[FFML] [Ranma][Thy Outward Part] Serendipity

[Richard Lawson]

This is a rewrite of a story in my "Thy Outward Part" series.  A totally new
(and much longer) beginning and a different ending, but most of the middle
is the same.

As always, any comments, both positive and negative, are greatly
appreciated.  I'll share my thoughts in the "Author's Notes" at the end.

-Richard


"I won't think about it and neither should you."
       -Takahashi Rumiko

Serendipity

by Richard Lawson

Ranma sat back in the tub, letting the hot water relax his muscles.  One
thing he had missed terribly in college was hot baths; the college dorm had
only showers and the studio apartment had only a faucet and a drain in the
floor in the bathroom.  He'd converted that to an inelegant but functional
sit-down shower.  The apartment he currently shared had a genuine bathtub,
but it didn't compare to the roomy tub in the Tendo home.

The Tendo home.  His home, he supposed.  Almost two years it had been, and
he still didn't feel quite comfortable calling himself Tendo Ranma, nor
could he ever think of this place as truly his home.  Home was the apartment
he shared; this was just a place conveniently close to the dojo.  Ranma's
dojo; he had no problems thinking of it as that.

The rest, he supposed, would follow in time.  For now, he just let the
water's heat seep into his body and relax his spirit.

The bathroom door slid open.  "There you are.  Been wondering where you were
hiding yourself."

Ranma looked up.  "I'm taking a bath."

"And here I thought you were trying to drown yourself.  You have a penchant
for stating the obvious, Ranma."

"And you have a penchant for not respecting other people's privacy, Nabiki."

She rolled her eyes and sat down on the bath stool.  "We're family, Ranma.
It's not like I haven't seen you naked before."

Which was unfortunately true.  A lot of his first year at the Tendo home had
been spent getting splashed with various amounts of hot and cold water in
various stages of undress.  That still didn't stop him from feeling quite
uncomfortable.  He sighed, reached out to grab a washcloth, and used it to
cover himself as best he could.  "Whaddya want?"

Nabiki looked amused more than anything.  "Look, I just wanted to talk to
you about the dojo."

Ranma sighed again and tried to focus his mind.  He could guess where this
was going.  "What about it?"

"How many students do you have?  Fifteen, sixteen?"

"Twenty-two."

"Well, okay, better than I thought, but still not nearly enough."

"I know."  The financial statements of late had looked pretty grim.  The
Tendo family finances were teetering on the edge of solvency.  Soun was
still paying the taxes and utilities on the Tendo home itself, which was the
only thing keeping the dojo afloat at the moment.  "Funny thing is, I had
more students at college."

"That's because college is a very enclosed community, where you don't need
to do a lot of advertising.  You can't depend on word-of-mouth working well
in the real world."

"Yeah, yeah."  Ranma wiped the sweat off his forehead.  "I've got some
ideas.  I've been looking at getting some flyers and brochures made, and
thinking of places to distribute them.  Maybe getting an advertisement in
some of the local newspapers.  I've also considered setting up a table at
some local matches, getting word out that way."

Nabiki blinked.  "Well.  I can see you've thought this out more than I
expected."

Ranma smiled briefly.  "I did take some courses in this stuff, y'know."

"I didn't, actually, but I'm glad you did.  So why aren't you doing all of
that?"

"Money," Ranma admitted reluctantly.  "Those things cost money.  I've been
trying to set aside what I can, but it's hard.  There's all these expenses
that keep popping up."

"I see."  Nabiki looked steadily at him.  "You know you could borrow some
from me, don't you?"

"No," Ranma said firmly.  "This is my dojo.  I don't want anyone's charity."

"It's the Tendo Dojo.  It reflects badly on the family if you allow it to go
bankrupt."

"That's not going to happen!"

"It is if you let some stupid pride thing get in the way of asking for
help."

"It's not a stupid pride thing."  Ranma leaned against the side of the tub,
looking Nabiki dead in the eye.  "This is my dojo.  The first thing I've
ever tried all on my own.  You guys helped me pay for college, and that's
great, but I still owe you a lot of money for that.  If I keep running to
you for financial assistance any time things look bad, I'll never learn to
do this right by myself.  And that's not going to reflect well on the Tendo
Dojo, either."

Nabiki sighed and muttered something under her breath.  She propped her chin
on her hand and looked at Ranma with a fair amount of irritation on her
face.  "Look, how about this?  Y'know I used to be big into photography,
right?"

Ranma snorted.  "You must have sold a hundred pictures of me and Akane to
Kuno."

"A lot more than that.  Well, I got to know these guys at a photography and
design studio very well.  If I can get you an appointment with them, and
have them help you design those brochures and take some pictures of you
doing your martial arts thing, *and* do all that at a substantial
discount... would your vaunted pride be able to handle it?"

Ranma slowly nodded.  "Yeah, it might.  Even if it means I have to forgive
you for taking all those pictures in the first place."

Nabiki lifted a corner of her mouth.  "You loved it, don't try to tell me
otherwise."

"I did not!"  Ranma furrowed his brow.  "Where'd you get that idea?"

"Ranma, you never jumped away whenever I started taking a picture.  You'd
scowl or whatever, but you'd stand still most of the time.  You're more of
an exhibitionist than you let on."

Ranma growled.  "Okay, 'older sister', get out.  I need to dry off and I'm
not about to give you one last peep show."

"Trust me, Ranma, you've got nothing to be ashamed about."  Nabiki stood up.
"Keep tomorrow afternoon free, I'll try to set up an appointment for you
then."

"All right."  Ranma paused, then reluctantly added, "Thanks, Nabiki."

Nabiki chuckled slightly.  "That had to hurt."  She turned and left before
Ranma could respond.

With yet another sigh Ranma stood up and sat on the stool Nabiki had just
vacated.  He turned on the spigot and filled a bucket with cold water.  He
upended the bucket over his head.  Gasping, Ranma reached for a towel and
began drying herself off as quickly as possible.  She hated this part of the
transition, even if the cold chills only lasted for a few seconds.

Ranma walked down the hallway to the room she used while staying at the
Tendo home.  She was planning on staying here tonight since Kentaro was in
the midst of an eighteen-hour shift.  Ranma had no idea what purpose such a
long shift served, and even Kentaro had trouble explaining it other than it
was a time-honored tradition passed down for many years.

Ranma slipped into a simple shirt and pants, then went to her office.  She
picked up a notepad and a piece of paper, and began sketching out some ideas
for a brochure.  This was a tremendous opportunity Nabiki was presenting her
with, and Ranma had no intention of wasting it.

---

Ranma stood on the balls of her feet, ready to throw a punch.  Set kept her
expression fierce and focused, ready for anything.  She even managed not to
blink when bright light flashed into her eyes.

"All right, that should do it."  The woman behind the camera - a friendly
older woman named Sayuri - straightened and smiled.  "We should have
something for you tomorrow.  You can make the final approval of the layout
then and we can start printing the brochures."

Ranma smiled in return.  "Thanks."  She stepped away from the plain white
backdrop, thankful to be out from under the lights.  Despite what Nabiki had
said, Ranma had felt extremely self-conscious with the camera pointed at
her.

She grabbed her duffel bag and headed back to the dressing room.  This
photography studio was bigger than Nabiki had let on; there were lots of
photo shoots going, and the place was a lot busier than Ranma had supposed.
The dressing room was just one big area where women were changing in and out
of clothing constantly.  After a couple of years of being on women's
gymnastics and soccer teams, Ranma had grown accustomed to dressing and
undressing with other women.  What surprised her about this place was that
men seem to go in and out of the dressing room at will, and no one voiced a
complaint.

Ranma waited until the room was as empty as possible, then quickly changed
out of her gi and back into her street clothes.  She made the change in less
than a minute, and it was with a feeling of relief that she fled the
dressing room.

The front door was on the far side of the studio, and Ranma made her way
through the various photo shoots.  She walked slowly, curious about all the
activity.  It appeared that this studio did a lot of advertising shoots;
various products were being shot with mostly young women fawning over them.
Ranma stopped to watch two women hold either side of a box of detergent and
smile excitedly for a camera.  Ranma smiled slightly at the sight, wondering
if they realized how ludicrous they looked.

This time she was totally unprepared for the flash of light, and she
instinctively covered her eyes while taking a step back.  She dropped her
duffel back and clenched her fists, instinctively preparing for an attack
even as she realized that it had simply been someone taking her picture.
Again.

She blinked to see a man still aiming a camera at her.  "Put your hand down.
And smile, smile!  Like you were before.  It was perfect, the bemused high
school student, sadder but wiser."

Ranma growled.  She was of below-average height, and was often mistaken as
being much younger than she was, which at times annoyed the hell out of her.
"I'm twenty-five, jerk."

"Ah, and now the determined, spunky look, bold in demeanor, unafraid of the
world."  The man - tall, thin almost to the point of emaciation, about forty
- took two steps to the side so that her hand was no longer blocking her
face and snapped a few more shots.

Ranma blinked her eyes clear, growled again, and took three steps forward.
"I'm telling you to stop that.  Now."

The man lowered his camera.  "You're perfect.  Perfect!  My last model was
dreadful, she was entirely in the wrong phase and it just ruined the whole
thing.  You, you're in the right phase, and it makes you look stunning!  A
warrior spirit ready to conquer everything, but feminine enough to be
bemused by the irony.  I need you over at my setup."  He smiled, grabbed the
wrist of her still-raised arm, turned, and pulled.

Ranma didn't budge, and derived some minor amusement at his total lack of
ability to apply significant leverage.  "Listen, buddy, I'm not going
anywhere."

He sighed heavily as he turned back.  "Always with you women it's the money.
Fine, give me a full shoot and I'll give you the standard fee."

"Standard fee?"

"Fifty thousand yen."

Ranma blinked once.  "Fifty thousand?"

"And not a yen more!  I've already wasted too much money on this."  And in
an instant his expression went from haughty to pleading.  "I need you.
Please?"

Ranma could not get her mind unstuck.  "Fifty thousand yen?"

"For today's shoot.  If it works out, I'll sign you on for another shoot
tomorrow for another fifty thousand."

One hundred thousand yen.  For letting some guy point a camera at her.  This
would pay for the brochures and then some.  Slowly she nodded.  "All right,
let's say I was willing to do this.  What's next?"

"Come with me!"  The haughtiness was back in full force.  "We've wasted far
too much time already."  He pulled on her wrist again, and Ranma allowed
herself to be pulled back to the dressing room.

He pushed her down into a chair facing a large lighted mirror.  "All right,
we need to bring out the best of your phase."

"Um... I didn't bring any makeup."

"Good!"  The man began scrounging through the wide variety of bottles,
brushes, and lipstick that almost completely covered the table in front of
the mirror.  "Women only know how to make themselves look good for men, they
have no idea how to make themselves look good for the camera!"

