[Ranma/Tenchi][FanFic] Father of the Prince chapters 1-2

[Darwin Cruz]

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Father of the Prince
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Pug Productions

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Author: Pug
cr...@rpi.edu
http://www.rpi.edu/~cruzd/pug/pug.html
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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. Created 12/31/99
Please forgive any spelling of
grammar mistakes.
Version 1.05 Spelling and Grammar corrections
Version 1.10 Spelling and Grammar corrections

Previous:
This work is based off a previous story of mine, "The
Girl who wasn't and the Princess who was" In short,
Ranma left Nermia to start his live anew. While
searching for a cure to his curse, he came to the
Masaki shrine and there he met Achika. The rest of
the story is based on the Tenchi movie: Tenchi Muyo
In Love. Ranma and Achika face Kain together and
defeat the space criminal. The result of this leads
Ranma to a cure as well as love between him and
Achika. Now with out further ado, I present...

Father of the Prince

Prologue:

A boy ran through the woods.

He wore a pair of worn gray pants and the blue
shirt. His dark hair done up in a ponytail was
matted with sweat. He wiped his brow feeling a sting
as perspiration touched his eyes.

The trees lining the way rushed by as his feet
carried him down the dirt path. There was a look of
fear on his face as he pushed himself to go faster.
With a surge of adrenaline he picked up the pace
constantly looking behind him to see if he was being
followed. In once such instance he fell to the
ground as his foot caught and exposed tree root. A
small object fell out from within his shirt and
skittered in front of him. It was an oddly shaped
rod somewhat resembling a sword hilt.

The boy quickly recovered from his fall,
clawing his way up from the dirt and picking up the
hilt. He was off again racing down the path. He
gripped the stick so tightly that his knuckles were
turning white.

Eventually the maze of branches and leaves
parted. In the clearing the boy looked down toward
his destination. A white house with a red tile roof
sitting next to a lake. With a final surge of
strength he sprinted to the door opening it and
slamming it shut behind him. He finally relaxed
leaning his back to the door.

As he struggled to catch his breath he looked
up and saw a pair of two pairs of eyes looking at
him. Sitting together on the couch was an older man
and a woman. The two were watching television from
what he could tell. "Mom, Dad! You're here!" he
exclaimed.

"Where else would we be?" The man scratched
his head. His hair was tied in a pigtail.

"Something wrong Tenchi?" the woman asked. Her
black hair ran freely down her back with her features
matching very closely to his. "You look a little
jumpy." She had a concerned look on her face.

"N-no nothing's wrong," Tenchi stuttered. He
quickly shoved the sword hilt in his shirt.

"Look's like ya saw a ghost or something son."
The older man laughed jokingly.

Tenchi smiled weakly. "Yeah... a ghost... haha...
I'm going to my room now." Without any further
comment Tenchi rushed up to the stairs and dove into
his room.

The man and the woman blinked.

"What to you suppose that was about Ranma?"
The woman asked her husband.

Ranma shrugged. "Don't worry about it Achika.
I'm sure Tenchi can handle what ever it is." He
picked up the remote and started flipping though the
channels.

"I suppose your right." Achika said snuggling
closer to him.

Chapter 1.

The Present:

The school bell rang sounding the start of noon
recess. As the students gathered together and
chatted among themselves Tenchi sat at his desk
playing around with the sword hilt he had found
during the summer. There was a dubious look on his
face as he studied the hilt. 'So this was suppose to
be Yosho's sword huh? It doesn't look like much.'

"Hey Tenchi what have you got there?" A boy asked
walking up to him. He was a tall paunchy looking kid
with a large nose and glasses on his face.

"Huh? Oh, hi Yuta. Nothing just a piece of junk,"
Tehchi said as he placed the sword hilt back into his
school bag.

Yuta pulled up a chair next to him. "So Tenchi, how
was your summer vacation?"

Tenchi shrugged "Same as usual just me working all
day long. It's suppose to be all part of training."
He grimaced remembering the daily routine of waking
up at the crack of dawn to practice with his father.
Sleeping in was considered a punishable offence
consisting of a bucket filled with cold water.

"What a big drag, didn't you get to meet any girls."
Yuta frowned.

"Ha, You think they'd come to a shabby shrine in the
mountains?"

"Hell no."

"You can get to meet only old men and women up
there." Tenchi lamented. "Just once I wish some
cute girls would go there."

"Pretty slim pickings huh? So I guess you dated
mummies all summer?" Yuta slapped him on the back
and laughed at his joke.

"Yeah dried up mummies... hahaha..." Tenchi stopped
laughing when he remembered the what happened in the
demon cave. The image of the dried up creature
grabbing him and running it's gnarled crooked fingers
across his face caused him to shudder. Beads of
sweat appeared on his brow.

Yuta noticed his friend's reaction. "Hey what's
wrong Tenchi?" He studied Tenchi's pale face.
"Don't tell me that your were so hard up that you
slept with a mummy!!!" Yuta accused grabbing him by
the collar.

Tenchi snapped. "Baka! I didn't sleep with no
mummy!!!" There was a large crash as Yuta collided
with the lockers in the hall. Recovering, Tenchi
looked around the room and saw everyone staring at
him. "Eh... s-sorry Yuta." He apologized profusely.
Yuta accepted with a groan.

Tenchi opted for a quick exit and walked out of the
classroom. He clenched his fists to keep his hands
from shivering. 'Get a grip now, no one knows what I
did last summer.' He used an arm to lean against the
wall taking a couple of deep breaths to help calm
him down. Just as he was settling down he was
startled with a tap on his shoulder.

"Tenchi?" A voice behind him spoke.

"Ack!!!" Jumped up and spun around quickly taking up
a fighting stance. His hands were up front set to
attack or defend. His body was balanced on the balls
of his feet ready to react in a moments notice. As
his mind caught up to his reflexes, Tenchi recognized
his would be assailant. "M-mom!"

Achika looked at her son with a bemused expression.
"No sparring during school hours Tenchi."

"Oh uh... sorry mom,"

Achika raised an eyebrow.

"I mean Masaki-sensi," Tenchi said straightening up.

Achika struggled not to laugh. Tenchi reminded her
much of how Ranma was like at that age. Aside from
inheriting his father's blue eyes, Tenchi also showed
the sincerity of his emotions, which read off his
face like a book.

Achika shook her head. 'Where does the time go? I
could swear that it was only yesterday that Ranma had
gotten detention for sleeping in class and I had to
wait after school for him. Now I'm the one who's
trying to keep the students awake in my class.'

"Sensi?" Tenchi saw the distant look in his mother's
eyes.

