*** *** ***

Sunday : 9:56 A.M.

The Tendou Dojo

Every-one had shown up even Ryouga . In fact Akari had

even gotten him there two hours early to make certain of there being

no problems .

Now every-one who had been invited was milling around on

the yard outside of the Dojo … waiting for what ?

Ranma for his part was sitting in front of the entrance

to the Dojo wearing the now ever -present back-pack , preventing any-

one from going in before the proper time ( Genma and Soun had both

been painfully repulsed when they had tried to sneak peaks ; no-one

was sympathetic to their whining afterwards even if they were like-

wise curious ) .

Ranma looked up and after a glance at his watch ( `hey

when did he get that' was the thought of more than one of those

present ) stood and addressed every-one present .

" It is time now ."

He said it with-out fanfare or even emphasis but it was

what every-one present had been waiting for and in several cases

dreading .

Ranma walked into the Dojo leading the others shortly

behind him .

" All of you please place your weapons on the table

there , you will not need them .

Also each of you please sit on the chair marked with your

name on the place-card ."

A s the others began to walk around the seating

arrangements they noticed that Ranma had set up three video-camera-

recorders .

The chairs had been arranged into three small groups .

In the first group to the right of the podium at which

Ranma was standing where four chairs each with a small piece of paper

indicating the assigned spots for KhuLon , Nodoka , Genma , and Soun .

In the second group directly in front of the podium was

another group of four chairs where it was indicated that Ryouga ,

Akari , MuTsu , and Kunou - Tatewaki should sit .

Finally in the chairs set up to the left of the podium

were the indicated places for Akane , Uckyou , XianPu , Nabiki ,

Kodachi , and Kasumi .

After a moments milling around ( but only a single moment

as every-one was anxious to learn the reason for all of this ) every-

body was in their assigned seating and awaiting the falling of the

next shoe to drop so to speak .

Ranma stood at the podium and took several deep breaths

to steady himself before addressing those present .

" I know that you are all wondering about the reasons that

I asked each of you to be here today and want to know about the

reason that I have been acting … rather … well not like myself these

past three weeks …"

There were several nods but not one of the people

assembled said any-thing aloud .

" … but I must ask you to bear with me as there are some

matters which must be addressed first .

First I ask that you all join me in lowering our heads and

observing a moment of silence ."

So saying Ranma put action to word and lowered his head .

Although they did not know why they were doing this Ranma's

audience like-wise lowered their heads and were silent , feeling as

though they had found themselves members of a funeral party .

…or at least most of them were quiet ; Genma and Soun ,

to the surprise of none , lacked any-thing by way of self-discipline .

" What is the meaning of this boy?"

" What is this we have heard about you choosing a wife?"

" I demand to know what is going on ! This is my Dojo!"

" We have already chosen Akane to be your bride !"

" It is a matter of family honour!"

" You cannot …"

(SNAP!!)

A low growling rumble was as much felt as heard by the

people in the room as the side of the podium broke off in Ranma's

hand and the further sounds of the broken pieces grinding to

splinters and sawdust under the pressure that they were subjected to .

As the growling continued every-one else in the room (

even including KhuLon ) was very glad that they were not in the shoes

of Soun and Genma as more than one person wondered if the neko-ken

had gotten loose some-how .

Genma and Soun for their part were suddenly feeling as

though , even though they were the only ones in the room besides

Ranma standing , that they were very small indeed and that some-thing

very big and very , very hungry was after them .

"-rrrrr!-. One moment . You could not even keep from ruining

some-thing for one moment ." Ranma's head remained down while he

said this and all the others present were grateful for that as they

did not want to see what ever contortions his face was going through .

… unfortunately for them Ranma did raise his head in the next

moment and true to their fears what they beheld was twisted in rage …

… but all that he found was Genma and Soun sitting in their

chairs , their limbs at odd angles .

" They will not interrupt again Ranma ." KhuLon said ( at

the moment she did not want to risk calling him " son-in-law" ) .

Ranma took several long deep breaths to re-compose

himself .

