[FFML][Ranma][Fanfic][DRAFT] Childhood of a Modern Dynasty - Chapter 2
[section A]
 

Okay, here's the draft of chapter 2 of Childhood of a Modern Dynasty.
As I did with the final draft of chapter 1, I am spitting it up into
four pieces for easier reviewing by everyone.

First two segments will appear before Anime Expo and the second two
will appear after I get back.

The first chapter of CMD should hit RAAC after I get back from Anime
Expo. Therefore, you can still comment on it if you want to. At this
point, the Omake Theater from the final draft of chapter 1 looks to be
stillborn and won't be in the final version (no one really liked it).
It also may be awkward to do in some of the darker chapters.
 
 

Make sure to check out my new Childhood of a Modern Dynasty website for
some graphics of Akane (at age 76), Hanaki, and Daijiko. They are the
best my borderline drawing skills can do (they are modified from other
screenshots/art). James Davidson's palmcard is available too; it's a
little better quality (I'm not a bad draftsman).

http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlazar/anime/childhood.html
 

[Ranma][Fanfic] Childhood of a Modern Dynasty - Chapter 2: Broken
Hearts and Legs
=======================================================================
Childhood of a Modern Dynasty - Chapter 2: Broken Hearts and Legs

Ranma 1/2 characters and situations created by Rumiko Takahashi, used
without permission
Ranma 1/2 Copyright by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakan Inc., Kitty, Fuji,
Viz Communications, etc...

Childhood of a Modern Dynasty series created, written, and Copyright
1998 by Jim Lazar

An ongoing series set after the end of the Ranma 1/2 manga and anime.
Any references to 'Birth of a Modern Dynasty' refer to the fictional
book that the fictional author James Davidson wrote detailing the
events that happened in the manga and anime. It is not an actual fanfic
or book. 'Childhood of a Modern Dynasty' is the title of this fanfic
series written by me (Jim Lazar) and the fictional book that James
Davidson is writing.

<Speech text in angle brackets are thought by character.>
All other speech is in Japanese, although written in English in this
story of course.
=======================================================================
>From the personal journal of James Davidson:
 

     I walked along the canal on my way to the Tendo compound, hoping
today that Akane would be able to talk about the summer of 1998 again.
My first interview for this period had been three days ago. Since then
she had trouble talking to me about the rest of the summer, I knew some
of the details so I didn't blame her. Her Junior year of high school
had started out rather well actually, if you ignored the awful Hawaiian
school uniforms the students had to wear. A few fights, but that was
nothing new to them or to Nerima. Ukyo had finally reappeared after
being missing since the destroyed wedding and made up with Ranma and
Akane. Ranma and Akane started getting along better, even doing some
training together when Ranma's father broke his leg.

     Their summer training trip was going well too, even if Ukyo and
Ryoga followed them and sabotaged their food and equipment. Looking
back, they did Ranma and Akane a favor by forcing them to live off the
land and share a tent. Ryoga ended up with a broken leg before the two
jealous teenagers could do any harm to Ranma and Akane's delicate
relationship.

     I reached the Tendo Compound just as I was pondering Ranma and
Akane's first kiss. Away from their interfering parents, they had
finally shared the first of many kisses. A year and a half of waiting
for it was too long in my opinion. I was shaken out of my thoughts when
Hanaki answered the gate. We launched into our typical exchange. I
said, "I'm here to see the Matriarch. My name is James Davidson."

     "Ah yes, you're expected. Please come in, Mr. Davidson," Hanaki
said.

     "Thank you, Ms. Ono," I replied as I was let in.

     "Please, call me Hanaki."

     "Only if you call me James."

     "If you insist," she said and smiled.

     We exchanged our customary cheek kisses, then I asked, "So Hanaki,
have any boyfriends yet?"
 
     "Just you," Hanaki replied, teasing the red highlight in her long
hair with her fingers.

     I chuckled, then said, "If only I was that lucky."

     "You are, you just won't accept your luck."

     I stopped and looked at her. Normally she kidded like this with me
all the time, but she seemed more serious this time. Since she had not
stopped, I started walking again and caught up to her.

