Ranma circled her opponent cautiously, keeping herself in a loose 
defensive stance while at the same time watching him like a hawk, 
waiting for any sudden movements.  She breathed deeply, tuning out the 
outside world.  For the moment, her world consisted only of herself, 
her opponent, and the small ring in which they fought.

	His attack came in the blink of an eye, but that was all the time 
it took for her to register his movements and block the combination 
that he launched at her.  She countered his next moves with a 
punch-kick combo of her own, and they backed away again, facing each 
other.

	This time, she attacked with a feint to his left before 
sidestepping his defenses and getting in a solid hit to his side.  He 
quickly adjusted his defense, and they backed off again, facing each 
other warily.

	Her opponent, Lieutenant Ichiro Sakamori, held high rankings in 
both kempo and jujitsu.  He had been a SWAT team commander before being 
"promoted" to a desk job, and was a martial arts instructor in addition 
to his normal police work.  In addition, his days as as a SWAT team 
member had given him a fierce fighting edge and a background of 
experience outside the dojo that made him more dangerous than many 
other martial artists of even higher ranking.  They had sparred several 
times before, and Ranma had quickly learned not to take him lightly as 
an opponent.

	They had finished testing each other now.  He moved in again, and 
this time the battle was serious.  They moved as quick as lightning, 
blocking and defending in a series of moves that an outside viewer 
would have been hard pressed to follow at all.

	To Ranma, it was as clear as day.  Kick.  Block.  Slide.  
Attack.  Block.  They circled around each other, neither willing to 
give ground.  Ranma sent him stumbling backwards, but not before he 
managed to get in a hit as well.  They recovered quickly, and faced 
each other again.

	"How you doing?"  Ranma smiled.  "Tired yet?"

	"Of course not."  Sakamori returned her smile.  "I'm just getting 
warmed up."

	"Excellent."  Ranma grinned wickedly.  "It's good to know old age 
hasn't caught up with you yet, Gramps."

	He chuckled.  "For that, young Grasshopper, you will pay."

	He attacked, and once again they danced around each other, 
blocking and attacking and feinting.  The small crowd of onlookers that 
had gathered was yelling and cheering now, caught up in the energy and 
adrenaline that seemed to surround the entire match.

	It was Sakamori who made the first mistake, overextending on a 
combination and opening a hole in his defenses.  She ducked under a 
punch, sliding within his defenses and delivering a side kick against 
his chest with all the strength she was willing to put into a sparring 
match.  It was enough, and he fell flat against the mat, coughing.

	"Too slow, Gramps."  She smiled.  Even though he was only a few 
years older than her, she relentlessly taunted him about his age.  If 
he was old enough to be behind a desk instead of on the street, then he 
was too old.

	He got up to his feet, struggling to get his breath back.  "Nice 
one, Saotome.  You ready to go again?"

	A new voice broke in.  "Sorry, but I'm afraid I'm going to have 
to call an end to this match."

	Ranma turned to the sound of the voice, and saw Hiroshi standing 
at the edge of the people who had gathered to watch the two martial 
artists.  "A letter came in for you," he said, "this is something you 
definitely want to see."

	"All right," Ranma raised a hand and wiped the sweat off her 
brow, "I'll be there in a minute."  She turned back to Sakamori.  
"Sorry- duty calls.  Do you mind if I wait until some other time to 
finish kicking your ass?"

	"Anytime you want to try, kid, just tell me."  Sakamori 
chuckled.  "I swear I'm going to win one of these matches someday."

	"Promises, promises."  Ranma swung herself lightly out of the 
ring, grabbing a towel off a nearby rack and swinging it over her 
shoulder as she stripped the gloves off her hands, then reached down to 
the the same with the padding on her feet.

	Hiroshi walked over to her.  "Gotta say, Saotome, that was some 
fancy shit."

	"Not really."  Ranma stuffed her gear into a bag.  "I'm not as 
good as I used to be."

	"Still, taking on Sakamori?  That's nothing to sneeze at."

	"Ah, he's all right."  Ranma shrugged.  "I've fought better."  
She hoisted her bag over her shoulder.  "Anyway, I'm gonna go change.  
I'll meet you outside in a few minutes."

