[Ranma/Tenchi][FanFic] Tales of Ranma and Achika Chapter 05

[Darwin Cruz]

Pug Productions
**************************
Author: Pug
cr...@alum.rpi.edu
AIM: BattlePug
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Insert standard disclaimer here: A fan fiction
based on Takahashi Rumiko's Manga series, Ranma 1/2.
The characters of Ranma 1/2 are the property of
Takahashi Rumiko and her licensees. All characters
portrayed in this story are owned by their
respective creators and companies. I don't own any
of them. Please don't sue me.

Genre: Ranma/Tenchi Muyo Alternate Reality, cross-
over.

Version 1.00 Draft.
Please forgive any spelling or
grammar mistakes.
Version 1.05 Cleaned up spelling and grammar.
Broken lines fixed.

Tales of Ranma and Achika

Father of the Prince

Chapter 5

The Present:

At the edge of the solar system a lone ship sailed
through the star filled sea. It's organic textures
and design matched that of a piece of driftwood found
on a sandy beach. No sign of life could be seen as
the great traveler silently made it's way to some
unknown destination. Then with some unseen signal
the systems inside the massive vessel slowly began to
come to life. Terminals throughout it switched on,
the blinking monitors relaying information once
again. At the core of the ship an arboretum of trees
lit up with a flashing array of white light.

Standing at the center of it all stood a great tree.
It's gnarled roots and massive branches hinted at its
old age. Flanking it on either side stood two wooden
cylinders. With their peg feet and their singular
circular eye, they would have been indistinguishable
from one another were it not for the names painted on
their sides. Azaka was written on one in blue. And
the other, in red was Kamidaki. From their places,
the two guardians maintained their vigil, watching
over the future of the house of Jurai.

Azaka's solemn voice spoke out. "All systems
activated. Unlock the time freeze now."

"All systems synchronizing to standard time."
Kamidaki seconded.

>From the between the two guardians, appearing from the
center of the main tree, a figure of a girl emerged.
Dressed in flowing robes of white, the frost vapor
from the cold sleep coursed around her. There was a
blue pallor to her flesh, which quickly faded as
color returned to her cheeks and warmth once again
touched her body. As she opened her eyes the first
thing that Ayeka, first princess of Jurai, saw was a
blue green sphere floating in the lonely coldness of
space.

"What planet is this?" she asked.

"Colonized planet number 0315, princess," Azaka
stated.

"Earth." Kamidaki elaborated.

"Then this is where my brother Yosho is," Ayeka said.
She looked upon the planet with hopeful eyes.

Kamidaki dutifully replied. "No what we detected
from this planet is... Ryoko."

"Not that woman! What does this mean?" Ayeka
demanded.

"We have yet to detect Yosho's ship but he was in
pursuit of Ryoko," Azaka explained.

"I see. That woman and Ryo-Ohki must be caught and
tried formally by our planet Jurai," the princess
said firmly

Kamidaki interrupted. "Princess Ayeka, unfortunately
All of Ryoko's crimes will be canceled by the statute
of limitations at galaxy standard time 00432 or in
five seconds." A vid-screen appeared in front of
them counting down from five seconds.

"What?" Ayeka gasped in surprise and shock.

When the counter reached zero, Azake spoke up. "As
of this moment the statute of limitations has taken
affect and Royoko's galaxy wanted file has been
destroyed."

Cold fury was slowly building within the princess.
She flashed an angry glare at her two attendants.
"Why is that? Answer me that! Why?" Their two eyes
looked at her blankly. "That woman should be chased
through out eternity. The only clue left to my
brother is that woman. We must capture her at any
cost!"

"But princess," the guardians spoke up.

"That is an order! We will think of a reason!"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good, now prepare for descent."

"Preparing ship for landing now," Azaka said.

"Anti-air guard storming level 4. Ship descent
initiated," Kamidaki replied.

Ayeka looked on, her eyes gazing at the alien surface
below. "Please be well my dearest Yosho..."

(--------------------------)
The Past:
(--------------------------)

Ukyou walked through the school entrance. A cheerful
smile was on her face, which was noticed by all the
boys. She waved good-morning to the few she
recognized causing them to tumble over themselves

"Ukyou, could I carry your books for you? Ukyou,
would you have lunch with me? Could I have your
phone number?"

Ukyou ignored them passing by with out batting an
eyelash. She made her way down the packed halls
seeking out someone in the crowd. Spotting who she
was looking for, she came up to a familiar looking
boy.

"Nobuyuki," Ukyou said to the spectacled student
pulling his books from his locker.

"Huh?" he turned. Seeing whom it was, his glasses
fogged up and he nervously fumbled with his books
dropping them to the ground. "Ukyou-san," he said
blinking.

"Have you seen Ranma yet today, Nobuyuki?"

"N-no, I haven't seen him yet. You could try asking
Achika. They usually come to school together. Don't
you two have the same homeroo-"

Ukyou frowned, hearing Achika's name. 'Not that
girl!' Her face darkened as she was reminded of the
new girl who had the audacity to claim Ranma for
herself. "I'll have to catch him at lunch then.
Thanks Nobuyuki," she said.

"S-sure!" he replied, swallowing, as he watched her
stalk off.

Ukyou came to her homeroom. There she saw Achika
talking with her friends. 'I can't lose to her. I
won't lose to her.' Ukyou thought looking at other
girl.

(--------------------------)
The Present:
(--------------------------)

Tenchi stood wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Lying there
in his bed was the amber-eyed demon he had
accidentally freed from her seven hundred year long
sleep. He had hoped beyond hope that his encounter
with her at school would be their last, but it was
apparent that his wish was not to be.

"I don't believe it," Tenchi said.

Ryoke stood up and walked toward him with a hungry
look. "Now I want your balls."

"What my balls, no way!" Tenchi backed away, his
hands protectively covering his crotch.

Ryoko glared at him. "You numskull! I mean the
three jewels on our sword, otherwise I can't control
Ryo-Ohki!"

Tenchi pulled out the wooden hilt from his pocket.
"Ryo-Ohki?"

"Don't you don't know anything?" Ryoko huffed.
"It's the other demon in your legend."

"So that means that if I give the jewels back to you
the demon will come back to life?"

"Give them to me!" Ryoko said menacingly.

Tenchi stood his ground. "No way! One demon on the
loose is bad enough, you think I want to deal with
another monster flying around? That's the last thing
I want to see!" Tenchi answered back with
determination. His hand gripped the hilt tightly.
'Oh man, how do I turn this thing on?'

Before he could even react, Ryoko's arm reached out
and grabbed him by his shirt. "You sure about that?
The one approaching us right now is even worse."

'She's strong!' He vainly struggled against her
grip. "W-What do you mean?"

