusted off my clothes. "Ranma...left me behind.", I said, tears streaming down my face. "He just left and he took my yattai too..." I collapsed into tears and the doctor hugged me. I missed Ranma...even through I'd misplaced my trust in him I'd known he would have to leave someday... Though I'd wanted to believe that this time around things would be different from the animè I'd remembered… It was only an animè after all… this was real life... Weren't we best friends? How could he do this to me?
"That bastard!", cried my father as he sat upright in bed...suddenly he clutched his chest and a distressed expression appeared on his face. The doctor immediately knew what was going on. "Ukyou! Call an ambulance!", he cried as he went over to my father's side. I was shocked and for a moment I couldn't move. But his urgent gestures spurred me on as I rushed out of the room and into the hallway, grabbing the phone and quickly dialing the local hospital. The number was next to the phone in case of emergencies.
"Hello!", I cried. "My dad's having a heart attack!", I cried into the phone before rambling off the address. I quickly ran back to the room to see if he was gonna be alright. But when I got there the doctor turned his face to me with a solemn expression. "No...", I mumbled. "Sorry...I couldn't save him... he's gone.", said the doctor... I slumped to the floor feeling numb... 'This can't be... he can't be gone...', the strain was too much on my mind as I fainted into darkness.
When I woke up I was in the clinic on one of the examination beds...The doctor came in... "Ukyou... I'm sorry..." I just looked down, refusing to meet his eyes. He continued, "Your father assigned someone named Genma as your legal guardian for after his death..." I nodded my head... "If he doesn't show up you'll be placed in and orphanage. You did inherit a lot of money and company shares from your father, though you'll only be able to use it when you reach sixteen.", he said... though by this point he was talking more to himself than me. "I'm leaving.", I interrupted him. He looked surprised. "I'm going after Genma." "Ukyou, you can't! It's dangerous for someone as young as you to be wondering the country alone. I can try to take care of you. My income isn't enough but I can find another job." "I'm ninja...I can take care of myself...don't try to stop me. Besides… I wouldn't want to impose on you… I'd rather be on my own." He knew he had little say in the matter and that my mind had been made up. "At least stay until after the funeral." I shook my head. "I can't waste time... they're too far ahead of me already. I'll find Genma and make him pay for what he did. Could you make sure dad's buried near mom. He always said he'd wanted that." He nodded.
I jumped off the bed and walked out of the room, heading towards home... the entire world seemed dull around me and I barely responded when Racon landed on my shoulder. Entering my home I headed to my father's room and took out our camping packs... Mine was too small so I took his...My small form was barely tall enough to hold it off the ground. I packed in the portable stove and grabbed some food from the fridge and freezer. I also got myself a tent and packed it in. When I was done and heading out the door I took a last look back and something caught my eye. The blade...the katana that gave me this life... I almost hated it for what it'd done to me but somehow I couldn't blame it for what happened. I walked over and pulled it off the wall, slinging it over my back... then I was out the door... The doctor came running up. "Ukyou... huff I want you to take this.", he said, handing me a thick roll of bills. My eyes widened at the amount of money. "I can't-" "Just take it. You can pay me back when you're older... Just make sure this doesn't get stolen or seen. Okay?" I nodded before slipping it into a dimensional pocket.
I reached up and gave him a last hug. Then I turned and left, not looking back... trying to fight back the tears that sprung up in my eyes. I resolved to return someday to give my father a proper goodbye.
The days passed quickly as I became more used to the traveling. I visited a lot of shrines and a few ninja holds... You had to be born a ninja to recognize the signs they left out. Sometimes a small dragon on a picture frame behind a counter or a variety of other things. All I had to do was just say the name of my clan and I was welcomed with open arms. Of course I paid my way with my okonamiyaki skills but that was besides the point. The ninja community over Japan lived in complete secret from the rest of the world so no normal person would find them...I trained among some of them and they taught me better techniques. Better to take my revenge out on Genma… It was his fault my dad died… I'd make him pay. Somehow, even if I didn't trust Ranma anymore, I couldn't think of hurting him. One thing I know about myself is that, once I'm loyal, I stay loyal, no matter what they do to me. Maybe it's because I'm reluctant to deviate from my first impressions of people…
In-between my destinations there were always long periods of time where I was alone. I've tried to cope with it as well as constantly moving from one place to another without settling down. Though... it pained me still... to have no real home or family. Luckily I still had Racom to keep me company or I'd have gone insane from loneliness. I wrote to the doc about my travels each chance I got. If I stuck around in an area long enough I sent an address to which he could send return letters. Sometimes I'd even have some people pick up the mail for me and read it to me over the phone.
