Well, here�s a draft of part 2, finished two days earlier than I had
anticipated. It�s a bit of a side-step from the main story, but I thought it
would be fun to write.. 

I hope to get part 3 out before I leave for NY next week. If not,  you'll all
just have to wait until I get back ^_^.

Again, C & C is welcome and appreciated.

One more thing, I might ask.. As far as my knowledge goes, Ukyou has never
been to Jusenkyo, is this correct? I was toying with some ideas which work
around this little fact..

(Untitled)
Part the second
A Ranma � Fanfic
by Paul Meaney
IMAFREEK@aol.com


     Ukyou put the �closed for vacation� sign in the window and locked the
door. She was off to find her Ranma. Her plan was simple. Find Ranma and make
him see that she is the one for him. A simple, stupid plan, she thought. But
if she beat Akane to finding him and told a little white lie or two, she
would have Ranma at last. To make sure she accomplished this, she had to find
out a way to slow down Akane.
     All of the sudden it hit her.
     Ryoga.
     Manipulating him would be easy. Especially since everyone but Akane and
Akari knew of his feelings for Akane. She had done it before at the Tunnel of
Lost Love, but time was already running out and finding Ryoga was not viable.
She would have to hope to run into him along her journey. "Yeah RIGHT!" she
thought.
     Konatsu came running up the street, right on time. "Ukyou! I found
out!!" he cried.
     "Great! Did any of them see you?"
     "Of course not."
     "Good. What did you find out?"
      "It appears that Ranma has run away to Jusenkyo. He has been troubled
for some time and has decided to go there for a retreat of sorts."
      Jusenkyo, of course. This was beginning to make sense. "And what about
Akane?" She asked.
     "It appears she has gone off to assist him in his journey. However,
there was some excitement about it all, rather than grief over a family
member running away from home. They kept mentioning wedding plans."
     This made Ukyou�s eyes widen. She didn�t have to know all of the
details, but if another wedding was about to take place, it would be for her
& Ranma. 
     "Come on, Konatsu. Grab my bag.. We�re going to the airport."


     Akane wandered about the docks of Kobe aimlessly. The bus ride made her
catch up on the day she lost, but she didn�t know if Ranma had even got here
yet, never mind where to look for him. Akane started to think that it would
be best to wait for him at Jusenkyo with Plum and her father. It was better
than the current needle in a haystack plan she was working with. After a
quick rummage through her pockets, she deduced that she had plenty of money
to book passage to China. Off she went to compare fare prices.

     Ranma had made good time, but was running low on cash when he got to
Kobe. His appetite had gotten the better of him along the way. "So much money
on food.", he thought. He started to think he could work his passage to
China, and hopefully earn some extra for more food in China, as well as the
trip home. At least this time he didn�t have the old man to screw things up.
The memory came back quite clearly...

     "That was mine, Pop!!"
     "You�re slow and sloppy, Ranma!!" Genma said through the chicken leg.
     "GRRRR! How�s a growing boy like me supposed to..."
      "ENOUGH!" a voice came from the other end of the mess hall. Ranma
recognized the first mate as he stood up, veins bulging.
     "Calm down, Yuta. Let me handle this." Another man spoke. Tall and
muscular, a wind-burned face and years of experience of the sea  surrounded
him.
     The first mate backed down at once. "Yes, Captain."
     Ranma and Genma looked at each other, a bit confused, but worried also.
     "I�m afraid it�s time for you two to leave." The captain boasted. A
bunch of evil smirks grew on the rest of the crew.
     "What?" Cried both Ranma & Genma, in unison.
     The captain paused and took a drag from his pipe. "For the past day, you
two have done anything but work on this ship. Constant fighting that disrupts
crew members and damages the ship. The two of you eat more than ten of my
men. These factors  over the last day have cost me more than your passage. I
think letting you �work� here has been a mistake." The man snapped his
fingers, and Ranma and Genma were grabbed from behind.
     A few moments later, father & son were in the sea, staring at the ship
move away from them. 
     Ranma swam to where his gear had splashed down. Just great. "This is all
you fault, Pop."
     "We�re lucky they didn�t kill us, boy. After all, this is the kind of
behavior you�d expect from smugglers."
     "Smugglers?" Ranma gasped. He couldn�t comprehend why his father would
be mixed up in such an unruly crowd.
     "They are always hiring, Ranma. We don�t have much money, you know."
     "Great, Pop. Now what are we supposed to do?"
     "Swim, of course! Swimming builds up all of your muscles! Think of it as
training!"
     "Training?!? We�re lucky we don�t drown first!!" Ranma started towards
his father, ready to smite him.
     Genma knew, of course how to push Ranma. And started swimming in the
direction of the ship. "That�s it, boy! Come on! China is this way!" He
taunted.
     "Get over here!!!" Ranma yelled. This was the worst experience of
Ranma�s journey yet. He didn�t know the half of it.

     "This time we�ll work it a little differently." Ranma thought. "With any
luck, this�ll be the last time I have to do this." Out of the corner of his
eye, he spotted a barrel of water. He went over and splashed himself
liberally. The transformation was quick. A few people stood in shock as a
transformed Ranma walked away. 
     After a bit of searching, Ranma found a small passenger ship  for
departure to Shanghai. He walked up the ramp looking for a porter.

     Akane settled down in her cabin. The ship was pretty small,  which
didn�t matter to Akane. She was happy enough to find passage to China. She
looked out her porthole at the sea, trying to sort out her thoughts..
"Ranma.. Why did you leave me? Stupid idiot. Kiss me and run off, will you?
When I find you.. I�ll .. I�ll.." 
     What would she do? She still hasn�t figured that out. A hundred
scenarios went through her mind. Of course, none of them would turn out true.
She walked over to her bed. After a nap, she�ll go get something to eat.
She�ll have to worry about Ranma when she found him. Before she fell asleep,
a hundred more scenes went through her head.

To be continued..