            ------------------------------------------------

	Ranma held the letter at the corner with her thumb and index 
finger, the same way one might hold a well-used kleenex.  "This has 
been fluoroscoped, right?"

	"Yes.  It's clean.  No explosives, no booby traps of any sort 
that we can detect."

	"All right."  She hesitantly gripped the letter with her other 
hand, and looked at it.  "Who brought it here, anyway?"

	"The guy's in questioning right now.  Says he was approached on 
the street and paid thirty thousand yen to act as a messenger.  He's 
giving us a description of the person right now."

	Ranma frowned.  The letter had no return address, and on it was 
written 'Private- For Ranma Saotome Only.'

	"You want me to leave before you open it?"

	"Nah, it's fine."  With a single fluid motion she opened the 
envelope.  Inside was a one page letter.  She pulled it out, unfolded 
it, and read it.

            ------------------------------------------------

	Officer Saotome:

	I have information relating to the Yakuza family currently 
working with Misato Industries.  The collaboration is being coordinated 
by Nabiki Tendo, VP of Sales and Negotiation for Misato.  She 
contracted the Yakuza to kill Kaei Mikawa and to steal his research 
data from Onishi Technologies, and is paying them with high-tech 
weapons and explosives.  An arrangement has been made to meet at a 
neutral site, where Mikawa's data will be exchanged for the arms.  I 
know when and where this meeting will be, and will divulge this 
information to you on one condition.

	The Yakuza have recently made explicit threats against Nabiki 
Tendo's family in order to ensure that the deal is completed to their 
satisfaction.  Her family may be harmed or killed if steps are not 
taken to protect them.  Therefore, you have twelve hours to personally 
ensure the safety of her family.  If this is done, then I will provide 
you with the time and location of this meeting as well as the names of 
the Yakuza involved with this deal.

	You must take the necessary steps yourself; do not delegate the 
responsibility of this protection to others.  If you follow these 
instructions, I will contact you with the information you need.

            ------------------------------------------------

	She showed the letter to Hiroshi.  He read it over, and handed it 
back to her.  "So, what do you think?"

	"I don't know."  Ranma looked over the letter again.  "We have 
two possibilities to consider: this letter is either genuine, or it 
isn't.  My gut tells me it's real; a phony wouldn't ask for police 
protection.  They'd ask for money or something like that."

	"I agree.  Still, there are two odd things about this letter: 
first, who sent this?  Second, why is it that they were so insistent on 
you being the one to carry out these actions?"

	"You wanted your share of the glory too?"  Ranma chuckled.  "No, 
I agree with you that it's odd.  I think, though, that if we answer 
that second question, we can answer the first."

	"You're saying that if we figure out why they were so interested 
in you, then we can figure out exactly who it was."  Hiroshi frowned as 
he drummed his fingers on the desk.  "That might not help at all.  
Maybe they just know that you're in charge of the investigation, and so 
they want you to handle this personally.  So what?"

	"Maybe."  Ranma pursed her lips in thought.  "Then why not 
address the message to you?  Why to me?"  She shook her head.  "No, it 
would only make sense in one particular case.  Remember that I just met 
with Nabiki Tendo yesterday.  She knows me personally.  She knows that 
I managed to follow the trail back to her."  She slapped the letter 
down on the desk.  "I'd put down a thousand yen that says it was her 
who wrote the letter."

	"I don't know," Hiroshi picked up the paper and scanned it as he 
spoke.  "If that's the case, then this is pretty much a confession of 
guilt.  Is that really something she'd do?  It could easily be one of 
her subordinates who knows a little more than they should."

	"Possibly.  She could have written the letter in a last-ditch 
effort to protect her family.  Once they were threatened, it may have 
turned her attitude around."

	"I suppose it's possible," he conceded.  "Still- for her to write 
a confession over it, it must be a pretty serious threat.  And it still 
doesn't really explain why she would have been insistent on you doing 
the job personally."  He scratched his chin as he contemplated the 
matter.  "All right, so suppose for a moment that Nabiki is the 
writer.  Do we trust what she said?  Do we follow through on her 
instructions?"

