Tenchi and Ranma, Together Forever!?
     Chapter Six
     Happy birthday, Ryo-oh-ki
    
     What's going on?
     This is an alternative universe story.
     Ranma was trapped as a girl from her first dip in the
     Nanniichuan.

     Why?  Read the earlier chapters.  See below for some
     highlights.
    
     Previous chapters can be found at these fine locations.
     All of these sites have many other fine stories, check them out,
     even if
     you have all my material.
     <http://www.anime.usacomputers.net/~dragon/>
     <http://members.xoom.com/gensao/>
     <http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/thunder/181/ccc.html>
     <http://home.one.net/~gorlando/Anime/index.html>

     Unable to carry out his plan to engage Ranma to one of the
     Tendo girls, Genma recalled that he had once promised
     Nobuyuki Masaki that if he had a daughter, he would marry her
     to Nobuyuki's son Tenchi.  Well, as it so happens, he's recently
     acquired a daughter.

     When we last left Ranma, she was busy thanking her father for
     giving her the opportunity to experienced all the perks of
     womanhood. 
     He survived.  I know, disappointing, but life is that way
     sometimes.
     T.H. Tiger
     schell@interlog.com

     It was a large white pillow, stuffed with something heavy.
Ranma knew this, because it was currently resting squarely on her
belly, how it got there, she had no idea.  Who was likely responsible
for putting it there was another matter entirely.  She had no idea how
he had managed it, but it had to have been her old man.  No one else
would do something this dumb.  Why had he done it?  That was
another unknown.  Some sort of crazy training exercise she figured.
All she knew for sure, was that it was heavy as hell, and that no
matter how hard she tried to shove it off, she couldn't move it.  She
was beginning to fear the old fart had glued it in place somehow.
     Not that she was giving up, just as she had already done
numerous times since waking up to find this thing on top of her,
Ranma pressed her hands against the strangely warm pillow, and
shoved.  Her hands sank a little ways into the pillow, but that was
the only effect.  Then, something twitched under the smooth warm
surface, and Ranma jerked her hands away as if they had been
burned. 
     "What the hell?  There's something alive in there," she said in
surprise.  Then, a look of horror crossed her face.  "Oh no, not even
Pop would do that, it can't be a, a . . ." Ranma could not bring
herself to say the word, instead an image formed in her mind, a fur-
covered nightmare, all teeth and sharp claws.  With a shudder, she
pulled her mind back from that thought.   "Goddamn it!" Ranma
cursed to herself.  "Old man!  Get your butt in here and get this
f****** thing of off me!" She screamed out, trying to keep the edge
of panic out of her voice.
     There was no answer from Genma, which was not surprising.
Her old man was never there when you wanted him.  What was
surprising was that she got no answer from anyone, even though she
was sharing her bedroom with two other people.  Ranma looked
around, and for the first time realized she was alone.  The spaces
that should have been occupied by a sleeping Sasami and Ayeka
were empty.  Not even their bedding was present.  Worried, Ranma
took a closer look at the room she shared with the two other girls.
Her eyes widened in shock when she realized that not just Ayeka's
futon, but all the princess's  various cabinets and dressers were
missing as well.  She couldn't even see the walls of the room.  They
seemed lost in a faint mist.  "What the hell is going on here?" She
murmured to herself.
     A soft noise attracted her attention, and she swivelled her head
to look for the source of it.  "Tenchi!" She cried out on spying the
familiar form on her iinazuke back among the shadows, just
emerging from the mist that hid the walls of her room.  Ranma
fought back the uneasiness she'd been feeling toward him for the last
few days, and put on a cheery expression.  "Boy am I glad to see you.
Come and give me a hand getting this stupid thing off.  I don't know
what the old man was thinking . . . "
     Ranma's voice trailed off as Tenchi stepped fully out of the
shadows.  There was something new on his face.  He had a
mustache.  It looked a bit like the soup strainer Tenchi's father wore.
On Tenchi's face it looked totally out of place.  More than that, as
Tenchi got closer, Ranma could see the string running from the edge
of the thing, up behind his ears.  She gave a weak chuckle.  "Very
funny, ha, ha.  Now, would you get this thing the f*** off of me!"
     Tenchi said nothing, instead he knelt down beside her and held
out a hand to Ranma.  Grumbling, she reached out and took it,
expecting him to try and pull her to her feet.  Instead, he clasped it
gently, and looked down at her, a funny expression on his face.  She
found herself staring into his liquid brown eyes, there was an
expression there that made her very nervous.  "Wha, what the hell
are you doing Tenchi?" She stammered out in confusion.
     Again, Tenchi did not answer.  Instead, music swelled the in
the air.  Coming from no source Ranma could identify.  Then, before
Ranma's horrified gaze, Tenchi produced a karaoke microphone.
Smiling gently down at her, Tenchi lifted the microphone to his lips,
and began to sing.
     %Having my baby%
     %What a wonderful way to say how much you love me%
     %Having my baby%

     "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh!!!!" Ranma
screamed, shooting upright on her futon, and sending her sheets
flying across the room.  She stared in wide eyed horror all around
her.  Sweat running down her face.  With relief she saw that the
room was back to normal.  All of Ayeka's baggage, and the figures
of her two roommates, were back where they belonged.  She slumped
down and drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms
tightly around them. She rocked back and forth, her lungs pumping
like bellows as she tried to bring herself under control.
     "Ranma-san, are you all right." A quiet voice asked, and
Ranma looked over to where Ayeka had lifted herself up to look at
her.
     "Ranma-neechan, what's wrong?" Ranma turned to see that
Sasami had woken as well. She rubbed her eyes with her fists, and
then blinked blearily at Ranma.
     "It's alright Sasami-chan.  It was just a bad dream.  I'm sorry I
woke you, just go back to sleep."
     Sasami nodded her head, and then it slumped back down.  She
had never really woken, and as a result, she slipped back into sleep
easily.  Ayeka was not so easily put off.
     "Do you want to talk about it, Ranma-chan?"
     Ranma winced at both the term chan, and the request to share.
She couldn't bring herself to tell Ayeka how much she hated being
called chan, and she most definitely was not ready to share this
nightmare with her.  What she had already had to share with Ayeka
was humiliating enough, without having to discuss her weird ass
dreams on top of it.  Stupid old man, she thought to herself, this
would never have happened if you hadn't made me work in that
karaoke bar for two weeks.
     "That's alright Ayeka-san.  It was probably something I ate."
     The expression on Ayeka's face showed she did not buy this for
a second, but rather than pushing the matter, she just said.  "You
should try to get some sleep if you can Ranma-chan, it's still very
early."
     Once again Ranma winced, then gave a sigh of resignation.  It
looked like she was just going to have to learn to live with it.  Just so
long as no guy called her that.  Ranma looked out the window at the
early morning darkness, and shook her head in answer to Ayeka's
question. 
     "No.  It's been too long since I did any morning training.  What
with the old man having to go off to work first thing in the morning
and all, I've been slacking off.  Say what you will about the old fart.
He does take training seriously.  Even if it's me that usually does
most of the sweating.  Heck, even when he came up with the cash to
let us stay in a hotel or inn, he'd pay in advance so we could leave
before anyone else got up, and make an early start at it.  Besides,
Grandfather said I could start training with Tenchi and him today.  I
want to work the kinks out before then.  Don't want to look bad on
my first day.  You go back to sleep.  I'm going to get up."
     Ranma got up and pulled open one drawer in Ayeka's
collection of dressers.  Inside was every piece of clothing she owned.
It was a smaller gathering than the week before.  The outfit she had
been wearing when she fought with Ryouko and Katsuhito had been
pretty much trashed.  Sasami had tried her best, but it was beyond
salvage, even by Ranma's rather lax standards.  What was left in the
drawer were two outfits.  A pair of black pants, a yellow shirt, and a
mao suit, complete with cap.  For underwear she had two pairs of
boxers, and a pair of T-shirts.  Ranma adverted her eyes from the
last items in the drawer, refusing to look at the three pairs of panties.
It would be another three weeks before she would have to worry
about wearing them again. 
     Ranma sighed, It looked like she'd be doing washing every day
from now on.  At least she had an automatic washing machine,
which was a big improvement over washing them in a stream.
     Of course in the wild, she'd gone weeks without changing, but
once she got back in civilization, she found she disliked the looks
and sniffs she got if she let herself get too ripe.  Making her
selection, she pulled out the yellow shirt and black pants, and put
them on.  The Mao outfit was a top notch food scamming outfit, she
looked cute as a button in it, or so all the guys claimed while offering
her food.  No point in messing it up, no telling when she might need
it again.  The yellow shirt and black pants were much better for
working out anyway.

     Ayeka watched as Ranma left the room, a pensive look on her
face.  Her feelings toward the other girl were mixed at best.  In many
ways Ranma was an uncouth barbarian, but she could hardly be held
to blame for that.  Not considering who her father was, and how he
had raised her.
     Her . . .  that was another thing, Ranma's gender.  Ranma
insisted she had been born a boy, while her father was just as
adamant that she had been born a girl, and was delusional.  There
was no question as to whom Ayeka trusted, but . . . there was no
getting around the fact that Ranma did not change gender the way
her father changed species.  She hated to think for an instant Genma
might not be lying, but what was she to think.  It was not exactly
something she had any experience with.
     That left Ayeka with a problem.  Ranma was a member of her
family, a younger member at that.  Her father was a joke, not fit to
raise a dog, let alone a child.  It was Ayeka's responsibility as her
aunt to see that Ranma was taught what she needed to know, but
what did she need to know?  While Jurai was very equal handed in
its treatment of the sexes, there was still a difference in how they
were expected to behave.  Ranma's inner self may or may not have
been male, but her outer self was 100 percent female.
     Ayeka sighed, and then just as she had for the last three
mornings, realized there was no choice.  Whatever she may have
been, Ranma was now female, and she would have to be taught what
that meant.  Especially as she was ignorant of even the most basic
knowledge of what it meant to be female, let alone a princess of the
mightiest empire in space. 
     Ayeka's expression brightened suddenly as she remembered
that today was the day Nobuyuki would pick up the purchases they
had discussed three days ago, and which he had ordered for her the
day after.  That thought caused a large smile to cross her face.  She
lay back, and started making plans, and constructing her arguments.
Tonight she would finally be able to start remaking Ranma into the
princess she was born to be.