Achika cleared her throat. "Never mind Tenchi. Just
don't let the other teachers catch you roughhousing.
There are already enough dents in the lockers without
you having to throw poor Yuta into them. So no more
incidents for the rest of the day, ok Tenchi?"

Tenchi nodded sheepishly. "Hai Sensi."

Achika watched her son trot off. 'At least he's more
studious than his father ever was,' she thought to
her self. Ranma still held the standing record of
detention for sleeping in class. She walked back to
her class with a smile on her face remembering how
cute Ranma looked napping on his desk.

***---**---***
The Past:

"Ranma! Ranma!! Ranma for the last time stop
sleeping in class!!!" the teacher bellowed.

"The answer's Hokido!" The pigtailed boy exclaimed
returning from his nap. Ranma bolted up from his
desk and was greeted with a piece of chalk hitting
him on the head.

Mr. Hojo the math teacher buried his face in his
hands in exasperation.

"Uh, Kyoto? No its Osaka right?" Ranma said with his
mouth running.

"Ranma! Hall! Now!" the man pointed to the door.

"Hai sensi," Ranma said as he got up from his desk
and headed for the door. As he passed by her, Achika
shook her head.

As Ranma headed off to get some buckets, Mr. Hojo
continued on with the class. "All right now, can
someone begin the derivation of the Pythagorean
theorem? Ah yes, Nobuyuki please begin..."

Lunchtime:

As the students took out their lunches, Tanaka came
over and sat by her friend. "Hey Achika-chan eating
alone again?" She inclined her head toward Ranma who
was again sleeping at his desk.

"Looks like it," Achika said gloomily.

"Hm, that's the third time this week that Ranma's
been caught sleeping in class. What have you two
lovebirds been doing so late at night? Eh Achika-
chan?" Tanaka leered at her friend.

Achika's face took on a red tint, then saddened a
little. "Father's has been pushing Ranma training
pretty hard lately. Their practices last a lot
longer now. Ranma doesn't seem to mind though. I
mean martial arts is very important to him and father
hasn't had a decent sparing partner for a long time."

"Ah, no wonder you've been kind of moody lately.
Ranma-kun doesn't seem to be paying enough attention
to you. I'm right aren't I?"

"N-no t-that's not it at all." Achika quickly began
stuffing her face with her lunch.

Tanaka rolled her eyes. "Achika really, Ranma's just
busy lately it's not like he's intentionally
neglecting you. I know, why don't you tell your
father that the extra training is affecting Ranma-
kun's academics and that he should lighten up a bit.
It is the truth after all."

"I don't know..." Achika said unsure.

"I'm sure it will work. Besides I still remember how
you tow acted after the fieldtrip to Tokyo. You so
sweet to each other I was positively sick." Tanaka
laughed.

"Stop making fun of me," Achika said blushing.
Finishing up the rest of her lunch she looked over to
the pigtailed sleeper. 'He really does look cute
when he sleeps.'

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

The Present:

Tenchi looked down over the school grounds from his
perch on the roof. With no one around it was one of
his favorite spots just to sit and think.

Tenshi sat with his back against the wall and sighed.
His thoughts taking him back the summer vacation.
Ever since was he was little his grandfather had
filled his head with storied about the shrine and its
founding. A demon falling from the sky and warrior
of light coming to defeat it and locking it away in
the cave.

His mother was another source of information. Her
beliefs in the stories were as strong as his
grandfather's. From the first time he had stood at
the mouth of the demon's cave Tenchi had wanted to
know from himself if there was something there.

For years Tenchi had sought out to enter the darkness
and learn the truth, but there was always one
obstacle, his father. He remembered the first time
his father caught him trying to find the keys to the
gate entrance.

**--*--**

"Tenchi, there is enough complications in life that
you don't want to go looking around for more. "
Ranma said seriously to the eight-year-old boy.
"Trust me on this, ok Tenchi?"

The little boy reluctantly nodded. "Yes papa."

Ranma sighed remembering how active little boys were.
"Tenchi, I think it's about time I started to teach
you something."

Tenchi perked up. "What's that papa?"

"It's something very old, passed down through my
family. How would you like to learn martial arts,
Tenchi? My pop taught me the Anything Goes school
and I think it's about time I started to pass it down
to you."

"Anything Goes?" the little boy said trying it out
for the first time.

Ranma nodded and smiled. "Want to give it a try
Tenchi?"

"Hai papa!"

**--*--**

Going into the demon cave had definitely been a
mistake. "I should have listened to pop." Tenchi
lamented. "But at least nothing happened."

"The stories were true..." His brows fretted in
thought. "I can't believe that grandpa's said
nothing about it. Oh well, just as long as I don't
have to deal with it anymore. "

Tenchi yawned stretching his arms out. He felt
himself drifting off tiredly. Before he fell asleep
Tenchi made a mental note to himself to take his
father's advice more often.

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

Ranma sneezed. "Hm, hope I'm not coming down with
anything." He brushed off some leaves from his
shoulder as he swept the steps leading up to the
shrine. The autumn months were the most beautiful at
the shrine. The changing of the leaves from emerald
to gold was a sight that he loved watching every
year.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a surge a
power from somewhere. "What the..." A shiver ran down
his spine. Looking around he tried to find the
source.

"Hm... that's odd. It feel like it's coming from..."
His eyes widened. "No way!" The broom fell and
clattered against the stone steps. The path through
the forest raced past him in a blur.

Moments later Ranma arrived at the mouth of the demon
cave. His eyes were alert and the yellow glow of Ki
surrounded him. Looking around, his gaze fell upon
what remained of the gates baring the demon cave.

"Damn..." Ranma muttered. The iron bars were twisted
like a pretzel. Focusing his senses he reached out
with his Ki trying to find the one behind the
destruction. There was nothing, just faint traces of
the energy he felt before.

Ranma shook his head. "This is not good."

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

The Past:

"This is not good," Ranma said as he looked at the
piece of paper in his hand. It was his fifth
detention slip in two weeks. "The old man's not
going to be happy about this." He sighed putting the
white slip in his pocket. "An Achika's going to kill
me for making her wait after school again." In all
it was shaping out to be a bad day for the martial
artist.

He made his way down the hall dreading having to
apologize to Achika once again. He rolled his
shoulders feeling the tightness in them. 'This is
all the oldman's fault,' Ranma thought. Training had
definitely been raised a notch by Katsuhito-sensi the
last few weeks. Not even his Pop or the Old Ghoul
had pushed him so hard.