Having acquired what he needed, he turned the chair around - and immediately
began brushing something on her face.  Ranma kept her face from grimacing
even as she came more and more to the realization that this man was an
idiot.  Still, if the idiot was willing to pay her fifty thousand yen, who
was she to complain?

"Wonderful."  The man changed brushes and began to do something to her
forehead.  "We don't even need a base for you in this phase."

Almost afraid to ask, Ranma ventured, "What do you mean by my phase?"

"Your woman's phase.  You've just had your period, have you not?"

Ranma paused, trying to figure out how to answer.  It was quite the
complicated subject.

Before Herb, Ranma had never been in female form long enough to have a
period.  A few weeks after getting locked in female form by the chisuiton,
she'd begun to menstruate.  Ranma still had not accepted the idea of being
female forever - there had been so many things to try before coming to that
conclusion.  Akane had helped her realize that she was at least going to be
female long enough to have to deal with the consequences. 

Ranma had been appalled by everything that went along with having a period.
She'd had no idea how women put up with it.  The physical discomfort, the
mess, the contraptions - it was too much to deal with.  But she had to deal
with it, and Akane had been remarkably patient with Ranma, teaching her how
her body worked.

At the same time, Ranma could trace the roots of Akane's disaffection to
that time.  The realization that Ranma was female, with female problems, had
been unavoidable.  As hope for a cure had begun to die, so too had Akane's
nascent love for Ranma.

One thing Ranma had discovered after finally getting her curse unlocked was
that her cycle began anew every time she turned male and then female again.
It had been a blessed relief not to ever have to deal with any of that.  It
had now been almost two years since her last period, and Ranma was
thoroughly glad for that.  Six-plus years had been quite long enough.

She'd had no idea, though, that menstruation had any affect on physical
appearance.  In a sense, Ranma was at the very beginning of her cycle, and
somehow this photographer knew it.

"Yes," she finally answered.  "I'm, um, just past that."

"Excellent."  The photographer was now doing something to her eyelids.  "A
woman is most unattractive during her period.  Just afterwards is when she
is at her roughest, most worn.  Which is exactly how I need you!  I need the
rugged, determined-but-amused warrior woman to sell our product."

In a way, it was fortunate for both of them that she was forced to stay
absolutely still while he applied eye shadow, or some unfortunate accident
might have befallen him.  When she was sure she had her voice under control,
she simply asked, "And what is our product?"

"Volleyball nets."

"Volleyball nets?"

"And tomorrow, tennis racquets."  He grabbed her mouth, and Ranma knew
enough to purse her lips as he applied lipstick.  Satisfied, he turned
around, grabbed some clothes from the floor, and held them out to Ranma.
"Put these on."

Ranma examined them closely.  It looked like athletic wear, not unlike the
uniform she wore when she'd played soccer.  She took them, then looked
steadily at the photographer.  He looked back at her, and they held that
tableau for over a minute.  Finally he sighed and turned his back.  Ranma
reached up and applied pressure between his shoulder blades, enough to knock
him off balance if he didn't start walking.  With an even louder sigh he
left the dressing room.

Ranma changed into the uniform, finding that it was a little small even for
her.  She adjusted the shorts to cover as much of her thighs as possible
without falling off her hips, then with a bit of trepidation left the
dressing room.

The photographer was waiting for her.  With a grunt of impatience he started
to reach for her arm, hesitated, then pulled his hand back.  "This way,
please."

This amused Ranma enough to follow without complaint.  He led her to a set
that looked like a gymnasium floor with a volleyball net strung across it.
For the next hour and a half he had her jump at and around the net,
sometimes striking a volleyball, sometimes with her hands held straight up
as if trying for a block.

She was greatly surprised by the number of pictures he took - it seemed like
thousands.  He was constantly fiddling with the lights and touching up her
makeup.  It seemed like he knew what he was doing, although Ranma had no
frame of reference.

He finally smiled.  "Perfect!  Come back tomorrow at the same time for the
next shoot."

Ranma stepped away from the lights with another feeling of relief.  "And
when do I get paid?"

With another suffering sigh he pulled out a checkbook.  He scrawled
something nearly illegible, leaving the "pay to" line blank, and handed it
to her.  "Satisfied?"

Ranma studied it, then nodded.

"Good.  We'll do wonderful things together!  What's your name?"

She looked up at him.  "Tendo Ranma."

"And I am Oh.  Do not forget!  Leave the clothes in the dressing room, I'll
attend to them later."  He turned away from her and began packing up his
cameras.

Ranma shrugged and walked back to the dressing room.  She moved towards a
sink in the back of the room.  She turned on the water, feeling the
temperature with her fingers.  She'd done quite a lot of testing in the past
couple of years, and had found a lukewarm setting that she could use to wash
herself without triggering a change.  It wasn't necessarily pleasant but it
was functional for these kind of public situations.  Ranma washed the makeup
off, then changed back into her street clothes.

She headed for the front door, this time walking quickly by the shoots.
Ranma spotted Sayuri walking down a hallway and called out a greeting.
Sayuri turned with a smile.  "Back so soon?"

"I never left."  Ranma shifted her duffel bag on her shoulder.  "Can you
tell me about a photographer called Oh?"

"Ah, him.  He's an odd fellow, thinks of himself as a great artist.  He has
some odd views about models and photography, and he'll never become the
fashion photographer he envisions himself to be.  But he's very adequate
when it comes to advertising inserts.  It's a chore for some of the models,
but he gets the job done."

Ranma digested this for a moment.  "What would you say if he approached me
to do some modeling for him?"

"On the inserts?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'd have no objections.  You're certainly the right type for the kind
of shoots he'll be doing for the next couple of weeks.  If you can put up
with his quirks, then I'd encourage you to pursue the opportunity."  Sayuri
studied Ranma.  "Are you thinking of making this a career?"

"No!"  Ranma swallowed a vehement follow-up, and instead tried to say
calmly.  "But until my business picks up, I thought this might not be the
worst thing in the world."

"It won't.  Good luck!"  Sayuri smiled, then continued on down the hallway.

Ranma turned and, at long last, escaped the studio.  She thought things over
for a while, then put it out of her head.  Ranma quickly made her way back
to the Tendo home.

She dropped the duffle bag off in her room, then went to the phone.  She
called the hospital, and was mildly surprised to get Kentaro on the line.
"Hey there," she said by way of greeting.

"Hi."  He sounded pleased to hear from her.  Like always.  Ranma smiled in
response even though he couldn't see her; it felt good that he hadn't yet
grown tired of her phone calls.

Ranma leaned against the wall next to the phone.  "So how's it going."

"Very busy today.  You just happened to catch me at the one lull I've had in
the day so far."

"Poor guy."  She checked the clock next to the phone; he'd been on his shift
for fourteen hours now.  "You gonna get off on time?"

"I should.  Then I have to go home and finish packing."

Ranma nodded to herself.  Kentaro was going on a two-week vacation with his
family, something they did every year.  It was an almost-sacred ritual with
them, something Ranma couldn't quite understand.  Ranma and her parents had
no annual tradition, no ceremonies at all that they regularly performed.

An unexpected by-product, at least for Ranma, was that she missed him
terribly during these two-week absences.  It felt strange and troubling to
need his presence that much, and last year she'd been horrible to Kentaro
before he'd left and after he returned.  This year Ranma had vowed to be a
little more tolerant, and had made surprising progress.  It was with no hint
of irritation that she managed to ask, "Are you looking forward to it?"

"Yes and no."  Ranma could hear pen scratches in the background; it was
quite common for Kentaro to do paperwork while talking to her.  "I always
like seeing them, and I've never been to Hawaii before, so that'll be fun.
But I'm also going to be telling Mom that I'm definitely not moving back to
Okinawa."

"Oh?"  That had been a sensitive subject between Kentaro and his mother.  He
kept telling her that he planned to try and find work in Tokyo, preferably
in Nerima.  His mother kept brushing that aside, insisting that Kentaro
would eventually come home to Okinawa.  She simply refused to accept that
Ranma couldn't just relocate the dojo to Okinawa if she wanted to stay with
Kentaro.  Ranma herself was not pleased by that response, and Kentaro was
often stuck in the middle.

That he planned to finally have it out with his mother mollified Ranma
considerably.  "That won't be fun," she said sympathetically.

"No, it won't.  But I'll manage."

"I know you will.  Thanks for doing this for me."

"You're welcome, but it's for me as well.  Okinawa was where I was born and
raised, but Mom will just have to understand that home will always be where
you are."

It was something he'd said several times before, but it still made Ranma
feel all mushy inside to hear.  She basked in the glow for a couple of
seconds before shifting gears.  "Listen, I'll head on over to the apartment
and finish your packing for you.  You need the rest."

"I'll have two weeks to sleep in Hawaii.  There's no need for you to make a
three hour trip there and back again, especially with your morning class
tomorrow."

That was true.  Plus she had that photo shoot scheduled back at the studio.
Reluctantly, she said, "All right.  Meet at the airport then?"

"Sure.  Gotta go, they're calling for me."

"Okay.  See ya tomorrow."

"Love you, Ranma."

"Love you too."  She hung up with more sadness then she cared to admit.

Ranma got over it in the usual way, by working herself quite hard in the
dojo.  After a couple of hours working out, she taught an intermediate class
of ten students, the majority of them former college classmates.  She'd
developed quite a bond with them, and enjoyed teaching more of the art to
them.  It was quite a challenge to try and translate some of the esoteric
teaching methods her father had used with Ranma into something that would
work in a dojo, but Ranma found these students will to try just about
anything, however stupid it seemed.  She was learning as much from them as
they were from her, and she found it quite a rewarding experience.

When the class was done she went into the bathroom to wash up.  Ranma turned
the hot water full on, then hesitated in the process of taking off her gi.
Ranma went over to the mirror and examined her face closely.  For the life
of her, she couldn't see anything that looked any different than usual - but
then again, she was constantly resetting her cycle these days.

Unattractive, rough and rugged.  Ranma turned her head from side to side as
she kept looking in the mirror.  Certainly there was nothing soft about her
appearance at the moment.  Not that she could see in the mirror; perhaps the
lights in the photo studio captured something that couldn't be seen in a
steamy bathroom.

Thoughtfully, Ranma went back to the sit-down shower and twisted the hot
water mostly off.  She'd done without hot baths for four years in college;
she could survive a couple of weeks.  Testing the lukewarm water with her
hand, Ranma proceeded to wash herself off, thinking about tomorrow's photo
shoot.

---

Kentaro put on his blue scrubs with a sense of reacquired familiarity.  He
hadn't done this in two weeks, but it still felt as natural as walking.
Many of the routines at this hospital had already become ingrained even
though he'd only been here a few months.

Lee, a classmate at his medical school and another intern at this hospital,
walked into the locker room with a smile.  "Hey there, Marumoto.  How was
your vacation?"

"Fine.  It rained a lot but that was all right, there was still a lot to
do."

"But that must have cut down on seeing all those Americans in bikinis, neh?"

Kentaro snorted.  "That wasn't even on my list of vacation activities."

