Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma and Akane - A Saiyan Story ❯ The Reunion of the Fated Mates ( Chapter 5 )

Ranma and Akane - A Saiyan Story

A Ranma/DBZ Crossover Fan Fiction

By Michael Ivins

 

I don't own Ranma, DBZ or AMG. I wish I did.

 

This story begins before the start of either anime or manga for Ranma and DBZ before the destruction of planet Vegeta. I'm not really sure of the timeline for AMG. To be truthful you won't see any of the DBZ cast, I just want to make Ranma and Akane both Saiyans. The characters will speak of the DBZ anime and Manga.

 

Chapter 5

Reunion of the Fated Mates

 

In the dojo at the Tendo home Akane was performing katas. Her mind wasn't really on what she was doing, so it was a good thing that the kata she was doing was one she was so familiar with that she didn't need to think about it.

 

The black haired girl was 16 years old. She was as tall as her sister, Kasumi and might grow taller still. While her face was as pretty as her sisters her athletic build and warrior's carriage suggested a tomboyish attitude.

 

The other girls still studied the Art in a fairly indifferent fashion. For Nabiki and Kasumi martial arts practice was a good way to keep trim and fit. Akane was the only daughter who took it seriously. She was a martial arts prodigy. Any technique she was shown she would quickly master and even improve upon.

 

In order to keep his youngest challenged, Tendo Soun had been forced to invite other masters to come visit and teach. While the story given was that the visitors were there to teach classes in the dojo, it was really to keep Akane working and learning.

 

There were side effects to all of this. The dojo was very active in teaching the Art. In the Anything Goes style there was a solid core of sound martial arts moves. When the perverted techniques created by master Happosai were eliminated, the style actually became respectable. As more techniques from other schools came to be joined into the style it became even more sought after by students.

 

The school was prosperous and Soun was not allowed to fall into his depression and grief after the death of Kimiko, his first wife. With his daughters helping to push him, Soun married Saotome Nodoka's younger sister Eiko a year and a half later.

 

Because of those differences from the main timeline, Kasumi was not a substitute mother for his sisters. With Eiko-mama taking that job, the eldest daughter was a student at college in the pre-med program. Ono Tofu was Kasumi's boyfriend and they dated regularly.

 

Nabiki was taking classes that emphasized math, sciences and economics. She was pretty sure that she wanted to get into business. She was helping out by keeping the books for the prosperous dojo. Without the need to earn money by blackmail, information brokering, gambling and other such endeavors, she became a notorious snoop and gossip.

 

Akane was having trouble with boys. She didn't hate boys, but they were being a problem. Upperclassman Kuno was an obnoxious twit who Akane wouldn't go on a date with under any circumstances. She didn't object to boys in general, but did strenuously object to Kuno in particular. The kendo champion misinterpreted her reaction as having to do with only being able to respect a boy who could defeat her in martial arts battle. So he made his speech that the only boys allowed to date her were the ones able to beat her in a fight.

 

Akane had read statistics and she knew that not all of the male population of Furinkan was made up of perverts. Very likely there were the usual percentages of jocks, nerds, perverts and decent guys. The problem was that after Kuno's little speech, none of the decent guys would dare to approach her. It was frustrating.

 

She was beginning to think the only way she would meet a nice boy was by going outside of the school population. Maybe she could start going to events at other schools or something.

 

A voice interrupted her musings. “Akane?”

 

The dark haired girl stopped her kata and looked at the door of the dojo. There stood a pretty, petite auburn haired woman in the early part of middle age. The woman was wearing a floral print kimono. That was odd, Eiko-mama often favored a more casual form of dress. Something must be up.

 

“Yes, mama?”

 

The small woman smiled at her stepdaughter. “Your father has called a family meeting. From what he let slip I gather someone is coming to visit but he won't say who. It is sufficiently important that my sister Nodoka is coming over.”

 

“Auntie No-Chan?” Make no mistake, Akane loved her aunt, but there were times… “She's not going to bring the katana, is she?”

 

Eiko shrugged. “Probably. She is the Saotome clan head and feels it is her duty to carry the family honor blade.”

 

The dark haired girl sighed. Well, there was no help for it. Someone had once told Akane that all families have at least one relative who is considered odd by the rest of the family. The time to worry was when the odd family member was the only normal person in the family.