The techniques and forms that Katsuhito-sensi had
started training him in were grueling exercises
pushing his mind and body to the limits. And just
when he though he couldn't go any farther, Katsuhito-
sensi would somehow find the right button to push to
make him go that extra inch.

"Know thy limits and strive to go further," Was the
credo that Ranma trained under. He looked at his
hand, opening and closing his fist. 'My limits... How
far can I go?' He wondered as he felt the constant
pulsing of the Juri seed within him. 'Not even
Tsunami could answer that one for me.'

Ranma reached the school grounds with a tired sigh.
"I guess I'll have to make this up to Achika." In
truth he feared nothing more than a frown on her
face. As he ran through the different scenarios of
apologizing to Achika, his nose caught a familiar
scent in the air. "Okonomiyaki?"

"Hi'a Sugar," a feminine voice said.

His mind went numb as he recognized the voice. "It
can't be..." He slowly turned feeling a sense of
dread. He came face to face with a pair of brown
eyes. "Ukyou!"

His 'cute' fiancee was dressed in her usual attire of
a blue chef's outfit and black tights. Her brown
hair was tied up with a white bow and on her back was
the large battle spatula. "Um... Ah... W-what a
coincidence meeting you here of all places," he
stuttered.

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

The Present:

Achika waited at the bus stop. She wore a long dark
skirt and a matching blouse. On he shoulder was her
bag of books and papers that she needed grading. She
looked up at the clock mounted on the front of the
school building.

"Hm... it's almost five. Where is Tenchi?" Achika
frowned. She didn't want to wait for the next bus.

There were only few students left coming out of the
school. Most of them had stayed for after school
activities. Achika recognized one large boy coming
out of the main gate.

"Yuta!"

The boy looked up from the manga he was reading.
"Huh? Oh! Masaki-sensi!" he said bowing.

"Yuta have you seen Tenchi? He's usually here by now
so we can catch the bus home. Do you know if
anything is holding him up?"

Yuta scratched his head. "Well he wasn't at the
science-fiction club meeting. In fact I don't
remember seeing him at all since noon recess."

Achika's frown increased. "Thank you Yuta. I'll see
you in class tomorrow."

"Yes sensi." The boy bowed and continued on his way
home.

A few minutes later Achika heard the bus coming. She
shook her head and made her way back into the school.

**-*-**

The tinkle of bells was heard. From his awkward
sleeping position against the wall, Tenchi woke up.
He yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Where am I?" He
looked around him. It was dark out and the school
grounds were quiet.

Tenchi groaned. "Oh great I fell asleep and missed
all my classes this after noon. Mom's going to kill
me when she finds out." As he got up he heard a
noise.

"Meow..."

He looked up an saw a small black kitten on the roof
with him. "Kitty how did you get here?" He took a
step toward it and before his eyes it vanished.

"What the..." His eyes widened.

The tinkle of bells was heard again. The chimes had
an eerie ring to them. Tenchi swallowed, then slowly
turned toward the direction of the sounds. His heart
sipped a beat when he saw a girl sitting a top of the
roof shed.

Her cyan colored hair was set in a spiky fashion and
her topaz shaded eyes had a hungering look about
them. There was something very cat like about her.
In her hand were two bells tied together with a red
ribbon. She twirled them around her finger and
tossed them toward Tenchi.

"Ryoko. That's my name," she said lazily. A slight
smile appeared on her face and her eyes began to
glow.

Tenchi's jaw dropped. "Oh no, you can't be that
freeze dried demon!"

"It was cold and dark in there. Seven hundred years
have passes since I was trapped in that cave. You'll
never know how much pain I've had to suffer." The
coldness of her voice chilled Tenchi to the bone.

'Oh boy...'

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

The Past:

'Why me?'

"Die Ranma!" The enraged okonomiyaki chef screamed as
a trio of spatulas flew from her hand.

Ranma felt the rush of the wind as the objects barely
missed hitting his head. Three 'thunks' were heard
as the blades bit into the brick wall of the school.
"Ukyou wait-"

"Shut up!" she yelled bringing her giant spatula
above her head and brought it down. Ranma dodged the
strike and sparks flew as the weapon's edge glanced
off the pavement.

Ukyou kept up her attack which was being fed by her
fury. Ranma fell back avoiding each swing. He
refused to launch any offence of his own. He
couldn't, his conscience wouldn't let him. "Ukyou,
I-I can explain," he said, desperately trying to
reason with the furious girl.

"Explain?" Ukyou paused gasping for breath.
"Explain what? Explain why you ran off with out me
again just like all those years ago!" She leveled
her battle spatula towards his neck. "You're no
better than your jackass of a father!"

"It wasn't like that!" he said desperately. He kept
backing up till he felt himself pressed against the
wall of the building. "I had to get away. I just
couldn't take it anymore, the fights, the arguments,
the entire mess. If I hadn't of gone I'd of ended up
miserable and would have hated you all for it. I
didn't want that. Ukyou, I never wanted to hurt
you."

She shook her head. "Shut up you jackass!" she said,
her voice cracked. Her eyes were beginning to waver.
"I'm not listening to you anymore! I won't fall for
it again!"

"I won't fight you." His arms dropped to his sides.
"If this is what it takes, then go ahead and beat me
up. I'm sorry Ukyou." Ranma closed his eyes and
steeled himself for the impact.

Ukyou grit her teeth and swung.

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

The Present:

"So you came back for revenge!?!" Tenchi asked the
floating girl.

"Right."

Tenchi took a step back. "It's not my fault! It was
my ancestor. Some guy named Yosho-"

"I don't care!" His explanation was cut off when a
flash of light sprung out from Ryoko's hands. There
was a soft hum as an energy sword appeared before the
demon girl. "I just need to let out my anger now."
With that Ryoko clenched her other hand into a fist
and shot out a ball of energy.

"Why me? I told you it's not my fault!!!" Tenchi
screamed as he barely dodged the blast. There was a
smoking crater where it hit.

Ryoko snickered and shot out more blasts. Tenchi
frantically dodged and ducked the deadly balls. He
somersaulted in the air hoping to avoid most of the
projectiles. The daily regiment of his father's
training was immensely helpful. Tenchi twisted his
body to avoid another shot. He could feel the heat
that it radiated. He landed on the ground with a
wary look as Ryoko eyed him mockingly.

"What's a matter? It's no fun just running away
Tenchi." Ryoko jumped down from her perch.

An indignant expression came to Tenchi's face. If
there was on lesson that he had learned from his
father, it was to never give up with out a fight.
Steeling himself Tenchi threw out his challenge. "As
the heir to the Masaki school of Anything Goes
Martial Arts I will defeat you Demon!" He swallowed.
'I hope...'