"Yeah, yeah, you're a kept man, I know.  By the way, I think I saw your
girlfriend in the hallway."

Kentaro's heart skipped a beat.  He'd arrived back from vacation very late
last night.  By mutual agreement, Ranma had not met him at the airport or
back home.  They'd planned to meet for dinner after his shift ended, but
evidently Ranma had jumped the gun.  Kentaro felt a smile growing as he
hastily closed his locker and trotted out into the hallway.

He saw her instantly, standing as she was right outside the door.  His smile
instantly widened from ear to ear, and she smiled just as widely in return.
A second later they were entwined and Kentaro was kissing her fiercely.  Two
weeks had been an eternity without her.

A discreet cough caused them to separate.  Kentaro grinned, grabbed her
hand, and said, "Follow me."

She nodded.  He led her to the stairway and up to the roof of the hospital.
No sooner had the door to the stairs closed than they were kissing again.
It was a marvelous, wonderful sensation, and Kentaro never wanted it to end.

They eventually did break off, though, and he stared into her eyes, simply
relishing the sight of her.  Something seemed out of place, though, and he
reached up a finger to touch the skin underneath her eyebrows.  "Are you
wearing eyeshadow?"

Ranma blushed, something Kentaro found wildly attractive - not that he
needed much prompting at this point to find her attractive.  She pushed
herself away from him and began rubbing her eyes with the sleeves of her
shirt.  "Dammit.  I think I was in too much of a rush; I didn't get it all
off."

Bemused, Kentaro walked a short distance away to the short wall that
encircled the hospital rooftop and sat on top of it.  "I have to ask: why
did you have it on in the first place?"

Ranma gave up the attempt to get the eyeshadow off and sat next to him.
"I've been doing some modeling."

Kentaro blinked.  "I'm sorry.  I thought I heard you say that you were doing
some modeling."

Ranma looked embarrassed and annoyed.  "Don't be a jerk."

"I wasn't trying to be."  Kentaro looked closely at her.  "What kind of
modeling?"

"For magazine and newspaper advertising inserts.  Nothing fancy.  Lot of
sporting equipment.  Some sweatsuits once.  Tomorrow I might be doing some
casual wear."

"Casual wear," Kentaro repeated.

"Yeah.  Sweaters, slacks... someone's having a back-to-school sale and I can
look like a high school girl if I try hard enough."

Kentaro stared at her.  She didn't meet his gaze, instead staring out over
the roof.  After a moment, Kentaro prompted, "How'd you get into modeling."

"Some guy saw me while I was getting shot for my brochures and wanted me to
help him with his volleyball nets.  It kinda went from there."

"He saw you in a drugstore and suddenly you were a movie star?"

"What?"

"Never mind."  Kentaro shook his head with a grin.  "I just can't imagine
it.  You, putting makeup on, prancing in front of a camera."

Ranma glared at him.  "I don't prance!"

"Sorry, poor word choice."  Kentaro couldn't stop grinning.  "It's just... I
can't see you like that."

"You can't?"  Ranma softened her gaze.  "You've seen those pictures of me in
a kimono, haven't you?"

"Uh..."  Nabiki sitting next to him on a rock, shoving a photo album in his
lap.  The memory was not one he preferred to dwell on, even though they'd
gone on to develop a good and friendly relationship.  "Yeah, I guess.  To
tell the truth, I never thought much about it.  I remember you saying it was
kind of a game."

Ranma looked up at the bright blue sky.  "It was a game.  And an experiment.
I... you know that Pop and I lived on the road a lot.  We'd never stay in
one place for very long, and quite often we were hiding from someone.  So,
when we moved in with Akane and her family, it was the first time I felt
like we almost sorta belonged there."

Kentaro nodded.  "And you didn't have to hide anymore."

"Yeah.  Suddenly it was all right if I drew lots of attention to myself.
I... I wasn't really used to that."

"So you decided to test the limits of exactly how much attention you could
attract?"

"I was curious.  And one thing I quickly found out: my female form got more
attention than my male form.  A lot more."

Kentaro studied her a moment.  "Not always the kind you wanted."

Ranma smiled slightly.  "How much have I told you about the upperclassman
who obsessed over me and Akane?"

"A little.  Not much."

"There's a reason for that.  It was annoying as hell.  But it was okay, all
I had to do was find a tea kettle and I'd be free of it.  In the meantime,
when people saw me as a woman, when they... admired how I looked... it
was... it felt nice.  Weird, but nice."

Kentaro tried to picture it, but not for the first time had difficulty
imagining how he'd react in Ranma's situation.  "And when the tea kettle no
longer freed you of that attention, suddenly it became not so nice?"

Ranma sighed.  "It was a lot more than that.  A lot more."

"I know.  Perhaps the worst part of what Herb did to you was to isolate you
all over again, just after you'd found how much you enjoyed being a part of
a family."

Ranma looked at him in surprise.  "Yeah.  I never thought of it exactly like
that, but yeah."

"So now that you rediscovered your family - both of your families - you feel
free to... exhibit yourself again?"

Ranma smiled.  "It's a bit more than that.  Before, when I had Kuno chasing
me or people asking me to help them hook up with my female self, I knew that
there was at least one person who knew who I really was.  Who knew about all
aspects of me and accepted me no matter what I looked like."

"Ah.  Akane?"

"Yes.  Back then, it was Akane.  Right now, I've got someone else."

Ranma turned, lifted her leg over him and straddled Kentaro where he sat.
She kissed him deeply, and Kentaro responded.  After a minute, Ranma lifted
her had and said in a low voice, "I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"How'd it go with your mother."

"Not well," Kentaro said grimly.  "She finally got the message, though, that
I'm staying here.  With you."

"Does she hate me now?"

"Never.  She likes you a lot.  It's me she's not happy with."

"Poor guy.  My family hates you, your family hates you.  Completely
unloved."

"Yeah.  I don't know how I survive."

"Let me give you an incentive to keep living."  Ranma kissed him again,
pressing her body against his.

Kentaro hesitated only briefly before responding in kind.

---

Kentaro waited until Ranma shot through the door, the slammed it shut behind
her.  They scrambled down the stairs, stopping at the bottom floor.  Kentaro
put his ear against the bottom door, holding it closed while Ranma put her
shirt back on.

They turned to look at each other.  Ranma reached over to straighten the
pants of his scrubs.  Kentaro tucked her hair behind her ears, then shook
his head.  "I'm sorry."

She quirked a smile.  "Sorry for what?"

"I didn't know security patrolled the roof.  What did you do to him?"

"Nothing too bad.  Just pulled his shirt over his head, dropped his pants,
and tied his shoelaces together."

"You did? In what... ten seconds?"

"Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken Revised - Clothing Rearrangement Whirlwind."

Kentaro chuckled.  "I just hope he didn't see our faces."

"I was naked from the waist up.  Trust me, he never looked at our faces."

Kentaro drew a deep breath.  "Good.  I'd hate to lose my internship over
this.  Let's, uh, never do that again."

Ranma grinned.  "Never?"

"I mean, never at work again."

"You're no fun."  Ranma kissed him briefly but fiercely.  "Okay, head on
out.  I'll stay here for a bit."

"All right.  We still meeting for dinner?"

"Of course.  See ya then."

"See ya."  Kentaro smiled, then slipped out the door.

No one was watching the door.  Kentaro sighed in relief.  What they'd done
had been incredibly dangerous for his budding career.  But he couldn't
exactly regret it.  Ranma was rarely so passionate, but when she was the
experience was always memorable.

Kentaro tried to push the memories into the back of his mind.  He had work
to do now.  But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop smiling.

---

Ranma stood on the balls of her feet, studying her opponent.  He was really
just a beginner, and posed no serious threat to her.  Sometimes, though, it
was fun to let an opponent think they stood a chance.  There was no thrill
in punching them once and ending the combat then and there.

Her opponent moved in towards her in what passed for a quick move.  He
launched a fist at her head.  Ranma felt she could have re-read "The Art of
War" in the time it took for his punch to reach her head.  She waited until
the last possible moment, then ducked underneath it.  She gave him a quick
jab in the ribs, not hard enough to seriously injure him but enough so that
he would feel it for hours.

To his credit, he merely grunted and tried to grapple her.  She smiled and
slid under his legs.  She sprang to her feet behind him, turned, and slapped
the back of his head.  She almost laughed; playing with him like this was
fun.  She restrained herself, however, knowing that it would irritate him.
He really was trying his hardest.

He locked his elbow and twisted, trying to smash it into her head.  Ranma
grinned, debating in the milliseconds before it connected whether to hook
her arm through it and throw him to the mat, or simply lean back, let it go
past her, and see what he would do next.

While she was trying to decide, a strange weakness came over her.  Before
she had time to analyze it, Kentaro's elbow connected.

Ranma staggered back.  She hit the mat covering one wall of the dojo and
slid to the ground.

Kentaro was at her side in a flash.  "Ranma! Are you okay?"

Ranma waited for her head to clear.  Usually, it only took a second or two.
This time, the dizziness and nausea went on and on.  She reached up and
clutched Kentaro's shoulder, trying to steady herself.

After perhaps a minute, the nausea finally subsided and her head became
relatively clear.  She looked into Kentaro's scared face and tried to smile.
"Good hit."

"Are you sure?" Kentaro seemed very worried.  "You looked pretty bad there
for a moment." He began gently probing her head with his fingers.

"I'm fine!" She growled and let him check her for a concussion.  She'd
received enough of them to know what they felt like, and this wasn't it.

It did scare her a bit, however.  She usually recovered from the hardest of
blows faster than she'd recovered from Kentaro's, and his hadn't been the
worst she'd ever received, not by a long shot. 

Ranma swore silently; she was getting soft.  She'd spent far too much time
at the photography studio and not enough training.  She needed to get Pop or
Tange or somebody in her class to come by and work out with her regularly.
Otherwise, she was going to lose her edge.

Kentaro finished his examination.  "You don't appear to have a bump. You've
got the hardest head I've ever come across." He smiled and helped her to
stand up.

Ranma smiled at him.  "Gee, thanks.  I guess I'll take that as a
compliment."

Kentaro's smile faded.  "How was I able to hit you? I never should have been
able to, not in a million years."

Ranma tsked.  "You got lucky and I got sloppy.  It happens." She flashed him
a hard smile.  "Don't worry, it'll never happen again."

Kentaro smiled back, then looked up at the clock.  "I have to get to the
hospital."

Ranma nodded.  "Go ahead.  I think I'll stay here tonight.  I've got some
paperwork to catch up on."

Kentaro grinned.  "How come you always have paperwork to do whenever Kasumi
comes over to cook dinner?"

"A coincidence.  On your way, impudent jerk."

He laughed, then gathered his things.  They exchanged a kiss, and he left.

Ranma sighed and worked out for a while by herself.  She felt better,
although not quite a hundred percent.  She was still a little... off.

