Chapter 3

Ranma and Akane entered his mother's house. Master Windu and Nodoka were sitting in the living room, having a conversation. Mace looked up at his Padawans and gave them a look of concern. "Master, do you sense it?" Akane asked.

Mace nodded but didn't say anything at first, "We must tread carefully, my young Padawans."

They both nodded before looking at each other, worry on their faces. "But Master, shouldn't we do something?" Ranma questioned.

Mace gave a light shake of his head, "We must wait until this feeling is given weight. Don't worry, Ranma; I'm sure we can react before things get too dangerous."

Ranma let out a deep cleansing sigh, sitting down next to his mother. Closing his eyes, he cleared his mind of the anxiety, feeling Akane sit next to him, and leaned in closer. He slid his arm around Akane a moment later, who gently fell into the embrace and exhaled contentedly.

Mace watched this action, as he had many before during the training trips they had undergone. The two could do amazing things together, and their lightsaber combat during sparing sessions rivaled those of Master Yoda and himself. They had been quick to learn to enhance their speed with the Force, and took to the endurance training like fish to water.

He sipped his tea, finding such customs on this planet to be amazingly meditative. Especially the ones in this small country. While Ranma and Akane had learned the ways of the Force, Mace decided to learn the ways of the planet. He had been very much right about his first assumptions about Jedi Knights.

They were indeed much like the samurai and the Shaolin Monks on this planet, only they called the Force "chi", or "ki". It was the same basic principle, just applied very differently. Of course, Shaolin Monks have their own version of the Dark Side, as do the samurai. Only the samurai call their dark side opposites "ninja", spies and assassins without morals. He let out a deep, meditative breath. Looking over at Nodoka, he saw she was currently going over a checklist of some kind.

After her husband had passed away, Nodoka went back to her family name. Ranma had kept his father's name, out of honor for Genma's last wish. Which was a very strange thing, considering that Genma had racked up at least three would be fiancées for the boy, not including Akane. And all of them in the few short months before Genma decided to teach the Nekoken to Ranma, which ultimately resulted in him getting killed by his son in his feral state. While his son holds honor in the highest regard, the father apparently used honor only when it suited him.

Though Mace Windu never held dark or angry thoughts toward anyone, he was very glad that the boy had nothing but a memory of his father. Genma would have led Ranma down the dark path long before now. And Akane, if she hadn't come with us when she did, she would be lost to her anger.

He had foreseen the possible route she would of have taken, and no doubt Ranma had seen it as well.

But Ranma saw something I never did. He saw the gentle soul within her. It would have been three circumstances that would have corrupted it. The death of her mother, her lust for that much older man, and all those boys that would have attacked her in an attempt to date her. She was not in Nerima for the latter events to occur, but as for the death of Kimiko Tendo...I can only surmise that Genma's death somehow changed her fate.

Ranma and Akane were doing their homework. They wanted to get it out of the way, so they could practice with their lightsabers. Ranma glanced up, and noticed his mother working on something, "What ya doing, Mom?"

Nodoka looked up at her son. "Just filing the last bit of paperwork for the mortgage for the house, dear. So how was your day at school, Ranma?" she asked with a smile, folding up the paperwork and sealing it in an envelope.

"Great, Akane and I met lots of people. Even met Akane's cousin, Ami," his face was practically beaming at this. A second later tapped his lip with his index finger looking slightly bewildered. "One of Ami's friends though was kind of odd. She had long hair done up in two really distinctive ponytails."

Akane nodded, looking up from her homework, "Yeah, like balls sitting on top of her head, with the two long ponytails."

Nodoka gasped. "Her name wasn't Usagi, by any chance?" she asked, some of the color leaving her face.

Ranma didn't miss what he was feeling from his mother through the Force. He felt her uneasiness and regret. "Um, yeah, Mom, that was her name. Usagi Tsukino," he answered. The sense of regret seemed to magnify, and the unease was replaced by sadness.

Mace felt this as well and turned to the woman, "She is a family member, isn't she?"

Nodoka nodded sadly, taking a drink of her tea. "My husband's niece, his sister's daughter," she said softly. "My husband and his sister never got along well, but she felt that I would be good for Genma. That I would keep him grounded and not let him do anything stupid in the name of training," her voice became increasingly sad. "Ikuko married shortly after we did to a lovely business man, a very kind person. Upon their marriage, she immediately transferred her name to his family, not wanting to stain her name further by being related to her brother, or the fighting art which he was apart of."

"I felt somewhat responsible for Genma's death, so I...I never told her what happened to him," Nodoka put her face in her hands and started sobbing. Ranma quickly pulled his mother into a gentle embrace. The sobs immediately picked up in tempo, and she clutched onto her son, as if holding onto him for dear life. Akane went to Nodoka's other side and held her as well. Mace felt a distinct sense of love from both children; one from a young man who loves his mother unconditionally, and one a young girl who loves her for being the mother of her fiancée.

