Hey guys



Look!  I'm inflicting stuff on the ffml again!



*hides from all the glaring*



Sorry, sorry...



^*^*^



WHat's happened so far:



Ranma and a girl named Yuki 'died'.  Soichi and a woman named Kimiko live. 
Akane's suspcious about Ranma's death, and Nabiki is suspicious about Yuki's
death.



If you'd like to read the previous chapters, please, email me privately.



^*^*^



"I SAW HIM, Kasumi!  I'm serious, I'm not losing my mind, and I guarantee
you, HE WAS THERE!" Akane cried, tears streaming down her face.  Her older
sister was glad that she had sent Ryoga out for groceries.



It would give them at least a week before he returned, and he would be saved
from witnessing this, this pre-wedding * delusion *.



"Akane-chan, Ranma * died * twelve years ago, don't you remember?  He died
defending the Tendo and Saotome families.  You were there."



"I know!" she yelled, "I know!  I saw the building collapse inwards and I
saw the fire, and I was there when the rescue workers said there was no
chance of survival!  BUT I SAW HIM TODAY!  WITH MY OWN TWO EYES!"  Akane
threw herself face-down into her pillow, shoulders shaking from sobs.



"Akane, maybe you need to get your vision checked if you * think * that you
saw him.  Lots of girls in the world have red hair, and many of them have
blue eyes.  It's become a fashion trend in Tokyo.  You probably just,"
Kasumi stopped, looking for a careful word, "overreacted to someone who
looked like Ranma's girl side."



"Are you sure, Oneechan?" Akane breathed.  Her eyes held the same
unconditional trust in her older sister as they had when she was just
sixteen years old.  She would believe if Kasumi believed, that was always
the way it had gone.



Kasumi took a deep breath, but before she could speak, her mind ran through
the list of the impossible that Ranma had accomplished, and she stopped.



The rescue crew had never recovered the bodies of either Takankawa Yuki or
Saotome Ranma, and mostly it was believed that they had become part of the
darkened ashes that littered the floors after the fire had engulfed Furinkan
High School.  There was never any conclusive proof that Ranma was dead. 
But, anyone with a good sense of logic and two brain cells to rub together
could come to the conclusion that he had bit the dust along with Yuki. 
Sure, he was a brilliant martial artist and everything, but no one could
have survived that fire!  As it was, Mousse died and Ryoga had almost
followed the Amazon to his grave.  There was no way that Ranma could have
survived!



But then again, there was no * way * that Ranma could have defeated Lord
Saffron, and no way that he could have whooped the Seven Lucky Gods, and no
way he should have beaten Kirin.



Ranma had done lots of things that normal people were incapable of.



And then Kasumi looked once again into the pleading eyes of her youngest
sister, and felt the desperation there.



"I'm sure, Akane-chan," she said softly, kicking herself internally for
killing her hopes, it was for Akane's own good.



"O-okay, Oneechan."



Akane had been engaged to a ghost for far too long, it wouldn't do to have
her walking into a marriage with the same dark imprint on her heart.



^*^*^



Two Weeks Later



^*^*^



"Yoshida Publicity Incorporated, how may I help you this afternoon?"



"Actually, I'd like to make an appointment to meet Ms. Yoshida, I like to
meet people before I hire them."



"Of course.  How about . . . is tomorrow afternoon at three okay for you, Ms
. . .?"



"Oh, Tendo, Nabiki Tendo.  And tomorrow afternoon is fine.  Actually, I have
a request of you, please, keep this meeting a secret.  See, Kimiko and I
were friends in high school, I'd like to surprise her."



"I'm sure she'd love that.  No problem, see you tomorrow, I'm sure that
you'll have a lovely reunion."



"Absolutely lovely."



^*^*^



"Morning," Soichi murmured as he drifted into the breakfast room.  His feet
slapped against the cool tile of the floor, and the sound of water rushing
down their building distracted him from the sound of one redheaded woman
sighing for a moment.