Finally he re-collected himself enough to look at the two

limp use-less masses ( had they ever been use-ful in the first

place ? ) and spoke , " You should thank KhuLon , she just saved you

both much pain ."

Again Ranma took several deep breaths visibly calming

down some-what much to the relief of all present .

Finally Ranma again spoke to the people assembled in the

room as he reached into the podium and pulled out a bouquet in a

vase . This he placed on top of the podium .

Ranma continued to speak as he went around the room

lighting candles that every-one only now realized had been mounted on

the wall the entire time . " I want all of you to look at this flower

arrangement . While most of you can probably recognize the types of

flowers , and some of you can probably even identify them by their

scientific names and give medicinal uses for each of them , what

perhaps none of you realize at first is that this particular

arrangement has a special significance for each and every-one present

in this room ."

KhuLon had been watching Ranma as he had been slowly

walking around the room lighting each of the candles but she came to

the conclusion that that was indeed all that he had been doing and at

this last line had returned her attention to the vase curious as to

what Ranma had meant . She had of identified each of the flowers

immediately but now she tried to figure out what Ranma meant . How

did these simple plants relate to every individual present ?

Ranma had lit the last of the candles and now stood once

more beside the podium .

" For those of you who have figured out what I am

referring to please do not say any-thing , rather give the others a

chance to figure it out on their own ."

Ranma remained standing there for a few more moments

longer in silence .

Finally Ranma spoke , " Okay I think that should be

enough time ,"

Ranma took the vase off the podium .

" As I am certain that all of you have realized by now

you cannot move ."

Every-one other than Ranma and one other in the room had

indeed come to that realization .

" By the way ," Ranma said as he began to walk around the

front of the room from the right side first to the left . " each of

you can forget about what I said about the vase and the flower

arrangement , that was simply a ploy to get you to look in the right

direction long enough for me to light the candles and for the

paralysis to set in .

As you can see being poisoned , potion-ed et cetera by

KhuLon , XianPu , Kodachi , Happosai , and all the others has taught

me some-things .

And to those un-invited who have hidden themselves to witness

these proceedings , well , I hope for your sakes that you are in

comfortable positions as you will be in them for a long time , I am

sorry but I do not have time to find every ninja and stealth hidden

amazon warrior that has snuck in to spy on this confrontation ."

A potted plant in the corner of the room , a shadow that

existed with-out any-thing casting it , and two girls hiding in the

unlit reaches of the rafters all would have groaned had they been

able .

At this point Ranma was walking around to the section that

the Tendou sisters and the other fiancees were sitting .

Among the other fiancees in question of course was

Kodachi .

~` " Remember to pretend to be just as paralyzed as the

others until I brake the third glass pitcher ." '~ she remembered

very clearly even though she was extremely eager to simply embrace

her beloved as those who had attempted to come between them were

forced to watch on helplessly while she gloried in her victory .

Strange , though , she did not see any glass pitchers . ~` Maybe they

are inside the podium even as the vase was .' ~ she reasoned .

" I am sorry that it has come to this but I could not

think of any other way to brake this insane cycle that all of us seem

to be in , oh just a moment …" at this point Ranma was directly in

front of Kodachi and in a blur of motion applied the technique that

KhuLon had taught him just weeks before and Kodachi was shocked to

find herself truly unable to move .

" Sorry about that Kodachi , but with all of your

exposures to drugs , toxins , poisons , potions , and the like I

figured that you would probably have built up an immunity to the

paralysis agent that I used ."

So he did not what the other people to know that it was

she that had supplied him with the candles or the antidote that kept

him from being affected , but , why had he done this to her ?

" Now before I can go any farther I feel that it is

necessary to make certain that the playing ground is level for every-

one . There-for for the sake of the Kunoues present I want give a

small explanation and a demonstration ."

That said Ranma reached into the podium once more and

retrieved two thermoses .

" Kunou Tatewaki , Kunou Kodachi the reason that I

insisted that each of you take any medications that you needed to be

lucid , … "

~ ` I am impressed he used lucid in a sentence .'~

thought Nabiki .