	"Yes," replied Ranma, "we have to.  The warning involves a 
possible threat against somebody, so we're pretty much obligated to 
follow through on the lead.  If Nabiki's family was harmed and it came 
to light that we knew about it in advance but didn't try to protect 
them, there would be hell to pay."

	"And you're going to follow through on it yourself?"

	She sighed heavily.  Every time she thought it couldn't get 
worse, it did.  Still, she had an obligation.  She believed whoever 
wrote the letter was telling the truth, and if getting the Tendos out 
of harm's way was what it took to get the information they were 
offering, then she would do it- even if it meant meeting Akane again.  
She looked up at Hiroshi.  "Yes... yes, I am.  But don't think you're 
not coming with me."

	Hiroshi feigned a hurt look.  "You think I'd let you leave me out 
of this in the first place, Saotome?  Feh.  Let's get going."

            ------------------------------------------------

	As Hiroshi drove the unmarked police car through the streets of 
Nerima, Ranma looked out the window and marveled at how many places she 
could identify after even more than a decade of absence.  There seemed 
to be hundreds of landmarks that she recognized.  The fences that she 
used to run along the tops of on her way to school.  The old location 
of the Nekohanten.  The bridge where she had gone so many times to 
think.  Doctor Tofu's clinic, apparently still in business.
	
	Everywhere they passed seemed to have some memory linked to it, 
and she found that memories she had struggled to suppress for years 
surfaced as clear as day now that she had returned.  The feeling was 
not unpleasant, just a bit saddening.  There were many regrets to be 
found around here, but there were also many pleasant memories, some of 
which- to her surprise- made her feel content and cheery inside.  She 
smiled as they passed an ice cream shop where she had gone several 
times with her friends from school, and even with Akane on the rare 
occasions when they hadn't been at each other's throats.

	The Tendo Dojo, though, was the place at the core of her 
regrets.  Seeing it ahead, she quickly adopted the mentality of a 
police officer again, scanning the area for threats as Hiroshi slowed 
the car slightly.  There was a car with tinted windows parked on the 
opposite side of the street about half a block away, and she was 
immediately suspicious.  They passed the gate, but looking inside 
yielded no information- she saw the front door, but couldn't tell if 
there was anybody in the house.  She noted that the front door could 
not be seen by someone inside the parked car, only the outer gate.

	As they passed the car, she was careful not to turn her head and 
try to look into it in case somebody was actually inside, although she 
did make a note of the license plate in the side mirror as they passed.

	Once they had turned the corner onto an empty street and gone 
down it a safe distance, Hiroshi pulled the car onto the curb and 
stopped.  "So, whaddya think?"

	"I have an idea." Ranma opened the door.  "I'm going to go in and 
get them.  You stay here and wait for my call.  Meanwhile, get out one 
of the uniforms in the back.  You're going to be playing traffic cop."

            ------------------------------------------------

	Ranma looked up to the top of the wall that surrounded the Tendo 
Dojo, hesitating only briefly before jumping up and easily landing on 
it.  She looked back down at the car parked below, to see Hiroshi give 
her a thumbs up before she turned to the inside compound.  Such 
unorthodox methods of entry were usually frowned upon, but with the 
black car staking out the front entrance it was the best choice.

	The side yard was empty.  She was on the side closest to the 
house, with the dojo located across the compound, and so it was only a 
brief walk around the corner of the house to the front door.  She 
jumped down, landing silently on the grass.  An unpleasant thought 
crossed briefly through her mind, and she hoped the Tendos hadn't 
invested in any guard dogs since she had known them last.  Yeah, right, 
she thought with a twisted grin.  Who needs a guard dog when they've 
got Akane?

	She walked stealthily across the yard, turning to watch the front 
gate as she approached the door to make sure nobody was visible in the 
road.  Once she was sure the coast was clear, she turned quickly and 
knocked on the door, anxious to do so before the growing knot in her 
stomach made her chicken out completely.

