Ranma - Misshapen Destiny

A Ranma ½ - Sailor Moon fanfict by Tangent

Pre-reading and editing assistance by:

Lord Talon;

Nevrmore;

And some guy named Steve.

DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. 'Sailor Moon' and all characters therein belong to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei Animation Co. Ltd. This fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even *GASP* American comic books!).

CHAPTER THREE: Returning Home

ALTERNATELY: Complications

NOTE: in this third section, Japanese dialogue is represented like so: "Good morning"; while other languages are represented like so: <Good morning>. Specific thoughts are surrounded by [brackets], and Genma's signs (when he finally starts using them) by [[double brackets]].

Also, form here on out, Cologne, Shampoo, and Mousse will be referred to as such, rather than their supposed 'authentic' names. This is due to the shift of the story from China to Japan.

Ranma was at the pillar again. Her true masculine form was still trapped unmoving within its confines, and (as before) nothing she could do seemed to effect it in the slightest. It was all so very frustrating, making her feel helpless and weak...

And then she heard it. Meowing as if from many cats as the boiling water in the lake drained away and the ground around her and the pillar raised into the walls of a deep pit. Turning around, she saw them. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of cats of all types and descriptions, every single one looking at her with hungry eyes...

Ranma woke up, screaming from the nightmare. Just as she had several times a night for the past several nights since she, Cologne, Shampoo, and Mousse left Joketsuzoku to head for Japan. The little details varied, but all of the events were the same. And it nearly always ended with her impotent attempts to break through the crystal prison trapping her male self. The unexpected combination of it and her neko-ken nightmare was as unwelcome as it was terrifying. It made her feel so helpless and scared that she wanted to cry, not noticing that she already was.

The last time she had nightmares so frequently had been just after she had learned the neko-ken technique. She had nearly died from that experience as well, and it was easily the more traumatic event in Ranma's opinion. The reoccurring nightmares from the neko-ken had finally petered out to just a few during a year, for which Ranma was grateful, but the recent trauma related nightmares had apparently drawn out the older, more terrifying, nightmare to its original frequency and intensity.

Shampoo threw a pillow at her sobbing traveling companion. "Ranma be woman," she said, blearily. "Be quiet and let Shampoo sleep!"

"Sorry," Ranma apologized, stifling her tears. It struck the neo-girl as kind of ironic that she encountered a sort of mirrored attitude reflecting the opposite side of the same sexist ideas that her father tried to feed her. In Joketsuzoku, women were expected to be the strong ones, physically and emotionally. While they had little problem expressing themselves usually, they were seldom given to extreme displays. Ranma had been given some leeway due to the recent traumas she had gone through, but Shampoo was already getting tired of being woken up several times a night by her screaming friend.

[Of course,] Ranma thought, [Pop generally hit me for waking him up with my 'screaming and crying like a little girl'... and not just with pillows either.]

"In morning, we in Japan," Shampoo stated. "Look for Ranma's family. Then, maybe, Shampoo get good night sleep!" Shampoo felt bad for the girl, but she really was beginning to wear on her nerves. During the day, Ranma was fine, but at night... Shampoo decided not to think about it, and amused herself with the prospect that Comb had finally managed to annoy someone who actually succeeded in terrifying her. She was also amused at Comb's indignation at having her place in the ranking tournament taken by an outsider who used to be male. It had made the little deviant furious when Ranma had placed second, just behind Shampoo in the ranking. The highest Comb had ever gotten had been twenty-ninth, and that had been considered a fluke.

Shampoo shuddered as she remembered how close she came to losing the final match with Ranma. Both she and Ranma had done extremely well in their previous matches, which had worried Shampoo since Ranma fought without weapons. Their match was the toughest she had ever had, lasting perhaps a half an hour or so. Had Ranma not been still recovering from having drowned the previous day, Shampoo was sure that the newcomer would have defeated her. As it was, she wasn't sure that she would win a rematch.

Ranma had come alive in those matches, like a blossoming flower. As the tournament had continued, she had become like a force of nature. She lived for the Art, she grew with the Art, and she was the Art. No, it hadn't been an easy victory for Shampoo by any means. She was proud to have won the match, for her victory placed her solidly at the top of the ranking, especially after having beaten such a worthy opponent.

With these thoughts, Shampoo drifted off to sleep once more.

Two hours later, she once again threw her pillow at Ranma, who was screaming...