Turning away from the coffeemaker as he poured himself a mug of Kimiko's
favorite Jamaican Blue Mountain espresso blend, he nodded towards the
picture window.  "It's getting pretty heavy, isn't it?"  It had taken a
while and several thousand mishaps, but he'd gotten his curse under control,
at least enough so that he could get along in life without the interesting
number of questions.  Their first tactic had been simply not to get wet, and
then they'd sent away for the Amazon's waterproof soap, which worked rather
well for a year until they realized that people built up a resistance to it
after continued use.  They'd finally settled on just carrying an umbrella at
all times, and being as careful as possible.  Accidents still happened. 
Accidents that usually occurred when Kimiko thought it might be fun to break
out a watergun and chase him around the apartment.  Soichi was fast, but
sometimes, not fast enough.



But he didn't mind, he still had half a crate of Instant Nannichuan, and
while he used it sparingly, he timed it well.  Kimiko had had more that one
interesting surprise last April first.



Still haunted by the sound of water falling, she sighed, and nodded
dreamily, her eyes captured by the play of light against the opposite wall. 
Her fingers tapped softly against the heavy, honey-colored wood of the
table, and strands of her hair fell across her face, covering her eyes.



Soichi raised his brows, and ventured once again, "What are the odds that
I'll make it to work today without a problem?"



She shrugged, and in a soft voice, replied, "Oh, I don't know.  If you take
the subway," she left off, biting her lower lip.



And suddenly she blinked and heaved a great sigh, stretching her arms
upwards and pointing her toes against the floor, releasing a mewling sound
she stood and turned towards him.



Soichi couldn't help but smile.  Her morning routine was still a wonder to
him, even after many years spent together.  She had a series of actions,
first, she'd roll out of bed, her hair adorably puffy from sleep, then,
she'd wander around the apartment slamming into walls and stubbing her toes
like a zombie for ten minutes.  Sometime between the moment where she
finished brushing her teeth and finding the coffeemaker, Soichi would steal
a kiss, most times, several.  He loved the way she'd respond in that
confused, overjoyed manner when he embraced her.  There was something deeply
touching about how she faced their relationship with the same childlike
wonder and amazement that she had when they had met years ago.  And then
she'd stretch, and come awake.  And Soichi's fun would be over.



"Morning," she said, and walked over to the coffeemaker and poured herself a
mug, taking a deep breath of its heady smell before she drank.



"Welcome to the world of the living, Kimiko."



"I was just thinking, So-chan, everyone thinks aimlessly sometimes, I'm
allowed my moments."  She walked into the bedroom, and to the background
sounds of clothing being discarded, Soichi heard:



"I've got some time between my eight o'clock and my ten fifteen, you want to
drop by and have brunch?"



Soichi flipped through his mental calendar quickly, "Sorry, Kimiko, I
promised Naka that I'd spar with him today."  He grinned at himself, "So I
was going to ask you about that, too, should I fake ineptitude, or should I
kick his butt, but good?"



Kimiko stopped for just a second as she was zipping up her skirt,
remembering how intensely painful it was for her husband to fake ineptitude
at anything except for sex.



He seemed to have a gift for acting clueless about anything that had the
slightest romantic overtone ^� at least until it suited his purpose to reveal
proof otherwise.



There a brief spout of twinkling laughter, and Kimiko asked, "Is he seeing
you for self-esteem issues, or is it something that you wouldn't crush by
crushing him physically?"



"He hates his family."



Kimiko appeared, primed for her day of labor, and a wicked grin on her face,
"Kick his ass."



^*^*^



"Akane-chan, you look lovely," Nodoka Saotome smiled as she tied the obi
around Akane's waist.  She'd spent years of life waiting to be able to
prepare her future daughter-in-law, get her ready to walk out to her
wonderful, manly son and marry and be happy in a way that she and Genma had
never been able to.



But instead, she'd settled for preparing a woman for her wedding to a former
friend of her son's.



She hid a sigh and found a cheerful expression.



One that reflected the half-deadened look on Tendo Akane's face.  She smiled
bravely, praying that it didn't falter.  At the ripe old age of twenty-nine,
she didn't understand the mysteries of the world, she hadn't answered all
the questions she asked about herself, even.  But she knew one thing to be
true.



She did not want to marry Hibiki Ryoga.