     Unaware of the dire fate awaiting her, Ranma stepped out into
the gloom of the very early morning onto the dew-damp grass and
drew a deep breath of morning air.  Down the road away, she could
see her father and Mr. Masaki trudging off to the bus stop.  Genma
looking like a gray ball in his new suit.  Ranma grinned to herself.
Pop had sure got more than he bargained for when he had brought
them to the Masakis'.  Having to get up at four every morning to
catch the bus in time to get to work, and then not getting home till
late every night.  Having to wear a suit and tie, even though he was
only going to be sweeping hallways.  It was too bad he got to change
into coveralls at work.  Still, it was nice to see some of the bad luck
falling on him, instead of on her for a change. 
     As Ranma began her morning workout, she idly wondered how
much longer her father would be able to put up with actually having
to work for a living.  She gave him another week, two at the most,
then he'd be packing his bags, and they'd be leaving in the middle of
the night. 
     Ranma suddenly paused in the middle of her warm up
stretches.  "Damn it." She muttered to herself.  "I can't let the old
fart drag me away." She kicked herself for forgetting that the only
real hope she had yet to find of restoring her manhood was living on
top of the hill.  Grandfather had promised to train her to face the
Musk.  Ranma had a good eye for skill, and her newly discovered
relative was quite simply the best she had ever seen.  Added to that
was Ryouko.  While the demon girl had little skill as far as Ranma
was concerned, she was an excellent brawler, and her power level
more than made up for what she lacked in style.
     Ranma resumed her stretching, and winced slightly when her
muscles protested.  As if in a silent reminder of just how much
Ryouko's strength made a difference.  Ranma had been lax in
working them after her bout with Ryouko, and she was paying the
price for that now.  She ignored the soreness, and worked on getting
her muscles and tendons loose and warm for her workout.  As she
did so, she went back to thinking about the likelihood of Pop trying
to drag them away.
     It was pretty much a sure thing.  Ranma had a hunch things
were not working out nearly the way her Pop had expected.  Having
a regular job was not something Genma Saotome was fond of.
Having to commute two hours each way, every day, made it that
much worse.  Then, just to make for a perfect day, he had to come
home to face Ayeka.  Ranma chuckled to herself.  Ayeka had little
respect for the old man, and did not hide that fact.  Ranma had a
hunch that the only reason Pop was not char broiled was because
Ayeka was too much of a lady to fry another guest in a home where
she was staying.
     Ranma had witnessed a few 'discussions' between Ryouko and
Ayeka, and despite Ayeka's mild exterior there was not a drop of
backdown in her whole body.  That was something Ranma could
respect.  It was too bad she didn't put Pop into the same class as
Ryouko, as an intruder rather then a guest, but, she did, so there was
no help for it.  On the plus side, her Pop had also witnessed one of
these 'discussions', which might explain why he went a little pale
whenever he saw Ayeka heading toward him with that look in her
eye.  So far it had only resulted in lectures, but Ranma lived in hope.
     Well, it didn't matter what her Pop wanted.  She was not going
to leave.  He could just stew in his own juices this time.  Ranma had
no intention of leaving until she had learned enough to regain her
manhood.  It was the old mans own fault.  Engaging her to Tenchi
like that . . . 
     The engagement.  Ranma grimaced as she remembered that.
She finished her stretches and started a basic Kata.  She agreed to it
initially because she was sure her father was about to rip his belly
open with a knife.  Looking back, she was sure she'd been rooked
somehow.  Later, she'd treated it like a joke.  She was a boy, how the
hell could she marry another boy, let alone carry on the Saotome line
by doing so.  That had been before . . .
     The look on Ranma's face went from a grimace, to something
like fear.  She could have babies, even after four days, that fact made
her guts churn.  Ranma's knowledge of the facts of life would not
have fit on the head of a pin, but it would not have missed by much.
That had been before the incident. 
     Now, thanks to Ayeka, she knew far more than she wanted to.
She knew exactly what was involved in getting pregnant, and gods,
did she wish she did not.  The joke of an engagement, was suddenly,
in her nightmares, very real.  Despite her flippant attitude toward her
dream, she was having a hard time dealing with the concept. 
     This morning's had been rather mild.  There had been a few
dreams that had sent her to pray at the porcelain altar.  The thought
of being pregnant was really not that scary, it was too far out a
notion, she couldn't even really imagine herself in that condition.
What gave her nightmares, was what was involved in getting that
way. 
     Ranma shook her head.  Poor Tenchi, she'd been avoiding him
like the plague lately.  No matter how hard she tried, she could not
separate him from the thought of what the two of them were
expected to do.  As a result, she'd been ducking him, and when she
could not, she'd found to her disgust that she'd break out in a cold
sweat if she stayed near him for too long. 
     Tenchi had taken to looking very hurt at Ranma's rejection,
and had tried to apologize for whatever he had done wrong.  Genma
had cornered her about that, and had congratulated her on playing
Tenchi so well.  That comment had bothered her so much, she'd
almost asked Ayeka what the hell Pop was talking about.  She'd
stopped herself, but only just.

     Ayeka, there was another problem, she'd been spending a lot of
time the last few days staring at Ranma in a way she found very
uncomfortable.  It reminded her too much of the women in the
market examining the live animals they were considering purchasing
for the larder. It wasn't that she thought Ayeka wanted to eat her.
She was very sure Ayeka was not that sort of alien, but all the same,
it was a look that made her very uneasy.
     It was not that she was ungrateful for what the princess had
done for her.  She was, very grateful.  She didn't even like to think
what it would have been like if Ayeka had not been there to help,
and to explain what was happening to her.  She was willing to lay
down her life for Ayeka, but talking about girl stuff with her . . . no
way.  Ranma suddenly shuddered violently as the train of thought
she had just been on resulted in a flashback to that evening four days
ago.  Sitting on the floor of the bathroom, looking at the blood
staining her hand.
    
       Ranma stumbled and fell as that sudden memory caused her to
slip out of her well-practiced forms.  She cursed to herself, and went
back to the beginning.  Ruthlessly, she drove all other thoughts from
her brain, and focused fully on why she was here this morning, to
practice the art. 
     Ranma flowed into the rhythm only years of long practice
allowed, letting the comfortable familiarity of muscle, bone, and
mind merging together in one whole soothe her troubled thoughts.
Soon, she was lost in the physical sensations of a perfectly executed
kata, and from the first basic one, she moved to the next level, and
then to the next, working her way ever higher.  Sweat began to bead
on her body, and it became more and more difficult to control her
breathing.  Still, she persevered, moving faster, and more intensely,
pushing her body to its limits, until at last, she moved her body
through one last contortion, and came to rest, calm and fully
centered. 

     Ranma let out a final slow even breath, and luxuriated in the
complete lack of tension in her body, she was at one with, and at
peace with, the world.  Then, a pair of slim, strong arms slipped
around her neck from behind, and shattered her mood.  With a cry of
surprise, she practically levitated several feet straight up and out of
the encircling arms before they could fully close around her.
Flipping through the air, she came to rest several feet away from her
ambusher.  Dropping into a defensive stance, she snarled.  "What do
you want pervert?"
     Ryouko gave a little pout, and said.  "I was just saying good
morning, is there anything wrong with that?"
     Ranma scowled as she detected the smirk Ryouko was not
really trying all that hard to conceal.  "Well, I don't like being
touched by mummies in the morning."  She lifted a hand and ran the
back of it along one of her cheeks.  "That rough old skin might
damage my delicate girlish complexion.  I'd hate to end up like you,
all wrinkled and old looking."
     This had the effect Ranma was looking for.  Ryouko flared up,
and her hair flew out in an aura around her as excess energy
discharged into the air.  Ranma braced herself, looking forward to a
nice spar now that she was all warmed up, but then to her surprise,
Ryouko calmed down.  With a flip of her head, she dismissed
Ranma's words.  "I've no time to play this morning sweet cheeks,"
she said as she walked by Ranma, giving her a pat on the bottom as
she did so.
     Ranma jumped in shock at the touch, and flushed red.  "Hey,
keep your hands to yourself pervert!" She yelled after the retreating
figure.  Ryouko ignored her, and just continued on her way toward
the lake.
     "Ranma-neechan."  A voice called out, distracting the fuming
redhead from the object of her ire.  Ranma turned to see Sasami
waving at her from the house.  With one last scathing look at the
retreating Ryouko, Ranma headed over to see what the younger girl
wanted.  "Could you give me a hand Ranma-neechan?" Sasami
asked as Ranma reached her.  Ranma readily agreed, and they
headed into the kitchen.

*******************************************************
***********************

     Up on top of the hill, near where the path to the main road lay,
a purple haired girl watched Ranma enter the house.  Even at this
distance she recognized the distinctive hair style of her prey.  A cat
like smile of satisfaction crossed her face.  I have you now Ranma,
Shampoo thought to herself.  She fought down the temptation to fly
down the hill and attack the other girl.  
     The chase had been too long to risk Ranma escaping yet again.
She had to plan this out.  Try to get up close to Ranma without the
other girl knowing she was there.  Then, one final surprise attack,
and she'd be on her way back home.  Shampoo's eyes scanned the
sides of the valley, looking for the best avenue of approach.  She
would need to work her way around the perimeter of the valley in
order to keep under cover.  That would take a little while, but after
all the time this hunt had already taken she could be patient for just a
little longer.  Shampoo slipped back under the trees, and faded from
sight.

*******************************************************
***********************
    

     Ranma had been very glad when Sasami had taken up the
chores around the house.  She had a very good idea who might have
been drafted into the job if the little girl hadn't.  Then  she'd caught
Sasami two days ago trying to lift a boiling pot of water far too big
for her off the stove.  Scared at the thought of what might have
happened to the little girl if she'd lost control of the heavy container,
she'd ordered Sasami to call her whenever she needed any heavy
lifting done.  That had expanded over the last few days to include
other chores.  Without her father around to make nasty comments
about her manhood Ranma really felt no reluctance about helping in
the kitchen, and besides, if she helped a little, then there was less
chance of Sasami growing bored or overloaded, and saddling Ranma
with the full responsibilities of looking after the house.

     The kitchen was full of the smell of breakfast, which Sasami
was in the process of making.  She was also trying her hand at
making a stew for supper, and needed to get it started early, so it
could simmer all day.  She had already grilled the meat for it.
Ranma found herself drooling at the tantalizing scents.  And when
Sasami explained what she wanted, she readily sat down and began
preparing the other ingredients for the stew, peeling, and slicing
various vegetables with blurring speed, and freeing Sasami to
concentrate on the morning meal.  In no time at all the heavy pot of
ingredients was ready to go on the back burner of the stove, and
breakfast was ready to serve.

     Ranma helped carry the trays into the livingroom, and scowled
when she saw Ryouko sitting on the couch fondling a large black
egg-shaped object.  Ranma laid the dishes out on the table, then
dropped into a kneeling position beside it.  Snagging a bowl of rice,
she listened as Sasami asked Ryouko what the egg-shaped object
was.  Rice sprayed everywhere when Ryouko answered.
     Ranma whirled and looked in shock at Ryouko, and a blushing
Tenchi who she was currently snuggling up to.  A shocked looking
Ayeka was standing a few feet away.  "Nani?  Tenchi and your
baby!?" Ranma shouted, overwhelmed by the concept, especially
considering her thoughts of a little earlier.  Suddenly, for no reason
she could think of, she found herself seeing red.  Rising from her
place by the table, she took one long stride, and reached out to snag
Ryouko's long coarse hair.  Before the girl could protest, or brace
herself, Ranma yanked her away from Tenchi.  "You pervert, what
did you do with Tenchi?" She raged at the cyan haired demoness,
while directing dirty looks back and forth between Tenchi and
Ryouko.
    
     Meanwhile, a few feet away, Ayeka was laying into a very
flustered Tenchi.  "You philanderer, how dare you betray Ranma in
this way." Fortunately for her, Ranma missed this comment.  She
was too busy yelling at Ryouko for being a pervert and molesting
Tenchi.
     Sasami was ignoring the activity, having grown pretty much
used to it in the last few days, and was gazing raptly at Tenchi and
Ryouko's egg, which she held cradled in her hands.  It gave a lurch,
and rocked back and forth.  Sasami let out a shriek of delight, and
shouted.  "Its hatching, its hatching!" This drew the attention of the
various fighting parties, and Ryouko took advantage of the
distraction to slip out of Ranma's grasp.  She phased across to
Sasami, and snatched the black egg out of her hand.  Wasting no
time, she next phased over to Tenchi, and dropped the black object
into the flabbergasted boy's hands.  Cuddling up to him, she crooned
into his ear.  "Here Tenchi, hold this tribute of our love."
     Ayeka, if anything, went even redder.  She reared back, and
slapped Tenchi across the face, shocking him out of his bewildered
daze.  "How dare you consort with this monster woman, when
Ranma is living under the same roof.  Have you no honor?" Ayeka
cried.
     Tenchi tried to say something in his defense.  Ranma also
started to object to Ayeka's remarks.  The idea that Tenchi owed her
any fidelity was very disturbing.  Before either one of them could
voice his or her objections, the egg in Tenchi's hand cracked, and he
looked down to see a pair of furry legs pop out of the side of the
shell.  The last few minutes had been stressful for Tenchi, and his
nerves were not currently at their best.  The fully unexpected
appearance of a pair of animal legs poking out of an egg was the
final straw. With a cry of shock, he flung his hands into the air, and
the egg went sailing in a high arc.
     Ranma reacted instinctively.   No matter how strange the
circumstance that was a baby flying through the air.  While Sasami
watched in horror, Ranma flung herself across the room in a low
dive that got her into position just in time to catch the falling egg
before it hit ground.  Sasami gave a relieved sigh as she saw Ranma
catch the egg.  At pretty much the same time, the creature inside the
egg succeeded in breaking loose from its prison.  It fell into Ranma's
hands, and looked up at the girl looming over her.  "Meow" she said
in pleasure at being free of her confining prison.