"Just give me that sword!" Ryoko reached for the
hilt in his hands. As her flesh touched the wood a
blue light radiated from it. Sparks flew as she
tried to grip the sword.

"Aaahhh!!!" Ryoko was forced to let go, pushed away
from the sword. She and Tenchi fell back together in
an awkward heap with Ryoko landing on top of the
startled boy.

"Damn it!" Ryoko said getting up and dusting herself
off.

Tanchi sat up examining the wood hilt. "So you can't
touch this thing can you?" he said smugly.

Ryoko studied Tenchi digesting his words. Realizing
that he held all the cards, her attitude dramatically
changed. "Please give them back," she said
fawningly.

Tenchi was taken aback with the girl's sudden adore.
"Well I can't," he said scooting back from Ryoko.

"I'm begging you! Please!" Ryoko crawled toward him
on her hands and knees. Her eyes glossed over as she
pleaded like a lost kitten wanting a dish of cream.

Tenchi's determination began to waver seeing the
distressed expression on Ryoko's face. He just
couldn't stand to see a girl hurt or crying. He
scratched his head. 'I feel like I'm going to regret
this but...' he took a breath. "All right, I'll help
you, but only if you tell me what's approaching us."

Ryoko leaned in. "The devil..."

(--------------------------)
The Past:
(--------------------------)

"That, that, witch!!! Grrrr..." The dark haired girl
slammed her locker shut.

"Um... is something wrong Achika-chan?" Tanaka asked
her friend.

"No, what on earth could be possibly wrong?" Achika
said sharply.

"Well... you seem kind of... upset."

"Upset? Why should I be upset? I mean it's not like
there's some tramp after my boyfriend is there?"
Achika gave her locker a good swift kick.

"Ukyou again huh? What did she do this time?"
Tanaka was quickly becoming use to the outbursts of
her old friend. The new girl Ukyou, or as Achika
liked to call her, 'the succubus from hell', had been
a thorn in Achika's side ever since she transferred
into school two months ago.

"I saw the entire thing this morning. She was
throwing her self at Ranma again with that cute
little innocent act of hers. She even made him
lunch! And he doesn't even realize what's she's
doing. Why does Ranma have to be so dense
sometimes?" Achika muttered.

"But he ate the one that you made for him also."
Tanaka pointed out.

"That's not the point! It's a matter of principle.
You don't go after someone else's boyfriend."

"Well you know the old saying, 'All's fair in love
and war.'" Tanaka shrugged.

Achika glared at her. "You're not helping."

"Sorry..."

Achika sighed. "Never mind. Come on let's get going
before we're late for gym."

The two made it to the lockers and quickly changed.
They met the rest of the girls outside near the
volleyball court. Achika was greeted with the sight
of Ukyou standing near the net with a group of girls
around her. Ukyou was as popular with the girls of
the school as she was with the boys. Many of the
girls were impressed with her looks and how Ukyou
handled herself. Her independent and mature attitude
made her the center of everyone's attention.

When Ukyou's and Achika's eyes met, a charge began
building in the air. A way parted between them as
the rest of the girls backed off from the two. It
had become a well know fact throughout the school
that the two were not fond of each other. Any poor
bystander was likely to get caught in the crossfire.

A whistle sounded and the gym instructor, a tall
middle-aged woman came walking up. She threw out a
volleyball to Achika. "All right girls break it up.
Achika, Ukyou, you're captains for today. Pick out
your teams and play ball."

Achika and Ukyou took their sides. The other girls
followed warily behind their captains.

"Achika-chan, maybe you should let me serve," Tanaka
suggested tentatively as she watched Achika angrily
squeeze the ball between her hands into an oblong
shape. The look on her friend's face caused her to
back away.

On the other side of the net Ukyou watched with an
expression mirroring Achika's. It was the look that
two fighters gave each other just before the fight.
Achika set up the ball in the air and served. Round
one had begun.

(--------------------------)
The Present:
(--------------------------)

I'm sure that this person can't be that bad," Tenchi
said rubbing his chin. "We could try to talk to her
and try to settle matters peacefully."

Ryoko shook her head with a whimper.

He didn't know what to make it. A demon that could
walk through walls and throw lightning was scared of
someone else. "Is she really that bad?"

"Yes, listen to me. We need to wake up Ryo-Ohki now.
Please Tenchi..."

"Don't tell me we're going to fight,"

"No, we'll run away. Just you and me together
Tenchi," Ryoko said latching on to him. Tenchi tried
backing away awkwardly his feet hit the edge of the
bed. He fell backward pulling Ryoko down onto of
him. "I didn't know you liked it rough Tenchi,"
Ryoko said smiling on top of him. "Now gimme'"

***---**---***

"Achika? Tenchi? Anyone home?" Ranma called out as
he entered the house. There was a troubled
expression on his face. After feeling some strange
power emanating from the demon cave, he went to
investigate. He found the gate barring the cave
ripped completely off its hinges, which were attached
to solid rock. He had spent the latter part of the
day combing the entire shrine for any sign of its
previous occupant.

He had come up with nothing. 'If I were a seven
hundred year old demon, where I go?' He shook his
head in frustration.

"Achika?" He looked around the empty living room.
"That's odd, those two should be home by now." Ranma
shrugged. "Better get dinner started before it gets
any later." As he was heading off into the kitchen
he heard a muffled noise from up stairs.

"Tenchi?" With a curious expression Ranma climbed up
and saw light coming from the crack in Tenchi's door.
He got closer and he heard the rustle of covers and
shuffling sounds coming from within. From what he
could tell there was some sort of struggle happening.

Ranma immediately went on guard. Edging up to the
door carefully staying close to the shadows he
readied himself for anything. He felt little pity
for anyone foolish enough to harm his family. Ranma
carefully looked into the room and blinked.

Inside he saw his son with someone else shifting
energetically under the sheets. The someone else,
from what he could make out from the jumbled pile,
was definitely female, and the voice he heard only
confirmed that fact. His eyes widened. 'What
the...'

"Tenchi, give me your jewels. Don't make me have to
beg again," the girl's voice said.

"I don't wann'a!" Tenchi replied.

Ranma buried his head in his hands and grew a sweat
drop.

***---**---***

"Father how can you be so calm at a time like this?"
Achika asked exasperated. After she and Tenchi had
gotten back from their encounter with Ryoko, Achika
had headed up to the shrine to see her father. She
shook her head as she watched her father sitting at
the table sipping a cup of tea. He calmly paged
through the book he was reading.

"I usually find that worrying is bad for the nerves
Achika-chan." her father replied.

"There is a demon free running around and your
sitting here doing nothing!"

"Ranma is out looking for her now. Don't worry I'm
sure that Ryoko will turn up eventually," he said as
he flipped another page.