But she'd said yes five years ago when he'd finally popped the question;
she'd kissed him back as he tentatively reached towards her that night.  And
of course, she had responded like any lonely woman might as he had gently
and nervously unbuttoned her blouse later that evening, yearning for
someone's loving touch.



"Akane-chan, I want to tell you," Nodoka started, tears welling up in her
eyes, "I know he never let on that he cared about you, but Ranma did love
you, a lot."  Akane felt her shoulders sag.  Anything, anything but this
conversation.  She had been expecting it, she had coached herself for it,
but nothing could truly prepare her for it.  And yet, relentless, Nodoka
continued to talk, tears flowing freely down her too-pale cheeks, "I don't
want you to go into this marriage with any baggage.  I am happy for you, and
he would be, too."



"Hai, Auntie, I'm sure he would be," wiping away the stray teardrop that had
made its way down her face, she added, "for all we know, Ranma's spirit may
be in attendance at the wedding!"



Nodoka smiled warmly, running her hand across Akane's cheek, "What a lovely
thought, I'll be sure to tell him that he's invited when I visit him later
this week."



Akane hesitated, and said very quietly, "Auntie, if it's okay with you, I'd
like to come with you, when you go to . . . see Ranma."



"Of course, Dear.  I'm sure he'd love to see you."  Nodoka smiled
too-brightly and murmured, "Excuse me child, I've got to go check on the
miso soup," and quickly left the room.



She turned to watch the three Akane's in the mirrors mimic her actions
exactly.  A soft smile spread across her still-lovely face.



"Who's kawaiikunee now, Ranma-kun," she said softly.  Sliding down to her
knees in the wedding kimono, and lowering her head, she whispered, "I miss
you."



T-minus two weeks until wedding bells rang for Akane and . . . Ryoga.



^*^*^



The sound of two people fighting alerted Kimiko's ears, and with a kind
smile, she crossed her arms and wandered into the far exercise room open in
the local gym.



It was only a five minute walk from Soichi's office, and she knew that he
dropped by occasionally to work out when he had the time.  A hunch had told
her that if he were to spar with someone, it wouldn't have been in his plush
and expensive office space.



She turned a corner and saw something that still made her heart flutter.



Fujikara Soichi in action.



He'd stripped down to the gray t-shirt and his khaki pants.  Though these
clothing items did little to disguise the still sleek and muscular physique
of her husband of many years.



She listened to the sound of strikes being passed from one martial artist to
the other, and with a practiced eye, she looked at the younger man she
deduced was 'Naka', and carefully analyzed him.



Tall frame, buff but not grotesquely muscular, good flexibility, and
sufferable ki flow.  With a good Sensei and a little semi-obsessive
training, the kid had potential.



She decided it was time to stop their fun.



"Hey, Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, gimme a second of your time, will you?" she
called out playfully.



Immediately, both men stopped their blurred arms and smiled.  One happily,
the other shyly.



She walked up to the sweaty men, and extended her hand to the younger of the
two, watching as a bright red flush appeared over his face, "You must be
Naka," she said kindly.



"Hai," he replied, his eyes drifting upwards to see her face clearly for the
first time.  "Whoa!" he blurted out loud, and seconds later, clapped his
hand to his mouth in embarrassment.



Kimiko raised her eyebrows and tossed an amused glance towards Soichi, who
covered his mouth in an attempt not to laugh out loud.



"What is it, Naka-kun?" she asked gently.



"Well, it's just," he paused, and mustering up his courage, he said, perhaps
a little too loudly, "it's just that you're really hot and I don't know why
you'd be hanging around with someone as dorky as Fujikara-Sensei!"



Kimiko busted out laughing, and Naka looked like he wanted to crawl into a
hole, and set about digging his heel into the ground in an attempt to create
one on the spot.



"Hey!" Soichi interrupted, insulted.  "I am    * not * dorky!  And for your
information, she happens to hang out with me because of my physical
prowess!"