     She led me past the Matriarch's house to the large dojo. The dojo
was the only part of the old Tendo house, besides the gardens of
course, to have been radically altered over the past sixty years. It
was probably ten times bigger than the original and had several smaller
training rooms inside of it. Hanaki led me into the main training room,
then excused herself. I could only describe what I saw next as a
goddess in action.

     Akane was going through a series of exercises. Doing back-flips,
kicks, and cartwheels that no seventy-six year old woman should be able
to do. I just stood and watched the Matriarch of the Tendo family until
she finished. She stopped suddenly and then looked at me, "Good
morning, James. Here early today, I see," she said and wiped the sweat
off her forehead. She straightened her gi and we exchanged cheek
kisses.

     "Yup, I got an apartment closer to the compound," I informed her.

     "An apartment huh? Just ask before you show it to Hanaki," Akane
said, then winked.

     "Akane, I would never think of..." I started to insist.

     "Right...just do me a favor, James?" Akane asked. I nodded. "Don't
put it off too much longer. 'Later' sometimes never comes," she said.

     I just nodded, then changed the subject, "That was quite a
workout."

     "You should have seen me in my prime," she said, then suddenly did
a cartwheel to the side and held up her arms to block a kick from a
small girl. She spun around and blocked another kick from a little boy.
Soon, she had them both in a bear hug. "Nice try children, but you have
to be faster."

     "Kay," Akane's five-year-old Great-granddaughter Daijiko replied.

     "Hiya, Daijiko, who's your friend?" I asked, ruffling the little
girl's dark blue hair.

     "This is my fiancee, Takma," Daijiko replied to my question.

     I blanched, then looked at Akane and asked, "Fiancee? I'd have
thought your family had learned it's lesson?"

     Akane just smiled, then said, "It's not an arranged marriage or
even official. Just two kids playing around. They know our family
history so they try to shock us with stuff like that. Takma is one of
our dojo's best young students."

     "Oh, good."

     "But I could arrange one for you and Hanaki if you like?" Akane
teased me.

     "Akane..."

     "Okay...Okay...You're less fun in the mornings you know," Akane
said, then smiled.

     I just shrugged and followed Akane out to the main house. I sat
down in front of the table while Akane went to her room behind the
family room and changed. A few minutes later, Akane stepped out of the
room and asked, "Now where were we?"

     I looked up at her and blushed since she hadn't finished buttoning
her blouse yet. "You and Ranma had just had your first real kisses," I
explained.

     Akane knelt down and said, "Ah, yes." She smiled at the memory.

     Hanaki brought some tea for us. "Thank you, Hanaki," I said. "Did
you two, well you know, that night?" I asked Akane.

     "My, my, what kind of book are you writing, James?"

     "Well, I'm not going to give details about that sort of stuff, but
the readers will be curious."

     "Perverts! All of them!" Akane exclaimed, straight-faced. Then she
cracked a smile, "No, we didn't...not on that trip. The morning after
the
kisses, we got up and foraged for breakfast, and did some more
training..."

     I listened intently and made notes on my palmcard. Technically, it
would transcribe everything me and Akane said, but I always added some
of my own thoughts and notes to the interview files. It helped when I
reviewed them.
 

***********************************************************************
Childhood of a Modern Dynasty
Sequel to Birth of a Modern Dynasty
by James Davidson
 

Chapter 2: Broken Hearts and Legs
 

     Akane awoke in Ranma's arms, for the second morning in a row. She
looked up into the sleeping eyes of Ranma, smiled to herself and
extricated herself from the other girl's arms. <I could get used to
waking up in his arms, err...her arms...whatever,> Akane thought to
herself, smiling.

     She got out of the tent and looked around their campsite, then she
walked out into the woods to collect some berries and mushrooms.

     When Ranma awoke, she stretched her arms and looked around for
Akane. Not seeing her, Ranma got up and went outside the tent. The
sight of Akane cooking greeted her. Ranma choked down her usual
reaction to Akane's cooking, mostly because Akane looked quite
beautiful in the morning light, and smiled. "Good morning, Akane," she
said.

     "Morning Ranma!" Akane chirped. Ranma joined her next to the fire
and poured herself some tea. "I collected some more berries and
mushrooms this morning, with the last of our eggs I managed to make a
pretty good scramble.

