Ranma ½

Chapter 3

Preparations for Destiny

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

Quick note: 1. This is a thought of a character.

2. This is the thought of past Nabiki, known as the mercenary girl.

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The former Ice Queen slowly eased herself into the tub, hoping the warm water would take away the soreness from her muscles. I spent four hours trying to master the Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken, but in the end, all I did was wear out my upper body and nearly dislocate my shoulders. I guess Ranma makes learning those moves pretty easy.

If you keep this up, you'll never meet that Ranma guy, you'll be too busy trying to heal in the hospital. Do you want to know the size of the headache I'll give you if you dislocate even one of my shoulders? Besides, why are we trying to learn this dumb move anyway? You told me that you never even mastered it in the future, and then you had all that free time thanks to that jerk of a husband.

The elder Nabiki could not fault her younger version with her logic. With the money she had and the free time, she had flown Cologne in several times a year to train her; after all, if you are going to dedicate your "excess energy" to martial arts, you may as well be trained by the best. Cologne had been patient with her, even spending extra time with her, helping her heal after she had pushed a move too far; one time passing out from an imperfect chestnut fist. But Cologne gave the young woman her all, determined to make a strong martial artist out of the former mercenary girl. The elder Nabiki began remembering all the images she had with her training of Cologne, the memories of Ranma not only performing those moves, but in some cases actually improving on them. She had to admit she felt a little bit of resentment. Ranma wasn't known for being a great genius, but on the battlefield, no one was his equal.

Damn, I guess the old girl is a tough cookie after all.

She mentally chided herself for forgetting that for every image that came to her mind, her younger self saw it as well. I don't know why she trained me so hard. I hope it wasn't out of feeling sorry for me about my husband, or about losing Ranma to Akane. But whatever her reason, she helped me get back my love for the art. Besides, we never backed away from a challenge.

Fine then. I will acknowledge that. But no more training sessions over an hour, and we sure as hell are not trying to get chestnuts out of a fire for a few days. We can get fish out of a tank like your lover boy did. Besides, we still have to make ourselves presentable. First impressions are the most important.

Please spare me. We found out he had a curse and dumped his ass on Akane. This is after we called him cute while he was a girl. We had a hard enough time at Furinkan High without that rumor going about; not to mention the questions we had to ask our self the following night. I know damn well we have to make the best first impression. We have to make certain that between us, the mother figure, and the hot tempered devil, we look not to be the lesser of three evils, but the only angel in hell.

Calm down already. If you keep this up, you'll pop a blood vessel in our head.

OK, so you know we need to really wow him with our looks, we need to make him feel safe in the home, make him feel like he has a great friend in us, as well as make certain he doesn't go for Akane and Kasumi. I know the plan, damn it. You've only had me thinking about it for four days now, and we still have three more until he arrives. Don't you think its time to suspend the training a little bit and figure out the most important things?

Like what?

Man, you really are socially dead. Like what we are going to wear, how will our hair be done, nails, etc...? As well as how do we present ourselves as the best option to him, without scaring the hell out of him? We need plans, contingency plans, alternative plans, and emergency backups. We need to make certain that all possible outcomes are anticipated, with appropriate reactions ready.

That's great, but there is just one problem.

And what, pre tell, is that my elder sister?

Whenever Ranma's involved, all plans go out the window.

While her counterpart remained silent, Nabiki submerged herself in the water. Her muscles finally starting to relax. She knew the next three days would be the longest in her recently short life.

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"Hey Nabiki."

Nabiki turned around slowly. Even though her muscles felt better, she wasn't ready to try any sudden movements, fearing that they weren't quite ready for anything faster than the way she used to move in the morning. She noticed her sister, Akane, walking to as she approached the stairs. "Yeah sis, how can I help you?"

"I wanted to ask you something, but I need to find out how much it'll cost me."

That sentence alone made the elder Nabiki cringe. She had almost forgotten how even her family had so completely accepted that if they needed her for anything, it would cost them a lot of yen, which usually meant they never went to Nabiki to do anything unless if was extremely important. I guess we really did screw up with them. Have to remember to give family more freebies, unless the information is really juicy or extreme gossip. "Sure sis, you caught me in a good mood. That bath just washed most of my troubles away. So for today only, it's all free, unless it's something even Kuno would pay a fortune for. What is it?"

She watched as her sister did a double take, trying to figure out why her sister wasn't charging her for what she wanted to know, even though she hadn't even asked it yet.

Forget the money, that look alone was worth the price I would have asked you to get from her. Now assuming she talks, I'll just sit back and let you handle this. I want to revel in that image for a while.

The youngest Tendo finally pulled herself together. "I wanted to know why the sudden interest in the art. You haven't shown any for ten years. And now I see you outside, practicing on some move even dad knows nothing about, drawing spirals in the sand while trying to walk it backwards to the center, and performing katas from who knows where. What is going on?"

I don't know whether she is doing this for herself so that she can be stronger, to learn something new, or is just afraid I am trying to steal her thunder. Oh well, not like I'll find out by being silent. "I recently had some free time, and decided to try some stuff I learned from some old books I once had. The katas were taught to me by an old and dear friend, who I probably won't see anymore. And those moves were something I remember off some old scrolls mom once had. But it seems I am having difficulty trying to get them down, but given time, I think I can master them."