" …was because what I am going to show you defies the

normal accepted way of the world and I did not want you to convince

yourself that it was a figment of your own dementia or go into

denial ." Ranma sat down on the chair that was to the side of the

podium . " You both are aware I take it of Genma's reputation .

I only wish that it was only a vicious exaggeration

but it is not .

Well , before I came to this area Genma took me on a

trip to a place that his master had mentioned in passing several

times in the years before ,… well that is a different story all

together … the place was called Jyusenkyou , the Valley of the Cursed

Pools . As his master had been an extremely talented martial artist

Genma thought that the valley was a training ground .

He neglected to recall that happosei was also very

interested by magic .

…and magic was exactly what was involved in this story

because the valley was a place that held true magic in the form of

curses , the entire valley was a cursed place where the dead are

defiled to inflict suffering and misery upon the living .

What vile mage could have created such a place I do not

know but he must have been evil indeed .

When Genma and I were training in that valley we each

got knocked into one of the cursed pools ,… and the curses in those

pools were real … in the case of most of the pools of Jyusenkyou ,

including the one that I fell into , the curse was one of

uncontrollable transformation .

The curse is triggered by water and the temperature of

that water ."

Ranma took off his shirt before he opened the jug that

he retrieved along with the thermoses and poured a small amount of

the liquid over himself .

The transformation was one that most of those present

were accustomed to but they found themselves thinking in terms of how

it must be to be seeing it as the Kunou siblings were .

" As you can see the pool that I feel into was the Pool

of Drowned Girl ." the voice that announced this was higher than the

voice that the same person who had been speaking all this time had

been using up to this point .

" When-ever I am struck by cold water I am changed into a

female version of myself ."

Ranma opened one of the thermoses and poured just enough

to trigger the transformation .

" Hot water changes me back to my male self , but only

until the next time I am struck by cold water .

Annoyingly the curse has a rider curse that attracts cold

water to its victims ."

Ranma pulled out a towel from the podium and dried

himself off .

" I am telling you this even though I suspect that each

of you may already know at least part of this . After what I have

seen …"

Ranma broke off and seemed to be lost in his own

thoughts for several moments . When he finally snapped out of it he

shook his head as if to clear it and looked up and spoke to both of

the Kunou siblings . " Well I will give you two a few moments to

assimilate this little earth-shaker and then I will be back ."

*** *** ***

It was perhaps three or five minutes later that Ranma

returned to the room .

" I hope that you have recovered from that little bomb-

shell that I dropped on you a moment ago because I really need to

press on with the proceedings .

As I said however , I suspect that it was not as big a

shock as it might have been .

Each of you has witnessed my transformations before and

went into denial about it , possibly fearing that your dementia was

getting even worse .

After all no sane mind thinks that they have seen a man

change into a woman .

But magic is real after all so maybe that will make things

a little easier .

Now to continue with purpose of this get-together …

Many of you may have noticed that I have been acting , …

differently … than usual lately . Some of you may even recall that I

was gone for two days before this all began .

Two days for you … it was some-what longer for me .

I had an … well I do not know what to call it .. I guess

that we could call it an adventure . Or possibly an epiphany .

I went and encountered two hundred other universes ,and

time-lines . Some-times I actually met my counterparts in those

worlds face to face , while other times I was behind their eyes

living their entire lives , remembering their memories , feeling

every-thing that they went through . Some of it was fun , learning

new techniques that I had not yet learned myself , ( I now know

forty-three techniques and various variations of them that KhuLon and

happosei have never taught me although most of the time it was stuff

that I knew already ) , some of it was not fun ." Ranma

shuttered . " going through the cat pit time after time …"

After a moment Ranma continued . " I saw different versions

of each of us taking different paths than we did in this life …

… I saw myself marrying each of you girls in one world or an

other .

… XianPu …

… Ukyou …

… Akane …

… Kodachi …

… yes ,you two as well , Kasumi and

Nabiki …

I talked to so many different versions of myself I still

get dizzy thinking about it .