     On the other side of the room, Ryouko and Ayeka were having
a screaming match, and it was just about to go beyond the verbal
stage.  Ayeka had summoned her force field generators, while
Ryouko had materialized her energy sword.  Tenchi had tried to play
peacemaker, and was currently picking himself up off the floor,
looking somewhat the worse for wear.
     That was when Sasami said, "oh my, what's wrong with
Ranma-neechan?"  All eyes turned toward the redhead, and puzzled
frowns crossed the faces of all of them.  All of them that is, that had
faces, as opposed say, to those that presented a Kanji-covered surface
to the world. 
     Kamidake eeped quietly, and slowly sidled his way over till he
was standing right between Ayeka, Sasami and the peculiarly acting
redhead.  In a voice that quivered in barely repressed terror, he said.
"Princesses, may I recommend you withdraw, this could be
hazardous." To his great distress he was ignored completely.  Both
princesses stepping around him to get closer to Ranma.
     Everyone in the room had eyes only for the little redhead, who
was hunched over on the floor, her hair standing out from her head
as if charged with static.  Her back was to them, and she was making
tiny choking noises. Over her voice could be heard what sounded
like a small cat mewling.
     "Ryo-oh-ki, that's Ryo-oh-ki, she's hatched out!" Ryouko
suddenly said.  "Oh Tenchi, wait until you see her, she's so cute at
this age." She gushed.
     "Ryo-oh-ki?" Ayeka, Sasami and Tenchi all said questioningly.

     Ayeka suddenly flushed an even deeper red than before, as she
realized she'd once more been played for a fool by Ryouko.

     Ryouko in the meantime, walked toward the hunched over
figure of Ranma.  Looking over Ranma's shoulder she could see
Ryo-oh-ki cuddled in the small girl's hands.  With a smile she
reached down to pluck the little cabbit from Ranma's hand.  There
was a blur of motion, and Ryouko stumbled back as four small
objects fell through the air, and burst into fire and smoke before they
could hit the ground.  Ryouko held up her hand, and stared at the
stubs that were all that was left of the four fingers on that hand.
Everyone else in the room gasped in shock.  Then, all eyes turned to
look at Ranma.  She was now crouched on all fours facing them, her
hands curled up so that her weight was resting on the back of her
fingers.  Ryo-oh-ki was on the floor between her fists, looking out at
the rest of the people in the room with an expression of great
curiosity on her face.  It was the expression in Ranma's eyes,
however, that drew everyone's attention.  They were completely
feral.  There was not the least trace of humanity in those burning
orbs.
     "Why you little . . ." Ryouko snarled out, she curled her
mutilated hand into a fist, and then opened it wide, revealing that
her fingers had been regenerated.  She closed it again convulsively,
and this time a lance of energy appeared as her sword manifested in
her clenched fist.  She took a step toward the hissing Ranma, and
then was stopped when a pair of arms encircled her body.
     "Ryouko-san, stop.  Something is wrong with Ranma." Tenchi
cried out, as he tried to hold the raging demon girl back.  A second
later Ayeka joined his efforts, and a set of force shield generators
phased into existence around the pair of them, holding them both
immobile.
     "Let me go!" Ryouko snarled, "I'm going to teach the little
bitch some manners!"
     "I think not." Ayeka said in a smug voice, not showing the
disappointment she felt over not acting fast enough to cage Ryouko
before Tenchi had gotten close to her.  With Tenchi inside the shield
along with Ryouko, she could not send pulsed energy through the
containment field.  Galling as it was, she had to be content with
merely holding Ryouko still, rather than teaching her good manners.

     Satisfied that the situation with Ryouko was taken care of, she
turned her back on the raging monster woman, and looked toward
Ranma. Ayeka studied Ranma closely, and was in turn studied by
Ranma, who cocked her head to one side, and was looking at her
with a puzzled expression on her face.
     "Ayeka-sama" Came a rather strangled voice from behind her,
causing her to break off her examination for a second.  What she saw
when she turned around, temporarily drove all thoughts of Ranma
from her mind. 
     When Tenchi had seized Ryouko, he had not been overly
concerned with where he put his hands, being only interested in
keeping her away from Ranma.  When Ayeka had sealed him in with
Ryouko, she had fastened them together as well as a mile of rope
would have.  It had not taken Ryouko very long to take note of this,
and she was now happily purring as Tenchi was trying very hard to
keep from hemorrhaging.  It was this effort that caused the strangled
quality in his voice.
     "You monster, let him go at once." Ayeka demanded,
somewhat illogically under the circumstances.  A fact Ryouko was
quick to point out.
     "I'm not the one doing the holding here Princess." Ryouko said
rather smugly.  Nestling back against the very red Tenchi, she said
in a faux girlish voice.  "Oooohhh, Tenchi, don't squeeze  so hard.
You need to treat them gently."

     It went without saying that Ayeka dropped the force screen
with great haste.  Tenchi nearly threw himself across the room in an
effort to get at some tissues.  Ryouko watched him go, a lecherous
smirk on her face.  She faded away just as the force shield generators
reformed around her former position.  "Nice try Princess," Ryouko
sneered from her new position on the other side of the room.  She
lifted her hand, open palm toward Ayeka, and fired a wide blast of
energy that flung Ayeka across the room into the sofa, which tipped
over dumping her onto the floor behind it.  This left Ayeka
scrambling to lower her dress to a slightly less indecorous height
much to Ryouko's amusement, and Tenchi's continued distress.  He
quickly stuffed another wad of tissue up his nose.
     "Now, where was I?" Ryouko asked rhetorically, summoning
her energy sword once again.  "Oh yes, teaching Ms Quick-knife
here a lesson in respect." She answered herself, just before flinging
herself across the room toward the crouching figure of Ranma.  Too
late as it happened.

     Ranma-neko had been confused, this was the second time in a
row she had found herself in a situation outside of anything she was
use to.  While the toy from her previous time was here, and there
was another one she had not seen before just like it, there were also
factors she had never experienced.  First and foremost among these
was the kitten between her paws.  It was hers, of that there could be
no doubt.  Not for her the confusion and bewilderment that such a
discovery would cause in a human.  She had no concern with how or
why, merely what was, and the kitten was hers. 
     This created great conflict in her.  Her first instinct when she
had been attacked by the strange thing that looked like a
screamer/chaser/chew toy, but was not,  had been to retaliate, but
that would have meant leaving her kitten behind, so she had
refrained, settling with merely warning off the strange creature.
Then, the most peculiar thing had happened.  Two of the humans,
she recognized as feeder/warm-lap-possessors, had intervened,
stopping the strange one from attacking.  Both of these humans had
also slipped out of her usual terms of reference as she focused on
them.  For some reason, the male awoke feelings she had never
experienced before, at least not with a human.  A certain feeling of
trepidation she had only felt in the presence of  dominant males
before.  The last time she had felt this way had been with that large
striped male. She had sent him on his way well chastised for his
presumption.  Never before however had she regarded one of the
human things in this light, it was perverse, he was not even a cat. 
     Of course Ranma-neko did not think of it in those terms.  She
was merely at one, familiar with the reaction, and two, disturbed at
the cause of them.  She did not understand the concept of mating.
She had never been in heat.  She merely knew that there was
something about this male that made her both want to flee, and at
the same time approach him.  Only the presence of her kitten held
her rooted firmly to the spot.
     The second human to create confusion in her was less
disturbing.  She was . . . mother, no, that did not seem right, how
could she be mother, but there it was, the feeling of this person being
someone she could flee to in times of turmoil, very much like this
time.  The feeder/warm-lap-provider was busy fighting with the
strange not human however, and again, Ranma had her kitten to
think about.  The tearing frustration of her conflicting drives finally
made Ranma lift back her head and let out a loud yowl of anger, and
frustration.  Then, bending over, she grasped her kitten by the scruff
of the neck, and fled for a quieter location.  Somewhere where she
could look after the little creature in peace.  A quick slash of her
claws removed the trifling obstacle between her and the outside, and
she leaped through the shattered remains of the wall, well ahead of
Ryouko's attack.
    
     Ryouko paused in surprise as Ranma exploded through the
outside wall.  Carrying Ryo-oh-ki in her mouth, Ranma rapidly
crossed the open ground and disappeared among the trees lining the
valley.  Her speed was incredible, faster even than when they had
fought the other day. 
     The shock from Ranma's unexpected attack had worn off by
this time, and Ryouko was no longer driven as much by her anger, as
by her curiosity.  The brief period she had spent trapped with Tenchi
had also gone a long way toward softening her mood.  Now, as she
looked toward where Ranma had disappeared, she was found herself
more curious than furious.  She was receiving very strange signals
from Ryo-oh-ki.  Deciding to investigate from a distance, she took to
the air, and headed out after Ranma and her newborn ship/partner.
She failed to note the small force shield generators that phased into
place where she had been standing a moment before.

     Ayeka let out a very unladylike curse as she was once again too
slow to catch Ryouko.  Accompanied by Tenchi, she rushed over to
the new opening in the wall, and looked up at the rapidly
disappearing demon girl.  "We must go after them!" She said to
Tenchi, and then not waiting for an answer, started out.  Tenchi was
right behind her.  He well remembered the condition Ranma had
returned in after her last encounter with Ryouko, and he was worried
at what might happen this time.  As well, the way Ranma was
behaving was very worrisome.  He wondered if this was some aspect
of the curse she claimed to be under, or if it was caused by something
else entirely.
     As if echoing Tenchi's thoughts, Ayeka spoke suddenly.  "That
creature of Ryouko's must be responsible for Ranma's behavior!"
She stated, as much to herself as to Tenchi.  "She was acting in a
similar way when Kamidake tried to bring her to my ship.  Be very
careful Tenchi-sama.  She can be very dangerous." Then after a
moment of consideration, she added.  "We must get that vermin
away from her so she can be restored." Tenchi said not a word,
saving his breath for what he felt could be a long chase.

     Behind them, Sasami watched them leave, wondering what to
do.  A sound behind her caused her to turn, and see Grandfather
Masaki making his way through the wreckage Ranma had made of
the wall.  "What happened here, Sasami-chan?" he asked her.
Sasami took one last look in the direction her sister and Tenchi had
disappeared, and then started to explain the events of the morning as
well as she was able, given that she was pretty much totally confused
as to what was going on.  Her explanation contained a lot of Ryouko-
neechan did this, then Ayeka-oneechan did that, while Ranma-
neechan and Tenchi-nesan did something else.

*******************************************************
***********************

     Ranma-neko emerged from the forest and into a small sun-
dappled clearing.  Satisfied that she had put a good distance between
herself, and any of the humans who had disturbed her, she got down
to important matters.  Pinning Ryo-oh-ki under one paw, she
proceeded to do what she would have done long ago if it had not
been for all the interruptions, and that was to  thoroughly clean the
wriggling little cabbit.

     Up near the top of a tall tree on the edge of the clearing,
Ryouko stuck out her tongue in sympathetic distaste.  "Oh yuck," she
said, but quietly, not wanting to disturb Ranma, and send her off on
another headlong run.  She had already spent fifteen minutes at high
speed, chasing Ranma.  The strangly acting girl had run in a very
confusing pattern, and only the fact that Ryouko had an aerial view
had let her keep the pair in sight.  Ryouko did not know if Ranma
was trying to lose any pursuit, or was just changing her mind every
five seconds as to which way she wanted to go.  Whatever it was, it
was highly effective against losing conventional pursuers. Tenchi
and Ayeka had lost the trail within five minutes by Ryouko's
reckoning.

