Disclaimer: Didn't I already do this? I own nothing, dammit!

Chapter 1: A Fresh Start

"Here, sir, is legendary training ground of accursed springs" the Chinese Jusenkyo guide announced to the two Japanese men that had accompanied him.

The father and son paused to appreciate the view before them.

"Are you prepared Ranma?" the old man asked.

"This place ain't that impressive," his son responded after dropping his pack.

"You very strange one, no, sir? This place very dangerous. Nobody use now," the guide warned deaf ears. "Is more than one hundred spring here, and every one have own tragic legend!"

By now, the two men were perched atop the bamboo poles each in their respective poses.

"Ahhh! Sir, what you doing!" the guide exclaimed, being the only one who knew the extent of the dangers around them.

"I wont go easy on you, boy!" the old man shouted.

"That's how I want it!" Ranma yelled back in full confidence.

"Please, sir!" the guide pleaded, "Very bad if you fall in spring!"

At this moment, a sonic boom from up above distracted the old man for a split second allowing his son to kick him into the water. Simultaneously, there was an earth shaking crash a few yards behind the young boy.

Ranma whipped around instinctively to see what caused the trouble. He saw a decent sized trench about two hundred feet long that ended in one of the springs. Whatever had caused it was sure to be pulverized by now. He leapt down to the side of the spring to get a closer look, and saw a body float to the surface face down, apparently drowned.

"Oh shit, don't die!" Ranma yelled as he promptly dove into the spring in an attempt to rescue the victim. His mind was now focused on one thing only; get that person out of the spring and administer CPR. Everything else was secondary. With a firm grip he hauled the victim back onto dry land and flipped the stranger over. It was an extremely cute girl with messy black hair. Shaking off his momentary shock, he checked her for a pulse. There was none. Not without a little hesitation, he began pumping her chest while counting in his head. Then, stifling a nose bleed, he began breathing into her mouth. He repeated the process several times until she began coughing up water. 'Thank goodness...' "You had me scared for a sec- Huh? What's with my voice? It's...high pitched? No way, I must be imagining things..."

"ARRRRRGGGGGGGHHH!" a sudden roar came from behind.

Ranma stood up and turned around to see a panda leaping at him. As soon as he was on his feet he nearly lost his balance as he felt gravity tug on his chest. He looked down in horror as time slowed. His soaked clothing was struggling to hold in a pair of rather large breasts. He was now a she.

The panda didn't have a chance to knock out his son, who had somehow been replaced by a fainted girl.

Ranma blacked out, the last thing she remebered hearing was the Chinese guide yell something about cursed bodies.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma awoke several hours later at the hut where they had initially met the Chinese guide. She was still a girl, she noticed, as the weight of her chest hindered her from breathing properly. She immediatly got up from the mat she was resting on and began pacing, paying no attention to the other three people who sat at a nearby table. 'How did this happen...how did this happen...how did this happen!'

"Hey, stop pacing around like an idiot and get over here!" Genma shouted from the table.

This brought Ranma out of her mental panic and allowed her to take notice of what was going on. At the table sat her human father, the guide, and a young boy with a mess of black hair who appeared to be her age. "What the hell is going on here?" she said with a shaky voice.

"You might want to sit down, son," Genma said as he waved his child over to the table.

Ranma complied and sat next to the strange boy who was clad in a tattered orange gi. She eyed the strange boy who seemed to recognize her. He was staring and it began to get on her nerves. "What?" she barked at him, sounding more irritated than she had intended.

"Uh..." the boy twiddled his thumbs trying to find his words. "I...wanted to say thanks, for earlier."

"What are you talking about, dude?" Ranma asked with a raised eyebrow.

The boy grabbed the glass of water he had been sipping on and dumped it over his head, transforming into the girl who had been rescued by Ranma.

Ranma's jaw hit the floor in shock as she stared wide-eyed at the person before her. Then realization set in as she remembered giving mouth to mouth to the black haired boy/girl. Ranma's world had just shattered; not only had she become a girl, but she had practically kissed a boy. Granted, neither of them was a boy at the time, but she still felt sickened. Then she remembered a martial artists' duty to protect the weak and save those in peril. She choked back the nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach and half-smiled at the person she had saved. "So..." she started, " are you okay now?"

The girl in orange nodded solemnly and scratched her head.

"So, what happened?" Ranma continued, "Who are you and where did you come from?"

"To be honest, I can't remember anything before waking up and was hoping you could tell me how I got here," the tattered girl replied sincerely.

"You mean pop and the guide over here, didn't see anything?"

The guide took this as his cue to speak up. "I warn you about spring but you no listen. Very good that I had thermos of tea to douse your father with. I chased after him while you jump off to somewhere else. When panda find you, curse had already been recieved and you pass out next to other girl. Then I change your pop back to human and explain everything."

"Explain what?" Ranma raised her voice. "How I got like this?"

"Yes. You see, you and other boy fall into 'Spring of Drowned Girl' and become young girls. Now cold water change you into girl while hot change you back. Funny luck, no?" the Chinese man chuckled lightly.

"What!" Ranma jumped up from her seat. "If I can change back then give me some hot water right now!" she demanded.

"Very good, sir. I have some on stove right now for time like this," the guide said before going to fetch the water. He promptly returned with a kettle full of hot water and then doused both Ranma and the tattered girl.

Ranma sighed in relief as he returned to his normal height and felt his important parts return. He turned to the tattered boy and was able to read him better now that he was back to his old self. He noticed the boy's muscular build and felt the powerful aura he exuded. He was obviously a martial artist. Ranma paused to think as he recalled what had happened. "What's your name?" he finally asked the tattered boy.

"Uh...I don't exactly remeber that either," he said rather sheepishly.