As the party disembarked at the port, they found that they had a new, but not totally unexpected problem. While Customs and Emigration back at the port in China had laughed at Ranma for having such a bad passport photo and the wrong gender listed, they had accepted the fact that her thumbprint matched the one on record and on her passport. Unfortunately, their Japanese counterparts were not so readily accepting. Ranma found herself faced with a full Recognition Inquiry, including a complete medical examination (which Ranma found to be very disconcerting and embarrassing). This was concurrent with a very thorough background check, and was followed by a cross-examination that had left one of the more obnoxious investigators with a broken jaw (much to the delight of his female partner).

Much to the surprise of the investigators, other than the discrepancies with her gender, hair color, and height, the girl was a close match for the Ranma Saotome in the somewhat limited records that they could find on the boy. The real clincher had been the foot and palm-prints from the birth records, and the fingerprint set from Ranma's passport applications. Other than their smaller size, the prints were a perfect match for those on record. The only thing left to do was to contact Ranma's parents to see if they wanted to conduct genetic testing or if they would accept Ranma without such a measure (it was still a new technique after all).

They were not happy to find out that Genma had abandoned Ranma in China and could not be reached. Still, the mother should be enough. Fortunately, Nodoka Saotome seemed amenable towards coming in. Unfortunately, they had neglected to mention that Ranma Saotome had inexplicably returned to Japan as a girl...

Somewhere in China...

Ryoga was running. He had been running for quite awhile now, ever since Genma Saotome had let slip that morning of his plans for him. Apparently, the old fool wanted him to take the place of his son, since Ranma had become a girl. Ryoga had suspected something was up a few days ago, when his former rival's father had returned from Joketsuzoku with only his own pack and refused to call him anything other than 'boy.' He had thought, at the time, that it was odd that Ranma wasn't with the amazons like the guide had said, but he now suspected that Ranma had indeed been there after all.

Ryoga didn't know why Genma wanted him to take his son's place, but after spending nearly a week with the rather unique value system that the crazy old fool had, he decided that Ranma was better off wherever she was. Ryoga had spent the last week debating the value of being stuck as a cat for inconvenient lengths of time as opposed to staying with someone who seemed to have had deranged ideas as to how to train someone in martial arts for some time now. When Genma had slipped that morning, calling him 'Ranma,' and telling him that they were returning to Nerima to visit an old friend of his and introduce him to his prospective fiancées, Ryoga decided that it was worth the risks of being a cat for extended periods. The old man was obviously crazy, and he wanted nothing to do with him.

"This ought to be far enough away..," Ryoga said to himself, finally stopping.

"Ah, Ranma, my boy!" Genma exclaimed, looking up from where he had been cooking a camp dinner. "You're just in time to eat! I worried that you had run off this morning, but I should have known that you were just out exercising!"

"GAHH!!!" Ryoga cried out in response, "How did you get here!?"

Back in Japan...

Nodoka was more than a little shocked when she had found out that the Ranma Saotome that had come home turned out to be a girl. She had immediately mentioned the seppuku pledge that Genma had made to raise Ranma to be a man among men, intending to frighten the impostor into revealing her crass deception. Although this had indeed distressed the girl, she had refused to deny being Ranma.

"Mom, I will not deny who I am or what has happened to me," Ranma said flatly. In a more solemn and morose tone she continued. "If all of my accomplishments amount to nothing because of my change in gender, then it is not worth the pain to continue this life. I will commit seppuku if you wish..."

Nodoka almost said yes on the spot, wanting to be rid of this impostor, but the tone in the girl's voice and the pain that she read in the girl's eyes prompted her to ask. "What accomplishments? What have you done in your life?"

Ranma told her life story, as much as she was able to remember. Cologne and Mousse merely provided details on events since her transformation. That was enough for Nadoka. In the eyes of her mind and heart, she could see her gentle and loving, but sometimes thoughtless, husband make the stupid mistake of training Ranma in the neko-ken without reading the whole book. He must have reasoned that Ranma couldn't be a man among men if he had a phobia that could drive him berserk. It broke her heart when she realized that this had been why Genma had become sterner and eventually downright abusive towards his only son, as he tried to compensate for his error. He had pushed Ranma to the very limits, forcing him to study technique after technique and style after style, hoping to make Ranma the best fighter of his generation, all in the name of turning him into a man among men. Ranma, not knowing any other way of life, had risen to the challenge and dedicated his life to the Art.

In the end, after being drowned, changed into a girl, molested by a stranger, and ultimately abandoned by her father, Ranma had continued on as best that she could. She had come home, broken, battle weary, and shattered, but no less a man for all that she was a girl. The mere fact that she was willing to accept the seppuku pledge was enough proof of that. More than enough, really. Nadoka's little samurai had come home.