     Ryouko leaned back against the trunk of the tree, and watched
as Ranma finished washing Ryo-oh-ki, and the two of them began to
play.  Ranma, bouncing from one side of the clearing to another,
while Ryo-oh-ki tried valiantly, if futilely, to keep up.
     Ryouko suddenly became aware of a strange feeling in her
chest.  She placed a hand over her heart, and looked down at it, a red
flush suffusing her face.  "Nani?  What is this?" She murmured to
herself in a soft voice as a warmth spread out from her heart.  She
lifted her eyes and gazed down at the pair beneath her.  "Ryo-oh-ki,"
she breathed out.  "It's Ryo-oh-ki's feelings I'm feeling . . .  So
warm." A happy smile spread across Ryouko's face, and she
repeated herself in an even softer tone.  "So warm." She leaned back
against the sun heated bark of the tree she was sitting on and let the
warm emotions from Ryo-oh-ki suffuse her.

     Ryouko suddenly stiffened as her higher vantage point allowed
her to spot danger headed toward the happy pair.  A girl moving
with the grace of a warrior had crept out of the underbrush, and was
now crouched hidden on the outskirts of the clearing where Ranma
was playing with Ryo-oh-ki.  A feral grin crossed Ryouko's face, one
that contained not an ounce of humor.  There was a slight shimmer,
and the branch where she had been sitting was suddenly empty.

     Shampoo's lips pulled back in a silent snarl as she found
herself closer to her prey than at any time in the last two and a half
months.  Memories of her long search kept her from rushing to the
attack.  This time there would be no warning.  Ranma had proven
herself a coward, fleeing honorable combat time and time again, she
did not deserve the courtesy of challenge.  Shampoo would mark her
time until the perfect opportunity arose, and then; one swing; and it
would be over.
     She gazed out over the clearing in front of her, and her brow
furrowed as she puzzled over the strange activity of her target.  She
was playing with some sort of bizarre creature, the like of which
Shampoo had never seen before.  For a second curiosity filled her,
but then she ruthlessly shoved it aside.  What Ranma was doing, and
why, were of no matter.  All that mattered was that she was at last in
range of Shampoo's vengeance.  Shampoo gently stroked the blade
of the sword she held in one hand.  Soon, very soon it would run
crimson with the life blood of her enemy, and her quest would be
over.
     "Nice sword." A voice came from behind her, and Shampoo
spun around to face whoever had crept up on her.  She snarled in
frustrated rage at being interrupted so close to her goal.  Surely
Ranma was already fleeing in cowardly terror.  Well, this interloper
would pay for interfering in an Amazon's quest.  All this ran
through Shampoo's mind in a split second, just long enough for
Shampoo to turn and see her potential foe standing there with her
arms crossed, and to note that she was doing so two feet off the
ground.
     "Want to see mine," the cyan haired stranger said, and even as
Shampoo took in her yellow cat slitted eyes, the stranger held up a
hand and flexed it.  A beam of incandescent light suddenly sprang to
life in that hand, and Shampoo found herself facing what looked like
a sword crafted from raw Chi.  Shampoo watched in stupefied
amazement as the floating woman drew back her sword hand.  Her
inaction did not last long.  One did not reach Shampoo's level in the
martial arts by letting surprise slow you down.  When the woman's
glowing sword passed through the space her body had occupied, she
was already several feet away, her own sword in the guard position.
     "Who you demon?" Shampoo demanded.
     "Ryouko, I'm Ryouko," said the woman with a smirk.
"Remember it well, and be sure to tell all the denizens of hell who
sent you there." She matched her words with another attack, one
Shampoo also dodged, and this time she counterattacked, swinging
her sword in a shallow arc as she ducked under the flying woman's
swing. 
     Shampoo grinned to herself at how badly her opponent had left
herself open.  She was grossly overextended, and it would take her
precious moments to redirect the mass of her sword. Shampoo's self
congratulations soon turned to a curse against her own foolishness.
She barely managed to leap away in time to avoid the demon's
response, but not before she left the tip of her sword laying on the
ground.  Her opponent's Chi sword had sheared the last ten inches
off as clean as a knife through butter.  Shampoo hadn't even felt a
tug on the hilt as it did so.
     That was stupid Shampoo, she thought to herself.  Of course
her sword would have no weight.  She can move it as quickly as
thought itself. Shampoo reached into her clothing with her free
hand, pulled it out, and with a flick or her wrist, snapped it in the
demon girl's direction.  A spread of shuriken throwing spikes flew
from her fingers, spreading as they went.  Shampoo allowed herself
another tight little grin, and waited to see how the girl would handle
these.  No matter how fast her sword was, she'd have to work to
avoid all the knives . . .  Shampoo paled as the cyan haired girl
simply faded out of existence, allowing the knives to flash through
Ryouko's former position and imbed themselves in several trees.
     Realization suddenly crashed over her, and she knew exactly
what, and who she was facing.  Ever since she had learned the name
of the place her prey had fled to, something had been bothering her.
She had been sure she'd heard it somewhere before, but had put it
aside as unimportant.  Now, the name Ryouko suddenly clicked into
place beside the name Masaki shrine.
     "You is demon Yosho sealed!" Shampoo blurted out, whirling
to face the demon who had materialized behind her. 
     The demon girl paused in her planned attack, then she snorted
and said, "that damn Yosho. Did he go boasting about it to everyone
he met?"
     "What you mean he?  Yosho Shampoo's ancestress, she very
great warrior.  Shampoo's great, great-grandfather descended from
her."
     "Take it from someone who knows, Yosho was all man . . . hey,
don't tell me you're another one of his get.  Man.  He sure loved to
spread himself around.  So what's your beef with Ranma?  Family
quarrel?"
     "What you say, Shampoo no family to cowardly redhead girl."
     Ryouko lowered her sword till the tip was nearly resting on the
ground, and smirked at Shampoo.  "Red might be a lot of things,
annoying, loud, top-heavy, and an all-around pain in the butt, but
she is no coward.  If you claim Yosho as an ancestor, than she's
family alright."
     "You lie, try to confuse Shampoo." Shampoo once again threw
a handful of throwing spikes toward Ryouko, and then barely waiting
for her to fade from sight, whirled and started to swing her truncated
sword toward the empty space behind her.
     "Nice try, but you lose." Came a mocking voice from behind
her.  Ryouko had only phased out of the way of the throwing spikes,
not teleported, when she returned to solid form, Shampoo's back was
fully exposed to her.  Shampoo did the only thing she could, she
dove forward, and skidded face first through the forest trash that
covered the ground, grinding old leaves, small stones, dirt, and other
less savory things into her face and upper body.  Ignoring the small
scratches and bruises this caused, she kept moving in a mad
scramble rolling her body to the side and thrusting out with a leg to
shove herself into a somersault that brought her to her feet several
yards from where she had left her opponent.  Ryouko was still
standing in her original position, a smirk on her face.
     Shampoo flushed in anger at being played for a fool, but she
resisted the temptation to fling herself at the demon.  There was a
much more important matter here than Shampoo's pride, or even her
life.  This demon was a family responsibility, and Shampoo was not
foolish enough to believe she could handle her.  Even in the unlikely
event she could defeat the demon, she had not the least notion of
how to seal it back up again in its prison. 
     The current tenants of the shrine would be no help.  The fact
that they had been careless enough to let the demon escape in the
first place proved they were not competent enough to help her.
Shampoo would have to get help she knew could do the job.  So, the
question was.  Could she survive and escape to do it?  The answer
was, she had no idea, but she would have to try.  Shampoo spun on
her heels, and started to run, only to skid to a halt and barely duck
out of the way of the demon's gleaming sword as it materialized in
front of her.
     "I'm not done playing yet!" The demon snarled at her, a
malicious smile on her face.  Shampoo looked at her, then rose to her
feet in resignation.  It looked like she would not escape after all.  The
only option left to her was to show this demon that an Amazon knew
how to die well.  Dropping her left leg back, she raised her sword
parallel to the ground just above her head, one hand steadying it near
the severed tip.  She faced the demon and waited for a chance to
strike at least one blow.  While she waited for the demon's final
assault, she started to sing her death chant in a soft voice.

     Ryouko was not impressed, with a smirk she raised her sword,
she had no intention of doing any real harm, but she was in a playful
mood, no doubt due to leakage from Ryo-oh-ki. Stomping on another
of Yosho's seemingly innumerable brood would be a pleasant way to
spend a sunny day.  It was about at that point she was bowled over by
a redheaded ball of concentrated mayhem.  Ranma-neko wanted to
play too.

     It had been the noise that had attracted Ranma and Ryo-oh-ki's
attention, and after a brief internal struggle, Ranma's curiosity had
won out over her recently acquired maternal instincts.  She had
gently picked Ryo-oh-ki up and deposited her behind a small shrub.
Then, having hidden her kitten, she'd stalked carefully toward the
disturbance, her nerves on edge, and ready to bolt at the least little
sign she and Ryo-oh-ki had been discovered.  For her part, Ryo-oh-ki
watched Ranma intently, for all of ten seconds, then a passing
butterfly caught her attention, and she bumbled off in pursuit of it.

     The faux feline crept through the grass of the clearing to the
bushes lining the edges of it, and carefully peered beyond the
sheltering shrubbery into the gloom of the deeper forest.  Ranma-
neko's hackles rose as she witnessed the activity on the other side.
Someone was playing with _her_ toy.  All her doubt concerning
what Ryouko actually was, were forgotten, because of one thing
Ranma was sure of.  Whatever else the strange one might be, she
was Ranma's.  A low growl began to form in the back of her throat.
She crouched down, drawing her legs under her body in preparation
to springing.  Then, she froze, blending into the sun dappled
shrubbery as she waited for her chance.  It was not long in coming,
soon the tide of battle brought the two contestants close enough for
Ranma to make her move.
     Silent as a ghost, Ranma sprang, taking Ryouko completely by
surprise, and tumbling her across the ground.  They came to a stop
with Ranma on top, and she directed a hiss of fury toward the purple
haired interloper who had dared touch her property.

     "What the hell are you doing you crazy bitch?  Get off of me!"
Ryouko yelled, as she got over her surprise at the sudden attack.
With a shove, she sent Ranma flying through the air.  The redhead
effortlessly reoriented herself, and landed with her feet and hands
against the bole of a large tree, for a second she hung there, defying
gravity.  Then, with a yowl of delight, she pushed off and came
sailing back toward Ryouko, who escaped by flying straight up,
allowing Ranma to go sailing past her former position.
     Ranma did not let her near miss discourage her.  She bounced
off yet another tree, this time going nearly straight up until she could
reach a large branch with which to springboard herself toward
Ryouko.  Ryouko was forced to dodge yet again, and this time was
not quite quick enough. She had underestimated Ranma's speed, and
before she realized it, Ranma snagged the tails trailing off the back
of Ryouko's jacket, and she found herself being yanked down toward
the ground, hard.

     "All right!  That _is_it!" Ryouko screamed, brushing dirt off of
her face, and spitting some more of the same out of her mouth.
Powering up an impressive force bolt in her hand, she released it
toward Ranma, who was at that very moment preparing for another
attack.  "Chew on this!" Ryouko said, a smile of anticipation on her
face as she readied two smaller force bolts to throw when Ranma
dodged the large one.
     The problem was, Ranma did not dodge.  "NO!" Ryouko cried
out in denial, when Ranma sprang directly toward the oncoming
blast, immaterial claws raked out.  Claws of pure life force that could
cut any substance, met non substance, and shredded it, but did not
stop it.  Instead its tight focus was disrupted, and instead of
impacting on one small spot, with instant fatality being the result,
Ranma was caught in a burst that encompassed her entire body.  Her
forward motion was halted instantly, and she was flung backward
with tremendous force.  A tall stately giant of the forest shuddered
violently as Ranma impacted with it's base, and slowly slid down its
trunk to lie in a huddled heap at the bottom.
     "No." Ryouko whispered, her voice barely audible, the two
unused spheres of energy in her hands dissipated as she looked at the
small huddled form at the base of the tree.  She floated toward
Ranma, talking softly to herself.  "You baka, you were supposed to
dodge.  Why didn't you dodge?" She reached Ranma, and stretched
out a hand toward her still body, then stopped, afraid to touch her,
afraid of causing even more harm.  A vision suddenly appeared in
her mind of Tenchi, looking down at the shattered remains of
Ranma, and looking at Ryouko with hatred and loathing.  "baka,
Baka, BAKA!" Ryouko's scream rang through the forest.
    