Ryoko tilted her head looking at him curiously. She
nodded. "Come on then!!!"

Tenchi brought his fists in front of him. "All right,
here I come!" He ran forward throwing a punch.
Ryoko stood her ground in the face of his attack. As
he was about to connect Ryoko vanished before his
eyes.

"Huh? She was just there..."

"Looking for me Tenchi?" Ryoko said appearing behind
him.

Tenchi reacted instantly the moment he heard the
voice. He tucked his body and tumbled forward
avoiding the slice of the light sword. He rolled to
a safe distance and got up. "H-how did you do that?"

Ryoko just laughed and then vanished again.

'Oh man I'm in trouble!' Tenchi thought.

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

The Past:

'I can't fight her. I won't fight her.'

Ranma winced hearing the strike. 'That wasn't so
bad, I didn't feel a thing.' Cautiously he opened
one eye. To his side were the crumbled remains of
what was once a solid wall. "Ukyou..." She sat on her
knees looking down at the spatula in her hands. Wet
drops were falling down her face.

"Stupid jackass..." she said quietly.

Ranma kneeled down beside her. "Ucchan I'm sorry."
Before he could react he was suddenly glomped onto.
Ukyou held on to his shirt.

"Why Ranma? Why did you leave me again?"

"Ukyou I care for you very much. I-I love you but
only as a friend. No matter how hard I tried you
just could never seem to understand." He shook his
head sadly.

"But the engagement..."

"Doesn't mean anything any more. I'm not a Saotome
anymore so the engagements don't apply. "

"I know, I spoke to your mother when I found out you
left. She told me about it herself. I wouldn't have
believed it otherwise. When I asked her where you
went off to she wouldn't tell me. I was so angry at
you, I still am but... I love you Ranchan." She looked
into his deep blue eyes.

"Ukyou I... Mmph!" He never finished as her lips
pressed against his silencing any other protests.
She kissed, lightly at first, then adding more effort
as she felt his mouth relax. Ranma's thoughts raced
as struggled to control himself. 'What am I doing?'
Fighting his instincts he broke the kiss. "Ukyou I
can't..."

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

The Present:

Tenchi dodged another attack as Ryoko appeared and
disappeared before his eyes. 'How the hell am I
suppose to hit her if she can do that?' The air
shimmered in front of him and again. His reflexes
kicked in and he was able to roll again to safety.
Before he could counter, Ryoko was gone again.

'How can I hit something that I can't see? That's
it! I got it now!' The light bulb went off in his
head. 'Her Ki, if I can feel the moment her energy
reappears I just might be able to get her.'

He focused his, mind relying on his training. Only
people who spent years training could use of even
feel Ki, the energy within all living things. Even
now it was difficult for him, and he had been
training constantly since he was eight.

'Com'on where are you?' He stood with his arms
crossed protecting his face. His eyes scanned the
empty rooftop. Then suddenly he felt it, just a bare
moment before the air began shimmering. "There!" As
the girl solidified Tenchi lashed out. "KACHUU
TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!!!" In a blink of an eye he spun
around, his fist nothing more than a blur as he threw
a dozen punched in a span of a second.

A pause.

"Ah, Ouch!" Tenchi clutched at his hand as he
staggered back from the girl. 'It's like hitting a
piece of iron...' He looked up and saw an amused
expression on Ryoko's face.

"Try not to hurt your self, Tenchi. I'd like to do
that for you." Her hand crackled as a massive ball
of energy grew in her fist. "HA!!!"

Tenchi did a backfill into the air avoiding Ryoko's
fist as she slammed it into the roof. An explosion
bigger than the others occurred blasting through the
roof and down into the lower levels of the school.

"Kami-sama..." Tenchi saw the destruction as the dust
cleared.

Ryoko hovered over the crater she had created. "Well
Tenchi?"

'Damn, I didn't want to do this but I don't have any
choice.' His body tensed as called upon the last of
his reserves. What he was about to do would have to
be done perfectly. His father had taught him this
technique saying it was one of the most useful and
powerful moves he knew. It relied on speed and
surprise to work. 'The timing will be critical. Ok,
let's do it!'

Tenchi straightened up. "All right demon, prepare
yourself! HAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" A very faint aura
appeared around him as he charged forward. "Masaki
school of Anything Goes final attack!!!"

"Huh? What's this?" A look of caution appeared on
Ryoko's face as the boy ran toward her.

"Masaki final attack, RUN... AWAY!!!" In his charge,
just before he reached her, Tenchi jumped down the
crater that Ryoko had created, tumbling onto the
lower floor and made off like his life depended on
it.

Ryoko face-faulted.

**-*-**

'Where is he?' A worried look was on Achika's face.
She had gone to Tenchi's homeroom and found his bag
by his desk. Since his bag was still there she could
only assume that Tenchi was somewhere on campus also.

Achika was becoming very concerned. It was unlike
her son to be late for the bus ride home or for him
to forget his things in school. Dozens of dark
scenarios began playing in her mind. She tried to
reason with her herself before letting her
imagination run rampant. 'Relax Achika, Tenchi is a
big boy now and he can take care of himself.' She
took a breath to calm herself down. It was then that
a tremor shook through the building.

'What?' She ran out into the hallway looking for the
cause of it. "Tenchi? Tenchi!" She called out.
More tremors and small explosions occurred.

Achika looked up. 'The roof! It's coming from the
roof...' "Tenchi!!!" She ran towards the stairs. As
she ran, a massive explosion tore into the building
knocking her off her feet. Looking up she saw the
ceiling collapsing on top of her. 'No...'

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

The Past:

"Hey Achika-chan, wait up!"

The dark-haired girl turned and smiled. "Oh, hi
Tanaka-chan," she said greeting her friend. "Is the
club meeting over?"

The other girl nodded, and fell in step with Achika.
"Finished a little while ago. Waiting up for Ranma-
kun again huh?"

"I kept myself busy making these," Achika said
pulling out a plastic container from her knapsack.
She popped open the lid and held it toward Tanaka.
"Try one."

"Wow! They look so cute" Tanaka chirped, helping
herself to one of the cookies. The little animal
shaped crackers were still warm to the touch. Tanaka
took a bite chewing it carefully.

"Well?" Achika asked intently.

"Hm... moist, tender, not too sweet and with just a
touch of cinnamon." She smiled and gave a thumbs
up. "These are great Achika."

"I worked really hard making them," Achika confessed.

"Oh really? Making them for some special someone I
take it? Even though he doesn't deserve it." Tanaka
said teasingly.

Achika blushed. "Is it that obvious?"

