From: KLEPPE@execpc.com (Gary Kleppe)


                                  LOST

                      A Ranma 1/2 manga fanfiction
                             by Gary Kleppe

        WARNING: This is intended as grim & gritty urban drama. It deals
with so-called mature subject matters. Violence, and the after-effects
of violence, are depicted in a manner that attempts to be realistic.
There is also language that some might find offensive. To those who
stick around, I promise a more or less happy ending; but in the
meantime, there will be lots of unpleasantness. Don't say I didn't warn
you.

        The dialog in this story will bounce around from English to
"Japlish" (Japanese dubbed into English), generally without notice. This
story is based on the manga rather than the anime. Thus there is no
Sasuke, all the regulars are black-haired, etc. An exception to this is
that one group of minor characters who were only in the anime do appear
in this story.

        The characters of Ranma 1/2 are the creation of and rightful
property of Rumiko Takahashi. They are used here without permission.
This story may be freely redistributed, but it should not be altered
substantially or used for profit in any way.

        Further disclaimers follow the story.


                                PROLOGUE

        The girl sat quietly in the darkness and waited.

        She had been there for days, perhaps weeks, leaving the closet
only a couple of times during the trip to scavenge for food and drinking
water. In the closet there was no way to tell night from day. The girl
did not know how much time had passed. Nor did she care. In her mind
there was only one thought.

        (get away get as far away as you can so they'll never find you)

        It was a voice that spoke from deep within, speaking commands
that had to be obeyed, and drowning out all other feeling and purpose.
Not quite all; there were still the vestiges of a deep sadness, one that
threatened to become overwhelming whenever the girl almost remembered
why she had gone and what she had left behind.

        She was on a ship; she was conscious of that much. The ship had 
been headed across the Pacific, and the girl had stowed herself away on
board. Not a good way to travel, but any other way they might have been
able to track her down. That couldn't be allowed to happen. She really
didn't remember or even care to think about why it was so important. She
just couldn't let them find her.

        The girl sat quietly in the darkness and waited.


                       PART ONE: STRANGER IN TOWN

        It was night in the city of Los Angeles. The forty thousand ton,
eleven-story merchant ship known as the Jewel of Poseidon was entering
the city's port complex. Huge containers lay on the vessel's deck,
sprawled out like a city unto themselves; they contained vehicles and
various other products imported from Asia.

        Ship's officer Rajan Loudaekabal stood on deck, his duffel bag
in hand. After eleven days at sea, he had finally arrived! He watched
impatiently as the ship moved steadily through the rain toward its
assigned docking bay. Finding its designated place, it drifted to a
stop, and the port facility's cranes immediately began unloading the
massive cargo boxes from the top of the ship.

        Rajan ran down the gangway towards the port office. He noticed
that the weather was unusually cold for Los Angeles. He thought of going
back for a jacket. No, that would take too long. Not important.

        Rajan had a particular reason to be in a hurry. After months on
duty as ship's clerk, Captain Otha had given him an extra seven days
leave here in Los Angeles. He didn't want to waste one minute of it. His
cousin Amal lived in town, and he had a car. They could spend the week
going to the local nightclubs, maybe even get to meet some women. Rajan
hadn't been on a date since he had left India.

        Rajan handed the ship's paperwork to the clerk on duty. He paced
anxiously as the clerk began to methodically process the various forms.
This man seemed determined to use up all his time!

        Captain Otha came in and handed a jacket to Rajan. "What's the
matter?" he asked with a friendly grin. "Are you in that much of a hurry
to get off my ship?"  The Captain was married, and his wife travelled
with him on the ship. He understood what it was like for a younger man
like Rajan.

        "Well, sir," replied Rajan with a laugh, "I don't know if you've
noticed it, but last time I looked there weren't any pretty young
eligible women on your ship!"

                              *********

        Unnoticed, a young woman emerged from the vessel. 

        The girl could once have been called pretty. Once. Now her black
hair hung down at shoulder length in a bedraggled mess. Her clothes were
simple and unflattering, an ill-sized sweatshirt and pants; she had
gotten rid of her usual clothes back in Japan. Her face was dirty, and
her eyes looked ahead with a glassy stare. Her figure, though still
well-toned and athletic, was on its way to becoming emaciated from lack
of food.

        None of this mattered at the moment. Her only thought was to
follow the voice that spoke from inside her.

        (keep moving keep moving go somewhere where they won't find you)

        She moved, away from the fleet of ships, toward no particular
destination, looking as if sleepwalking, which was close to the truth.
She moved along steadily but did not hurry. There was no reason to.
Nothing, no one, would be here for her.

        She came around a huge building, to the other side of the port
complex. The cacaphony of boat horns and lifting crane noises gave way
to a steady symphony of humming truck engines. A fleet of enormous
trucks, some larger than any the girl had ever seen, were there. Workers
were busy loading several of the trucks, moving multitudes of boxes
around with forklifts.

        She wondered what was in the boxes, where they came from, who
had made them, where they would be going, who the things inside would
belong to. If she opened one of them, would she have something that
could solve all her troubles? Right now she had nothing, nothing except
the clothes she wore. And hunger. She had hunger. Even in her
semi-conscious state, she was aware of her need to eat soon.

        For a moment she imagined that she could stuff herself into a
box and be sent somewhere, that someone would open the box and take her
into their lives, that it would be like before. Hi, I'm being delivered
to you to be your friend, to be part of your family...

        The voice interrupted, bringing her back to reality, as if she
had been doused with icy cold water.

        (keep moving keep moving)

        The voice. She had nothing now except the voice.

                              *********

        Moustafa Alhumaizi heard a voice come over his headset. "HEY!!!"

        "Welcome to El Taco," Moustafa recited as he adjusted the
headset to dampen the screaming customer's voice. Yet another customer
who didn't understand that you don't need to shout into the
drive-through speaker. "May I take your order, please?"

        "GIMME A TACO SUPREME MEAL DEAL!!"

        "Yes sir, that'll be two dollars and sixty-two cents. Please
pull up to the window, and thank you for choosing El Taco." Moustafa
wasn't really particularly grateful that this customer had decided to
patronize this restaurant. He was just reciting the words he was paid to
say. His own feelings mattered little, he was just there to do as he was
told. It was a terrible job, with very low pay. Nevertheless, his family
needed the income from both of his jobs, as well as his wife's, to pay
for their rent and food. Not only that, but his daughter was going to
need that operation soon...

        Moustafa quickly gathered the food the customer had ordered, and
slid open the drive-through window. "Two sixty-two, please," he said as
he handed out the bag of food. The customer, who was wearing a ski mask,
responded by pulling out a gun and pointing it towards Moustafa.

        "Now hand over all the money in the register," the customer
said. The robber held onto the gun, it's barrel mere inches from
Moustafa's face. He started to empty the cash register as he was told
to. "But gimme your own wallet first," the robber added.

        "Please, sir... my daughter's operation," Moustafa said feebly.
He was afraid that the robber might kill him then and there, but he just
couldn't lose even the little money he had with him.

        "Would it help her if I made her an orphan?" the gunman said
sharply. Moustafa knew he had no choice, he started to get out his
wallet. He only hoped that the robber wouldn't shoot him anyway.

        Suddenly, there was a thump on top of the robber's car.
Something, someone, had jumped out of the shadows without warning, and
landed on the car's roof. Moustafa caught a glimpse of the person. It
was a girl, a dark haired Asian. With lightning speed her hand chopped
at the robber's left arm, forcing him to let go of the bag of food. She
grabbed the bag and quickly jumped back out of sight.

        Moustafa saw his chance in the confusion. He slammed the window
on the robber's other arm. The robber cried out in pain, dropped his gun
and pulled his arm free. Tires squealed as he slammed on his gas pedal
to get away. His car escaped onto the main road and collided with an
oncoming car.

        Moustafa put his headset back on to hear the voice of another
customer. "Hey! Anybody in there, or what?" No time to catch his breath.
He took down this next person's order, at the same time dialing nine one
one on the phone. At least he hadn't had his money taken. And he had
saved the company's money as well. Maybe they'd give him a reward. He
could certainly use it.

                              *********

        "The tow truck is on its way."
        
        Rajan Loudaekabal looked at the mess that had been his cousin
Amal's car. The front frame was now a crumpled mess. Fluids dark and
clear trickled down from the engine into puddles on the ground below.

        At least no one had been hurt. No one except the one who
deserved it. The maniac in the ski mask had suddenly pulled out of the
El Taco driveway and smashed right into his brother's car. That maniac
had been thrown through his windshield. The ambulance was taking him
away.

        "It's okay, I've got insurance. They ought to be able to fix my
car in a couple of weeks," Amal said. Rajan knew that he would have to
be back on duty on the Jewel of Poseidon in less time than that. He
hoped that he could get leave again sometime soon. There had to be a
girl out there for him somewhere...

                              *********

        The girl moved silently through the night carrying the bag of
food. The words on the bag were unfamiliar: "El Taco." The girl knew
some English from her schoolwork, but did not know these words. She
had recognized the words on the sign by the window: "Drive Thru," (this
last word she thought was misspelled), "Fast In, Fast Out." Fast in,
fast out. That was what she had done: Come in fast, grabbed the food,
and gone out fast.