     Some distance away, watching from behind the shelter of a
large tree Shampoo felt her heart lurch.  Her quest was over.  Ranma
was dead.  So why didn't she feel happy?  She shook off the thought
as unworthy of her, and started to inch herself way away from the
demon.  She moved with the utmost caution until she judged herself
far enough distant, and then she broke into a run.  Not a sprint, but a
ground covering lope she could keep up for days if need be, and it
was needed.
     She had to get back to the village as fast as she could.  Her
family had sealed the demon once before, and they would do it again.
She just had to bring help back before the demon grew too great in
power to be sealed. 
     Despite Shampoo's efforts to put it behind her, she could not
stop thinking of Ranma.  How the girl had taken the demon off of
Shampoo, and had died for it.  Most of all, she remembered the
demons remarks that Ranma was a relative.  She longed to call in a
lie, but this was the Masaki shrine, the one place in all of Japan
Shampoo could reasonablely expect to find a relative.  Sweat ran
down her forehead and into her eyes, and the stinging salt water
caused tears to flow down Shampoo's cheeks, and off of her chin, so
as she ran she left small teardrops glistening in the air behind her.
She ignored the sting, she ignored her thoughts about Ranma, and
most of all she ignored the tears.  Only one thing mattered.  Getting
back to China as quickly as possible.

*******************************************************
***********************

     Tenchi and Ayeka raced through the rain, holding articles of
clothing over their heads as they headed for the old wood lot shed.
Slamming open the door, they scuttled inside, and turned to look out
at the intensifying storm.
     "We should keep looking," Ayeka said, as she looked out at the
downpour, a touch of doubt in her voice.
     "We'd never find her in this." Tenchi said in a regretful tone,
also looking out at the rain. Giving a shiver as a gust of wind from
the open door chilled him in his damp clothing, he looked around,
and found an old tin fire pot, and the ingredients to make a fire with.
Soon he had a crackling blaze going, and after a last look out at the
sodden forest, Ayeka came to join him in front of it.

     Back in the shadows, a small figure watched the pair of them.

*******************************************************
***********************

     It was the rain dripping on the top of her head that woke
Ryouko.  She looked up with bleary eyes, not sure at first where she
was.  Then, she remembered, the strange girl named after a hair care
product, the fight, Ranma's intervention, and the energy blast that
threw the little redhead against a tree with sickening force.  Her
heart in her throat, she looked down at the small shape whose head
was currently resting in her lap, and noted with relief that she
seemed to be breathing easily, and appeared none the worse for the
damage she had taken.
     Ryouko knew she should have flown Ranma home, but she had
been afraid.  Afraid of what Tenchi's reaction would be if she
showed up at the door with Ranma's broken form cradled in her
arms.  She well remembered the events of four days ago, and wanted
no repeat of them.  So, afraid to take Ranma for help, but also not
able to leave the girl where she was, she had settled for staying with
her, cradling Ranma's head on her lap and waiting for her to wake
up.  At some point she had fallen asleep, and had just now woken.
     She looked around her, and noted the evidence of a heavy
downpour.  Clearly the old, heavily leafed tree they were under had
sheltered them from the worst of it, but some drops were making it
through the canopy now that the storm was over, and it had been
those that had awakened her.  More of those drops were still falling,
and some of them made it past Ryouko's head, and struck Ranma's
cheek.  She gave a small discontented sound, and moved her head to
the side to avoid the sensation. 

     Ranma was once again in the pond with the bamboo stake
behind her, once again she had faced the attacker, and blown him
and his companion to blood tinged sawdust.  Now, she felt her body
relaxing inexorably.  Unable to do anything to prevent it she felt
herself slipping into the water, the cold wet closing over her head.
Then, something new happened.  A cry echoed in Ranma's head.
"Father, mother, I don't want to die yet!" Ranma wanted to weep
from the desolation in that cry, but there was something else in it as
well. The cry contained power.  Ranma's whole body shuddered with
the force of it.  Then, the thought faded, and all that was left was the
sensation of cold and damp. 
     Ranma fought against the blackness that was trying to take over
her mind.  Struggling against the pull of the water, she clawed her
way toward a single spot of brightness that appeared just a little way
if front of her.
    
     Ryouko felt Ranma suddenly go stiff, and a faint voice reached
her.  "Oh man, not again." She heard Ranma say, and there was
more than a hint of despair in her voice.  Ryouko looked down at the
small redhead, a feeling of joy surging in her breast as she realized
that she might not have to face an angry Tenchi again.  Ranma
opened her blue eyes, and blinked them several times to clear her
vision, her gaze focused on Ryouko's smiling face.  For a second her
face appeared puzzled, as if she could not quite make connections.
Then, her eyes widened in recognition, and the next thing Ryouko
saw, was Ranma fist heading for the space between her eyes.
     "YOU PERVERT!!!!!"

*******************************************************
***********************

     "What was that?" Tenchi asked, but while Ayeka looked in the
direction of the faint sound that had come to them as they walked
along the road.  She did not reply to his question, or even look at
him.
     Tenchi gave a sigh, and looked down at the cause of Ayeka's
current anger.  The furry creature in his arms looked up from where
it was gnawing on a carrot nearly as big as it was, and gave a mew of
inquiry.  Tenchi smiled, and gently stroked her.  She gave a happy
chirp, and went back to her carrot.  Looking back up, Tenchi gazed
with regret at Ayeka's stiff back.  He hated that she was mad at him,
but he truly could not see how this little creature could be responsible
for Ranma's condition.  And even if he had believed that, he didn't
think he could have killed the little thing in cold blood.
     He sighed once again, he and Ayeka had been getting along so
well.  She had been talking openly and freely about her brother and
Tenchi's ancestor.  Then, they had discovered Ryo-oh-ki was sharing
the old hut with them.  Ayeka was not pleased.  She had handed
Tenchi the hilt for Yosho's sword, and ordered him to destroy the
monster.  Tenchi had declined, which had caused Ayeka to snatch
away the sword, and to march out the door, Tenchi two steps behind,
Ryo-oh-ki cradled in his arms.

     "What is that?" Ayeka suddenly said, her voice expressing
great surprise. 
     Tenchi, who had almost walked into her when she had come to
a sudden stop, looked off in the direction of her gaze.  "That's the
sacred tree of the shrine, it's supposed to make it rain and grant . . ."
he trailed off as he realized Ayeka was not listening, instead, she
was making her way down the slope toward the tree, a look of
mingled anticipation, and hope on her face.

     "There can be no doubt." Ayeka said, her hand resting on the
massive trunk of the tree.  "This is Funaho."
     "Funaho?" Tenchi asked, but Ayeka ignored him.  Instead, she
took out Yosho's sword, and tapped it against the trunk of the
shrine's sprit tree.  Energy crackled between the two pieces of wood,
and to Tenchi's great amazement, beams of prismatic light lanced
down to the waters of the pond that encircled the tree, bouncing
them back up to the overhead branches.  The surrounding
countryside vanished, and Tenchi found himself standing in
blackness.  Ayeka, Ryo-oh-ki, and himself  mere outlines.  Vivid
images began to appear, and Tenchi found himself witnessing the
confrontation between Yosho and Ryouko, and Funaho and Ryo-oh-
ki. 
     He watched in amazement as the battle reached its climax.
Funaho fired a burst of energy that shattered Ryo-oh-ki, causing her
to crash and create a large crater that Tenchi realized must have
been the origin of the small lake in front of the house.
     The scene switched, and Tenchi watched as Yosho thrust the
gleaming length of his sword through Ryouko's neck.  Even then,
she fought on, trying to drag herself down that beam of incandescent
energy in an effort to get at her enemy.  Her sheer vicious savagery
was awesome.  Different by far from the Ryouko he had come to
know in the last week. The scene before them faded out as one by
one, the jewels that powered Ryouko were drawn from her body, and
down the swords length to its hilt.

     "He's alive." Were Ayeka's first words after the final vision
faded from sight.  "He has to be alive.  If Funaho is here, than my
brother is alive.  Somewhere, he is alive, and I'll find him." Tears
streamed down Ayeka's face, and she looked up at the overhead
canopy, with an expression of such hope on her face that she was
utterly transformed.  Tenchi found himself holding his breath, she
was so beautiful he was afraid she might vanish like a dream if he
made a noise.
    
     The moment did not last, Ayeka's face suddenly twisted into a
snarl of anger, and she shouted out.  "Get away from her you
monster!" Tenchi was shocked by the sudden transformation, and
followed Ayeka's angry glare to where Ryo-oh-ki was standing on
her hind legs, her front paws resting against Funaho's trunk.  She
mewed in an inquiring tone, patting the massive bole with one of her
paws.  To Tenchi's horror, Ayeka drew back the hand holding
Yosho's sword, her intention clear in the furious expression on her
face. 
     Tenchi lurched forward, trying to place himself between the
small creature and Ayeka, but before he could reach her, Funaho
came to life.  Once again beams of light lanced down from her
branches, and the real world faded away as Funaho once again
showed them scenes from her memory banks.
     At first everything was black.  Not the black of before, but
somehow different, though Tenchi could not say how.  Then, jagged
white lines, like lightning appeared.  When the bright jagged marks
did not shift or fade Tenchi realized it was not lightning, but rather
cracks in some sort of black wall.  Then, a large chunk of the wall
fell away, and they could see three humans.  A man, a woman, and a
small child, a boy.  They were enormous.  At first Tenchi thought
they were giants, but then, he realized it was a matter of perspective.
They were normal people, it was whoever's memory they were
seeing who was small.  The man and woman wore expressions of
shock on their face, but the little boy's face broke into a broad smile.
Before his parents could stop him, he stepped forward, and Tenchi
felt a touch of vertigo as the world swooped and swirled around him.
They, or rather, the person who's memory they were viewing, had
been picked up.
     The scene suddenly pulled back, and the image grew more
normal.  Suddenly, Tenchi saw whose eyes they had been seeing
through.  Ryo-oh-ki's.  She was being held in the little boys hands.
Tenchi was puzzled.  Then, he took note of the archaic clothing the
people wore, and the furnishings that surrounded them, and realized
that they were seeing the past, just as they had earlier.  This was not
their Ryo-oh-ki, but another one, most likely the one that came
before this one, and after the one Funaho had destroyed.

     The image swirled and changed.
     They were seeing the same family again, they were kneeling
around a table eating, but this time there was a small fur-covered
child at the table with them.  Her features made it clear who she was.
This was Ryo-oh-ki again, but one who looked almost human.  She
was eating, with every indication of enjoyment, some sort of plant
Tenchi had never seen.  There was a large bushel basket of similar
plants next to her, and she was diligently working her way through
the contents of it.  The adults no longer looked fearful of her.
Instead they seemed to be treating her very much as they did their
son.

     The image changed.  
     Now it was just the boy and Ryo-oh-ki.  Or at least Tenchi
assumed it was the boy.  Ryo-oh-ki now looked like a teenager, and
so did the boy.  They were walking through a forest, holding hands.
The boy suddenly stopped, and Ryo-oh-ki took one step before
realizing he had stopped.  She paused and looked at him, a
questioning expression on her face.  He took her other hand, and
pulled her closer.  She ducked her head, and Tenchi had a feeling
that if she was not covered in fur, she would be blushing.  The boy
certainly was.  He leaned forward and whispered something into one
of her large furry ears.  Whatever it was he said.  It caused her to
look up, an expression of incredulous surprise on her face.  He took
advantage of her upturned face, and as the image faded away, their
faces came together in a tender kiss.
    
     Another scene.
     This time Ryo-oh-ki was laying in a bed.  Her facial fur was
wet and bedraggled, and there was a look of profound weariness on
her face, but it was eclipsed by the look of joy that was there as well.
A look that was shared by the boy, now a man, as he looked down at
the small bundle held protectively in Ryo-oh-ki's arms.  He leaned
forward, resting his hands on the bedframe.  Once again, they
kissed.  This time not the hesitant kiss of a pair of teenagers, but in
the practiced manner of a pair of adults who still loved each other
even after the novelty had long since worn off.

