Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, or anything else you may recognize. Not a dime is being made of this story and is for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy!

A/N: Like I said, don't hold yer breath on the updates. Anywho, I probably woulda updated sooner since I pretty much have the story planned out except the ending, but I didn't plan on that tidbit at the end where the guard notices them. Took me a while to figure out a loophole there. I know, I know, I'm slow, forgive me. I've also been reading less and less Ranma and Tenchi lately so it's hard for me to get in the mood to write on this story. Have another story that I'm thinking about starting, but even if I do I won't start posting it until this one is complete. Won't be a Ranma story that's for sure, unless it's crossed with Ranma.

BTW, just so ya'll know, I don't hold off on chapters just to get more reviews. I write for myself, to get the ideas expressed, and to get better at writing. The reviews are a bonus, especially constructive criticism, but I won't ever request them. I also won't do review responses because I got burned due to those on an old account of mine.

Forgive the grammar, English is my first language, and we all know that people who are raised speakin' it can't speak English for nuttin' cause we use too much slang. (wink)

Chapter 6

"Where did they go," Captain Fujita yelled as he came up to the guard that was supposed to be ensuring that the two people by the Royal Space Trees didn't get away.

"T-they j-just…disappeared," the guard stuttered. He had been watching the events unfold and was flabbergasted when upon arriving a blue light enveloped the two men and they vanished into thin air. Unfortunately at the distance from the doors a positive identification was impossible so they were counting on being able to apprehend the individuals to find out exactly what happened. Now that wasn't a possibility and they had a rogue Space Tree out there with an unknown user, even worse it was one of the most powerful space trees.

"What do you mean they disappeared Lieutenant," Captain Fujita snarled. This was not his day at all. First they had another intrusion by that same boy, this time with an accomplice, then they lost both of them while sustaining injuries to several of his men, only to find out that one of the intruders was being led around by the two Queens, and finally the last original space tree was 'stolen'. Even though space tress cannot be technically stolen, without knowing the person and their allegiances this was shaping up to be a crisis.

"B…blue light, then gone," the lieutenant replied finally regaining his wits, "When I returned from summoning backup they were enveloped in a blue light and then they just vanished!"

"Are you absolutely sure that Kaikou chose someone," Fujita asked as he massaged his temples. He needed to have all the facts straight and the lieutenant before him hadn't been too clear earlier.

"Absolutely sir," he replied, "Before I left to summon help he was transformed into his battle armor and the ship's key(s) were affixed onto him. They were in the form of bracers, just as they were for the original owner."

"Can you give me a description of either of the two men," Fujita asked resignedly. A small part of him had hope that his soon-to-be born son would be the one to partner with Kaikou. Fujita was from a minor royal line, and were rarely called to be linked with space trees, but it did happen every few generations.

"No sir, they were at too great a distance," the lieutenant answered apologetically.

"Return to your office and write up a report about this, I need to inform the Emperor about the happenings here," Fujita ordered before spinning on his heel and walking towards the throne room.

"That was close," Ranma commented. Once everyone had left the area he and Jiro had been returned to where they were originally and his battle armor had deactivated itself so it wouldn't give itself away. Although from what he saw he really liked it.

It wasn't his normal Chinese clothes, but it was loose and comfortable without any extra fringes, baubles, or cosmetic additions that would be absolutely pointless. He kept his traditional slippers, although they were a navy blue instead of black, and his pants remained the same style just changing to navy blue. He could tell that it would take much more to even rip the pants than any of his previous pairs. His shirt was low v-neck and sleeve-less. It continued being primarily navy-blue, but it was trimmed in a light blue that matched his eyes, or so any girl would tell him. Ranma didn't really pay attention to the colors, he just knew that he'd easily be able to fight in the outfit. It provided more protection than his typical clothes, while not hindering his movements in the slightest. What he couldn't see was that when he was in battle armor he had a light-blue symbol on his forehead that looked like and inverted triangle inlaid over the top of a circle.

"Ugh, what happened," Jiro asked as he regained consciousness.

"Hey Jiro, finally awake," Ranma asked with some amusement.

"Ranma! We need to get out of here before we're noticed," Jiro practically shouted.

"That won't be a problem, just keep it down," Ranma replied motioning with his hands for Jiro to lower his voice, "It'll be a lot easier to get back out if yer not attractin' attention due to your yellin'."

"Oh, right," Jiro muttered sheepishly.

"Uh Jiro, can I ask ya something," Ranma asked as they made their way towards the exit.

"Of course Ranma," Jiro responded, making sure to keep his volume lower.