Achika resisted the urge to grab her father and start
shaking him. Katsuhito not looking up from his book
poured some more tea into his cup and slid it over to
her. Giving up, Achika sat down next to him. Taking
up the glass she took a sip and felt the warmth of
the liquid within her. It was a soothing affect on
her frayed nerves. Only the occasional flipping of
pages was heard for a while as the father and
daughter sat thinking their own thoughts.

"Achika-chan, tell me about her," the priest said
finally breaking the silence.

"Ryoko?" Achika's brow knit in thought. "She's as
powerful as the stories say she was. But in many
ways I think she's just an ordinary girl. She acted
like... I just don't know what to make of it. When
she attacked us I couldn't feel any evil within it.
It was almost as if she was just playing."

Katsuhito nodded. "Imprisonment in a cave for seven-
hundred years doesn't help with anyone's
development."

"She's still dangerous though." Achika sighed. "We
have to find her before anything else happens.
Though she's hiding it, I think she recognized me.
I'm worried that she might have taken an interest in
Ten-" She was caught in mid sentence as a low
rumbling sound was heard in the sky.

Katsuhito put his book down and looked up at the
ceiling. The rafters were shaking as the wood
creaked and the plaster cracked.

Achika quickly got up and pulled the shade from the
window. Looking up she saw a large ship passing
overhead. "Kami-sama..." Achika stood there wide-
eyed. "It's heading for the house... Tenchi!"
Without wasting another moment she ran out the door.

"Achika wait!" He couldn't catch her before she was
making her way down the stone steps. The old priest
looked to the floating vessel. Memories from a
distant time came back to him. 'So she finally
came...'

***---**---***

Tenchi struggled under the sheets trying to fight off
Ryoko's advances. In the course of the conflict
Tenchi found himself on top of the pretty girl in a
comprising position with his hand fondling something
soft and round.

"Tenchi..." Ryoko purred in pleasure.

'Oh boy...' Tenchi's jaw dropped. He pulled his hand
back as if it were on fire. "I-I didn't... I mean I
wasn't trying to..."

"No need to be shy Tenchi." Ryoko arched her back
giving the dumbfounded boy a better view of her
assets.

Tenchi grabbed his face as he felt a nose bleed
coming.

"Come here lover boy," Ryoko leered at him. Tenchi
sat frozen like a deer caught in headlights. He felt
another blood vessel about to go.

"Here Tenchi, use this." A hand with a tissue
appeared in front of him.

He quickly grabbed it and stopped up his nose. He
paused for a second trying to figure out where the
helpful hand had come from. Noticing the surprised
look on Ryoko's face, Tenchi slowly turned his head
to the side and saw a familiar pigtailed man holding
a box of tissues next to him. "P-P-Pop!?!"

"Would you like to introduce me to your... um...
friend, Tenchi?" Ranma said clearing his throat.

"Hello," Ryoko said smiling with a wave. There was a
twinkle in her eye as she looked over the older man.

Ranma was too busy with thoughts of his own to
notice. 'Why couldn't Achika be here to handle
this?' He sighed feeling a headache building.
"Tenchi I know that you're getting older and that you
would naturally be curious about... things... But I
don't think that your mother would really approve of
this."

"Dad it's not what it looks like!" Tenchi said
trying to scramble up from the bed only to be held
down as Ryoko caught him in a tight embrace.

"There's no need to hide it anymore Tenchi. You can
tell your father about us," she said dramatically
snuggled contently on his chest.

"What are you talking about?!? It's not like that!!!
Let go of me!!!" he sputtered, trying to peal her
off.

The argument was interrupted when a low rumbling
sound was heard from above.

"What's that?" Tenchi looked up.

"Damn I knew it, she's her already." Ryoko cursed.

Ranma looked at her sharply. "Who's here?"

His answer came in the form of a booming voice from
out side. "Ryoko come out!" a serious voice
demanded. The three in the room went to the window
and looked out. Ranma and Tenchi's eyes widened,
seeing the massive object hovering over their house.

Ryoko glared at the ship and growled.

>From the view screen in her ship Ryu-oh, Ayeka
focused on the red and white house sitting by the
side of the lake. After centuries of wandering she
had finally found some link to help her find her
beloved brother. Capturing Ryoko would bring her one
step closer to the reunion she had spent years
dreaming of.

"Ryoko! I know your there, you must come out
immediately," the princess commanded. No response
came from the house. "Very well then, Azaka,
Kamidaki, fire a warning shot."

"But princess you said-" the guardians responded only
to be cut off with an angry stare from Ayeka. "Yes
ma'am."

An energy cannon extend from the hull of the ship and
a blue beam of light shot out hitting the water in
the lake below. The blast lit up the evening sky and
furious waves lapped up onto the shore.

In Tenchi's room, everyone was knocked off their
feet. The glass window shattered from the force.
"Lookout!" Ranma yelled as he protectively covered
both Ryoko and Tenchi from the explosion. Taking the
brunt of the force he staggered dazed to the floor.

Ryoko quickly got up and turned to Tenchi. "See, I
was right about her wasn't I?"

He could only nod.

"You have to give me the jewels now Tenchi. We have
to get out of here before she destroys us."

He looked at the sword in his hands. "How can I give
you the jewels? They're attached to the sword hilt."

"Just hold it out toward me and think about giving me
the jewels."

Gritting his teeth, Tenchi held the pommel of the
sword toward her. In his mind he concentrated on
giving the jewels to her.

"Tenchi, what's going on?" Ranma said groggily
getting up. He rubbed his head wincing. And then he
felt it. The same energy force he sensed earlier
that day when he discovered that demon had escaped
from the shrine. His jaw dropped as her realized
that the cyan haired girl was now radiating that
power.

Ryoko smiled feeling her abilities enhanced by the
jewels. Then she realized that something was amiss.
Looking at her wrists she saw only one jewel on her
person. She looked at Tenchi and growled. "Hey!
What's the big idea? You only gave me back one
jewel!"

"Yeah that's right," Tenchi deadpanned. There was a
satisfied look on his face.

"Oh... um... heh...heh..." Ryoko said abashed.

Ranma stepped forward with a serious expression.
"Who are you." he demanded.

"Watch and find out," Ryoko said grinning. Clenching
her fist the jewel on her wrist glowed to life

"Ryoko!" Ranma said finally realizing who the girl
was.

"Bingo!" she said touching her nose. She sighed
looking him over. "If only you weren't so old..."

Ranma blinked.

Ryoko laughed then raising her jeweled hand above
herself she called out. "Ryo-ohki wake up!!!" The
jewel glowed even brighter causing Ranma and Tenchi
to wince in its light.

***---**---***

Achika hurried down the path chasing after the ship
in the sky. She could see its form hovering above
the treetops. From what she could make of it, the
ship stopped directly over where their home would be.
Wondering what was happening, she was blinded as a
pulse of light shot out from the vessel. A crackling
sound followed by an explosion rang out.