That is of course assuming we don't send our arms to the other side of the dojo, or pull off the roof with the hurricane thingy.

I thought you were going to stay out of this.

Sorry, I couldn't resist adding a few follow-up comments.

"But why the art?" her sister asked. "I mean it's like you're a completely different person from last month. What's going on?"

Kid, you have no idea.

Please be quiet, I can't make this seem believable if you are always chiming your two cents in.

Excuse me, but this is my body you are in control of. But fine, talk all you want, I'll be silent until we get back into MY room Ms. Control Freak.

Oh, believe me; we will be talking about that one.

"Listen Akane, I was just a little bored with my life. I was feeling that I was tired of being the Ice Queen of Furinkan High, so I decided to try and get back to what I was like when I was happy. You remember how I was like when we were both practicing, how we both loved to challenge each other, race to master a new move mother or father showed us. I just wanted to feel good again. Is that so wrong?"

Akane looked down at her feet, slightly ashamed at the jealousy she had once felt with her sister. "No, I guess not. But could you at least show me some of those moves, maybe teach me. I would like a few new tricks to use against the morning horde at school, and maybe send Kuno across the city."

You have got to give her credit; at least she is trying to learn. "OK, but it will cost you."

The youngest Tendo took a step back. "I knew there was a catch, how much?"

Nabiki thought for a moment, she could sense her younger self trying to come up with a price tag for the moves she knew. But the elder version beat her to the punch before she could begin to name out prices. "The cost is easy. Every time you lose your temper outside of during your fights with the horde or Kuno, you owe me 1000 yen, from now until you graduate high school. Agree to this, and I'll teach you what I know, but even I haven't really mastered these moves yet."

Can I say something?

Make it quick, she won't be considering the price for long.

You are brilliant. As often as that girl loses her temper, we'll make more money than we did off that bet. Hell, she might be paying our way through college before we even spend a month with Ranma. But what if she doesn't have any money?

Elder Nabiki was about to answer when Akane asked her the same question. "What if I don't have any money at the time?"

Elder Nabiki smiled, and appeared to consider what to have Akane do. But she had already planned for that when she made the original offer. "I get a single photo of you relaxing or working out, to sell at school. That alone should help keep you on your toes, and if not, make a nice profit for me. What do you say?"

Both Nabikis could feel Akane's rage surge. Good thing she doesn't know my younger self has been doing that already, with Kuno as our best customer. And it is just bad enough to make her start to think twice about letting her temper control her actions. It won't do to have Ranma start to fall for me, just to end up smashed by Akane's mallet. "Well, do we have a deal or not?"

Akane quickly tried to lower her anger. She couldn't believe her sister would ask for something like that. That is the most perverted idea she has had in a while. She'll probably try and provoke me so that she will get all my money and those pictures. I can just see the blood shooting out those perverts' noses after seeing me relaxed. But I'll beat her. I will remain calm all the time. She won't get a dime and I'll get some kick-ass moves to teach those boys a lesson in pissing off Akane Tendo. "You have a deal. So when do we start?"

"Well, my training today has worn me out, so I can't demonstrate the moves to you right now. But I can explain the katas, as well as those moves you saw me trying in the yard. Tomorrow, assuming my arms haven't fallen off overnight, I can begin helping you learn them. How's that?"

She could see her little sister was disappointed. She was probably hoping for me to show her everything tonight, so she could practice them before tomorrow. Sorry Akane, but these moves may be child's play for Ranma, but we mere mortals will need a while.

"OK," Akane replied, looking a little depressed. "But can we start with that spiral? What the hell is that for?"

Nabiki smiled; something that her little sister was glad to see. "Well that is part of the Hiryü Shöten Ha. It works on the principle of opposite chi energies."

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"Damn it pops!" a young red-headed girl yelled out. "Why the hell are we going to Nerima? We should have stayed in China and got ourselves cured."

The panda in front of her stopped, turned around, and held up a sign. 'Did you forget about that Amazon girl?'

The young girl immediately stood up straight, looking around for any sign that the Amazon with the purple hair was about, ready to jump out and try and kill her. When she realized that they were safe, she relaxed. "No, I didn't forget. But that still doesn't explain why we are headed to Nerima."

The panda replaced the single sign with two new ones. 'I have a friend there I want to see.' 'He said we could stay there for a while.' He then turned around, and began moving along the path again.

The young girl followed, but began thinking. He's hiding something, and when I find out what it is, as well as where he gets those signs from, I am going to beat the crap out of him. Sometimes I feel it would have been better to let Shampoo make a rug out of his mangy hide.

The two continued on their path, now only three days from Nerima.

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If I messed anything up, then let me know including typos.

Any suggestions on how I should continue the story or improve it would also be accepted.

Also, if you have any suggestions for how this should go, let me know. My own imagination, while vast, always enjoys a new thought. Also, catch me if you don't think I am making the characters true to form, or a way to make them better.