"Oh, Ranma," Nodoka cried tearfully. "I'm so sorry I ever let Genma take you away! I should never have accepted his thoughtless pledge. I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay, Mom," Ranma said, trying to comfort her distraught mother. "It's okay. I'm here now, back from all my journeys. If honor demands that I commit seppuku, then I guess that's it then. I'm just sorry that I won't get a chance to know you."

"No, Ranma," Nadoka choked out forcefully. "I just got you back after ten long years, I don't want to lose you now to some stupid vow that Genma made. I've had nightmares of having to stand at the ready to make sure that the seppuku was performed properly... where I had to use the honor sword in a way that broke my heart."

"But, Mom," Ranma started, only to be interrupted.

"No, Ranma, the vow has been fulfilled," Nodoka said flatly. "Gender aside, you have come home a 'man among men,' full of fire, pride, and honor." She took Ranma's hands inn her own. "It is not your fault that you have become a girl." Nodoka gathered her son turned daughter into her arms and sobbed gently. "The vow has been fulfilled, and I will hear no more of it!"

"Ummm... okay," Ranma replied, slightly confused.

"You have had such a hard and lonely childhood," Nodoka said, holding Ranma's shoulders at arm's length, smiling sadly. "Your father has neglected many areas that he should not have, and I suppose that it is up to me to correct that. I shall see to it that you learn and experience more about love, friendship, and happiness."

"I think I'll like that, Mom," Ranma said gently, still a little confused.

"You will start attending school regularly, of course."

"Pop said that an education was useless to a martial artist..." Ranma remarked warily.

"He was wrong to have said that," Nodoka admonished. "An education is always of use, no matter who you are! Yours has been badly neglected, and we will correct that as soon as you are properly registered."

"Okay, Mom," Ranma sighed with resignation. "I'll go to school."

"Don't feel so bad about this," Nodoka chided. "School is also where you will meet many people your own age. You will learn how to socialize and make friends there, as well as get a proper education."

"Hai, that doesn't seem so bad," Ranma replied. She never had very many friends before, just the three amazons who were traveling with her and the childhood friend that she barely remembered from so long ago. A place where she was expected to make new friends, even if she had to learn how, seemed very enticing to the lonely girl.

"You will have to be registered as a girl, of course," Nodoka stated as a thought occurred to her.

"Ummm... okay," Ranma said nervously, wondering where this was heading.

"Ah yes!" Nadoka said happily. "Until a cure is found, and you are restored as my son, I'll raise you as my daughter! I've always wanted one." Nodoka heard a thump and looked back down at her child. She had to look a bit further down than she had just a moment ago.

Ranma had feinted dead away...

Back again to China...

Ryoga was running once more. He had to get away from the crazy old man that wanted to turn him into Ranma. After spending the better part of a week with the deranged lunatic, he was convinced that Ranma had had a much worse life than even he himself had. He had to get away and find some help. The rotten bastard that had abandoned his own child and was trying to replace Ranma with him was a menace to society. A nice quiet stay in a friendly mental institute for the criminally insane would probably do wonders for the deluded maniac. Preferably one equipped to handle shock therapy.

Now, if only he could get away long enough to find a nice friendly policeman...

Once more to Japan...

Naomi Mizura pondered over the unusual facts of the case she and her half-witted, obnoxious partner, Hajime, had begun investigating that morning. The girl claiming to be Ranma Saotome had seemingly turned out to be the boy in question. She had also turned out to be a temperamental martial artist who had taken none too kindly to the lewd, rude, and downright nasty way that Hajime had attempted to interrogate her. Naomi had figured that it had been only a matter of time before something like this had happened anyway. She was just glad that someone had reacted by hospitalizing him before she herself had finally given into the righteous impulse to send him there. The fact that the girl was a minor, and couldn't be sued, was a plus in her book. Naomi just carefully worded the report to make it abundantly clear that Genma Saotome had raised the girl, and that Nodoka could not be held responsible for her upbringing prior to having been reunited with her daughter. It also made it absolutely clear that Hajime had brought the girl's assault upon himself through his own lewd and obnoxious behavior.

Naomi had quickly concurred with Nodoka's idea to raise Ranma as if the girl had been her long lost daughter all along, but had advised that they provide another name for the girl. If, as their story went, Ranma was under a curse that might one day be cured, than a separate identity permitted a smooth transition back to a male Ranma Saotome when the time came. What she didn't say, on the other hand, was that if the girl was part of an elaborate plan to take the boy's place, then his name wouldn't be ruined by her actions.

Naomi had presented the idea to her superiors, who also concurred, and then presented a carefully polite plan to Nodoka. In this plan, the government would maintain the polite fiction of Ranma Saotome as having had a long lost twin sister until such time as when a complete cure could be found. In the meantime, Ranma would go about under a different name... perhaps 'Ranko' or something... at such times during which she was a girl. Nodoka readily consented to these measures, seeing the sense of them, even if she herself was already positive that the girl was indeed her son.

