Looming Thunderheads Disclaimer: Characters and setting are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, I'm just borrowing them for a little non-profit fun.

Thanks for the feedback: Wonderbee31, Jerry Unipeg, Hououza, glazedlookineyes101, Jackalson, Shinigami, dogbertcarroll, Tai Khan, ikari shinji

"Auntie Nodoka!"

Genma's survival instincts sent him diving for the koi pond with a speed that exceeded thought.

Genma grumbled unintelligibly about timing as the panda checked on the slight girl in his arms. Ranma had finally started calming down. He had still been clinging to his father like a small child, but he'd stopped sobbing and Genma had been hoping for an explanation, now this happened. Still, it wasn't like he'd be able to do anything to help. Nodoka would be too busy sharpening her sword to help with Ranma, but Ranko was a different story. Nodoka's peculiarities shouldn't prevent her from comforting a girl-child.

Genma growled interrogatively at the redhead in his arms. He wished he had a paw free to write on one of his signs.

"Not Mom." Ranma-chan whispered. Her fist twisted in the panda's fur. Genma couldn't help but notice that Ranma's female form was roughly the same size as the boy had been as a twelve-year-old.

"Auntie Nodoka, Ranko hasn't been acting like her normal self. She won't talk about it. I'm really worried about her."

"Little Sis, Mrs. Saotome doesn't need to deal with our family troubles."

"Come on Nabiki, Ranko practically sees Auntie Nodoka as her mom."

"We don't want to bother her."

"It's no bother, I want to help. Ranko-chan has always been so lively. I hate the thought of something making her unhappy."

Genma winced; if the boy pulled any harder he was going to have bald patches in his fur. He'd had fun raising the boy and he wanted to do the right thing but not if it put him on the wrong end of Nodoka's sword. No-chan wouldn't really use her sword on a harmless representative of an endangered species, would she?

"Ho, ho ho! My darling Ranma, it is I, your Black Rose!" The leotard clad girl leapt on to the roof as she scattered handfuls of rose petals.

"Rrrowll!!" Genma roared at the girl. Didn't she know this wasn't a good time for annoyances.

"What are you doing here my twisted sister?" The bokken wielding idiot clambered over the wall after his sister. His eyes widened. "Vile beast, unhand my Pig-tail Girl!"

Genma glanced around the yard. His child was shaking. The fool couldn't have taken the boy on his best day. But… he'd never noticed how small the boy's female-form was before and Ranma had lost so much weight since he'd stopped eating. Genma had sparred with his son not thirty minutes earlier. Based on that match he'd bet on Ranma finishing off the kendoist in under fifteen seconds. If Nabiki had let him bet on his son's fights that was, she always claimed he had too much insider information…

Only whatever was wrong with his boy, the worst of the hurt wasn't physical and the Kuno boy was somehow tied to that invisible injury. Genma gulped as he remembered that it was Kuno who'd triggered one of Ranma's recent Nekoken episodes. The cat-persona had never liked Genma and the way he was holding his son Ranma was inside all of his defenses. Dropping the boy wasn't really an option, not with the death grip Ranma had on his fur. Vision of being gutted danced in Genma's imagination.

There had to be a way out of this… Akane! His marvelous, future daughter-in-law, she made a regular practice of giving the idiot flying lessons. Genma leapt toward the house and the sounds of approaching voices.

"Panda-san! Ranko!" Nodoka brushed past Nabiki and hurried toward her disguised family. Ukyo wandered along behind her with a dazed look on her face.

"I suppose I should prepare for more company." Kasumi commented as she glanced around the yard. "They always seem to come at the worst time." Soun nodded, it did seem to be shaping up to be one of those days.

Akane stormed out of the house toward Kuno only to be intercepted by Kodachi. "Wretched girl, you've ensnared my idiot brother, how dare you keep my Ranma-darling from me?"

"Your Ranma? You're crazy!"

"Why them?" Nabiki asked the heavens.

"Pig-tailed Girl I, Kuno Tatewaki, shall save you from that loathsome creature."

As the would-be samurai rushed forward Nabiki stepped between him and the Saotomes. She grabbed Kuno's sleeve. "That 'loathsome creature' is her beloved pet." She hissed. "Look at her mother, does she seem alarmed?"