After a while she decided not to push herself.  She went inside the house
and took another lukewarm shower.  She looked at the bathtub longingly, then
went over to the mirror, something she was doing with annoying regularity.
Ranma studied her face closely.  She hadn't noticed anything for the first
two or three weeks.  In the past few days, though, she'd finally noticed
what Oh had been talking about.  Her face did seem more attractive in an
indefinable way.

Ranma turned her head from side to side, then shrugged.  She put on her robe
and wandered back to her room.  She looked at the clothes in the closet,
mentally comparing to the sweaters she'd been modeling that past few days.
Oh had insisted on sweaters that were extremely tight-fitting for obvious
reasons.  Hers were a lot looser.  Oh had suggested that after they finished
their series of back-to-school clothes, they move on to an evening-wear
spread he was working on.  Ranma had thought she wasn't exactly the right
type for those kind of clothes, but Oh had brushed those concerns aside.  It
would mean, among other things, that Ranma wear an honest-to-goodness bra,
not the sports bras she used when she wore a bra at all.

It would also mean she'd have to wear a dress again.  It had been quite a
while since she'd worn her one dress.  Ranma thought back, trying to
remember the last time she'd put it on.  She couldn't remember.  Ranma
frowned and concentrated harder, trying to remember everything that had
happened to her in the past couple of years.  She just wasn't certain when
she'd worn the dress last.  She was, however, somewhat certain that she was
about to throw up.

She thought about it for a few moments before deciding that she was very
certain.  Ranma ran out of her room and back to the bathroom.  She barely
made it in time.

Ranma knelt for a few minutes over the toilet, trying to figure out where
this sickness was coming from.  She was experiencing sudden nausea and
dizziness, but other than that she felt fine.  Well, except for a vague
feeling of something being wrong.

She heard the front door opening and Kasumi calling out.  Soun responded
with a big shout, and soon giggling could be heard from downstairs.  Ranma
smiled; Soun would be fussing over Kikuko for the next several minutes at
least.  She had plenty of time to get dressed.

Ranma flushed the toilet and got uncertainly to her feet.  She felt better,
although not far from throwing up again.  Ranma quickly brushed her teeth
and walked to her room.  She quickly put on sweater and some pants.  No
matter how long it had been since she'd worn a dress, Ranma wasn't going to
start wearing one tonight.

Ranma made her way downstairs to the family room.  Kasumi was smiling
indulgently at Soun while he continued to play with Kikuko.  Kikuko was
enjoying it as only a two-year-old could.

Kikuko finally saw her.  "Aunt Ranma!" She wiggled out of Soun's grasp and
ran over to her. 

Ranma smiled and scooped her up.  "Who's this? Do I know you?"

She giggled.  "I'm Ono Kikuko, Auntie!"

"Kikuko? Do I know a Kikuko?" She examined her niece's face closely.  "Who's
Kikuko?"

"I am! I am!" Kikuko loved this game.

Ranma screwed her face up thoughtfully.  "I don't know if I believe you.
You're not lying to me, are you?"

Kikuko clapped her hands.  "Ask the fish! Ask the fish!"

Ranma beamed.  "That's a good idea.  The fish know everything, don't they?"

Kikuko giggled again.

Kasumi spoke up, the indulgent smile still on her face.  "I'll start dinner
while the three of you play.  Call me if you need me."

Ranma nodded, then put Kikuko under one arm and carried her out into the
yard.  Kikuko screamed and laughed at the same time.  Soun joined them and
they played with the koi in the pond for a while.

All too soon, Kasumi called them to dinner.  It took a while to get Kikuko
settled - she tended to become overly active when she played with Ranma for
some reason - but soon they all had Kasumi's food in front of them.

Ranma smiled, eagerly anticipating the meal.  Kasumi's cooking was a
delight, from look to taste to smell.  Ranma breathed in the fragrance,
paled, and ran from the table to the kitchen.

She didn't have a lot left in her stomach after the previous incident, but
it was no less unpleasant.  She ran the water in the sink and rinsed out her
mouth.  Damn, she hated being sick.  That was that, Ranma decided.  Enough
with remaining female.  She'd finish the current shoot with Oh and turn down
the evening wear and take a nice long hot bath and go back to working out
eight hours a day.  Ranma had allowed herself to be thrown out of balance
for far too long; time to get back to basics.

"Ranma-kun, what's wrong?" Kasumi had the mothering voice down perfectly.
The right blend of sympathy, concern, and command.

Ranma grimaced.  "I'm sorry.  Nothing wrong with your cooking, Kasumi.  I've
just been sick."

"Really?" Kasumi came up and felt Ranma's forehead.  "What are the
symptoms?"

Ranma shook her head.  "I just get sick to my stomach and dizzy all of a
sudden.  I feel fine otherwise.  Well, mostly.  Just started today.  Don't
worry, Kasumi.  I'll be over this in a day.  Two days, tops.  There ain't a
virus in the world that...."

Ranma trailed off at Kasumi's expression.  She looked slightly pale herself.
She slowly lowered her hand and studied Ranma with an expression very
similar to shock.

Ranma stared at her.  "What is it, Kasumi?"

Kasumi seemed to be struggling with something.  Almost like... she was
afraid.  This worried Ranma.  She'd seen Kasumi look concerned, but never
afraid.

Ranma blinked at her.  "Tell me! What, have I got six months to live? What
is it?"

"Ranma-kun...." Kasumi's voice was tentative, another first.  "Have... have
you... been remaining female lately?"

"Uh... did I tell you I've been doing some modeling on the side?"

"Oh my, no.  When did this begin."

"A few weeks ago.  I was doing some brochures at a photography studio that
Nabiki recommended.  While I was there, this guy saw me and started using me
on some advertising he was shooting."

"Oh.  That's wonderful."  Despite her words, Kasumi looked concerned.  "But
why... for what reason..."

"Why did that make me stay female?"

Kasumi nodded.

"Well, he could tell what phase of my cycle I was in just by looking at me.
When we first met, he knew I was at the beginning of my cycle.  He told me
that the later in my cycle I was, the better I'd look for the camera."

"He told you this."

"Yes."

"A man."

"Yes."

"Ranma-kun... you lived with three women for three years, and in a woman's
dorm for several more years, right?"

"Uh, yeah."

"In all that time, could you ever tell what part of our cycle we were in
just by looking at us?"

Ranma felt a little flushed.  "Well... no.  I thought it was because I
didn't know what to look for."

"And this photographer did?"

"Well, yeah.  He's a professional."

"Ranma-kun... it's a myth.  There's no way you can whether a woman is
menstruating or not just by looking at her."

"You... you can't?  Are you sure?"

"I can have Tofu talk to you.  Or talk to Kentaro, he'll tell you the same
thing."

"But... but it's true!  I mean, the past few days, I've noticed it too."

"In other women?"

"In myself."

Kasumi frowned slightly and leaned forward, studying Ranma's face closely.
Because her face was so close to Ranma's, she could see Kasumi's face pale
slightly.  "You're right.  Your face is glowing."

Ranma smiled in relief.  "See?  That's why.  What's that all have to do with
my throwing up?"

Kasumi slowly turned walked over to the counter.  She picked up a towel and
began idly wiping the already-immaculate surface.  Ranma examined Kasumi;
she was deep in thought, and didn't even seem aware of what she was doing.

Finally, Kasumi turned to face her, the towel still in her hand.
"Ranma-kun, are you a woman?"

Ranma, despite herself, looked down and back up at Kasumi.  "Uh, yeah, right
at the moment, anyway."

"No I mean... are you... do you consider yourself primarily a man or a
woman?"

Ranma blinked.  "I, uh..." It was actually a question she'd been kind of
avoiding.  Despite her relationship with Kentaro, despite her plans to marry
him, despite the fact that she taught as a woman and spent almost all of her
time as a woman, there was still a large part of her that thought of herself
as a man.  That being a woman was a guise she assumed so that she could be
with the man she loved.  And since she had been a woman when she'd first
established a reputation for herself as a martial arts instructor, it was
logical to continue to teach in the dojo as a woman.

She had to admit that she was beginning to treat her male side as the curse,
and her female side as the norm.  Still, she was a guy.  The image she had
of herself when she was with Kentaro was that of a woman.  The image she had
of herself teaching students in the dojo was that of a woman.  The image she
had of herself when she was alone was that of a man.

Ranma wasn't willing to give up that last image.  She was a man.  She would
always be a man, no matter what.

Kasumi evidently saw the struggle on Ranma's face.  She sighed gently.
"You're still a man, aren't you?"

Ranma frowned slightly, not entirely comfortable with that statement either.
"I'm sort of half and half.  It's not like Kentaro doesn't know all of this
already." She smiled.  "You should have seen his face when I first walked
into his apartment as a man.  He-"

"Ranma-kun." Kasumi's voice cut smoothly into Ranma's attempt to deflect the
question.  "You have to decide, and soon.  Because you have a... condition
that's wholly female."

That caused Ranma a bit of alarm.  Something wrong with her female anatomy.
Ugh.  "I can make an appointment with my gynecologist.  What should I tell
him the problem is?"

Kasumi looked at her slightly incredulously.  She took a deep breath, walked
up to Ranma, gently grabbed her hands, and looked into her eyes.
"Ranma-kun..." Kasumi trailed off again, her nerve having apparently left
her.

Ranma had never seen Kasumi act this way.  It scared the hell out of her.
"What is it? I'm dying, right? I can turn male if it helps."

Kasumi squeezed her hands.  "Ranma-chan." She moved Ranma's hands so that
they rested on her stomach.  "You're pregnant."

Ranma studied Kasumi curiously.  "Really, Kasumi, you can tell me.  What's
wrong with me?"

Kasumi blinked.  She lifted one of her hands and passed it back and forth
over Ranma's eyes.  Ranma drew her head back, puzzled; what a strange thing
for Kasumi to do.

Kasumi leaned forward so that her face was centimeters away from Ranma's.
"You have to listen to me, Ranma-chan.  You have to hear me.  Are you paying
attention?"

Ranma furrowed her brow further.  "Of course."

"Good." Kasumi gently cupped Ranma's face in her hands.  "Ranma-chan, you
are pregnant.  You are going to have a baby.  Just like I had Kikuko.  Do
you follow that?"

Ranma nodded as much as she could.  "You had Kikuko.  I knew that."

Kasumi blew out what could only be a frustrated breath.  Ranma couldn't
figure out why.  "Ranma-chan, repeat after me.  'I, Ranma...'"

Ranma decided to humor her.  "I, Ranma..."

"...am..."

"...am..."

Kasumi's voice was full of hope.  "...pregnant."

Ranma waited a while.  "Go on, Kasumi, finish the sentence."

Kasumi dropped her head.  "Ranma-chan, you can't deny this.  You have to
deal with it.  It won't go away just because you try to ignore it."

Ranma was still puzzled by Kasumi's demeanor.  "Ignore what?"

Kasumi raised her head and shouted angrily into Ranma's face.  "Ranma,
you're pregnant!"

