Sorry about the delay in releasing this chapter, for the most part I have a lot of spare time considering right now I can't walk that well and it will be a few months before the VA can help me get on my feet so to speak. But these past few weeks I have been doing landscaping round the house, it's pretty difficult to do considering one of my knees isn't working.

-----------------------Washu's lab----

Ayeka set Sasami down in a chair in between Ranma and Nodoka. Speaking softly to Nabiki she said, "Put your hand on my arm."

Nabiki was puzzled; she did not understand what this young girl was doing so she asked, "What are you going to do?"

Sasami smiled and said, "Well I think that I should give you an explanation, but time is very important."

"Just a simple explanation will do for now but later I want the full story."

Sasami looked at the older girl closely before deciding whether she could be trusted. She thought, "From what Tsunami showed me Nabiki lives with Ranma but in the past has extorted him for money at almost every opportunity. Then there are the more recent events that show an almost completely different side of her. Sure, the mask of the ice queen is still present but her eyes have begun to betray her. Tsunami believes that I can trust her, and as of this moment because of that potion, she is the only one that Ranma allows to get close to him. With what Tsunami plans to do we will need her help." Braking out of her musings she said, "Nabiki, Ranma and his mother are not completely human."

Nabiki thought to herself, "Figures, nothing is ever simple or easy or even relatively normal when Ranma is concerned. I guess that means that he must be Jurainian, if what I heard his so called grandfather is correct." Speaking calmly she said, "Well I guess that really doesn't surprise me, but what does that have to do with the current problem."

Sasami laughed nervously and said, "Well you see along time ago I was hurt during an attack on our home world. I was dieing but the goddess of my people, Tsunami, decided to save me as a result we are bonded and eventually we will merge into one being. What I am going to do know is take you Ranma and his mother to see her. She can not completely cure him but she can help."

Nabiki raised her eyebrow in a classic Spock maneuver before saying, "So right now you are going to take me to meet a goddess, the goddess of your people, right." Seeing Sasami nod she continued, "And she will be able to help Ranma, but what about his mother and what do you need me for?"

"Well Ranma's mother is suffering from the same thing that he is, the difference is that she was exposed to it over ten years ago and is fighting off the effects. You on the other hand are here because, Tsunami needs your help."

Nabiki scoffed and said, "Yeah right, a goddess needs my help. What type of fool do you take me for; I am just a normal human without any special powers."

Sasami smiled and said, "I am not clear on all the details, but you will find out once we get there. Now if you would sit down relax and hold onto my arm."

Nabiki blinked as a feeling of calm and tranquility washed over herself. When she opened her eyes she was amazed, no longer was she in the lab. Turning around she took in her surroundings, she was in the middle of a large forest with large trees, of to the side of her was a clear pond that shimmered in the light. She was so busy taking in her surroundings that she failed to notice a woman approach her. Hearing someone speak out to her, she spun around and let out a, "eep." Stepping away from the person she asked, "Who are you?"

The beautiful blue haired woman spoke, "I am Tsunami, Nabiki Tendo. I have asked Sasami to bring you here so I can enlist you into helping Ranma recover."

Looking around and not seeing any one else Nabiki asks, "Where is Sasami and aunty Nodoka?"

Smiling Tsunami replied, "Sasami is here waiting with Nodoka, I needed to talk to you first and explain what is going on and how it involves you. There are certain facts that you must be aware of, time is of the essence. You and your sister Kasumi are in great danger, and to a lesser extent so is your half sister."

Nabiki was confused; she knew that she did not have a half sister. With a frown she asked, "What do you mean half-sister, Akane is my full sister."

"While she is your sister, she is the product of Soun Yamoto and your mother Midori Tendo. Your true birth fathers name was Jiro Tendo. He was slain by Genma and Soun over sixteen years ago, acting on orders from their master while he went away on a ten year hiatus."

Nabiki was stunned, her life was a lie and she did not want to accept it. Her face contorted into rage and she howled, "No, your lying. Its not true. It can't be true, my father is Soun Tendo and I have two sisters there are no half sisters."

The goddess just stood there waiting for the rant to subside. After a few minutes, Nabiki had calmed down enough for her to continue. With a slight from she said, "I know this is difficult for you to hear but it is important that you understand what is happening. Will you at least hear me out?"

Nabiki sighed and placed her ice queen mask back into place, these past few days had been hell on her nerves. Deciding that there was a lot going on that she needed to know she nodded and said, "Please continue I will try not to interrupt again."

