Deep forest provided a backdrop for a tableaux consisting of three 
teenagers, two girls and a boy. The smaller girl lightly grasped 
the waist of her taller... friend. Both girls were dressed in 
school uniforms, at least in part. The shorter girl was dressed in 
a standard Japanese girl's sailor fuku. Her taller companion was 
shirtless with a tightly bound chest, the trousers of a boy's 
uniform providing cover for her lower body.

In front of the girls was the shore of a large lake, whose waters 
still rippled from the huge creature that had just disappeared 
beneath its surface. Water from that lake dripped off both girls, 
who had only in the last minute escaped from the lake's grasp... 
and the creature's. The smaller girl shivered slightly, but the 
cold she felt was not just her soaking blouse and skirt, but the 
icy chill of death that gripped her heart. Her life was almost 
over, now. With horror, she realized she would get to observe her 
own death in the third person.

The taller girl moved to pull away, taking a tentative step toward 
the boy, who looked on the two girls with gratitude and admiration.

"Akane..." the petite girl whispered, "Please..."

"I'm sorry..." The taller girl offered in response.

Lost amidst the water that dripped off both of them was fresh 
moisture from both girls' tears. How many weeks had it taken to get 
to this point?

***

Scenes from an Unfinished Work

A Ranma 1/2 fan fiction By Kevin D. Hammel
Inspired by "Genma's Daughter" by Deborah Goldsmith
Based on a scenario by Steve Pardue 

***
Ranma and Akane, part 1
***

There was a knock at the front door of the Tendou dojo.

"I'll get it," Kasumi cheerfully said before anyone else could 
react.

"Thanks, Kasumi," Soun said as he looked up at his daughter from 
his game of shogi with Genma.

Genma took advantage of the distraction to reverse his fortunes on 
the board a bit.

Kasumi opened the door, seeing a fairly tall woman wearing a 
kimono. "Yes?" she asked in response.

"I was looking for my husband and daughter, Miss..."

Inside the house Genma and Soun went white at the sound of the 
visitor's voice.

"Tendou Kasumi," the young woman replied. She looked a little sad 
as she continued, "I'm sorry madam, but there are no other girls in 
this house but myself and my two sisters."

The woman looked stricken, "but I was sure they would be here. 
Tendou Soun was my husband Genma's best friend." The woman seemed 
to deflate after that, aging almost by the second. "I'm sorry for 
disturbing you, Miss Tendou. Good d..." The woman stood still, 
fighting with her emotions.

Kasumi looked at her visitor closely. The resemblance to Ranma was 
obvious, presenting a chilling paradox. "Please, wait. I think I 
may have some news. Did you say your husband's name was Genma?"

"Yes, Saotome Genma. My daughter's name was... is Saotome Ranko. 
Genma left me years ago, taking little Ranko with him." Her attempt 
at maintaining the dignity her station demanded collapsed, as sobs 
claimed her voice and pain wracked her heart.

"Come in, Mrs. Saotome," Kasumi said as she led the woman inside.

***

As she walked away from her old life, Akane was torn. Though they 
had sought to deny it, and lie about it to each other, she loved 
Ranma. But that love itself had been based a lie, so how could it 
possible be true? Ranma didn't even really exist, did he?

And that love she felt... whether true or false... was real, 
fueling even more confusion on her part. So, she would end it here. 
It was better for both of them she told herself as she walked away 
from Ranma.

***

Every instinct Genma had told him to run, to leave and never come 
back. His wife would find some way to care for their child. As he 
moved to rise, two hands locked his forearms in a vice-grip.

Genma's eyes darted back and forth, "Tendou, what are you doing? 
That's Nodoka out there. Who knows what she'll..."

A shadow fell over the table then, as a fragile voice floated down 
from above the game board, "G... Genma? Is it you? W... where's 
Ranko?"

"Rrrr... anma!" came a shout from outside. Then the door burst 
open, as a black-haired girl chased a black-haired boy into the 
house.

"Ranma, Akane... we have a guest!" Kasumi politely said to the 
angry teenagers.

"Uh... sorry, Kasumi," Ranma said as he noticed a woman in a kimono 
standing over the shogi board.

The woman turned around, and studied both the boy and the girl, who 
shared sheepish grins.

"Oh... hi!" Akane offered with an embarrassed smile.

"Hey!" Ranma greeted with forced nonchalance and a small wave.

The woman looked at the young man strangely, then bowed, "Excuse 
me, son, you reminded me of someone." She looked up again as she 
continued, "My name is Saotome Nodoka."

Ranma found himself smirking as he heard the family name, "That's 
really weird, my name's Saotome Ranma."

"And I'm Tendou Akane."

The woman renewed her study of Ranma before speaking again. 
"Ranma... do you remember your mother?"