Kimiko finally stemmed her laughter and managed, "Soichi, hush, can't you
see he's embarrassed enough already?"  And taking Naka's hand softly, she
said, "It's okay, Naka-kun, I take it as a compliment," seeing the boy's
spirits lift, she grinned and said:



"So, this is the Naka that Soichi hasn't stopped talking about.  If it
wasn't about how much he wanted to spar with you," she shared a chuckle with
Naka, and Soichi sulked in the corner, he didn't appreciate his wife and his
patient double-teaming him.  "Then it was about how much you reminded him of
himself."



Naka blushed liberally and looked down, "Aw, you're too cute," he looked up,
his eyes in terrified shock over the word that had just slipped through his
mouth, "I mean, I meant NICE, not, not cute!  Honest!  I seriously meant to
say NICE!"



Soichi walked over and wrapped an arm about Kimiko's waist, and in a sad,
puppy voice, said, "Aw, that's not fair, Ki-chan, even the teenagers are
hitting on you now" and then throwing a very convincing angry expression
towards Naka, he demanded, "You makin' a pass at my woman, boy?"



His stunned and rather pathetic reaction was laughable, but understandable. 
When Fujikara Soichi was angry, it was not a pretty sight.



"NO!  I mean, no, Sensei!  It just slipped out, on accident, I swear!  I
would never say that she was 'cute', even though she kinda is- OH, CRAP!"
the teenager looked down at his feet, prepared to be crucified for his
crimes.



Kimiko laughed and touched his shoulder, "Aw, come on, Naka, he's not really
angry.  Soichi's like a puppy, his bark it much worse than his bite."



Naka looked up to see Soichi grinning like an idiot.



Needless to say, Naka was angry that his therapist was teasing him.



"That is not funny, Sensei!  I want a rematch!  Just because you beat me-"



"I * destroyed * you," Soichi corrected.



"Fine, just because you destroyed me doesn't mean you can make fun of me!  I
want a rematch!"



Which Soichi gladly gave him, scheduled shortly after report cards came out.



"I'll only fight you if you pass all your classes, Naka, with a B."



The boy was stunned, "A 'B'?  Oh, man!  We're never going to get to spar
again!"



Kimiko laughed, and she hesitated as a memory washed over her.



^*^*^



Nerima

14 Years Previous



"How'd you get detention?" Yuki asked tentatively, her eyes sneaking looks
at the more quiet than calm boy that walked by her.



He shrugged, "Oh, you know, the usual, sleeping in class, eating in class,
not paying attention in class, making faces at the class from the hall."



Yuki laughed out loud, "Man," she giggled, "I thought I was the only person
in the world to ever get detention for that!"



With an embarrassed smile, he put his hand behind his head, "Well, if you
had Miss Hinako, you'd understand.  The urge to mess with her in class is
just too strong."



She giggled in return, closing her eyes and breathing deeply, she replied,
"So I've heard.  You know, this explains a lot for me."



Ranma glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, "Explains a lot of what?"



"Well," she started, her tongue resting on the edge of her lip for half a
beat, "this guy named 'Kuno' attacked me at least three times today,
declaring his eternal love for me, and calling me his 'Pigtailed Maiden',
and yelling about how I'd finally been freed from that sorcerer 'Saotome's'
grasp."  Ranma groaned as Yuki continued, "He refused to call me 'Yuki' even
though I told him that was my name.  That guy's as thick as a wall," she
turned towards Ranma, grinning as he laughed out loud.



"I'm glad you think it's funny."



"No," he gasped out, "it's not that, it's just, well, it's hard to explain,
but I'm sure you'll find out eventually."



Yuki eyed him for just a few more seconds, and just as Ranma was ready to
brace himself for a good, hearty beating, she shrugged and walked on.



There was a space of comfortable silence, as they walked past the canal,
Ranma and took serious study of the girl next to him.



However, it was at this moment that a certain myopic Amazon warrior rushed
onto the scene, crying:



"SAOTOME!  You shall pay for stealing my Darling Shampoo!"



Of course, red is a far more alerting color than black, and considering that
Yuki looked exactly like Ranma in girl form, it wasn't too unlikely that
Mousse would attack * her *.



And that's exactly what he did.



Releasing a battle cry, he lunged, and Ranma in sudden alarm realized that
his defensive stance was for naught because he was lunging at Yuki.



