DISCLAIMER: "Ranma ½" and all the characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This is a fan fiction produced for my own enjoyment and for passing on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, R.P.G.s, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even *GASP* American comic books!). As far as I know, the character, Ryo/Ryo-chan/Ryoko, is my own idea.

A WORD FROM TANGENT: Greetings and welcome to my own humble contribution to the fine works done in tribute to Rumiko Takahashi’s Ranma ½ series. I’ve already read a few of the other fanficts produced by my fellow otaku (thanks largely to Lord Talon, since I’m not connected to the Internet yet as of this writing). Some good ones and some bad ones (mostly good from what I’ve read so far). Some so funny they bring tears of laughter to my eyes, and some so tragic that my heart aches just thinking about them. Bravo. I can only hope that you enjoy my contribution as much as I’ve enjoyed reading yours.

I bring to you a tale of two brothers…or at least they started that way…

Soun Tendo, a man in his early forties, with a strong, kind face, long black hair and a mustache, read through the morning mail. Among the various letters, packages, and postcards was a postcard that had a message for which he had been waiting for a long time. The postcard showed a scene with a panda, and turning it over, he noticed that it was post marked China. Tears started to come from his eyes as he read the message:

Bringing Ranma and Ryo home.

On Soun's face were tears of happiness as he said, out loud and low to himself, "They are finally coming here...How I have waited for this day."

He decided to tell his daughters immediately.

Soun called out, "Kasumi! Nabiki! Akane!"

Not getting an immediate response, he went to look for them, first checking the kitchen that was his eldest daughter’s domain. She was indeed there, as she seemed to nearly always be. A brief pang of sorrow revisited his heart as he thought about this last and strongest connection that she had with her mother. He collected himself. Today’s news was to be joyous, not tragic, as his wife’s death had been so many years ago.

"Kasumi!" he exclaimed, happily, managing to expunge his grief.

He then checked the bedrooms on the second floor of their family home, expecting to at least find his middle daughter there, as she had not been downstairs. As he had expected, he found Nabiki in her room, reading one of her manga books. Not that he minded. She studied and had good grades, so what she did in her spare time was her own concern.

"Nabiki" he called out to get her attention. After a brief discussion, he went to look for his youngest daughter, Akane.

"Now where could she be…" he wondered. "Nabiki," he asked, returning briefly to her room, "could you help me look for Akane? She is not in her room, and this really should be discussed as a family".

Nabiki hid a small smile, "I'll find her father."

Akane was just returning from her run, shouting "Hi! I'm

home!" and then ran straight to the dojo, pausing only to throw off her running clothes and change into her practice uniform, as was appropriate for training in the dojo. She set up a quick array of concrete blocks and wood, then preceded to reduce said objects to rubble.

"Ahhhh, good!" she sighed as she relaxed. Then she heard a small click. Turning around, she saw one of her older sisters, Nabiki, putting her camera away.

"There you go again, Akane" she said as she shook her head, arms crossed in front of her. "No wonder all the boys at school think you're strange!"

"Why should I care?" she demanded. "I'm not like you! Not everyone thinks the world revolves around boys, Nabiki!"

"No?" Nabiki replied, placing her hands behind her head, "Then I guess what father has to say to us would be of no interest to you would it?"

Akane turned to look at her, "What are you talking about?"

With a low rumble, it began to rain lightly over the Nerima district. In the Tendo Household, Akane’s voice was raised in protest. "FIANCE?!?"

Soun Tendo looked at Akane, "Yes, the sons of a very good friend of mine. There names are Ranma and Ryo Saotome" he stated. "If one of you were to marry one of them, and carry on this dojo, then the tendo family legacy would be assured."

Akane wasn’t taking this well.

"WAIT A MINUTE!" she shouted angrily. "Don’t WE have some say in who we marry?"

"Akane’s correct, Father" Kasume interjected. "We have never even met them."

Mr. Tendo chuckled, "Well now, that is easily fixed!"

It was raining lightly as three figures wandered down the street arguing.