"Oh please, you don't have to act so embarrassed.
Everyone knows that you and Ranma-kun a pair. Ever
since our class trip to Tokyo you've been
inseparable." Tanaka laughed.

"Humph!" Achika snapped the box lid close.

"Every girl in school would kill to be in your place.
I mean Ranma-kun is such a hunk."

"Careful, you might start drooling."

"Very funny," she said wryly "Well you better keep a
good eye on your man there Achika-chan. There's
hardly a girl out there who wouldn't want him for
herself. Me included."

Achika laughed. "I better get going. I'll see you
tomorrow Tanaka-chan." Achika waved and hurried off.
As she made her way out of the main building, she saw
the familiar silhouette of a pigtailed boy waiting at
the corner bus stop.

She ran forward to greet him. His name died on her
lips as she saw a chestnut haired girl break away
from a kiss with him.

She felt her heart growing heavier with each moment
and with a feeling of dread she spoke out in a
trembling voice. "R-Ranma-kun?"

"Achika!" Ranma pulled back from Ukyou. His tongue
was tripping over itself. "Achika, It's not what it
looks like..."

Achika turned her attention to the cute girl with the
chestnut hair. Achika had come hoping to surprise
Ranma with the cookies she had made, only to see him
in the arms of someone else. The two girls' eyes met
sizing each other up like two boxers would in the
ring.

"Who are you?" Achika asked with pursed lips.

Ukyou shot her a glare that was usually reserved for
Akane or Shampoo. "I'm Ranma's fiancee! Who are
you?"

"F-fiancee... Ranma-kun?" Achika looked between him
Ukyou. She paled, her heart skipping a beat. Her
hands went numb and the plastic container fell from
her grasp. The lid came open as it hit the ground and
the small animal shaped cookies were scattered to the
ground. 'No...'

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

The Present:

Tenchi ducked into a room. He muffled his mouth with
his hands to keep from making noise. There was a
fearful look on his face as he looked out into the
shadowy hallway. 'I'll just hide here while I figure
out a plan. What can I do against something like
that?'

His nose twitched as he caught the scent of something
in the air. 'What is that smell? Fumes? Gas
fumes!!! Ryoko must have broken one of the gas
lines! I got to get out of here!!!'

As he began to get up he heard a voice calling out
his name. Tenchi froze swallowing nervously. From
the wall facing him, a figure began to fade in. The
cyan haired demon passed through the solid wall as if
it were air.

Ryoko looked at him. "I really like you. You've got
great energy, Tenchi." She stepped toward him and
began to form another energy blast in her fist.

Tenchi's eyes widened to saucers as he saw the
glowing hand. "No! Stop there's gas!" He yelled
out.

A confused expression appeared on Ryoko's face.
"Gas? What's gas?"

Tenchi buried his face in his hands. 'I can see the
headlines, brilliant student blown to bits. If I had
known I was going to die today, I wouldn't have done
all that homework over vacation! How am I going to
get out of this?!? Wait, I think I might just have
an idea.'

The Anything Goes school specialized in the art of
distraction. And now Tenchi brought his technique to
bare. "Hey what's that out the window!" He yelled
pointing outside.

Ryoko turned and looked. "Oh? What is it? I want to
see. Where tell me where it is," she said tilting
her head around looking out the window. "No... I don't
see anything," she said turning toward Tenchi. The
only problem was that he wasn't there anymore.
"Huh?" A sweat drop appeared on her head again.

"I'll get him!!!" She roared, realizing she had been
duped again. She clenched her fist forming the
energy sphere. The sparks she created were more than
enough to ignite the gas and a 'BOOM' echoed
throughout the building.

>From another room, Tenchi peeked out into the hallway
when the blast ended. "Well there she goes. She was
kind of cute," he said regretfully. He clapped his
hands together, as was the habit in the shrine
honoring the dead.

A laugh rang out.

Tenchi's jaw dropped. Through one of the windows he
saw Ryoko cackling madly admits the flaming rubble.
"She's alive again! I got to get out of here!"

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

The Past:

Wishing that he was anywhere other than there, Ranma
began trying to explain. "Achika I-"

"Fiancee?" Achika's voice trembled in distress.

"No she's not Achika," Ranma said pulling himself
away from Ukyou.

"Ranma the arrangement-" Ukyou began to protest!

"No! Not that again! I left that behind me Ukyou.
I'm starting my life over again, this time on my
terms. I won't go back to the way it was before. I
can't."

"Then take me with you Ranchan. Start over with me."
Ukyou said desperately.

"I'm sorry Ukyou..." he replied quietly.

"Why! Why won't you love me?"

"Because..." He looked toward Achika.

Ukyou noticed the exchange. 'First Akane, then that
bimbo Shampoo, followed by psycho Kodachi, now her!'
She turned glaring eye toward Achika. Ukyou's blood
began to boil. "You! Who do you think you are!
I've spent ten years of my life looking from 'my'
Ranchan! If you think I'm going to let some hussy
take him away from me now your sorely mistaken!!!"

"He's not yours," Achika stated returning the glare.

'Slap!'

Achika gasped feeling the hard strike against her
cheek. Her eyes blurred buy her pride refused to let
her shed a tear. She steeled herself facing the
other girl. 'Slap!'

Ukyou brought her hand up to her reddening cheek.
"You..." She began to reach for her spatula. The
battle auras around the two girls began growing at an
accelerated pace.

"Ukyou!" Ranma put himself between the two girls.
"Please leave..."

"Ranchan I..."

"Leave Ukyou or I swear I'll never talk to you
again." He turned his face away from her.

Ukyou took a faltering step back. Her eyes were wet.
She took one last look to Achika. A mask of hate was
on her face. Ukyou left with a sob as she fled off
into horizon.

"Achika... are you all right?" Ranma gently brushed
her face with his hand.

"Yes..."

Ranma nodded. He bent down and picked up the
spilled container. He started gathering the fallen
cookies. "Achika I'm sorry about the cookies. They
sure looked good."

"Ranma... why didn't you ever tell me?"

He sighed. "My life was so complicated back then.
So many problems never any solutions. I just wanted
to forget about it. That's why I never told you
about Ukyou and the other fiancees."

Achika blinked. "Other fiancees?"

Ranma froze. "Um..."

"Ranma..." Achika said through her teeth..

"I-It's a long story,"

"That's all right I'm in no rush," Achika said. Her
eyes were boring holes into him.

'Oh boy...' Ranma thought.

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

The Present:

Achika looked up. 'The roof! It's coming from the
roof...' "Tenchi!!!" She ran towards the stairs. As
she ran, a massive explosion into the building
knocking her off her feet. Looking up she saw the
ceiling collapsing on top of her. 'No!!!'