There was a sudden panicking fear in his heart that an innocent, untrained
girl would be harmed because of Mousse's blind stupidity and their
similarities in appearance.  Ranma felt the weight of guilt already.



What he saw next drove him insane with curiosity.



"KYA!" Yuki screamed as Mousse grabbed her chest to fling her against
something painfully blunt.  Unfortunately, it was not to be, because with
one powerful fist, she slammed him hard against the pavement.  And after
flipping over the quickly-recovering Mousse, she landed on his head and
kicked his solar plexus, hard.



It brought Mousse down to his feet and made Ranma wince.  There were three
places you could kick a person to drop them immediately, one was the crotch,
one was the kidney, and the other was the solar plexus.



"YOU PERVERT!" she screamed, stomping on Mousse's prone form.  And finally
satisfied, she wiped the dust from her hands and patted down her clothing. 
Picking up her discarded books, she turned back to Ranma, "HONESTLY!  What
is wrong with this place?  If it isn't a lunatic trying to kiss me, then
it's someone trying to * kill * me!"



Ranma stared at her for half a beat, "Um, are you okay?"



"I'll live," she muttered, and taking a deep breath, she added, "You were
saying?"



He was still stunned, his jaw lay somewhere in the vicinity of the ground. 
He had watched her motions carefully; her body was well trained for battle,
lithe, and flexible.  It was like she had practiced the art every day of
every single day of her life . . . just like he had.



"Uh," he managed, "does that happen a lot, you don't seem very surprised."



She laughed, glancing at Mousse's bruised carcass, "If you're wondering if I
was publicly hounded before, the answer is 'no'." she stopped, looking at
him thoughtfully, a light dawned in her eyes, "Hey!  He attacked 'Saotome',
isn't that you?"



Ranma turned bright red with embarrassment.



"Geez," she paused once more, "personally, I don't see the resemblance."



"Well, he's very near-sighted," Ranma said, an odd, 'oh, of course' tone in
his voice.  Something that he'd picked up from spending too much time in
Nerima.



"Is that so?" Yuki replied, staring at him in bemusement.



After a nervous chuckle, he asked, "So you study Kempo?" Ranma asked
curiously, walking steadily aside the odd, redheaded girl.



She grinned, "Nah, Kempo's boring by itself, it's like Kendo, without the
bokken.  I study several schools, but family-wise ^� the Tanakawa School of
the Rising Phoenix."



Ranma whistled, looking up at the sky warily.  "That's a mouthful, how does
it compare to Anything Goes?"



Yuki shrugged, "I don't know, I've never fought anyone who practiced
Anything Goes before," she raised an eyebrow at him, "Let me guess, you're
one of the few and the proud who study it?"



Ranma grinned, not a trace of arrogance in this truly happy expression,
"Yup, since I was four years old."



"Then maybe we could spar sometime," she smiled at him, and it was only then
that he realized how truly beautiful she was.



They were walking home right during the sunset hours, and her delicate
features and brilliant hair were framed by a background of orange and yellow
flame in the sky.  And with a soft sigh of appreciation, he wondered, 'Wow,
does my girl side look that pretty, too?'



Giving him a soft smile, she asked, "Whatcha lookin' at Ranma-san?"



Stuttering from embarrassment at being caught, he muttered, "Nothing much. 
Just the sun," he paused, "it's nice."



She turned to look, and giggling, she answered, "Yes, it is, isn't it?" 
Turning back towards him, she asked, "Well, are you going to be straight
with me?  Come on, why were you staring before?"



He stopped and turned bright red from embarrassment, for a moment, Yuki had
a horrible thought, 'Oh, God, he's not going to confess his eternal love for
me or something?  Kuno is bad enough!'



"It's actually hard to explain," he started.



Just as he said the words, the heavens rumbled and rain fell hard on the two
teens, and before Yuki's very eyes, she watched a curse activate.



"Aiya," she murmured, "you, you, you look exactly like me!"



Ranko rolled her eyes, reaching out a tentative hand, "Hi, my name is
Saotome Ranma, did I mention that I have a Jusenkyo curse?"



^*^*^



More later, but seriously...how am I doing?



-Linda





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