	The silence stretched on for several moments, and Ranma hastily 
rehearsed what she was going to say.  Should she sink herself into the 
role of the police officer on the off-chance that nobody would 
recognize her?  Should she come up with a fake name, deny knowledge of 
anybody named Ranma Saotome?  Or she should be right up front with her 
identity, and let the chips fall where they may?  Up until this point, 
she hadn't given it much thought, only except that she couldn't let 
Hiroshi find out the truth about her relationship with the Tendos, and 
that she wanted to meet them alone.  Now, standing on the doorstep, she 
was suddenly unsure of herself and almost wished that her partner were 
present by her side.

	"Can I help you?"

	Ranma started as the voice interrupted her frantic train of 
thought.  She saw who had answered the door and recognized her former 
fiancee instantly, despite the changes in appearance that had come with 
the arrival of adulthood.  Akane was taller; she now towered over Ranma 
by several centimeters.  She had been cute as a teenager, but now she 
was no longer cute- she was beautiful.  Her hair had grown long again, 
and was pulled back in a ponytail behind her head.  Her figure had 
slimmed and lost the baby fat that had once been present, and her arms 
and legs were wiry yet Ranma noted the defined shape of the muscles 
underneath the skin.  She realized immediately why Akane seemed so fit; 
she had obviously inherited the dojo and was now the instructor there.  
A fresh sense of longing and grief passed through her- it seemed to her 
that she was looking in on a parallel world, and seeing what her future 
should have been.  What her future would have been, if so many mistakes 
hadn't been made all those many years ago.

	She snapped out of her nostalgia and looked back at Akane's face, 
only to see that her eyes had widened and she had taken a step back 
from the doorway.  Ranma suddenly realized that not only had she 
forgotten to say anything useful, she had forgotten to say anything at 
all, and coughed hesitantly.

	Akane leaned forward again, staring at Ranma with wide, 
unbelieving eyes.  "Ranma?!"

	Ranma shifted hesitantly, and coughed again.  Any possibility of 
saying something useful had vanished entirely now, as her mind seemed 
to freeze up completely with the sound of Akane's voice.  "Uhh.... 
yeah."  A longish pause, and Ranma raised her eyebrows and offered a 
faltering grin.  "Um.. long time no see?"

	Akane's eyes rolled up and she fell backwards, her head hitting 
the carpet with a dull thud.  Ranma winced, and sighed.  Well, she 
thought, that could have gone worse.  Could have gone better, but it 
could have gone worse, too.

            ------------------------------------------------

	A groan coming from the direction of the couch caused Ranma to 
turn from the picture she was examining and look to where she had laid 
Akane.  She slowly sat up on the couch, rubbing her eyes and looking 
around.  Ranma turned back to the picture, feigning indifference for a 
few more seconds.  It was an old picture of her, the Tendos, and her 
parents.  She wondered briefly what in the world would have made them 
keep this picture up.  Looking around, she saw that a few of the many 
pictures along the wall had one or more Saotomes in them.  She knew her 
father wasn't still living here, so that wouldn't explain it.  She 
shrugged mentally, making a note to ask about it later.

	"Ranma?  Is that you?  What are you doing here?"

	Ranma sighed, and turned back to Akane, feeling confident now 
that she was once again in full control of her mental faculties.  With 
an ease born of long years of practice, she flipped out her police 
badge and tossed it onto the table next to Akane.  "I'm here to take 
you and any other residents of this household into police protection.  
We believe you may be in danger."

	Akane looked at the badge and with a twist of her wrist sent it 
spinning back at Ranma, who deftly snatched it out of the air and 
pocketed it.  "Danger?  What are you talking about?  And you think I'm 
supposed to just believe that story?  That you show up out of the blue 
after twelve years on police business?!"

	Ranma turned back to the picture, annoyed by the anger in Akane's 
voice.  "We've been on the trail of some Yakuza who have been having 
dealings with your sister Nabiki.  They were involved in a deal that 
went bad, and now we believe that you and your family may be in 
immediate danger."

	There was a pause, and when Akane spoke again her voice was 
haunted, the anger having been replaced by a deep sorrow that seemed to 
saturate every word.  "And so you came back, after all these years."