The force of Kasumi's anger, something Ranma had never, ever experienced
before, finally broke through the hastily-erected barriers in her mind.
"I'm pregnant?"

Kasumi's anger vanished as quickly as it had appeared.  "Yes, Ranma-chan.
Pregnant."

Ranma stared at Kasumi as her mind shut down.  She couldn't think, and the
world around her seemed to buzz slightly.  "Kasumi?"

Kasumi was now studying her closely.  "Yes?"

Ranma swallowed heavily.  "I don't feel so good."

Kasumi helped Ranma as she leaned over the sink once again.

***

Pregnant pregnant pregnant pregnant...

"Aunt Ranma, let's talk to the fish again!"

Ranma looked at her niece and flinched.

"Kikuko, Aunt Ranma isn't feeling well.  Leave her alone and go play with
your grandfather."

...pregnant pregnant pregnant pregnant...

"Doesn't Aunt Ranma like me anymore?" This said in a fearful voice.

"Aunt Ranma loves you, Kikuko.  She just needs to be by herself right now."

"Come here, Kikuko.  Grandfather's got a present for you."

...pregnant pregnant pregnant pregnant...

"Yeah!"

"Father, you didn't.  Not again."

"I keep telling all of my daughters: if only one of them would give me
another grandchild, I wouldn't spoil Kikuko so."

"Pregnant!"

Everyone stared at Ranma.  She looked wildly around, trying to figure out
who had just shouted.

Seeing Kikuko stare at her wide-eyed was too much.  Ranma fled the room, and
the house, running out into slowly-darkening streets.

Pregnant.  She was pregnant.

She felt her stomach.  It seemed as flat as ever.  Yet there was something
inside of her, growing, getting ready to shove her internal organs around as
it ate her from the inside...

Ranma shuddered.  Pregnant.

Not if she could help it.

It wouldn't take much.  A hot bath.  Quick, painless.  No surgery, no blood,
nothing.  Just a dip, and the collection of cells that were nothing more
than amoebas with ambition would cease to exist.  Even if they somehow
survived the actual transformation, they wouldn't survive long without the
support machinery.

That was the right thing, wasn't it? They weren't even married.  Kentaro was
still in school.  Once he finished, they'd need Ranma's income from the dojo
to support them while Kentaro worked as a resident, a pathetically
low-paying job.  Neither one of them had the time or the money for a child
right now.  Maybe later.

Maybe.

Ranma shuddered again.  Pregnant.  She was a man, she couldn't be pregnant.
Having babies was something women did.  It wasn't something Ranma ever, ever
considered herself doing.  Oh, there had been the occasional discussion,
which Ranma had approached as an intellectual exercise.  Getting pregnant
wasn't supposed to be a real possibility.  It just wasn't.

Pregnant.

Ranma slowed to a halt in front of a bathhouse.  She went inside and waited
impatiently in line.  Finally, she reached the counter.  "One, please."

The attendant looked at her with a bored expression.  "Fifteen thousand
yen."

Ranma fumbled the money out of her pocket and took the proffered marker.
She turned and ran to the women's entrance.  She'd have to plan it
carefully.  Dive into the bath on the women's side, swim underneath the
divider to the men's side.  Surface, wait five minutes, then take a cold
shower.  Hop over the wall to the women's side again.  Dry, get dressed,
leave.  She'd probably cause a bit of a ruckus, but that was all right.
She'd been a part of bathhouse disturbances before.

She stopped in front of the women's door, trembling.

Kentaro.

She had to tell him.  He'd want to know before she did anything.  Of course
he would agree and tell her to go ahead, but he'd get angry if she did this
without consulting him first.  He'd be right, too.

Ranma turned and tossed the marker back to the surprised attendant.  She ran
out into the street again and made her way to the train station.

***

Kentaro looked up from the collection of specimens he was cataloguing.
Sometimes being an intern meant he got to do interesting things, deal with
patients and help them with their problems.  Mostly, though, it meant he got
to do the drudgework no respectable doctor or nurse would be caught dead
doing.  Still, it needed to be done; he was performing a useful task.
That's what he kept telling himself, anyway.

He steeled and bent down again to his work.  He had several hours left on
his shift; it was too soon to be bored out of his skull.  He began humming a
song he'd heard Ranma and her adopted sisters singing once.

"Doctor Marumoto, dial 447.  Doctor Marumoto, 447."

It took Kentaro a few seconds to realize the page referred to him.  By
practice, even interns were called "Doctor" when paged over the intercom. It
didn't happen that often, so it still sent a thrill up his spine to hear
himself referred to that way.  It wouldn't be too much longer before he was
called that for real.

He knew that 447 was the extension of the front entrance receptionist.
Rather than call, he decided to go there himself and see what was needed.

Kentaro smiled when he saw Ranma.  He'd been hoping it was her.  She rarely
visited him at the hospital since he usually was very busy and hospitals
were never a place a person wanted to visit unless they had to.  He guessed
that Ranma was feeling slightly guilty for contriving to stay at the Tendo
home when Kasumi was cooking, and had come here to make it up to him.
"Ranma, you didn't have to come out here.  I understand that..."

His voice trailed off as Ranma looked up at him.  Her face was... strange.
Quiet.  Fearful.  Nervous.  Something was bothering her, very much so.

Kentaro led her away from the front desk.  "What's wrong?"

Ranma looked around.  "I'm thirsty.  Is there a place where I can get some
tea?"

Kentaro frowned at how edgy her voice was, but simply said, "This way." He
led her to the cafeteria.

He got her a cup of tea and a sandwich for himself, figuring he'd take this
as his lunch break.  They sat at a table in the middle of the relatively
crowded dining area.  Ranma, despite her earlier statement of thirst, simply
stared at her tea.  She continued to look a little afraid, and was clearly
working up the courage to tell him something.  Kentaro knew from long
experience that he should just wait her out, give her time to build her
courage and try not to push.  He ate his sandwich in silence, waiting.

"Marumoto!"

Kentaro turned to see Lee walking up.  "Whaddya need?"

Lee smiled ingratiatingly, which meant he was about to ask a favor.  "Say,
you don't want to hang around here tonight do you?"

Kentaro narrowed his eyes.  "And supposing I don't?"

"I'll work the rest of your shift, if you'll work for me this same time
tomorrow.  Made a date with this nice woman an hour ago." Lee clasped his
shoulder.  "Be a pal, eh?"

Kentaro frowned, then turned to Ranma.  "Is that all right with you? You,
uh, look like you need my company tonight."

Ranma nodded, still staring at her tea.

Kentaro looked back up at Lee.  "Okay.  I'm in the lab processing samples.
See Nurse Nakimoto after that."

Lee gave him a slight shake.  "Thanks!" He turned quickly and slammed into a
doctor carrying a tray.  The soup and salad on the tray went flying, with
most of the latter landing on Kentaro.

Lee, meanwhile, was turning very white.  "Doctor, I'm s-sorry."  The doctor
herself had escaped the collateral damage, but was still glaring at Lee.  "I
- I'll buy you another dinner."

"Yes, you will." Her tone managed to lower the temperature in the room to
just above freezing.  "Your name is?"

Lee was fumbling to answer as they walked away.

Kentaro chuckled as he brushed lettuce off his scrubs.  "I almost feel sorry
for him.  Irritating doctors is not a good way for an intern to get
noticed." He turned to find that he was talking to an empty chair.  Ranma's
tea was still there.  So was what had once been the soup, covering the table
and chair where Ranma had been just a moment ago.

Kentaro frowned and looked around.  Ranma was nowhere in sight.  The exit
had been the way Kentaro had been looking a moment ago, so Ranma had to
still be in the cafeteria.  Yet the cafeteria didn't have a lot of hiding
places, just bare tables and chairs.

By process of elimination, Kentaro looked up.

Ranma was clinging to the ceiling.  How, Kentaro had no idea.  There weren't
any obvious handholds, yet she appeared to be attached to it.  She had her
face pressed against the ceiling, and she was trembling.

"Ranma," he called softly.  "Please come down."

Ranma turned her head and looked down at him.  If she had seemed frightened
before, she looked terrified now.  She dropped from the ceiling, somehow
twisting to land well away from the table.  She looked around fearfully.

He walked up to her, beginning to feel frightened himself.  "Ranma, what's
wrong?"

"There's so much hot water around.  Soup, tea.  We have to be careful." She
looked into his eyes and grabbed his shirt.  "Get me out of here."

"Yes, Ranma." He led her slowly out of the cafeteria.  Ranma continued to
look around, evidently trying to see in all directions at once.

She began talking quietly, rapidly, fearfully.  "The first couple of times I
was splashed, I thought it was just a coincidence.  It could happen to
anyone.  Then it kept happening.  Over and over.  The pond.  The woman with
the ladle.  The swimming pool.  The canal.  Kasumi with the hose.  Any
excuse.  Water showed up everywhere.  No matter how much I guarded against
it, water.  It was always cold water, which was at least plausible if not
probable.  Then my mother showed up, and suddenly hot water started finding
ways of getting to me.  Even hot water.  It splashed me all the time."

Ranma turned and grabbed his shirt again.  Her eyes were wild, her voice
frantic.  "Do you understand? Even hot water! Even hot water found me!"

Kentaro grabbed her shoulders.  "Ranma, calm down! It's okay, there's no hot
water here."

Ranma looked up at the ceiling.  "What about pipes? They could burst.  Even
hot water found me.  What if the curse doesn't want me to be this way? What
if it's sending hot water my way to... to keep me from being the way I am?"

Kentaro shook his head, confused.  "Ranma, it's okay.  If you become a guy,
it doesn't matter.  I understand."

"No you don't! You don't understand." She shook him slightly.  "It isn't
just me! Not any more."

Kentaro stared at her, dumbfounded.

Ranma turned and began pulling him down the hallway.  "We have to get away
from the pipes.  From the pipes everywhere.  There's hot water all around
us.  Even hot water found me."

He followed her out of the hospital.  His mind was spinning, his stomach
churning.  Ranma was... if he understood her correctly, she was...

Something akin to fear washed over him.  And yet, he discovered that he was
smiling.  He squelched it all, the fear and the smile.  Too many other
things to deal with right now.

When they reached the parking lot, he stopped Ranma.  "Are you saying-"

"Yes!" She looked down at the ground.  "Does hot water flow in underground
pipes? It might.  Maybe there's an undiscovered geyser right underneath our
feet.  Hot water is everywhere."

"Ranma." Once again, he tried to control his own racing emotions.  Dealing
with Ranma's phobia was more important.  "Where can we go where there's no
hot water?"

"I don't know! Hot water is everywhere." He saw her think about it, though.
"Maybe the beach.  Lots of cold water there.  No hot water.  Just keep all
the tea kettles away.  That'll work."

Kentaro sighed and nodded.  That would do for a start.  He looked into her
eyes.  "Please, wait here and let me go inside and get my coat.  Okay?
Promise not to go anywhere?"

Ranma nodded, her eyes still wide.

