"The gods have two jars,
From one they take good, the other evil, and so make men
Some have more of one than of the other
Of such are humankind."
- Theses

"Can a great waterway be turned from it's course, or indeed 
blocked, by a single pebble? Only if it's a Goddamned river. 
But, call it God, Fate, random chance, or what you will; it 
displays a wonderful and horrifying talent for moving worlds 
with a grain of sand."
- John Wells

"Zwei Seelen wohnen ach! in meiner Brust..."
- Goethe

   There are, as has been repeatedly and rather monotonously 
stated, many universes.

   This is, on the whole, a good thing for authors. When the 
ideas are coming short, they can whip out the old parallel 
universe/alternate history chestnut. They even get to give 
wise and mystical-sounding introductions, which are fun to 
write and go over real well with audiences.

   It is, however, not such a good thing for the story's 
characters. This is because it's boring to write about a 
alternate universe where everything is actually _better_ than 
the "Normal" one.

   Ask any of these characters their favorite line from 
Shakespeare, and they will invariably return the grim old 
couplet from Lear:

      "Like flies to wanton boys are we to the gods;
        They kill us for their sport."

   Thankfully, most of them are blissfully unaware of being 
fictional, as are you.

   In many universes, there exists a individual known as 
Saotome Ranma. 

   This is the tale of one of them.

^_-

   Tendo Soun was a happy man.

   A short while ago, he had received a postcard from his old 
friend, Saotome Genma. It was short, concise, and very much to 
the point.

   "Bringing Ranma from China."

   Soun had long hoped that his family and that of his oldest 
friend would blend. Now, it seemed, his dream was to come 
true. The only problem, as he saw it, was surviving his 
daughters' reactions.

   Kasumi, bless her, would accept it dutifully.

   Nabiki would find a way to make money off it.

   Akane would hit something repeatedly, probably him.

   Luckily, Anything-Goes taught a simple, addictive way of 
defending oneself from trouble. "If no-one knows, everyone is 
happy. When knowing is necessary, strike swiftly."

   He would wait until the last moment to tell his daughters. 
Preferably until he was not the only moving target in the room.

^_-

   They arrived a few hours later.

   Soun recognized his old friend immediately. True, he was 
somewhat stouter...and balder...but Genma was still Genma.

   The person accompanying him had to be Ranma. Strange... 
neither Genma nor Nodoka had red hair. And the facial 
features...

   The facial features....

    "This is Ranma?" asked an incredulous Nabiki.

   Soun's mind realized that something was wrong, but was 
having trouble figuring out what.

   Nabiki poked Ranma in the chest.

   Ranma looked at Nabiki.

   Nabiki gazed back, and slowly stepped away.

   The chest....

   It occurred to Soun that Ranma was a girl.

   Soun did the intelligent thing and fainted.

   Kasumi smiled sweetly. "You must be Mister Saotome. Did 
you have a nice trip?"

   Genma, taken aback, nodded. "We had a calm sea, thank you." 
He bent down to lift his old friend to his feet. "Should I take 
your father up to his room?"

   "Oh, would you?" Kasumi burbled. "Daddy gets overwrought 
at times..."

   Nabiki was still staring at Ranma like a bird at a snake. The 
redhead stared back, her expression unreadable.

   Akane felt a wave of relief wash over her. Obviously, no-one 
was going to be marrying anyone anytime soon. Apparantly she 
wouldn't have to kill her father after all. And this new girl 
might be fun...

   She cleared her throat. "Hi. I'm Tendo Akane."

   The girl turned her gaze from Nabiki. "Saotome Ranma."

   "Would you like to join me in the dojo?"

    Ranma glanced at her father, who was slinging Soun over his 
shoulders to carry upstairs. "Sure."

   Akane leading, the two walked off.

   "What a nice girl," Kasumi commented.

   Nabiki stared at her older sister. "Right," she muttered.

^_-

   The dojo was a simple but serene building, combining beauty 
and function. At the moment it was empty, save for the two 
girls and a recently demolished stack of cinder blocks. Ranma 
was eyeing the latter with some interest.

   "So, do you do Kempo?" Akane asked brightly. Probably not, 
she thought privately. That would be to much to hope for.

   To her surprise, Ranma gave a short nod.

   "Would you like to have a match?"

   Something moved in Ranma's eyes. "I'd like that."