 

The dark haired girl shrugged and told her step mother, “I'll be there as soon as I shower.”

 

As Akane walked along the covered walkway that connected the dojo to the house she noticed the heavy looking gray sky. It looked like it was going to be a gloomy, rainy day. At least the rain had held off long enough for the girl to finish her morning jog.

 

When Akane came down dressed in a dark skirt and yellow blouse she found the family gathered in the living room. In addition to Tendo Soun and Eiko, her sisters and her step brother Yoshi (from Eiko's first marriage). Nodoka was sitting there, sipping tea, her silk wrapped katana leaning against the couch by her leg.

 

Soun smiled at his family. He felt that he had been truly blessed. He cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. “Good morning, everyone. You will be wondering why I called this meeting and why I asked Nodoka to come as well. What I have to tell you concerns the Saotome family as well as the Tendos.”

 

“All of you should know about the training trip Nodoka's two children have been on with my old friend, Genma, her husband. The time has come to tell you of an agreement that Genma and I reached sixteen years ago. That was that Ranma would become the fiancé of one of my daughters and eventually be married. Understand that this was before I had married Eiko, making Ranma your cousin.”

 

Kasumi frowned. “Father are you considering going ahead with this arrangement?”

 

The Tendo patriarch nodded. “I checked the laws regarding it. Ranma is your cousin by marriage rather than by blood and he is adopted. A marriage between him and one of you girls would be legal.”

 

Nabiki protested, “None of us has seen Ranma since he was five. He seemed a nice enough kid at the time, but that doesn't mean I want to be married to him.”

 

Soun nodded. “I understand that. I also know that at age 16, Ranma and Akane are too young to be married yet. Nabiki is too young as well. What we propose is that you girls meet with Ranma when he gets here and get to know him. When you have time to appreciate him you and he can decide which of you will be his fiancé.”

 

With a thoughtful expression, Kasumi said, “Sixteen seems rather young to me. Younger men bore me.”

 

In a likewise pensive tone, Nabiki said, “I remember Ranma as being a cute little kid. Does he still look cute?”

 

Soun smiled, “You can judge for yourself. He and Genma are coming here today.”

 

Akane seemed to be staring off into space. She thought, “I'll be happy if he's not a pervert like all the boys who chase me at school.” She couldn't really tell from the letters she gotten from him. From what he had written she felt like something that had been missing was about to be returned.

 

Walking through the rainy streets of Nerima was an odd trio. A beautiful redheaded girl with her hair in a pigtail walked beside a brunette who wore her heir in a loose ponytail. Behind them a panda followed, walking upright on his hind legs.

 

The tall redhead had a sullen expression on her face. “You arranged a marriage between me and one of Uncle Soun's girls?”

 

“Since they're his cousins, is that even legal?” Ukyo demanded.

 

The panda held up a sign, “The girls weren't his cousins at the time.” He flipped the sign and they read, “Since Ranma's adopted, it's legal.”

 

The redhead grunted then said, “I haven't even seen any of them since I was a little kid. How do you know I'll even like one of them or that one of them will like me? The only one I know anything about is Akane and that's just from reading her letters.” He really wanted to meet the girl he had been corresponding with all of those years but feared how she would react to her curse.

 

A new sign said, “That's why we're going to meet them.”

 

Ranma shook her head. “Not that I object to the idea of having a girlfriend, but that's the most I'm going to agree to. I'm too young to get married.”

 

Ukyo glared at the panda and asked, “Hey Genma, did you arrange any marriages for me?”

 

The panda was looking distinctly uncomfortable. His next sign said, “I arranged those in moments of weakness.”

 

“In other words, when you were drunk.” The brunette scowled. “I can't believe you. Still, considering how I came to be traveling with you before Mom adopted me, I guess it's perfectly in character for you to do crap like that.”

 

The girl stood with hands on hips and declared loudly, “Get this straight! I choose who I marry. And it won't be until after I meet the guy and at least go on a few dates with him. This isn't the fifteenth century.”

 

“You haven't been selling us for food again have you?” Ranma wanted to know.

 

The sign said, “I haven't done that in years.”

