'Older'
Chapter 1
Nabiki cursed herself for getting out of the habit of walking. it wasn't like she lacked fitness, on contrary, she worked out twice a day, once before work, and then before her shower in the evening by practicing her family's style of martial arts. It was the annoying ordeal of having to slowly cover distances, eating up a good deal of time she wasn't accustomed to giving up. It couldn't be helped, though, as the closest place for her to park her car securely was two blocks away.

Still, it was, as always, a pleasant stroll to her family home. The neighborhood had changed quite a bit from when she was younger, but still kept its somewhat rustic, comforting atmosphere. Though several familiar neighbors had moved on, there were still quite a few that recalled the mischeivous middle daughter of the Tendou clan, and gave a greeting as she walked by.

She hadn't packed much, as she was never much of a clothes horse. Some of what she brought with her was left in the trunk of her car, while the necessities were carried in the small carry luggage she was currently sporting on her trek. As the dark gray luggage bounced lightly against her hip, she contemplated what could her father have wanted with her. She wasn't sure, but Nabiki had a sneaking suspicion that her two sisters were also called home.

Kasumi didn't travel far from the nest, particularly after she had separated from Dr. Tofu. The eldest sister and her ex-husband remained friends, which helped Kasumi's decision to still live nearby in the Toshima district; it was close enough to visit, but far enough to keep her reletive distance from the man she had grown enstranged from. Most likely, Kasumi would already be there.

Akane, it would be iffy for her if she were to come, particularly on such short notice. Akane was usually rather busy, even if she wasn't in the midst of a stunt-double gig, or assisting with fight choreography for some lesser film. If she wasn't in the midst of some movie, she was helping her husband run his fitness gym, teaching self-defense classes or aerobics. It was rare for both of them to take time off, but it wasn't as if it was required they work constantly, they both just happened to be workaholics.

Nabiki's musings came to an end, when she looked up to the sign that lay overhead reading, "The Tendou Dojo." With a slight feeling of elation, and a lesser one of being relieved of her journey by foot, Nabiki pushed open the gate, and walked down the stone pathway to the front door. Shortly, she was standing before the front door of the place she had always known as home. She could remember the many-a-time she had entered and left during her younger years, and savored the reccollections favorably.

Though she still thought of it as her home, Nabiki had made it a habbit of announcing her return by knocking, more out of courtesy than anything.

She waited patiently for a few seconds, and before she could knock again, the door was opened.

"Hey sis!"

"Akane?" Nabiki returned, a bit startled to find her youngest sister answering the door. Akane hadn't changed much from the last time she had seen her, even after four years. She kept her long, somewhat shimmering raven hair in a loose ponytail that reached the small of her back; a style she had started to use back when she was first dating her husband, a few months after she had arrived in California begging for jobs in acting. She had did it that way, thinking she was playing up to her husband's heritage. He had explained to her that it really wasn't all that customary for his people to wear braids, but told her she had looked very good with it.

Nabiki looked down at Akane's brown and ocre sweater, secretly wishing she had thought to wear one herself on the somewhat nippy Fall day. The cool weather had come quickly and unexpectedly, so she hadn't thought to bring warmer appearal. The earthy tones matched Akane's sun-kissed pallor, which if not for her distinctivly Japanese features, she would have passed for a Native American, as her husband was.

In the midst of Nabiki's surveying of Akane, the younger gave her sister a wry grin, "You seem surprised to see me."

Nabiki let out a small chuckle, and hugged her younger sister, "Well, I am, Akane. I really hadn't expected for you to be the one opening the door."

Akane stepped aside, and admitted her sister. As Nabiki removed her shoes, she continued the conversation, "Did your husband come with you, and did you bring my nephews?"

"Couldn't leave home without them, or there wouldn't be a home to come back to," Akane joked, "Bruce and Steven are in the dojo looking at the weapons, Thomas is talking with Daddy."

Nabiki couldn't wait to see her two nephews. They were two of the most rambungious kids she knew. Of course, there was also her other nephews, the sons of her other sister. "Where's Kasumi? Is she coming?"

"She went out to pick up a few things to make us all dinner," Akane replied, "She seemed pretty eager, I guess she was happy to have the whole family together again."

"Ah, okay, did she take Sie and Kaoru with her?"

Akane nodded, "She's afraid that my boys may be a bit too old for him to play with, at least not without her nearby to supervise."

