This is just the beginning for something I came up with while really bored one evening... and before anyone asks, work is continuing on other projects.  Like any other author I would appreciate hearing what people think of this, and their guesses on where it's going...

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[Tendo residence, 1742L]

	Sunset brought to the western sky a blaze of reds and oranges and yellows; heralds, after a fashion, of the coming night.  The inherent beauty of the spectacle, however, was lost on one Ranma Saotome.  His life was not one that had afforded much in the way of opportunity to appreciate such things.
	It was at times like this, these rare moments when he wasn't being challenged (usually by Kuno or Ryoga or somebody else) or pursued (Kodachi and Shampoo being the usual suspects in this curcumstance) or talked at (his father and Soun, always ready with their 'the houses must be joined' spiel), that he was able to take stock of his life.  The picture was not one he liked.  In between the thrice-damned Jyusenkyo curse and all these fiancees hounding him for a decision, he felt more like a punching bag than one of the better martial artists of his generation.  As for the future... what did it promise aside from more of the same?  Day after day of people trying to make decisions for him - no, nobody would even consider for a moment that it was _his_ life they were trying to run, now would they?  It just was not fair.
	"What isn't fair?"
	Ranma blinked, and was momentarily startled, but it was just Kasumi, looking sweetly concerned, as she always did when trying to comfort somebody - he must have thought something aloud, he realized.  "Hm, nothing."
	Kasumi didn't do anything so overt as saying "Yeah, right", but it seemed to most who knew her that she had a knack for conveying the sentiment usually responsible for such sarcasm without being obvious.
	"Life," he finally told her, unable to bear much more of the elder woman's silent reproach.  And just as quietly, with the occasional nod, Kasumi listened as he laid the entire train of thought on her.
	"Well... it _is_ your life, after all."
	"I know, I know."  He sighed.  "But," he went on, exasperation beginning to show in his tone, "what do I do about it?"
	"I'm not sure..." - at this, Ranma slumped a bit - "... but there's someone I know who might be able to help with that."

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-Arthur Edwards
 White Knight of the Order of Mihoshi Enthusiasts
 http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/7210/index.html