        She was not happy to have had to steal, but she needed to eat
somehow or die of starvation. It didn't matter how much had been lost,
how much of what she once had would never be hers again. She was not
going to give up. Life, that was what she had left. She was not going to
give up on life.

         There was a loud screech from the place where the girl had just
been, followed by a dull crash. This would attract attention. She had to
keep out of sight. She quickly ran down an alley with her bag of food,
coming out onto a narrower road as sirens approached the place where she
recently was.

        She moved down the dimly lit road. One particular yard was full
of weeds. In it stood a house with holes in the walls. A nearby street
lamp allowed the girl to see in through a window; the house appeared to
be empty and abandoned.

        The girl slipped inside the house. It was as empty as it had
appeared to be from outside. She sat on the floor and opened her bag of
food. In it were several objects, hard shells folded over with some sort
of other food inside. Touching them made her hands feel greasy.

        She took a bite. The sensation was not pleasant. Lukewarm meat
and soggy vegetables covered by a shell that seemed to be mostly grease.
Overall, it tasted almost as bad as...

        (no don't go there don't remember that don't)

        Trying to ignore the taste, she forced herself to consume all of
the tacos. She swallowed them quickly, so as not to have to taste them
for too long.

        From outside, a car approached. The girl could hear the sound of
its engine grow loud as it came near, see its headlights approaching.
Then both sound and light abruptly cut off as car doors opened. Someone
was coming in. She quickly located a nearby closet. Grabbing the bag
that had held her food, she slipped into the closet and closed the door
from inside.

        From inside the closet she heard the voices of two men. The
language they spoke was English. She had had enough of it in school to
remember some words, but the men spoke too fast for her to tell what
they were saying.

        The girl hiccuped. Trying to stifle the sound, she continued
listening to the men from inside the dark closet, attempting to make out
some of the words. Once again she was hiding inside a dark closet. She
wondered if the voice inside her would be forcing her to hide in closets
for the rest of her life.

        Another hiccup came, this one more forceful than the first. No,
not a hiccup. Her stomach was refusing the food she had sent it, was
sending it back the way it had come. She needed to hold it in, at least
until the two men were gone.

        No. No good, the tacos were coming up, and they were coming up
now. Fast in, fast out...

        The closet door swung open. A flashlight shone on the girl,
illuminating her as she was kneeling on the floor, vomiting.

        "She's tossing chunks," the first man said. "Must've ate El
Taco." The girl strained to understand but could not.

        "You stupid shit," the other man said, "Check her. She's on some
bad stuff.  Check her eyes man, she's wasted!  Homegirl knew we deal
here and came to get more." She still did not understand.

        "Sorry ass bitch gonna have to take it before she gets nothin'
from us." The first man laughed as he put a hand on the girl's chest.
This she did understand.

        The girl stood, bringing an elbow into the first man's jaw. Her
fighting instinct had taken over. At that moment it didn't matter how
very little food and sleep she had had in the past two weeks. She was a
fighter and she could fight until death if need be.

        The second man drew a gun from under his jacket. He was far too
slow. The girl's foot caught him in the gut, knocking the wind out of
him and sending him crashing through the wall of the house. The first
man started to recover, but before he could react, the girl was outside
the house, and was gone.

        Down the darkened street went the girl. She covered great
distances, many miles, with long gravity-defying leaps. Her adrenalin
was flowing now. She was invincible, nothing mattered, she had won the
fight.

        She came to a stop at a street corner. No one was around.
Finally, this was the place where no one would ever find her...

        The voice inside her faded away. She had accomplished what she
had been commanded to do. She collapsed to the ground, crashed, an
airplane that had run out of fuel. The voice. Would she be lonely
without the voice? It was what kept her going, kept her standing up. No
longer. The world was spinning, fading...

        A face. With her last vestige of consciousness, she saw that
voice had a face. As reality slipped away from her, she uttered a single
word.

        "Akane..."


                        PART TWO: THE UNWANTED

        "Good morning, Doctor Yafuso! How are you today?"

        "Morning, Joanie," Doctor Kenichi Yafuso said as he hung up his
coat. He was a more or less average-looking Asian-American man, a little
thin, wearing glasses, with a face that was pleasant if not handsome.
"Not too bad. Got followed home by an anti-abortion protestor yesterday.
What surprises have you got for me today?" Working at a clinic in South
Central Los Angeles, one never really knew what to expect.

        "Um, Mr. Johnson is in examining room four. He's due to get his
cast off today," Joanie said. She was the clinic's receptionist, young,
blond haired, and always cheerful. Yafuso wasn't sure what she did for a
living; her work at the clinic was on an unpaid volunteer basis.

        Yafuso headed down the corridor to examining room four. "Oh, one
other thing..." Joanie called after him, as he entered the room. There,
in addition to his patient, was a woman. She was also Asian, and
slender, even moreso that the doctor. She was pretty, in a way more
like a child than a woman.

        "Sumiko." Yafuso was poker-faced.

        "... your fiancee is here," Joanie finished.

        "Ken, we need to talk," his fiancee said. Yafuso knew this would
be nothing he wanted to hear.

        "Can't it wait? I'm on duty." The doctor turned to his patient,
a black man of middle age. The man's left leg was in a cast, and much of
the rest of his body was badly bruised. "Hi, Willis."

        "Hi, Doc. How's the leg look?"

        "I'm only qualified to rate womens' legs." Yafuso gave a wry
grin. Johnson gave a long, slow laugh. "Maybe you should ask Sumiko."
Sumiko was not amused.

        "Call me Susan," the woman said.

        "I need to take you over for X-Rays. If everything's OK, you can
get your cast off today."

        "He was beaten?" Susan asked. "Have you notified the Police?"

        "You don't get down to South Central that much, do you. Who do
you think it was that beat him?"

        "No I don't," Susan answered, ignoring Yafuso's last question.
"And I'm quite happy about it!" She tried not to look at Johnson.
"Anyway, I spoke with Dr. Saxon. Here's his card. He's head of general
surgery over at Lakeview Hospital. He's sure he can get you a position
there! Isn't that wonderful?"

        "What about my patients here?" the doctor asked.

        "Somebody will take care of them." Susan paused awkwardly,
thinking of what to say next. "Ken, you're a good doctor! You don't
belong here! You don't deserve to have to put up with this kind of life!
And what about me? Do you think I want to get married to you, knowing
that any night you might not come home? That they might call me and tell
me that my husband was killed in a drive-by shooting?"

        "Call me Kenichi," Yafuso said. His fiancee departed, looking
somewhat irritated.

        Yafuso turned back to Johnson, a little embarrassed. "I'm going
to have the nurse take you over for some X-Rays."

        "Aren't you taking me there yourself, Doc?" asked Johnson.

        "No." The doctor gave Johnson a reassuring touch on the
shoulder. "I'm staying here."

        These days, Kenichi had been getting nothing but trouble from
Sumiko... er, Susan. Sweet Sue, his angel, as he used to call her. He
knew that she was, deep down, a kind person; but she wanted to live a
life where everything went smoothly, nothing ever went wrong, a life
free from trouble. An angel had to have her heaven. Kenichi wasn't ready
for heaven, though. He knew that trouble happened, and you just had to
deal with it at the time. Besides, the people here were his friends, and
he couldn't just leave them behind.

        Maybe he didn't deserve this kind of life; did anyone? And he
could make it better for some of them.

        Of course, there was one person who really didn't seem to belong
here, Kenichi thought as he walked through the patient ward to one
particular location.

       "How are you today?" the doctor asked, in Japanese.

       "I'm fine, Doc," the girl said. "Can I go now? Thanks for all the
food. It wasn't the best, but I was sure hungry!"

        "You were suffering from severe malnutrition when you were
found. We had to feed you intravenously for a little while. Do you
remember what you were doing before you were here?"

        "A little. Kinda like a dream. I remember running around
outside... there was a fight... before that, I was in a dark place..."

        "And before that?"

        "Nothing."

        "You don't remember anything at all?"

        "Nope. I don't know where I'm from, or what I did, or even what
my name is."

        "When you were asleep, you said the name 'Akane' a couple of
times. Do you think that could be your name?"

        "Don't know. Could be. It gives me... kind of a sad feeling...
to think about it."

        "You may have suffered some sort of traumatic experience that
made you block out your memories. Though we did find traces of some
unusual drug in your bloodstream, one that we couldn't identify. That
could have something to do with it. Have you been using drugs?"

        "Not that I can remember."

        "Oh, that's right. I forgot about that." The humor was
unintentional, but the two laughed anyway. "I've got to go talk to our
administrator. Don't go anywhere."

                              *********

        "I'm telling you, that girl's got to go!"

        Ms. Grant was the clinic administrator. She was an
African-American woman (she didn't like being called "black"), somewhat
overweight, probably in her thirties. Her office was covered in
paperwork, most of it dealing with ways to obtain funding to run the
clinic. "According to your report, she's in excellent physical
condition."

        "Yes, physically she's in better shape than anyone else I've
ever examined," the doctor said.

        "Why are you keeping her here?"

        "She's an amnesiac. She's lost her memory and I don't know why.
Also, there are traces of some strange drug in her system that I haven't
been able to identify. With some more lab tests..."