     The images sped up. 
     Ryo-oh-ki with a small child on her lap, then once again in bed
with a bundle in her arms, this time with a toddler standing by the
bed, looking at his/her new sibling.  The children grew, got older,
and were eventually joined by a third, who also grew older.
Eventually it could be seen that the children were two boys, and a
little girl.  They grew older still, into adults.  The man now had
silver in his hair, but  Ryo-oh-ki looked no older than her daughter.

     Soon there was a new child, not Ryo-oh-ki's this time.  Rather,
this new bundle was held in the arms of a strange girl, while the
older boy, now also a man hovered over her, his hands held out as if
ready to catch her if she should fall.  His expression one of stupefied
wonder.  Not unlike the one his own father had worn when he had
first seen him laying in Ryo-oh-ki's arms.
    
     Scene after scene followed, clicking like slides in a slide show,
barely giving the watchers time to register the children growing up,
the man growing older.  Then, they stopped.  Ryo-oh-ki stood in
front of a soft mound of dirt, her children and grandchildren around
her.  Tears rolled down her furry face, and dripped to the ground.
Tenchi felt his heart ache, and became aware that not just sight was
being used by Funaho.  He could feel the deep pain coming from all
the people in front of him, pain that resonated all too familiarly in
his own heart.  "Mom" he whispered, as tears welled up from his
eyes, and ran down his face in a steady stream.

     The next scene flared up in a burst of light, flames crackling all
around them.  Horses with armored riders flashed by.  Swords
gleamed red, the flames reflecting from their blades, then it was a
different sort of red that shone on those deadly blades, one that
gleamed wet in the flickering light.
     Into this hell, Ryo-oh-ki stumbled, her mouth working as she
cried out silently.  Tenchi saw her pause, a look of agony on her face.
She fell to her knees, and grasped a fallen figure to her breast.  Tears
streamed from her face again, but this time her expression was not
one of pain, but of fury.  Tenchi watched as the scene shifted, and
Ryo-oh-ki was standing in front of the same mound of dirt as before,
now covered with grass and flowers.  Beside it was a fresh mound, a
shovel laying beside it.  Ryo-oh-ki's clothing was covered in mud,
but she looked like a queen as she stood there, looking down at the
new grave.
     Ryo-oh-ki raised her head to the heavens, and her mouth
opened in a scream of pure rage, and she changed.  The mud
spattered, clothing was ripped to shreds as something dark and
crystalline came into being where she had been standing.  The
gleaming conglomeration of crystal spires rocketed into the heavens,
and Tenchi felt a shiver of fear for the people who had caused this
transformation.

     Bright sunlight caused Tenchi's eyes to blink.  It took a second,
so strong had the images been, for him to realize that they were once
again standing beside Funaho, and that this particular memory was
finished.  Tenchi drew a deep breath, and wiped moisture from his
eyes with the back of his hand.  He was not the only one who had
been strongly affected by the sights and feelings they had just
witnessed.  He heard soft sobbing, and turned to see Ayeka, kneeling
on the ground, tears streaming down her face.
     There was a soft miyaa, and Tenchi looked over to see Ryo-oh-
ki looking at Ayeka, her head cocked to one side.  She hopped
toward Ayeka, and reached the girl before Tenchi had time to think
that this might not be a very good idea.  He watched, holding his
breath as Ryo-oh-ki placed her front paws on Ayeka's knee, and
meowed plaintively.  Tenchi edged closer, planning to grab the little
cabbit away, but before he could reach her, Ayeka lifted her face
from her hands, and looked down at the little creature leaning
against her legs.

     Ayeka gave a small wail, and grabbed Ryo-oh-ki up into her
arms.  Holding her tightly, she cried out in a voice hoarse with
sorrow.  "I'm sorry.  I'm sorry, so very sorry."  As Ayeka held Ryo-
oh-ki tightly against her breast, much to the discomfort of the little
cabbit, five days of suppressed grief came welling up out of the
corner of her mind where she had shoved it aside. 

     The bond between a ship of Jurai and its owner was a profound
one.  The loss of that bond was not something to be casually
dismissed.  Part of the training Ayeka had undergone to be allowed
the bond, was the manner of dealing with the loss of it.
     Ayeka had not handled the loss of Ryuu-oh in the manner she
had been trained to.  She should have spent at least two days,
preferable more, in meditation and solitude, coming to grips with her
pain.  Instead of facing that painful necessity, Ayeka had hidden
behind what she told herself was Sasami and Ranma's need for her.
So, while her outward appearance was one of calm control, inside,
the pain she refused to deal with festered and grew.
     When Ryo-oh-ki hatched, the walls Ayeka had built around her
grief were cracked as well.  They were further breached when she
saw Ranma's transformation into a feral creature, seemingly because
of the same creature who had slain her beloved Ryuu-oh.  Hatred had
welled up in her for Ryo-oh-ki.  Unreasoning and hot with her
suppressed grief, she gave little thought or consideration to the fact
that the little creature was but newly hatched.  All that mattered was
she was a symbol of all that was bad in Ayeka's life.  Her brother
leaving in pursuit of the pirate that had devastated her childhood
home.  Seven hundred years of fruitless searching, only to learn of
Yosho's rumored death.  The fact that her beloved had found a
different love, someone other than her.  The evidence of this love
graphically represented by Tenchi and Ranma.  Last, the destruction
of her ship, and the stranding of herself and Sasami on this primitive
planet.  All this had conspired to make her a creature of vengeance.
     Then, she had witnessed the memories of the previous Ryo-oh-
ki, and her own grief had resonated with the very similar pain
experienced by that departed entity.  That had finished the job that
had begun with the current Ryo-oh-ki's appearance.  All the grief
she had bottled up till she had time to deal with it, broke free.
Unrestrained, the pain over the loss of her beloved ship, along with
the pain over the loss of her brother, either to death, or to another
woman, threatened to wash Ayeka under in a flood of uncontrolled
sorrow.
     Lost in her pain, she became aware of a haven of warmth, and
she pushed herself up against it.  A pair of arms folded loosely
around her, and she pressed her face into the shoulder of the person
holding her and cried for her loss.

     Tenchi flushed red as Ayeka pressed herself against him, but
did not move except to adjust his arms so they were lightly cradling
her as she cried out her grief onto his shoulder.  Between their
bodies, Ryo-oh-ki made little encouraging noises, trying as best as
she could in her limited understanding to offer comfort.  A
movement out of the corner of his eye caused him to turn.  His
Grandfather and a worried Sasami stood there, taking in the scene. 
     Tenchi blushed even deeper, and gestured with his eyes.
Hoping his grandfather would take the hint, and come and offer
Ayeka his shoulder.  That's what priests did after all.  Was it not?
His grandfather just gave a small shake of his head, accompanied by
a gentle smile.  His eyes clearly said that Tenchi was doing just fine
by himself.

     Tenchi was never sure how long he stood there, Ayeka loosely
cradled in his arms, her head resting on his shoulder, her tears
slowly turning his shirt into a sodden mass.  Eventually it was an
outside force that broke the tableau.  A series of explosions, slowly
moving toward them. A phenomenon that Tenchi was becoming far
more familiar with than he cared to think about.
     Ayeka pulled her face away from his shoulder, and dabbed at
her red-rimmed eyes with a cloth she pulled from the sleeve of her
kimono.  She glanced away from Tenchi and toward the rapidly
approaching sound.  As she looked off in the distance, she spoke
softly.  "I'm sorry Tenchi-sama.  I apologize for the unforgivable
way I've been behaving."
     Tenchi placed his left hand behind his head and looked
sheepish.  "That's all right Ayeka-sama." He hunted for words to try
and ease the embarrassment they both felt over the recent incident,
but was saved from the trouble when a familiar redheaded form came
into view, dashing from the cover of the trees toward Tenchi.  Close
on her heals was the source of the explosions, more of which rocked
the clearing as Ryouko tried to nail the fleet girl, who always seemed
to be somewhere else when one of Ryouko's energy blasts struck
home.
     The first thing that Tenchi noticed, after the explosions, was
the state of Ranma's clothing.  While she was slightly more modestly
garbed than the last time she had appeared after a fight with Ryouko,
it was not by much.  Her pants and shirt were both tattered and
singed, and barely preserved her modesty.  He clapped a cautionary
hand to his nose just in case.  Ranma's clothing did not look like it
was going to last much longer.
     Tenchi felt something being placed in his hand, and looked
down for a moment in surprise.  Ayeka closed his fingers over the
haft of Yosho's sword with her own hand.  Looking up at him with
puffy eyes, she gave him a smile, and said.  "Lord Tenchi, I ask that
you please defend me and mine."
     Ayeka's statement had the feeling of some sort of formal
request, and Tenchi knew there was more than likely a counter reply
he was suppose to make to it, All he could think to do was to place
the hand holding the sword behind his head, and give an
embarrassed laugh, before saying, "I guess."
     Another explosion brought Tenchi's attention back to the
matter at hand.  Ranma had reached the edge of the pond
surrounding Funaho.  Instead of using the stones that were there for
people to walk to the tree, she left the bank of the pond with a
prodigious leap, and landed in front of Tenchi and Ayeka.  Parts of
her shirt choose to give up the fight at that point, falling aside to
reveal what was underneath. Tenchi was barely able to take in the
singed and tattered condition of her clothing, using all his willpower
not to stare at what it was not covering.  Ranma looked the very
picture of a poor abused waif. 
     Unfortunately for Ryouko, Tenchi's gaze did not manage to
reach as far as Ranma's face.  If it had, he might have noticed the
look of unrestrained glee on her face. The flush on Tenchi's face
changed from one of embarrassment to one of anger.  Stepping
forward, he placed himself between Ranma and the oncoming
Ryouko.  Without Tenchi even having to think about it, the sword in
his hand sprang to life.

     Ryouko was furious.  There was a vivid red spot directly
between her eyes, and her face was twisted up in an angry
expression.  In one hand she held her sword, in the other, a ball of
energy, ready to throw.  "Get out of the way Tenchi.  The ungrateful
little tramp is mine."
     "Ungrateful!" Ranma yelled out from behind Tenchi.  "What
do I have to be grateful for?  The only thing that I'm grateful for is
that I woke up before you had a chance to do anything more to me,
you pervert!"
     "Arrggghh," was Ryouko's intelligent reply to this, and she
lunged forward in an effort to get around Tenchi and at the little
redhead.  She had long ago passed the point of considering tactics,
and was in full bull-in-a-china-shop mode.  There was a shrill squeal
of sound that hurt the ears as Tenchi parried Ryouko's sword with
his own.  He was driven backward a step, but did not give any
ground up after that. 

     Of to the side Katsuhito raised an eye in surprise as he noticed
the detached way Tenchi was handling the sword.  For years he had
been trying to teach Tenchi to make his weapon part of himself, but
the boy had always been too self conscious.  Tenchi had always been
aware of the bokken in his hand, and tended to have to think of every
move he wanted to make with it, which handicapped him a great
deal. 
     He was no longer thinking about his weapon.  He moved it in a
smooth pattern that told Katsuhito's trained eyes he was not even
aware of it other than as a part of his own body.  He smiled.  Tenchi
had just completed the first step toward becoming a true master of
the sword.

     "Ryouko, stop it!" Tenchi snapped out, as he and the demon
girl crossed swords once again.  Ryouko tried to force her way
forward, and Tenchi's arm gave under the pressure, but that only
brought Ryouko close enough to the sword in his hand for it to react
to her presence.  Just as it had done in the school yard, it flared with
energy, and moved on its own volition, shoving Ryouko back.  She
sprang away from Tenchi, her concentration broken. 
     For the first time Ryouko took in the expression on Tenchi's
face, and a stricken look crossed her own "But Tennnncccchhiiiii."
She whined, stamping her foot for all the world like a four year old,
denied a treat.  The expression on Tenchi's face did not shift, nor did
the sword in his hand lower.