     Ranma sipped the tea, bit back a spasm as it hit her taste buds,
then swallowed. <How could she get tea wrong?> she thought, then
noticed the mushrooms. Ranma picked up one of the mushrooms Akane had
collected and examined it in her fingers. "Have you used any of these
mushrooms yet?" Ranma asked.

     "No, I was just about to add them," Akane stated, then added, with
a little anger in her voice, "Why? Not going to eat my cooking again?"

     "Oh. I'll eat it, but these mushrooms are poisonous. I'm willing
to take my chances on your cooking, but not these mushrooms," Ranma
said, as a smile crossed her face.

     Detecting a compliment in there somewhere, but not sure where,
Akane smiled. "Oh. I guess I can't make you eat poisonous mushrooms,
that's Kodachi's job."

     Ranma smiled at that and then leaned in for a kiss, she stopped
when Akane's eyes went wide. "Opps, sorry...forgot I was a girl," she
said, then helped herself awkwardly to some tea.

     Despite her initial fright at the thought, Akane found herself
disappointed. <Does it really matter if Ranma is a boy or a girl when
we kiss? Oh well, no need to push ourselves too fast,> Akane pondered,
as they ate breakfast.

                          *             *             *

     It took Ukyo more than a day to make her way down the mountain
with the hurt P-Chan in her arms, as the terrain she had to go over was
much rougher than the terrain they hiked up, plus the pig was heavier
than he looked. Ukyo sat outside the room where they had just moved
Ryoga. Then a nurse and doctor walked out. The nurse looked down to
Ukyo and said, "We're all done with your boyfriend, we want to keep him
for a few days and keep him immobile since the X-rays showed some
possible bone spurs. Don't worry, it's just a precaution. You can see
him now."

     "Thanks, but he's not actually my boyfriend," Ukyo said. The nurse
either didn't hear her or didn't really care, because she just walked
down the hallway to her next patient. Ukyo entered the room and looked
at Ryoga. "How are you doing, sugar?"

     "Oh. Nothing a few weeks won't mend. Thanks for taking care of me
up there," Ryoga said.

     "No problem, sugar," Ukyo said and smiled. Then, noticing the cast
on his shoulder, she asked, "Why is there a cast on your shoulder?"

     "Turns out I broke my collarbone too, didn't even notice it. Guess
the pain of my leg or sleeping under your shirt made me miss it," Ryoga
explained, then blushed.

     "What are friends for, sugar?" Ukyo said, with a smirk.

     "Guess I'll be here for a few days, are you going back up the
mountain for our equipment?"

     "Tomorrow morning I will, it's getting late. Mind if I crash here
for the night?"

     "I guess not, just be careful of the nurses, they look mean. Ukyo,
could you do one favor for me?"

     "Sure, sugar. What is it?"

     A couple minutes latter, a sign appeared on the door of Ryoga's
room. It read, 'Absolutely no COLD water allowed in this room!!' The
sign was only partially successful; no one spilled cold water on Ryoga,
but the same couldn't be said for the cold soda that got spilled by the
nurses-aid that came in to give Ryoga a sponge bath.

     Ukyo frantically grabbed P-Chan before the nurses-aid noticed the
change. She found some hot water and changed him back. The hospital
staff were surprised to find that Ryoga needed new casts put on. Ryoga
and Ukyo just shrugged at all of the "What happened to the other
casts?" questions.

                          *             *             *

     After another day of training, Akane and Ranma sat by the fire.
"You okay, Ranma? You seemed a little distracted during training
today," Akane asked. <I think I know why, but I want to talk about it.>

     After a brief pause, Ranma spoke, "Just wondering where we go from
here, after the kiss last night and all."

     Akane looked into his eyes, and said, "KISSES actually. Well, I'd
like to see those continue." Akane smiled, then continued, "As for the
'other' issues, lets just go slow. I took us over a year to kiss, doubt
it's in our best interest to jump into anything else too fast."

     "Sounds like you've thought about this today as well," Ranma
commented.

     "Ya, a little."