"I guess she thinks you let them get away with too much," Nabiki chuckled, as they both made their way down the hall, and into the tearoom.

Already presant, a man in his early sixties conversed conservatively with a man with a very audible American accent in his Japanese, whose hair was worn loose and long down his back. His red and white flannel shirt held somewhat tightly against a lean and cut built frame, causing Nabiki's eyes to roam for the mearest instances over her sister's husband. Damn, Akane was lucky!

Almost at the same time, both men turned to the arrival of the two women. The first man's eyes lit up upon seeing yet another one of his daughters arrive, "Nabiki, it's does an old man's heart proud to see you again!"

"Hello Nabiki, it has been a long time."

"Hi Daddy," Nabiki bent down, and gave her father a peck on his cheek, before straightening up, and giving a mock glare towards her brother-in-law, "Too long, Mr. Morningbreeze. How could you have the audacity to keep my sister and my nephews away like that?"

Thomas Morningbreeze smirked, "Well, it's not like you can't afford to come out and see us. What is more important to you? Family, or a trip through Europe?"

"Europe, of course!" Nabiki replied, heatedly, "Why would I trade in foreign quizine for Akane's cooking?"

"HA!" Thomas guffawed, before stopping reallllly quick. Akane stood with her arms folded, with her right hand's fingertips rapping slowly on her left bicep. The hooded glare and pursed lips told the man that it was best to change the subject. "Ah... it is really good to see you again, Nabiki.

Akane turned to her sister with her irritated look, "Well, at least you've managed to burn off all that European quizine." Akane made her point by poking her sister in her stomach.

Nabiki merely stuck her tongue out in retaliation for the barb. Her ears perked up, as she turned to look outside, and saw the sudden downpoar, "Hmm, good thing I made it here when I did..."
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Kasumi cursed under her breath, as she dragged her four-year old son in hand, while they made a light jog back to her family home. She really wished she had consider that it could rain, so that she may have waited for Nabiki to show up. She had a car, and driving to the local supermarket would have been much easier than walking in the rain that seemed to increase rapidly.

"Mommy, LOOK!"

Kasumi turned to her son, and then to where he was pointing. She then blinked at the rather peculiar sight before her.

A redheaded girl was running barefoot in the rain, attempting to escape a large panda. Kasumi gasped, as the panda suddenly lunged, swinging at the girl. Before she could turn away from the expected carnage, the girl leapt straight up, while shouting something that Kasumi couldn't make out in the rain.

While still in the air, the girl retaliated with a back thrust kick, sending the panda skidding several feet away on the rain slick concrete on its back.

Like a human, the panda recovered, wiped its mouth, and spit to the side. Kasumi decided she was coming down with a fever, or something, as the panda then struck a martial arts stance, and rushed in to attack the girl once again.

The obviously angry redhead easily evaded the blur of claws, before snagging the Panda's arm as it overextended, and tossed it to the ground, once again. The girl said something to the presumably unconcious panda, before picking up a large travel pack, almost the size of her, and walking away. Kasumi screamed out, but not in time to warn the girl of the panda, and its large sign.

The large panda put the unconcious girl onto its shoulder, before growling at all the gawkers about. Once it was assured no one was trying to pay it any attention, it went on its way, the same direction she would be heading to get home.

"Wow! That was cool, mom!"

"Um, Sie-chan," Kasumi said after a few moments, "Why don't we go this way? We'll enter the house through the back."
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"So, not that I'm not happy to be with everyone," Nabiki quipped over her tea, the tea was a bit bitter, but at least her sister got *much* better with preparing it, "but would you mind telling us why you called us all here on such short notice, Daddy?"

"That is what I have been wondering," Thomas interjected, stepping from the kitchen, "I hope the tea is not too bitter, I am only accustomed to making iced tea."

Nabiki looked from her glowering, blushing sister, standing a couple of feet behind her husband, and to her tea; that would probably explain the more than passable quality of the hot beverage.

"[You didn't have to say anything about it!]" Akane quipped, switching to English.

"[What? I didn't offend anyone, did I?]" Thomas replied, oblivious to what he may have done. Akane sighed, and sat down at the table, earning a silent chuckle from Nabiki.

"Um..." Soun, the father of the three women, stalled, "It would be best to wait for your sister Kasumi to arrive, before I begin explaining things...