I saw a universe where-in after his wife died Tendou Soun

stopped himself before he became a basket case and instead took his

family on a trip to give himself and his daughters some good

memories and experiences instead of wallowing in their pain . He took

his girls to a little region in the less traveled areas of china that

he remembered his master talking about . There his daughters

conspired to trick him into fighting and beating SoonLi the adopted

daughter of a local matriarch , KhuLon , as they wanted to see him

happy again and they wanted a mother again as well . Also in that

world little Akane got into a series of fights with a girl of the

village her age named XianPu . Eventually the Tendou family adopted

XianPu and she and Akane were raised as sisters ."

If it had been physically possible for them to do so

Akane and XianPu would have both gasped . They had never told Ranma

about the dream-vision that they had both had when the strange vender

had given them the bracelets they had since hidden in their rooms .

" I saw realities where Akane and XianPu ended up with

each other and seemed to get along great ."

If she could have moved Akane would have been squirming in

her seat . As it was she was certain beyond any doubt that she was

glowing with embarrassment .

" I saw worlds where Akane and I married and we had a

loving relationship , others where we had , at best , a hostile

marriage , while in half-a-dozen worlds Akane killed me ."

Akane went from blushing to blanched in an instant .

" I saw a world where XianPu and I married and lived

happily ever after and several where we married and were miserable .

And I saw several where she and KhuLon , impatient ,

simply abducted and drugged my counter-part to be used as no-thing

more than breeding stock , not caring about a person just an animal

for breeding ."

Oh how Akane wished she could see XianPu more clearly ,

as it was she could just see the fuzzy out-of-focus side of the other

girls head out of the corner of her eye .

" I saw universes where people who were not quite the

people in this room but were very similar . Understand that none of

these people are each of you but each of them is you as you might

have been under different circumstances , or had made different

choices ."

Here Ranma paused just a moment before continuing . " I

saw a world where Ucchan found out that she had an incurable disease

and managed to convince every-one to allow her to spend her last few

months in at least comparative peace , wedding my counterpart and

being happily married for the last months of her life .

Then next I saw a world where my analogue was in an

identical situation but he found a way to cure the incurable .

…. At a cost .

…and that got me to thinking how that `me' finally

addressed the serious matters that were surrounding him .

…until that point the `us' in that universe were just

like us here in this universe in most ways .

…content to hide in the chaos … not having to actually

think because all of the action happening around them let them have

an excuse to ignore the problems by always being to busy to deal with

them .

… in universe after universe I saw that principle of living

being proven false time and time again . Usually with tragic

repercussions ."

Ranma's gaze focused as he returned his attention to

the `here' and `now' .

" After experiencing two hundred worlds and two hundred

life-times it became all to clear that I had to address those

problems Here ,Now .

I could not deny what I had learned .

So here we are today .

Issues will be addressed , problems will be dealt with

and matters of honour will be settled ."

The note of finality in his voice sent a chill down the

spines of most of those present .

" I wish that there was an-other way but I could not

think of any ."

Even KhuLon grew uneasy at the sound of the rather

ominous way that Ranma had phrased that last line .

" Ideally I would be able to speak with each of you in

private and we could work things out but the shear volume of problems

involved and the egos and arrogance of the people involved makes

that unrealistic .

So instead I had to set this up so please bear with me ."

Ranma indicated the first group .

" These are the role-models of our group . Our parents

and parent figures . The people who are supposed to set an example

for us .

And they have .

But it was supposed to be a good example and in that they

have failed ."

Ranma turned to the matriarch of a tribe nearly lost to

the modern world .

" KhuLon , you are first .

I saw two hundred different versions of you during

my , .. experience … there were instances where-in you helped the

forces of good … those instances where it was to your best advantage

to do so , and in your best interests .

I saw a time-line where the Saotome and Tendou families

were born nearly four hundred years in the past and the Ranma of that

world became a near immortal . After the Akane of that world died he

wandered until he found himself in a village not far from the cursed

valley of Jyusenkyou .

He became adopted by the tribe and took students . In time

he watched as one of his students married and in later years he was

mid-wife and delivered BuuRuh-Shou's daughter whom he would forever

call KhuLon-chan ."

Ranma snickered . " I will admit that I nearly fell over when

I heard that one !"

Even four hundred years later he was calling her KhuLon-

chan !"