"The Pig-tailed Girl's mother?" Surprise brought Kuno to a complete stop. "Now that you mention it, I do see a resemblance to my elusive love. I must make her acquaintance!"

"Not now! She's ill; her mother has traveled a great distance to see her. This is not the time for intrusions on the family."

"A lady like that married to Saotome Genma?" Ukyo exclaimed out of the blue. She pointed at Nodoka with disbelief in her eyes.

"Ranma-darling's mother?" Kodachi asked as she hoped off the roof to introduce herself.

"Me thought you said she was the Pig-tailed Girl's mother." Kuno said.

Both Kunos turned to Nabiki. She pulled them into a huddle and hid a grin as inspiration struck. "Ranma and the Pig-Tailed Girl, Ranko, are twins." She told them.

"I do believe you said they were of one mind and one body. Saotome is more perverse than even I suspected."

"Get your mind out of the gutter Kuno-baby. Haven't you ever heard of a twin link? Your Pig-tailed Girl feels each and every blow you land against Ranma; vise versa for you Kodachi. You can't hurt one without doing equal harm to the other. Honor precluded them from telling you this, knowing of your respective rivalries how could either of them burden you with the knowledge that you were as good as attacking your true love? There would be no honor in a rivalry where you bore such a severe handicap. Alas the days when such niceties could be afforded are past. The Saotome twins, Ranma and Ranko, have suffered a grievous wound to the spirit. They tether on the edge, a small push to either may very well said both tumbling into the abyss. So you two need to cut the crap right now."

"I shall have to consider this." Kuno announced then sat cross-legged in the garden and assumed a meditative expression.

"Not here you moron!" Nabiki exclaimed and was ignored.

"If I marry my darling-Ranma that red-haired harridan will become my sister-in-law?" Kodachi pondered.

"Yes!" Nabiki quickly replied. She felt a glimmer of hope.

"I had already resigned myself to the thought of my idiot brother successfully wooing her… Ranma-darling, where are you?"

Nabiki turned to the wall and banged her forehead against it.

"Ranko-chan?" Nodoka reached up to stroke the girl's cropped hair. Ranma cringed away from her. Nodoka's hand dropped to her side, her eyes filled with hurt and worry.

Genma was bombarded with flashbacks to Ranma's infancy.

Tears streamed down No-chan's cheeks, a knife gleamed in her hand. "I've tried everything. He won't stop crying, boys aren't supposed to cry."

The composed, beautiful, traditional, young wife he'd married had disappeared. She left behind a frazzled, overwhelmed teenager who had moved far from her family and was operating under too much stress and too little sleep.

"I'm raising him wrong. I have to reclaim honor. Daddy said it was on my head if I'd made a mistake. I was going to show them my perfect little boy then they'd understand I was right but he cries all the time and… and…"

Genma edged away from the knife. At the last moment he reached out and snatched his infant son as well. "No-chan, why don't you go talk to Himiko, she always makes you feel better doesn't she?"

Nodoka wiped at her tear-filled eyes and nodded.

"I… I'll take Ranma on a little training trip for a few days. You can't just expect him to be born knowing how to behave. Boys have to learn these things from their fathers." Genma offered a tentative smile as the knife was lowered. He couldn't wait to get out of the house.

"Panda-san, may I see Ranko?" Nodoka asked. She shifted the cloth-covered bundle containing her katana into the crook of her arm.

Genma shook his head as he sided away from her. The passage of time seemed to have stabilized Nodoka in many respects, but the years of isolation hadn't done much to erode her unique definitions of honor. She still had that damn note and Genma was fairly certain she was still waiting for her perfect son to bring back to her parents and school friends.

It occurred to Genma that they all put so much on Ranma's shoulders. Genma's life unless Ranma redeemed his promise to his wife, the future of Soun's dojo, Nodoka's redemption for her one rebellion against tradition and her parents, ten wasted years of Ukyo Kuonji's life and the key to regaining face in front of her family, 3000 years of Chinese Amazon tradition in the form of a withered old crone and her beautiful lavender-haired great granddaughter. Ranma was the pivotal point in the Kuno siblings' warped perception of reality, defeating him was Mousse's last hope for winning Shampoo's heart. His presence in the house was a source of cash for Nabiki, his and Ryoga's rivalry gave the lost boy's otherwise directionless life purpose and Akane's heart had been placed on the line as well… Perhaps the boy simply cracked under the pressure.