Tsunami smiled and motioned for the young woman to sit as she continued, "About twelve years ago Ranma and Nodoka where taken by Genma, as you are probably aware from your earlier conversation with Washu and Ranma's grandfather their bodies where switched out with clones from an Amazon artifact. They were taken to Nerima to the Saotome family estate, where they were subjected to the same potion that is affecting Ranma now. The problem was that Nodoka's bond to her son was too great for Genma to completely sever it, so instead of killing her he came up with the ten-year training trip. Are you following me so far?"

Nabiki nodded and said, "Please continue."

"Now, as to why your family was brought into this. About six hundred and fifty years ago, a minor Jurainian noble was banished from Jurai for several crimes ranging from kidnapping to murder. This noble was stripped of his powers by the emperor himself and exiled to earth. This man was the grandfather of the man you know as Happossi. Their family swore to get even with the royal family. However, they were stuck here on earth so they had no way of reaching Jurai. Well almost three hundred years ago, Happossi met Lord Katshuhito, the man that is Ranma's grandfather. After a long drawn out dual, that left Happossi unable to sire any children, Happossi swore revenge and kept close tabs on lord Katshuhito. First though he went to china where he ran across the Amazons. After relieving them of several scrolls that contained formulas for potions and techniques, he returned and searched for two students who had the potential and moral aloofness to enact his revenge. Eventually he found them in Soun and Genma. He picked Genma for his ability to defraud and manipulate children. However, he picked Soun because he was descended from a long line of powerful devil hunters. Happossi was planning on taking over the Jurainian Empire; all he had to do was wait for a male heir to the throne to be born. He needed the heir to be able to be easily manipulated and controlled, but he also needed him to be strong. He also knew that Ranma would never be able to ascend to the throne because of his tendency to be manipulated but he had planned a civil war with those still loyal to his family. Then it would just be a matter of time before he sat on the throne pulling the strings of his puppet. My people are lucky that Ranma has been found now; there is a chance that the damage can be undone. Now I must tell you the difficult part of this, you see you are descendants of a great warrior; he has reached mythological proportions among the people of Japan. His name was Himura Kenshin, the manslayer, he was a great man and his family has always produced good people. Unfortunately, Happossi was able to trace the last of his line and decided that should a female born from Soun's family and your mothers would produce a woman that would in turn, when mated with a Jurainian prince would create an heir with an almost limitless life force giving them access to the power of Jurai as well as ki. This child would be able to rule for many thousand years even without my blessing. There was a flaw in Happossi's plan though; it counted on a girl being born out of Soun's and your mothers union. Your sister Akane was not always your sister."

Nabiki was temporarily distracted by all the information that she was processing, if what she was being told was true than nothing short of a blood feud could reconcile this situation. As the last bit of information soaked in, she fell onto the ground and nearly fainted and said, "Wait, you are telling me that my sister is really my brother? I guess that would help explain her reactions to boys, even though I contributed to it with the morning brawls and selling her pictures. But I still find it hard to believe."

"Whether or not you believe the origins of your family will not change the fact that what I am telling you is true. I have no time to lie to you, besides I am a goddess and we do not lie. Right now Ranma needs your help. He for all practical purposes is lost; he will need guidance and support to regain even a portion of what he was. It would not hurt if he was loved either but I cannot ask you to love him. He will also need a protector, and I would like it to be you."

"Wait a minute how can I possibly be his protector, I am no martial artist. Moreover, I know that I am no match for any of Ranma's rivals. I would be dead in a matter of seconds."

Tsunami sighed and stood up, looking down at Nabiki she said, "Nabiki Tendo, I am going to offer you a gift. First though I want to tell you about what I must do."

Nabiki sighed, it seems that she was about to be pulled even closer into the chaos that surrounded Ranma she thought, "It's not like I am not involved in this both of our families have been wronged. However, if I take this gift I might have to go against my own sister. Even though she was a product of vengeance, she is still my sister and I do love her. She is just being used like the rest of us; we were all manipulated into serving our so-called father. I am no martial artist, I like the side lines." She brought herself back to an earlier conversation with Nodoka and continued her line of thought, "However if I truly desire Ranma to win, I must take this chance. We deserve better than the cards we have been dealt. He is a very likeable guy even when he is being a jerk and he is cute. I might not know if I love him but I know enough to see that he does need someone and right now a goddess is offering me a chance to help him." With a sigh she muttered, "Who am I to refuse a gift from the Kami." Speaking in a normal tone she continued, "What is your plan and how can I be of assistance?"

