Author's note: A bit of a short one here, things will pick up again next chapter. This is chapter is bridging the gap between two story sections.

EDIT: The line breaks are disappearing and reappearing no matter what I do. Actually much of my formatting is going wonky on me. Dunno if it's the site or my PC... I can't even put a smiley in this author's note. Gah! replaced line breaks with O...o~o...O

I own diddly squat. That means nothing.

Chapter 14

"Will Ranma be down soon? How did it go? What did he say? Is the girl with child? What are his intentions?" Nodoka felt that she had been patient enough, which was why she practically pounced on her husband as he came down the stairs.

The desire to go panda was strong, but Genma had to stand firm if he wanted to protect his only child's secret. "Although I wish the circumstances were better, we are going to be grandparents in a few months time. We should try to consider this a happy occasion." Genma nodded to himself, Yes, that should be evasive enough.

This was the response that she had been afraid of, but it was not unexpected. "And the girl?"

Genma had an answer already prepared, he'd decided to speak only the truth, so that he wouldn't be caught in a lie later on. "Do not concern yourself with the girl. She wishes to remain hidden, for her own protection, you understand. Ranma will have full control of the child."

"Don't forget about Akane!" Soun piped up.

"Yes yes, I haven't forgotten Akane." Genma replied.

Nodoka took this as a mixed blessing. That the girl was willing to give up the child without a fight was a relief indeed. She would have liked to assess the girl and her family though, to ensure that they were of good stock. It was understandable however, the situation, if discovered, would be a stain on both the girl's and her family's reputations. She sighed, I suppose this is the best outcome that I could have hoped for. That just left one question. "Will Ranma be down soon? I would like to have a talk with him."

"He left. He wanted to give Akane her space, she did not take the news well. He also needs some time to come to terms with everything that is going on. And between you and me, if the boy is to be a father in the future, he'll need to find a cure for the curse." I should get an Emmy for this performance, Genma thought as he grinned in smug satisfaction. Everything was going according to his's makeshift plan so far, at least until Nodoka asked her final question of the evening.

"He's gone? Where did he go?" She placed a dangerous amount of emphasis on the where. Her son had been lost to her for so many years, she did not like being ignorant of his whereabouts at all.

Soun backed away, but Genma somehow missed the cues that should have warned him of an impending disaster and replied lightly with, "I didn't think to ask." It had not been the right answer. The bruises would take weeks to heal.

O...o~o...O

"Ahhhhh!" Ryoga screamed.

Ranma quickly shut what was apparently the bathroom door. Gross, she thought as she continued down the hall. She turned the next handle only to find herself back in their shared bedroom. What the heck? Where is it? She exited the room and tried the next knob.

"Don't you ever knock?" Ryoga yelled.

"Don't you ever lock?" Ranma yelled right back, "And open the window, it reeks in here!" she finished as she slammed the door.

"It's not like I invited you in!" came the reply, muffled slightly by the closed door, but Ranma was no longer listening.

This is getting weird, she thought as she turned and reached for the next handle. The room was decorated sparsely in a masculine style, Ranma assumed it must have been Ichiro's room and shut the door again promptly.

After taking a deep breath to steady herself, Ranma checked to ensure that she had indeed moved on to the next door down and-

"Ranma! Seriously, what the Hell?" This time he threw a roll of toilet paper at her. It thudded against the back of the door as she closed it. Having decided that she was getting nowhere trying the doors on this side of the hall, she spun and went to open the door that had been behind her.

"What do we have here?" Xiao Tao asked from the end of the hall, just as Ranma's fingers had touched the knob.

It was as if a fog had lifted and Ranma found herself standing in front of the door that they had been warned not to enter. She was very confused, three times she had walked in on Ryoga using the toilet, but she was certain that the washroom was on the lower floor. Their shared room, Iichiro's room and the room she was standing in front of were on the upper lever, yet she didn't recall going up or down any stairs. "I was just looking for the kitchen..." She admitted to the midwife, who raised an eyebrow and led the way. I wonder if there is somethin' magic in that room that's messin' with me?

O...o~o...O

"Before we begin, I formally name you my apprentice." Xiao Tao announced. It was later in the day and she and Ranma were standing in the yard behind the clinic. It was surprisingly large and contained a rather impressive vegetable garden.

"Apprentice?" Ranma asked, "Cologne taught me stuff all the time and never made me an apprentice."

The old woman laughed, "Of course not, she wanted you to marry Shampoo. If she had taken you as an apprentice, you would have become an honorary member of the tribe."

"So?" Ranma was not following.

The midwife's eyes narrowed at the girl's foolishness, "So, the Kiss of Marriage is for outsiders only. Making you an honorary tribe member would have invalidated the kiss."

Ranma's eyes opened wide, "So if you're making me an honorary Amazon, then Shampoo has to give up?"