'First Ryoko escapes from the cave, now giant a ship
starts flying over our home. What else could
possibly happen!?!' she thought out in exasperation.

Moments later she heard a rushing sound approaching.
Instinctively she ducked down and held on to a tree
trunk as the blast of wind swept through the area.
Another object zoomed past her, its star shaped form
grazing the treetops and in some cases plowing right
through them. It to was headed toward her house just
like the other ship. As it flew she could hear the
ship. "Miya! Miya!"

Achika face-faulted.

***---**---***

"Come on Tenchi! We're out of here!" Ryoko said
grabbing the boy's shirt. Before either Ranma or
Tenchi could react, the space pirate/demon had
teleported them both aboard her ship, now hovering
over the house. From the relative safety of their
home, father and son found them selves in the heart
of Ryoko's vessel. Floating crystals and flashing
view screens in the ship's interior cause the two to
look on with open mouths.

As Ryoko moved toward the diamond like controls, the
ship shuddered. On the main monitors which were
actually the walls of vessel, she could see the Jurai
ship unloading its beams into Ryo-ohki.

Ryoko cursed. "Ryo-ohki, let's go!" she commanded
placing her hand on the crystals.

Ryo-ohki complied with a, "Miya!!!" shooting off into
space closely perused by the Jurai ship. "Miya!
Miya! Miya! Miya!!!"

"Cat!?!"

"Pop?" Tenchi looked at his father.

Ranma was glancing around him trying to look at
everything at once. There was a wild look about him
as he struggled to keep calm. Seeing no four legged
felines about he started to calm himself. 'Not a
cat. No cats here. I'm just imagining things. He
backed up against one of the floating crystals.
Ranma jumped and turned. He breathed a sigh of
relief seeing his reflection in the polished surface.

"You ok Pop?" Tenchi asked worriedly.

"Yeah Tenchi, just my imaginat- Huh!?!"

The jewel flew up to his face and up popped the image
of a feline like creature. With an energetic
expression, Ryo-Ohki happily greeted the pigtailed
man with a "Miya!"

Ranma took on a palled color and an uneasy twitch
came to his eye. "Ca-Ca-Ca-Ca-" The rest of the
jewels in the ship started to congregate around him.
As they came close, each one popped into the image of
Ryo-ohki. Soon Ranma was surrounded by a pack of
excitedly 'Miyaing' Ryo-ohkis. "Cat..." Ranma said
feebly and his eyes went blank.

"The Neko-ken." Tenchi's mouth went dry. He quickly
backed up remembering the time when he was younger
and had brought home a stray for a pet. Needless to
say he never brought a cat home again.

"What the heck is going on over there!" Ryoko said
looking over from the controls which suddenly became
nonfunctional. Tenchi was edging away from the swarm
of crystals and in the center she saw Ranma. Happily
playing around with Ryo-Ohki.

"Eh?" Ryoko said weakly as her ship veered off
course.

***---**---***

"Princess, Ryo-Ohki is taking evasive maneuvers to
avoid our weapons," Kamidaki said. On the view
screen Ryo-Ohki was veering sharply back and forth.
Its erratic flight seeming to make no sense at all.

"We are trying to compensate but their flight pattern
is too complicated to analyze," Azaka replied.

"Keep firing! Use your best guess!" Ayeka commanded.

"Yes ma'am!"

"Damn she's good!" Ayeak said grinding her teeth in
frustration.

(--------------------------)
The Past:
(--------------------------)

"Hey Nobuyuki!"

"What's up Ranma?" the boy asked as he pushed his way
through the hall filled with students for the change
of period.

"Can I borrow your notes for history class? I sort'a
slept through it last period."

"Sure Ranma, no problem. I just hope that you
didn't get caught napping again," Nobuyuki said with
a laugh.

Ranma pulled out his detention slip with a sigh.

Nobuyuki just shook his head and began digging in his
backpack for his notebook. As they stood there, the
two noticed some of the girls coming back from gym
class. Hunched over and wobbling forward, there were
groans as they nursed their tired bodies. They looked
like they were coming back from a war.

Nobuyuki recognized one of them and walked toward
her. "Hey Tanaka-chan, what happened? You look like
a mess."

Tanaka was limping slightly as she walked. "You play
a game of killer volleyball and see how good you look
after it," she muttered.

"Huh?" Ranma replied.

Tanaka explained how a friendly game of volleyball
turned into an all out blood sport between Achika and
Ukyou. From the two girls' point of view, the object
of the game was not only to score points, but also to
knock out the other girl while doing it. Everyone was
forced to duck and dodge the constant barrage of
spikes and hard serves the two girls were throwing at
each other. Very few of them made it out unscathed.

Ranma and Nobuyuki both grew sweat drops.

"Here they come now," Tanaka said pointing down the
hall.

Ukyou and Achika were walking down the hall together
under the supervision of Mrs. Subaru, the gym
teacher. Ukyou was nursing her side and Achika had a
large red welt on her face about the size of a
volleyball. The two seemed to be oblivious to
everything else except for the fact that they were
next to each other. The battle auras around them
made Ranma swallow.

"After school detention should teach your girls the
importance of good sportsmanship." Mrs. Subaru told
the girls as they passed through the halls.
"I expect a two thousand word essay on the subject
from each of you on my desk tomorrow."

Ranma watched them go and looked at the slip of paper
in his hand. In one of the rare moments of his life,
he was truly afraid.

(--------------------------)
The Present:
(--------------------------)

Tenchi woke up. Blinking a few times his eyes
gradually focused. From where he lay he found
himself looking up at a very unfamiliar ceiling.
Actually it was a canopy of green trees to be
precise. He bolted up realizing that he wasn't in
Kansas anymore.

"What is this place? How did I get here?" He shook
his head trying to get the fuzz out. "That's right I
remember...the Neko-ken!" With Ryoko running around
the ship avoiding Ranma, no one could control the
ship properly. Also it seemed that Ryo-ohki had
found playing along with Ranma more amusing than
avoiding energy blasts. They finally were brought to
a halt with some kind of energy field. The last
thing he remembered was Ryoko and he being pulled
into these large wooden cylinders.

Looking around Tenchi realized that he was surrounded
on all sides by slim tree tendrils. The gaps between
them seemed large enough for him to squeeze through.
As he tried to push his way through, the wooden bars
moved in tighter preventing him from escaping.

"Hey! What's going on here?" he exclaimed. The
harder he pushed the stronger the resistance. "Stop
it! I have nothing to do with Ryoko!" he yelled
fighting against the tendrils of the cage. All his
effort was turned against him as he was squeezed
tighter by the bars.