Both Akane and Nabiki's internal alarms went off. Their father was stalling, this didn't mean anything beneficial to them. Nabiki secretly hoped he didn't accidentally sell the house... again. It had been a pain convincing the buyers that it was apparently a prank that had gotten out of hand.

"Daddy," Akane warned, in turn putting her husband on edge. He subtly wrapped his arms around his wife's waist to offer his support.

"Well..." Soun began to visibly sweat, causing Nabiki and Akane's eyes to narrow.

"Out with it, Dad."

Before Soun could resign himself to speak, the noises at the door brought everyone's attention. "Hey! Leggo you old fool!"

"You expecting more guests, Daddy?" Nabiki enquired, standing up to go answer the door. She decided it wasn't Kasumi, as the voice sounded obviously of someone younger, and the slight sounds of a scuffle were heard.

"[Hmm, someone's making an awful amount of noise for being another guest,]" Thomas stated to his wife, in English.

Nabiki and Soun reached the door, just in time for it to open up to the sight of a large panda, with a bundle over its shoulder. The father raced away, just as Nabiki stood, frozen stiff at the sight. It took a moment to get her bearings, and she quickly grabbed an umbrella from the stand, holding it menacingly at the panda.

The animal looked at the makeshift weapon with passive indifference, just before the bundle on it shoulder spoke, "HEY! Yo! You're scar'n them spitless!"

Nabiki took a step back, as the panda set the girl with unusual red hair down before her. "Ah..." the girl started, while nervously playing with her pigtail, "I'm Ranma Saotome, sorry 'bout this..."

Nabiki stared down at the red-haired girl, obviously nervous of her situation. After a quick assessment, Nabiki realized that the panda was a trained pet. "Um, that's okay, I think," she replied, slowly lowering the umbrella. Akane and Thomas came running around the corner, with the Tendou women's father treking behind them nervously. The husband and wife stopped, as their eyes went wide at the sight of the massive panda. Without hesitation, they both went into stance.

The girl named Ranma noticed, before quickly waving her hands before her, "Wait! Wait! He's harmless, we're not here to fight or nothing!"

At that moment, Kasumi came around with her son in tow, having dropped off the groceries in the tearoom before checking on the commotion.

"Mom! It's the bear!" Sie shouted with glee, "Is the girl and the panda going to fight again?"

Ranma flinched, before chuckling nervously, "Ah... well..."

Nabiki took charge of the situation, being the one that was on the front lines. She took a quick bow, before introducing herself, "I'm Nabiki Tendou, and this is my family. Could you possibly tell us the reason for this visit?"

The girl returned Nabiki's curious expression with one that even overscoped her previous nervousness, liberally stirred with more than a little anger and irritation "It's not like I want to be here, my stupid Pops brought me here for some engagement thing."

Nabiki nodded, coming to a conclusion that it all was a misunderstanding, and that the girl had gotten the wrong house. "Well, i i'm afraid you may have come to the wrong house. I apologise."

Ranma turned to the panda standing behind her, shaking its head, "No, this is the right one, alright."

The Tendous blinked, before Akane turned to her father, "Dad, are these friends of yours?" Soun shook his head negatively and rapidly.

Thomas gave a slight chuckle at the ordeal, "So, do girls with trained... [pandas]..." Thomas slipped back into English for the word he wasn't sure of, "drop by all the time?" Soun shook his head negatively and rapidly.

"Hmm, you said your name was Ranma Saotome..." Nabiki mused, not catching the way her father's head perked up, "Daddy, do you... huh?" The middle Tendou daughter turned back to Ranma, to find her father hugging the young girl tightly.

"Ranma! At last you've come! It's so good of you to come so-... hmm?"

"So, you do know them," Kasumi said, finally able to express her relief, things were starting to become extremely ackward. It was then that she thought of something, "Is Ranma here the reason you wanted us all here?"

Soun didn't seem to hear his oldest daughter, as he suddenly pulled away from Ranma, and looked down at her chest in dumbfoundment. he blinked a couple of times, and then looked at Ranma's face for an explanation, "Ranma... son...?

"Son?" Akane, Kasumi, and Thomas repeated in unison, the latter two wondering just what their father had been up to in the past... sayyyyy... fifteen or sixteen years...

Nabiki wasn't under the same illusions as her siblings or brother in law, as she knelt next to her obviously confused father, and put her arms loosly over his shoulders from behind, "Not 'son', Daddy. Ranma's a girl."