	Ranma was caught off guard by Akane's reaction, and turned to see 
the young woman crying.  Akane's elbows were propped on her knees and 
she rested her head in her hands, staring at the floor.  Ranma saw a 
bead of moisture fall from her hands onto the floor, and immediately 
felt guilty for the cold, impersonal attitude she had taken.  Unsure of 
how to comfort the woman, she sat down on the couch next to Akane and 
hesitated before finally speaking.

	"Look... I don't know whether you wanted me here or not... and 
well, I'm not sure whether I wanted to come here or not... but I had 
to.  We received a tip that your life may be in danger, and the person 
who tipped us off requested that I come here personally..." she sighed 
and rubbed the back of her head.  "I'm sorry if this has really hurt 
you."

	Akane was silent for a few more seconds before wiping her eyes 
with the back of her hand and looking up again.  She sighed, and looked 
up at the ceiling.  "It's been years since I had an outburst like 
that..."  She laughed sadly.  "Damn it."  She shook her head and got up 
from the couch, walking over to the porch.  She stared out onto the 
garden for a few minutes, and then turned to face Ranma, her eyes clear 
again.  "I'm sorry."  She paused.  "As you were saying, if I heard you 
right, Nabiki has more or less gotten herself into deep shit.  And as a 
result, we're in it with her."

	Ranma chuckled at her frank appraisal of the situation.  "Yeah, 
pretty much."

	Akane turned back to the garden.  "So what do we need to do about 
it?"

	"Basically," said Ranma, "I need to take you and anybody else 
living here into protective custody."

	"For how long?"

	"Until further notice.  Not more than a few days, hopefully."  
Ranma relaxed as she began to feel in control of the situation again.

	Akane looked out on the garden, keeping her back to Ranma.  "Is 
Nabiki going to be all right?"

	"If there's one thing Nabiki is good at, it's taking care of 
herself."  Ranma frowned.  "She'll be all right, but she may face some 
serious charges once it's all over."

	Akane turned back to face her former fiancee.  "I knew Nabiki was 
up to something.  The past few months, every time she visited... I 
could tell she was hiding something.  Until now, I didn't have any idea 
what it was."

	Ranma leaned back on the couch, resting her hands behind her 
head.  "Well, any information you could provide us about Nabiki's 
recent life would be helpful, if you'd be willing to tell us."

	"Yeah, of course," Akane said distractedly.  "I can't tell you 
much, though.. she doesn't live here anymore, and her visits have been 
less and less frequent over the past couple of years."

	"So who does live here now?  You, Kasumi, and your Dad?"

	Akane smiled, shaking her head.  "No, Kasumi left a long time 
ago.  She's studying medicine in America now.  Just my father and I, 
with me taking care of the dojo and making sure Dad takes his 
medicine..."

	"Medicine?"  Ranma looked at her questioningly.  "For what?"

	"Akane?"  Soun's voice drifted out from a nearby hallway.  "You 
were late with my breakfast... was somebody important at the door?"

	Akane sighed, and looked at Ranma.  "You'll see.  I have no idea 
how he'll react on seeing you here, though.  He's extremely unstable."

	Ranma rolled her eyes.  "What else is new?"

	"No," she shook her head, "it's gotten really bad.  In fact-"

	"Ranma?!  Is it really you?!!"

	Soun stood in the hallway, dressed in his typical faded black 
gi.  He looked almost the same as he had always looked, except for a 
few streaks of gray that ran down his hair and a slight pudginess in 
his face and belly that had been lacking before.  Ranma sat up on the 
couch, and nodded.  "Yes, Mr. Tendo, it's me."  She reached for her 
badge instinctively.  "I've just been telling your daughter that-"

	"WAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!"  Fountains of water streamed from Soun's 
eyes as he ran up to Ranma and wrapped her in a tight embrace.  
"Ranma's come back and the Saotomes and Tendos will finally be united 
as one family!!  It'll be such a great wedding!! WAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

	Ranma managed to make eye contact with Akane, who shook her head 
and walked over in time to pry her father off from Ranma before the 
redheaded woman passed out from lack of oxygen.  "Sorry, Ranma, I tried 
to warn you."  She leaned toward her and whispered, "he's delusional 
most of the time now.  The stress of your leaving, followed by your 
mother's death and your father's disappearance, caused him to snap.  
He's lost it, I'm afraid."