"Why are we doing this?!" demanded a young man wearing Chinese style fighting clothes. He was arguing with an older man wearing an off white gi, glasses, and a bandanna. The other figure, a cute redheaded girl also wearing Chinese style fighting apparel, followed along appearing to be depressed. A few passers by noted the striking family resemblance between the boy and the girl, but declined to comment upon it at this time. All three seemed to be martial artist, and at least one of them was highly agitated. "We don’t have time for fiancees! We should be looking for a cure for Ryo!"

"Be that as it may," responded the older man tersely, "we cannot go wandering around China looking for a cure while that amazon girl is trying to kill her…er…him!" In a calmer voice, he continued. "We are going to be staying with them so that the both of you can become familiar with your prospective fiancees. No decision has been made yet as to which of you is going to marry which of them."

"It’s not fair!" cried out the girl, startling the other two. "I was the one looking forward to this! Now look at me! I can’t choose any of them now, no thanks to you!" With that, she punched out at the older man, adding: "And just whose fault is it that I got into that challenge match with Xian Pu, anyway!?"

"Is that anyway to talk to your father?" demanded the older man, blocking the strike. He had grown to expect such blows from the now moody redhead who had once been his son, and was now (for the lack of a better term) his daughter. "After the kiss of death that Shampoo gave you, our progress towards finding a cure for you became impossible in China" he continued, trying to calm his ‘daughter’ down. "Staying with the Tendos while we continue to search for one in Japan solves a number of problems." [Not the least of which is preventing my beloved wife, Nadoka, from finding out what I had let happen to you] he thought. While he doubted that she would force Ryo to commit seppuku, he wasn’t as assured about his own prospects.

The three continued towards their destination, each irritated but resigning themselves from further comment. At least for the time being.

Back at the Tendo residence, Soun continued to explain the situation to his daughters. Nabiki, he noted to himself, appeared to be particularly excited about the prospect, and had even gone as far as to change into a kimono for the occasion. Kasumi, whom he suspected of harboring feelings for Dr. Tofu even if she didn’t seem to be aware of it herself yet, had just come in straight from the kitchen. Akane, on the other hand, was obviously irritated over the whole affair.

"Ranma and Ryo are returning from a long training journey with their father." Soun paused briefly to sip his tea. "Recently, it seems, they crossed into China."

"Oooh! China!" exclaimed Nabiki, who was definitely warming up to the prospect of getting to know people who could tell her first hand what other countries were like.

"What’s so great about training in China" commented Akane sulkily. Her recent experience with the now daily fights with the boys at Furinkan High School had left her more than a little fed up with boys for the time being. While she knew that she wasn’t being fair to the two boys she hadn’t even met yet, she did not really care at the moment. "It doesn’t mean that they are any good."

"Are they cute?" inquired Nabiki, ignoring her sister.

"I do hope that they are older than me" commented a worried Kasumi. "Younger men are so…young."

"So, what are they like?" persisted Nabiki.

Soun cleared his throat. "I have no idea," he admitted.

"You have no idea" repeated Nabiki, glaring at her father.

"I’ve never met them" he confessed.

Just then, they heard a commotion at the door. "Aw, Pop, why can’t we go home first?" complained a voice, which obviously belonged to a young man. Could it be them, Soun thought as he got up to greet his guests. Nabiki followed.

"Oooo! It must be Ranma!" or Ryo, Nabiki thought excitedly, not realizing that she had said the first part of the thought aloud. Kasumi was happy for her sister, and relieved (although she did not just yet realize why). Akane decided that since Nabiki was so excited about this turn of events, her sister could have them…er…him.

"I’ve already told you, Ranma," stated a voice belonging to an older man. "We are staying here for a while so you and Ryo can get to know my friend’s daughters." It was his friend…and his sons. Soun joyously greeted them as they came in.

"Saotome, my friend! We’ve been expecting you!" Soun quickly noted which of the boys had been arguing with Genma and concluded: "And you must be Ranma!" A short pause as Soun sought out the third Saotome… "And Ryo!" He gathered the two siblings into his arms for a manly embrace…and then stopped, stunned. Ranma felt normal, but Ryo…

By this time, all three daughters had gathered to see their guests. Nabiki, noticing her father’s stunned expression, leaned closer to examine the two boys. Hmmm, Ranma was as fine a specimen as she could ask for, and his brother was cute in a bishonen kind of way, but why would her father react like that? As Soun let go and took stock in the situation himself, Nabiki took a closer look. [No way!] she thought, as she spied what appeared to be an ample bosom on the shorter ‘boy’. A quick prod confirmed her suspicions. Not to mention the fact that Ryo was becoming rather embarrassed to have a girl that ‘he’ just met poking ‘him’ in anatomical parts that ‘he’ shouldn’t even have in the first place.