"Is bein' partnered with a tree a big deal," Ranma asked hesitantly. He still wasn't sure about all this, and Kaikou didn't have long to fill him in on anything either.

"Not usually, unless it's one of the or..igin..als…oh boy. I completely forgot about that," Jiro muttered.

"Forgot about what," Ranma asked not liking the sound of Jiro's voice.

"Ranma, you were partnered with the last of the original space trees. You will be, as soon as people find out, a 'hot' item. Especially politically. A lot of people are going to be angry for the first, oh, hundred years, but even while they're angry they'll still be after you for political gain. Whichever 'camp' you endorse will gain influence," Jiro explained.

"Ah, but won't that be kinda difficult? The Emperor's takin' me home soon," Ranma pointed out.

"Oh Kami, I forgot, we need to get you to your quarters soon, I'm sure that the Emperor will send someone to check up on you as soon as he hears about what has happened," Jiro said before quickly grabbing Ranma's arm and practically dragging him towards his room.

"Alright already, sheesh, but can ya keep this quiet? I dun want everyone knowing about what happened," Ranma asked.

"Well, I won't go out of my way to inform anyone, but if I'm asked directly I cannot lie about it," Jiro promised.

"Thanks," Ranma replied knowing it was the best he could get out of his new friend. Pretty soon Jiro had Ranma tucked into his quarters and was quickly making his way back to the throne room. He may have agreed to keep quiet about the space tree incident, but there was another matter that needed to be reported immediately. Quickly gaining entrance Jiro power-walked his way up to where Azusa sat and dropped down onto one knee bowing respectfully.

"My Lord, I have something of an extremely important nature to report," Jiro called out once Azusa gave him the okay to speak.

"What is so important," Azusa asked gruffly.

"It is in regards to our laws of child abandonment and neglect. Earlier when I was guiding Lord Ranma back to his temporary quarters Lady Ayame mistook Lord Ranma for her son Lord Kenji. During the course of the argument we persuaded her that Lord Ranma was, in fact, not her son Lord Kenji and she fainted," Jiro began explaining.

"Hurry up," Azusa snapped. Something dealing with child abandonment or neglect was a serious charge. He wanted only the pertinent facts.

"Of course My Lord, as you wish. We returned Lady Ayame to her suite along with Lord Kenji only to be confronted with Lord Seiji who loudly proclaimed that he had sent Ranma to Earth after he was born out of an affair and Lord Ayame demanded that Lord Seiji get rid of the child. He declared that he assumed Earth was far enough away and primitive enough that Ranma would never return," Jiro quickly explained. He didn't dare look up to see the look on Azusa's face, because he knew it wouldn't be pretty, "He also told Lord Ranma that he was expecting Lord Ranma to die on Earth after Lord Ranma questioned him about his motives."

"Are there any facts supporting this with the exception of the likeness," Azusa asked after a moment. He had needed to calm himself after what he heard. He had been the one to enact those laws because of his personal views on the matter, and that was another reason that he wanted to find a guard for Sasami.

"There is My Lord, may I approach? I fear speaking of the matter too loudly," Jiro replied. Sorry Ranma, hopefully your secret doesn't go further than him and his wives, he never could keep a secret from them, Jiro thought apologetically.

"If you must," Azusa responded with a sigh. Jiro approached and told him the story of what happened in the room with the Royal Space Trees making Azusa's eyes nearly fall right out of his head in shock.

"Did he say a name," Azusa demanded.

"Yes My Lord, when he touched it the only thing he said was 'Kaikou'," Jiro replied before resuming his place in front of the Emperor.

"GUARDS," Azusa yelled loudly causing the two near the doors to nearly fall over in shock before they ran up to the throne.

"Yes My Lord," they asked in harmony.

"I want Lord Seiji and Lady Ayame taken into custody at once on the charges of child abandonment, neglect, and attempted murder of a member of the royal family," Azusa shouted angrily.

"YES MY LORD," they shouted in unison before spinning on their heels and running for the door to inform some guards to go make the actual arrest considering they couldn't really leave they're post. "Did Lord Seiji say anything about the mother other than it was not Lady Ayame?"

"No My Lord," Jiro replied before thinking for a moment, "I do remember around the time that would have been Lord Ranma's birth that a Juraian born maid was with child. Shortly after birth neither she nor her child were seen again. It was presumed that she moved away."