 

Ukyo growled, “You better not. Remember what we did to you the last time we caught you doing that?”

 

The panda shuddered. His children were scary.

 

When they turned and continued walking down the street, Ranma sighed. “When the Tendo girls find out I have a sex changing curse, I bet they won't want to have anything to do with me. It's not like I wasn't enough of a freak before. At least I looked more or less normal.”

 

Ukyo patted the redhead on the shoulder. “Come on bro, you're a good person. People can tell. Even if you don't end up with one of the Tendo girls, you'll find someone.”

 

The taller girl shook her head. “Ucchan, you're supposed to call me `sis' when I'm in this form. People tend to look at you funny if they hear you call me `bro' when I look like this.”

 

Ukyo looked around and noticed that they were the target of more than a few stares. She didn't think it had anything to do with the form of address she was using with her sibling. She shouted, “Haven't you ever seen a pet panda before?”

 

Most of the people who had been staring turned back to whatever they had been doing before. The brunette glared a bit more before falling into step with her sister.

 

“I'm sorry Ranma,” Ukyo apologized. “I just forgot, that's all.”

 

“It's Ok, sis. I forget it too sometimes.” Ranma sighed again. “It would have been easier if I'd been cursed to change into a plain or even an ugly girl. When I look like this people get freaked it I act like a guy. Though probably not as freaked as they would be if they saw us flying.”

 

The trio trudged on through the rain, getting  thoroughly soaked. Ranma reflected on her situation. She would likely need to dry off before getting hot water. Otherwise the water soaking her clothes would change her back right away. She wondered how effective an umbrella would be. That was something to think about for later.

 

            ;     At the Tendo home anticipation was running high. The family had finished lunch and Kasumi was in the kitchen helping out Eiko. It was at that moment that the doorbell rang and Soun rushed to answer it with Nabiki on his heels. The middle sister was wearing a kimono, hoping to make a good impression on Ranma.

 

            ;     A moment later Soun came running back into the living room. When he arrived he turned and spread his arms in a protective gesture with the women of the house behind him.  It wasn't long before the rest of the family knew what he was protecting them against.

 

  Into the room walked what had to be one of the most beautiful women any of the people in the living room had ever seen, including TV and magazines. The fact that her scarlet locks were plastered to her skull from the rain didn't detract from her beauty. It might be fortunate that Soun was the only man in the room because the red silk of the young woman's shirt was clinging tightly to the shape of her ample bosom.

 

By her side there was another young woman. In any other company this brunette would have been considered beautiful, but next to the redhead, she looked merely pretty, almost plain. The brunette wore a tight blue leggings that showed off the shape of her legs and a blue shirt. Over the shirt she had a bandolier of what appeared to be small spatulas.

 

Following the girls was a giant panda walking on his hind legs. Even stranger was the fact that the animal was holding a sign that said, “Hello.”

 

The redhead called out, “Everybody, please calm down. The panda is not a wild animal. He is no threat to you.”

 

Nodoka stepped forward and said, “Ukyo, is that you?”

 

The brunette rushed up to Nodoka and enveloped her in a hug. “Yes, it's me, Mom.”

 

After disengaging from the hug, the red haired mother took a step back and surveyed her adopted daughter. “What's happened since I saw you last? You're much taller and much more… womanly.”

 

Ukyo laughed at that. “There's a long story behind that.”

 

Frowning, Nodoka asked, “But you were supposed to be coming here with Ranma and Genma. Where are they? Who is this lovely young lady accompanying you? Where is Genma?”

The girl looked a little embarrassed. “I'm afraid that's an even longer story. It would be easier to just demonstrate. Could we get some towels?”

 

Eiko and Kasumi came in from the kitchen. The caught the tail end of the conversation and offered, “You could go to the furo to warm up.”

 

The red haired girl said, “For now we just need to dry off. It would be helpful if you had some hot water handy. I'd show you now but we're soaked and it wouldn't work too well.”

 

Kasumi brought some towels from the laundry and the girls started drying off. The panda went off in the direction of the furo. She asked, “Where's the panda going?”

 

The taller girl said, “He's gone to the furo.” The eldest daughter blinked her eyes. The two humans turned down the use of the bath to warm up but the animal accepted the invitation? This day going from strange to positively freaky.