"Son," Genma interrupted, "Surely you've felt his aura. Ordinarily I would have gone insane with what has transpired here today. However, his power is unusually strong, rivaling that of even yours my boy. And I can't seem get my mind off of it. Although, the idea of transforming into a panda isn't becoming of a master martial artist such as me," he paused as his eyes filled with tears, "But then...neither is it good for my poor boy to become a weak and pathetic girl. Oh why did this happen!" he wailed in tears, "I'm so ashamed of you Ranma! So asha-"

His waterworks were cut short as Ranma picked up the table and swung it at his father like a tennis racket, making painful contact and sending him flying through the roof.

"Sooooooooo Ashaaaaaaaammed!" were the words they heard his father cry out as he flew away.

"Baka..." Ranma sighed through his teeth as he set the broken table down. "Sorry 'bout that," he chuckled lightly while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Is he gonna be alright?" the tattered boy asked nervously.

"No sweat," Ranma answered, "It happens to him all the time."

"Oh..."

The chinese man, regaining his wits, quickly began to usher them out of his small hut. "You two go now, very dangerous for me if you stay. Break more things. Good luck!"

"W-wait a second!" Ranma spoke up as he was pushed out of the door along side the tattered boy. "Aren't you gonna tell me how to cure this?"

"Sorry, no cure! Too too bad. You have good day now, bye!" he said right before slamming the door shut in Ranma's face.

'No...cure?' Ranma thought as he sunk to his knees. 'Impossible...'

The tattered boy felt for poor Ranma, however didn't seem to be as badly affected as him. After all, he had no memories of his previous life, thus he had no basis to judge how horribly altered his life would be with the curse. At the moment, he was just happy to be alive. He placed a reassuring hand on the shoulder of his saviour as a distant yet familiar feeling came over him. Hope. "Hey, don't listen to what that guy said, alright. I'm sure there's a way to beat this thing. There's...alway's a way..."

As the words left his mouth he felt a sudden surge of pain shoot through his head. He closed his eyes and grabbed his head in agony as visions flashed across mind. Stars streaked by faster than the eye could count. The full moon pulsed in sync with the sound of a beating heart. Finally, a blue light exploded in front of him causing him to black out.

"Hey!" Ranma yelled as the tattered boy's sudden convulsions brought him out of the daze that had held him. "What's wrong with you!" he shouted in worry as he shook the boy in an attempt to wake him. Ranma leaned over the boy, who was now flat on the ground, and began repeatedly slapping his face. "Hey, snap out of it! I don't want to have to carry your sorry ass! HEY!" After several minutes without progress, he pulled a bucket of rainwater away from the side of the hut and soaked the unconscious boy.

"Ahhhhhh!" the tattered girl shouted as she came to. She was thoroughly soaked and coughing up water. "Hey, what was that for!" she shouted in anger as she hopped to her feet, showing some backbone for the first time.

"Hey it worked," Ranma laughed in surprise, still trying to wrap his mind around the whole idea of a 'curse'.

"No shit, ya idiot!" the tattered girl shouted while waving a fist in the air. She didn't know why she was so angery. It felt strange.

"Sorry," Ranma bit back his laughter as he remembered he had the same curse. "But I had no choice. You passed out and nothing I did would wake you up. Are you sure you're okay?"

The tattered girl's anger seemed to slip away as she heard this and lowered her fist. "Yeah, I think so. I don't know what came over me...sorry..."

"Chill, it don't even matter anymore," Ranma shrugged it off. "I'm just glad I wont have ta carry you. So what happened to you," he said changing the subject.

"I...just all of a sudden felt like my head was going to explode, and then I saw things I've never seen before," she explained as she recalled her vision. "I'm pretty sure it had something to do with my past, but it all seems so foggy now..."

Ranma looked concerned for her, but new there was nothing he could do at present. "Well," he said, giving up, "don't think too hard about it. Otherwise your head might explode again," he laughed at that last part.

The tattered girl laughed too at the unexpected humor that came out of the serious situation. She sighed and decided to think about it later. But for now, what was she supposed to call herself? "Hey, I have no idea who I am," she said as she walked over to the side of the hut where Ranma had replaced the empty bucket.

"I thought we already established that," Ranma said, stating the obvious.

"What I mean is," the tattered girl continued, "what'll I call myself? I need a name."

"Well," Ranma rubbed his chin in thought. "You seem to be pretty strong..." he said more to himself than to her. "I wonder if pops would go for it..."

"For what?" she said as she waved her hand in front of Ranma's face as he started to space out.

"Well, I was thinking that you could become my brother or cousin or something like that."

"Really! You'd do that for me?" the tattered girl asked in disbelief.

"But that only settles the matter of your last name..." he said thoughtfully.

"Which is?" she asked.

"Oh, I guess I never formally introduced myself," he said before straightening up his back and extending a hand. "Saotome Ranma, nice to meet you."

Almost instinctively, the tattered girl took the hand in a firm grip and shook it. "Saotome, Goku."

"Goku?" Ranma asked with a curious eyebrow raised. "Why Goku?"

"I don't know...it just sort of came to me."

"Alright then, whatever works for you..." Ranma trailed off. "But what kind of a name is Goku for a girl?" he laughed as soon as the joke hit him.

SPLASH

"Hey! What the hell!" Ranma shouted in her high pitched girl voice.

"What kind of a name is Ranma for a girl!" Goku yelled before dropping the bucket and rolling around in a fit of laughter.

Ranma shook a dripping fist at Goku then sighed when she realized she had had it coming. She swallowed her anger and began walking in the direction her father had flown. "Were even. Come on, let's find pops before he gets himself into trouble."

Goku wiped a tear from her eyes as the laughter subsided and followed her new sibling, wondering what would come next.