She threw her hand up in the air. As the rock
descended a light blue barrier shimmered around her.
The large slab of concrete crumbled to smaller bits
as it hit the surface of the shield.

'That was too close.' Achika sighed. She got up
dusting flecks of debris from her. She took a few
minutes to compose herself. 'What is happening
here?'

No sooner than she started to get moving again, a
figure cam from around the corner and ran into her.
The two tumbled to the ground with an "Umph!"

"Tenchi!" Achika latched onto her son frantically
checking to see that he wasn't hurt. "Tenchi are you
all right?"

Shaking his head, Tenchi looked on a familiar face.
"Mom!"

"Tenchi, what's going on here?"

"I don't have time to explain right now mom. We just
have to get out of here before she finds us." He
said as he started to pull her toward the exit of the
school.

"Before who finds us?"

Tenchi hesitated for a second. "Um... Ryoko."

"What!?!"

"TENCHI!!!" Ryoko's screamed was heard behind him.

Achika's eyes widened. "How..."

"No time!" Tenchi said grabbing onto his mother's
arm and pulled her along.

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

The Past:

Ranma spoke to a closed door. "Achika I said sorry
about not telling you about Ukyou. I knew you'd get
mad so I didn't want to tell you about the fiancee
mess. I urk-" The door quickly opened revealing a
pair of furious eyes belonging to Achika.

"Not fiancee Ranma, it's plural. Its fiancees! Four
to be exact!!!"

"B-B-But I-I..." The door slammed in his face.

"Achika wait." He opened the door and was greeted
with a book flying toward him.

"Woah!" he exclaimed as he fell backwards to avoid
from being hit in the head. The door slammed shut
again as he hit the floor.

Katsuhito appeared over the fallen boy. "Busy
day at school Ranma?"

>From his position on the floor the pigtailed boy
looked up and saw the older man hovering over him.
"You could say that sensi."

"Hm..." Katsuhito mused as he flipped through the
book. "The Five Rings. That's some heavy reading,"
he said weighing the hardcover in his hands. "It's
definitely something that requires more than one
sitting to get through."

"Yeah, you don't want it dropped on you all at once,"
Ranma replied.

The man chuckled and helped him up. "Come on boy,
it's time for practice," he said walking out the
door.

Ranma looked back toward Achika's room. 'I'll come
back later when she's calmed down.' A loud bang and
other noises were heard from within. He swallowed.
'Much later,' he amended.

Practice began with the regular stretches followed by
basic katas to limber up the body. As it progressed
the moves and forms became quicker and more complex.
When Ranma finished his body was warmed up and a sheen
of perspiration covered his brow.

Ranma faced Katsuhito. The priest's usual carefree
expression was gone leaving a mask of seriousness.
It was during this time that Ranma was reminded that
the unassuming Shinto priest facing him was a fighter
he had yet to come close to equaling. Ranma grit his
teeth and bowed, and with that, training began.

To put it bluntly, sparring with the older man had
always been a humbling experience for Ranma. Today
was no different. When it was over he'd have his
share of bruises as well as the continuing drive that
one day he would stand on equal ground with his
sensi.

Ranma hit the dirt with a thud. His head was
spinning as he sat up. "Too fast..."

"Did you say something Ranma?" Katsuhito asked,
walking up to him.

"No, nothing sensi. Just trying to make sure that
everything's in one piece." He shook his head trying
to clear the fuzziness.

The priest nodded, and offered his hand.
"Something's distracting you. You shouldn't have let
that last attack land." Katsuhito studied him for a
moment. "Something happened at school eh?"

Ranma sighed. There was no hiding it from the old
man. "Yeah... I sorta bumped into an old friend."

Katsuhito eyed him even closer. "I overheard. A
young girl named Ukyou I believe. Was she a good
friend of yours?"

"Well... more like an old girlfriend..." Ranma
swallowed. "... a fiancee actually."

"My, my aren't young peoples lives interesting. Want
to talk about it?" He walked over to a near by tree
and sat down leaning his back against it.

Ranma found his own seat and began. "We use to play
together when we were kids. We were pretty young and
I even thought that Ukyou was a boy at the time. My
father and her father engaged us when we were six. I
didn't even know about it till a year ago when she
came looking for me for revenge because she though I
had run out of the marriage agreement. When she
realized that I wasn't to blame we got along great
again. Just like old times, me and Ucchan. But for
her the engagement was still valid and that problem
has been haunting me ever since."

Katsuhito listened intently, nodding now and then
encouraging the young man. "But you still care for
Ukyou, yes?"

"Hai, I mean she's my best friend. But she's more
than that though. She's like a sister. The marriage
agreement just made things so complicated. I mean, I
couldn't marry my sister."

"Quite so..." Ranma didn't notice the sweat drop
forming on the older man's head. Katsuhito coughed
clearing his throat.

"I just can't love Ukyou like that." He sighed.
"Things are falling apart again. Old problems are
cropping up and now Achika's ready to knock my block
off. I've been through this before, I don't want to
go through it again."

Katsuhito walked over and patted him on the shoulder.
"Wise is the man who learns from his mistakes Ranma."

Ranma looked up reviewing the man's words. His eyes
widened as the realization dawned on him.

Katsuhito smiled. "Let's end practice early today."
With that he turned around and made his way to the
shrine.

Ranma sped home running as fast as his legs could
carry him.

**-*-**

"The jerk!" Achika pounded on the offending pillow
on her bed.

"Four! Four fiancees!" The pillow took half a dozen
more hits.

"And... and... she's beautiful..." she threw the pillow
across her room hitting the wall. Achika curled up
in her bed. The image of Ukyou came to her mind as
if mocking her. The girl was perfect. From her
brown chestnut hair to the cute white bow she used to
tie it with. Achika felt like an ugly ducking
comparing herself to the other girl.

'What would Ranma want with someone like me when he
could have her? And she was his fiancee... How can I
compete with that?' She pulled the covers around her
wishing that she could shut the rest of the word out
by doing so.

"I'm going to lose him..."

A knock came on her door. "Achika!"

She easily recognized the voice. "Leave me alone
Ranma!"

"No. Achika I need to talk to you and I'm not going
to leave until I do."

She angrily got out of bed. "I don't want to talk to
you! Go talk to Ukyou for all I care! She is your
fiancee after all!" she said yelling at the door.

"Achika let me in!"

"No!"

"I'll break the door down if I have to!"

"You wouldn't dare!" she replied angrily but she
backed away unsure.