I never did find them though Genma and Ranma though… They always seemed to elude my grasp with their random wanderings... Though sometimes I wonder if it wasn't a clever ploy by Genma to throw of pursuers. Sometimes I got the feeling that I wasn't to only one on their trail but I never met anyone really suspicious, though some random faces always seemed vaguely familiar in every town I visited.
(Ten Years after leaving home, age fifteen)
It was halfway through my fifteenth year that I reached the Amazon village in China. I'd lost the Saotome's trail somewhere in Japan when they headed into an unpopulated part of the country I wandered for months before I remembered that they'd be heading to China at some point before their final destination, Nerima… Knowing that Ranma would come China was half the battle… Getting there was the hard part though… I had to save up enough money for passage on a ship, luckily with the last of my savings I was able to barter passage. Ever since I'd realized my destination would be China I'd taken it upon myself to learn Chinese. While my Chinese wasn't very good, by the time I reached the Amazon village, it was passable. After explaining my situation to elder Cologne, I was taken under her wing and it wasn't long before I was inducted into the tribe as and honorary Amazon.
One thing I didn't want was for the Amazons to make Ranma's life even more complicated that it already was, so as a birthday request, an ancient Amazon tradition among the women, I asked that the families Saotome and Tendo to be placed under my jurisdiction. I would take responsibility for their actions if they endangered our tribe and in return they would be excluded from the kiss of death. Of course the kiss of marriage was still valid but there was nothing I could do about that but make sure Ranma beat me instead of Shampoo or rather not fight at all. Since it was my sixteenth birthday, the money my father had left me was open for use, the only problem was that... I didn't need it. I was in China after all and what good would it do in a remote village where the concept of modern money was foreign?
It's really great being a Amazon warrior. The men take care of the women while the women train, all day long in all kinds of different things. That didn't mean the women didn't work though… They really did do their share around the village. Seeing as I was the last of my clan and therefore it's head... I had the right to train anyone in the techniques of my family. I gave a lot of the scrolls containing basic ninja skills to Cologne, I only kept a few of the forbidden techniques and some personal favorites that I wanted to be kept within my family... not that I thought I'd ever have any. One requirement for the usage of the scrolls was to pledge to never use it to kill anyone or hinder their freedom of choice. It was another little step I made in eradicating the insane rules of the Amazon Nation. Besides other countries became plenty strong already and you didn't see the Amazons going off to kill the American president did you? Or the scientists that discovered the atomic bomb. You can't kill someone just because they're stronger than you… To me it was just wrong.
The one thing I made sure of though... was to stay as far away from Jusenkyo as possible... I never set foot outside the village in that direction. I mean... there are so many springs there that I could easily fall in one that would make my life a literal hell, like 'spring of the drowned snail' or something. 'Blech'
Over time, Shampoo and I became like sisters. The harsh training the both of us received from Cologne only furthered sisterly love we had for each other… It was something we had in conman a burden we both shared. I eventually started talking to Cologne about my theories on psychology and human nature. She was great fun to talk with and encouraged my questions about the universe and how it works. I almost felt like I had family again but then... Did I really? The village was a great place... I was even idealized by some of the children since a ninja was a rare thing in a village that wasn't known for subtlety. It was really funny watching them try to copy my techniques. I could watch them all day... I loved them from the bottom of my heart, they reminded me so much of what Ranma and myself that it brought tears to my eyes. I missed him deeply... Somehow he was the only real friend I'd ever had... he was so... different from all the rest. I've said it before and I'll say it again, he was special… One in a million.
It was the day of the yearly tournament and I had to test out the skills Cologne had taught me. It was strange, you know, that Shampoo didn't know any of the special skills that Cologne knew even though I judged her to be skilled enough to learn some of those techniques... She was supposed to become the matriarch, wasn't she? Well I didn't think about it too much.