	Soun was dancing around the room, throwing confetti and streamers 
into the air as he waved victory fans and shouted for joy.  "Oh, happy 
day!  Oh, Saotome, if only you were here to see it!  Ranma, will your 
father be returning for the wedding?"

	"Come on, Dad."  Akane grabbed her father by the arm and pulled 
him into the kitchen.  "It's time to take your medicine, anyway."

	"Wait!" shouted her father as she dragged him into the kitchen, 
out of sight.  "What about the wedding?!"

	A few minutes later, Akane and her father came back into the 
room.  Akane patted him on the back, and he nodded to Ranma dazedly and 
went into the hallway.  "He seems to be doing better now."  Akane 
sighed.  "Sorry about that."

	"No problem."  Ranma looked in the direction Soun had 
disappeared.  "I guess that explains why there are still pictures of me 
and my parents up."

	"Yeah," she nodded.  "Dad just couldn't bear to get rid of them.  
He was bound to determined that you would come back one day and sweep 
me off my feet."  She laughed halfheartedly and walked over to the 
picture, looking at it for a moment before turning back to Ranma.  "I 
never got the chance to tell you.. I'm sorry.  I'm sorry about what 
happened to you, and to your family..." she hung her head.  "I don't 
know what's happened to you since then, or how your life has been, but 
no matter how it turned out, you didn't deserve what I did to you.  I 
was angry, and I acted totally irrationally.  I hurt you in a way that 
nothing you could have done would have ever justified."

	Ranma was taken aback by Akane's words.  She had always accepted 
that Akane was at fault, but to hear her admit it- well, she would have 
sooner have swallowed her badge before believing that Akane would admit 
to her own guilt.  All she could manage was a quiet "I appreciate it."

	There was a moment of silence, then Akane looked up again.  "Do 
you want to see your old room or anything?"

	"Well," Ranma looked at her watch, "we need to get going soon.  
My partner's probably wondering why I haven't touched base with him.  
But yes, I would like to see my old room.  Maybe put a few ghosts to 
rest at last."

            ------------------------------------------------

	The door slid open easily to reveal an empty room.  Ranma stepped 
inside, followed by Akane.  "I'm surprised you didn't rent this room 
out or something."

	"No," Akane shook her head, "not with the way Dad is.  He's too 
mentally ill to cope with any guests right now."

	Ranma had walked to the center of the room and she knelt down, 
facing the right side of the room.  For a moment, she pictured her and 
her father's rolled-up mattresses resting against the wall, but the 
image faded quickly.  Instead she pictured the fateful day from many 
years ago, when she had been reading from the scroll she had thought 
she would finally cure her.  The day her life as she knew it had been 
destroyed.  The scroll had been laid out in front of her, with the 
necessary elements for the cure sitting next to her.  Hot and cold 
water had been required, as well as some ingredients she had 
"liberated" from Cologne's kitchen, and everything had been proceeding 
properly, but then the door had burst open...

	"I interrupted your reading," Akane said, as though reading 
Ranma's thoughts. "I kicked the water at you without even realizing 
that it was supposed to be part of your cure."  She sighed heavily.  "I 
was so mad- I was so, so mad."  She paused.  "How was I supposed to 
know that you had been searching for that scroll all the time you were 
gone?  Didn't you trust me?  We were finally about to get married, 
everything was going right, except for you and your stupid quest..." 
she sniffed.  "I'm sorry.  I promised myself I wouldn't get mad about 
it anymore."

	Ranma's voice was quiet.  "It's not that I didn't trust you, 
Akane... I trusted you more than anybody.  It was just... I wanted to 
do this by myself.  I wanted to become a whole man again on my own, 
without anybody's help, and then I would come to you, and show you that 
my curse was gone, and you would be so surprised, and happy, and 
proud..."  A tear fell from her face onto the floor.  "I wanted to make 
you proud of me.  I wanted to make you love me."