Of course Ranma was amazingly resilient and adaptable. Maybe if they just gave him a little time, presented the current difficulties as a challenge… Genma glanced down at the child he was holding. Ranma's eyes were clenched shut, there was a steady trickle of blood from where he'd bitten through his lip and the boy was shaking his head in a hopeless denial of the whole world.

Genma grimaced and waited for the rest of the Nerima Wrecking Crew to arrive, as Soun had said; it was looking like one of those days.

Cologne pogoed briskly toward the Tendo Dojo, her great granddaughter and the girl's would-be suitor trailed after her as they provided updates. Both children had their biases but between them Cologne generally got a pretty good idea of what had actually occurred.

"Saotome tried to kill us! Both of us."

"Was rescuing Shampoo."

"He tore Mao Mo Lin apart then turned on us."

"Airen defended Shampoo's honor, fought cat for her. Yes was more aggressive, but was for Shampoo."

"He was berserk, he would have killed us all."

"Mousse no know that. Kitchen Destroyer throw water on us and chase us away."

"Thank the Kami for that. You turn into a cat, do you really want to know what Saotome would do to you while in the grip of the Nekoken?" Mousse demanded.

"Panda-san, I know you meant well bringing Ranko out here, but she's feeling sick so why don't you take her back to her room okay?" Nabiki suggested in a steely voice as she took control of the situation. "I'm sure Kasumi's preparing tea. Why doesn't everyone else sit down… or go home."

Nabiki grabbed the Panda's elbow and authoritatively led him upstairs. Once they were in the guest room the Saotomes shared she said. "It'd probably help to turn him back to his boy-form but trust me the last thing we need is to have Auntie Nodoka deciding to put Ranma on trial over that stupid contract right now."

"There's never a good time for that." Genma commented via a panda-sign. As long as his son became the buxom redhead he was carrying Genma was sure Nodoka's judgment was a forgone conclusion and he wasn't ready to die yet.

"Don't worry about it Uncle Genma, I'm doing damage control." Nabiki said. "I'll bill you later. I mean really it was your fault after all. Ranma was too young to remember his mother; he certainly wasn't old enough to understand what he was putting his handprint on. And you have as much to loose as Ranma, don't you? Both of you agreed to commit seppuku didn't you?" Genma grumbled noncommittally. Nabiki gave him a forced version of her typical conniving smile then she headed downstairs.

After a time Ranma fell into an uneasy sleep, her grip on Genma's fur relaxed. Genma gave the futon a sharp kick to unroll it then left his son turned daughter sleeping while he slipped downstairs to see just how Nabiki was handling the unneeded complication that was his wife.

Somehow Kodachi and Ukyo had positioned themselves on either side of Nodoka and they were vying for her attention.

"Saotome-sama, or mother if you'd permit it. Although my darling Ranma and I have yet to formalize our love I feel as if we were already related."

Nodoka shot a questioning look at the girl she knew to be her son's fiancée. Akane rolled her eyes and made the international sign for insanity.

"Why we'll be related twice over if my big brother Tatewaki is successful in his courtship of your daughter." Kodachi laughed and it came out a girlish giggle of embarrassment rather than her normal disturbing cackle. "Your daughter and I got off on the wrong foot. Youthful competitive spirits you know, but I'm sure we'll be the best of friends now that I know she's Ranma's sister."

Genma held up a sign. "Pay the girl no mind, she's delusional." After a moment's thought he flipped the sign over to add. "It runs in the family." Hopefully that would head off any trouble stemming from the other Kuno.

"Do you know what happened to Ranko-chan?"

"Why don't we all calm down and have some of Kasumi's tea before we talk." Nabiki said in a play for more time to think.

"Mrs. Saotome, I spoke out of turn earlier and I'm sorry. I don't want you to think poorly of me. Ranchan's one of my best friends, but there's bad blood between myself and your husband." Ukyo swallowed nervously. Genma considered several wild plans to shut the girl up. "I'm sure you wouldn't approve of any sort of dishonorable dealings. I know it's a shock but your husband stole something that belonged to me. You probably don't believe me, I wouldn't want to believe me either, but ask Ranma he'll back me up."