Instead of catching her father, Nabiki scooted away, as he fainted, falling backwards.
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Okay, Daddy," Nabiki demanded of her father, as Akane wiped his brow with a wet cloth, "Out with it. What's this all about?"

Before he could answer, a very pale Kasumi walked out of the kitchen, followed by a damp man in a dingy white gi, and a young ink-haired boy, also damp with steam rising from him. Thomas brought up the rear, trying vainly to withold his growing laughter.

"Ah... when did they arrive?" Akane asked, pausing in her minstrations to her father.

Nabiki turned to see who her sister was, and after initial surpise was gotten over, she remained quiet, expecting an answer. The pigtailed boy nervously looked down at the floor. "Ranma Saotome... um, sorry about all this..."

Nabiki blinked, and looked at Akane. Akane blinked, and looked down at her father. Kasumi blinked, and continued blinking as if she was trying to come to terms with something she had seen. The man behind Ranma stood stoically and patiently, as Thomas ran from the room, unable to contain his laughter anymore. Soun stared at what he was now sure was a young man, feeling as if he had awoken from a nightmare.

"How can you be Ranma?" Nabiki finally answered, sceptically, "I thought Ranma was the girl with the panda!"

"This... is a bit... unusual," Kasumi managed to utter, before redirecting her mind elsewhere, "I think I'll go check up on the boys. Oh, I hope they haven't hurt Sie..."

Everyone allowed Kasumi's escape, and turned to Ranma for an explanation. "Hmm, where should I begin," the older man behind the boy claiming to be Ranma answered. Before he knew what was happening, the boy was screaming his head off, as he descended into a fish pond.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" screamed the red-headed girl they had seen from before. About that moment is when Nabiki and Akane's brains locked up.

"Ooooh, my own son," the older man wailed, "how humiliating!" During his shamed posturing, he hadn't noticed the girl circle around him, and kick him into the pond.

"You're one to talk, moron," Ranma quipped, pulling her shirt from sticking uncomfortably to her chest, and turning back to the Tendous; more than likely they were waiting for an explanation, "it happened two weeks ago, when this idiot took us to this training ground in China to finish off my training trip..."
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"I'm not sure about this, Pops," a couragioius looking pony-tailed boy stated, not nervously, but with heroic caution. He was poised perfectly on the bamboo pole that jutted out of the spring below him. Ranma could sense an unusual, mystical disturbance arising from the waters below, and felt an impending fate stand before him.

"Ranma, you sound like a girl!" a slightly overweight idiot, standing on a pole across from him while barely keeping his balance, retorted, before leaping clumbsily at his son, "OYSHOHTOH!!!"

Their guide shouted something out, but Ranma didn't quite catch it. He wasn't ignoring the man, it would be unmanly to do so, he just merely presumed he was speaking Chinese... or something.

Ranma rolled his eyes, but decided to humor his idiotic, but lovable father anyways. Ranma easily leapt from his pole to meet his father in the air. Just as his hold man launched at him with a stabbing kick, Ranma used the leg to handspring over the rest of his father, and deftly kick him in the back of the head. The young manly man had made sure to angle his father into the pool away from the shore, so he wouldn't get hurt, and only used as much necessary force as possible, as he was a high calibur martial artist, and had a great deal of control. The guide once again said something, but it was lost on Ranma, as he cursed himself for not learning the native language.

Ranma looked down at the pool, concerned; maybe he had misjudged his own father's durability? "Hey, Pop?"

With concern, Ranma was ready to valiantly leap in to save his father, just as a giant, menacing black and white beast leapt from it, and maliciously knocked him into another spring out of sheer spite for its own incompotence...
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"Pouring it a bit thick there, aren't you, son?" Ranma's father enquired with a half-lidded gaze, as he handed the kettle to his son-turned-daughter. Thomas laughed harder from the hall, as it wasn't quite the same story the man named Genma had told them in the kitchen.

"Shut up, Pops, this is your fault, anyways!" Ranma retorted, roughly grabbing the kettle from her father.

"A cursed training ground?" Akane said out loud, still not believing what she had seen or heard

"The legendary Cursed Springs," Soun stated, solumnly, "It's true horror had always been shrouded in mystery, but now..."

"Whaddya mean 'true horror?" Ranma countered, before grabbing his father's gi by the lapels, "Yo, old man, what's the big idea dragging me to a place like that?"

