Chapter 3
After Ranma was fairly settled, McGonagall and Ranma had a long talk. McGonagall taught the cat-girl about the manners and some of the other things Ranma had missed on the road. Needless to say, McGonagall soon hated Genma as much as Ranma did. She always had the feeling that Ranma was hiding something though. She decided that she would wait to find out what was strange about her when the girl was ready.
Ranma felt slightly guilty about hiding the truth from his Auntie Min, as he had decided to call her. Her face had been priceless the first time she called her that, but she didn't seem to mind too much. He shook his head. He was now in a tall tower he had found while looking for some privacy, having changed back to male when he was alone.
It had been quite a surprise when he found out that he could change from his male to female body at will. He had meditated to take a good look at his life. In the process he had found himself in a place he had never seen, but that seemed vaguely familiar.
Flashback
Ranma looked around himself in awe. This place was beautiful. It was a clearing in the middle of a huge forest. The trees seemed to stretch upwards forever, with branches all along their length.
Admiring the scenery, it took a moment for him to realize that he was not alone. The female body he had gained in Jusenkyo was standing before him, only she was fully human. She was watching him with a slightly amused look on her face. He reached up and touched the top of his head and realized that he was completely human for the first time since Jusenkyo. He looked around some more and saw what looked like a panther stretched out nearby.
"Where are we?" he asked.
"We are in your mind. We brought you here to make a choice. Whichever way you choose, it will effect you for the rest of your life." Ranma-chan answered.
"What choice? What will the consequences be?" He was somehow sure that she was telling the truth, and that he could trust her.
She sighed slightly, seeming to brace herself. "We want to know if you will accept the changes you got in Jusenkyo, or reject them. If you accept them, you will be able to change from male to female at will and gain complete control of the Neko-ken." She paused to take in his reaction. "If you refuse, you will change with the least splash of water, making it impossible to hide for any length of time. You will also gain only partial control of the Neko-ken."
Ranma blinked and sat abruptly. She had caught him completely off guard. Ranma-chan smiled slightly and also sat. Ranma considered what she had said. "What do you mean, I will be able to control the Neko-ken? I'm not afraid of cats anymore, and I consider that an improvement."
Ranma-chan smiled. "If you accept the Neko-ken as part of you, you will become fairly cat-like. You will be able to communicate with all felines and control your changes. You will eventually be able to become a cat, if you concentrate hard enough. You will also be able to change back to looking human for short times. All you will have to do is concentrate hard enough."
Ranma nodded in acceptance of that. "If I don't accept the Neko-ken, you said I would only have partial control. Does that mean that it will stay the same as it is now?" She nodded. "Is this an all-or-nothing deal? Do I have to accept both to have control?" She smiled slightly, and nodded again. "Do I have to stay in both bodies, or do I have to choose one?"
Her smile widened into a grin as she answered. "You will have to stay in your female body for a while, but will still be able to change between them. To gain control of the curse, you will have to remain in your female body most of the time for …" she considered. "About twelve months." She noted his wide-eyed stare. "Don't worry, you'll still be able to change back to male, but if you stay that way too long, you will get splashed and become female once more."
"How long would be too long?" he demanded.
"Probably not more than an hour or so at a time, once or twice a day." She answered. "Once the year is up, you will be able to change at will and water won't affect you either way unless you want it to."
"Why am I being given this choice?" Ranma asked in confusion. "I can't see everybody who gets cursed at Jusenkyo being given a choice like this."
Ranma-chan nodded, but did not answer immediately. Just when Ranma was starting to wonder if she would answer, she finally spoke.
"It is amazing how many people have fallen into my spring or the Spring of Drowned Cat. So many fall into my spring, and I can sometimes get memories of their lives after they were cursed in my spring. The fact that they usually only reappear when the person dies is another thing. It's a bit like watching a movie several times. You see what happens in their lives, but it's not really your memories."
She sighed and turned toward Ranma, who was waiting patiently. "You were different. You fell into both my spring and the Spring of Drowned Cat. There was something different about your spirit. You freed my spirit from the spring. People who fall into it will still be cursed, but I am free. The same thing about you that freed me, freed the spirit from the drowned cat spring.
"Unfortunately, we only have enough energy to give you this offer once. If you do not accept, we will be separate parts of you, and will be able to watch things through your eyes but never affect anything." She saw the kind of surprised horror in his eyes and correctly guessed at the origin.
"Believe it or not, that would be an infinitely better life than being stuck in a cursed spring for eternity." The panther that was stretched out on the ground purred softly in agreement.
Ranma considered all that she told him for a long moment before nodding. "I'll accept turning into a girl and the Neko-ken. Is there anything I need to know?"
She nodded firmly. "When you wake up, you will have all the knowledge you need about your female body, so you don't panic when the time comes." She smiled almost secretively at that. "You will also act more cat-like, probably a bit like the half-grown kitten you would be as a cat.
"You will have the ability to use some of the skills that those cursed before you had. You will have to train in them, but you will have memories on how to do it. Other than that, you will have to figure out on your own." She smiled sheepishly. "I don't think anything like this has happened before."
As Ranma's surroundings faded, she called out something else. "Oh! I almost forgot. You will be drawn to a person who can teach you what you need to know. Whoever it is will be able to help you with your changes." Almost as soon as she finished, Ranma found himself once more where he had been meditating.
End Flashback
Ever since, Ranma had traveled west as he felt the pull of his teacher. It had been almost nine months since he had accepted what he now was. He had already spent close to a month here, and in two more he would be able to choose his own form no matter what. He would be able to finally tell his Auntie Min the whole truth.
> > > > > > >
AN: Okay. This is the chapter that I have told you about. Hopefully it answers some of the questions people have been asking me, like why Ranma isn't changing back to male. I'm sorry it's such a short chapter, but hopefully the next ones should be longer. This is the last of the chapters that I have pre-written, so I won't be able to update as frequently. I won't abandon this story, so you don't have to worry about that. I like this story too much to abandon it.
If anyone is confused about the 'he' and 'she' thing, well Ranma was female when he first called McGonagall 'Auntie Min' so he says 'the first time she called her that'. When I use he, Ranma is male, and when I use she, Ranma is female. Does that make sense?
Also, I got my very first flame. If you want to know what it was and what I thought about it, look at my profile.
Review Responses:
Peter Kim: Genma and the others will show up, I just don't know when. As you could probably tell, I don't particularly like Genma, so expect him to get badly beaten.
Tigger-69: Thanks for reviewing again! I hadn't really thought about it, but you are right about Ranma respecting Snape for being a master. I think it's just something that he has ingrained in him, or maybe he realizes just how much work it takes to be a master of any craft. I don't know if Ranma will work with Snape at all, as I really don't see Ranma as the type who would do potions well, but I could be wrong. If it was something besides Potions, yes I think they would probably work well together. Besides, Ranma has already proven that she won't let a bad temper intimidate her.
law-kun: I'm sorry you thought it was a bit disjointed and to be honest I agree with you. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a good place for this explanation earlier in the story. She knows about Snakeminds and Firehearts through experience mostly. I figure that as a cat, she would have gained some aural sight. That would mean that she could actually see some representation of people's characteristics in their auras. I don't imagine she would have been able to look much of this up, so she would have made up her own names for a few of the traits she found repeatedly.
That said, she would have been able to gain access to some books, and been able to look up some stuff and compare it to what she herself could see. That will be an important point later in the story.
Note: I modified this chapter somewhat, because to be honest, the thing was a little too simplistic and didn't explain certain things very well, such as why the spirits of the two springs wanted to make the deal with Ranma. I didn't take anything out, I just added a few things.