It was a bright and serene day at the Tendo Household. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, a fish jumped out of the koi pond.
However, sadly, the current head of the household was not particularly enjoying it. Ami Tendo (née Mizuno) was staring at the postcard in her hands. The postcard addressed to her late husband Soun. His death had always haunted her. Especially since it was a mere few decades before the mass exposure that all of humanity had had to the energy of the Silver Crystal would render all humankind immortal and ultimately bring about the eternal utopia of Crystal Tokyo.
Kind of a bummer that she wouldn't be able to enjoy it with her husband.
Still, in the intervening years Ami had to cope. She worked as a doctor, helping people and preserving lives as she could. Raising three daughters as a single mother in a demanding job like that had been tough. Luckily her dear friends and fellow Senshi had been there for her. Usagi was like a third mom, her and Mamoru had babysitted so often one of the guest rooms was basically theirs. Rei was always there to give spiritual guidance, especially in matters involving boys that the girls might have been too embarrassed to give. Minako… well… Setsuna said her influence on Nabiki wasn't too bad. Which Ami had to be grateful for.
Makoto was a bit more complicated. After Soun's death she had been there for Ami. She was the one most likely to listen to her cry at night when the stress was too much. The one to drive her to work when she needed it. The one to help out when parent-teacher conferences about Nabiki playing some prank or Akane beating up a bunch of boys (because they had been bullies) came up.
Eventually, well, Ami had realized that the two of them had progressed to being a bit "more than friends" and she moved in and were together. She was the second mom to the girls, and honestly was probably with them more than Ami was, as busy with work as she was. Her daughters loved Makoto, and Makoto loved them back as her own children. Kasumi had learned to cook from her. Plus she and Akane were the ones who used the dojo the most of anybody. The two of them had even been working together to study Soun's old martial arts scrolls and records so they could recreate the Tendo School of Anything Goes.
"We're back!" Well then, Ami looked up from the post card. Sure enough, her partner and youngest daughter had just come in. Both were wearing light work out gear, clearly having been out jogging.
"Hey Makoto, Akane." Ami waved to the two, "Back to break more bricks?"
"Akane's vendetta against concrete isn't done yet." Makoto laughed.
"Yeah yeah, whatever Mom." Akane said with a laugh, before noticing the postcard, "What's that Mother?"
"Oh? It's…" Ami considered tucking the card away, before deciding against it. Rationally talking about it with her family would help her decide what to do about it. "It's a postcard, it came in the mail today." She held it up to Makoto. "The strange part is that it's addressed to Soun."
"Dad!?" Akane said, snatching the postcard out of her hands. "'Bringing Ranma from China'? Who's Ranma? Who's this Genma guy Mother what is this?"
"That's… weird." Makoto peered over Akane's shoulder. "And the return address?"
"A P.O Box in China." Ami said, "I already checked." AKA she had run the address through the Mercury Computer and confirmed where it had come from. "So whoever Genma is and his Ranma they're bringing it's really from China."
"What if Dad was in debt to like, the Triads or something and this is them coming for him!" Akane said. Minako's wild stories she always told the girls clearly dancing around in her head.
Ami chuckled, "I'm sure that's not the case Akane." And even if it was that would be a painful and humiliating experience. For the Triads. None of the Senshi had been given too much cause to go out over the years since Galaxia's defeat. Only a smattering of random monsters that one or two of them could handle when they popped up. But Ami had no doubt that anybody threatening her family would have the full wrath of all nine of them descend down upon them.
"Do you remember Soun mentioning anything like this?" Makoto asked.
Ami shook her head, "No." Soun didn't like to talk about his past much. He had said he was somewhat ashamed of it. Ami had been told once that there were only two things in his youth he did not regret. Sadly, he had never told her what those two things were.
"Damn. Well, I guess we gotta wait for whoever this Genma guy is to show up."
"I suppose." Ami sighed. "Well, whoever they are, we know that they tried to have contact with Soun in at least a decade." Otherwise they would already know he had passed on. "I suppose that places this from before we met."
Makoto sat down next to her, "Well whatever they are, I'm sure we'll handle it."
"Yeah don't worry Mother. I'm sure the triads will be no match for the reborn Anything Goes school!" Akane declared happily, to the giggles of her parents.
"Lemmie you old fool!"
All three looked off towards the front gate. That had not been a voice that any of them were familiar with.
"Who's there!?" Makoto shouted.