"Ah... not that I would have believed in curses, or things like that," Nabiki interjected, before taking a swallow to relieve her dry throat, "But it was pretty-" She was interrupted, as Ranma's father threw him into the pond again.

"You sound like a WOMAN, Ranma!" Genma accused, earning sharp glares from Akane and Nabiki, "Were you not prepared to give your life for the sake of your training?"

"My life, yes..." Ranma leaped from the pond, holding a pail of water, "MY MANHOOD IS ANOTHER STORY!!!"

"Oh! What tragedy!" Soun wailed, as the panda and little girl battled.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Everyone stopped abruptly at Nabiki's shout. Once she had everyone's attention, she continued, "What you did was no doubt foolish and ignorant, Mr. Saotome. Even if you DIDN'T believe in curses, you should have realized there were dangers in a place like that!"

Out of the panda's gi, fell a booklet that Akane didn't hesitate to retrieve. "What's this? A map of China... with training grounds marked on it?"

"Famous Training Grounds of the Middle Kingdom," Nabiki read, before retrieving the book from her sister. Nabiki quickly skimmed through it, before stopping on the page about Jusenkyo: Training Ground of the Cursed Springs, and turning to Genma with a hooded gaze, "You can't read Mandarin, can you?"

"Nor Cantonese for that matter," Ranma quipped as she kicked her old man in the head.

"So, when doused with hot water, you return to your human form," Soun explained, dumping a steaming hot kettle onto the elder Saotome.

"It needn't be quite THAT hot..."

"When doused with cold water, you become a girl, but hot water turns you back into a boy!" Soun continued, intending to repeat the same demonstration on the younger Saotome.

"HOT WATER! NOT BOILING!" Ranma shouted, dodging out of the way of the scolding stream.

Soun grabbed Ranma by the shoulders, "So, you really are a boy."

"Yes, I am," Ranma replied, adimantly.

"Are you sure?" Soun looked at Ranma, sternly.

"I am 100% GUY! What don't you get about that?" Ranma shouted, becoming irritated. Thomas was beginning to gasp for air in the hallway; he was most assuradly glad he had put the time to come with his wife to visit her family, you just couldn't pay for this quality of comedy.

"EXELLENT!" the Tendou Patriarch shouted, before gesturing to his two present daughters, "Nabiki, she's thirty-seven, Akane's thirty five, ny eldest daughter, Kasumi, is Thirty-nine. Pick the one you want, she's your fiancee..."

Thomas abruptly stopped laughing, as Akane began to choke. Nabiki became ram-rod straight, as her eyes refused to dwindle in size, while angry footsteps could be heard coming down the hall from the direction of the dojo.

"Er..." Soun remembered, "choose between Kasumi and Nabiki, Akane's already married." Thomas resumed his near hysterical laughter, as Akane planted her face into the table. a rather angry Kasumi arrived in the tearoom, giving a quick, withering glance to her brother-in-law, before she stormed over to her father, and grabbed him by his gi.

"I hope I didn't hear that correctly... FATHER," Kasumi stated in an extremly heated manner, "You weren't sincerely trying to arrange me for ANOTHER marraige, were you?"

"HEY!" Nabiki shouted, bringing up her own presense in it all.

Kasumi gave her sister an apologetic glance, "Oh, and it's not fair to Nabiki, either!"

"But..." Soun began to argue, "I worry about my daughters! I don't want you growing up alone like your old man."

"Father," Kasumi continued in a calmer, more endearing tone, "I already have two lovely sons, one of them is almost as old as Ranma, and been married once already. As nice a... young... man... Ranma is, he's... well... young?"

"This is also a matter of family honor!" Genma interjected, "One of you is to marry my son, and unite the Saotome and Tendou schools of anything goes Martial Arts!"

"You stay out of this, Pops!" Ranma challenged, finally overcoming her shock, "I mean, engaging me to women that are almost twice as old as me!" The three women blushed, taking the construed approximation of their age as a compliment. It didn't endear them to the fact that he didn't seem able to do math well, though.

"Heh," Akane spoke up, finding the humor in the situation, now that she wasn't in the spotlight, "I say give him to Nabiki, I can't remember the last time she's even spoke of a boyfriend!"

"AKANE!" Nabiki shouted, becoming embarrased at the acknowlegement of her intimate life... or current lack thereof...