This time Ranma's foolishness earned her a smack to the back of her head. "I'm making you an honorary Bear Tribe member you ninny. Pay attention girl." That said, Xiao Tao sat down near a growing squash and placed her hands on it.

Rubbing the back of her head and glaring at the old woman, Ranma plopped down beside her to watch what the midwife was doing. There wasn't much to see.

A brief moment later the old woman took her hands off the squash and turned to Ranma, "There are one hundred and three seeds in there, open it and count them. Then cut the squash into cubes."

There was a table set up outside with a knife and cutting board. Ranma did as she was told. Several minutes later Ranma had counted out all one hundred and three seeds. Wow, she must have used chi to count them from the outside. Ranma decided that this must have been the first technique she was going to learn. She eyed the cutting board and wondered how her next task was related to the training. "Ok, so why do I need to cut the squash?"

"For dinner." She replied with a grin. Chopping squash was hard on her old wrists.

When the two were once again seated in the row of growing squash, Xiao Tao described the technique. "This is a basic technique called the Chi Probe. In order to use any chi probing diagnostic techniques, like the Mama Baby Wellness Exam, this must be learned first. It will aid in your own chi control as well. It can only be performed on something living, which is why were are using vegetables on the vine to practice. You will start on the squash here, once you can successfully count the seeds, you may move to the next row." Ranma looked over and saw that the next row was all watermelon, the following row was cucumbers, and finally there was a row of tomatoes. "Your chi control is already advanced, so I won't hold your hand through this. You just have to release your energy slowly and feel the squash." At this point she got up, intending to leave Ranma to train alone. "Don't let any go to waste, I want all the squash in the pot, not on the ground."

Ranma nodded and put her hands on the squash, released energy from her hands and -SPLAT- She was so busy looking at her hands in surprise that she didn't see the blur zipping around the yard.

"What did I just say?" Xiao Tao asked, holding bits of the exploded squash that she had rescued.

"It won't happen again." Ranma replied as she picked squash seeds out of her hair. Ranma Saotome would not be defeated by a plant.

O...o~o...O

"Wow, you must really like squash." Ryoga commented to Xiao Tao when he saw the huge pot boiling on the stove.

"Hmpf!" Ranma dropped herself gracelessly into her seat and scowled at the pot as though it had insulted her personally.

The old midwife just laughed and shook her head. She was truthfully quite proud of Ranma's progress, sure the child hadn't succeeded, but she was only cracking the squash now rather than blowing it up. That sort of progress took most students months.

O...o~o...O

Xiao Tao watched as Ryoga tried again and again to locate the room he was supposed to be sharing with Ranma. Iichiro had collected him that morning to do chores around the clinic. She'd been informed by her grandson that if he took his eyes off the teen for even a second, he'd get himself lost, even if the room he was meant to go in was in plain view. After her strange encounter with Ranma, this was interesting news indeed. Very interesting...

O...o~o...O

Ranma hated squash. If she never ate it again, it would be too soon. It had taken two more days before she could probe the fruit without breaking it, but successfully counting the seeds had taken another three. The chi control required was very fine and precise. Microscopic tendrils had to be released from each finger and gently threaded through the rind and flesh without causing any damage. Once inside, chi had to be wound around each seed as it was counted or she would quickly lose track.

Her confidence was brimming as she plopped down next to the row of watermelons. Now that I've mastered the squash, this'll be a cinch.

O...o~o...O

Ranma hated watermelons.

O...o~o...O

The training had become progressively more difficult. Where the squash had been thoroughly firm with an easy to navigate hollow cavity, the watermelon, while also possessing a thick rind, had fragile innards and the seeds were spaced haphazardly. The cucumber had a thinner skin and was even more prone to destruction if overloaded with chi. Finally, Ranma had moved onto the tomatoes, by far the most delicate and unfortunately, the most messy.

Ryoga laughed at the sight of her as she stormed past him on the way to the bath. Tomato goop was dripping from nearly every inch of her, a frustrating testament to the difficulty level of her training. She flipped him off before slamming the door behind her. He continued chuckling to himself until he heard Ranma scream and rushed into the bathroom to see what was the matter.

Inside, Ranma was sitting on the floor, wearing nothing but her shorts, clutching a towel to her chest and jabbering nonsensically. She seemed to be on the verge of hyperventilation. He approached her cautiously, as though she were a wild animal, and knelt down in front of her. "Ranma," he said, making sure he had her attention, "What's wrong?"

She lifted the towel in response. Ryoga furrowed his brow, "You have a tummy ache?" he guessed hesitantly.

"I can see it." She replied weakly.

He inspected her stomach, but he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. His expression must have given his confusion away as Ranma repeated, "I can see it!"