"Ok this calls for some real action!" He said
rolling up his sleeves. Backing up to the other side
of the cage leaning back as far as he could against
the flexible bars. Taking a deep breath he flew
forward using the elastic bars as a slingshot.
"Chokusetsu Shuuda Ryuusei Ky-Aku!!!" (Direct kick
attack Meteor kick!!!) His foot connected with one
of the wooden bars. The cage stretched like a rubber
band from force Tenchi gathered. Then like a rubber
band it snapped back propelling the young man back
from where he came. "Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!" Tenchi was
sent flailing tumbling to the ground. He groaned
coming to a stop on his stomach with a mouth full of
dirt.

"What are you doing?" a little voice asked him.

"Well I'm trying to escape from here." Tenchi
answered without thinking. "Huh?" Looking up he saw
a cute little girl on the outside looking in. She
seemed to be around twelve years old. Dressed in
pastel shaded of green and blue, her hair was done up
in two pony tails reaching down her back and her
eyes, tinted with a touch of pink, blinked curiously
at him.

"Who are you?" He asked scrambling up from the
ground.

"My name is Sasami," She answered cheerfully?

"Sasami? Have you been kidnapped too?"

The little girl laughed. "No silly this is our
ship."

"Your ship? Then you're an alien from planet
Sasami?"

"No I come from planet Jurai." She answered as if it
was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Then what about those logs?" Tenchi asked recalling
the wooden cylinders that had captured him.

"They are guardians, our servants." The girl
explained. Tenchi nodded understanding. "What's
your name?"

"My name is Tenchi."

She looked at him as if trying to make a decision.
Then after a moment of thought She pulled out
something from her clothes and held it out to the
cage. The object in her hand glowed a little then as
if by magic the bars parted freeing Tenchi. "Do you
want to play a game with me?" Sasimi asked
hopefully.

"Hmm... You look just like we do." Tenchi observed
coming up the little girl. He saw the device in her
hand. The texture and color reminded him of the
sword he had. "Hey that looks like mine." He patted
himself down checking his pockets.

"What's wrong?" Sasami asked seeing the distraught
look on his face.

"I had a sword like that one. But it's gone!" His
shoulders sagged realizing the loss of his family's
artifact. His eyes widened as he realized that he
was missing something else.

"Sasami-chan my pop was brought here by mistake like
me. Please help me find him so we can both go home."

"Well...I'll do you a favor if you do me a favor,"
the little girl said mischievously.

"I guess..." Tenchi was getting a bad feeling about
this.

***---**---***

Alone in her room Ayeka, first princess of Jurai sat
brushing her hair. A quiet sadness was in her eyes.
'So long... I've waited for so long and I still
haven't found you yet my love...'

Ryoko had been captured as well as two natives from
the backwater world her brother had come to centuries
ago. Yet still she felt herself no closer to finding
him. She tried questioning the space pirate, but the
answers raised even more questions. 'Tenchi, the
boy's name is the same as the sword. Why?'

She put her brush down on the dresser and touched a
panel on the side. A small holo-image of a handsome
young man appeared before her. Ayeka's eyes
moistened at the portrait.

"When you came back I was to become your bride,
Yosho..." Wiping her face she turned off the display
and readied herself for bed.

***---**---***

>From outside of the royal residence, Tenchi and
Sasami waited. Around them it was more like forest
than anything else within the confines of the
arboretum. Trees and tall grasses, even a small pond
of clear water. Tenchi found it hard to believe that
he was on a starship in space.

"Hey Tenchi the lights have gone out." Sasami
pointed over to the cottage. "Look over there that's
my sister's room she's asleep now. You know what to
do?" She asked him excitedly.

"I think so. I have to get her head ornament,"
Tenchi said scratching his head.

"That's right."

"But why? It belongs to her doesn't it?" He still
had some reservations about the whole thing.

"Just get it," she said impatiently.

"All right. I'll get it just remember your promise,"
he said finally giving into the little girl's demand.
With that he set off keeping low hiding in the tall
grass.

Sasami giggled quietly watching him go.

***---**---***

Like a soft breeze Tenchi entered the room. Staying
to the shadows he moved up to the sleeping form of
Ayeka. 'I have to get that head ornament,' then he
saw her face. He blinked. 'She's cute,' he thought.
'What am I doing, got to keep focused!'

He crept up onto the bed leaning over her. Tenchi
froze as she turned onto her side. As he was praying
for her not to wake up, he saw something held in her
hand.

'Ah... the sword she's got it. Well first things
first I guess...' Carefully he took a hold of the
sword that Ayeka held and tried to pull it away from
her. 'What the...' The grip she had was like a vice.

She rolled over again, this time pulling Tenchi down
with her. Their faces were inches apart. He felt
her breath on her face. He could barley make out
something she was saying in her sleep.

"Yosho..."

As he tried to pull himself from the girl he nudged
her by accident causing he to roll over again. Off
balance he fell on top of her, his face landing on
her chest. Ayeka groggily woke up. She blinked in
surprise seeing the stranger in her bed. "What?"

"It's not what you think," Tenchi said frantically
cupping her mouth to keep her from screaming out.
"I-I just wanted to get your ornaments... I mean...

Ayeka's eyes widened and with an inhuman effort she
kicked him off her screaming
"Aaaaaaaayyyyyyyeeeeee!!!!! Pervert!!!" Tenchi
tumbled back onto the floor in a tangled heap with
the bed sheets. Looking up he realized that he had
somehow managed to take the sword back.

"Azaka! Kamidake!" Ayeka called out and immediately
the two guardians appeared at her sides. "Put that
scoundrel to death!" She commanded.

Tenchi like a dear caught in headlights stood there
thinking of what to do. Taking the first thing that
came to mind he used it. Grabbing on to the mattress
sheets he drew it around him in a fluttering motion.
"Umisen-Ken forbidden technique, Goshin Dai Ryü Sei
FuBody!!!" (Body Defense Shooting Star Cloth)

"What!?!" Ayeka exclaimed as she found herself and
the two guardians wrapped up in the bed covers. With
an expulsion of energy she blasted the sheet away
finding Tenchi gone. "Where did he go!?! Find him
immediately!!!"

"Yes ma'am!" The two guardians flew off in pursuit.

***---**---***

Ranma sat cross-legged at the edge of his cage poking
at the bars with an annoyed expression. Each time his
finger came close to it a blue spark zapped him.

He sucked his finger with an impatient look on his
face. "Guess I don't have a choice," he
sighed. Hesitating for a moment then gritting his
teeth he reached out with both hands grabbing the
bars in front of him. The blue energy encircled him
like electricity dancing around an electrode. The
tingling feeling covered his body and Ranma looked
down at his arms. A blurred affect was there
surrounding him as the energy of the cage reacted
with his own.