"Um…could you please stop that" muttered Ryo quietly.

"Daddy," Nabiki pointed out dryly, "‘he’ is a girl."

"I see some explanations are in order," observed Genma.

"I should say so, Saotome," commented Soun suspiciously.

"Err…really…would you please stop playing with them" Ryo demanded in a voice only slightly louder than before.

"Oh!" started Nabiki, who had been following the conversation and had actually lost track of what she had been doing for a moment. Not that she would ever admit it. "I’m sorry, I don’t know what I could have been thinking!" Just for good measure, lest anyone get the idea that she was one to be pushed around, she squeezed once before letting go.

"Eep!" was Ryo’s startled response.

"Nabiki!" exclaimed Akane. "What do you think you are doing!" [Honestly,] she thought [sometimes you’re nearly as bad as some of the boys! And you’re not even interested in girls…I think.]

As everyone gathered around the table to hear Genma’s explanation, he began:

"It all started about three weeks ago, on Mt. Quanjing, in the Bayankala Range, Qinghai Province, China…"

*** FLASHBACK ***

"Here, Sirs, is legendary training ground of accursed springs, Jusenkyo," the guide said with a mix of pride and caution in his voice. He was seldom asked to lead anyone to Jusenkyo, as it was one of the more obscure tourist spots available. Personally, he felt it was some sort of bureaucratic error that the accursed springs were a tourist spot to begin with. Nearly every time he brought someone here, they managed to somehow fall into one of the springs.

"Are you prepared, boys?" asked Genma as he set down his pack. Truth to tell, he was a little disappointed in how this was turning out. While not exactly the same setup, Jusenkyo looked very similar to something he had the boys do last year. Now where had that been? America…Australia?

Ranma was less than impressed. "Aw…this place don’t look so tough."

"Pop," interjected Ryo, "didn’t we do this last year at that actor’s place in San Francisco?" Well, that settled Genma’s Question. If Ryo remembered the place as San Francisco, then it had been Australia. [Hmmm…or maybe I’m confusing the place with Sidney.]

"You very strange ones, Sirs" commented the guide, wishing he could speak Japanese more fluently. "This place very dangerous. Nobody use now." [There!] he thought [I’ve actually managed to start my explanation before anyone got ahead of themselves]. "Is more than one hundred springs here, and every one have own tragic legend." The guide was snapped out of his reverie by Genma’s cry.

"Ranma! Ryo! Follow me!" called out Genma as he leaped to one of the poles. The two boys jumped to poles of their own after a quick glance at each other to make sure that they didn’t choose the same one again. That had been an embarrassing mistake, and their father hadn’t let them live it down for weeks afterwards. The actor had been more understanding. Too bad they couldn’t remember his name. Ryo had put that down as a side effect of the concussion.

"Ah! Sirs!" the alarmed guide exclaimed. "What you doing?" [I have got to start earlier on the explanation! Well…At least they paid in advance.]

"I won’t go easy on you" cautioned Genma.

"That’s just the way we like it!" replied the twins in stereo.

"Please, Sirs!" pleaded the guide. "It very bad you fall in spring!" Unfortunately, the three paid no attention to him.

As usual, Genma picked one of his sons at random, and attacked. Ryo, seeing that it was Ranma’s turn first this time, relaxed his stance. Ranma, for his part, met Genma in mid-air and knocked him into one of the pools. [Well, that was quick] the twins thought.

"What’s up, Pop?" asked Ranma, pleased to have got the first strike in. "We done already?"

There was quiet. Ryo jumped to a closer pole, concerned. Which is probably why Genma mistook him for his brother as he leaped out of the spring of drowned panda, completely unaware of his change. [Well, there goes my holiday bonus] thought the guide. The giant panda knocked Ryo out of the way and took his place on the pole. Ryo, stunned by what had just happened, was caught completely unawares, and cracked his head as he landed in another pool.