It? What the heck is 'it'? Ryoga wondered. Chills shot down his spine as Ranma gave him a look as fierce as any ever given to an unsuspecting partner by an irate female. She pointed at her abdomen and waited impatiently for him to figure it out. What? Is she worried that she put on weight? Oh. Oh! Light dawned on him as he recognized the slight protuberance for what it was. He froze. Well, this is awkward. He kind of wanted to touch it, but he also wanted to keep all his fingers.

Ranma was looking at him expectantly, but Ryoga wasn't sure what he was supposed to do about it. He was better at handling the sort of problems that he could punch. Ranma was undeniably the same, she was clearly out of her element. Since he couldn't do anything about it, saying something seemed like the best course of action. Something supportive? Comforting? Reassuring? Deciding that she was worried that people would be able to spot her situation, Ryoga settled on: "It's barely noticeable. I couldn't tell right away. I don't think anyone else will be able to tell yet. I mean, I just thought you were getting a little fat." It had not been the right answer. The bruises would take weeks to heal.

O...o~o...O

Xiao Tao had called Ranma and Ryoga into one of the clinic's exam rooms. After asking a confused Ryoga to lay down on the bed, the midwife told Ranma, "Now that you have mastered the technique on plants, we can move on to a human test subject."

"Test subject?" a panicky Ryoga asked. He had seen the carnage in the vegetable garden, it wasn't pretty.

"You're a sturdy lad, you'll be fine." She replied dismissively. "Now," she addressed Ranma, "using the chi probe, you are to locate Ryoga's liver, kidneys, spleen, lungs and heart. Just locate them for now, nothing else."

Ranma nodded and stood over Ryoga, "I don't think this is such a good idea." He insisted as he attempted to get up off the bed.

"Stop being such a baby" Was her reply as she forced him back down. "Just relax wouldya?"

"Yes," Xiao Tao piped up with a large grin, "you will want to relax. You'll be much less likely to explode if you do." His eyes grew wide and he did as he was told. In truth Xiao Tao was one hundred… well at least ninety-five percent certain he'd be fine. Humans were far more durable than tomatoes.

It didn't take long for Ranma to locate the requested organs, leaving her victim entirely intact, much to his relief.

"Excellent, eventually you will learn to assess the health of each," The midwife informed her, "but for now, we will use these key organs to monitor the flow of chi. Becoming familiar with the flow and patterns of someone else's chi will help you better understand and control your own."

"Are you sure you don't know where Ranma went, Mr. Saotome?" Akane asked when she was certain Nodoka was out of earshot.

Shaking his head, Genma replied, "I really didn't ask, he could be anywhere."

Akane sighed, when Ranma stopped coming to school Akane had attempted to find her. Her anger had melted away entirely and she found herself ready clear the air with her fiancé turned female friend.

She'd tried asking if Ukyo had seen Ranma recently, but the girl was still furious, possibly more furious since uncovering the truth and hadn't been of any help.

The Cat Café had been next, while she was certain Ranma wasn't there, Akane had the distinct impression that Cologne was hiding something. The mysterious elder gave nothing away though, so Akane kept on looking.

Hiroshi and Daisuke's homes had been a longshot, as Akane never knew Ranma to spend time with the boys outside of school, but their homes were nearby and she felt it couldn't hurt to check. They hadn't heard a thing, but they did ask Akane to thank Nabiki for the pictures. She was afraid to ask and simply agreed.

Next up was the vacant lot down the street. Ryoga had been known to pitch his tent there when he was in the area. It was unfortunately empty.

Finally, she'd gone all the way to Ryoga's house. Akane had been fairly optimistic that she would find the pair hiding out there, but she was disappointed to find the place looking as though no one had been home in months. Checkers had been happy to see her at least.

She'd given up then, she couldn't think of another place that Ranma might have gone. Ranma's social circle was quite limited and Akane had checked with everyone in it. Unless Ranma had lost her mind and decided to move in with Kuno, Akane was out of ideas.

O...o~o...O

There wasn't much that surprised the old midwife these days, in her many years she has witnessed a great deal. This however was most curious. The floorboards were creaking above her as she lay in bed. The only way to enter the attic was to open the trap door that was located in that very room. She was certain that no one had come into her room, passed her and climbed up the ladder completely unnoticed. No, how the girl had managed to get into the windowless attic was a mystery indeed.

After pulling the string and releasing the ladder, Xiao Tao poked her head up into the small attic. "Something I can help you with, Dearie?" she asked in mild amusement.

"Uh…" A very confused Ranma held a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste up in front of her. "Just lookin' for the bathroom… heh heh." She laughed awkwardly, trying to act casual.

Ryoga's head popped up through the trap door a moment later. The midwife looked down and saw that he was already dressed in a pair of pyjamas. "Uh," he began as he looked back and forth between Ranma and the midwife, "which way is the bedroom?"

"I think we need to have a talk." Xiao Tao decided. Something very strange was going on here and she was going to get to the bottom of it.