After a few moments, Nodoka quietly rubbed her eyes and picked up her phone, "There is only one thing left I must do, I just hope Ikuko will find it in her heart to forgive me," she said softly.

Ranma smiled slightly. "If the mother is anything like her daughter, mom, you don't have anything to worry about," he said brightly.

Nodoka nodded before beginning to dial the phone number for her sister-in-law. Each tap of the phone made her more nervous than the last. "Calm yourself, Nodoka," Mace said noting Nodoka close her eyes taking a deep breath and continuing. Mace noticed that Nodoka, like her son, had some ability in the Force. Yet, because of her advanced age, he only taught some calming techniques. He was pretty sure no one should be taught the Jedi arts at such an age unless absolutely necessary. But he had a feeling that where ever Yoda and Obi-Wan were, they were secretly training someone to battle Darth Sidious and Darth Vader.

"Welcome home, Usagi. Did anything happen at school today?" Ikuko queried as her daughter came inside.

"I got to meet Ami's cousin. Her name's Akane. And she's got a fiancé named Ranma. Minako and Makoto were a little jealous," Usagi told her.

"Ranma? His family name wouldn't be Saotome, would it?" Ikuko wondered.

"Yeah, that's what he said. You know, the girls were thinking that we, that is, Ranma and I, might be related. I don't really see the resemblance, I mean, his eyes are blue, but they're not the same color of blue, you know? Then he asked if I had lost any relatives, but I couldn't remember any," Usagi replied, rambling.

"Actually, he's your cousin," Ikuko declared.

"Oh," Usagi blinked, What do I say to news like that?

"Blast Genma, for taking him away from Nodoka. How could he do that to her? How could he leave her like that? How could he separate such a wonderful woman from her only child? He always was so irresponsible growing up..." Ikuko muttered loud enough for her daughter to hear.

Suddenly, the phone rang. Usagi's father, Kenji Tsukino, answered it, "Hello?" After a moment, he walked over and held the phone out to a surprised Ikuko, "Hun, it's your sister-in-law."

After finding out that his daughter was a reincarnated princess who fought energy-sucking monsters, and that the little pink-haired girl was actually his granddaughter from the future, one might think that nothing would shock him. Yet Kenji was astonished, and glad that something could still have that effect on him.

Ikuko took the phone from her husband and smiled slightly when she heard her sister-in-law's voice. "Nodoka, I haven't heard from you since my baka brother took Ranma on that training trip, have they come back yet?" she asked, looking mildly annoyed at this. But after a few minutes, the annoyed look turned to one of despair, then anger, and finally concern. "No, Nodoka, don't cry, it wasn't your fault, I don't blame you," Ikuko's eyes started to water a bit.

"Nodoka, stop, no, I won't let you do that," Ikuko wiped a tear from her eyes. "Where are you living," Ikuko wrote down the address. "I'm coming over there to talk, I also want to meet my nephew, his fiancée, and this new master of his."

"Nodoka, please stop," she said soothingly, tears still rolling down her eyes. "Yes, see you soon," with that Ikuko gently hung up the phone. She flung herself into her husband's arms, finally giving into the grief that she had kept hidden so her sister-in-law wouldn't go into hysterics.

"Kenji, my brother's dead," she wept. Though she hated the man for the life he led and the person he was taught under, she still loved her brother. She cried into her husband's chest for a few minutes, until she could wipe away her tears. "Let's go," she began walking to the front door, grabbing her jacket and shoes.

"Where are we going?" Usagi inquired, running over to get her own shoes and jacket.

"Nodoka needs some comfort; she couldn't bring herself to tell me what happened to your uncle until today. She was afraid I would be mad at her, now she's willing to commit seppuku and Kami knows what else to make up for it," Ikuko proclaimed. She noticed Luna by her daughter's feet. "Um, Usagi leave Luna here, your cousin is deathly afraid of cats, thanks to your Uncle," she said in mixture of anger and grief. She looked up at the ceiling, "Stupid baka," she muttered softly. Kenji and Shingo stayed behind with Luna, while Ikuko took Usagi with her.

The bus ride was short. Ikuko and her daughter entered a small neighborhood, and came upon a lovely building. Usagi watched as her mother walked up to the building and knocked on the door.

The person who answered it would normally have been a very pretty looking woman, with dark red hair, done up in a bun. But the woman had been crying a lot, leaving her face splotchy and puffy. Usagi noticed the silent exchange between the women. Then her mother and the woman flung themselves at each other, crying heavily. Usagi felt her heart twinge a lot at this, and her own tears started to fall. Not because of never knowing her uncle, but because of the grief that her mother and aunt were showing.