Kentaro turned and hurried back into the hospital.  He looked once back over
his shoulder to see Ranma assume a ready position, turning herself in a
circle, waiting to be attacked by hot water.

Kentaro grimaced, and wondered briefly what the next few months were going
to be like before his mind balked at the thought and concentrated on getting
Ranma to the beach.

***

Ranma stood at the edge of the ocean, the water covering her ankles.  She
smelled the salt air, felt the cool mist that sprayed over her constantly,
and began to calm down.

She had never been so panicked in all her life.  Not in all the battles
she'd ever fought, not when battling Happosai or Cologne, never.  A little
afraid, maybe.  But never so caught up in the fear that it controlled her.

Why was she so afraid?

Ranma closed her eyes.  The hot soup, flying towards her.  The panic that
rose, the instinctive leap straight up, the overwhelming sense she got that
it was starting all over again, that suddenly the vague dread of water she'd
had when she'd first been cursed was going to turn into a full blown phobia.

Why was she so afraid?

She'd been about to do this herself.  Had been about to enter the bathhouse.
Something had stopped her, though.  The sense that she needed to tell
Kentaro. 

Ranma shuddered and forced herself to think it through more clearly.  It had
been more than that.  It had been the sense that what she was about to do
was wrong.  Not for any moral or ethical reasons.  But rather, because maybe
it was something she wanted to happen.

Ranma crouched suddenly and stared into the water.  Not much could be seen;
the night was dark, without a moon.  The soup flying towards her, the sudden
panic.  The panic... the fear that....

Why was she so afraid?

Ranma felt the tears running down her cheek.  She'd been afraid that her
child was about to die.  And she still feared for her child's life.

She wrapped her arms around herself and began to rock on her heels.

Kentaro crouched down beside her and put his arm around her shoulders.  "I
managed to find a couple of sleeping bags we can use.  We'll probably get
away with it tonight, but not for long.  Eventually someone will arrest us
for vagrancy.  We'll have to figure something better out."

Ranma nodded.

"Ranma, tell me what you're feeling."

"I am so scared."

"Scared of what?"

"Of..." Ranma swallowed.  "Of going through with this."

Kentaro's voice was soft and prodding.  "Why?"

"Because... I'm a guy.  Guys don't have babies."

Kentaro's voice sounded thoughtful.  "Guys don't have babies, but you want
to, which means you're not a guy, and that scares you.  Right?"

Ranma began shaking.  "It's slipping away.  The man I used to be.  I am my
father's son.  But I gave up the family name.  I fell in love with a man.
And now... now..."

"Ranma." Kentaro's voice sounded a little more firm.  "How are you different
from the 'man you used to be'?"

"He'd never put up with this.  He'd have jumped into the bath without a
second's thought.  Hell, if a man put a hand on him while he had a female
form, he'd have knocked that man halfway across Japan."

"I think I knew him." Kentaro started trailing one hand in the water.  "I
think I met him, once.  He was a person unable to accept the realities of
the situation he was in.  He was stubbornly refusing to listen to the advice
of those who knew him and loved him.  He was miserable and quite likely to
remain so for a long time.  I think all that happened to him is that he grew
up.  He stopped being stubborn, he stopped sulking.  He finally learned what
it meant to be the person he was.  He adapted himself, faced the world head
on instead of hiding from it.  He made quite a remarkable place for himself,
earning respect and accolades he'd never dreamed of before.  He simply
matured." 

Kentaro squeezed her tightly.  "He's still here, Ranma.  He always will be.
He wants this to happen.  It doesn't make him 'unmanly', whatever that
means.  I've seen him with children, and he likes them a lot, and I think
he's ready to raise one of his own, no matter what it takes to... produce
one."

Ranma shook her head.  "I don't know.  I... I guess that's the best way to
think about it for now."

"Give it time.  You have at least a few weeks to change your mind.  No
matter what you decide, I'll support it."

Ranma turned her head, suddenly remembering why she had gone to the hospital
in the first place.  "What do you think about it, Kentaro?"

Kentaro stared beyond her for a minute, thinking.  "I don't know.  My first
reaction is that this is... inconvenient.  It ties my stomach in knots.
Having a child terribly complicates our lives.  I'll be trying to find a job
at just about the same time the baby is due, which means I'll be very busy
trying to be a father and a new doctor at the same time."

Kentaro's face broke into a wide smile.  "My second and stronger reaction is
that this is wonderful.  I've always wanted children, and ever since we fell
in love, I've wanted you to be the one I have children with.  The thought of
our baby growing in you fills me with joy and anticipation."

Ranma looked into his eyes.  She saw love and happiness there, and it
sparked similar feelings in her.  She leaned forward and kissed him, and
this time the kiss was different, tender in a way she'd never experienced
before, and beautiful.

They broke off the kiss and looked at each other.  The emotions they felt
seemed to permeate the air, almost tangible.

After a couple of minutes, Kentaro broke the spell.  "My third reaction is
that this has to be something you want, Ranma.  If you're not ready to have
a child, then you shouldn't.  Don't feel obligated to have this baby solely
on my account.  That wouldn't be good for you or the baby.  I'm willing to
wait until you're ready, or adopt a child if you feel like this is something
you can't do.  All I ask is that you let me know before you act on a
decision."

Ranma nodded, more relieved by his words than she wanted to admit.  She
shook herself.  "I've been acting so stupidly.  Let's go home.  I'm probably
going to be extra alert on the way, and I'll probably turn off the hot water
when we get there, but we don't have to live like this."

Kentaro sighed.  "Most couples only have to worry about what to name the
baby.  We have to worry about clumsy food servers and old water pipes."

Ranma smiled.  "My world and welcome to it." Her smile faltered.  "It's
never been so... life-threatening before."

Kentaro nodded grimly.  "I understand." He smiled confidently.  "We'll work
around it.  We'll figure it out.  There's nothing you and I can't do
together."

She laughed and took his hand.  "How arrogant you are.  I don't know where
you learned to be that way."

Kentaro grinned and looked at her significantly.  "You don't?"

Ranma smiled back.  She looked over towards the sleeping bags.  "Let's
return those."

Kentaro nodded, and they moved towards them.  He frowned, thinking.  "How
did this happen? We were always so careful."

As someone who worked in a hospital, Kentaro was exposed to a lot of
different possible infections.  Since he'd started his internship, they'd
been a lot more careful about sex.  Usually.  "Remember the hospital roof?"

"Oh yeah."  Kentaro blushed slightly.  "That was stupid in more ways than
one.  But... I mean... that could have only led to pregnancy if you'd been a
woman for at least a few days before then.  And remained female ever since."

"Uh huh."

"You... you've been staying female?"

Ranma sighed.  "I've already been over this with Kasumi.  For some stupid
reason I believed a guy that I knew was an idiot.  I'll tell you about it
later.  I don't wanna go over it right now." 

"Oh.  Okay.  But... please, don't think of this in terms of being stupid."
Kentaro put his arm around her.  "I want to think of this as...
serendipitous."

Ranma frowned.  "Uh, well, I guess that's one way to look at it." They
reached the sleeping bags.  Ranma toed one of them.  "I'm glad to know what
you're feeling, Kentaro.  Would you mind, though, not mentioning it again
until I've decided?  I... need a little space."

Kentaro nodded and they each picked up a sleeping bag.  Ranma held hers in
the crook of her arm before she realized what she was doing.  She stared at
the bag, tried to put a baby's face on it, and shuddered.

And continued to watch carefully for hot water.

***

Ranma stood in the yard, punching a post over and over again.  She'd
canceled classes for the day, citing medical reasons.  That wasn't untrue,
either.  She'd gone to her gynecologist, and was waiting for an answer she
was pretty sure she knew already.

At one point, Akane came out onto the porch and waved merrily at her.  Ranma
slowed her punches to examine Akane.  Akane didn't seem to know.  Apparently
Kasumi had kept her observation to herself.  Ranma appreciated her
discretion.

Akane indicated that Ranma should continue.  Ranma picked up the pace again
as Akane went back inside.

The phone rang, and Ranma stopped punching, her heart beating.  Akane came
out onto the porch, a slightly puzzled expression on her face.  "There's a
man asking for 'Mister Ranma'."

Ranma nodded.  "My gynecologist."

Akane blinked.  "Really? Why does he call you 'Mister'?"

Ranma quirked a corner of her mouth.  "The first time he tried to give me an
examination, I freaked out a little bit.  I sent him flying across the room
and told him that I was a guy.  Fortunately, he took it in good humor, and
was actually very patient with me.  To this day, however, he calls me
'Mister Ranma'.  I let him because of what I did to him that first time."

Akane chuckled.  "Does he know your secret?"

Ranma panicked for a minute before realizing what Akane meant.  "Uh, no, I
haven't told him.  I probably should." She walked into the house to get the
phone before Akane could ask her what she meant.

The phone conversation was quick and to the point.  Ranma thanked the
doctor, made an appointment for another examination, and walked back out
into the yard.  She stood in front of the post again, trying to find the
motivation to strike it.  Unfortunately, her mind was still reeling.  Any
attempt to bring order to her thoughts died in the face of the reality of
her situation.

"Ranma, what's wrong?" Akane grabbed her shoulder and turned her so that she
could look into her eyes.  "You look so pale."

Ranma stared at Akane, the panic rising again and sweeping away the last of
her rationality.  She simply couldn't think or move.  She just stared at
Akane, her heart hammering in her chest.

Akane was looking more and more alarmed.  In a gesture very similar to
Kasumi's, Akane reached up and felt Ranma's forehead.  "Are you feeling
okay?"

Ranma began shaking slightly.  It was too much, it was all too much.  She
wanted to run and hide and hope the world would go away.  She might have, a
few years ago.  She was trying to react in a slightly more mature manner.

As she stared at Akane, trying to work up the courage to speak, she realized
that she wasn't succeeding terribly well.

Akane blew out a frustrated breath.  "I really hate it when you act this
way, Ranma.  Either tell me what's wrong or tell me to leave you alone.  If
you just stand there and stare at me, I'm gonna start beating on something,
and it's a toss-up right now between you and the post.  Leaning a little bit
towards you, I should add."

Ranma drew a deep breath.  "I'm pregnant."

Akane appeared to freeze in place.  Slowly, her face changed from the
slightly irritated expression she'd been using to a shocked, slack-jawed
look of disbelief.  "You're... pregnant?"

Ranma nodded miserably.

Akane looked down at Ranma's stomach, then back up at Ranma.  "How long?"

"Six weeks."

Akane still looked slightly dazed.  "You've been a woman for six weeks?"

Ranma nodded again.

"But... why?"

"Because of the modeling I was doing."

"And... and it never occurred to you to wonder why you never got your
period?"

"No."

"It never occurred to you that you might get pregnant if you stayed female?"

"No.  It never did."

Akane looked like she was about to scold Ranma, then shook herself and
leaned forward to peer down into Ranma's eyes.  "How do you feel about it?"