   Akane smiled happily. Finally, someone who shared her 
interests! And living in the same house! She dropped into a 
fighting stance, expecting the other girl to do the same.

   Ranma just stood there, though, an odd little smile playing 
across her face.

   Better go easy, Akane thought. At least until she had a better 
idea of Ranma's ability.

   Shouting a loud kiai, Akane lunged forward, aiming an easily-
read punch at Ranma's midsection...

   A flicker in the eyes....

   The kick took Akane in the stomach, throwing her back a few 
feet.

   Wincing, Akane regained her feet. Ranma stood where she had 
been, slight smile still in place. Akane narrowed her eyes. 
Ranma was good, it seemed, and didn't liked being patronized. 
She could understand that; she hated it when males tried to 
"go easy" on her because of her sex. Well, no more holding 
back.

   Moving into a graceful stance reminiscent of Taido, she 
slowly advanced, moving in a complicated rhythm designed to 
confuse the opponent. A few more steps, and...

   Ranma went from stationary to blur in a heartbeat, 
soundlessly springing for her like a jaguar from a branch. She 
barely had time to move into a defensive kata before the other 
girl crashed into her with terrifying force.

   The kata was one of her best; a series of blinding sweeps and    
thrusts calculated to fend off multiple attackers. It seemed as 
much use against Ranma as a sand castle was against the 
ocean. A punch smashed into her midsection, then a foot took 
her in the shoulder, a block turned into a strike...

   And then suddenly she was flying, the floor moving towards 
her like a freight train.

   Dimly, she stumbled to her feet, shaking her head to clear it. 
Ranma wasn't just good, she was easily one of the best 
martial artists Akane had ever seen. But she recognized the 
form; Ranma used Anything-Goes, just like her. And Anything-
Goes, like all styles, had weaknesses.

   She purposely stumbled, still trying to appear dazed. It was 
clear that she'd only get one shot at this...

   Akane went from staggering to charging in the blink of an 
eye, running forward in a series of straight, powerful thrusts 
she had developed to counter her father's techniques. 
Anything-Goes taught cunning countermoves and attacks, 
turning the elaborate katas and maneuvers of the opponent into 
a trap. But it simply couldn't deal, at times, with a basic but 
random pattern of applied force. And if there was anything 
Akane was good at, it was applying force.

   Ranma stood her ground, but for the first time seemed alert. 
Akane pressed forward, and Ranma sprang....

   ...up and over the wall of Akane's fists...

   ...and then Akane felt hands along her throat, as Ranma 
vaulted by overhead...

   ...and realized that if Ranma bore down, or twisted those 
hands like so, her neck would snap...

   ...and she felt the tell-tale increase in pressure, the almost 
inpercievable flexing of the wrists, and numbly realized that 
that was exactly what Ranma was going to do...

   ...and then Ranma landed, and the hands slipped away. Akane 
quickly turned, feeling rather foolish for thinking that he...

   Their eyes met.

   Ranma's held amusement on the surface, but under that was 
something else, something less controlled. I could have, the 
stare said. I could have, and I might have, and I didn't.

   Akane kept herself perfectly composed. But there was fear in 
her eyes, and the other girl knew it.

   "Good match," Ranma said. Her smile was warm and friendly.

   "You're really good," Akane managed to say. "Did you learn 
that in China?

   "Yeah. I learned a lot of stuff in China." There was a hint of 
bitterness there.

  "What was it like?"

   Ranma actually looked... uncomfortable? "We traveled a lot. 
The old man kept us moving. Never stayed in one place. Never 
settled down." The uncomfortable tone was moving towards 
anger. Akane moved back unconsciously.

   And then the anger was gone, replaced by the friendly smile 
that almost touched the eyes. Almost.

   "It'll be nice to live here for a while. Put down roots. Build 
something. A home."

   Akane's heart went out to her, the recent feelings of fear 
dissolving. Life on the road couldn't have been easy. The poor 
girl probably just needed a home, and a family. The Tendos, she 
resolved firmly, would give that to her. "Come on. I'll show you 
the rest of the house."

   She strode out. Ranma hesitated and then followed, the half-
smile playing once again across her features.