The wooden bars parted and the shifting static that
affected his body grew until it finally dissolved the
deception that Ranma had maintained for the last
fifteen years. He dusted off his hands smugly as he
stepped out of the cage.

The wrinkles on his hands and face had faded and the
gray hairs on his head returned to their natural
black sheen. Where there was once a middle aged man,
now stood a youthful figure, with the gleam of wisdom
in his eye.

This was the gift of the Jurai seed that was grafted
into him by Tsunami. In essence it made him a Jurai
tree enabling him to tap into the power that was the
very essence of creation itself.

"Now where is that boy?" He said thinking of how
to begin looking for his son. It was then that a
voice came echoing into his mind.

"Ranma!" a very angry voice called out.

'A-Achika-chan,'

'Don't you dare "Achika-chan" me Ranma. Do you have
any idea how worried I've been?'

He swallowed. 'Achika, it's not really as bad as you
think. I've got everything under control.'

'Where's Tenchi?'

'Um... Ah...He's...' As he was about to answer an
explosion occurred in the distance. Turning towards
the noise he was met with the sight of Tenchi
tumbeling out a grove of trees, running for dear
life. Two flying wooden pegs pursued the boy. In
the his arms was a little girl who was laughing,
seeming to be enjoying the excitement. Ranma blinked
a few times making sure that his eyes were working
properly.

'Ranma?'

'He's got his hands full at the moment.' he said
growing a sweat drop.

'Your not telling me something, Ranma!'

'I-I can't talk right now dear, I'll explain when we
get back. Love ya, bye-bye!'

'Ranma? Ranma! Ran-' his wife yelled back at him.

He cut off the link. 'I'm a dead man when we get
back home.' Calling up on the power of the Jurai
seed, the disguise formed around him, and once again
a middle-aged man stood in his place. Shaking his
head he ran off after his son.

***---**---***

An energy blast flew from Azaka's eye barely missing
the fleeing boy. Tenchi spared little time to look
at the crater that formed to his side and
concentrated on running faster.

"Can you stop those logs?" He panted, asking the
small girl in his arms.

"No they're my sister's! There's nothing I can do,"
Sasami explained.

"Oh man, how am I-"

"Tenchi, get down!" a voice commanded. With out a
second thought he ducked down to the ground
protectively covering Sasami with his body. Looking
up he saw his father leaping over him.

The two guardians took note of the pigtailed man
charging forward. Sighting their new target the logs
fired.

"Pop!" Tenchi said alarmed. But his father seemed
to take no heed to the danger in front of him. Then
before his eyes just as the beams were about to hit,
he saw Ranma blur for a moment as the beams passed
through the man. "How..."

"The target dodged," Azaka stated.

"Recalibrate for target's speed," Kamidake replied.

Ranma smiled as he ran forward. With a gleam in his
eye watched as the two pegs fired again. With a
relaxed expression, he tilted to the side letting the
blast pass bye.

"Target's speed increased."

"Calibrating..." But it was too late.

'Stop.' Ranma said reaching the two. He struck out
with his palm first to Azaka. The guardian fell over
like a puppet with its strings cut. Its single eye
going dim.

Ranma then turned his attention to Kamidake only to
be met with beam of blue light coming at him. He
caught the blast taking the energy in his hand,
forming it into a blue sphere and threw it back at
the second guardian. Kamidake fell to the ground
next to his counterpart.

"Sorry," Ranma said as he walked away.

"Pop!" Tenchi came running up with Sasami in tow.

"Tenchi," Ranma said with relief seeing him all
right. He noticed the little girl next to his son.

"Hello, I'm Sasami," she chirped. "You stopped my
sister's guardians, no one's ever been able to do
that before. That was so cool!" she said excitedly
jumping up and down.

"You sister?" Tenchi saw the questioning look on
his face and quickly explained everything. Ranma
blinked taking all of it in. He couldn't help but
laugh listening to his son misadventure. "Come on
Tenchi we still have to find a way to get back home.
Sasami, could you please help us now?" he said
turning to Sasami.

"Sure!" She smiled. "This has been the most fun
I've had in a long time! Hurry it's this way," she
said running off pulling Ranma along with her.

Tenchi shook his head. "I've got two crazy girls
after me and she's having fun. Why me?" he said
chasing off after them.

(--------------------------)
The Past:
(--------------------------)

Ranma shook his head. Detention had become a routine
for him. With the constant training he received from
Katsuhito, late night practices were common
occurrence. Falling asleep in class was the usual
result of such trials with the penalty staying after
for the cleanup of the classroom. Thought he didn't
mind the extra work that much, Ranma wished that he
were anywhere but there at that moment. He stole a
quick glance at the two girls sharing the room with
him.

Achika with an irritated look was scrubbing desks
with the wet wash cloth. On the other side of the
room Ukyou was busy sweeping the floor. Whenever the
two would come close to each other he could
distinctly feel the battle auras in the room rise.

At the front of the room where he was busy washing
down the chalkboards, Ranma tried very hard to blend
into the background.

"Oh Ranma honey. Could you please help me move this
table over so I can sweep under it?" Ukyou asked
sweetly.

"Um, sure Ukyou," he said putting down what he was
doing. He could already feel his danger sense
blaring at him.

Achika looked on with a casual expression, but she
was grounding the wash cloth into the desk.

"What do ya need Ukyou?" Ranma asked.

"Could you just pick up and take the table over
there," she said pointing.

"Sure, no problem Ukyou."

She finished sweeping up throwing the debris into a
little dustbin next to her. "Thanks Ranma," she said
with an amused expression on her face.

"What's so funny?"

"Just thinking about something," she said
mysteriously.

"Oh?"

"Do you remember when we were little and all the
things we did together? Like when you would help me
make okonomiyaki? Or should I say you would help me
eat the okonomiyaki I make."

"Well even then you made really great food Ukyou,"
Ranma said reminiscing. "Practically as good as
Kasumi's, and your okonomiyaki is the best anywhere!"

"You're just saying that," she said modestly.

"No way Ukyou, just thinking about your okonomiyaki
makes me hungry,"

"Really? Well then how about after we're finished
here you come over and I'll make you one of my super
sized specials!" she suggested.

Ranma's mouth began to water and his stomach growled
offering its two cents. "Sure thi-"

'Rrrrrriiiiiiippppp'

Ranma and Ukyou paused turning their attention to
Achika who was busy washing the desk with the now
shredded wash cloth. She continued working as if
nothing was a matter.

"Um... maybe some other time Ukyou. I ah... have to
train, yeah I got a lot of training I have to do.
You know martial arts kind'a stuff. Heh heh..." he
said scratching his head. "I better get back to
work," he said. He could feel the tension building
in the room and decided that now was a good time to
go out and refill his wash bucket. Ranma hurried out
the room as if there was a bomb in there.