 

When the two girls had sufficiently got the water out of their clothes, the redhead took the cup of hot water that Kasumi handed her. She instructed, “Please watch closely and please don't blink.”

 

When the hot water poured on the girl's head, everyone watched as hair changed from red to black. Facial features took on a more angular appearance. Breasts receded and broad, flat pectoral muscles could been seen. Broad hips became narrower, shoulders broader.

 

Nabiki and Kasumi had to resist the temptation to drool. The absolutely gorgeous girl had just transformed into a hunk of grade A prime beefcake. They both looked at him like they were ready to eat him up. Akane's look was more appraising. There was something about this boy/girl that spoke to something inside of her. She wanted to find out more.

 

Nodoka's eyes looked like they were ready to pop out of her head. “Ranma, what happened to you? Did I really just see you transform from a girl into yourself?”

 

Before Ranma could properly start to frame a question, Genma walked in from the Furo.

 

Nodoka instantly recognized the man. She asked, “Husband?”

 

He nodded. “Yes, No-Chan, it's me.”

 

After some false starts, everyone finally got seated and Eiko served tea to the newcomers. Ranma told the story of Jusenkyo and what had happened there.

 

Soun shook his head. “I had heard the name of Jusenkyo before, but until now its true horror has remained shrouded in mystery.”

 

Ranma glared at Genma. “Well, I guess turning into a girl isn't as bad as turning into a panda. The guide told us there's lots of worse animals and other things one can turn into.”

 

“Is there no cure?” Soun asked.

 

The pigtailed boy shook his head. “If there is the guide doesn't know of it. The cure, if there is one, isn't in China.”

 

“I see.” The older Tendo seemed thoughtful. “So you are only a girl about half the time?”

 

“Yeah,” agreed Ranma. “If I try to stale male more than that the magic attracts water to me.”

 

In a hearty manner he didn't really feel, the mustachioed, martial artist slapped Ranma's shoulder and said, “Your problem isn't so bad. You should still be able to do your duty to family honor. Pick one of the girls, and she will be your fiancé.”

 

"Is this guy for real?" The boy asked himself. Ranma shook his head. “I'm not going to do that to these girls. Let's hear what they have to say first.”

 

Akane studied Ranma's face. He was trying to act cool, as if he was unconcerned by what she and the other girls said. Even through that false front she could tell that he was afraid. At first she felt like the idea of fear and the boy in front of her didn't match up at all. That's when it hit her. “He's afraid of rejection. He's bracing himself for it. He thinks nobody would want him with his curse.”

 

Kasumi bowed her head. While Ranma's boy form looked positively delicious, the curse frightened her. Would she be getting a boy or a girl? Would going into relationship with Ranma mean Kasumi would have to participate in lesbian sex? She wasn't sure she was ready for that. Besides that, she already had a boyfriend and didn't think Tofu would react well to her suddenly being engaged to a boy she barely knew.

 

Trying to be diplomatic, the eldest daughter said, “Ranma, I'm sorry, but you are too young for me. Akane's the best martial artist in the family, I think she might be a better match for you than I would.”

 

Nabiki was a little more blunt. “I agree with Kasumi. Akane is the best one.”

 

Akane just sat there with a thoughtful expression. She could see being friends with a sex changer like Ranma, but she wasn't so sure about marriage. Lately the whole business with the horde of hentai was making her question her own sexuality. Maybe being friends with someone like Ranma would allow her to explore her feelings in those areas.

 

Ranma was starting to fidget. Why couldn't Akane just reject him like the others so he could get on with his life? He and Ukyo could move back in with their mom and he could figure out what he wanted to do.

 

Akane finally said, “I'm really too young to be thinking seriously about marriage. If you wouldn't mind, Ranma, could we just try out being friends first?”

 

“Huh?” Did he hear right? She was willing to be a friend even with the weirdness of the curse? “Sure... I wouldn't mind.” It was better than he had expected.

 

Akane stood up and said, “For years I've been reading your letters about the training trip and the places you've stopped at to train. I admit I'm curious to see how good you are. Would you like to do some sparring out in the dojo?”

 

Ukyo stated proudly, “My little brother is the best there is. Can I come watch?”

