"WASURERARENAI" (Unforgettable)
An alternative reality fic written by Emily Siazon.
All characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.
< > are thoughts
[ ] setting or panda signs
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Prologue
********

[10 years ago. Ryugenzawa]

     "Help me! Somebody help!" a six year old Akane Tendo cried as she
ran away from the giant animal. She had been wandering around trying 
to find her family when the thing appeared and started to chase her 
with hunger filled eyes.

     She could feel its warm breath against her back so she ran 
harder, but it was no use. She was already starting to tire and a 
place to hide was nowhere in sight.

     She felt her legs start to give out and was about to give up when
she noticed that the presence behind her was no longer there. She 
turned around and found a boy about her age fighting with it. Many of 
the boy's blows were connecting, but the creature appeared unfazed.
 
     "Go home. Get out of here," he yelled as he leapt up to take
another swing at the monster. It saw him coming and defended itself by
swatting him on his back, tearing the fabric off his shirt.

     The boy landed right in front of Akane. "Get back." He then leapt
up again and hit it with as much force as he could muster, rendering 
it unconscious.

     "A-Are you okay?"

     "I'm fine. Just go home. This place is full of monster traps," he
snapped before proving it by stepping on one of them.

     Akane took one look at his semi-unconscious form and carried him 
on her back while she talked to him to keep him from losing 
consciousness.
 
     "I'll take you home. Uh...where is it?"

     "There," he replied weakly as he pointed to a nearby clearing.
 
     "By the way, I'm Akane, Akane Tendo. What's your name?"

     "Shinnosuke."

     "Shinnosuke, thanks for helping me back there."

      He grumbled a reply as she found the cabin and tried to yell for
help, but apparently, no one was home. He was starting to get heavy,
so she set him down right next to the door and hoped than someone 
would come and help them soon.

     She worriedly looked at the bumps and scrapes he had received from
the fight. "You're hurt. Are you really okay?"

     "I'm fine. Go on." He then handed her a strange looking object.
"This will keep the monsters from you. Blow into it while you run away.
Hurry up, go!"

     "How come?"

     "You're wasting time. Go on, get out of here."

     She waved goodbye and was about to run off when a shadow appeared
in her path. She looked up and found the creature Shinnosuke had 
beaten up earlier, conscious and very angry.

     She felt a quick movement behind her and realized too late it was
the monster trying to attack. She felt something hit her from behind
before she went flying off and hit her head hard against the side of 
the cabin. She heard Shinnosuke yell out her name before everything 
went dark.

                             *    *    *

     Shinnosuke watched as the little girl in front of him slowly
stirred. His grandfather had just beaten the creature and he wanted 
to see if the girl was injured. He wasn't feeling too well himself, 
but the condition of the girl before him was more important.
 
     "Akane, are you okay?"

     The girl sat up and blinked once before looking at him in 
confusion. "Akane? Who's that?"

Chapter 1
*********

[10 years later. Nerima, Tokyo]

     Akane and Shinnosuke both looked like they were ready to collapse
from exhaustion as they carried their suitcases down the front 
walkway. They had just endured a long train ride and couldn't wait 
till they got inside their new home.

     They had only been away for a couple of hours, but they were
already starting to miss Ryugenzawa. Tokyo was so full of people, a
sharp contrast to the forest they had resided in until a couple of
hours ago.

     Shinnosuke looked at his traveling companion and sighed. He could
tell that Akane was already homesick. He wanted to promise to her that
they would go back home soon, but he couldn't. He had no idea how long
they had to stay there.

     Ever since he tried to save Akane ten years ago, his health has 
been declining due to an injury he had received. The water of life had 
helped for a while, but it was starting to lose its potency.

     His grandfather decided to send them to live with his aunt in 
Tokyo, in hopes that the hospitals could find a way to cure him. The 
old man insisted he stay in the forest so he could send them the 
'water of life' until they found a cure.

     He took another glance at Akane, the girl he had loved ever since
they met. She still couldn't remember who she was, but she felt
responsible for his injury so she insisted she come along with him. 
His spirits lifted up a bit at the thought of how she had fussed over 
him on the way and as he realized for the first time that their 
situation wasn't so bad since they were at least together.

     Akane noticed him watching her from the corner of her eyes and
smiled up at him. "A yen for your thoughts."

     He was about to reply when a panda with a girl over its shoulder
rushed past them and headed for the house next door.

     "I was just thinking about how much I'm going to miss home, but
from what I've just seen, I don't think I have anything to worry 
about."

                             *    *    *

     Meanwhile, a lot of shouting could be heard inside the house next
door. The occupants, a middle aged man and his two daughters who were
expecting a man and his teenaged son were facing a panda and a red
haired girl who claimed to be the son they were expecting.

     The middle aged man, Soun Tendo, fainted as he realized that the
betrothal between the son of his old training partner and one of his
daughters was not going to be possible. The thought that the Tendo
family legacy wasn't secure kept him conscious long enough to make a
mental note to hunt Genma Saotome down and strangle him with his bare
hands.