"Then it's settled," Soun spoke up quickly, "Ranma is Nabiki's fiance!"

"DADDY!!!" Nabiki shouted, appauled at what her father just announced.

Kasumi visibly relaxed, and let go of her father, "Congradulations, Nabiki."

"KASUMI!!!" Nabiki shouted, outraged with the betrayal of her family.

Akane was now ready to burst into laughter, "Well, look at it this way, Nabiki, most women your age are more likely to be struck by lightning then become engaged. You're even getting a nice young stud to boot!" Akane began to tremble, before excusing herself, and running out into the hall. Shortly, her own laughter joined her husband's.

Nabiki began to rub the temples of her forehead, "This... is a nightmare..." Her eyes rose to her father, "I can't believe you're engaging me to this child, Daddy!"

Ranma looked up at the woman with a hurt expression, before she walked towards the front door. "And where do you think you're going, boy?" Genma demanded, stopping the redhead short.

"Back to China, to find a way to change back for good. This is no time for fiancees!" Ranma retorted before turning to Nabiki, "By the way, who would want to get married to an old woman like you, anyways?"

Nabiki's expression quickly grew neutral, that... hurt. "Excuse me," the middle Tendou sister asked, quietly, as she got up from the tearoom table, and made a brisque walk upstairs. Shortly, everyone heard one of the doors above slam shut.

"Ah..." Ranma scratched the back of her head, "What was that all about?"

Kasumi gave him an angry look, not being one to hide her irritation from anyone, "Ranma..." Not able to find anything 'nice' to say, she strode from the room, going to check up on her son and nephews playing in the dojo. Thomas and Akane walked back into the room. The former looked at Ranma, and then shook his head, before gathering the tea set from the table, as the latter smacked the pigtailed girl upside the head, before following her husband into the kitchen.

"Whad I say?" Ranma asked, turning to the fathers. Soun and Genma both looked away.
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Ranma stood poised with his fist ready to rap on the wooden door. He still wasn't so sure as to why he was doing it. After all, the woman wasn't exactly his peer, she must get called that enough. She didn't have any right to call him a 'child', though. He had spent the better part of his life facing challenges and doing things that Gramma... that she would have baulked at. he's more than proved himself a man, quite frankly.

But, first thing was first. He had no intention of getting married, especially to someone as old as Nabiki. As studly as he was, he would have to make sure that she understood, convince their fathers (with him being more physical with his) that this rather sick joke didn't go on any further at their expense...
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Nabiki bounced her right leg over her left knee, and stared sullenly at the ground after getting her emotions, more or less, under control. She knew he just retaliated from her unguarded quip, she was mature enough to realize she screwed up as soon as she had said it. Of course, she also hoped that Ranma would let it slide.

Unfortunately, his retaliatory remark came, and it hit well too close to home. For several years, she had kept a tight reign over those particular emotions, and in just a moment, some punk kid... this young man comes and rips them from her with a few precarious words.

She admitted that during her early to mid-twenties, she worked more on school than relationships. She had quite a few, but none of them lasted either to what they defined as inattention (read: she would rarely put out for them), emotinal neglect (read: she would rarely put out for them), or she was cold, (read: she didn't put out to them at all because they were insensitive jerks).

Of course, as her luck would have it, things didn't get all that better later on. Boyfriends became more and more scarce, and one particular 'incident' left Nabiki much more guarded with her heart than may have been healthy.

Eventually, she resigned herself to her fate; a Japanese woman without a family, in turn for a strong, firm career. She accepted what she had, taking her joys in regular visits with her eldest sister and her sons, volinteering for local youth and charity events, devoting herself to her community, as well as her work, until she was happy with herself.

Or so she would have everyone believe.

Nabiki jolted at the knock at the door, and her expression darkened slightly; she had hoped to have a few moments privacy, and no doubt whoever was at the other side of the door was coming up to console her over a young jerk's point of view. "If it's too much to ask, I want to be alone, right now."

"Ah... can I just talk to you for a few minutes, and I'll be out of your hair, promise."

The middle Tendou sister blinked, most definitely having not expected his presense, "Could we talk later? I'm not really in the mood at the moment."

"I'm trying *not* to be here later, if you get my drift," the voice from the other side replied with a slightly wry tone.

Sighing in resignation, Nabiki opened the door, tugged Ranma in by the arm, then closed it behind him. With her back against the door, Nabiki folded her arms under her chest, "Okay, what is it you wanted?"