 

Akane shrugged. She didn't see any problem with the other girl watching. They adjourned to the dojo.

 

The two moved the center of the room and bowed to each other. When Ukyo move her hand down and said, “Begin,” Akane rushed forward and threw a punch. The big surprise was that Ranma just stood there and took the punch. It felt like hitting the wall.

 

Alarmed and afraid she'd hurt him, Akane bowed so low she was almost groveling. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I thought you were going to block it or dodge it or something.”

 

Ranma smirked and teased, “You call that a punch? I hardly felt it. You're going to have to hit a lot harder than that.”

 

When the black haired girl looked up at her opponent she realized that he was showing no damage at all. “Hardly felt it?” She almost growled. She'd show him. She charged back in and this time Ranma did block. The boy just said, “Hit harder!”

 

When Ranma did throw a punch he made use of openings in the girl's defense. There weren't many as Akane had been well trained, but she was also unused to facing an opponent with Ranma's speed. Ranma's blows that connected were good solid hits.

 

The fight continued on and the strength of the hits kept increasing. The speed of the moves kept increasing as well. Eventually Akane knew she was going all out. How this insolent boy was able to keep tagging her when she was fighting her best, she didn't know. It was also a mystery how he could absorb the kind of punishment that Akane was dealing out.

 

It came as a surprise when Ranma jumped back and held his hands palm out and shouted, “Break!” He grabbed a towel from a stack and tossed it to Akane and also grabbed a water bottle from a shelf.

 

When Akane sat on the floor, Ranma sat next to her and said, “I'm sorry if I was insulting during the sparring session. I was trying to prove something and you performed wonderfully.”

 

Wiping sweat from her brow, Akane asked, “What do you mean.”

 

Grinning, Ranma explained, “You were landing hits on me that could have crippled or killed a normal person with no training in the Art.”

 

“What?” The youngest Tendo sister wasn't sure what to make of that. “You were shrugging off my hardest hits like I was hitting you with pillows.”

 

The boy said, “I had a feeling about you. I wanted to test it out.”

 

He pulled a manga out of stuff space and tossed it to Akane. Looking at the title she saw it was from the Dragonball Z series. She nodded and said, “I only read a few of the manga but I've seen all of the TV show episodes.”

 

“Good.” He looked over at his sister and said, “Ucchan, show her your tail.”

 

The girl with the ponytail frowned and asked, “Are you sure that's a good idea?”

 

“Please, sis.”

 

Ukyo shrugged and as Akane watched, what she had taken to be an odd furry belt unfurled from around the girl's waist and waved around behind her. It was a brown furry tail.

 

Akane's eyes went wide and her jaw dropped open. “That's... like the tails the Saiyans have on DBZ!”

 

“Yep,” agreed Ranma. “When I'm a girl I have one too. When I'm a guy, like now, at the base of my spine there is a bump right at the place where the tail attaches.”

 

Eyes still wide, Akane reached a hand behind her to her butt. “A bump? But I have a bump right in the same place.”

 

A look of satisfaction on his face, Ranma nodded. “I thought so. How it could be possible, I don't know, but you, me and Ukyo are Saiyans.”

 

“What? That's impossible,” Akane insisted. “Those stories are fiction. Nothing more than an entertaining story. There are no such things as Saiyans.”

 

Ukyo wrapped her tail around her waist again and said, “I saw Ranchan go Super Saiyan. She was a girl at the time, but she had the blonde, spiky hair, the green eyes, the golden aura, the whole deal.”

 

Continuing on, Ranma added, “I think we three are the only Saiyans on Earth. We may be the only ones in this universe.”

 

“Why do you say that?” Akane wanted to know.

 

Ranma began to list points. “First, this is not the earth you see in the manga or TV show. There are no living dinosaurs or saber tooth cats, no dog or cat people, no talking pigs. Nobody drives flying cars that fold up into a capsule you can carry in your pocket. None of the cities we have now look like the cities in the manga and anime.”

 

The black haired girl nodded. “Ok, I agree we're not the earth that Goku flew to. (Or is that Kakkerot?) Could this be another Earth? I don't know, maybe in another galaxy or something?”

 

Nodding, Ranma agreed, “That's what I'm thinking.”