"I don't know.  I don't know what to think or feel or do." Ranma clamped
down before she could start to babble.

"Are... are you going to keep it?"

Ranma hung her head.  "I don't know."

Akane's eyes widened.  "What about hot water? What are you going to do about
hot water splashing you?"

Ranma sighed.  "I don't know."

"Wow." Akane put her hand under Ranma's chin and lifted her head.  "There's
a lot you need to think about, isn't there?"

Ranma nodded.

Akane smiled.  "Well, let's sit down to a cup of tea - " Akane broke off,
paused, then continued, "- to a glass of lemonade and talk about it, okay?"

Ranma smiled back, glad for Akane's understanding.  "Okay."

They went into the kitchen.  Akane quickly poured them each a glass, then
led Ranma to the dining room.  They sat, and Ranma stared into the depths of
the liquid in her glass, wondering when she would drink tea again.

"Does Kentaro know?" Akane's voice was gentle and probing.  Not quite up to
Kasumi's level of mastery, but certainly much improved from a few years ago.

"Yes."

"What does he think?"

"Well, you know him." Ranma took a sip to organize her thoughts.  "He's
always thought of me as a woman.  To him, it seems natural that I should
have children.  He's very excited.  He wants me to have this baby.  He did
make it clear that it was my choice, and that he would support whatever
decision I made."

"And have you made a decision?"

Ranma grimly shook her head.  "No.  I don't know.  I was all set to jump
into a hot bath.  Then I went to go talk to Kentaro, and some hot soup got
sent flying in my direction, and I freaked.  I still don't know why,
exactly, except I was afraid.  Afraid for..." Ranma trailed off, for some
reason unable to finish speaking her thoughts out loud.

Akane sipped her lemonade and looked at Ranma speculatively.  "I think it's
time I told you the difference between men and women."

Ranma lifted a corner of her mouth.  "I think I know that already."

"No you don't.  There are things you don't quite understand." Akane set her
lemonade on the table.  "A woman... when she's growing up and she learns
about her body, about how she's able to give birth, it changes her.  The
prospect of making a baby and bringing it out into the world to raise -
that's what makes being a woman special, and exciting.  A lot of her
personal identity is shaped by that, by the knowledge that her body allows
her to create life." Akane tilted her head.  "I'm making some
generalizations here, but I think it's pretty true for most women.  I know
it's true for me.  Part of what I look for in a man is the potential to be a
good father."

Ranma thought that over.  She'd never thought about Kentaro's parenting
abilities.  Or her own, for that matter.  "Would I have made a good father?"

"Of course." Akane stared at Ranma for a second, then shook her head and
continued.  "I don't think you've ever seriously considered the ultimate
consequences of having a woman's body.  I think you need to come to terms
with that." Akane leaned forward to grab Ranma's hand.  "To me, being
pregnant is wonderful and exciting.  I want to someday experience what
you're feeling.  Truth be told, I'm a little envious."

Ranma blinked.  That someone would envy her for being pregnant hadn't
occurred to her.

Akane sighed and sat back.  "I'm not saying that you should keep the baby.
That's your choice.  I'm only saying that having children is something many
women look forward to, and that if you are going to live as a woman you need
to decide if that's something you want to do." Akane smiled.  "If you do
decide to keep it, I'll be here to help.  In fact, I'd look forward to
helping you through it."

Ranma smiled.  "Well, it's good to know that you'll be there to help."

Akane nodded emphatically said no more.

Silence descended as Ranma's mind once again went around in circles.  Ranma
looked down at her lemonade.  The natural consequence of choosing to live as
a woman, Akane had said.  Creating life, something that made women unique
from men, a special gift.  Ranma tried to see it in those terms.  It was
quite difficult.  All she could think about was a parasite invading her
body, stealing her resources, getting ready to inflict pain and severely
damage her body.

Yet, it was her parasite.  For some reason, that made all the difference in
the world.

Ranma shuddered - she'd been shuddering a lot lately, she realized - and
looked up at Akane.  Akane was watching her steadily, quietly, a look of
complete understanding and acceptance on her face.  Akane had changed a lot.
Ranma found herself liking this Akane a lot.  In many ways, Akane reminded
her of Kentaro.  And that was good.  Ranma smiled at her own bias.

Akane smiled back, misinterpreting Ranma's expression.  "Does this mean
you're going to keep it?"

The smile quickly fled Ranma's face.  "I... I still don't know." Ranma drew
a deep breath.  "There's one more person I have to tell.  Well, two people,
but one who's going to react more strongly than the other."

Akane turned grim.  "Your mother."

Ranma closed her eyes.  "God help me, yes.  My mother."

***

Kentaro was doing his best to keep his hand from being squeezed to a pulp.
He wasn't much succeeding.

The dinner he and Ranma had planned with her parents was ostensibly to
discuss setting a wedding date.  Nodoka had agreed to allow the wedding,
with the proviso that Ranma keep her newly-adopted family name.  It had been
a major concession, one made only after several painful discussions between
Ranma and her mother.  Even now, her attitude towards Kentaro had only
softened slightly. 

The real reason for the dinner, of course, was to tell Nodoka and Genma
about Ranma's condition.  The closer they approached the Saotome home, the
tighter Ranma's grip on Kentaro's hand became.  Kentaro's gentle efforts to
calm Ranma down weren't succeeding much.

The Saotome home was much smaller than the Tendo home.  The Saotomes were
actually quite poor, with little in the way of assets.  They had only
managed to hang on to the house because of Nodoka's sheer tenacity and
unwillingness to be driven from her home.

They reached the front door.  Ranma stood in front of it, staring at it.
Kentaro would normally have given her time to work up her courage, but he
was in serious pain.  Besides, he had a feeling she needed a little push
right about now.  He reached over and opened the door.  Ranma shot him a
surprised look, then pulled him in.

She released his hand as her mother approached.  They both bowed as Ranma
mumbled a greeting.

Nodoka beamed and bowed back.  "Ah, Son, it is always a pleasure to see
you." She looked over at Kentaro.  Her smile didn't fade, to her credit,
although it seemed a little forced now.  It was still a major improvement
for her.  "Kentaro-kun, it's been a long time since we've seen you.  I'm
glad you found time to visit."

Kentaro smiled back, internally wincing at the implied criticism.  This was
not going to be fun.

Nodoka led them to the dining room.  Dinner was already on the table, and
they fell to it after greeting Genma.  Ranma and Genma dug into the food
with a will.  Nodoka was an excellent cook, and both Ranma and Genma had a
particular affinity towards eating.  Kentaro had never tried to teach Ranma
better eating manners, instead trying to set an example himself.  It worked
for the most part, and Ranma ate in a relatively civilized manner most of
the time.  However, when she was with her father, she reverted to her old
form.  Food was shoveled into their respective mouths at a rapid rate, and
more food was added to their plates as quickly as they could grab it off the
serving dishes.  Sometimes they fought brief but vicious battles with their
chopsticks over a particular morsel.

Kentaro nearly chuckled after one such battle nearly came to blows.  He
caught Nodoka's eye as she smiled at him, sharing his amusement, nothing
forced this time.

Finally Ranma sighed and sat back, covering her stomach with her hand.
Genma soon did likewise, and he turned to Nodoka.  "An excellent meal as
always."

Nodoka nodded serenely.  Kentaro tried to examine her expression
surreptitiously, wondering if he could ascertain the state of their
relationship.  Ranma had told him that they lived in separate rooms in the
Saotome home, but that was the only clue she had to how well they were
getting along.  Kentaro decided that Nodoka was taking Genma's compliment
about her cooking at face value, and was even slightly pleased.  Other than
that, he couldn't read anything more into her reaction.

He helped as the family cleared off the table.  A few quiet moments were
spent in the Saotome kitchen cleaning up after dinner.  Ranma somehow
managed to stay away from the sink without being obvious about it.  Nodoka
finally indicated that they had done enough, and they retired to the back
porch, looking out into the small rock garden.

Kentaro spent a few moments examining it.  He'd never had a chance to really
look at it before, but as Ranma was building up her courage again, he found
that he had plenty of time.  "This is quite lovely.  You must be an expert
at this kind of gardening."

Nodoka smiled.  "I am no expert.  My husband, however, has many talents,
some of which surprise me.  This is his work, and it is indeed lovely."

Kentaro glanced at Nodoka and Genma out of the corner of his eye.  They were
both staring into the yard, but he could almost feel a current of
electricity flow between them at Nodoka's words.  Kentaro smiled internally;
perhaps there was hope for their relationship after all.

After a minute, Genma cleared his throat.  "What is it you wished to
discuss, Ranma? Have you and Kentaro set a date?"

Ranma sighed, audibly distressed.  Both of her parents picked up on it, and
turned to look at her with a bit of alarm.

Ranma looked back and forth between them before settling her gaze on Nodoka.
"Mother."

Nodoka lifted her eyebrows.  "Yes, Son?"

Ranma flinched.  "Mother.  Father.  I have news."

Nodoka was looking more and more concerned.  "What is it, Ranma? Tell me,
please."

"Mother.  I apologize.  I've been careless.  I... we...." She clamped her
mouth shut, then blurted, "I'm pregnant."

Kentaro carefully examined Nodoka and Genma.  Genma's eyes grew wide, and he
looked at Nodoka.  Nodoka was staring at Ranma, her face a cold mask.

Kentaro watched the Saotome family tableau as it continued for several
minutes.  Ranma's face was full of fear.  Genma looked wary and seemed
poised for action, although Kentaro couldn't guess what he might be
preparing for.  Nodoka was still staring coldly at Ranma.

Kentaro finally understood what deafening silence sounded like.  It was not
pleasant.

Nodoka abruptly stood up and walked out into the rock garden, her geta
disrupting the patterns in the sand.  She came to a halt in the center of
garden and appeared to be examining it closely.  Kentaro had no idea what
she was looking for.

Nodoka turned around and surveyed the people standing on the porch.  Her
expression was as coldly formal as her voice when she addressed Ranma.  "You
are no longer my son."

Ranma gasped.  Genma surged to his feet.  "Nodoka!"

The look Nodoka gave Genma was enough to cause him take a step back.  "This
is your fault, Genma.  You did this to my son.  I entrusted you with the
most precious thing our family had.  I should have known better.  Like every
Saotome before you, you mistreated what was valuable and thought nothing of
the consequences of your actions.  What we have left - the house, the sword
- we have only because I have held onto them.  I have no doubt that if I had
let you take the sword, all that would remain of it would be a pawn ticket."
Nodoka's voice was shaking.  "My greatest fear during the sixteen years my
son was gone from my life was that you had somehow lost him.  Today, that
fear has been realized."

"Dammit, Nodoka, that's not true.  He's here now.  Don't do this to him,
don't do this to us."

"Do what? You're the one who's done it.  Did you ever have any regrets, feel
any remorse for your actions? You gave him his fear of cats, and I have
never seen you apologize for that.  You took him to those... those pools,
and lost him there, and have shown no regrets at all.  What kind of creature
are you?"