        "Is she addicted to drugs now?" Grant asked pointedly.

        "... No," the doctor admitted. "But she's got nowhere else to
go."

        "Why not turn her over to the police, or INS?"

        "She may not be an alien, we don't know for sure. She might just
be from Little Tokyo. She might have lost her ability to speak English
due to the mental trauma she suffered. She might..." The doctor was
desperately grasping for straws, and they both knew it.

        "Look, Doctor, we've got people coming here who are sick. People
with gunshot wounds, people who are addicted to drugs and need
treatment. They might not be as cute as that girl out there, but they
need our space more than she does right now. So either you get her out,
or I will."

        The doctor could do nothing but walk out. Ms. Grant was
painfully blunt, but she did have a point. She was good at making tough
decisions; that was one of the things that kept the clinic open. She was
right. If Akane (or whatever her name was) hadn't been young and pretty,
would he have been so concerned about her?

        On the other hand, she obviously had nowhere to go. Could he
just throw her out on the street? Or give her to the Police, who might
just decide to lock her up somewhere out of the way?

        He could ask her to stay at his place. What would she think if
he offered that? How would Sumiko react? Would she think that he was
trying to take advantage of this amnesiac girl?

        He came to the bed the girl had been in and found it empty. She
wasn't there anymore.

                              *********

        "Mister Hill, they're here."

        "Thank you, Dana." Dana, Hill's maid who doubled as his butler,
faded quietly into the kitchen. Hill walked to the living room. He wore
a finely-tailored suit. His hair and moustache were immaculately
groomed, though they were showing a touch of gray.

        In the living room stood two men. "Gentlemen," Hill said. "Thank
you for coming." As if they had had a choice; it was well-known that it
was unhealthy for a member of Hill's organization to refuse one of his
invitations.

        "Hey, you's d' man," one of them said. His name was Burt. He had

a shaved head, because he thought it made him look tough. It actually
made him look like Bull from Night Court, though not nearly as tall nor
muscular.

        "I *am a* man. When you speak with me, you will speak English.
Do you understand, Burt?" Burt thought it over, then nodded in assent.

        The other man moved to take a seat. Hill shot him a glance which
stopped him. He went by the name Travis; Hill wasn't sure whether this
was his first or last name, and didn't much care. Travis was tall and
thin, with unkempt blond hair and traces of a beard. He had a look in
his eyes that could be described as psychotic. His clothes smelled
after whatever it was that he smoked. The first (and last) time Hill had
let him sit, the chair had had to be specially cleaned to get rid of the
stench.

        "Gentlemen, it has come to my attention that the two of you were
physically overpowered several days ago. Furthermore, that according to
you, the one who overpowered you was a young woman, who was alone and
unarmed." Hill smiled grimly. "I ask myself, how could such a thing
happen?"

        "She knew, uhh...," Burt gestured in a way vaguely resembling a
martial arts attack, "... like that Karate Kid movie."

        "This is bad, gentlemen. Having my employees assaulted at random
by some unknown person is bad for business. I want you two to find out
everything there is to know about this girl. I want to know who she is,
where she is, where she came from, what she eats for dinner. Do you
understand me?"

        "Tacos," Burt volunteered.

        "Pardon me?"

        "Uh, he means we'll get right on it, Mister Hill. Leave it to
us," Travis said, as they departed.

        Hill went to the phone and dialed. He didn't like dealing with
people like those two, but a businessman had to do what he had to do. He
was not going to leave it to them; not when there were more competent
people he could call in. Before long he was going to know more about
that girl than she knew about herself.

                              *********

        "I don't know."

        It had seemed like a good idea at first.

        The girl had snuck out of the clinic, leaving without saying
goodbye. It was better that way; the doctor at the clinic might have
tried to stop her, or at least would have wanted to know where she was
going. She really hadn't known the answer to that question herself.

        The doctor had mentioned a place called Little Tokyo. She
figured that she ought to be able to find people there who could speak
Japanese. Practicing the English phrase "Where is Little Tokyo?" until
she was able to be understood saying it, eventually she was able to get
people to point her to the right place.

        There was a sign in the window of a restaurant. In English and
Japanese it said "Help Wanted". She went in to ask for the job. It
seemed like a good idea; there was a feeling somehow of deja vu, that
she'd done this before. A kindly-looking middle-aged woman in a pants
suit, named Mrs. Ishigaki (was she expecting someone else?) greeted her.

        Yes, Mrs. Ishigaki said, the girl could have the job clearing
tables, all that was needed was a little information for the records.

        "Your name is?"

        "Akane." Might as well use that name.

        "And your family name?"

        "I don't know."

        "Let's see, gender: female..." That was one that the girl could
have answered. How could anyone not know their own gender? "Age?" The
girl just looked blankly.

        This went on for quite a while, the restaurateur asking
questions and the job applicant not being able to answer any of them.

        "Look, Akane," Mrs. Ishigaki said, "I can't hire you officially
if you don't have proof that you're eligible to work in this country. I
will let you work here for a few days until we find someone else. I'll
pay you in cash, and you'll need to pay me back the cost of whatever
food you eat. Okay?"

        "Okay." Considering the circumstances, it was the best deal she
would get. "Just show me what to do."

        "First we've got to get you cleaned up," the older woman said.
"There's a bathroom in the back with a shower. Go and wash yourself off.
Then take one of the spare uniforms back there and get out of those
dirty clothes."

        "Thank you." Maybe, at least for a little while, things were
going to go better for her now.

                      *********

        (no no no no no no no no no no no no no no)

        This could not be happening. It couldn't be real.

        The girl had gotten in the shower. Turning the two knobs had
yielded a stream of water. And then...

        She wasn't a girl anymore.

        Her breasts had melded into a solid, muscular chest. The rest of
her body had expanded noticeably. And down there...

        (turn it off turn it off hurry turn it off)

        She made a frantic grab for one of the knobs and twisted it. The
water changed from hot to icy cold, making her jump back in surprise. A
girl once more. She didn't know how it had happened, how it could have
possibly been real.

        She only knew that from then on she would be staying away from
hot water.

                      *********

        Dinnertime went without incident. The girl called Akane managed
to put what had happened in the shower out of her mind and concentrate
on the job at hand. She experimented, testing how many dishes she could
carry at once and how quickly she could load them all into the
dishwasher, until she saw how much attention this was attracting. Money
was given as promised, and she left the restaurant.

        Then, having nowhere to go, she just walked...

                              *********

        Not far away, a group of young men had gathered. They wore
clothes that anyone familiar with the area would recognize as the colors

of the gang known as the Dukes. The Dukes had their own 'hood; it wasn't
much, just a couple of blocks, but it was theirs.

        The Rascals were another gang. Earlier that day, one of the
Rascals had "tagged" a building in the Dukes' 'hood; the Dukes found
"Rascals" spray-painted all over the building. To them, that meant that
the Rascals would be trying to move in.

        Juan Carlos Ramirez was one of the Dukes. His placa, his street
name, was Sparky. Sparky didn't really want to fight the Rascals. Some
of them used to be his friends. But homeboys had to do what they had to
do. The Dukes wouldn't be giving up any of their 'hood, not without a
fight.

        Sparky was crouched behind a dumpster. If the Rascals did show
up, he'd be able to take some of them by surprise. Not much of an
advantage, but it would have to do.

        "I hear Rascals be packin' some new really big guns," Zero said.
Zero was crouched down next to Sparky. He was young and had just joined
the gang a little while back.

        "It ain't what you got, it's what you do with it, homes," Sparky
said.

        "If I go down, I'm taking ten a' those motherfuckers t' hell
wit' me." Zero was trying not to show how scared he was.

        "Damn Skippy." Sparky lowered his voice to a whisper. "Hey,
someone's coming!"

        Zero raised his gun.

        "Don't!" Sparky said. "It just one bitch what ain't got no
colors!" But it was too late. Zero had fired.

        Then all hell broke loose.        
        
                              *********

        It was an ambush. The girl didn't know who these people were, or
why they were attacking her. But if she had been able to remember the
names of any deities that she worshipped, part of her would have thanked
them just then.

        She had been walking down the street when her instinct had told
her to move. A gunshot came whizzing past her. The shooter was crouched
behind a dumpster. The girl flipped herself up in the air, then came
down, her feet impacting onto the heads of the shooter and his nearby
friend.

        A multitude of other gang members came from the darkened street.
Shots were fired, but the girl easily dodged them. Had it always been
like this? Would she always encounter this sort of violence wherever she
went from now on? Perhaps it was a curse, or just her destiny.

        The girl dove into the midst of her attackers, knocking them out
one by one, moving so fast that they could not counterattack. Her mind
was focussed on the battle. Better that then to think about her lost
memories, about turning into a boy in the shower, about how she would
survive from now on. Fighting was something she was good at, something
she knew what to do about.

        Mere minutes later, the battle was over. Gang members littered
the street, having been beaten senseless. What to do now, the girl
wondered.

        Voices were heard from the street, in the direction that the
girl had come from. She saw another group of gang members, this one with
different colors from the ones she had just beaten up.

        The new arrivals saw the situation. "What the fuck?!?" one of
them said, as he raised a gun.

        The girl knew what to do now.