     Ranma slid in beside Akane and put his arm around her. She
snuggled into his side. "We'll handle the 'other' issues after we're
done with this training trip," Ranma suggested, earning a nod from
Akane. Then he bent his head down and gave Akane one of those 'kisses'
that he'd wanted to give her all day long.

     They spent a good part of the evening enjoying the night air, the
burning fire, and more kisses.

     When they were ready for bed, Ranma went to splash himself with
cold water. Akane stopped him and said, "Don't bother, I trust you."

                          *             *             *

     The next day, Ranma stood in a tree looking around carefully. He
glanced all around, especially at the treetops. Then, when he heard a
tree branch creak behind him, he leaped up to a higher tree branch. He
followed the leap with a backward somersault to land on a tree behind
him.

     This was fortunate, since Akane broke the branch he somersaulted
from with an upward punch as soon as she landed on the branch below it.
Akane swung around and glared at Ranma. <Damn! Thought I had him,> she
swore to herself. Akane calculated the chances of taking him while he
knew exactly where she was, then conceded the match. Even Nabiki
wouldn't take those odds. "You win this one," she said, then leapt down
to the ground.

     Ranma joined her, then asked, "Ready for lunch?"

     Akane nodded and walked over to where they left their daypack. She
pulled out some bottles of water and the berry sandwiches they made
that morning with the last of their bread.

     "You did pretty good this morning," Ranma congratulated her, as he
stuffed a sandwich into his mouth, the whole sandwich.

     "Huh? I didn't even hit you once," Akane said, then rubbed the
sore spot where Ranma had kicked her earlier.

     "Training is not about the number of hits you get in, it's about
learning to avoid your enemies hits and to anticipate your enemies
moves," Ranma instructed.

     "What movie is that from?"

     "That one's mine," Ranma insisted, then added, "You've been
getting better at tactics."

     "Thanks," Akane said, then leaned over and gave Ranma a long
passionate kiss.

     Neither of them noticed when the bottle of water Ranma was holding
slipped from his fingers and spilled over his chest. After several
moments, Akane finally realized that she was now kissing a girl. Akane
broke the kiss and looked at Ranma, a little shocked.

     After a few moments of awkward silence, Ranma said, "I'm sorry
Akane. That was clumsy of me."

     "No it's okay, just like you have had to get used to your girl
body...I guess I'll have to get used to it too," Akane said.

     "I'm glad, I've always figured you'd dump me because of this
stupid curse," Ranma admitted.

     "Ranma, there are much better reasons for me to dump you than your
curse," Akane reassured Ranma.

     This did not exactly reassure Ranma.

                          *             *             *

     During a particularly vigorous training session that afternoon,
Akane dodged a series of open hand punches from Ranma. She avoided most
of them, but caught one against her chest. She winced in pain as she
backed away. Ranma charged her again and yelled, "Chestnuts roasting on
an open gi!"

     "Whaa..." Akane stammered, then looked down at her open gi.
Quickly she closed the front of her gi over her bound breasts. Ranma
ended up poking a finger against her forehead.

     "Shouldn't let yourself be distracted like that," Ranma
instructed, with a grin.

     "Dirty trick, HAPPOSAI!!" Akane growled.

     "No. Happosai would have removed the gi entirely," Ranma grinned.

     "Pretty confident for a pervert!" Akane screamed, then launched an
all out attack against Ranma. Ranma had to give ground to the
determined attack by Akane. He managed to avoid all the blows, until
one of Akane's fists caught his side. He instinctively spun to his side
and landed a kick to Akane's back as her momentum propelled her past
him. She ended up crumpled against a tree.

     "Akane, you okay? Sorry if I kicked you too hard," Ranma said, and
offered his hand to Akane.

     Akane accepted it and rose in front of him. Looking at his eyes,
she stood on tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss. He smiled. She then
flipped him over her back and against the same tree that she had hit.
She grinned and then said, "Shouldn't let down your guard like that."

     "Okay, guess that evens the dirty trick score," Ranma conceded,
then added, "I think that when we're training we should probably not do
any kissing."

     "Or gi opening..."

     "Agreed."

     "I hope you mean no kissing during our actual training sessions
and not during the whole trip?" Akane asked.