"Wha...wha…wha…" stammered Ranma.

"That is Shonmaoniichuan!" shouted the guide, explaining what had happened. "There is very tragic legend of panda that fall in and drown two thousand year ago! You brother fall in Nyanniichuan," the guide continued as Ranma dodged the panda time and time again. "There is tragic legend, very tragic, of young girl who drown in spring one thousand five hundred year ago! Why he not come up yet I not know."

"Well, why didn’t you tell us sooner?!" demanded Ranma. [Wait…what was that? Ryo hadn’t come up yet?] Ranma had heard what the guide said, but didn’t think twice about jumping into the Nyanniichuan in order to save his drowning brother. A part of his mind reeled in horror at what was happening to his body, but his main concern was that his brother might be dying.

Pulling the now female form of Ryo out of the spring, Ranma checked her vital signs. There was a pulse, but no breathing. [No!] thought Ranma, [I will not loose my brother like this! I can’t!] Thanking the Kami for the CPR course that Ryo had stubbornly insisted that they take while they were traveling in America, Ranma worked desperately to get Ryo to start breathing again.

After what felt like forever, but could only have been a few moments, Ryo started coughing. Still a bit disoriented, she looked up to see a cute redheaded girl looking down into ‘his’ face with a concerned expression. The eyes seemed familiar somehow, and it felt wrong that they should be looking at ‘him’ with such worry. Then it hit ‘him’. ‘His’ father had turned into a giant panda and knocked him towards one of the springs, and a feeling of dread washed over her as she realized just what kind of curse this spring held. The eyes, which looked at her as if she had been on the brink of death, could only belong to one person.

"R…Ra..Ranma?"

*** END FLASHBACK ***

"We had the guide take us to the Nanniichuan to cancel the effects of our curses, but Ryo, having nearly drowned in the Nyanniichuan, had apparently become immune to all other Jusenkyo curses" finished Genma. There was more to the story, but he really didn’t feel like admitting that he had run from Ranma like a scared rabbit. Fortunately for his ego, Ranma apparently wasn’t going to elaborate on his explanation.

Soun, although he kept an impassive face, didn’t believe a word of it. He thought it much more likely that his friend had raised his daughter as a boy in order to protect her from the possible return of the master. It was just the sort of hair brained scheme that Genma would come up with. [What had he been thinking,] thought Soun, [that he could forestall Ryo’s puberty?] for puberty had obviously hit Ryo with a vengeance, if she looked like that after only three weeks. Of course, some small changes had probably occurred prior to the Jusenkyo incident, but had only been brought to light when her brother saved her life.

That Ranma had experienced sensations that made him believe that he had become a girl was understandable. Twins, even fraternal twins, had been known to share experiences during traumatic events. Between Ryo having nearly drowned to death, and the discovery that she was actually a girl, the twins must have been very confused. Genma had obviously taken advantage of that confusion and invented the story on the spot. Just where the giant panda came into this he didn’t know, but it had probably been an invention to deflect blame from himself. The twins seemed to be at least subconsciously aware of this, having assigned the role of the panda back to their father.

The Tendo sisters had pretty much come to the same conclusion, although they couldn’t figure out why the twins’ father had lied to them all those years. It was unfortunate that Ranma and Ryo seemed to believe the story, but they didn’t know just what to do about that yet. It was also unfortunate that Ryo was stuck with a boy’s name. Maybe they could call her Ryoko…or perhaps Ryo-chan. They would have to discuss this with Ryo later.

The Twins weren’t sure that the Tendos believed them. They could hardly believe it themselves, and it had happened to them. It all sounded like any other stupid stunt their father had pulled on them over the years, and they had no way to prove it was otherwise.

Genma, for his part, wondered why nearly everyone was glaring at him. Didn’t they believe him?

END CHAPTER ONE

"Well, why didn’t you just tell me that you only had daughters, Genma?"

"I was too embarrassed to admit it after we had already arranged the marriage," confessed Genma.

"Oh! So you felt it was better to raise us as boys, is that it!?" Complained the two redheaded girls in unison. "Do you even realize how you’ve ruined our lives!?!"

END.