Ranma shrugged his shoulders as he responded, "Not really, that was 
a long time ago. 'Sides, Pop told me to..."

"Boy!" Genma shouted, "That's enough."

Nodoka was filled with conflicting emotions... despair, anger, 
sadness, confusion, but most of all... a profound sense of loss. 
With a strangled cry, she pitched forward in a dead faint.

***

Both Ranma and Akane focused on the same memories as they drifted 
apart, their hearts still united even as distance between them 
increased. Each step Akane took away from her friend was painful, 
but this was a journey she had to make, didn't she?

***

"She's resting." Kasumi said as she walked down the stairs. Ranma 
and Akane followed her, after Akane silently closed the door.

"What was that all about, old man?" Ranma asked in a subdued tone, 
not wanting to awaken the stricken woman.

Genma turned to the eldest Tendou daughter, "Kasumi, could you get 
a glass of water?"

Kasumi blinked then replied, "Of course, Mr. Saotome."

A moment of silence, and then Kasumi was back. "Here, Mr. Saotome."

Genma accepted the glass then turned to Ranma. "Boy, take this 
upstairs to that woman." He closed his eyes before finding his 
voice again. "You and her have a lot of talking to do."

"Okay." Ranma said as he took the glass, and then went back up the 
stairs.

***

Ranma stared in Akane's direction, but did not see. She was lost in 
recollection, as she relived the moment of his death. Her own would 
come soon. It was easy to blame her father, or his master but... 
ultimately... the blame fell on her. If she hadn't fallen in love 
with Akane, or if she had been able to let go, things would have 
been different.

But she couldn't.

Of course, if her mother hadn't shown up... She would have lived 
her life in ignorance of what she truly was, but she might have 
been happy. Sure, in time they might have found out the truth. But, 
in the realm of imagined worlds and possibilities, Akane and 
Ranma's love might have grown so strong it couldn't be broken.

She was even silly enough to think it had already grown that 
strong.

***

The woman blinked her eyes as the room came into focus. He was 
there. The boy looked at her in puzzlement. She struggled to sit 
up.

"Let me give ya a hand," Ranma said as he helped the woman sit up 
on Kasumi's bed. The glass of water had been placed on a bookshelf, 
out of the way. "You okay, now? Uh... Pop said I need to talk to 
you."

"A... are you Ranko-chan?" the woman whispered.

"No, that's a girl's name." Ranma replied, genuinely puzzled by the 
question.

"Please, can I have a look at you?" the woman asked.

Ranma recalled what his father had said, but why him? Kasumi or 
Akane, maybe even Nabiki related to women a lot better than he did, 
after all. "Okay..." he hesitantly replied as he seated himself on 
the bed next to the woman. 

"Could, turn your head toward the window... 'Ranma'?"

The boy complied, then felt his braid being undone. "I'm sure glad 
that dragon's hair curse wore off." He whispered to himself.

"What was that?" the woman asked, "Now, let's see how you look with 
your hair..." Nodoka said as she turned Ranma's face toward her 
own. She gasped. "Please... 'Ranma' tell me about your mother."

"Sorry, I don't remember her." Ranma replied with a shrug.

The woman winced as she took it like a blow, but shook it off. She 
continued her questioning, "Do you remember when you were little, 
Ranma?"

Ranma wracked his brain, but couldn't find any of his early years. 
"Nah... sorry."

"Ranma, what are your earliest memories?"

"Maybe when I was four or so. I remember waking up... Pop was 
carrying me. He was really mad about something. I can't remember 
exactly what he said, sorry."

"Ranma... why did your father ask you to bring up the water?"

Ranma turned a beet red, "I dunno..." he tried to lie.

The woman smiled, for the first time since he'd see her, "I think 
you're holding out on me. I'll ask again. Why?"

Ranma swallowed. "Well, I got this really weird curse that... Let 
me show ya." With one fluid motion, he grabbed the water glass then 
dumped it over his head. And water worked the magic it had for the 
last several months, leaving a girl where a boy had been.

"Oh, God. Ranko, oh my baby." Onna-Ranma found herself engulfed in 
an embrace by the tearful woman.

Ranma wanted to get angry, to push this woman off of her, but she 
couldn't. The older woman's presence felt so comforting, so 
familiar. Ranma gently placed her arms around the woman, trying to 
offer what reassurance she could. A memory of the warmth she felt 
surfaced from a decade of neglect. It had come to kill Ranma.

***

Ranma shivered. She wrapped her arms around herself, but the 
breeze, water, and Akane's absence all conspired to make her colder 
no matter what she did. So she just shivered, more and more. But it 
was hard to regret what had happened, only the end result.

And to think, the coldness had really been started by the warmth of 
her reunion with her mother. An event that, in a better world would 
be joyful... had set her feet on the road to her own destruction.