"Geez you moron couldn't you have knocked and- Wooah!" What had happened was not something Ami had expected to see. The source of the voice was revealed to be a teenage girl struggling to escape the grip of a giant panda bear. This surreal scene was punctuated by Akane seeing someone else in trouble leap up and try and kick the bear. The surreal part came when the panda bear somehow with one paw blocked Akane's kick, grabbed her, and tossed her out into the yard. This made Ami tense up, and Makoto slip into her own martial arts stance.
"Growf." The panda said, noticing the tension in the air.
"Geez you didn't hurt her did you?" The girl on the panda's shoulder said, sounding annoyed.
To answer the question Akane jumped back in front of her parents. "Stay back you big furry-" her dramatic speech was interrupted by the panda depositing the girl in front of them. The panda then stepped back, walking away.
Well this was the weirdest thing Ami had seen in a long time.
"Err, who are you?" Akane asked the girl.
The girl fiddled with her pigtail a little "Err, I'm Ranma. Ranma Saotome. Sorry."
Well that answered one question.
All four girls settled around the table. Ranma looking a bit fidgety, while Akane stared at her.
"So you're the Ranma mentioned in this postcard?" Akane asked, holding it up to Ranma.
"...yeah. That's me alright." Ranma said.
"So do you know what's up with this?" Makoto asked, "Because none of us know a damn thing about it."
"Oh… geez really? You guys weren't told either?" Ranma looked at them in surprise.
"So you don't know?" Ami asked.
Ranma's face reddened, and she looked a little uncomfortable. "Err, well, yeah. But, um, how about I let Pops explain it?"
"So the Genma who sent the letter is your father?" Ami asked.
"Yeah, that's right."
"And the panda?" Akane said.
Ranma groaned, "Long story." She gave Akane a smile, "That was a cool kick you did."
Akane pouted, "For all it good against that bear."
"Eh don't worry about it. It's real slippery." Ranma said.
"That bear knows martial arts." Makoto said, "Real impressive that… wait." Makoto's eyes locked with Ami's. "Ami, where did the panda go?"
"...I don't know. Ranma, where do you think the panda went?" Ami said, suddenly realizing that the surreality of the situation had made them forget that there was a giant panda wandering around her house.
"Probably the bath?" Ranma said.
"The bath… the bath? I'm not cleaning up fur out of the tub!" Makoto stood up, "That bear is not going to... Wait how would a panda bear use the bath? How would it even know what a bath is?"
Then, to completely distract them from the issue of the bear, a new voice filled the house. "Soun? Hello? Tendo? The hell are you?" A man in a somewhat scruffy gi charged into the room. "Ranma? Have you seen-" He ducked a punch, this one thrown by Makoto. "The hell?" He blocked the lightning fast kick thrown out, "OK, lady, calm down!"
Makoto actually looked surprised, "You're fast."
The man snorted, "Great observation. Try observing that I wasn't any threat before you and the other girl kicked-" Ranma was instantly at the man's side, elbowing him in the gut hard judging by the wince the man did.
"Man pops, shut up. These ladies have every right to be pissed at you barging into their house for no reason." Ranma said in complete deadpan.
Pops than… "Genma Saotome, I presume?"
Genma's face split into a smile. "Oh yes, of course." He pulled Ranma's shoulder and sat the both of them down across from her. "And you are, Ma'am?"
"Ami Tendo, it's a pleasure to meet you." Ami said with a polite smile.
"Ami?" At hearing the name Genma seemed to look relieved. "Oh yeah! Ami, I recall the last time I met Soun he had said he had been dating a doctor named Ami. A little late, but congratulations on that!" He laughed.
Well that answered some questions, "So, you're a friend of my husband?"
"Friend? We were more than that. We were comrades, partners! Closer than brothers! We fought together, trained together, suffered together…" Genma's face got a look that was familiar to Ami. One someone remember a friend from years gone by. "It was hard, it was painful, but in the end we triumphed against our greatest adversary. And we made a promise between men for the future of Anything Goes."
Slam! Akane's hands hit the table, "Y-you know Anything Goes?"
"Know it? Me and Soun perfected it." Genma said, "Isn't that right Ranma? Spent all these years passing it down to you."
Ranma, for the first time, looked a bit more comfortable. Obviously the familiar topic helped, "Yeah. Trained with the old man here all my life. Got real good, I think."
"Yup. We just finished a training trip to China." Genma said.
Ranma snorted, "That was a disaster."