"Fetch Ranma, and on your way out I request that you inform the guards to question Lord Seiji about the maid. By the sounds of things she didn't make the trip with Ranma," Azusa said coldly. He didn't take kindly to any of the members of the court treating the help that way. They had previously dealt with members of the court ordering the butlers and maids to be help them in their quarters doing things that were not officially required by them. Of course that was stopped shortly after it began by his father. That was during the transition from the help being slaves to pain workers.

"Yes My Lord, at once," Jiro replied before standing up and hurrying out of the room, but not before informing the guards of the new addition to the orders.

(Break)

Meanwhile in Nerima-Ku, Japan

"Oh my, things have certainly gotten worse since Ranma-kun left," Kasumi mutters to herself as she looks at the newest devastation caused by a duel Ryoga barely won against a dojo destroyer. It had only been a few days since Ranma had left (Ranma took a couple days before deciding to get lost), and things were looking bleak. Once word had spread that Ranma Saotome was no longer protecting the Tendo Dojo they had no less than three dojo destroyers a day. Akane handled the first day rather well, except for a twisted ankle, and luckily Ryoga managed to find his way back that night. He started handling all challenges for the dojo, but instead of limiting the amount of destruction, like Ranma had, he in fact caused more.

The dojo itself was barely holding itself up, so much so, that the shrine for their mother was brought into the house itself so the eventual collapse of the dojo wouldn't destroy it. Whenever Soun would wail for Nabiki to pay for repairs she would just glare at him coldly and ask him what money she was supposed to use. Kasumi could tell that Nabiki missed Ranma, if only for the money she made off of him, and the limited, as it was now being shown, expense of his upkeep. The house itself was fairing better, but not by much. Ryoga remembered to use doors…most of the time. He still punched his way through a wall occasionally when he thought he was lost and Nabiki would just hand over a bill to him for damages. Of course she had squeezed every last yen out of the name Ranma Saotome that she could by selling the very last information she had on him to everyone who would buy it, but it wasn't enough. Not with all the damages being accrued.

Soun and Genma kept wailing about ungrateful boys who should learn their place. Of course, Genma's wailing was only heard until he was dragged off in handcuffs after Nodoka turned him in once she got a report back from a private investigator she hired. It hadn't taken long to get the information needed because she had a general idea of every area they had been to. As Ranma promised, Happosai was back up and ready to terrorize in a couple days time. He immediately packed all of his 'silky darlings' and bounded off for places unknown while shouting about finally being retired.

Ukyo, according to Nabiki, had just glared at everyone else in the NWC and did her best to stay away from them all. Especially the night Ranma left, while Kasumi had been on friendly terms with the young woman before, now Ukyo just glared and walked in the opposite direction if she ever saw Kasumi out and about. This tore at Kasumi's heart even more because she knew she deserved it. She felt immensely guilty about the way she treated Ranma in these last few months, and upon a lot of reflection she noticed that while he did insult Akane, he usually didn't start it. Oh there were a few times he did, but Akane was the one who usually began the war of words ending with some blunt object or mallet-sama being used on Ranma. It had taken a lot of effort for Kasumi to come to grips with the fact that every person in her family, herself included, was responsible for the way Akane treated Ranma. They never scolded Akane for hitting Ranma when he didn't deserve it, and they even went as far as making up excuses and demanding that Ranma apologize. Sure, Kasumi never came out and demanded an apology, but in a way what she did was worse.

Akane had promised, on her honor, that she wouldn't strike someone in anger again. Kasumi let her break that promise the same day she made it without any repercussions, not even a scolding. And then the way she treated him in the last three months was reprehensible! She knew just by looking at him when he came back that day that he was seriously wounded, but she did her best to not care about what happened to him at that point that she actually told him it was more important that he not bleed on the floor! Kasumi wasn't sure if she ever could forgive herself for that, and she wasn't sure she wanted to. She knew that if she talked to Ranma and apologized again, once he had time to cool off, that he would shrug it off and tell her it wasn't a big deal, but she wasn't prepared to ask for that forgiveness. She didn't feel she deserved it.

Despite the constant dojo battles and Akane's injury Ryoga and Akane's relationship appeared to be blossoming now that they didn't need to hide it anymore. Of course this also meant that Ryoga got a little taste of being in Ranma's shoes as he got hit whenever Akane was angered. When this happened he would always blame Ranma, even though the poor man was nowhere to be found.

Shampoo and Cologne had apparently closed up shop to go look for the wayward man, because according to Nabiki Cologne had told her that just because he wasn't a Saotome didn't mean he was no longer Shampoo's husband.

"Oh Ranma-kun, I hope you're safe and happy, wherever you are," Kasumi whispered before wiping a single tear from her cheek and getting back to making dinner.