***

Until this point in his life, vague familiarity with something he 
came across had always been a pleasant experience. Now, all it did 
is make him feel a bit ill. He was sure glad Akane came along, but 
couldn't help wondering how long she would even...

The pictures were almost too much. Many featured a little girl with 
long red hair. It was a reality that wasn't even possible, so he 
ignored it. But, despite his best efforts, each photo summoned 
hidden memories from the corners of his mind. Each memory 
undermined a little more of what he was. But what was he?

He was a guy, so these memories couldn't be true. He'd been around 
all sorts of magic. Maybe this woman who said she was his mom as 
really some kind of witch or ghoul or vampire or bought some bogus 
perfume from the Amazons or...

Akane and Ranma followed the woman upstairs to a closed door. "This 
was Ranko's room," the woman said as she opened it.

The woman had kept the room spotless, perhaps as a monument to her 
lost daughter. There was a framed photograph of the little girl on 
the small child's dresser. The picture and the laughing sprite it 
portrayed mesmerized both Ranma and Akane.

To the sound of a door rolling back, Nodoka spoke again, "this is 
her closet".

Ranma turned toward the door. He walked slowly, hesitantly, to 
study the wardrobe's contents. He looked at each of the little 
dresses and jumpers, shuddering occasionally as a flash of memory 
accosted him with the unwanted visions and dreams of an impossible 
past.

Finally, he came across one little dress that wouldn't let him go. 
It was dark green velvet. All Ranma could do was stare at it.

The memories were real.

He knew that as he felt the little dress... again. It had seemed so 
much bigger, when she was little.

"That, " Nodoka said amidst tears, "was Ranko's favorite dress."

"I... I... know..." Ranma whispered. He looked at the dress, almost 
wanting to rip it to shreds. But that wouldn't do anything but 
destroy a link to his past. Instead of tearing it up, he angrily 
pulled it off the hanger and stormed down the stairs.

"Ranma..."

"Ranko..."

Each woman expressed her concern in her own way, using her own name 
for the person who had just left. Both hurried down after him.

Ranma had draped the little dress over his legs and placed his 
hands flat upon it, as if trying to pull out memories buried in its 
interior. And, they seemed to respond to his efforts to draw them 
out. He remembered training, and Mommy, and Daddy, and the day when 
she...

"No," he whispered.

Akane sat next to Ranma, who didn't even see her. "Ranma, what do 
we do?" she asked. The strong young man she had grown to... love... 
She could admit it now... Had never looked as lost or vulnerable. 
What would they do?

There was no answer. Well, no easy answer.

***

Akane turned to glance at Ranma, looking across the gulf beyond 
physical distance that now separated them. Ranma's eyes were 
unfocussed, and she shivered occasionally. Akane couldn't help but 
cry at the pitiful sight, which brought back much more recent 
memories.

***

Akane had seen the news footage of the collapsed mountain on TV. 
She wondered if that was the one Ranma had gone to. The creak of a 
floorboard summoned her gaze to see... Ranma... ashen-faced... 
female.

"Ranma... what... what happened? Didn't that old kettle work?"

"Yeah, of course it worked. It unlocked both the curses I had. So 
they just burned each other out." Stricken, she looked at Akane. 
"Akane-chan, I can't even pretend anymore."

Akane got up and hugged the girl, "Let it out, Ranma... Let it all 
out."

As the smaller girl sobbed her compliance, Akane wondered what this 
meant to them. She'd been willing to defy Nodoka's edict against 
their relationship when Ranma could still be a guy, but now she 
wasn't sure. Soon, Akane was crying too.

***

Akane stopped walking away from Ranma. What was love? Would she 
find it if she ran away from her soul mate? Could she ever love 
anyone else the same way? And if she had any feelings for Ranma, 
who obviously loved her, how could she abandon her friend forever? 
How could she live with herself if she continued on her present 
course?

Part of her knew the answer. Two women were a reproductive dead 
end. Humans were made to have a different relationship than that. 
Besides, she had never felt any attraction to girls like she did to 
men. But that wasn't quite true, because she loved Ranma. She had 
to give Ranma support, so both of them could figure out where to 
go. Besides, Ranma was just too fragile right now to stand by 
herself.

Akane turned to face a different destiny. Only a few seconds 
brought her back to the Ranma's side again. She stopped just short 
of the shivering teen, "Ranma..." Akane forced out.

The reruns from Hell faded away at the sound of Akane's voice. 
"Yeah, Akane?" Ranma finally choked out.

"What do we do now, Ranma? I don't know if I can love..."

"I know, Akane. I don't want to force you to be something you 
aren't, now that I can't change. But..." She locked her eyes, red 
from her tears, on Akane's as she continued. "But the problem is 
that I love you. I love your smile, and the person you are." She 
closed your eyes as she continued, "but... I can't be what you 
deserve, Akane. You deserve more than a girl who thought she was a 
boy." She tried to push Akane away, but couldn't.