     When he regained consciousness, he found his elder daughter 
Kasumi placing a cold compress on his head while his other daughter 
Nabiki grabbed the red haired girl by her breast.

     "How can you engage us to another girl, daddy!" she demanded
angrily.

     "But Saotome said he had a son."

     "And since when have boys had these?" she asked as she poked the
girl on the breast, making the red head's face flush the same shade as
her hair.

     "Um...could you please stop that?"

     Kasumi gave her younger sister a disapproving frown. "Nabiki, 
just because she wasn't who you expected doesn't mean that you should 
make her feel unwanted. She is our guest, after all."

     Nabiki looked mildly ashamed as she said, "Sorry."

     The panda, who had been silent during all this time started to 
bark at the girl.

     The red head looked like she was going to protest, but instead
nodded her head. "You wouldn't happen to have any hot water around,
would you?

     Kasumi handed her a kettle filled with lukewarm tea. "Would this
do?"

     The girl nodded as she poured the water over the panda, turning 
it into a bald man in his mid forties. She then poured the rest over 
her head, turning into a muscular boy.

     Nabiki's eyes widened. "W-Who... what are you?"

     "I'm Genma Saotome," the bald man answered. "And this is my 
son..."

     "I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry about this."

                            *    *    *

     Akane looked around her new room in awe. She had never had a room
to herself before and she had to admit that the extra privacy was 
kinda nice. The room was bare except for a dresser in the corner and a 
futon sprawled out in the middle of the floor. She planned on fixing 
that tomorrow with a little shopping trip to make it feel more like 
home.

     Her mind drifted to Shinnosuke's aunt as she changed into her
pajamas. She was a very friendly woman although a bit forgetful. 
During their brief introduction, the woman had forgotten their names 
five times. It reminded her a bit of Shinnosuke and she brieftly 
wondered if forgetfulness ran in the family before she fell asleep.

                            *    *    *

     A soaking wet Ranma-chan got out of the pond with a glare at her
father. How dare he use her as a demonstrational tool. A glint of 
metal caught her attention and a smile appeared on her face as she 
realized it was a laundry pail.

     Filling it with the water below her, she got out and splashed the
contents on her father, turning him into a panda.

                            *    *    *

     Akane woke up as a angry yell echoed throughout the neighborhood.

     "Oh no," she groaned as she got out of bed and saw the panda and
girl they saw earlier fighting in the yard next door.

     She went back to bed in hopes that the commotion would end soon,
but when the noise rose in volume with no signs of decreasing, she got
dressed and headed next door to complain.

                            *    *    *

     There was a knock on the front door which was unnoticed by 
everyone in the house except Kasumi. She excused herself and went to 
open it.

     "Hello?" She asked with a smile that quickly turned into a look 
of surprise as she got a better look at the person standing before 
her.

     The girl was the spitting image of her long deceased mother from
her long dark blue hair to her beautiful, delicate features.

     The girl bowed. "Hello, I'm you're new neighbor Akane. I don't 
mean to be rude, but can you please keep the noise down? I'm a bit 
tired from a long train ride and wish to get some sleep."

     Kasumi snapped out of her stupor as she apologized. "I'm so 
sorry. I'll do my best."

     "Arigato." Akane said with a bow as she walked away.
 
     "Wait!"

     "Yes?"

     "Why don't you stop by tomorrow? It's always so nice to get new
neighbors."

     Akane considered her offer and was about to refuse until she saw
Kasumi's smiling face watching her expectantly.

     "I guess so." She answered with a weak smile.
 
     Kasumi gave one final wave before she closed the door. She turned
around just in time to see Nabiki enter with Ranma-chan who was 
pouring another kettle of hot water over her head.

     "Who was that oneechan?" Nabiki inquired as she watched Ranma,
trying to calculate just how much money she could make off him.

     "Oh, it was just our new..."

     "Why don't you pick which one you want." Soun interrupted. "She's
your fiancee."

     Ranma gave Soun an incredulous look. "You can't be serious! What
about my curse?"

     "You seem like a manly young man to me."

     Ranma looked at the two other girls for help, but neither looked
well at the moment.

     "Can I at least get some time to get to know them first before I
choose?"

     "Well, I suppose that's not too unreasonable." Soun answered as 
he smiled up at his old training partner. "Saotome-kun, at last our
families can be reunited. Let's go to a bar and celebrate."

     The two men ran out gleefully while the three teenagers watched
their retreating figure in dismay.

     Nabiki's demeanor became brisk as she began to speak in a
businesslike manner. "Now, why don't we all sit down and try to figure
out what we can do to get out of this mess."

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AUTHORS NOTES: 
Well, here's another fanfic written by me during a fit of boredom. 
This story is going to be a bit more serious than I'm used to, so send
in your comments and criticisms at <emily9@bellatlantic.net>
     I would like to thank Gary Kleppe for helping me edit this and of
course all those who sent me c&c.