 

From stuff space Ranma produced a pair of bracers. He handed them to Akane and said, “Ucchan and I call these G-bracers or gravity bracers. We've been told they are a combination of technology and magic and they do the same thing as the gravity room that Bulma built for Vegeta to train in. I'm up to 150 times gravity.”

 

Ukyo said, “I was sort of stuck at 20 times because I guess that's about the maximum that a human body can tolerate for any length of time. I'm thinking that now I'm a Saiyan I can start increasing that until I catch up to Ranchan.”

 

The youngest Tendo sister frowned, “Where did you get these?”

 

The Saotome siblings exchanged a glance then Ranma said, “A woman who claimed to be a goddess gave these to us. From her power level, I sort of believe her claim. I'm not going to say if she is a goddess or not, I'll let you make up your own mind on that. This pair of G-bracers is for you.”

 

“For me?” Akane looked like she wasn't sure how to respond to the gift.

 

Ranma related the story of how they got the bracers. He said, “You are the only person we've met since then who would actually be able to make proper use of these.”

 

Akane frowned and said, “Where can you train if you are 150 times heavier than normal? I'd think you'd crash right through the floor or sink into the ground.”

 

The Saotome teens shared a grin. From stuff space Ranma pulled something invisible and tossed it against a wall. He then stepped toward the spot and grasped an invisible doorknob. Akane gaped when a door appeared on a wall she knew led to the outside.

 

“Come on in,” Ranma invited.

 

When she went through the door it closed behind them. They were in an enormous space with a gray floor that seemed to go on forever. There didn't seem to be any ceiling or roof but there seemed to be an even light as if the whole sky was glowing.

 

The pigtailed boy waved at the seemingly endless expanse of floor and said, “Welcome to the Extra-Dimensional Training Room or XDTR. In this room we could crank the G-bracers up to 1000 times gravity and the floor would still support us. (Not that I'd be able to stand up under that load.) We can fire off energy blasts and not damage anything. We have plenty of room to spar both on the ground and in the air.”

 

He seemed to think of something and said, “Check this out! Computer, target.”

 

Some distance off a black circle appeared that seemed to be floating about 3 feet above the floor. He took a stance with arms to the side, wrists together and hands cupped toward each other. He said, “Ka - Me - Ha - Me” As the words came out a glowing sphere appeared between the cupped hands. He snapped his arms forward, straightened his fingers and shouted, “Ha!” A dazzling beam of energy speared from the sphere in his hands to strike the floating target.

 

“You… you just fired a Kamehameha wave.” Akane's eyes looked nearly ready to pop from their sockets.

 

“Yeah. Cool, huh?” Ranma was grinning.

 

A silly grin appeared on the black haired girl's face. “You have got to teach me that.”

 

“Oh, I intend to. You are now on the team.”

 

Akane's expression turned quizzical. “What team?”

Ranma explained, “Urd said we were going to be defenders of the Earth. We'll be like the Z fighters on Dragonball Z. Ukyo and I actually talked about what we would call ourselves. I wanted to call us the New Z Fighters.”

 

The Saotome sister joined in, “I said that if we did that Toryama Akira would probably try to sue us for copyright infringement. I suggested the Saiyan Squad, but Ranchan pointed out that the Z fighters in the manga weren't all Saiyans and we might end up recruiting members who aren't.”

 

Ranma nodded. “We need a nerd.”

 

“Huh? The youngest Tendo sister was confused.

 

The pigtailed boy elaborated. “We need someone who can dig out information for us. You know the sort of thing. On TV and in movies every time you see a group ready to go on a mission the nerd in the group tells them what the objective is, who the bad guys are and what their history is. They get blueprints and diagrams of the bad guy's hideout so the heroes can plan the best way in. In DBZ Bulma was always inventing gadgets that would help them, like the Dragon radar.”

 

Ukyo nodded. “Yeah, that's a good idea. But I think our nerd should a guy.”

 

“Huh?” Ranma was confused. “Why do you say that? Bulma's does really good as the nerd and inventor in DBZ.”