With a smile Tsunami once again sat down, she said, "Because of the Nekoken and the fact that he has been exposed to the Amazon will breaking and taming formula 763 there is little I can do." Raising her arm to stifle Nabiki she continued, "I did not say that there is nothing I can do, I just can't do a lot. My powers have been limited since I have begun the process of joining with Sasami. My people are still able to unlock their heritage but other powers of mine have been affected. If I was not trapped here, I could just wave my hand and heal him. Therefore, I must resort to plan b so to speak. Once we finish our little chat Ranma will be reduced in age, this will give him a chance to repair his damaged mind. This does not mean that he will have to regain his age the normal way. As his mind heals, he will age back into his rightful age. This could take weeks or hours it all depends on what happens. This will buy him time to heal, the effects of the potion will be severely muted, and his emotional state will be extremely chaotic. There will be times that he will practically relive his past, during these times he will be zombie like, it is extremely important that he receives help to see him through. However, you cannot interfere until the time is right, you will know when. Unfortunately I cannot remove his curse and I am uncertain to how it will respond to my interference."

Nabiki asked, "Well that covers the plan but how do I fit into this picture? Surely his mother would be a better choice than I would."

"Nabiki, Lady Nodoka will be their to assist you, as well as everyone else at the shrine. She however must also take this time to heal; already she has started to break down the walls in her mind that hold her true self-captive. It will be difficult for her; even with my help, she will be confused. She has been living in a nightmare for over twelve years, during that time she lost her sister to death and a few days ago, she did not even know that she ever had a sister. Her mind has been warped and as reality, sets in her confusion could drive her into a devastating depression. As far as you gift is concerned, I plan to give you knowledge of a lost art, you and your sisters birthright. Time is short, you unfortunately do not have enough time to actually train, so I must speed up the process. I will be forced to alter you. I cannot give you more ki, but I can give you access to Jurainian energy. While you sleep, you will be instructed on how to use this power. When you leave here, your muscle density will start to increase slowly to give you a chance to adapt. It is my hope that you will have enough time to adjust but realistically you might only have a few days until events start to escalade out of control. I want you to know that you will not be alone; some of the most powerful beings in the universe reside at the shrine. Do not get over confident though, already I sense that my sister is preparing to make her move. She might decide to ally herself with Happossi and if that were to happen every life on earth as well as the security of the Jurainian empire could be at risk."

Nabiki laughed nervously and said, "No pressure, riggghhht. You are telling me that you are going to turn Ranma into a child again, his mother is going to be a nervous wreck and some of the most powerful people in the universe are here at this shrine. Out of all these people you are choosing me to protect Ranma, I am no martial artist, I am greedy to a extent, in the past I have mistreated and did my best to alienate Ranma and now you are intrusting me with the safety of several different worlds. Let me play devils advocate for a minute, if so much resides on Ranma not falling into the wrong hands why not just turn him over to the amazons and wash our hands of him, or strip him of power. Heck the needs of the many out way the needs of the few or the one (I love star trek logic.) you could just let him die, release him of his suffering. It might seem callous of me but as I said devils advocate."

Sighing Tsunami said, "I understand what you are saying, but for reasons that I can not tell you Ranma must live. It is not that I do not want to tell you, it is more of a feeling that he will be needed. As far as the amazons are concerned they have their own plans, already Ranma has defeated prince Herb. If the amazons get a hold of Ranma it will only be a matter of time before he is manipulated into fighting Lord Saffron. This was part of Happossi's plan as well. You see if Ranma were to defeat the strongest of the three kingdoms in the valley he would become their king so to speak. Mostly because he would be the strongest. Happossi's plan was to use these forces to bring down the emperor; Ku Lon wants to ensure the strength of her tribe, as well as having dreams of bringing her civilization back into the world as a major power. As for why you, let me ask you something, why not you? There are others that might be better suited for this task but among those, you are more loyal to those you consider family and I know how you feel about Ranma. Call it goddess's intuition; I think that you are the best choice overall. However I am offering you a choice, I have no right to force this upon you, but I do need an answer."

Nabiki thought to herself, "She wants an answer, how am I supposed to choose. My entire life has been a lie. My family has been violated, abused and used. I have an opportunity to avenge my family, I am also being given a chance to protect and help a great man. I wish that this were all a dream and that I could wake up ad have everything back to the way it was. Would I really want that, there are days that I have problems looking into the mirror. I deserve a chance at happiness, as do my sisters, and Ranma as well perhaps more so than anyone else does. The life he lived under his father would have corrupted a lesser man but for the most part, he turned out good, he has plenty of faults and shortcomings but it is nothing a little polishing would not fix. Then there is the bigger picture, a picture that I can hardly believe, it sounds more like some futuristic fairy tale. This is just so overwhelming, but I have a choice." With a look of pure determination she said, "Alright, I will do it, for Ranma and my family."

Smiling Tsunami said, "Then step forward and embrace a new fate, one in which your actions will determine your own destiny, remember this though, you are being given a great gift. You now have great power and with that comes great responsibility I am trusting you not to misuse it."