Even though Ranma was half a head taller than her, the sight of the older woman's eyes bearing down on him was somewhat intimidating, "Well, that... um..."

At the sight of the young man hemming and hawing, Nabiki gaze softened, before she bowed her head down, "Ranma, I'm sorry for what I said down there. I was just angry at the time for what my father's trying to do, and I had no business taking it out on you."

Ranma paused with a perplexed expression, "Huh?"

"It's just that a lot of things are going on in my life..." lie, "...and I already have my own prospects," more lies, "And, although you are a handsome young man, I couldn't see it working out between us," in anything other than a bad romance novel.

"Ah... huh," Ranma mused, his own slightly unheartfelt apology now forgotten. Of course, one other problem arose in his mind, "What about this engagement thing? I mean, your old man sounds pretty serious about it, but I don't think it's any more than a scam by my Pops."

"How about we just be friends for now, and we'll have this all cleared up in the morning." Nabiki gave Ranma a rather handsome smirk that caused him to step back a moment. She then stuck her right hand out, before continuing.

"Besides, we're both adults, we're old enough to make decisions on our own." At least I am.

Ranma grinned a smile that drew a slight gulp from Nabiki, before she mentally chided herself; she was over twice the boy's age! The pigtailed young man grasped Nabiki's forearm in a shake of comaradery, "Great, friends then!"

Nodding her head in agreement, Nabiki stepped aside, and allowed Ranma to exit. Several moments after Ranma had left the room, Nabiki winced, and shook her right arm in order to dull down the pain of Ranma's hearty grasp.
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Of course, Ranma didn't care to wait until morning.

"Hey, Pops! A word with ya!" the pigtailed martial artist requested, while walking down the stairs and popping his knuckles. He stopped abruptly, at the sight of his old man and Mr. Tendou, each with their own bottle of sake, crying against each other's shoulders, while wailing about the uniting of the schools. Kasumi looked on with a disgusted frown, while Akane sat next to her husband, rubbing her temples. Thomas sipped on a beer, as he watched the scene with no little amusement; it was a small wonder why he enjoyed visiting his wife's family more than his.

"What's going on?" Nabiki said from behind Ranma, startling him.

Kasumi snorted, lighting a cigerette, "Our father can't hold his liquer and is embarrasing us, that's what's going on."

"Apparently they both think you and Ranma were upstairs..." Akane started giggling, before muffling herself against her husband's shoulder, "...consumating your egagement!"

"WHAT?!?" came the dual cries from Ranma and Nabiki.

At that, Thomas guffawed, "Look, they are a couple already!"

"THAT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY!" Nabiki shouted.

"Damn it! Did you have to do that behind me?" Ranma turned, wincing from the volume.

"That's it, I'm going to bed, good night everyone," Nabiki turned on her heel, and went upstairs back to her old room.

Homing in on the Tendou household from the rooftops, a young man with a small ponytail steadily leapt from perch to perch, until he reached the surrounding walls. With a graceful somersault, he landed on the back porch, and announced his arrival, "Hey everyone!"

"Kaoru!" Akane perked up at the arrival of her other nephew. She quickly got up from her comfortable perch agaist her husband, and made her way to envelope him in a hug, "I was wondering where you were!"

"Hey Auntie," Kaoru replied, returning the hug, "I had a few things to do with Dad at the clinic, before I could come by." he looked around, "Where's Auntie Nabiki?"

"Upstairs, pouting," Akane replied, smirking at her dear sister's misery.

"What for?"

All fingers, that weren't currently drinking themselves to stupor, aimed directly at a nervously shifting Ranma.

"Ah... hi..."

Kaoru Tofu blinked, before walking over to his mother, yanking the cigerette from her mouth at her dismay, and turning back to Akane, "Who's he?"

"Did I ever tell you you're just like your father?" Kasumi commented darkly.

"I'll take that as something of a compliment," Kaoru replied, before turning back to his youngest aunt for an answer.

"Your Auntie Nabiki's fiancee..."

Pausing in crumpling the cigerrette, Kasumi's eldest son turned towards Ranma, "A bit young, aren't you?"

Ranma looked away, nervously, "It wasn't our choice! Ask those two knuckleheads over there... when they're sober."

Kaoru looked over to his grandfather and the guy with him making a spectacle of themselves, and groaned, "Hmph, I'm not sure I really want to find out what this is all about."