	"I did love you!" Akane shouted.  There was a pause, and then she 
continued.  "I know all that now... I know you wanted to make me 
proud.  I know I should have trusted you."  She struggled to staunch 
the flow of tears that was pouring from her eyes.  "Why couldn't I have 
figured it out then?!  Why?!"  She slumped to the floor, crying.  
"Goddamn it... if I could do anything to undo the mistakes I made that 
day, I would do it..."

	Ranma looked on in shock at Akane's sobbing form.  Of all the 
different reactions she had thought she might receive, this was not one 
of them.  "Akane... that day happened long ago.  We both made mistakes, 
and if it's any comfort.." she hesitated.  "I was never mad at you or 
anything like that.  I can't say that I've forgotten what you did, or 
that I've put it behind me," she rested her head on her knees as she 
spoke, "but I am willing to forgive you."

	There was a pause, during which Akane tried to get her crying 
under control, and finally succeeded.  "Thanks, Ranma.  That really 
means a lot to me."  She laughed, and looked up at the ceiling as she 
sighed.  "It's been a long time since I was that emotional.  About 
anything."  She looked back at Ranma and smiled.

	Ranma smiled in return, and looked at her watch.  "Shit," she 
whispered.  If she didn't contact Hiroshi soon, he would probably come 
through the front door with guns blazing.  "I forgot about why I came 
here in the first place.  We need to get you and your father out of 
here, fast.  You need take with you anything you need to survive that 
can't be provided elsewhere- medications, identification, that sort of 
thing.  Don't worry about clothes or toothbrushes or anything like 
that."

	"All right."  Akane stood up again, the business of the past 
forgotten for the time being.  "I need to get Dad ready to travel.  
That'll take a little while, but I can be done within 10 minutes."

	Ranma made no move to get up.  "I'll meet you downstairs, then."

	Akane looked like she was about to say something, but then just 
nodded and left.  Ranma listened to her footsteps as she went down the 
stairs, and then exhaled as she let herself fall backwards until she 
was lying on her back in the middle of the room, with her knees bent 
and her feet resting flat on the floor.  She stared up at the ceiling, 
and it seemed to her that if she listened hard enough she could hear 
her father's voice, and maybe the occasional grunt of a panda, and the 
yelling of people fighting, and then if she squinted her eyes hard 
enough she could see old ghosts flicker around her, like a black-haired 
boy fighting his father, and a panda sleeping in the corner.  She 
listened and watched the images as they whirled about in a strange 
dance of imagination and memory...

	"Hey, old man!  What'd ya do that for?!"

	"Ranma, prepare to die!"

	"Lazy boy!  Out of bed, it's time to train!"

	"Shampoo come to visit husband, of course!"

	The voices became less random as she remembered specific 
instances, painful ones that would haunt her forever...

	"What did you want to tell me?"

	"Please, son, don't let it upset you.  I will be happy if you do 
one thing for me..."

	"Why did this have to happen to you?!"

	"No!  It's not true!  It can't be!"

	"One year at most, is what the doctors said."

	Some of the ghostly voices faded away, but new ones rose up, and 
she imagined she could hear two loud voices stand out over the rest.  
"Akane, wait!  I can explain!"

	"Don't bother, Ranma!  I can just imagine where you've been all 
this time!"

	"But-"

	"Just go back to Shampoo or Ukyo, why don't you!  I hate you, 
Ranma!"

	"No, don't-"  *SPLASH*  "Wait, Akane!  Oh crap, what happe-"

	She sat up quickly, suddenly aware that she was crying again.  
"Damn," she whispered to nobody in particular.  "I gotta get out of 
here."  She jumped up onto her feet from where she was sitting and 
hurried downstairs, away from the ghosts and the memories that seemed 
to penetrate every corner of the old room.

            ------------------------------------------------

	She had only just gotten downstairs when Akane appeared again, 
with her father in tow and looking somewhat less disheveled than he had 
earlier.  She carried a purse and a knapsack, and her eyes were still 
slightly red and puffy from crying.  "You ready?" asked Ranma.

	Akane nodded, and Ranma pulled a walkie-talkie from her belt, 
checking the frequency before she pressed the transmitter switch.  
"Hiroshi, you ready?"