Ranma shook his head as if to send the humour that he was

feeling away for it would seem that it was to be out of place here .

" In that time-line eventually Ranma left the village

rather than watch as every-one around him died of old age . He left a

sad teenage KhuLon behind .

In due course nearly three hundred years later KhuLon had a

great-granddaughter named XianPu .

One day XianPu decided to go to the outer world to find a

husband strong enough to defeat her in combat .

She found the Ranma of that world and determined to make him

hers even though he was of a different mind ."

Once KhuLon learned who this man was she determined to wed him

to XianPu . She wanted to see the two people that she loved the most

happy together with each other ."

Ranma was quiet for a somber moment then unexpectedly he began

laughing with as much mirth as he had had somberness a moment before .

" Sorry about that but remembering the sight of that KhuLon

sitting on top of the other Ranma's head licking ice-cream , (

snicker ) and then when she made her announcement , jumped off his

head and then kicked that ice-cream into his face while he was still

to surprised by the announcement to re-act ( more , deeper

laughter ) sorry , sorry , I just could not help it !

What a stiff that guy was ! He deserved it! "

A moment later Ranma re-gained control of himself and was

somber once more .

" But I am allowing myself to be distracted by my own

memories , the point that I was going to try to make was that in many

time-lines you were not evil but only in one time-line did I ever see

your counterpart go out of her way to do some good .

She had committed crimes against her tribe and was exiled but

when the Hinoko of that world needed help she risked her life and

freedom to aid her and her friend .

and even this was only after she had made attempts against

Ranma , Akane , XianPu , Ryouga , Ucchan , MuTsu and their children .

So you see one out of two hundred .

Not very good ."

Ranma stopped long enough to take sip of water before

continuing .

" Understand that that did not influence the conclusions that

I had made about you , those experiences only re-enforced the

assessments that I had already made based on my own experiences with

this `you' .

Your vision is limited to your village and does not even

include the entire village at that .

Did you think that I would ignore the way you treat MuTsu ?

Or that I would not be aware of how when XianPu was eleven

or twelve one of her friends , LoXin , was beaten to death by

her `loving' parents and even though the entire village knew of the

abuses that she suffered they all , every one turned a blind eye to

her unjust fate ?

I am not so stupid as to think that you would treat me any

differently .

After all the times that you have taught me some technique

or an-other certain patterns become obvious .

You would teach me only a specific technique for a specific

situation and no more .

You never offered to teach me with-out reservation , only

enough to keep me alive and possibly indebted me to you .

Always making sure that you did not teach me any-thing that

yourself could not counter .

If you had wanted a strong ally than you certainly should

have known by now that I would come if you needed my help with some-

thing . But you did not . You wanted breeding stock , no-thing more .

That is why you never offered to teach me what you knew

with-out reservation . You had to make certain that you could keep me

on a leash .

Then once you got me to your village again you could take

measures to ensure that I could never escape .

I know of the problems that face your village , did you

really think that I would not notice the discrepancies ?

That you and XianPu just happened to have a temporary

Jyusenkyou curse potion that works to transform a girl into a man ?

long enough for , say , a female warrior of your tribe to Impregnate

an-other .

That is why there are so many females out-numbering the

males in your village . Half of your births are the result of such

couplings and while there is no-thing wrong with that , two females

only have `X' chromosomes so even with the curse they only have

female children .

Ideal from your viewpoint as you do not place any value on

males , but there is a small problem .

The extreme inbreeding is making it increasingly more

difficult for you to have any children even by more traditional

means ."

In short your village is at an all time low population ;

the only thing saving you in that regard is that your opposites ,the

Musk Dynasty , are in equally poor straits for reasons of equal

prejudice . In their case using magic to ensure mostly male offspring

while using the pools to make slave-brides of animals .

At the rate you are going your two tribes will be no more

in a single century . Less if the People's Republic Party finds a way

to locate and kill those assassins that you have held at their

throats for decades . If that happens then they will destroy you from

the air as they nearly did , what was it in '54 ?"

The iron will and constitution that had seen KhuLon

through three hundred years would have certainly failed her if the

paralysis had not held her in place . These were matters of such

national security of her people that not even XianPu had been taught

them yet .