"You don't fool me! I know perfectly well what
you're trying to do!" Achika said slamming her hands
down on the desk as the door closed.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ukyou said
innocently. "We're just old friends talking. Face
it Achika, Ranma and I have been friends ever
since we were kids. We played together, we laughed
together, and we looked after each other. We should
have grown up together too if his jackass of a father
hadn't run off leaving me behind. But that doesn't
matter anymore because I found 'my' Ranma. I know
him better than he knows himself. The time you've
spent playing house together is nothing to the things
Ranma and I have share. It's something that you can
never be a part of!"

"I've had enough of you trying to take Ranma away
from me!"

"And just what are you going to do about it?" Ukyou
challenged.

Achika grit her teeth and threw the water soaked rag
at Ukyou hitting the other girl in the head with a
wet sopping 'SQUOOOSH!!!'

"Why you!" Ukyou's expression was one of surprise and
outrage. In retaliation she slid her half-full
dustbin over and gave it a swift kick. The tin
container flew toward Achika who deflected it away.
Unfortunately the all the dust flew out powdering the
other girl in a layer of grime.

Achika wildly waved her hands in the air trying to
clear out all the dust. She was caught up in a fit
of coughing and sneezing.

"Had enough or are ya thirsting for more?" Ukyou
said twirling her broom like a staff.

"I'm just getting warmed up!" Achika answered
hefting up the bucked of water she had been using.

And so started round two.

Ranma came back entering the room. The first things
he saw were a broken broom handle and an empty wash
bucket flying toward his head from opposite
directions. 'Why me?' he lamented and then came the
impact.

(--------------------------)
The Present:
(--------------------------)

"The way out is this way," Sasami said leading the
group.

"We should hurry before your sister sends anything
else after us," Tenchi said nervously looking behind
him.

"If that happens jus think of it as more training,
Tenchi," Ranma said walking with his hands behind his
head.

"Yoo-hoo! Yoo-hoo!" a voice called out as they were
walking. Turning, the group saw Ryoko happily waving
at them. She was stuck in the same cages that
Tenchi and Ranma were placed in.

"Ryoko," Tenchi said seeing the demon.

"You showed up just in time, Tenchi," Ryoko said to
the boy coming up to her.

"You got us into this mess. You get us out and take
us home." Tenchi said seriously. He'd had his fill
of excitement for the day.

"I'd love to help but I just can't without the other
two gems," Ryoko pouted showing her bare wrists where
the jewels should have been.

"I really don't think that'd be a good idea, Tenchi,"
Ranma said.

"Humph! Hey old man if you hadn't been playing
around with Ryo-Ohki, we would never have gotten
caught," Ryoko said mockingly.

Sasami walked up getting a closer look at the space
pirate. "Hey Tenchi who is this old lady? Is she a
friend of yours?"

Ryoko's eyes twitched angrily. "old... lady?"

"This is Ryoko," Ranma said squatting down next to
Sasami. "Would you believe that she's more than
seven hundred years old?" Ranma said grinning
evilly.

"Why you!"

"Wow, that's really old! Nice to meet you I am
Sasami," the little girl said oblivious to the arms
trying to pull her through the bars.

"Let me out of here!!!" Ryoko growled.

Tenchi stepped in trying to salvage the situation.
"Ryoko, listen to me, first of all I can't open this
thing. You know that," he said walking up to her.
As he did so the sword he tucked between his belt
glowed.

"Tenchi! Get back from there!" Ranma said sharply
feeling the power from the artifact.

"Huh? Woah!" Tenchi's eyes widened as the bars to
the cage opened up setting cyan hired girl free.

Sasami noticed the sword glowing beside Tenchi. "Hey
that sword belongs to Yosho," the little girl said
pointing.

'Yosho?' Ranma thought. 'So that's what this is all
about. The old man going to have some explaining to
do when we get back.'

"But why were you able to use it?" Sasami wondered
aloud.

"Who cares, I just want to get out of here!" Ryoko
stated. Pushing her way past everyone she began to
walk off.

"Stop!" a new voice commanded. Everyone looked and
saw Ayeka standing there flanked by her two
guardians. The two logs looking a little worse from
ware.

"Humph! Here comes the princess," Ryoko muttered.

Eyeing the group, Ayeka caught a glimpse of a green
ponytail hiding behind the tall older man. "Sasami
it was you who released them. I can't believe this."
Ayeka shook her head.

"I'm sorry," the little girl said peaking out from
behind Ranma. "I was just bored."

"That's no excuse!"

Sasami bowed her head apologetically.

The princess then turned her attention to the boy
holding her bother's sword. "Tenchi. I believe your
name is Tenchi. I have a question I'd like to ask
you," Ayeka said slowly measuring her words.

"Sure what is it?" he said looking up.

"Where is the owner of that sword you hold?"

"Well he died a long, long time ago."

"You're lying." The princess said using every bit of
her will to keep from trembling.

"I'm not lying. That's what it says in the ancient
legend.

"What was his name?"

"Well I guess his name was Yosho."

"..."

>From the sidelines Ryoko was leaning up against Ranma
cleaning her fingernails with a bored look. "He died
didn't he, that's just too bad." Ranma frowned and
took a quick step forward, causing Ryoko to fall to
the ground with a thud.

"You're only trying to trick me!" Ayeka said growing
desperate.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what else to tell you..."
Tenchi said helplessly looking at the distraught
girl.

"No..."

(--------------------------)
The Past:
(--------------------------)

"Ranma-kun!" Achika exclaimed.

"Ranma honey!" Ukyou seconded.

The two girls watched in shock as Ranma toppled to
the ground. They looked over the prone body of the
boy, then to one another.

"Look what you did!" they both exclaimed. The two
girls echoed each other in remarks.

"Me?!?"

"You're the one wh-"

"Grrrr!!!!!"

As they were about to go at each other again, Ukyou
paused as a thought came to her mind. She looked
back at Ranma. 'He' was soaked. "Hey he didn't
change."

"Huh? You knew about the curse?" Achika remarked.

"Yes, I know about it! When Ranma and I were
together we talked about everything. He found the
cure to the curse then." Ukyou stated.

Achika nodded.

"How?"

"It happened some time ago during the class field
trip to Tokyo Tower. I don't remember much of what
happened but the tower was struck by lightning. A
lot of people got hurt."

"I remember reading about that in the papers," Ukyou
said. "I don't understand what that has to do with
the curse though."

Achika took a breath and continued. "From what I
remembered I saw a flash of light and the elevator we
were in stopping. There was so much yelling and
screaming. Then the next thing I know I wake up in
hospital bed, with father at my side. I found out
then that Ranma had been one of the people hurt. I
don't know how but I felt that he had protected me.
I can't explain it but I just knew."

Ukyou looked at her then at Ranma who was still lying
out cold on the floor.