"I warned ya! Heiya!" The cracking of wood was
heard as the door fell over.

Achika was livid but as she began to voice her anger
she saw the haunted look in Ranma's eyes.

"Achika I..." his voice wavered. The anger he had
shown moments ago was gone leaving a quiet sadness in
its place.

"Ranma, leave me alone, please..." Achika turned away.

"No. Not till I'm through. Achika... I've messed up
enough times to know that if I didn't talk to you now
I'd regret it for the rest of my life."

"..."

"Ukyou is my friend, and that's all I'll ever be with
her. The engagement doesn't mean anything to me
anymore. None of them do. It was just all one big
mess I had to get away from. I... I love you Achika.
You're the most important thing in my life and I
never wanted to hurt you like this. I'm not going to
make the same mistakes again. I don't want to lose
you..."

"Ranma..."

"I love you Achika." He held his hand out toward
her.

Achika hesitated for a moment, but only for a moment.
Thoughts of inadequacies and doubts left her. He
was there standing before he now as vulnerable as she
had ever seen him. She took his hand and felt the
warmth of his embrace. She rested her head on his
shoulder, feeling the beating of their two hearts
together. "Promise you'll never leave me Ranma."

"I'll be here for as long as you want me," he said
quietly.

"Ranma?"

"Yeah?"

"What are we going to tell father about the door?"

Ranma looked at the splintered wood and blinked.
"Um..."

Achika laughed and kissed him. "I love you too. "

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

The Present:

"I-I think we lost her." Tenchi panted as he and his
mother made it to the outer field of the school
campus.

Achika sank down to the ground. "That's... good...
huff... huff... Let me catch my breath... for a moment...
huff..."

"Mom are you ok?" Tenchi asked moving beside her.

Achika nodded, her breathing gradually returning to
normal. "I'm just not as in good as shape as you and
your father."

"Here let me carry that for you." He reached over
and took his mother's bag as well as his school bag
from Achika.

"Thank you Tenchi."

"We better get moving again mom. There's no telling
where Ryoko will show up next. " He looked around
them nervously.

"Tenchi, " she said as she got up. "do you know how
Ryoko escaped from the shrine?"

"Well... ya see... I sort'a let her out by accident..."

"H-How!" Achika exclaimed.

"Istolegrandfather'skeysandwentintothecavewhereIfound
thisoldswordwhichipulledoutofthisstonewhichletthedemo
nloseandi'tsallmyfaultandI'mreallyreallysorry!"

Achika paused for a moment. "Again Tenchi, but this
time slower please."

"I stole grandfather's-"

His explanation was interrupted by another voice.
"Oh, Tenchi." Ryoko shimmered out in front of the
two. Her feline like eyes looking intently at them.

Achika blinked checking her eyes. As a child she had
know of the story of the demon imprisoned in the
Masaki shrine. To amuse herself she had even
imagined playing with Ryoko. It had once all a game
to her until she learned the truth of her heritage.
The stories were real. Her father, now a humble
priest, was once know as Yosho, the one who had
defeated and imprisoned the Ryoko. And now a young
cyan haired girl stood before her as the demon she
had know growing up. "Ryoko?"

Ryoko tilted her head looking at Achika. "Who's the
old bag Tenchi?"

"O-Old bag?" Achika said taken aback.

Tenchi moved in front of his mother. "That's my
mother you monster!" he said angrily.

"Monster? How dare you! Why do you call me a
monster!" Ryoko shouted back thumping her chest.

"You walk through fire! You walk through walls! You
rip holes through the roof and you can even fly!!!"
Tenchi yelled back.

"Very good reason's but not good enough!" Ryoko
charged forward, her energy sword blazing in her
hand.

Tenchi stood his ground. 'I can't let her hurt mom.'

"Tenchi!!!" Achika screamed out as she saw Ryoko
bring her sword down on her son. Tenchi could only
defend himself by holding his school bag in front of
the attack. Achika felt the familiar rush of power
through her as she called upon her abilities to
protect her son. Then as she was about to extend her
shields around the two of them a flash of light
erupted from the bag.

When the light cleared Tenchi stood there with his
own energy blade of blue energy. "Tenchi..." Achika's
surprised look match her son's. 'Father's sword...'
Achika's eyes widened seeing the Juri energy blade.

"What the.. Huh?" Tenchi had little time to ponder
the blade as Ryoko was barreling toward him. He
reacted automatically blocking the strike.

Ryoko grinned at him. "Don't be so scared sweetie
pie. I won't hurt you too much."

"I'm ready for you!" And the fight was on.

The two battled head to head. Ryoko relying on her
energy attacks and ability to fade out as her main
weapons. Tenchi did his best to keep up with her. A
unique mixture of Masaki swordplay and Anything Goes
were the only things keeping him alive.

>From the sidelines Achika watched in distress.
Wishing that she could intervene but knowing that
just charging in could do more harm that good.
Ryoko's ability to disappear at will and Tenchi's
fighting style of misdirection made things difficult
if not impossible for her to follow.

Ryoko shifted back after a close strike from Tenchi.
"I'm impressed Tenchi. But your still not going to
beat me."

'She's right,' Tenchi felt exhaustion creeping over
him. 'I can't keep this up forever, and she doesn't
even look tired. How am I going to stop her? Wait a
minute, those jewels on her wrist, that's got to be
the source of her power. The legend says so. Three
gems for power, with out her power, that demon is
just another girl.' He eyed the gem on Ryoko's
wrist. 'But how am I going to-'

Ryoko threw another ball of energy at him but this
time the ball split in two in the air. "Ack!" Tenchi
was caught off guard. He managed to avoid the two
blasts but he landed to the ground off balance.
Seeing her chance Ryoko moved in.

"Gotcha!" Ryoko swung.

"W-Woah!!!" Tenchi flailed around in his effort to
get back onto his feet as well as to avoid the girl.
As yellow glow of Ryoko's blade approached him,
Tenchi felt the tug of the sword in his hand.
Whether it was some unseen force guiding him or just
dumb luck, he managed to avoid the deadly strike and
at the same time cut off Ryoko's hand.

The Cyan haired girl fell back clutching at her
stump. Her hand now on the ground burned away and
the jewel that was on her wrist shimmered as it
returned to the hilt of Tenchi's sword.

"Oh well another battle lost. My miserable lot."
Ryoko sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

"Huh?" Tenchi now realized the missing hand. "I-I...
The sword did it , I didn't mean to cut off your
hand! I'm sorry," he said bowing profusely.

Ryoko laughed seeing his distress. Taking her
remaining hand she covered her stump with it and
slowly pulled it back. When she was through, a new
hand was there. "See."