"I'm gonna go check out your dojo, you guys mind?" Ranma enquired, wanting to be somewhere else other than the center of attention.

The comment perked up Kaoru, "You're a martial artist?"

Before Ranma turned away, he gave the younger boy a confident smirk, I've studied the arts."

With barely contained enthuesiasm, Kaoru was quickly within Ranma's personal space, "Really? Same here! Want to go spar?"

"Ah... sure!" Ranma replied, ushering the younger to show the way. With curiosity, Akane got up to follow, along with Kasumi who was more concerned for the younger children already playing there. Not far behind his wife, Thomas strode behind, always interested in seeing a martial arts battle.
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Ranma and Kaoru stood, facing each other in the center of the dojo floor.

"Ready?" Akane began, standing in the center with her hand poised, "This is strictly a point match, so please try not to kill each other."

Kaoru gave a weak grin, "Ah... I'll try..." Ranma shifted somewhat uneasily at the comment, but didn't feel as if he were in too much danger.

With a resigned nod, deciding she would jump in if things got too rough, Akane called the match, "BEGIN!"

Ranma felt the wind pass by his right ear, and then across his stomach as he turned to the side. He then felt his pigtail flap, as he bent down, and felt the shift in the air under his feet, just a couple of seconds before he landed on the other side of Kaoru.

"Man, he ain't half bad!" Ranma thought, as he quickly turned to face his opponent. Ranma blinked, as he noticed no attacks were coming, and that Kaoru was standing there, dumbfounded, while everyone else stood around with extremely shocked expressions. After several seconds, Ranma finally asked, "What?"

Kaoru quickly schooled himself, deciding to go all out. The shift in demeanor didn't go unnoticed by either Kasumi or Akane. "Uh oh," they both stated in unison, before Akane was ready to move in. A hand stopped her, her husband's. Giving a second to glare at the man she loved, Akane turned back to break up the fight, and stopped in awe.

Ranma weaved through the high speed and precise fist, open palmed, and finger jabs that Kaoru flew into, as well as the almost invisible barrage of kicks.

Kasumi's son was growing further and further irritated at Ranma's almost oblivous and guileless expression, as he seemingly effortlessly avoided the attacks. "What the heck? Is he reading my moves?" Kaoru thought to himself, as he pressed even harder.

Ranma finally began to move backwards, as his opponent aggressed on him. Quickly, Ranma broke in to a series of backhand springs, evading the tempest of limbs aiming to subdue him.

"NOW I'VE GOT YOU!" Kaoru shouted out, as he spun into a crescent kick, just as Ranma was on his hands, and the wall was three feet behind him.

Gracefully, Ranma launched himself straight into the air from his hands, braced his hands on Kaoru's leg as it was passing under him, and used it as a springboard, corkscrewing vertically in the air. As Ranma was inverted over Kaoru's head, he touched the crown of his opponent's head with one finger, and landed, still holding it there.

In amazement, Kaoru slowly turned, and shifted his eyes up to Ranma's finger, "Ah... y-you're pretty good!" Ranma broke into a chuckle, that was shortly joined by his present sparring partner.

Beyond them, Kasumi, Akane, and Thomas gawked, while Sie, Bruce, and Steven exclaimed to one another how awesome the fight was.

Just in the doorway, Nabiki nodded in silent surprise. Ranma sure was at least capable of handling himself, she would give him that.
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Ranma woke the following morning of his own accord. That wasn't right, especially since he tended to sleep a lot later than his Pops did, and he would have woken the pigtailed martial artist up in the rudest manner possible.

Deciding his father was intending a sneak attack, Ranma quickly got to his feet, and surveyed the guest room he was in. Strange, his father's supplies weren't in there from where he had dragged them, but there was a note left in their place...

"Ranma,
Me and Tendou have decided
that after such a great deal
of time and domestication,
that we would embark on our own
training mission to improve our
own faltering skills. You will
stay with your fiancee until we
return. Remember, this is about
FAMILY HONOR! Make the Saotome
name proud, boy.

Your old man."

Ranma's left eye twitched, sensing exactly what his father was up to...
_________________

"POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPP!!!!! YOU ARE *SO* DEAD WHEN I CATCH UP TO YOU!!!"

Nabiki groaned, and rolled over in bed, wishing Ranma would be more quiet this early in the morning.