"It wasn't good. The doctors said that he wouldn't
survive. It was then that father and I brought him
back to our shrine. There wasn't anything else that
we could do, so we prayed."

"A holy tree at our shrine was suppose to be able to
heal the sick. It cured a few people and so we
brought him there. I don't remember how long we
stayed. I was so tired but I didn't want to leave. I
didn't want to give up. And then he opened his eyes
and looked up at me." Achika blushed.

"He was healed?"

"Yes."

"And the curse?"

Achika nodded.

Ukyou turned away from her. "It's not fair." Ukyou
said quietly. Her body shuddered with a sob.

"Ukyou?" Achika reached out with her hand, only to be
angrily slapped away.

"It's not fair!" There were daggers in the
okonomiyaki chef's eyes. "It should have been me! I
should have been the one he found the cure with! I
should have been the one he was to be engaged to!
And should have been the one he took with him on his
training trip!" She lashed out with her fist
catching Achika off guard. The other girl could
nothing but prepare for the impact.

The blow never landed. "Ukyou!" Ranma said. He had
caught her arm inches from Achikas face.

Achika blinked. "Ranma?" she exclaimed seeing the
once prone boy back on his feet.

"I knew you were awake the whole time, Ranma," the
chestnut haired girl said in a broken voice. "You
could never really bluff your way out of anything. I
knew you wouldn't let me hit her. You've always
protected the ones you loved. Why? Why wasn't it
ever me?" She sunk down on a desk and the anger
drained out of her.

"Ucchan."

Achika didn't know how to feel. Ukyou was her enemy,
but there in front of her now was a broken girl
carrying too much pain. "I... I'm sorry Ukyou." she
said not knowing what else to say.

"Save it, Achika," Ukyou said coldly. She looked up,
facing her. "If you... If you ever hurt him, I'll be
right there to take him away." She looked at Ranma
then back to Achika.

Achika looked her in the eyes understanding.

With that, Ukyou quickly left the room before the
tears came.

***---**---***

Nobuyuki finished packing away his books in the
locker and got ready to go home. He hadn't intended
to stay so late after school but reading up on the
various architectural designs from the books in the
library was a passion for him. Already his
sketchbook was bulging with drawings and drafts of
his own ideas.

Closing his locker he started off, but no sooner than
he rounded the corner he was pushed down as he
collided with someone else. A flutter of papers
filled the air landing all around. "My work!" he
exclaimed in dismay. He looked over seeing who and
run into him. "Ukyou-san?"

"Sorry," she said turning her face away. She stared
gathering up the papers.

"That' all right you don't have to do that. Here
please take this," Nobuyuki said pulling out a
handkerchief from his pocket.

"Thank you." she said quietly. She got up and made
her way down the hall with out further comment.

With a concerned look, Nobuyuki watched her go, not
taking his eyes off her till she was out the door.
Then slowly, he began gathering up the papers around
him, first carefully picking up the ones where
teardrops had fallen.

(--------------------------)
The Present:
(--------------------------)

Tenchi's heart went out to the distraught princess.
As much as he tried, he couldn't find the words to
comfort her.

"He can't be dead, he can't be..." Ayeka said. Her
lips were trembling.

"Yeah, yeah what ever." Ryoko picked herself off the
ground. "I'm just bored to tears. In any case I'm
out of here."

"No Ryoko. You not leaving until I get all the
answers out of you. Azaka! Kamidaki!"

"Fat chance! We're leaving Tenchi." She grabbed on
to the startled boy and yelled out, "You might want
to get out of the way princess. Ryo-Ohki!!!"
Everything shuddered and the sound of tearing metal
and cracking wood was heard as Ryo-Ohki crashed into
the Juraian ship.

Instinctively Ranma pulled Ayeka and Sasami out of
harms way as the structure collapsed all around them.
He could do little as he saw Tenchi be dragged in
Ryoko's ship.

"Are you all right?" Ranma asked the two girls.

Sasami nodded.

"I'll never forgive that woman!" Ayeka swore."

"I'll take that as a yes," Ranma said. It was then
that the ship tilted and the three were thrown back
from the change of momentum. Klaxons started ringing
throughout the ship.

"Now what?" Ranma muttered.

"Princess, Ryoko's ship is still attached to ours,"
Azaka stated.

"Ryoko is using Ryo-Ohki to push us toward the
Earth's surface," Kamidaki elaborated.

"She's what!?!?!!?!?" the three responded.

***---**---***

Achika stood outside the house looking anxiously up
at the sky. Katsuhito was next to her accompanying
her on her vigil.

"I'm worried father."

"Things will work out, you'll see. Have faith in
Ranma and Tenchi. Look a good omen. It's a shooting
star," he pointed out.

"T-That's not a shooting star!" Achika exclaimed.
She looked in horror as the two ships came flaming
out of the sky.

"Hm... looks like they're going to hit the lake," he
observed calmly. Achika just gawked at him with an
open mouth.

The impact was awesome. Heat from the two craft
turned the water to steam when it first touched the
placid body. The explosion that came after let out
enormous amounts of light and heat.

"Achika!" Katsuhito said sharply. Father and
daughter joined hands and a blue sphere enveloped
them. As the blast passed through, Achika saw the
grass around them become singed from the heat.

As the blast cleared, the steam condensed into rain
drenching the two with a heavy down pour. From what
she could make of it bits and pieces of the two ships
suck out of the water. Standing up on one of the
jagged protrusions she could see a figure waving at
her.

"Ranma!" she called out.

He waved back. On his shoulders was a little girl
doing the same. Tenchi was there also with a tired
smile saying that he was fine. In the warmed waters
of the lake, Ayeka and Ryoko were sputtering at one
another, clinging onto the floating guardians like
life rafts.

"Looks like we have some guests, Achika-chan,"
Katsuhito said. "Achika-chan? Achika-chan?" He
looked over. "Hm...she fainted."

The end (for now)

Authors Notes:

Well? What do you think?
If any one seems OOC (out of character please tell
me.) I tried to make Ranma more mature as Tenchi's
father while at the same time try and keep his
energetic personality. Tenchi as you have noticed
know Anything Goes pretty well. So I made him more a
little confident in a fight. The most trouble I'm
having though is dealing with Achika. She only
appeared in the movie so her character was never
really developed. I'm just trying to get a better
feel as to how she would react. Help me out on this
one would you. Send you suggestions out please.
Other than that everyone else is the same.

With Chapter 2 complete, I plan to concentrate on the
other series I'm working on. "When Gods Fall" It's
an AMG/Ranma cross over. Till next time.

Feel free to send me your comments and criticisms.
Fror subject please put:

Ranma|Tenchi

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Author: Pug
cr...@alum.rpi.edu
AIM: BattlePug
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