 

The Saotome sister nodded. “Yeah, but look at the makeup of the Z Fighters team. Up until Android 18 joined, Bulma was the only girl on the team. You can't count Chi Chi because she stayed in the background as wife and mother. I don't really know what Picolo is but I'm counting him as a guy, since he acts like one. I don't think there were any female Namekians.”

 

Looking thoughtful, the boy said, “Yeah, sometimes I think the only reason for Bulma to be in some episodes was as a damsel in distress to be rescued. I don't see how that applies to our team.”

 

“Now look at our team,” advised Ukyo. “Akane and I are both girls and you turn into one half the time. You could say we have two and a half girls and all of us are hard core fighters. I'd say we need a guy or two to balance out the team.”

 

Ranma scowled a bit at being referred to as a half girl. Even if it were true, that didn't mean he had to like it. He didn't hate it either.

 

He sighed. “I think we should head back to the house. There are people who are going to wonder what we're up to.”

 

When they exited the XDTR Ranma pulled the door for it off the wall and squeezed it back to a size that he could easily fit into stuff space. He stashed it away and they went inside. The men were playing shogi, the women including Kasumi were in the kitchen. Nabiki was watching television with Yoshi.

 

Nabiki looked from the TV screen and asked, “How did the sparring session go?”

 

Akane glanced over at Ranma and said, “He's really good. I think I can learn some things from him.”

 

Nabiki's eyes got big. “Are you saying that this guy is better than you?”

 

The youngest Tendo sister nodded. “Yes, he's actually better than I am.”

 

The middle Tendo sister looked at Ranma with a tinge of respect in her eyes. “Wow, I didn't think anyone would ever come along who was better than Akane. Things are going to be getting interesting at school tomorrow.”

 

Yoshi chimed in, “Hey sis, those bracers are new. When did you get them?”

 

The black haired girl replied, “Ranma just gave them to me.”

 

Nabiki's expression turned sly. “He's already giving you gifts? He moves fast.”

 

Akane was ready protest that it wasn't like that, but decided to play with her sister a little. She smiled and said, “Yep. They're more functional than decorative, but they are something I will use. I think it was very thoughtful of him.”

 

Not sure how to react to that, Nabiki just nodded. She had been seeking to tease her sister and had not been expecting that kind of answer. Did Akane already like this boy/girl? He did seem a likeable sort in both bodies. She sincerely hoped that Ranma didn't show up at school in that gorgeous girl form or the competition for dates would get even more difficult.

 

Nodoka stepped out of the kitchen at that moment and noticed that her children were back from the dojo. She gestured back at the kitchen and Eiko came out. Together the mothers walked over to the men at the Shogi board and tapped their husbands on the shoulder. Both men looked up and then looked over at the children. They stood up.

 

Genma said, “Ranma, Akane we have some things that we need to tell you. There are things that we have kept secret from you and it is time you were told.”

 

Ukyo took a step back to drop out of the group. Genma placed a hand on her shoulder and said, “Ukyo, because of the change that happened to you at Jusenkyo, this concerns you as much as it does Ranma and Akane. Come with us.” Kasumi went into the kitchen to watch the food cooking.

 

Before long they had moved to a otherwise empty room. They sat on the tatami mat and got comfortable. Genma started out, “Ranma and Akane, I'm sure you have noticed things about yourselves that were different from other children your age. I'm going to tell you a story and I want to you to listen to the whole thing before you ask questions or make comments.”

 

The teens nodded. They listened while Genma told of the death of Soun's daughter and the Saotome's inability to have children. He told of his walk in the woods to clear his head. He related the crash of the spaceship and the message from the man who had launched the ship. He told of the adoption, removal of tails and what he knew of Saiyans.

 

When he finished he said, “I'm sure you have questions.”

 

He was a little startled when a manga slapped to the mat in front of him. He picked it up and asked, “What's this?”

 

Ranma rolled his eyes and explained, “It is a popular manga called Dragonball Z. It was written by a man named Toryama Akira. The main character of the story is a Saiyan. I figured out that I'm a Saiyan some time ago. I didn't know about Akane.”

 

The black haired girl nodded. “I didn't know but I suspected for a long time."

 

Ranma explained what had been happening with training including the dream training. “A goddess? What kind of nonsense is this?”