Ryoko smiled and took a bow. "Farewell," she said
as she faded again, sinking into the ground.

"Tenchi!" Achika ran over beside her son. "What
just happened?"

"I think I won, I guess," he said, unsure of what to
make of the entire incident.

"Tenchi?"

"Yeah mom?"

"Just exactly how are we going to explain all this?"
Achika asked.

Tenchi turned to see the smoking charred rubble that
was once his high school. He grew a sweat drop.

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

The Past:

"Ranma wandered the halls filled with students
pulling out their lunches from their lockers. His
stomach growled thinking about lunch. He came over
to a familiar face.

"Hey Nobuyuki!"

"Ranma, what's up?"

"Have you seen Achika around? It was her turn to
pack our lunches today and I can't find her."

"Sorry Ranma haven't seen her since class."

"Oh man, I'm starving." His stomach growled again.

"Then how about one of my specials Ranma?" A box
appeared in front of him. The smell coming from it
could only be from one thing. "Okonomiyaki..."
Turning he saw Ukyou there. She was dressed not in
her chef's out fit, but in a school uniform. The
feminine attire as well as some subtle make up helped
to make her devastatingly beautiful.

"U-Ukyou?" Ranma swallowed as he noticed that his
best friend as also done away with binding her chest.

"Mh hm," she nodded. "What do you think?" she
asked cutely. She spun around once showing off.

Next to Ranma, Nobuyuki's glasses had fogged up. "W-
who's your f-friend Ranma?" the poor boy nervously
stuttered.

"Ukyou Kuonji," she said flashing the boy a smile.
The result turned Nobuyuki into a quivering mass of
jello.

Ranma was unsure of what to make of it all. Ukyou
saw the look on his face. "You can relax Ranma, I've
finally decided to give up on the engagement."

"You have?" he asked surprised.

Ukyou nodded. "Yup, I'm going to make you mine fair
and square. And then there'll be nothing that anyone
can do about it." She batted her eyes at him. "I'll
be seeing you around Ranchan."

Ranma stood there like a deer caught in headlights.
There were two things running through his mind. The
first being; 'Ukyou really looks good in a dress.'
And the second; 'When Achika finds out about this,
I'm a dead man.'

***--**--**

The present:

Tenchi staggered up to his room. He and his mother
had prudently decided to head home before people with
questions arrived to the school. Then made it home
just in time to see the coverage about the fire on
tv. The explosions were blamed on a gas leak and the
damage would shut the school down for months. He
knew his mother well enough to know that studies
would continue at home under her supervision.

Closing the door behind him, he pulled up his bag and
took out the sword hilt. "That sword was really
powerful. I wonder what happened to that demon girl.
Was really the end of her?"

He groaned lying down on his bed. Not even workout's
with his father made him feel this bad. "I'm so
tired. Huh?" He felt something under the sheets.

He pulled the covers away dreading what was under
there. A pair of amber eyes looked back at him.

Ryoko smiled. "Welcome home Tenchi,"

End (for now)

Story Notes:

Fic based on the Tenchi OAV I expect to follow it
for a bit but I will take some aspects from the tv
series also.

In the OAV, Tenchi's friend who accused him of
sleeping with a mummy didn't have a name so I just
called him Yuta.

As for Tenchi's personality, it's pretty much the
same but he is a bit more confident when it's comes
to fighting and he's a little more out going. I
figure that this is Ranma's influence at work.

As with Ranma and Achika, I just wanted to develop
their relation ship more and see how things would
work out. Also I believe that the other fiancees
would not give Ranma up so easily.

Author's Notes:

Ever since I wrote "The Girl who Wasn't and the
Princess who Was" I have gotten good remarks and
encouragement. Some people wanted me to continue and
others said that the story was perfect the way it
was. Well depending on how this piece is received by
those people I will decide to either continue or not.
I am too self-conscious of my work to judge it myself.
Please send me and comments that you may have.
Lastly thank you all for your support and I hope you
enjoy reading this as much as I had fun writing this.

Special thanks to:
--------------
Tom Sticka
--------------
For motivating me to write as well as pre reading my
work. Sorry it took so long Tom, I hope it was worth the
wait.

Please send comments to:

*********************************
Author: Pug
cr...@rpi.edu
http://www.rpi.edu/~cruzd/pug/pug.html
*********************************

Pug Productions

*********************************
Author: Pug
cr...@rpi.edu
http://www.rpi.edu/~cruzd/pug/pug.html
*********************************

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.

Father of the Prince

Chapter 2

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, emerging 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 Juri, 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 force. 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, girl!!! 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 dooes 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 girls 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 this
person 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.

In side 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
him.

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 ships
start 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 cased plowing right
through them. It to was headed toward her house and
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 Juri
ship unloading its beams into Ryo-ohki.

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

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

"Cat!?!"

"P-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 cat's 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-ohki's. "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 back 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. Ill 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..." she said. 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 head lights 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 Ryu 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 cloth 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 arced from it.

He sucked his finger with an impatient look on his
face. "Guess I don't have a choice about," 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. The blurred affect was there again
surrounding him as the energy of the cage reacted
with his own.

The wooden bars parted and the blurred 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 Juri seed that was grafted
into him by Tsunami. In essence it made him a Juri
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 where
to begin looking for his son. It was then that a
voice came echoing into his mind.

"Ranma!" a very worried and 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...' 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 boy's arms was a
little girl who was laughing. She actually seemed to
be enjoying the excitement. Ranma blinked a few times
making sure that his eyes were working properly.

'Ranma?'

'I-I can't talk right now dear,' he said growing a
sweat drop. 'Something sort'a popped up. But I know
exactly where Tenchi is. He's got his hands full at
the moment.'

'Your not telling me something, Ranma!'

'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 Juri
seed, the disguise formed around him, and once again
a middle-aged man stood in his place. Shaking his
head he ran off after the fleeing boy.

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

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.

Ranma said reaching the two. He struck out with his
palm first to Azaka. 'Stop.' 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 everything 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?"

"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. He 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 side 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 of the cage.

"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 oven this
thing. You know that," he said walking up to her.
As he did so the sword he tucked between his belt
glowed.

"Tenchi!" Ranma said feeling the power.

"Huh? Woah!" Tenchi's eyes widened as the bard 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 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?" Achika. "You knew about the curse?"

"Of coarse 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
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 there. 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 with!
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 backing away his book 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
her rounded the corner was he 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 Jurian 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 of water. 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.

"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 troubble 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

*********************************
Author: Pug
cr...@rpi.edu
http://www.rpi.edu/~cruzd/pug/pug.html
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