And Ranma claimed that he had figured them out even before

his alleged resent adventures ?

" As I said I came to these conclusions before this and

my , ` foray' , in alternate realities only severed to confirm this .

More I saw in several worlds where you had the power to

brake Jyusenkyou curses .

In one world I actually saw you turned into a rabbit and

the comment was made that one of the others in your tribe expected

you to be cured with-in a few days .

Now it possible that in this universe no-one from your

tribe discovered the means to break the curses , it is also possible

that you were saving it as a present for XianPu's and my wedding ,

but it seems almost certain that if you do have such a cure that you

are holding it in reserve to use as a lure to coerce me either to

marry XianPu outright or to get me to your village where you can then

capture and hold me captive .

As it is I should tell you that I no longer seek a cure and

even if you presented one to me I would now refuse it .

First because I can not trust you but also as well because

after having seen my counterparts some-times through centuries each

and having seen how each of them either did or did not deal with

their curses I have come to accept it as a part of myself .

It is no longer a curse it is merely a condition , one

which is as much a part of me as any other aspect of myself .

Of course if I am wrong and you truly do not have such a

cure then I apologize .

If I am right then I must tell you that you may as well

forget such a ploy right now .

Having seen the way that you continuously mistreat MuTsu

and having listened to the way that you continuously belittle males

in general do you really think that I would let , or even remotely

risk , you making my sons feel as though they were no-thing more

than use-less sacks of moldy rice ? as if they were accidents ? Or

that I would let you turn my daughters into ` good little warriors'

for you to brain-wash into thinking your way ?

It would take only a change in thinking to save your

village but you do not want to change any-thing , you only wish to

continue matters as they were for you , as the only way that you can

think of them being .

In short you want no-thing more than to prop up a system

that has proven itself a failure .

So a breeding slave is what you want not a warrior to help

defend you village .

After all , a male ? a mere male defending your tribe that

is consecrated to female supremacy ? Heresy ! It might give other

males thoughts of equality . Unacceptable !

So you just want to prop up a system that has proven to be a

failure .

I will not allow you to use me or to violate my children in

such an unholy manor .

I have visited two hospitals and gotten two different

surgeries performed .

I am now sterile in both my forms .

I can still be a father of course or even a mother , I can

step-parent , foster-parent , or adopt .

But I am no longer use-ful to you as mere breeding stock .

Oh and one other matter , if you try to drag me to your

village any-way , well , I hope that what ever technique you use

leaves me conscious so that I can hear the screams and watch the fire-

works .

You see I took certain precautions , while I can go there on

my own if you abduct me or worse attempt to coerce me , say for

example abduct some-one else or poison them and only you have a

cure , well let us simply say that the next generation of that region

will be hearing not just the lore of Jyusenkyou but also the ` very

tragic tale ' of how a local village disappeared in the space of a

single night .

The Musk Dynasty will be able to hear the screams from their

territory . "

Ranma's eyes managed to be simultaneously soft and hard and

KhuLon did not feel that she should put such a claim to the test .

Ranma began to turn to Genma when he stopped and said , "

Oh by the way I know some of the history of your tribe and I know how

once upon a time your village was a refuge for woman who were

mistreated . Then as Confucianism spread and the lands around you

grew more male dominated you became more stridently female dominant

in response .

Some-thing to think about ; reverse discrimination is

still discrimination ."

Next Ranma turned to Genma .

" You Genma are the only example that I had as I was growing

up .

You visited practices on me that no-one would do some-one

that they claimed that they cared for , all the while saying that it

was for the advancement of the art .

You did teach me a great deal about martial arts but in

other ways I learned through doing the opposite of what you did .

You spoke a great deal of honour even as you stole , sold me

repeatedly , and committed more abominable acts than I have time to

describe .

None of this includes the multiple iinazuke fiascoes or

any of the other messes that I did not even know about before or for

that matter any of the crap that just has not caught up with us yet .

I can not even say that you are evil because `evil'

implies that you know and understand that your actions have

consequences and you simply do not care who you hurt .