Ranma recovered from her impromptu nap with her currently normal scream of utter terror. Nodoka rushed over to the couch that the neo-girl had been laid on and gathered her up into her arms. Ranma, encountering the new and completely unexpected sensation of a comforting and accepting mother, sobbed into her mother's embrace for a short while as Nodoka rocked her gently back and forth.

"Ranma like that for while now," Shampoo stated, coming over. "Have many bad dream every night. Shampoo ashamed to say wasn't very understanding. Did not know whole story before."

"'S all right, Shampoo," Ranma said, coming to herself at last. She felt more than a little embarrassed to have broken down like that, but leaned into her mother's comforting embrace for a while longer. "You didn't know what Pop had done to me... not all of it. Not by a long shot." Ranma shuddered, remembering past events with unwelcome clarity. "Used to have nightmares like this all the time. I should have known that he would do something to start them up again once they petered down to just a few during a year."

Nodoka, who had thought that she had lost all feeling for Genma for what he had done to Ranma, was surprised to find part of herself growing colder still. She had the distinct impression that Ranma had glossed over some of the more traumatic events of her life during her story, and this new revelation about the nightmares seemed to confirm that this was the case. She could tell that Ranma was unused to being comforted, what with how she was still clinging to her like an unexpected life preserver that might suddenly disappear at any moment. Ranma looked as if she would bolt for cover at any moment, and probably would have hidden behind a mask of masculine pride had she been able to even temporarily turn back into one. Genma had been far from a perfect father to Ranma; in fact, he didn't seem to have been a father at all ever since the neko-ken training. He had much to answer for, and Nodoka would have her answers from him... even if she had to carve them out of him!

Later, after Ranma had recovered enough to feel somewhat normal, she realized that she was now being referred to as 'Ranko' by anyone who cared to address her by name. This caused some nervous twitching at first, but this subsided when the idea behind this otherwise inexplicable occurrence had been explained. She still wasn't too happy with what the officials were calling a 'polite fiction', but was glad that her true name wasn't going to become enmeshed with her new identity as a girl.

Nodoka, upon finding out that the amazons had yet to find a place to stay, invited them to stay at her house out of gratitude for the aid they had given 'Ranko' and for returning her 'daughter' to her. They accepted readily enough, but insisted that they would try to help around the house if they were going to be staying for any length of time. After a brief and mild argument, Nodoka consented to their counter offer.

'Ranko' walked into her new home that evening with a feeling of excitement over her new life. Genma was becoming little more than a bitter memory now that she had someone who had shown her what a true parent was really like. She had more friends than she had ever had before, and would soon be leaning how to make even more once she started going to school which would be in a few days. Shampoo and Mousse would be attending as well (as soon as their student visas were filed since they had originally come over under visitation visas). Other than the fact that she was still a girl, life was looking pretty good at the moment.

During the night, drawn to the sound of restless thrashing and whimpering from 'Ranko's' room, Nodoka gathered her sleeping daughter into her arms. 'Ranko's' frantic nightmares calmed down into peaceful dreams, and for the first time in a week, she had a good night's sleep.

END.

OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS: What's in a Name?

"Um, Mom?" the girl formerly known as Ranma Saotome prompted.

"Yes, dear?" replied Nodoka.

"While I realize that you and the officials are trying to be helpful and all, I really have to ask you one thing."

"And what is that, dear?"

"WHY THE HECK DID YOU RENAME ME 'JOSEPHINE MARCH SAOTOME'!?!"

"Well, I thought it was such a nice name..." One could practically hear the crickets and the birds as Ranma facefaulted into a particularly blank expression.

END.

A WORD FROM TANGENT: Some of you may, justifiably, object to my including night terrors (truly horrible, sleep disruptive nightmares that occur with alarming frequency) as part of a story. You would be right to say that it isn't funny. It isn't meant to be. In this timeline, Ranma has just gone through four traumatic experiences within a day's time (drowning, changing gender involuntarily, being sexually molested, and being abandoned by her father) and even in canon is known to have experienced a trauma so bad that it produced a deep-seated irrational phobia and other complications (the neko-ken training). I am using the night terrors to dramatize a point. Hopefully it will become clear in the story, and be more poignant for it.

No, I do not think night terrors are funny. On the other hand, if you can face your fears and laugh at them in the context of a story, then more power to you. My fears, and yours, may not be the same as Ranma's, or as bad, but I can understand them and sympathize with him because I have my own.

C&C welcome! Flames will be arrested for arson!

Tangent