                              *********

        "... Zero...?" a half-conscious Sparky said.

        "... Yeah...?" a half-unconscious Zero answered.

        "... Bitch didn't have no gun. Kicked everybody's butt. Us and
them."

        "... yeah..."

        "... like I tol' ya, It ain't what you got, it's what you do
with it."

                              *********

        Midnight came amidst relative peace and solitude. The girl had
walked a long way after the fight with the gangs, and was now alone. She
carried with her the spoils of battle: A bottle which she had taken from
one of the gang members. She could use it to get drunk. That was
supposed to make you feel good. Had she ever been drunk before? Not that
she could remember.

        The liquor in the bottle had an unpleasant taste; bitter, almost
medicinal. Momentarily, there was a feeling in the girl's head, a
backlash that stung harder than anything that the gang members could've
done to her.

        This was as good a place as any to try for a little sleep. She
settled down on the deserted sidewalk.


        And she thought about where she was;

        And nobody here knew who she was (not even she herself);

        She could die here and no one might know;

        And she thought about what she might have left behind;

        They must have made her leave because they didn't want her
anymore;

        But couldn't they have let her keep her memories?

        
        The girl took another drink.


                       PART THREE: A FAMILIAR FACE

        "She's dead! Ewwwww!" someone in the crowd said.

        Doctor Yafuso struggled to make his way through the crowd of
bystanders that had gathered. He had to get a look for himself.

        "I think she starved to death," someone else said.

        "Omigod! She should've gone to the mission down the block. They
would've given her food."

        "Maybe she didn't know that."

        Yafuso circled around to try to get closer. He had just heard it
on the radio: A homeless woman had been found dead. No details given.
Was it the girl called Akane? Could he have saved her if he'd asked her
to stay at his apartment? He had to know.

        The doctor stood on his toes and looked over the heads of the
people in front of him. It wasn't her. It was a different woman. A
homeless woman who wasn't Akane had died. 

        Not something he could be happy about.

                              *********

        Reality.

        The dream had been a pleasant one. She had been surrounded by
people. They were friends, family, people who wanted to be with her.
A... panda? Then the sun rose and melted the dream away. Reality came in
and reminded her of where she was. No! Not that! She wanted to go back
to the dream!

        The girl looked around. She had slept on the sidewalk, in front
of the entrance to some sort of park area. A path led into the area,
surrounded by grass and a few trees, in contrast to the concrete world
outside.

        The path led to a statue. It depicted a hooded woman carrying a
baby, a sympathetic expression on her face. The woman's name was Mary,
the girl remembered.

        On the other side of the path were two large stone tablets.
Carved on them were the roman numerals I through X, each followed by
some writing. These must be the Ten Commandments, the girl thought. She
could not read the text, but she remembered some of them. Thou shall not
kill was one.

        A man walked up from the other end of the path. Albert Bunson
had come to pray. Although he knew that the Lord heard all prayers, he
liked to pray at the Virgin Mary's shrine when he could. "Virgin mother,
please give me the guidance and wisdom I need so that my life might
follow the Lord's divine plan, amen." He noticed the young woman there,
who was looking at him curiously.

        "The Lord's plan has a place for all of His children," Bunson
said. "When we accept our proper place, all of His glories can be ours.
It is when we stray from that place that the evils of the world are set
upon us." The young woman did not seem to understand. Or did she?
Something in her eyes reacted to what Bunson said.

        Bunson left the shrine. There was work to be done...

        Another man entered the area; a small Asian man, with glasses
and a long coat. He spoke to the girl in Japanese. "My employer wishes
to speak with you. He has a business proposition to extend to you. He
has asked me to invite you to dine with him. If you are agreeable, I can
take you there immediately."

        The girl was hesitant. "My employer wishes you to know that
should you decide to decline his offer of employment, he will instruct
me to drive you back to this location unharmed," the small man
continued. "He is well aware that despite the armed men at his
residence, you would be quite capable of injuring or killing him if he
were to try to prevent you from leaving. Will you come with me?"

        Why not, the girl figured. What did she have to lose?

                              *********
                              
        Albert Bunson came home.

        The girl had not understood. Of course not, they never did. And
the world was beset by all the evils in creation. Abortion, that was the
worst of them. It had to be stopped. The voice in his head told him so.
He knew that it was the Lord's voice. It told him to take action. Other
people were all talk. None of them were willing to do what was
necessary. It was a war that was being fought, a war to save the
children. The voice had told him that; and he had learned in 'Nam
that in war, you had to get them before they got you.

        Bunson took his gun and left his home.

                              *********

        "More pork chops?" Dana, the maid/butler, asked.
                                          
        "Yes, please," the girl said. Toshi, the small man in the
glasses, acted as interpreter.

        Mr. Hill had never in his life seen anyone else who could put
away food at the speed of this girl who called herself Akane. It seemed
that fighting was not her only superhuman ability. Perhaps there were
still others? He suppressed that thought.

        "Would you like a drink to wash that down with?" Hill asked. "I
don't drink myself, but I keep a supply on hand for guests. No? Are you
sure you wouldn't like Dana to prepare a hot bath for you?" The girl
quickly shook her head no.

        "Let's get down to business then. I've observed the results of
your unique talents. I could put you to work for me. You would be in
charge of dealing with some of the more difficult obstacles that I might
encounter in my business dealings."

        "Sllng drgs?" the girl said through a mouthful of food.

        "Among other things. I don't like drugs, you know. My kids would
catch hell if I caught any of them using drugs. But I'm a businessman. I
go where the money is. And there'd be plenty of money in this for you,
too. No more sleeping out on the street. You could have your own house
like this one, perhaps even a bigger one. What do you think?"

        The girl put down her fork and wiped her face with her napkin.
"I think I'm gonna take you up on the offer you made."

        "Good!"

        "The offer to have this guy drive me back to where you found me.
I ain't sellin' no drugs, and I sure as heck ain't working for nobody
that does! I'm leaving NOW!"

        "Cake?" Dana offered.

        "... after the cake," the girl corrected, picking up her fork.

        "So that's your decision? Pity." Hill said.

        "Tht's m dcsn." The girl noticed everyone looking at her. "Wht's
every..." Why was the room spinning? Why was it so hard to think? The
cake! Something in it... So hard to think... drugged food... didn't this
happen before... ?

        She fell forward, her face landing in the chocolate cake.

        "Burt! Travis! Get in here!" Hill said forcefully. The two thugs
entered. "You know what to do. Then dispose of the remains. And remember
that this girl might have friends somewhere who are as tough as she is.
I don't want the body found, I don't want any evidence leading back to
tell anyone who was responsible. Otherwise two more bodies will be
found. Is that understood?"

        The two thugs nodded and carried off the unconscious girl. Pity,
Hill thought. But this girl was a loose cannon. If she were left to
continue, there'd be no predicting how much trouble she could make for
his operations. He had given her a chance. Sometimes one chance is all
you get.

        Burt and Travis carried the girl into the garage. Their car was
waiting with the trunk open. They stuffed her into it.

        "Stuck-up bitch," Travis said. "I be givin' it to her. She ain't
gonna be complainin' when she got a hole through her head."

        "Stupid shit," Burt said. "Stick it to her, *then* kill her.
Else you be a goddamn pervert!"

                              *********

        Reality.

        Reality was slowly trickling in. She'd been to this house
before. The old house with no furniture. Her body felt numbed, her mind
was moving slowly, she needed to get her bearings. She was lying prone
on the floor of the empty house. The house was definitely familiar. So
were the two thugs. They were there before, too. Except that last time
they didn't have guns pointed at her...

        Instinct took over. Before she even realized what she was doing,
she was standing on her hands, with a foot planted into the jaw of each
of the thugs. Instantly righting herself, her fist slammed one of them
in the gut, snapping some ribs. She was moving and thinking slowly
because of the drugged cake she had eaten. But the thugs were much
slower still.

        Her fist struck the jaw of the other thug five times in rapid
succession. She felt some of his teeth break, maybe all of them.
Ordinarily she had enough control to take down an opponent without
causing him a hospitalizing injury. Not now. They had crossed the line.
It wasn't a game anymore.

        She looked at herself as the thugs collapsed into
unconsciousness. Her clothing was torn. The numbing drug was beginning
to wear off, and she was feeling sore in her lower region. Blood? She
was bleeding there. How...?

        They didn't --

        -- they *couldn't* have --

        "N-n-nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!"

        She wanted to cry. She wanted to kill them. She wanted to go
into the shower and scrub and scrub and everything would come off and
she'd be clean and she'd turn herself into a guy and beat them and make
them beg for mercy she wanted to make them beg for mercy and she wanted
to cry and cry and cry she wanted to go back in the closet forever and
cry and end up somewhere oh god somewhere where no one would recognize
her and she'd get all the drugs and make them take them all make them
take all of their own drugs and she'd wake up and it would all be a
dream oh god oh god...

        She ran. She ran down the street that she had run down before.
She could not deal with this, not by herself.

                              *********

        Doctor Yafuso was on his way home when he caught a glimpse of a
figure rapidly running toward him. A familiar face.

        "Akane!" he cried.

        "Doctor?" The girl called Akane heard a sound. The subtle sound
of a gun being readied to fire. Her curse, her destiny.