You simply are incapable of understanding that your

actions have repercussions , you are like a right-handed person who

has his right-hand tied behind his back and is then told to write the

complete works of Shakespeare with his left foot .

Physically he is capable of such a thing but he is unable

to think in terms other than writing with his right hand .

So too are you un-able to see that which is in front of

you .

You simply do not have the mental make-up to make the

connections .

I am no longer able to carry the weight of your screw-

ups . "

Now Ranma's attention focused on Nadoka .

" For the longest time I did not even know that I had a

mother . Then when I found out was when I realized that I had been

feeling the pain of my lost the entire time and had never even

realized it .

I hated hiding from you .

I had grown up with no stability , no warm meals , no

comfort ,…

Listening to the Tendou sisters talk about their fond

memories of their mother was a hell that I could never get enough of

no matter how much it hurt and after you showed up , after you

finally showed up after so many years , it became even worse .

I must have pestered Kasumi three dozen times about what she

remembered about her mother , I was still not adjusting well to my

curse and was far from accepting it when you took " Ranko " on those

shopping trips , but as much as I hated them I wanted your approval

so much that I would have done a hundred shopping trips to be near

you , to gain you approval .

Even after you found out I was to scared to ask the questions

that burned so painful in my soul .

How could you hold a five-year old child to a sepuku contract ?

How could you have left Genma take your child when you had to

have known how irresponsible he was .?

and so many others .

You did not call us on that sepuku pledge but you never let it

go away either .

It has remained hanging over the heads of every-one .

I would have liked to have had a mother ,

I would like to have one even now ,

but I am not certain if you qualify as a mother .

I no longer feel myself bound by promises that either one

of you have made especially as they were made with-out my consent or

even knowledge .

You both have proven that you are not stable enough or

responsible enough to be head of the Saotome family line . "

Ranma reached over Nodoka's head and drew the family sword from

its sheath .

KhuLon could not believe this .

She could not believe that Ranma would … while they were

all paralyzed ? while every-one else in the room was witness ? No ,

she could not believe that of the young man that she had played cat-

and-mouse with so often , no matter how changed by his resent

experiences . ( Cat-and-mouse ,( shutter ) perhaps not the most

comforting reference given the neko-ken was possibly a further

destabilizing factor in this scenario )

KhuLon was not the only one in the room that had such

thoughts .

Ranma held the sword in front of him .

" I hear-by name my-self head of the Saotome clan

and I declare the line to be no more ."

Ranma held the sword above his head with both hands on

the ends of the blade gripped tightly .

( SNAP)

The sword broke in Ranma's grasp , a piece in each hand ,

as a third smaller piece fell to the floor .

KhuLon felt the rapid build up of Chi and just as quickly

Ranma released it from himself into the sword fragments in his hands .

The hilt of the katana made an alien clanking sound as it

hit the floor .

Ranma lowered his hands and just stood there for several

minutes , staring at his hands , now covered with dollops of melted

steel .

Finally after a long wait he spoke .

" That hurt so very much

I wish that it was only physical pain .

The hurt would not be nearly as bad . "

Even if the toxin magically disappeared from their systems

it is doubtful that any-one in the room would have been able to move

… for surely the situation was a far more potent

paralyzing factor by magnitudes .

Ranma took a deep breath then moved on to Soun .

" Tendou Soun "

It sounded like the pronouncement of a judge about to hand

down a life sentence … , or may-haps , a death sentence .

" Tendou Soun ," Ranma said again . " you have committed

even worse crimes than either Genma or Nodoka .

Your crimes are in fact worse than both of them combined .

For you abandoned not one but three children when they

needed you the most and you further compounded your crimes by

stealing their childhood from them .

When your wife died it is perhaps understandable that you

felt misery and it is understandable that you would have wished to

lose yourself from reality .

But it is unforgivable that you did so .

You had three daughters who had just lost their mother , they

needed some-one to comfort them and that some-one that they needed

was you and you failed them ."

There should have been thunder …

… and indeed if it had been movie there would have surely

been thunder and ominous music .

But this was no movie …

…and the silence was far worse .