"We had a deal!" Akane hissed.

"I didn't say anything about being Ranchan's you-know-what." Ukyo whispered. "Nabiki is trying to stall, I'm just helping. Besides, I don't want Mrs. Saotome thinking I'm a bitch."

Nodoka drew her sword. Everyone scrambled out of the way as the blade flew across the room. "Excuse me, but if I have your attention…" Kasumi quietly retrieved the Saotome honor blade. "Thank you dear." Nodoka paused to re-sheath her sword.

"You're welcome Auntie." Kasumi replied.

Nodoka returned her attention to the people gathered around the Tendo's table. "Will someone tell me what's happened to Ranko-chan?"

There was a long silence.

"Actually, we've been wondering about that ourselves." Soun said with a glance that included Genma in his statement.

Ukyo and Nabiki exchanged a glance. Ukyo looked down, leaving it up to Nabiki to explain. Genma sighed with relief; the last thing he wanted was Kuonji Ukyo explaining anything to Nodoka, especially while the okonomiyaki chef remained in the dark about the seppuku pledge.

"He… One night Ranko just came home acting all weird." Akane said tearfully. "She hasn't been the same since."

"Hasn't anyone spoken to her?" Nodoka asked. "Doesn't anyone know anything?"

"Auntie Nodoka, trust me. If I thought it would help I'd tell you…"

Nabiki was interrupted by a high-pitched shriek.

"If we all run up stairs we'll only scare her." Nabiki said quickly. "Panda-san, Ranko seems to trust you, Kami-sama knows why."

Ryoga trudged toward the sunset and hoped Nerima lay in that direction as well. The weight of his pack wore on him like never before. He didn't understand how under a pound of gunmetal could be so burdensome.

He glanced around. The street seemed familiar. "Not Okinawa again." He groaned.

A painfully cute girl with a pair of ice skates slung over one shoulder bounced out of a boutique. "Oh Simone, you are so cute!"

"Get back here you little klepto!" An enraged shopkeeper shouted.

Ryoga ducked behind a mailbox. "I swear she's stalking me and I don't have time to be her pet." He muttered. Once the danger was past Ryoga set out again. Four blocks later an inhuman shriek that chilled him to the bone split the air.

"What a haul! What a haul!" Happosai exclaimed mostly to himself. It had been a good trip, he reflected, but it was good to be home. Those models had been wonderful to look at, to handle… sigh, and he'd liberated some of the tiniest, most intricate silky darlings ever. Still not one of those international super-models had half the spunk of a Nerima School Girl. He was flying high, full of energy and ready for some fun… It was good to be home!

As he slipped into the Tendo house to stash his haul he noted the slight red head laying on her futon in the guest room.

"Lazing around at this hour my little Ranma-chan? We'll just have to see about that." Happosai made a quick stop in the room he'd claimed for himself. He vaguely noted that the rest of the family plus a few fiancées seemed to be engaged in some sort of meeting downstairs while Kuno mediated in the garden.

Whatever it was it obviously wasn't important enough to delay the fun and games Happosai had planned for his homecoming. "Sweeto!!" He exclaimed and threw himself on his favorite target. The old freak clung on tightly, his face buried between heaving breasts as his student-come-victim scuttled backward.

Alarm bells went off in Happosai's mind when he heard a distressed moan rather than a litany of insults, but the roiling mass of fear choked ki that he'd thrown himself into shocked him into immobility. The moan changed pitch and became a wordless shriek. Rather than the anticipated fist knocking him from his favorite perch Happosai felt claws digging deep into his back and teeth clamping on his shoulder, biting down to the bone.

Happosai stiffened as his blood sprayed the room. Ranma-chan twisted; somehow she planted her feet against her attacker's chest and sent him through the roof with a tremendous kick.

Several blocks from the Tendo Dojo a maroon projectile smashed into the sidewalk in front of the trio of Amazons.

"Arrgh! A demon!" Mousse exclaimed.

Cologne used her staff to poke at the crumpled form. "What do you know, Mr. Part-Time, for once you got it right."

Shampoo crouched to get a better look. "Ayiah! Is old freak, looks like he lost big time."

"Is he dead?" Mousse asked.

"Happi's a tough old goat." Cologne declared. "He'll survive."