^_-

   After the brief tour, Ranma excused herself, saying that she 
needed to bathe. Akane showed her the changing room, and 
made her way to the front of the house. She'd have to show 
Ranma around school as well... help her make new friends. She 
would give Ranma a home, and a real life...

   "Akane. Can I talk to you for a second?"

   Akane looked up, startled out of her reverie. Nabiki was 
standing in front of the living room door, an unusually sober 
expression on her normally irreverent face. "Sure, Oneechan. 
What's up?"

   Nabiki leaned forward. "Be very careful with Ranma, ne? 
She's dangerous."

   Akane stared at her sister. "What do you mean?"

   Nabiki twisted uncomfortably. "Look, sis, I'm good at reading 
people. You know that." Akane nodded; that was certainly true. 
"And everything about her is... well... wrong, that's the only 
way I can put it. Her eyes. There's something dead or broken in 
there, and it scares the hell out of me."

   "She's had a hard life, Nabiki. All those years on the road..."

   "No," Nabiki snapped. "It's more than that. Look, Akane..."

   Akane felt her temper rise. "She's never had a family, Nabiki. 
Or a home. Or a friend, I think. That's enough to make anyone a 
little reserved."

   "No, Akane, restaurant tables are reserved. Ranma is a way 
different case. The sooner she's gone, the better I'll feel."

   That was the last straw. "Nabiki, you can be a real bitch at 
times, you know? Just throw her back into the street, is that 
it? I'm going to make her at home here, and you'd better do 
your share. If I catch you bullying her..."

   Nabiki gave a hollow laugh. "Yeah, well, I'd just as soon bully 
a viper. Fine, be _nice_ to her. Just... be careful as well, 
okay?"

   Akane smiled. "I will. Don't worry, I won't let the deadly 16-
year-old girl sneak up on me and rip my throat out." A rivulet 
of sweat ran down into her eyes, and she absently wiped it 
away. "And now, I think I'd better wash up. I'm filthy."

   "You do that."

   Briskly, Akane turned around and walked off to the bathroom. 
Her sister watched her go, worry written across her normally 
roguish face.

^_-

   Akane was still fuming as she entered the changing room. 
Nabiki was probably coming up with a way to take Ranma for 
everything she was worth, and wanted Akane to stand aside. 
Sometimes her sister almost sickened her.

   As she removed her yellow practice gi, she noticed Ranma's 
clothing folded neatly over a chair. Hopefully she hadn't used 
all the hot water; at the moment Akane wanted nothing more 
than a nice, hot, relaxing bath. Amazing how just a little warm 
water could get rid of tension, stress, anger...

   Opening the screen, she stepped into the bathroom. And froze.

   A strange boy stood inside, wearing the same thing she was. 
Which was nothing.

   He stared at her. She stared back, her mouth moving silently 
in shock.

   After what seemed an eternity, the boy's surprised look 
slowly changed into a leer. He moved forward a step.

   Akane screamed and ran.

^_-

   Kasumi looked up from her book to see her youngest sister 
race past, keening like a banshee who had just been goosed. 
"Is something wrong, Akane?"

    "THERE'S A HENTAI IN THE BATHROOM!" was the reply.

   Kasumi frowned. Well-ordered households weren't supposed 
to have sexual deviants wandering around.

   Akane raced back, this time armed with a katana. "I'LL KILL 
HIM! I'LL SLICE IT OFF!"

   Genma descended the stairs, a incredulous-looking Soun in 
tow. "Happened already, has it?" he said, sounding resigned.

   "Daddy! Mr. Saotome! There's a strange man, naked, in the 
bathroom!"

   The strange man in question picked this moment to walk in. 
He seemed to have acquired clothing, Akane noted. Ranma's 
clothing.

   She leveled the katana towards him. "What have you done 
with Ranma?!"

   The boy laughed, sounding scornful and amused at the same 
time. Akane's heart sank; he had probably done something 
terrible to the poor girl. Her fingers tightened around the 
blade's hilt, and she prepared to swing, to draw blood if need 
be.

   Something crashed into her, and she realized that it was the 
boy. The katana was wrenched from her hands, and she was 
flung back, to land in a sprawling heap on the sofa.

   Her attacker spun the katana in a swift circle, and then 
drove the point deep into the floor. Surveying the stunned 
room, he gave them a sardonic grin. "I'm Saotome Ranma. Sorry 
about all this."

-< End of Chapter 1 >-