 

The boy shook his head. “I didn't say she was a goddess, I just said that is what she claims. She has demonstrated what I would classify as `god like' powers, but some people could say that about some of the things I can do. I can say she has powerful magic and so do the people she had brought in to help with our training.  You must have noticed that Ucchan and I know techniques you never taught us and none of the senseis that we visited did either.”

 

“Well, now that you mention it…” Genma paused in thought. “So it was this `goddess' who taught you how to fly?”

 

  “Yep,” affirmed the boy. “Same for the energy blasts I used on you in Jusenkyo Valley.”

 

Genma winced at the memory. He said, “I'm sorry for keeping this from you for so long. When you and Akane agreed to at least to try to get to know each other, we felt the time had come to give you all of the information we have. It sounds like you know the dangers of looking at the full moon while you have the tail. Personally I'm uncomfortable about just relying on your restraint to keep from looking at the moon.”

 

With a thoughtful expression, Ranma said, “Coming here today and meeting Akane face-to-face for the first time is a pretty major thing to happen. I'm willing to bet that Urd will want to be in touch with us tonight. I'm thinking that she will want to include Akane in with the dream instruction. Maybe she will know of a way Ucchan and I can keep our tails without worrying about literally going ape at the sight of a full moon.”

 

The black haired girl nodded. “I hope so. I think I have some catching up to do.”

 

Ukyo nodded. “That goes for me too. I was getting the training but lacked the power to really make effective use of most of the techniques. It will take a lot of work just on getting my strength up to what it should be for this body. After all I've only been a Saiyan since Jusenkyo.”

 

Genma frowned. “Could you fly before you became a Saiyan?”

 

The girl smirked, “Yes, Pop. Anyone who has strong enough ki and has enough control of it can learn. It is harder for normal humans because they don't have the huge reserves that Saiyans do.”

 

The bald martial artist asked, “That thing where your hair turns blonde, is that a Saiyan thing?”

 

Nodding, Ranma said, “I became a Super Saiyan. I don't know how accurate the story in the manga and TV show is, but there they were saying that the ability to achieve that state was some kind of legendary goal that every Saiyan warrior tries for. It was also said that, until the hero of the story did it, it had been hundreds or even thousands of years since anyone was able to do it.”

 

He continued, “Anger was what got me into the state the first time and the second too. After I'd done it twice I figured out to do it anytime I want.”

 

Ukyo said, “Urd, the goddess, dropped hints. They were obscure and hard to figure out, but I think she was telling us that the guy who launched the ship was in some other universe or timeline. If that's true then we shouldn't have to worry about that Freeza guy coming after Ranma and Akane. I don't suppose he'd be after me, since he wouldn't know about me.”

 

“From what Kaldar said, I'm guessing we don't want to meet this Freeza person,” Genma.

 

Nodding vigorously, Ranma said, “You're right about that. The guy destroyed Vegeta-Se all by himself. In other words he blew away the Saiyan home planet.” He paused and said, “I didn't think it would affect me like this. It just now occurred to me that the world where I was born and all but a handful of my people were killed. Since I grew up as a human, I shouldn't be getting emotional about it.”

 

  Akane put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. She said, “I don't know. To me it's just an anime. It doesn't feel like something that should have any direct affect on me.”

 

Ranma shook himself. He changed the subject. “About the tail for Ukyo and my girl form. The moon won't be full for another couple of days. I think we need to see if Urd has something for us.”

 

A thought occurred to Ranma. He asked, “Are we staying here tonight?”

 

  Nodoka said, “Your father and I spoke to Soun and Eiko. After dinner Genma and I will go back to our house. Ranma and Ukyo will stay with the Tendos. You will be attending Furinkan High School with Akane and Nabiki. The two of you will have to take placement tests tomorrow. You should be able to start classes in the afternoon.”

 

  She paused then said, “I had thought to take Ukyo back home as well, but the two of you have never been apart for more than a few days since you were six. Before we separate you for longer, I thought it might be a good idea for you to have some time to get used to the idea.”

 

  Ukyo impulsively went over and gave Nodoka a hug. “You're the best, Mom.”

 

Author's Note: I had thought about giving this chapter the title, "Here's Ranma" but decided that was a bit too cliche. There will be a bit more on the "fated mates" thing in the next chapter.