Akane wasn't about to let go. "I understand what you're thinking, 
Ranma. I don't know what to do either, but running away from you 
isn't the answer. And I'm really sorry I tired to. If you died, I 
think I might have too... Let's go back home and try to find some 
answers, okay?" She concluded her question with a chaste kiss on 
Ranma's cheek.

For the first time that day, Ranma smiled. "Okay, Akane. I don't 
know what's gonna happen to us either. I don't know what I am or 
what I want... any more."

The boy watched the two girls walk off. After they disappeared 
amidst the trees, he turned to walk to his own home. He had liked 
that one girl, what was her name again? But she had finally made up 
with her friend, so it ended well. Someday, he'd find a girl too.

***
Nodoka
***

Ranma's mother got off at the stop downtown. Her life had always 
been defined by honor. With a black and white view of the world, it 
was easy to decide right from wrong.

But it seemed the world wasn't monochrome, though she had tried to 
paint it so. She still struggled with that fact. She had nearly 
lost her daughter and Akane forever when they had come back from 
Ryogonzawa. What those two children felt for each other was wrong, 
had to be wrong. It had angered her just to think about it. She 
would have raised little Ranko...

Of course, she hadn't raised her daughter. Genma had tried to pick 
up the pieces of their child's shattered life as best he could. At 
least Ranma was a potentially functional member of Society after 
ten years.

And, somehow, the Kami had restored her child's gender. First it 
was as a 'curse', then forever. Well... forever ended up being a 
lot shorter time than she had hoped.

She still remembered the day when the two of them had visited her. 
The day color entered her worldview.

***

The storm had passed. The dojo was quiet. Again, it was a place of 
refuge where Akane could wrestle with the demons that gnawed at her 
heart. Early angry and broken kata became contemplative and flowing 
as she found the peace Ranma had helped her find when... she... had 
finally opened up to Akane. Ranma had given her so much, but Akane 
found it tough to respond. They were both girls, after all.

Ranma had left... vanished... into the night at the end of the 
school year. The girl had seemed distracted that evening, her 
participation in festivities interrupted with stolen glances at 
Akane. And when their eyes had met, it was hard not to notice the 
fear that lurked beneath the calm blue surface. Not to mention the 
tiny glow in her smile that spoke of feelings Akane found difficult 
to return.

Akane mulled over what the break would be like with Ranma. Hopping 
out of bed, she jogged down the corridor to knock on her friend's 
door...

She was gone. Without even a note to mark her absence. And, as hard 
as her feelings were to understand when Ranma was there, her 
absence had crystallized them for Akane. It was terrifying to even 
contemplate, but...

Sunlight suddenly provided natural illumination to mix with the 
artificial. Akane saw her last kata through then turned to regard 
her visitor.

It was... him. As she had never seen him. She blinked almost 
audibly in shock.

"Hey, Akane!" Broke the silence.

"Ranma, why?" Akane finally blurted out.

"Well, I decided I had to do something for you, Akane-chan. You 
gave up a lot just by trying to be my girlfriend, so I knew I had 
to give up a something to help you... be my fiancee again."

A wave of questions tumbled out before Akane could shut her mouth 
again. "But aren't you still? What about your mother? How could you 
do this to yourself?"

"Yeah, I still am a girl, Akane. Always, inside... and in hot 
water, of course," he paused to smirk before continuing, "But I 
figure this body will come in handy to help you become the woman 
you want to be... To help you love me. T' show you I love you..."

"But your mom?"

Ranma closed his eyes for a moment, then continued as a few tears 
fell. "Yeah... right... mom... Well, I want to be some of what she 
wants... Heck, what I want... wanted... to... be too." He closed 
his eyes again as he continued. "I guess I really am a pervert, 
Akane-chan."

Then Ranma felt a warmth encircle him, followed by a whisper. "I 
guess I'm one too... Ranma."

The warmth moved closer, as a gentle moist breeze tickled Ranma's 
neck. He looked down to see Akane. Her eyes were closed and her 
head was tilted up. He bent and gently bent to accept the kiss 
Akane offered.

After a few moments, they parted again. Akane looked up with eyes 
full of tears, "Let's go see your mother."

Ranma nodded his assent, then the couple left to prepare.

***

Genma's Daughter is a powerful piece of writing, and provides an 
interesting alternate scenario. I was struck that things could turn 
out differently, and wrote this up. I have struggled with this for 
quite a while, but can't finish it right now.

Additional public and private C&C welcomed!

Thanks for your time, and I hope you enjoyed another take on Steve 
and Deborah's scenario!



Kevin D. Hammel
November 1, 2000
========================================
khammel@mail.anime.sobhrach.com
kevinsff@pacbell.net
http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~khammel/
========================================