     Behind Tenchi, Ranma smirked at Ryouko, and pulled down
one eyelid, revealing the red skin on the underside of her lid.  She
stuck her tongue out as well.  Ryouko flushed, and took a step
forward, only to find it matched by Tenchi.  She visibly simmered in
rage, but gritting her teeth, she opened her hands and let her sword,
and the ball of energy, wink out of sight.
     "Next time little girl, next time." Ryouko said to Ranma, who
responded by turning her back and patting her bottom.  Kiss my ass.
She mouthed silently over her shoulder at Ryouko.  Just then Ryo-
oh-ki, who had been silent in Ayeka's arms while this was going on,
grew impatient for someone to pay attention to her, the most
important person here.
     "Meow!" She mewed loudly, and Ranma jumped out of her
tattered slippers.  The small girl practically levitated straight up into
the branches of Funaho.  A thrashing of branches marked her ascent
to the very crown of the massive tree.  She climbed until there was
nothing left to climb, and then she huddled there, swaying back and
forth on the last slender limb. 
     "C . . . c . . .c . . . cat!" She stammered out in terror, curling up
in as tight a ball as the situation would allow, burying her face in her
arms.
     Down below the pretty much universal reaction was one of
surprise, with the exception of Katsuhito, who looked worried, and
also as if he were trying to recall something that was just on the edge
of his memory.
     Ryouko's expression was as puzzled as the rest, but did not stay
that way long.  One did not become a dread space pirate, feared on
countless worlds, but failing to take note of, and act on, an opponents
weakness.  Plucking Ryo-oh-ki from Ayeka's arms, she floated up
level with the cowering girl, and leered at her.
     "Aww, Ranma, don't you want to pet the nice little kitty cat?"
     "Take it away, take it away!" Ranma screamed burrowing her
face deeper into her sheltering arms.
     "Ryouko-san, you stop that!" Ayeka yelled impotently from
below.
     "Ryouko, stop, don't tease Ranma!" Tenchi added, looking in
fear at the way the branch Ranma was clinging to was swaying from
Ranma's panicked efforts to turn away from Ryouko, and the
nightmare she carried in her hand.
     Ryouko ignored them both, and floated over to where Ranma
perched on her branch.  Grabbing a good chunk of red hair in her
hand, she pulled Ranma's head up out of her arms, and shoved Ryo-
oh-ki to within inches of her face.  "Yaaaaaaaaaa" Ranma screamed,
and tried to get away, but Ryouko held her in place effortlessly.  Ryo-
oh-ki dangled from her hand, looking first at Ryouko, and then at
the fearful Ranma.
     "Meow," she said in a sad tone, not understanding Ranma's
rejection.  Something in the tone of her voice made it past Ranma's
defenses, because for the first time she really looked at Ryo-oh-ki.
For a minute, her eyes remained panicked, but then a small amount
of awareness trickled into her bulging orbs.
     "That's not a cat?" Ranma said in a halting questioning voice.
"That ain't no cat!" She repeated, this time in a firmer voice.  "What
the heck is she?"
     Ryouko frowned as she detected that Ranma had returned to
sanity, but then, shrugged her shoulders.  The brief period of
tormenting Ranma had restored much of her good mood, and she
answered Ranma's question with only a hint of a snarl in her voice.
     "This is my little Ryo-oh-ki."
     "That ain't Ryo-oh-ki!" Ranma exclaimed.  "Ryo-oh-ki's is
human.  Well sort of," She amended.  "This thing is . . . What is that
thing?" She repeated her earlier question.
     Down below Ayeka and Tenchi could just barely make out the
conversation between Ranma and Ryouko.  Tenchi yelled up at her.
"It's true Ranma.  We saw Ryo-oh-ki grow up in Funaho's memory.
That is what she looked like when she hatched before, and then she
turned into a person."
     Now it was Ryouko's turn to look puzzled.  "Human?"  she
said, questioningly.  "I've never known her to assume a human
shape."
     "Well she does!" Ranma asserted.  "I talked to her while you
were attacking Ayeka's ship."
     "You talked to her?" Ryouko asked in evident surprise.  For
some reason she found this so surprising, she failed to react quickly
enough when Ranma reached out with a shaking hand, and plucked
Ryo-oh-ki from her grasp.
     "I promised her I'd be nice to her baby." Ranma said in a
distracted way, not really aware of Ryouko anymore.  Instead, all her
attention was focused on the little bundle of fur that was happily
curled up in the crook of her arm.  "You are kind of cute," she said,
poking the little cabbit in her furry belly.  Ryo-oh-ki mewed, and
batted at Ranma's finger.  Ranma for her part shuddered, and fought
the urge to fling her away.  "Not a cat, not a cat," she said repeatedly
for a few seconds, till she calmed down again.  "Man.  This is going
to take some getting used to." With a hand that only quivered
slightly, she handed Ryo-oh-ki back to Ryouko.  "Here, you'd better
take her.  I ain't all that good at this mushy stuff."
     A shudder ran through her body when Ryouko took Ryo-oh-ki
from her hand, and tension seemed to flow out of her body, as she
exhaled a deep calming breath.  Ranma started to climb down the
tree, taking more care than was usual for her.  When she reached the
bottom, everyone was looking at her, and they all had questions in
their eyes.  Well, Tenchi's were a bit glazed rather than questioning.
Ranma's clothing being in an even worse state of affairs than before.
He hurriedly turned his back and unbuttoned his shirt.  "Here," he
said, having stripped the shirt from his back and held it back over
his shoulder toward Ranma.
     "Thanks," she said.  Taking Tenchi's shirt, Ranma put it on,
and found it fell to just below her thighs, doing a fairly good job of
covering the bits that Tenchi was finding so distressing.  "I guess
you must sort of be wondering what's going on?" Ranma said rather
sheepishly.  The look everyone gave her was a clear answer to her
question.  Giving a sigh, she said.  "Well, it happened when I was
about seven . . ."

     Over the next half hour, during which they walked toward
home, Ranma told them the tale of the Cat Fist.  About how her
father had wrapped her in fish sausage, and tossed her in a pit of
hungry cats.  All to train her in the unbeatable style of the Neko-ken.
During the explanation, Ranma would every now and then work her
mouth, and spit toward the side of the path.  Ayeka was distressed by
this action, but refrained from saying something.  She was not that
fond of Genma herself, and if he had not driven her to spitting when
talking about him . . .  Well, she hadn't known him as long as
Ranma had.
    
     When Ranma finished, the people around her had various
expressions on their faces.  Tenchi and Sasami wore looks of horror,
mixed with sympathy.  Katsuhito looked disgusted, and also
satisfied, as if something that had puzzled him had been made clear.
Ayeka looked furious, and was mouthing words like, Unfit . . . What
father?  . . . Outrageous, should be whipped.
     Ryouko looked bored.

     Their walking had brought them into sight of the house, and
Ranma stopped in shock when she took note of the hole in the wall.
"Oh man Tenchi!" She groaned in dismay.  "I'm sorry, I don't know
what I'm doing when I go . . . you know."
     "Crazy, nut bars, loose in the brain pan, a few bricks falling out
of the wall?" Ryouko suggested.
     "Ryouko-san," Tenchi chided her half-heartedly, before turning
to Ranma.  "It's alright, we can fix it up." He turned to look at the
damage, and his confident look slipped a little, "I think." He added
under his breath.
     Ranma nodded her head, but she looked a little doubtful as she
took in the sight of the damage.  While contemplating it, she again
turned her head to the side, and spat.  This was too much for Ayeka.
     "Ranma-chan, please, that is most unladylike."
     Ranma looked at her a bit sheepishly, and then said.  "I'm sorry
Ayeka-san.  I've got this really gross taste in my mouth."
     "Oh my," Sasami said, looking at Ryouko who had fallen to the
ground in hysterics.  "What's wrong with Ryouko-neechan?"

     Some time later, they sat enjoying tea.  Ryouko occasionally
directing a look toward Ranma and snickering, which made the
redhead feel very uncomfortable.  She was beginning to get a little
worried about what Ryouko might have done to her while she was
out.  The rest of the group was simply sitting back and enjoying the
rest after a hard two hours of clean up duty. All the splintered boards
had been cleaned up, and piled neatly off to the side. 

     Now, they sat in front of the hole, and enjoyed the afternoon
sun as they ate the snacks Sasami had prepared.  Licking a little
sugar off of her fingers, Ryouko asked Ranma.  "By the way, who
was that purple haired chick who was planning on dividing you into
equal parts?" She smirked at Ranma.  "For someone who claims to
be a guy, you sure don't seem to handle girls . . ."
     Ryouko trailed off as she noted that Ranma was not paying any
attention to her, had in fact jumped to her feet and was now peering
out at the surrounding trees, as if expecting something horrible to
emerge from them at any time.
     "Shampoo," she said, just one word, but the look of dread on
her face made it very clear she was not talking about hair care,
despite the fact her own was in dire need of some.

*******************************************************
***********************
    
     "This Shampoo sounds like an awfully poor loser." Tenchi said
after listening to Ranma detail the reason for the Amazon's presence
at the shrine.  "I mean, trying to kill you just because you beat her in
a challenge fight."
     "Yes, the Amazon's can be rather rigid in their observance of
their law, but there was good reason for it at one time, or so our
ancestor's papers tell us." Everyone looked over at Katsuhito who
had spoken over the rim of his tea cup.  He sat there, oblivious to the
stares.  His eyes were closed and to all intents and purposes he
seemed to be doing nothing more than savoring the aroma of
Sasami's excellent tea.
     "You know about the Amazons grandfather?" Tenchi asked in
surprise.  Ranma, remembering Katsuhito's familiarity with the
Musk was not as  surprised.  Instead, she felt a surge of hope.
Maybe Grandfather would know something that would get that crazy
Amazon off her back.
     Katsuhito, opened his eyes, and took a long slow sip of his tea.
Everyone at the table waited for him to talk, some with more
patience than others.  Ayeka appeared perfectly calm, while Ranma
looked like she was ready to lunge across the table at him.
Appearances could be deceiving, to Sasami's experienced eyes,
Ayeka was every bit as impatient as Ranma, she was just better at
hiding it.
     Ranma was just getting up from her kneeling position by the
table, her face promising mayhem, when Katsuhito placed his cup
down with a sigh of contentment, and started to speak.  Ranma
wavered, off balance, and finally fell over on her side, helped along
by a subtle poke from Ryouko.  Ranma glared at her, and she put on
an innocent air, and gave the appearance of giving all her attention
to Katsuhito.
     "You must understand a bit of their history." Katsuhito was
saying.  "It was originally possible for an outsider to challenge an
Amazon to gain a position in the tribe.  They wanted the best, and
this was their way of selecting them, but that led to problems.  Like
all societies, there was a given limit to the number of warriors they
could support.  It takes a lot of farmers and craft men to support one
person who does nothing but train for war."
     "Yea, but they sure are happy they're there when the shit hits
the fan." Ranma said.
     "Yes, they are, but that does not change the fact that a village
or a kingdom can only support so many.  Some get around this by
conquering other villages or nations.  That works for a while.  You
gain slave labor, and can support more of your own people as
warriors, but it is a losing proposition in the long run.  You need to
guard your conquest, and that takes more warriors, and then you
need to take over another country, and another, until your own
culture is eventually lost from the sheer number of those you share
your land with.  The mighty Mongols conquered all of China, and
then were absorbed by that country's population.  The Amazons
valued their culture highly, and had no wish to dilute it.  They were
satisfied with what they had, and had no wish to gain more, only to
defend what they already possessed."