        The girl made a frantic leap, as long a jump as she could. She
grabbed the doctor, and the two of them tumbled down the sidewalk. A
bullet struck the place where the doctor had just been, removing a chunk
of concrete.

        When she went to look, whoever had fired the shot was gone.

        A thousand questions filled the doctor's mind. Where had the
girl been and why had she come back? Who had just tried to shoot him,
and why? But there was one thing he had to say before it was too late
again. "Akane, please stay at my apartment!" the doctor said.

        The girl collapsed, exhausted.

                              *********

        Albert Bunson came home.

        He had failed. His shot had missed. He had lost the battle, but
the war would still go on. The voice inside his head told him that it
had to.

                              *********

        "Now arriving at gate twenty-seven: Japan Air Lines flight one
hundred and fifty two from Tokyo."

        A short-haired girl moved along with the large crowd of people,
up the covered walkway toward the noisy airport corridor. Couldn't these
people move any faster? The girl looked back for her companions. She
caught a glimpse of them further back, stuck behind more of the slowly
disembarking passengers. It took all of her self-control not to start
pushing people out of her way. Any moment now it might be too late!

        Her name was Tendo Akane. She had come for Ranma. She didn't
know for sure whether he was in this city, or even if he was still
alive; if he wasn't, it would be her fault. But if he was here, she was
going to find him.


                           PART FOUR: WORDS

        Ryoga Hibiki was in the United States. He didn't want to be
there.

        He had come as part of Akane's group to look for Ranma. Nabiki
had found information that suggested that he might have come to Los
Angeles. How he could've gotten there no one knew, least of all Ryoga.
But if there was the possibility, then they had to check.

        Ryoga was one of the many who had volunteered to go look for
Ranma. After all, what had happened was his fault as much as anyone's.
The first time there had been a possible clue to Ranma's whereabouts,
everyone wanted to go and look. Nabiki, ever the pragmatist, suggested
they split into two teams. In case of a false lead (as the first one in
fact turned out to be), that would leave another group in reserve to go
check out the next possibility.

        This time it was Ryoga's turn to go. He was there along with
Akane, Doctor Tofu, and Tatewaki Kuno.

        Kuno had dressed to fit the place they were going, in a
sportcoat and tie. He had been uncharacteristically quiet since leaving
home. He had spent most of the travel time across the ocean meditating.
Ryoga had never known the upperclassman to speak so little. Kuno did
have the advantage of being fluent in English, a legacy of a father with
an insane fixation on the American island Hawaii.

        Doctor Tofu wore a simple sweater that he said had been given to
him by Kasumi. Tofu's usefulness to the group was obvious; not only were
his medical skills the best in the business, but he was able to keep a
clear head about him as long as Kasumi wasn't nearby. He could be
counted on to keep his temper; the others in the entourage couldn't.

        Ryoga's reason for being there was less clear. He could fight,
but that was about it. If he ever got even slightly seperated from the
group, they would have to search for him as well. More likely they might
just leave him behind, he thought. Not only that, but he was always a
splash of water away from turning into P-chan. If Akane met her pet
here, surely she would finally realize the truth.

        Still, the whole mess was as much his responsibility as
anybody's...

        It was several weeks ago. A triumphant shout issued forth from
the chemistry laboratory at Furinkan High School.

        Shirai Satoru, the president of Furinkan's chemistry club,
smiled with glee. "At long last! Combining the wonders of modern
chemistry with ancient Chinese techniques, I have finally succeeded in
synthesizing the legendary Compound X! With this, the chemistry club
can..."

        "Ancient Chinese secret, huh? What is Compound X, anyway?" Fuji
Seiji was another club member, the club's notorious food mooch. He
started to chow down on some rice dish that was obviously Satoru's while
he awaited an explanation. What Satoru's experiments usually succeeded
at doing was blowing up the laboratory, often taking out the entire wing
of the school as well.

        Before an explanation could be given, Ryoga entered. "Uh...
sorry, wrong room," he said. He had blundered across Furinkan by chance,
and had decided to stop to use the facilities. This room obviously
wasn't the one he was looking for, but it was less embarrassing than the
times he had walked into the ladies'. 

        Satoru ignored the Lost Boy for the moment. "That'll be eight
hundred yen for the food, Seiji."

        Seiji pulled out his wallet and handed over the requested amount
of money. A moment later, he realized what he'd done. "HEY!"

        "Hahaha! Such is the power of compound X! Just a small vial like
this one makes its imbiber momentarily susceptible to verbal
suggestions! With this, the chem club can..."

        "You mean... I could tell Ranma to say he loves Shampoo? Or
Kodachi? And he'd do it?"

        "Simply pour the contents of this vial into his food!" Satoru
said. Ryoga took the vial and found his way out of the room. The door
closed behind him, then burst open again as a Chinese amazon in a
waitress uniform appeared.

        "Aiyaa!! Is true? You got Compound X?? Shampoo so happy! You
give to Shampoo? Shampoo give boys delicious ramen dinner at restaurant
tonight!" The boys handed over another vial. It was hard for a guy like
Satoru to say no to a girl with a body like Shampoo's; Seiji just wanted
the free meal.

        "No matter!" Satoru struck a determined pose. "With what remains
of our supply of Compound X, the chem club will..."

        A voice from the window interrupted. "HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!!!!"

        And so it went. There was Happosai, hoping to get Ranma to model
some of his lingere collection; Mousse; Gosunkugi; and probably several
others that Ryoga didn't know about. If Ryoga had not been part of it,
if he hadn't added his own contribution to Ranma's food, it probably
wouldn't have made any difference. But "probably" wasn't good enough to
ease Ryoga's conscience. His actions had hurt Akane. He had to try to
make up for that.

        Ryoga didn't want to be there. But he had to be.

        Since the full story had become known, Akane had been obsessed
with trying to find Ranma. At first Ryoga had thought that she was
merely feeling guilty. She had, after all, been the one who made him
leave. The time on the plane made him think differently...

        They had been sitting with Tofu and Kuno. The flight attendant
was offering them a choice of meals. Suddenly the old lecher, Happosai,
jumped out of the bathroom. No one was sure how he had gotten on board;
Ryoga thought he might have stolen Mousse's ticket. The old man landed
on the attendant's chest, saying something to her about getting into an
upright locked position.

        Akane grabbed him by his shirt. Ryoga had never seen her move so
quickly.

        "I'm going to find Ranma," she said to Happosai emphatically,
paralyzing him with a cold glare. "You can either help, or stay out of
the way. But if you get in my way I will *kill you*."

        It might have been almost laughable. Happosai was a nearly
unbeatable martial arts master, and Akane had a reputation as one of the
school's weakest students. But he looked into her eyes...

        She was not exaggerating.

        She was not bluffing.

        The old man faded back to his seat and sat quietly for the rest
of the flight.

        That was when Ryoga knew that it was more than guilt that was
driving Akane onward.

        And Ryoga realized something else...

        This was the first time Ranma had been lost, and Akane was
searching the world over. She was not going to rest until he was found.

        Ryoga had been lost hundreds of times. Nobody had ever come
looking for him. Akane had never come looking for him.

        Ryoga didn't want to be there.

                              *********

        An angry cry filled the air at the clinic. The non-Japanese
speaking patients and staff could not understand it, but from the tone
and volume, it sounded to them like the speaker was threatening murder.
        
        "I'LL KILL THEM!!!!!"

        "Akane, please," Doctor Yafuso said. For the past several weeks
his houseguest had said very little. Something had happened to her when
she had been missing, something that she couldn't talk about. 

        Then Sumiko called. It was the call that Yafuso had been
expecting for quite some time. She was terribly sorry, she still cared
for him and all, but she could not continue the engagement.

        Yafuso told his guest about how he had met Sumiko, about
everything they used to do, about how wonderful it used to be between
them. One topic led to another, and the girl called Akane cried as the
horrible story of her rape at the hands of the two thugs came pouring
out. Depression soon turned into pure anger.

        Now they were at the clinic. "Those two are DEAD for what they
did to me!!"

        "We haven't gotten the results of your gynecological tests back
yet. There could be complications. People like that don't tend to be
very careful about social diseases. Besides, you don't even know where
to find them."

        The girl called Akane stood up. "I'll see you later, Doc," she
said, walking out.

        She was gone again. Yafuso didn't know where she'd be, or when
or *if* she'd be back, or what kind of trouble she'd get into this time.

        He wondered if this was what it was like to be a parent.

                              *********

        Tendo Akane wondered, why would anyone want to come to a place
like this?

        This was the third one of these places that they'd been to.
Akane would probably have to burn her clothes when all this was over;
the awful smoke smell was so strong that it wasn't going to come out.
The music was so loud in this one that you had to shout to be heard. And
some of the people... Akane had known how to say "No" in English
already, but she had had to have Tofu teach her to say "Touch me again
and I'll rip your arm off!" as people didn't seem to understand the
former response. If she had to say it again, she might just do it
instead.

        Tofu spoke to a bartender. "We'd like to know how to contact a
local crime boss by the name of Mr. Hill. We want to meet with him."
That was the information that had brought them here. Nabiki had found
out through some of her contacts that this boss Hill was supposedly
having trouble, caused by some strange unknown woman who was
fantastically good at fighting.