	A crackle of static, then a response.  "It's about time.  You 
were starting to worry me there."

	"Sorry about that," she glanced over at Akane, "had some minor 
problems, but they're taken care of.  You ready to go?"

	"Let's do this."

	"All right," she responded, "work your magic."

            ------------------------------------------------

	Tomatsu Fuchida looked at his watch- it was still some time 
before they could expect to be relieved.  "This has been the most 
uneventful seven hours of my life," he complained aloud.  "You'd think 
in this day and age we could hook up a video camera or something to 
monitor the Tendos, but no... gotta do it the old-fashioned way."

	"Can it, Fuchida," muttered the person next to him, Ichiro 
Aosaki.  "Seven hours is nothing- I've been on thirty-hour stakeouts in 
the past.  You should be glad you'll be relieved at all.  Goddamn 
rookie."

	"Yeah, yeah," Fuchida snapped.  "And when you were little you had 
to walk twenty miles to school in the snow, barefoot, uphill both ways."

	"You don't believe me?" Aosaki raised an eyebrow.

	"No, it's just-" he was interrupted by a loud tapping.  He turned 
to the window, only to see a police officer trying to peer through the 
darkly tinted glass.  "Damn it," he muttered.  Looking in the rearview 
mirror, he saw that a car had pulled up behind them, but they had been 
too busy arguing to notice.

	"Can I help you, officer?" he asked, fighting to suppress the 
butterflies in his stomach as he rolled down the window.

	The officer looked in the car, glancing at Aosaki before looking 
back to Fuchida.  "You boys waitin' for somebody?"

	"Um," he stammered, "actually, we were just getting ready to 
leave."  He swallowed nervously.

	"Good," replied the officer.  "I'm gonna be back around in five 
minutes, and I expect you to be gone by then.  This is a 'No Parking' 
zone."  He pointed to a sign several feet away.

	Fuchida looked back.  "Ah, yes.  I didn't realize the zone 
extended this far.  Sorry about that, officer.  We'll be on our way."  
He started the car, not daring to look at Aosaki, and began to drive 
away.  He rolled up the window, breathing a sigh of relief even as 
Aosaki laid into him.

	"You were really smooth back there.  If we want to be more 
obvious, next time we can just hang a big neon sign flashing the word 
'Yakuza' from the side of the car."

	"Give it a rest, okay?" he snapped back.  "I wasn't expecting to 
have to deal with a cop... because of a 'No Parking' zone, of all 
things."

	"Just circle around for a few minutes, all right?  And then park 
us somewhere legal.  Geez."

            ------------------------------------------------

	"All right," Hiroshi spoke into the radio, "it's clear."

	No sooner had he spoken than three people came running across the 
street from the Dojo gate, with Ranma in the lead.  Following her was 
another young woman with long dark hair who was dragging an old man 
with a rather dazed look on his face behind her.  Hiroshi jumped back 
into the car, starting the engine as they approached.  As soon as they 
had clambered in the car, he hit the gas and drove away.

	Ranma let out a sigh of relief as she fastened her seat belt.  
"Heh.  To get them on a No Parking zone, of all things.  That's gotta 
be a new one."  She laughed.  "Nice uniform, by the way."  She turned 
to the back seat.  "Akane-san, Soun-san, this is Officer Juzo.  
Juzo-san, meet the Tendos."

	"Nice to meet you," said Hiroshi distractedly as he looked in the 
rearview mirror to make sure their escape had been a clean one.

	"Hello, Juzo-san," said Soun.  "Will you be coming to the 
wedding, too?"

	Hiroshi suddenly coughed, then turned to Ranma, looking at her 
with a raised eyebrow.

	"Long story," she muttered, trying to sink as deep into the seat 
as possible.  "Tell ya 'bout it later."

            ------------------------------------------------

Author's Notes: Well, after a long absence, I'm writing again.  For 
more info on my current projects, visit 
http://www.geocities.com/taliesin03/index.html.

It may seem like there's a lot left hanging in this chapter about what 
happened to Ranma, her family and friends.  So let me stress that
this story is far from over and I will try to have all questions 
answered by the end of the fic.

Until next time...