After a few moments, Nodoka spoke, "Ikuko, I should have told you sooner. And this must be Usagi, I haven't seen you since... Please, come in."

Nodoka took them into the living room. Usagi looked around the room, coming face to face with Ranma again; only this time she knew he was her cousin. Akane smiled slightly and gave her simple nod to her. Ranma had a haunted look on his face. She could only guess at it, but had a feeling it was the promise of seppuku that was the cause. The last person in the room was a black man, wearing clothing much like Ranma's, only without the red. He gave off an aura of peace that overshadowed Queen Serenity's aura.

Her contemplation was broken by a loud yell, and a tanto bounced on the floor near her feet. Usagi turned, looking over at her mother who was gripping Nodoka's shoulders.

"Don't you dare, I told you this wasn't your fault Nodoka! I find out my brother's dead, but I'm not going to lose my sister-in-law because of this! I love you Nodoka," Ikuko's voice was thick with grief. "You and Ranma were the only things Genma ever did right in his entire life. I won't lose you, too," she continued softly.

The two women engaged in some more crying. After awhile, the two sat down and began discussing things more civilly, including everything that happened after Genma's death. By end of it Ranma found himself up to his neck in hugs and kisses from his aunt. "Such a handsome boy," she gushed, staring at him intently.

Ranma looked a bit nervously at his aunt, "Um, what?"

"You look so much your great grandfather. All you need is longer hair, dye it red, and have cross scar on your left cheek and you'd look just like him," Ikuko said softly. "So when's the wedding?"

Ranma's eyes seemed to shrink, "Urk."

Akane blushed, holding Ranma's hand nervously. They knew they wanted to be married, but so far the idea of posting a date yet had not been discussed. Mace smiled slightly noting Ikuko's tone. "Ranma and Akane have two more years of school and training to complete."

Ikuko looked to the Jedi Master and nodded, "At least your training methods don't leave my nephew and his fiancée scarred," she looked at the ground bitterly. "Baka brother of mine," she quietly cursed. "Ranma can't even come into my house."

Mace sighed heavily, "You have a cat in your home?"

Ikuko nodded, "Usagi's cat Luna," she watched as Ranma's forehead beaded in sweat and notice the boy was trying extremely hard not to bolt for the door.

"He will have to confront this fear eventually, if he ever wants to finish his training," Mace said glumly. "As it is he's extremely vulnerable to the Dark Side whenever there's a cat around. I don't want to see another Padawan fall to the Dark Side of the Force again. The last time," he held up his hand, showing Ikuko that it wasn't flesh, and leaned closer to show her various lightning scorch marks on his face. "Outside of the Nekoken training, Ranma has no other fears. Well, none that could cause him to slip so easily anyway."

Ikuko frowned slightly. "What is the Force?" she asked.

Mace looked to his Padawans. "You explain this to her," he smiled slightly. Ranma and Akane both began the lengthy explanation. They had to explain it three times to Usagi, each time using a dumbed down version. Even then, they didn't believe she got it. After a while, Ikuko felt it was time for her and Usagi to go home.

Ikuko turned to Nodoka, "Now don't be a stranger to our home, Nodoka. I haven't seen you in over a decade and I don't want that to happen again."

Usagi waved goodbye to her cousin and his fiancée, "I'll see you at school!"

On the way home Usagi squealed in delight. "What is it Usagi?" Ikuko asked with a smile on her face.

"I got a cousin that's actually cool. And what's more fun is the fact that when Ranma and Akane get married, Ami's not just going to my friend anymore, she's going to be part of my family!" Usagi shouted throwing her hands out as the happiness seemed to cascade over her in sheets.

Ikuko shook her head, glad her daughter was happy at the prospect of having one of her closest friends become a second cousin to her. "Did you finished your homework?" she checked, and watched her daughter's happiness crash to the ground and turn into fine dust. "Usagi, you're hopeless."

"But Moooom," Usagi whined as they got on board the bus.

Author's Note: A little bit of angst is good in a fanfic, it keeps the reader interested just as much as the action does. The Nekoken training is the key element that will build the drama later. Though the Sailor Senshi relative angle has been played up enough times, sometimes Ranma's a Sailor Senshi or a Knight of the Silver Millennium or something from the Moon Kingdom, in this he will not be. That's why I added the Star Wars element to this; another reason is Star Wars is just plain cool. Right now it's Star Wars: Episode VI timeline. Yes, Ranma and Akane will meet the Star Wars main cast, just not in this story. After all, I feel it's better to diverge from the novels than from the movies. Again I thank Xtor for his remarkable editing abilites, may the force be with him.