        "Be careful what you ask for," the bartender said, "you might
get it."

        "We just want to talk to him. A few words can't cause any harm,
can they?"

        The bartender looked away. "Well, I'll tellya, my memory's not
what it used to be..."

        "Kuno," Akane prompted in a low voice after Tofu explained what
had been said. "He wants us to give him money. A bribe."

        "Very well, sir. Do you prefer Visa card or check?"

        "Dolt." Akane pulled out an American hundred-dollar bill from
her own wallet and handed it to the bartender.

        "Little lady's a big spender!" The bartender wrote a phone
number on the back of a business card and handed it to Akane.

        No harm in a few words... Akane knew how terribly wrong that
was.

        Akane and Ranma were sitting on the lawn behind Furinkan High
School, about to eat their lunches. It had been a strange day, even by
their standards. Their various friends and acquaintances kept showing
up, saying hello, and leaving right away. Akane wasn't paying too much
attention to them; she was absorbed in a discussion with Ranma.

        "I ate that chocolate from Ucchan just 'cause I was hungry. How
was I supposed to know she'd make such a big deal about it?"

        "I'm really tired of this, Ranma. We're supposed to be engaged!
I'm tired of you letting all those other girls chase after you."

        "Hey, it ain't *my* idea! I never asked for any of them to be
after me! Ucchan, Shampoo, Kodachi... they don't care what I think.
Nobody does. I ain't got no control over nothin'!"

        Akane's instinctive reaction would have been to scream at him,
maybe belt him across the room. But that would have made things much
worse. Instead, she took his hand in hers. She spoke forcefully but
without anger. "Then *take* control, Ranma. What do *you* want to do?
How do you really feel about Ucchan?"

        "She's a friend... one of my best friends... but no... not like
that. She and I could never be..."

        "Then tell her. Don't keep her hanging on. That's not good for
you, for her, or for anyone else."

        Ranma gripped Akane's hand tightly, as if letting go would mean
falling to his death. "... I'll try..."

        A voice came over the school loudspeaker. "Paging Tendo Akane!
There's a phone call for you in the main office! Tendo Akane!"

        "Damn. I'll be right back," she said. She put her other hand on
Ranma's, then left him with a smile.

        Ranma settled down to eat his lunch.

        The caller had hung up by the time Akane got to the school
office. She wasn't as annoyed as she might have been. All she could
think about was getting back to Ranma and picking up where she had left
off. They were getting through to one another, and maybe, just maybe,
all the arguing and fighting could finally give way to something better.

        A look back at Ranma cruelly dispelled that idea.

        It had been just a joke. More fun at the expense of the uncute
girl. She fell for it, isn't she stupid! How could she have been blind
enough, foolish enough, to believe in him? She had only been gone for a
few minutes. Now, there on the lawn...

        Ranma was kissing Shampoo.

        Akane marched over and grabbed him.

        "I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN! I WANT YOU TO GET AS FAR AWAY AS
YOU CAN, WHERE I'LL NEVER FIND YOU, AND FORGET YOU EVER KNEW ME!!"

        Surprisingly, Ranma said nothing. With a blank look in his eyes,

he simply stood up. Everyone watched as he swiftly jumped over the
school wall, and ran out of sight.

        He had done what he was told to do.

        Be careful what you ask for, you might get it.

        That was a truth that Tendo Akane knew only too well.

                              *********

        "I don't think I can do anything to help you," Hill said. He had
to tread carefully. If these four people were anything close to as tough
as the friend they were looking for, and if they found out that he had
been responsible for her death... "There was such a person, but she
hasn't been seen recently. No one seems to know where she is now.
Perhaps she's moved on to a different city?"

        "We'll keep looking," the man in the glasses said.

        Dana came in and handed Hill some papers. He read the first of
them. Damn! The girl was alive, and tearing up the town looking for
those two idiot employees of his! No doubt she'd be coming for him next,
and now she had four friends to help her. Hill wondered when the next
flight was leaving for Argentina.

        He looked at the next message. Well, well. Maybe there was a way
out of this after all...

        "It seems I was mistaken. I can tell you where you will be able
to find your friend. You will all then take your friend back to wherever
it is that you came from, leaving me and my business operations alone.
Do we have an agreement?"

        The four spoke among themselves in Japanese momentarily and then
assented.

        Now Hill was going to deal with his two employees. They needed
to be terminated.

                              *********

        "Why we here?" Burt asked, looking at the streetcorner filled
with gang members.

        "You got a hole in yer head? I 'ready tol' ya," Travis took a
drag on his cigarette. "Bitch lookin' for us. We tell everybody tell her
we be here at noon. She be here, she gotta fight Dukes, gotta fight
Rascals."

        "Bitch already beat all of 'em."

        "Yeah. But when she beatin' 'em, we be hidin'. We shoot her by
surprise, homes."

        "What that shit you smokin?"

        "Secret blend. Eleven herbs and spices, man."

        "Gimme some." Burt smoked some of the cigarette. "Now why we
here?"

        Abruptly, a car came around the corner. The screech of tires,
and the sound of two silenced gunshots were heard.

        The two thugs had holes in their heads.

                              *********

        Doctor Yafuso looked at the gynecologist's report on the girl
called Akane. The result wasn't what he expected to see.

        There was a... complication.
                              
                              *********

        They were challenging her. That was obvious.

        Everyone the girl called Akane met now knew who she was looking
for and where they could be found. Many of them even had maps drawn out
for her to use to get there. It was an obvious trap. That didn't matter;
she wasn't going to refuse. She might end up dead before this was over,
but so would they.

        Still, it was best to approach the area cautiously. She peered
around the corner of a building. There was a man there, dressed like the
ones she'd fought before. He was lying unconscious, bruised but not
bleeding. Could those two have done this, she wondered? And why would
they?

        Another quick look revealed more gang members, all beaten
senseless. A thought crossed the girl's mind. Had they found someone
else who could fight the way she did? An ultimate opponent? She jumped
up to the roof of the building. From there she would be able to get a
closer look.

        The street below was littered with more battered gang members.
A short-haired asian girl in a martial arts gi stood in the center of
the carnage. That had to be the one. The amnesiac girl had to meet the
challenge. She jumped from the roof intending to strike. Something made
her abort the attack and merely land. She stood, tensed for battle.

        The short-haired girl turned to see the new arrival. A tear of
joy welled in her eye. "Ranma?"

        The amnesiac girl approached, not understanding the emotions
that were going on inside her. The short-haired girl spoke some words
to her.

        She didn't know the name this girl was calling her,

        or remember what was meant by the words,

        But she threw herself into the embrace of the short-haired girl;

        And for the first time, she could go home,

        And she *was* home, there in this girl's arms;

        Everything she'd been through didn't matter at that moment;

        The pain that had been in her heart for so long was gone,

        Fading away with this girl's words.

        "Ranma, I didn't mean it."


                      PART FIVE: A LESSON IN HONOR
                       
        For Upperclassman Kuno Tatewaki, it was a matter of honor.

        Honor was the reason that he was there in the American city of
Los Angeles, helping Tendo Akane to locate the missing Saotome Ranma.
They had just found out that Saotome was in the city, and would be at
their present location at noon. Tendo Akane had just finished dealing
with some local miscreant youths, and was now waiting for Saotome to
arrive.

        It was the Upperclassman's twisted sister, Kodachi, who brought
him the news: The Furinkan High School chemistry club had come across
something new, something that she would be able to use in her mad
pursuit of Saotome. Tatewaki took no interest in his sister's love life;
his concern was for the Pig-tailed Girl.

        The Pig-Tailed girl was somewhat of a woman of mystery. Kuno
knew that she had adopted the same name as the cad Saotome Ranma. Why
this was was part of her mystery. It was clear that Saotome had some
sort of hold over her, some power to make the girl do his bidding. He
had obviously forced her to give up her own name, whatever it had been,
and take his in its stead. Kuno refused to accept this travesty, and so
always simply referred to her as the Pig-tailed Girl.

        When his sister had told him of the chemistry club's discovery,
Tatewaki had located the wretch Gosunkugi Hikaru. He instructed
Gosunkugi to investigate the situation, giving him money with which to
purchase some of whatever the chem club had found, and instructing him
to use it on Saotome to help liberate the Pig-tailed Girl.

        Some time later, Kuno was informed that Saotome Ranma had
departed to some unknown location, and that this departure was due to
the influence of the chemistry club's secret substance. The Tendo family
requested that Tatewaki join their quest to locate and rescue the
missing Saotome. Honor compelled him to accept, pledging both his
personal and financial resources to the cause.

        Clearly, Upperclassman Kuno's actions had been dishonorable. The
ends cannot justify the means. But what of the pig-tailed girl? Would it
have been proper for Tatewaki to simply ignore her plight? Could he let
her continue to suffer to satisfy his honor? He had been pondering this
conundrum since he had left home.

        Kuno saw Akane look down the street. Someone was coming towards
her. Kuno moved around to get a look at who it was. When he saw, he
gaped in disbelief, hoping that his eyes were deceiving him. He knew
that they had the same name, but when he had been told that it was
Saotome Ranma who was missing, he had assumed that they were referring
to his nemesis. But there with Tendo Akane was the one whom he had
harmed by his actions. Her hair hung loose, no longer in its
characteristic braided style, but it was her.