Nabiki snorted and said, "Ranma is not the only one that can be honorable, besides what I did was for my family. Besides from what you have told me I had been manipulated into that role. If it is an oath of honor that you want I will tell you this, I swear upon the grave of my true ancestors that what I do with the power you bestow upon me will not be used will evil intent."

"Good, now come we need to go see a few more people before you are sent on your way." With a wave of her hand, their position changed.

-----------------------with Nodoka

Nodoka sat patiently in the forest; she did not know how she had come to be there. That sweet girl from the shrine was sitting there with her. The last thing she remembered was internally debating whether or not she should kill her son for being unmanly, she shuddered at that. Why on earth would she want to kill her only child, he was just a baby, the last reminder from her husband who died before Ranma was even born. She shuddered again and thought, "Wait that is not right, Genma is Ranma's father he didn't die." She started to develop another headache. While she was trying to cope with conflicting memories, she failed to notice some one embrace her from behind. Giving into the pain, she started to cry.

Sasami noticed the older woman starting to get confused and depressed so she did what every good hostess does she got up and embraced the woman from behind allowing her to vent out her conflicting emotions.

After a few minutes in a place where time has little meaning, a bright light flared before them. When the light was extinguished, two women were left behind. Nodoka coming back to reality blinked a few times struggling to remember the names of the people before her. One she knew the other she felt like she should know her. Composing herself she asked, "Nabiki who is that lovely woman you are with."

Nabiki glanced to her side and saw that Tsunami was going to field the question just smiled and said, "Why don't I just let her explain it to you."

Nodoka was confused but she decided to let the unknown woman speak.

Tsunami smiled at the woman and said, "Nodoka Masaki daughter of Katshuhito Masaki the crown prince of Jurai, I am Tsunami of Jurai."

Nodoka smiled and said, "I am sorry miss but you have me mistaken for someone else, I am a Saotome." As she said her last name Nodoka winced, some part of her was telling her that that was not her name but her memories were conflicting again.

Tsunami walked forward, embraced the woman, and said, "Remember."

Instantly Nodoka could separate the truth from the lies that she had been living. With a look of fear, she backed out of the goddesses embrace knelt down and started to beg for forgiveness, while crying for the pain her son had been forced to endure. She thought of herself as a monster facing divine judgment.

Crouching down to be at eye level with the distraught woman Tsunami said, "Relax child, you are not here to be judged. You have been violated and corrupted; none of what happened was your choice. I brought you here to help you and to give you a second chance with your son. The same drug that was used on you was recently used on your son recently, right now, there is little I can do to help him but he will need your support. I have reduced his age in order for him to have a chance to heal properly. It is only for a short while, as he heals his age will begin to be restored. Nabiki will fill you in on the details though; I have used up a lot of my power in healing you and Ranma. I just want you to understand that none of this is your fault. Now if you will excuse me I have one last thing to do."

With a wave of Tsunami's hand, the world once again was engulfed in a bright light.

------------Back in the lab

Nabiki and Nodoka woke up at the same time and turned their heads toward each other. As they were about to speak they were cut off by a cry of, "Mommy, your back. The bad man told me you did not want to see me until I was a manly man. Does this mean that I am manly?"

Nodoka could barely keep her emotions in check; she remembered every thing from the past twelve years and knew it to be lie. With tears streaking down her face she said, "Of course my son, you are the manliest man of them all, I am so proud of you."

At this time, Ranma noticed that there was an older girl and a young women sitting near him. With a smile, he went up to the younger of the two and said, "Hi, my name is Ranma do you want to be friends."

Sasami smiled and said, "Of course I would, my name is Sasami, it is a pleasure to meet you."

Ranma started to blush and stared down at his feet.

Nabiki just watched as she saw Ranma acting care free and happy. As she fought to hold back the sobs over the injustice that they had all been forced to endure she could not help but think of how cute Ranma was acting.

Ranma noticed the other woman in the room starting to cry, feeling that that was somehow wrong he walked over to her, tapped her on her leg, and said, "Excuse me, pretty lady, why are you crying?"

Nabiki smiled at the young Ranma and said, "A very special friend of mine was hurt recently and I have just realized how special he truly was."

Ranma frowned and started to get a nagging like sensation running though his body. Looking up at the woman he said, "Well I hope your friend gets better."

Nabiki nodded and said with a sad smile, "I hope so too."

After seeing her smile Ranma started to nervously scratch the back of his neck and said, "If you want we could be friends too, I'm Ranma, nice to meet you."

----Notes---

I realize that I am seriously distorting the characters of Ranma ½ as well as the characters of Tenchi muyo. Also if anyone wants to try to help me edit this story or one of my others,(right now its just Redefining honor) feel free to contcat me via email