     "A likely story," Ryouko snorted, "The Powers-that-be are
always ready to throw away a few civilians to steal something that
belongs to someone else.  Of course they don't call it stealing."
     Ayeka smiled a thin tight lipped smile at Ryouko.   "I'm sure
you know all there is to know about stealing, but I know about rulers.
The goal of a good ruler is the welfare of his people.  But you would
know nothing about the welfare of others.  Would you?"
     Ryouko smiled at Ayeka, and there was more than a hint of
teeth in her smile.  "Ahh, the mythical _good_ ruler," she said,
placing a great deal of stress on the word good.  "And tell me
_princess_ do you also believe in the Star-father, who brings presents
to all the good little girls and boys at the end of every standard
galactic year?"
     Ayeka smile grew tighter, and her teeth started to peep out
from behind her pale lips.  "At least I was a good little girl, and
while it may have been my mother rather than the Star-father who
left me presents, at least I got some.  Did yours ever give you one?"
Ayeka by now was leaning across the table, her nose nearly pressed
against  Ryouko's.  Her teeth were now clearly visible as her lips
pulled back in a snarl.  "Or do monsters even have mothers?"

     Very much to Ranma and Tenchi's surprise, Ryouko did not
have a quick come back to this  comment.  Rather, her face grew a
bit pale, and her mouth gave up all pretense of smiling, as she bared
her fangs fully at Ayeka.  Ranma recognized the telltale signs, and
when Ryouko lunged across the table with a scream of "Bitch!" she
was ready.
     Down slapped Ranma's hand, hitting Ryouko's thigh, and
slowing her leg's upward progress just enough that it caught on the
edge of the table instead of going over it.  Ryouko's arms
windmilled, and she made a three-point landing on the table top, her
face, which landed in a plate of tea cakes, being one of the points.
     Ayeka covered her mouth with her sleeve, and laughed
unrestrainedly at the sight of Ryouko, her face covered with lemon
filling.  Things started to get out of control at about that point. 
    
     Ranma grimaced, she had no objection to a good brawl, but
Shampoo was out there somewhere, and that was not something she
wanted to forget about.  It would be just like that crazy girl to come
bursting in while they were at each other throats.
     The problem was, while Ayeka might settle down if Ryouko
did, there was no way in hell Ryouko was going to stop.  The only
one who seemed able to control her even a little when she was like
this, was Tenchi, but only sometimes. Tenchi was alright when he
thought Ryouko had done something bad, but when it came down to
getting between Ayeka and Ryouko when they were both on a tear,
he was pretty much useless . . .  Unless  . . . Ranma thought of
something that might distract Ryouko.  For a second she hesitated,
her face tense, she was not sure if she really wanted to do it.  Then,
the sound of smashing furniture reached her ears, and reminded her
all too much of the last time she had heard that sound.  They had to
get ready for Shampoo.  This was no time to be a wimp.  Ranma got
to her feet, if she was going to do this, she was going to need some
aids.

     Tenchi was nervously holding his sword in his hands, trying to
figure out what to do.  He wanted to stop the fight before it got
serious, but he didn't want to hurt Ryouko's feelings by siding with
Ayeka, who had after all goaded Ryouko into the current quarrel.
On the other hand, he didn't want to side with Ryouko against
Ayeka, not after just having gotten back in Ayeka's good books. 
     It was so much easier when Ryouko was picking on Ranma.
Despite her skill, Ranma was really too weak to defend herself
against Ryouko.  Only the Tenchi-ken gave Tenchi an edge against
the demon girl. Ayeka was another matter.  Despite her ladylike
exterior she had proven herself able to go toe to toe with Ryouko. 
     Tenchi sighed in despair.  He did not want either one of the
girls mad at him, but if he tried to break up this fight, he just knew
that somehow they would both end up being furious with him.
     Tenchi felt someone take his hand, and he looked down in
surprise.  Ranma was standing there, a strange look of tension on her
face. "Tenchi, why don't we go outside and take a walk, the . . ."
Ranma paused, as if trying to think of something.  Then, her face
brightened.  "The moon, the moon is so nice, lets go look at the
moon." She started to drag Tenchi toward the door.
     "But, but, but." Tenchi stammered, trying to tell Ranma there
was no moon tonight.
     Ranma stopped, and stared up at Tenchi, her eyes wide and
glistening.  A solitary tear trickled down her cheek.  Unseen by
Tenchi, Ranma let the cut onion in her hand drop to the floor behind
her.  "Tenchi, don't you want to go walking with me." All motion in
the room stopped, heads turned toward the pair by the door.  It was
not what Ranma had said.  It was the way she had said it.  Her voice
had been low and quivery.  Straight out of a bad romance movie. The
very sound of it was enough to send shivers up and down Tenchi's
spine, and completely different feelings through Ryouko.
     "What!?  What the hell are you trying to pull?  You don't like
guys.  Remember?" Ryouko demanded, breaking off from Ayeka,
and storming across the room toward the two of them.
     Ayeka called after her. "She is taking her innazuke, and getting
away from a barbarian for a little privacy.  I would have thought that
was obvious, even to a creature like you."
     For her part, Ranma looked up at Ryouko with an innocent
expression, and said.  "Ayeka-san is right.  We can't hear
Grandfather over your noise, so I thought Tenchi and I could take a
nice walk while you two settled your differences.  And don't be silly.
I'm a girl, so of course I like boys." Ranma added in a saccharin
voice, taking Tenchi's arm and looping it through her own.
Everyone was listening to her words, and except for Katsuhito, no
one noticed the cute look on her face was taking on a strained
expression. 
     Ryouko snatched Tenchi away from Ranma, who barely
controlled her look of relief, and dragged him over to the table.
Looking back at Ranma defiantly, she said.  "I'm all done with the
chicken girl." Turning to Katsuhito, who had  moved out of the way
of any possible flying objects, or people, taking  Sasami with him,
she said.  "Well, get on with it old man, we don't have all day."
     "Chicken girl!?" Ayeka said in outrage, but Ryouko merely
snorted, and turned her head away from her.  Ranma shrugged her
shoulders, and came over and sat down in Tenchi's former place.
Katsuhito, and Sasami joined them, and after a minute, a fuming
Ayeka as well.
     "Now, where was I?" Katsuhito asked.
     "You were talking about how the Amazon did not invade others
so they could support more warriors, and why that was a problem."
Sasami answered him.
     "Ahh yes.  Originally any woman who could prove herself a
warrior could join the tribe.  After a while they realized they had to
limit the number, or exceed their ability to support the fighters who
did not contribute to the day to day needs of the village.  A number
was established, and that was the limit.  To become a warrior, you
either had to wait for an opening, or defeat a warrior and take her
place."
     "This was at first open to all.  The Amazon elected to go for
quality over quantity, and whoever proved themselves worthy could
become an Amazon warrior.  Any outsider woman could  fight any
warrior, and if she won, she would take that warrior's place.  This
led to resentment as people saw their friends and themselves being
replaced by people from out of the village.  Understand, in those days
the Amazons were not the fighters they are now.  It was common for
a woman from outside to wander in and defeat a warrior.  Such is no
longer common.  The Amazons have grown very formidable, but that
was not the case back then.
     Eventually, politics got into the matter.  The village warriors
agitated to have the laws altered.  Because they formed the largest
power block in the tribe, they got their way.  It was decided that the
outsider had to prove her worth by defeating the Amazon not simply
once, but as many times as it took for the warrior to concede defeat.
But the elders didn't like being pushed around, and they added a
little twist."
     "Let me guess, the kiss of death, right?" Ranma said.
     "That's right.  The Amazon warrior found that they had to face
a girl who had already beaten them once, and who knew she would
die if she lost the rematch.  Not a few Amazons choose to concede
defeat, rather than take the risk."
     "Hey, wait a second." Ranma said.  "Do you mean I'd have
been free and clear if I'd beaten Shampoo a second time?"
     "Not exactly, while Shampoo could have conceded your
superiority at anytime, even after the first defeat, and given up her
position in the village to you, she could also have forced you to fight
her to the death, either yours or hers no matter how many times you
defeated her.  If you had done that, you would have been offered her
place in the tribe."

     "Hey, no problem then.  Red can take her." Ryouko said
cheerfully.  "So tell me, would Red get all her property if she did for
her?"
     "Hey, I ain't going to kill anyone!" said Ranma in outrage.
Turning to Katsuhito, she said in a pleading tone of voice.  "There's
got to be someway, ain't there anyway to make her back off without
killing her?"
     "If you could convince her you really are a boy that might
help."
     "Why?" Sasami said.
     "Because if an Amazon is defeated by an outsider male, she has
to marry him.  Another way the elders came up with to improve the
village blood line, and to keep the warrior's from picking fights
casually with men from the neighboring kingdoms.  Not a few border
incidents escalated into serious wars before the new law was put in
place."
     "What!?" Ranma yelled.  "You mean if I get cured that crazy
chick is going to try and marry me?"
     "She might, or she might decide you are really a girl, and try to
kill you anyway.  The fact that you might be a relative could help."
     "What?" Ranma said once again, beginning to sound not unlike
a broken record.
     "Hey, that's right, she's one of Yosho's get as well," Ryouko
said.
     "What?" Ayeka said, "You're lying!"
     "Fraid not princess.  Yosho was a pretty frisky guy.  No telling
how many little surprises he left around for you to find."
     Ayeka flushed with outrage, but before she could retort.
Katsuhito broke in.  "Actually, while she _might_ be descended from
Yosho, it was not Yosho who married into the Amazons, but a
descendant of his." Ranma thought Katsuhito looked a bit
uncomfortable as he said this, but the old mans face smoothed over
quickly, and she decided it was likely just the light that made it seem
that way.
     Ayeka looked mollified, but she continued to direct dirty looks
toward Ryouko.
     "Anyway, there is not much we can do till we can talk to this
Shampoo. Most of you should be safe.  The Amazons consider it bad
form to kill someone who is not their target."
     Ranma snorted, "yea, but the way she goes knocking walls in, I
don't see how she can help but hurt someone.  I'd better head out.
I'll try to lead her away from here.  Maybe I can talk to her now that
I know about her maybe being family."

     Ranma was having a hard time grasping that Shampoo might
be a relative.  A week ago, she had been all alone in the world except
for her Pop.  Now, not only had she learned her mother was still
alive, she had gained a large family in the form of Ayeka and her
sister, and Tenchi and his family.  To bad the connection was not
closer however.  It would have given her an out from marrying
Tenchi.  As always, she gave a little shudder at the thought.
     "If she believes you." Ryouko said, breaking Ranma out of her
introspection.  "That's a pretty old gag."
     "Out of the question." Ayeka said, vetoing the idea of Ranma
going out to face this mad woman alone.  "Kamidake and Asaka can
guard the house.  This barbarian will not get past them."
     Ryouko laughed out loud, and looked over to where Kamidake
was peeking around a corner at Ranma.  "Oh yes, they're great
guards.  I feel _so_ secure knowing they're on the job."
     "Actually  . . . they might be a big help." Ranma said, a
speculative look on her face.  Asaka pulled himself up a bit
straighter, the distance between his bottom and the floor increasing.
For his part, Kamidake seemed to radiate surprise at Ranma's
defense of their fighting skills.  "They might be pretty lousy
fighters," The two guardians sagged, sweat drops dripping from their
heads.  "But Shampoo doesn't know about them.  So they might be
able to take her by surprise."
     "Very well, let us make plans then." Ayeka said.

*******************************************************
***********************

     "Where the hell is she!?" Ranma yelled in frustration,
marching over to the sliding porch door, and looking out across the
dark valley.
     "Maybe she is waiting to catch you alone?" Ayeka said as she
came over to join Ranma.
     Ranma snorted.  "Not bloody likely.  Shampoo isn't like that.
She never let crowds or anything else stand between her and me
before."
     Ayeka seemed to be having an internal struggle of some kind,
but at last she spoke, each word spoken as if drawn forth by torture.
"Ryouko . . . is . . .  formidable.  It is possible this Shampoo realized
what she was up against, and --"
     "No!  No way, not Shampoo, you don't know her, she'd no
more back off than I would. She'll be here.  You just wait."
    
     Behind the two girls Tenchi was putting the final touches to the
house's defenses.  All the furniture in the room had been
repositioned near the outside walls, leaving the main floor clear. As
well, rope had been strung from the walls to form a network of
strands between the furniture. If Shampoo came through the wall
like Ranma expected, she would find herself in a cluttered and
enclosed area, and hopefully Ayeka could seal her up before she got
her bearings.  This was a last ditc