"You learned a lot didn't you?"
"Oh come on do not start that." Ranma growled, and Ami felt a sudden tension between Father and Daughter. Something had clearly gone wrong in China.
"Mr. Saotome." Ami said, stopping the argument, "So you came here to see my husband?"
"Of course!" Genma said, "Where is he?"
Right. Ami took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, Mr. Saotome. But… Soun, my husband. He passed away almost ten years ago."
In a flash any happiness was gone from Genma's face. "What…?"
"I'm sorry." Ami said.
"But… the dojo?"
"I'm afraid only Akane and Makoto use it now."
"Soun's art… the style…?"
"Akane and me are, well, we're trying to recreate it from Soun's notes and scrolls." Makoto said. "Though, I guess since there's at least two other practitioners we won't need to do that now… err if you want to help us."
Genma slammed his fist against the table, "You mean… he didn't tell you… anything?"
Ami sighed, "I'm afraid, Mr. Saotome, that Soun didn't seem very proud of his past before he met me." She looked up and saw an understanding look cross Genma's face, "I'm guessing there's a good reason for that?"
"Pops…?" Ranma sounded concerned, "You... OK?"
"Yes… err… well. It's true. I'll confess. Me and Soun weren't… well we weren't quite on the up and up in our youth. Lots of things we regretted." Genma shrugged, "The day we had had enough, and set things right… well that's the day we made the promise. A promise between men."
Ami suddenly had a bad feeling about this. "What… kind of promise?"
"A promise to secure the school of Anything Goes and it's Dojo!" Genma declared, "Where our children would unite our families, and produce the greatest martial arts the world had ever known!"
Ranma facepalmed, "Pops…"
"So… wait. You want you ch1ld, to marry one of Soun's children? It's an arranged marriage?" Makoto said.
"Oh no way! No way in hell!" Akane shouted.
Something clicked in Ami's head. Soun's last moments, when he had been in a fever, unlucid. He had said something about the Schools… he had been talking about this arrangement. His last thoughts had been about this promise to his old friend.
A pity than that…
"Well, I'm afraid that's just not going to happen Mr. Saotome." Ami said.
"...what?" Genma said, "How.. how can you say that? Surely your late husband would want that?"
Ami had no doubt Soun would have. But there was no way she would have allowed it if he had been alive. Her daughters were not going to have some arranged marriage forced on them. They would be free to love whoever they wanted. Still, she could see the grief in Genma's eyes, and could tell that he was now probably riding a lot on this promise. Still, she could deduce from the letter Genma had sent her… "Ranma is your only ch1ld?"
"Err, yes?" Genma said.
"Well then it can't happen." Ami said, "Soun and myself only had daughters, and you only had daughters. And women can not get married in Japan yet. And I have no doubt you'd want a direct blood descendant heir. So it just can't be done." Without magic, at least. But Ami didn't feel the need to point that out. It was an excuse he would accept, a simple practical reality that would allow the issue to pass with no hard feelings.
Genma, however, looked thoughtful, "So… if I had a son you'd be OK with it?"
Was he really trying to find a loophole? "Well, Mr. Saotome." Ami said. She was looking straight at him. So she didn't notice Ranma shaking her head wildly and mouthing "no" over and over. Makoto and Akane did, and wondered just what was up with that. "If you had a son one of my daughters ages I suppose we could see if things would work out. But, sadly, we do not."
"Damn it." Ranma slumped against the table.
"I'll be right back." Genma said, and ran off.
"Err.. Mr. Saotome…?"
Ranma sighed, "Shouldn't have given him an out." She muttered.
"What kind of out can he have for that?" Akane asked, "You don't have any brothers your age, right?"
Genma, meanwhile, had grabbed a mug from the kitchen. "Wow, a Sailor V Mug. That brings me back." He commented on the collector's item, filling it up with tap water. He ran back into the living room, a big smile on his face. "Well now, you'll keep your word right Mrs. Tendo?"
"Well, of course Mr. Saotome. It's an impossible… promise… to… keep…though." Ami's voice trailed off. Genma had upended the mug Minako had given Nabiki as 10th birthday gift over Ranma's head. In an instant Ranma was taller, shoulders broader… chest flatter. In fact, it was now very obvious that Ranma was a boy.
"Mrs. Tendo. Meet my son Ranma." Genma said, looking like the most smug man on the planet.
"You really shouldn't have made that promise lady." Ranma grumbled.