     "Yes, of course," Ranma said, flashing what he considered his most
charming smile. It actually made him look goofy, but Akane blushed
anyway and then gave him another kiss. This time without flipping him.

                          *             *             *

     Akane was talking a little walk after dinner to clear her
thoughts. <I'm glad we had this time alone. We seem to finally be able
to express ourselves without a fiancee or nutcase interrupting us. Our
next wedding probably should be smaller...Well that's one of the
'other' things we still have to figure out,> she ended her thoughts
with a sigh. Finding herself by the waterfall, she decided to wash up.
She removed her gi and set it down on a rock.

     Ranma finished cleaning the dishes and then looked around. "I
guess I might as well clean up while Akane's out on her walk," he
muttered, then got his towel and bath stuff.

     Approaching the waterfall from the camp side, he stopped to remove
his training gi, and then splashed some cold water over his head. She
shook her head and then made her way around the rock outcropping that
hid the waterfall. She stopped suddenly as she saw Akane under the
waterfall. She gulped, then started to back away slowly.

     Akane turned around and saw Ranma's red hair out of the corner of
her eye. She covered herself quickly with her hands. Like a pair of
deer caught in headlights, the two girls stopped and stared into each
other's eyes. Well, mostly at each other's eyes.

     Finally, Ranma spoke, "Sorry, didn't know you were here." She
turned and began to walk away.

     Akane through for a second, then stopped Ranma. "Wait...this is
silly. We've already seen each other naked, an untold number of times,
and you're a girl now anyway." Ranma turned her head around to face
Akane. "Come on, I won't bite...or hit you. Just don't stare."

     Suppressing her urge to claim she wouldn't stare at an un-cute
tomboy like Akane, mostly because she was just staring at Akane's
beautiful body a few seconds ago, Ranma shyly joined Akane under the
waterfall. She shared her soap and shampoo with Akane. Ranma really
hoped 'Shampoo' wouldn't show up right now. Ranma should have hoped
that none of her fiancees showed up instead.

                          *             *             *

     Ukyo made her way up the mountain towards the camp she and Ryoga
setup. She stopped to get a drink from a stream and spotted two figures
bathing in a waterfall. She was about to leave when she realized that
it was Akane and Ranma. Just having enough sense left, she ducked down
behind some bushes. She peered out from behind her bush to make sure
she hadn't been seen. This was the moment that Akane chose to playfully
kiss Ranma. Ukyo's heart shattered.

                          *             *             *

     Ranma enjoyed the kiss, but then said, "I'm a girl you know."

     "I know, but it's still you. Tastes the same," Akane said, with a
wink. "I was just curious after our 'accident' this morning." Both
girls smiled.

     "Just don't get too 'curious'. I don't think either of us are
ready to use Nabiki's 'joke'," Ranma insisted.

     "Agreed. Besides we couldn't use them right now anyway," Akane
winked again. Ranma blushed, although it was hard to tell as the cold
water flowed over her back. They leaned into each other and kissed,
more passionately this time.

     They both enjoyed the feel of the other's skin on theirs as they
made out. Ranma decided it was probably a good thing she was female at
that moment.

                          *             *             *

     Something inside Ukyo snapped. All her thoughts about Akane not
loving Ranma vanished. All her thoughts about Ranma just marrying Akane
for the dojo vanished. All her thoughts that Ranma would eventually
find a way to love her vanished.

     Up until that point she could rationalize almost anything about
Ranma and Akane's relationship, all in her favor of course. Seeing
Ranma and Akane making out passionately under the waterfall made her
come out of her fantasy world and she realized that Ranma and Akane
loved each other, no matter what they did or didn't say.

     Ukyo ran away from the waterfall, tears streaming out of her eyes.
She barely remembered to go to her camp, instead of running blindly
through the forest. She spent the whole night crying and sobbing into
her bedding.

                          *             *             *

--
Jim Lazar

E-Mail - mailto:jimlazar@earthlink.net
Home - http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlazar
FanFiction - http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlazar/anime

"You made Akane whose daughter?!?!"
"Genma's."
"Has she hit you with her mallet yet?"
"Several times, actually."