Shampoo and I moved through the tournament with grace and in the end... the last round we were facing each other. The tournament had no actual rules and had been quite violent, but because of that I could use my extra skills and that gave me an edge over Shampoo. Illusion had become one of my favorite techniques when I finally succeeded in creating a clone of myself. It was funny that she never figured out the weakness of the technique, an illusion could easily be seen through if you probed it with a miniscule amount of ki. Even at our level it was possible, but whenever she saw two of my she panicked for some reason... she potential to be one of the greatest fighters though.
Her attack went right through my illusion and struck the wooden log we'd been standing on. It shattered... not broke but shattered. I quickly clung to one of the chains, not wanting to fall to the floor. Shampoo on the other hand wasn't so lucky... I guess she was still in shock from seeing her attack pass through me.
I smirked as she touched the ground and I was proclaimed the winner. Shampoo didn't take loosing quite so lightly though... she promised, with gusto, that she'd train harder and beat me in the next fight. (What? Did you think she was gonna disobey Amazon law and attack me outside of the tournament?) I dropped down, panting from the exertion of the fights, glad they were finally over. I looked over to my prize and gasped, I'd been so absorbed in the fight that I'd forgotten about the two intruders. There they stood, gorging themselves at my table. I tapped my foot. I mean, I would have understood if they'd asked to join us for the feast but to just do that! What were they thinking. "Guards!", I called out in a moment of anger and the pair was quickly surrounded by women who held spears to their necks. My heart leapt a little in fear for my friends life... I was afraid 'she' might try to fight them off. I walked over to the two, trying to appear tough, though in my chest my heart was racing and my stomach was doing flips. A few thoughts slipped through my mind as I stared at those familiar stormy blue eyes… 'Does he remember me? Will he recognize me? Is he sorry for hurting me or...?'
"That food belonged to me the tribe. You have stained my honor by taking what doesn't belong to you.", I stated harshly towards the two in Japanese. "Um, we were hungry...", said Ranma with her hand sheepishly behind her head. "What are you going to do about this?", I asked them calmly, trying to take charge of my beating heart... "It was first prize for tournament, sirs...", stated the Guide who quickly backed down at my glare. "So? If I beat the winner, there's no problem, right?" I shook my head...This was just not what I wanted..."It was an Amazon tournament. The prize does not belong to you outsider...Whether you beat the winner or not!"
You scared? , taunted Shampoo. I'm not! Little Ukyou is scared of being beaten by a puny outsider! I don't quite know what came over me then but I have to say I acted like a real idiot then...I was still exhausted from the fight and I barely had enough power to conjure up a small illusion, but still I didn't back down. I can beat her with my hands tied behind my back! , I cried angrily. I could see Shampoo's smirk, Prove it. I knew then that I couldn't back down...I'd been challenged and I had no way of avoiding it. "Fine.", I stated. "Let's fight."
With Cologne as the judge we squared off, right then and there... When I stumbled a bit, a concerned look appeared on Shampoo's face. "Sirs, is very bad you fight Amazon." I shook my head and ignored my surroundings, concentrating on chasing away my fatigue. I took a ready stance and waited for the signal... In a split second we were off. Ranma had incredible speed, quite a bit higher than my normal speed but at least ten times slower than my fastest ki-enhanced 'speed burst'. I tried concentrating on Colognes lessons as Ranma rushed at me. Read their movements... one problem Ranma was almost impossible to read. I analyzed her fighting style... Her punches were really interesting to see close up. Her movements fooled you into thinking she was going for one spot when she was actually going for another. I managed to block the first of her onslaught with some difficulty. I smiled as her fist struck the bracer on my left wrist and she winched in pain.
When she backed away I realized that she wanted me to attack. From what I could see in her style she was almost unreachable. The only thing that could win against that was a higher level of speed and strength. I was thinking this while adapting different stances to counter the art she was using. I surged the last bit of effort into my movements and sped off at my tops speed. To most it appeared like I was disappearing. Ranma did follow my movements though she didn't have enough time to counter when she realized what I was doing. I sped past her then ricocheted of the ground with a powerful kick that struck her in the middle of her back.
The small red head was sent flying as she crashed into the outer wall, sending up dust everywhere. With sweat dripping from my forehead I fell to one knee, gasping for breath. The people cheered but I didn't hear them...I just kept looking at the debris, hoping that she was beaten but fearing she was hurt. The dull thudding heartbeat in my head blocked out all sounds around me as I waited...but then the world started spinning...and fading away. Blackness engulfed me as I couldn't fight fatigue any longer.
END