        It was the pig-tailed girl.
        
        That day, Upperclassman Kuno Tatewaki had been given a lesson in
honor.

                              *********

        The group converged, crowding into the smallish apartment of
Doctor Yafuso. Introductions were made all around. Doctor Tofu, using
Yafuso's phone and Tatewaki's credit card, dialed up the Tendo Dojo.
"Hello? K-Kasumi? What brings you here? I mean, have you eaten yet? I
mean, he's all right, Kasumi, we found him and he's all right!" Kasumi
reacted in a manner not unlikesimilar to Tofu's usual behavior around
her.

        Akane sent Tatewaki and Ryoga out to bring back food from a
nearby place that Yafuso suggested. It had been a while since they had
stopped for food. Besides, Ranma had lost his memories, and the last
thing he needed was to be confused by Kuno's distorted version of their
personal history. She sent Ryoga along to keep an eye on Kuno.

        Ranma told Akane and Tofu of all the terrible things he'd been
through in the past few weeks. Akane and Tofu told Ranma of who he was:
Your name is Saotome Ranma; you are the number one student of the
Anything Goes School of Martial Arts; you live at the Tendo Dojo in
Nerima, Tokyo, Japan; you are engaged to Tendo Akane; you go to Furinkan
High School. Oh, and you're a boy, not a girl.

        Ryoga and Kuno entered, bearing a bag full of hamburgers and
fries. The amnesiac girl nibbled on a burger as she tried to take in
everything she'd just been told. She didn't know whether she could
accept it all. But Akane just felt so right. If Akane said it was true,
then Ranma was prepared to believe it.

        "We need to get Ranma back to Tokyo as quickly as possible,"
Tofu said. "He needs to be checked to see what sort of damage to his
system was done by the massive drug dose he was given. Then I'm sure
he'll need psychological counselling as well, to deal with the ordeal
he's been through."

        "Wouldn't it be quicker for him to get treatment here?" Akane
asked, as Ranma's half-eaten burger was passed to Ryoga. The Lost Boy
gobbled the burger up appreciatively.

        "Getting the kind of specialized care he needs here might strain
even the Kuno bank accounts," Tofu replied. "Besides, I've already
contacted some specialists back home and informed them about the case.
They'll be waiting."

        "You'll also have to decide what to do about the baby that Ak--
er, Ranma, is carrying," added Yafuso.

        "That's right," Akane said, too exhausted to have immediately
grasped the statement. Then everyone except Yafuso face-faulted.

        "BABY?!?!?" they all said.

        Kuno grabbed Yafuso by his shirt threateningly. "You IMPREGNATED
the PIG-TAILED GIRL!?"

        Tofu spoke calmingly. "Tatewaki, let me explain to you what
happened..."
                                                                  
        Ranma cried hysterically and ran into the bathroom. "N-no!!"
Akane got up to follow. She gave Kuno a glance, not a hostile one, but
one that told him that she had to be the one to handle this.

        Akane came up to the bathroom door. She spoke softly. "Ranma?"

        The door swung open.

        Meanwhile, the two doctors were engaged in conversation. Kuno
Tatewaki slipped out the apartment door. This went unnoticed by all,
except for one person who was keeping a eye on him...

                              *********

        The voices in his head told Albert Bunson that it was time for
a new strategy.

        His plan to eliminate one of the enemy had failed. But even if
it had succeeded, others could always have been recruited to carry on
the evil. It was the establishment itself that was the problem; remove
that, and the evil would be routed. A good plan. Of course it had to be,
since it had come from the voices that are the voice of the Lord.

        Bunson looked through his home and gathered the necessary
equipment.

                              *********

        Ranma was sitting on the toilet. Akane shut the door, sat on the
edge of the bathtub, and listened.

        "When they... did that to me, I felt like I was so dirty... I
came in here and just washed myself with cold water for a whole hour
trying to get clean... now it's like there's this piece of dirt inside
me that I can't get rid of!

        "Akane, I used to love to eat... I'm pretty sure I always did.
Now I hate it! I can still do it, but I have to force the stuff down my
throat. I'm always so afraid that it'll put me to sleep, and they'll do
that to me again, and I won't be able to do anything about it... I can't
even stand to look at food! Help me, Akane..."

        Akane hugged Ranma. She wanted to hold on forever and never let
go.

        "Ranma... if I ever say that you should leave again... just call
me a dummy. Tell me 'Akane, you're the biggest idiot in the whole
world.'. But don't go." They held each other even more tightly.

                              *********

        Kuno entered the park area. There was a shrine to the goddess
Mary; he was familiar with some of the tales of her greatness. This
place would do. The goddess Mary would be his witness. Let her record
for all posterity that Upperclassman Kuno Tatewaki attempted to redeem
his honor.

        The Pig-tailed Girl was violated. Had the perpetrators of this
most despicable crime not already been killed, Tatewaki would be hunting
them down and painfully ending their worthless lives. But there was no
denying that it was his own dishonorable act, his own treachery against
the woman to whom he had pledged his love, that made their violating of
her possible. In trying to save her, he had instead caused her untold
agony. That was something that he could not live with.

        He had picked up the knife at a local sporting goods
establishment. The blade was designed for hunting. It was not of the
finest quality, but it was adequate for the purposes at hand. Kuno set
himself down on the ground in the traditional position.

        Kuno was certain that no one would be able to follow him to this
place. To confuse any possible pursuers, he had travelled in a pattern
as chaotic as one of his insane father's shirts. Was there any manner of
man who could possibly reproduce such a path, or anticipate its point of
termination?

        "So there you are," Ryoga said as he entered the shrine area. "I
followed you."

        "Ah, Hibiki. Very well, you shall be my second. Let it be known
to all the world that Upperclassman Kuno Tatewaki perished in order to
redeem himself for his crimes against the Pig-tailed Girl."

        "You think I'm going to stand by and let you commit Seppuku?!?
Have you any idea what that would do to Akane? Or Ranm -- the Pigtailed
Girl??" It was Akane who Ryoga was really concerned about. He didn't
want Kuno's death on her conscience. He didn't care what happened to
Kuno or his "Pig-tailed Girl" -- did he?

        "Honor must be maintained. I do not expect one such as yourself
to understand."

        "Damn it, you idiot! Honor isn't that simple! You made a
mistake. I did too, the same one! Everyone makes mistakes! Alive, you
can try to make up for them, try to make things better. Dead, you're
just dead!!"

        Tatewaki wasn't crying. No. That wouldn't be dignified. "But...
the Pig-tailed Girl..."

        "... isn't going to be helped by you dying. That's just going to
give her one more reason to be sad. Hasn't she suffered enough during
this trip? Don't make her mourn the death of a friend as well."

        "Hibiki..." Upperclassman Kuno paused to collect himself, then
stood. "Accompany me to this blade's place of purchase so that I may
return it."

        Ryoga smiled. He had just made things better.

                              *********

        "Damn it! Where are those idiots?" Akane said. "We need to get
going!"

        "I'll find Ryoga and Tatewaki," Tofu said. "The three of you
need to get over to Doctor Yafuso's clinic so he can abort his
pregnancy."

        "Is that really... necessary? I remember hearing all of those
stories... they said that if a child isn't born, its spirit has to
wander the Earth forever. That's frightening."

        "There's no choice here, Akane. I wish there were, I don't like
the idea either. But none of us knows what would happen to Ranma if
he... changed... while pregnant. If the pregnancy were advanced enough,
it could kill him."

        "Then can the fetus be transferred? Into me?"

        "Medical science hasn't come up with a way to do that yet. I'm
sorry, Akane, but I don't see that there's any alternative. Besides, as
far as we know, those stories are just legends."

        "I hope that's right," Akane said. Tofu silently agreed with
her. "Wouldn't it be better if you went to the clinic instead of me,
to help with the operation?"

        "Ranma needs you a lot more than he needs me right now. Stay
with him. Doctor Yafuso can handle this by himself. When you get done at
the clinic, he'll take you straight to the airport. Get on the next
plane for Tokyo with Ranma. I'll see you back home."

        "Doctor Tofu, thank you," Akane said. "Ranma and I probably
never would have found each other again if not for your help."

        Tofu smiled modestly, and gave the two girls a fatherly hug.
Akane was so grateful for the doctor, his quiet competence, his gentle
good humor. There was a time, long ago, when she wanted more than
anything to be Mrs. Ono Tofu. Now she hoped he would soon be part of her
family in another way. When she got home she would ask her sister how
she felt.

        Akane set out for the clinic with Ranma and Doctor Yafuso. Ranma
was wearing one of his old Chinese silk outfits; Akane had brought it
with her from Japan.

        The pregnancy was the most immediate of Ranma's problems. After
that, his memory had to be restored somehow. Akane had once been helped
by Ranma when Shampoo had made her forget him. She knew this wasn't
going to be as easy.

        Then they would have to deal with the after-effects of the
memories he would have from this trip. Being raped; Akane couldn't
imagine what that must feel like, what she would have done if it had
been her. She wondered if Ranma's memories could be rewound back, if he
could just pick up where he left off. Shampoo's shampoo could do that.
He would come out of it not remembering anything since that day at
school. Hey, which one of you jerks took my lunch? Waitaminit, how'd I
get here? Never mind, just gimme something to eat, I'm starved.