Genma was breathing heavily.  He spoke in a husky voice.  "Do you truly
think that I am without all feeling? Do you think that a day goes by that I
do not wish I had never taken him to China? Do you know that, sometimes, I
lay awake at night and wish that I had never taken him away from you, that I
had been content with the life we led here?" Genma swung his fist and hit
one of the posts that supported the porch.  "Why do you think it is that I
did not cure myself of my curse when I had the chance? As long as Ranma
suffers from my carelessness, I will as well.  It is precious little
comfort, I know, but it is all I have to give."

Genma straightened a little and glared at Nodoka.  "It is more than you have
ever given him, Nodoka.  You have barely tolerated his current form, and you
have treated his fiancee disgracefully.  Did you see the fear on his face?
How does it feel to know that your son is afraid of you?"

Nodoka stood upright, but Kentaro had the feeling that she would crumple at
a touch.  She closed her eyes, and spoke in almost a sob.  "It feels
horrible.  I want to give my son the love he needs and wants from me.  I
need to give him that love.  But I cannot.  Not like this.  It is too much."
She bowed her head.  "May my ancestors forgive me.  I cannot accept Ranma as
my son."

Genma took a step towards her.  "Nodoka-"

"Enough!" Nodoka brought her head up with a snap and glared at Genma.  "I
have spoken.  My decision is final." She walked out of the garden, across
the porch, and into the house.

Kentaro stood up and walked over to Ranma.  She was staring at the space her
mother had occupied in the garden only a moment ago.  Her face was frozen in
shock and horror.  Kentaro reached down and shook her shoulder a little, but
was unable to move her.  She seemed to be carved out of stone.

Kentaro looked at Genma in despair.  Genma looked back at him, the sorrow
etched deeply into his face.  He looked down at Ranma, and began to move
towards her.

He stopped as Nodoka came back out onto the porch.  She was holding a sword,
the blade catching the light from the setting sun and reflecting it
dangerously.  She walked towards Kentaro, the blade pointed at his neck.
Kentaro blanched but stood his ground.  If it came down to it, he could
disarm her easily.  But he waited to see what she was going to do, wondering
how far gone she was in her anger.

Nodoka stopped in front of him, the tip of the sword a centimeter away from
his chin.  Her eyes bored into his with grim determination.  Kentaro felt
every bit of the iron will this woman had, and was daunted.

She spoke in a threatening voice.  "If you do not marry my daughter, I will
expect you to commit seppuku for the disgrace you have caused my family.  Do
you understand?"

Kentaro blinked once, deliberately.  He ran the words through his brain a
few more times to be sure that he did, indeed, understand them.  When he was
almost certain he had it right, he spoke in a cautious voice.  "It has
always been my intention to marry... your daughter.  We thought that perhaps
two months from tomorrow would be a good day.  With your permission."

"That is acceptable." Nodoka lowered the blade and held it to the side.
Genma reached over and took it from her.  Nodoka glanced at him, giving him
an appraising look that was not hostile, only thoughtful.  She turned away
and walked around Kentaro.  She reached down and took Ranma's hands.  "Come,
my daughter.  There is much we need to discuss.  While I do not expect you
to assume the role of wife the same way I did, there are perhaps a few
things I can tell you about being a mother that you may find helpful."

Ranma gaped at her mother, at a loss for words as usual.  Nodoka smiled at
her and pulled on her hands.  Ranma rose to her feet, looked down at her
hands being held by Nodoka, and back up.  A smile began to form on Ranma's
face, growing wider and showing more relief and happiness as the seconds
went by.  Nodoka led her into the house, and Kentaro was almost certain that
both women had tears in their eyes.

Kentaro nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand clasp his
shoulder.  "Well, m'boy, it seems I get to call you 'Son'.  I don't know how
much Ranma has told you about our family, but there are a few things I can
tell you about that you may find useful.  Ranma and her mother are more
alike than either one of them realize." Kentaro heard Genma chuckle
ruefully.  "If you can avoid the same mistakes I made, you'll find that life
in the Saotome family can be pretty good."

Kentaro turned and looked into Genma's huge smile.  Genma was showing no
small measure of relief himself, and Kentaro finally decided he could relax
as well.  He grinned.  "I'd like to hear anything you have to say,
Father-in-law.  I have the feeling I'm going to need all the help I can
get."

Genma snorted in amusement.  "You're a wise boy." Genma held up the sword.
"First lesson: know where this is at all times.  It could save your life."

Kentaro laughed, and Genma joined him.  Kentaro felt something beginning,
and rejoiced.

***

Ranma stared at the ground as they left her parents' house.  She had never,
ever been on such an emotional roller-coaster ride as she had been tonight.
Given her tumultuous life, that was saying something.

She felt Kentaro's eyes on her.  His voice was gentle and probing.  Everyone
had been gentle and probing.  "How are you feeling?"

She turned her head and looked up at him as they walked.  "Better.  Good, in
fact."

This clearly surprised Kentaro.  "Oh.  How did it go with your mother?"

"Strange." Her mother's attitude had changed completely.  It was hard to pin
down, exactly, but her mother had treated her like... an equal.  Ranma
smiled a bit about what that implied about her other gender.  "She told me
lots of stuff about being pregnant, and about giving birth, and about caring
for an infant.  She wants to come over to the Tendo home and help me prepare
a nursery.  And, I think, tell me more about being a mother."

"So... she's accepted your female form?"

"More than that.  I am a woman to her, now.  I think she'd actually feel
uncomfortable if I became a guy in her presence."

Kentaro was silent for a moment, considering.  "I guess that's the best we
can hope for.  It's quite nice of her, in a way.  She couldn't deal with the
fact that her son was about to give birth, so she changed him into her
daughter."

Ranma shook her head.  "Back when Herb locked me in my female form, I used
the phrase, 'I am my father's son' like a litany.  It was a reminder of who
I had been, and who I hoped to be someday.  Even if Pop and I had a bit of a
falling out for a while, the phrase was still important.  Now, I've got a
new litany.  I am my mother's daughter.  That's the part of me that's
pregnant, that's about to marry a man." Ranma shrugged.  "It's kinda funny."

Kentaro tilted his head.  "So which litany is true?"

"Both.  Neither.  I don't know." Ranma smiled, the relief of realization
spreading through her.  "I'm just me.  Akane told me a little about what
it's like to grow up as a woman.  I never had that, and I lost a lot of the
things that were instilled in me growing up as a man.  I've had a lot of
stuff ripped from my mind, and all that's left is the core of who I am.  And
that core doesn't have a gender, really.  Just me.  Just Ranma.  At long
last, I'm completely content with who and what I am."

"Really?" Kentaro sounded relieved himself, with just a touch of wariness.
"And... do I fit in there?"

"Of course." Ranma reached over to take his hand.  "The whole of who I am
loves you, Kentaro."

"Does this mean that you're keeping the baby?"

"Yes." Ranma smiled.  "You were right; I want children.  That means bearing
them myself.  It's part of who I am now, that ability to create life that
Akane was going on and on about."

Kentaro let out a breath.  "You've made me very happy, Ranma." He stopped
and gathered her in his arms, giving her a gentle hug.

Ranma chuckled even as she accepted the hug.  "I'm not made out of china.  I
still plan to train until my doctor tells me to stop.  I'll still be able to
beat you to a bloody pulp any time I feel like it.  Don't forget that."

Kentaro laughed and separated himself.  "Do you have your mother's sword
with you?"

Ranma blinked.  "Uh, no.  She still has it.  Why?"

"Just checking." He bent forward and kissed her.  "I love you, Ranma."

Ranma decided words were not enough.  She kept her demonstrations to a
minimum, since she and Kentaro were in the middle of the street, but they
were enough to leave him breathless.

---

Ranma adjusted her position slightly as she leafed through the newspaper.
It made no difference whatsoever; everything ached.

Kentaro walked into the room, holding a glass.  "Would you like some
lemondade?"

"No.  I'll have to go to the bathroom three minutes after I drink it."
Still, she was thirsty.  She took the glass and drank half its contents in
one go.

Kentaro sat in a chair opposite the couch Ranma was lying on.  "How are you
feeling?"

Carefully, Ranma reached over and set the glass on the table.  "Remind me to
punch Akane the next time I see her.  Wonderful and exciting, she said.
There ain't nothing wonderful and exciting about it all."

"You don't really mean that, do you?"

"Try me.  She's second on my list, right after you.  Look at what you did to
my feet!"  Ranma pointed.

Kentaro stood up, knelt next to the couch, and began massaging her feet.
"It'll be over soon."

"Sure, after what everyone describes as hours of torture."  Ranma sighed and
turned the page.  "Look at this.  I was almost happy back then."

Kentaro craned his head.  "What is that?"

"The last advertising shoot I did.  I was only five months back along and Oh
finagled a maternity wear contract out of someone.  In his own way, he was
being nice."

"He wasn't upset when you told him you were done modeling?"

"He was expecting it.  From what I gather, to him having a kid is the end of
any model's career.  This shoot was his 'going away' present to me."

"May I?"  Kentaro took the insert from Ranma.  "Wow.  You do look
different."

"It's the makeup.  And I'm here to tell you I'm never wearing it again."

Kentaro smiled.  "Not even when you wear a kimono?"

"I ain't never wearing a kimono again, buster, get that idea out of your
head."

"Can't blame a guy for trying," Kentaro said mildly.  "Although I have to
admit, I'll always think you look best in a gi."

"Really?"

"Yes.  When I first saw you working out in a gi... I think that's when I
fell in love with you."

Ranma snorted but couldn't help smiling.  "If this is your way of trying to
distract me from the backaches, it's not working at all."

"Want me to give you a massage?"

"It's too much trouble to turn over."  Ranma shifted again.  "I gotta tell
you, I just want this to be over."

"Can't wait to see our baby?"

"Can't wait until I can start working out full time again.  This has got to
be the worst shape I've ever been in.  I-"  Ranma ground to a halt.

Kentaro looked at her, evidently waiting for her to finish before prompting,
"You what?"

Ranma looked at Kentaro, her eyes wide.  Then she motioned.  "Come here a
sec."

Kentaro stood up and took a step nearer to her.

She punched him in the groin, not ungently.  "This is what this feels like."

Kentaro staggered backwards, dropped to his knees.  He blinked through tears
and said, "Are you having a contraction?"

Ranma begrudgingly gave Kentaro points for understanding her meaning.  "I
sure as hell hope so.  Let's go see."

Ponderously Ranma rose to her feet.  Kentaro quickly went to her side and
took her arm.  "I'm here."

"You always are," Ranma found herself saying.  "You ready for this?"

Kentaro flashed her a grin.  "I've been ready for the past eight months.
I've been ready ever since I met you.  I can't even begin to tell you how
excited I am."

"Good."  Ranma felt a warm glow that had nothing to do with the pregnancy.
With her thumb she felt the ring on her left hand and drew strength from it.