" A true father would have done what was best for his children

no matter what he himself felt .

A true father would have found , … or made the fortitude that

his family needed of him .

Instead you retreated into your self-indulgence , wallowed in

your self-pity .

And in doing so you took not one but both of their parents from

your children .

Little girls were forced to deny themselves the time that they

needed to heal and learn how to deal with their grief to take care of

the pathetic basket-case that you had become .

Three little girls , the oldest one not even ten years old ,

now forced to tend to you and raise themselves .

And each one has the scars to show for your negligence .

Kasumi had to become a mother-figure to her sisters even

though she was a child herself .

She made herself into what others needed her to be …

… she does not let herself be any-thing other than what

others need of her .

She does not let herself feel sorrow

She does not let herself feel her own misery .

She does not let herself feel her own suffering .

She does not let herself be any-thing other than

cheerful .

She does not let herself feel any-thing that

might hurt those around her .

Kasumi has shone that she has a keen intellect , she is

frequently borrowing books from Dr. Tofuu

by now she could have been studying to be a nurse or a

doctor .

But instead she never went to college , she stayed home ,

she never even went on a real date that I know of …

she had to give up any of her own ambitions and dreams .

And you stole all of that from her .

Then there is Nabiki

She never got over her mothers death either .

She never had the chance to get over her mother's death .

She had to survive and make sure that her sisters , and that

worthless sniveling mass that was burdening the family like-wise

survived .

In my journeys there were a few themes that played out time

and time again despite all of the other variables and one of those

themes was that Nabiki's attempts to be a ruthless shark were shown

fraudulent by her continuous sentimentality for you .

So she became the family's means of income .

She became the family's only means of income so pathetic were

you .

She sacrificed any chance to have friends so that she could

have clients .

She sacrificed any chance to have a romantic interest to

develop a network that could bring in money .

She learned how to black-mail others so that she and her

sisters would not have to live on the street .

She learned the secrets of others so that she and her sisters

would not be used by pimps and their clients for a year before their

bodies were found in a dumpster some-where .

She gave up any possibility of being liked by her peers and

schoolmates so that you could eat and steal yet more from her in the

years to come .

And finally there is Akane .

The youngest .

The one who was too young to understand any of what was

going on .

How deep are her scars ?

I knew that her injuries were as deep as my own , even if I

did not know the words to say express it .

Maybe that is why I stayed through it all despite all

the times that she hit me , yelled at me , and never let me explain

myself or my side of any given situation .

Genma had done far worse after all so I was used to abuse

and I could tell that she was hurting as much as I was , even for

many of the same reasons .

It was on one of my journeys that I found out the name

for Akane's particular problem : rage disorder .

Akane had never dealt with her problems any more than had

her sisters , she just pushed it all down .

She was too little to help support the family or clean

house but she needed to help some-how so she became the heir to the

Dojo and that helped a little .

But only a little .

And then she had troubles at school and dozens of boys

assaulting and sexually harassing her every morning ,

yes all of those boys who would not let her pass and made

her fight just to get to school and no one would support her or help

or even truly listen to her pains and troubles amounted to sexual

assault and harassment .

And through it all you just let it happen .

You stole their childhood from them .

You are as bad as KhuLon , even worse than Genma .

I should kill you for your crimes , which are every

bit as abominable as those of your master whose sins include sexual

assault , molestation , and other crimes of violation .

At the very least I should slap you to denote your crimes

until your head snapped and your jaw cracked .

but that that is not some-thing that I can do while you are

paralyzed ."

Soun felt the eyes of Ranma boring into him and he felt

shame at what the boy , no the younger man , had said ; because he

knew it to be true .

Also he felt , if not the eyes than the attention of the

rest of the room on him as well …

…and so he felt even greater mortification .

" You have stolen that which you can never return from those

who were most vulnerable , from whom you were supposed to protect ,

to cherish , to honour , to whom your honour should have been sworn

unconditionally .

You are not even worth contempt ."

Ranma turned from the first group to address the remaining

two groups .

"These are our role-models .

Those who should have protected us and prepared us .

No wonder we are so lost ."

. . . . to be continued . . . .