        No. Even if she could wave a magic wand and make Ranma's last
few weeks disappear, she wouldn't do it. They had happened. They were a
part of his life now, a part of *their* lives. They would work together,
try to deal with what happened. Eventually, it would make them stronger.

                              *********

        A change in plans was necessary.

        Akane, Ranma, and Doctor Yafuso got to the clinic, to find the
rest of the staff standing outside with a crowd of other people. The
building was in flames. So was an old-looking apartment building next
door.

        Joanie, the clinic receptionist, was there with a cellular phone
on her shoulder. "It looks like a case of deliberate arson. It started
in our building and spread over to the next one. Everyone is out of the
clinic, but there are still people stuck on the top floors of the
apartment building. The fire department is on its way to get them out
and deal with the fire. I'm trying to relocate some of our patients,
including the woman you said you were bringing in. Hello, Central
Hospital? This is Joanie down at the clinic on Puedam Street. We have a
pregnant woman here who needs a bit of medical attention. Our facilities
are not currently able to accommodate her. Could you... Thank you! I'll
just let you talk to her doctor for the details."

        Ranma and Akane looked at the burning apartment house and gave
each other a knowing nod. Then ki-boosted leaps propelled them both up
to the top floor. Yafuso stared, wondering if it was really the planet
Krypton that his visitors had come from.

        Akane came crashing through a window upstairs. Moving around
inside was like walking through an oven. She carried a family of three
and their pet cat to the window. Hopefully, Ranma wouldn't meet any
families with cats; that was a complication they would *not* want to
deal with.

        Her leap carried her out of the window, the residents screaming
as if they were falling to their deaths. Nothing to worry about; the
Anything Goes School specialized in mid-air combat, among other things.
All of its students could use ki power to exert a limited control over
their leaps.

        Ranma's leap had carried her into another apartment, which she
found to be empty. She kicked the apartment's front door open and walked
into a corridor. Through the smoke, she noticed a series of old-looking
automatic sprinklers running along the corridor ceiling. Evidently they
didn't work. 

        Ranma's adrenaline was pumping. This was the kind of challenge
that she lived for. That *he* lived for. Everything Akane and Tofu had
told him was the truth. He knew that now. Despite the body he had right
now, he was really a boy, not a girl. His memories were still a blur,
but he knew that much.

        Ranma called out the English word "Hello!" to try to locate any
people who were still trapped. A muffled response came from behind
another door. Ignoring the searing heat all around him, Ranma plunged
through that door. A man and a woman were there. He directed them out,
towards the window he had come in through. He followed as they crawled
along the ground. The fire was coming closer. He was prepared to use his
body as a shield.

        Ranma heard a click from the corridor ceiling above him. No! Not
now! The antiquated fire sprinkling system activated belatedly. Its
water, heated by the flames, came out all over the corridor, spraying
the corridor's occupants.

        Ranma doubled over in agony, screaming. His body was changing,
and something was coming out... What was it they had said back there?
Our facilities are not currently able to accommodate...

        "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

        "Ranma!!"

        Akane leapt up to the window Ranma had gone through. A moment
later she came down again, carrying her fiance and two others. He had
turned male, and he seemed to be in terrible pain. Sirens were
approaching. The fire department would be here momentarily. They could
finish getting the people out. Akane needed to help Ranma.

        Ambulances arrived. Doctor Yafuso directed one of them to take
his patient, who had been pregnant and just had a miscarriage, over to
Central Hospital. Akane restrained herself from clobbering the
paramedics as she had to explain to them twice, with Yafuso translating
as he stared in disbelief at Ranma's changed gender, that Ranma was the
one who had had the miscarriage, not her, and they had better hurry up
and get him to that hospital, but first the patient would need some cold
water. The ambulance drove off.

        Firefighters carried out the remaining tenants from the
apartment building. The ambulances took away more of the injured, with
Yafuso giving first aid where needed. Fire hoses poured out gallons of
water to smother the flames. Chaos gave way to quiet, as the ambulances
were gone and the crowd fell mostly silent.

        A weary Yafuso sat himself on the sidewalk for a moment. "You
did a great job here, Joanie, thanks," he said to the woman who still
had the cellular phone under her chin. "I'm going down to the hospital
to check on Ranma."

        "You mean the pregnant woman? I hope she's going to be all
right."

        "She'll be okay. She's not pregnant anymore, though. She had a
miscarriage. Sort of an accident, because of the fire."

       Unnoticed, a man in the crowd who had been listening turned and
slipped away from the smoldering buildings. This was not the way the
plan was supposed to turn out...

                              *********

        "I guess it's time for me to say goodbye," Doctor Yafuso said.
The three were standing at the entrance to customs check-in. "You two
and your friends were certainly the most interesting visitors I've ever
had! I hope you'll keep in touch."

        "We will, Doc," Ranma said. "Sorry about your clinic."

        "Oh, don't worry, it'll get fixed. Now I can tell people that I
had a patient who was a woman come in for an operation, and when she
came out she was a man! People from all over will be coming to see us
and give us money!" The three laughed.

        "Sometime, we'll come back to see you," Akane said, "the two of
us together. Right, Ranma?"

        "Yeah! And if you ever need us, just call and we'll be right
over. If not for you, I'd probably be lying dead in a gutter somewhere."

        The three held each other in a tight embrace, until they noticed
that the customs lines were forming around them. Ranma and Akane
proceeded through customs as Yafuso watched, smiling and waving. It was
hard to believe that the young man he saw was the same person as the
nearly-starved girl who showed up in his clinic those weeks ago. He
wondered again if this was what it was like to be a parent. It was good.
The kids were going to be all right.

        Ranma and Akane passed through the customs check point and
followed down the long series of airport corridors toward their flight's
gate. They stopped at a bank of pay phones.

        Akane dialed on one of the phones. "Kasumi, Ranma and I are
coming home! The plane leaves in half an hour! We're coming home!"

        "I'm so happy, Akane! We're all so excited! Everybody is going
to be at the airport to meet you! Tell Ramna I'm going to cook a big
welcome home feast for him! I'm even baking a cake!"

        "Kasumi, we need to talk..."

                              *********

        A long way away...

        "This is the Sears Tower, Johnny. It's the tallest building in
the world."

        "I know that, mom! Can we go up? I wanna look through the
telescopes!"

        "Not today, Johnny, we're going to the Chicago Museum of Art."

        "Aw, mom! That's boring!"

        Up in the Sears Tower, the Chicago tourists were treated to an
unusual sight. A young man was running around the observation floor,
looking in all directions, as if desperately trying to locate some
landmark. Obviously unable to find what he was looking for, the young
man in the bandanna cried out in frustration:

        "WHERE IS DOCTOR YAFUSO'S APARTMENT??!??"

                              *********

        Ranma sat on the plane and waited. Akane, whose daily rhythm was
still set on Japanese time, was sleeping. His memories were still hazy.
He had no idea whether he'd read any of the magazines or seen the
in-flight movie yet, but he still found neither to be of interest. There
was nothing much to do.

        He thought about the old legends, of unborn spirits being forced
to wander the Earth. He hoped that they weren't true.

        There would be a lot to do when he got home. The trip had caused
him a lot of problems that he would need to deal with. Akane would help.
So would their families, and his friends. With them, he knew that he
would be able to solve anything.

        A flight attendant walked up the aisle. "What would you like for
dinner, sir; steak or fish?"

        "Oh, Uh, nothin' for me, thanks."

        Of course, it wasn't going to be easy...

        The boy sat quietly on the plane and waited.

        But he was not alone.

                              *********

        For the first time, Albert Bunson didn't know what to do. He
couldn't understand what the voices in his head were saying. He needed
help. He went as fast as he could to the Virgin Mary's shrine, the one
he'd been to so many times before.

        "I don't understand..." he said to the image of Mary. "It turned
out exactly the opposite as I intended. I only wanted to save the
children, and in so doing, I destroyed one of them. How... how could
this have happened?"

        Bunson noticed that someone had walked up behind him. He looked
back in puzzlement, not knowing who this person was.

        "My name is Kuno Tatewaki. I believe the two of us should
converse; for I have just had a similar experience."

                                END


        DISCLAIMER TIME: The character Albert Bunson is not meant to be
representative of the anti-abortion movement, nor of any religious
group. Opinions expressed by the characters on the topic of abortion are
not the author's. This story should not be interpreted as taking a stand
on the subject of whether abortions should be generally legal. The
author would guess that most of those who are against abortions would
make exceptions in cases of aquatranssexuality.

        I'm exceedingly grateful for all of the response I got on this
story from prereaders and from the two mailing lists (the Ronin list and
the FFML2). The amount of encouragement and good suggestions I received
was far greater than anything I could have hoped for. Rather than list
specific people (which would risk leaving someone out), I'll just say
that I thank each and every one of you who commented on this story very
much! I'd like to know what you thought, too.

Gary Kleppe
kleppe@execpc.com, Home page http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe
My fanfics and the FFML map are on my comics/manga page,
       http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe/comics