Second  Chances

				By Lord Archive



The first chapter is sad and dark. The following chapters are not. 

This story begins over six months after Manga volume 38.

Legal Babble: Characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Video, 
etc..., and are used without permission. I'm only borrowing them. I'll 
return them. I can't afford the overdue charge Nabiki insists on.



			--------------------------------
			  Chapter 2 - Beginning Again.
			--------------------------------


Akane awoke. She felt different, her mind clouded. A hot bath was what 
she felt she needed right now. She set Ranma's journal on her desk as 
she wearily got out of bed. She then gathered her stuff and made her way 
downstairs. She suspected Kasumi would have a bath ready. While Kasumi 
didn't seem to notice things, she usually had things like that done for 
you before you knew you wanted it.

Akane made her way to the bathing room, but the bath wasn't ready. Akane 
shrugged it off, Kasumi had been having a hard time reading her since 
Ranma... left. She decided to wash her face and prepare a bath for 
herself. She approached the sink and looked at the mirror.

Akane nearly screamed at what she saw. Her hair was long. Her face 
younger. She ran her hand through her hair and touched her face.  She the remembered her encounter with the 'goddess' 
last night and her wish for a second chance. She dared not believe the 
implications before her, but she had to find out.

Akane ran out towards the dining room, as she guessed her father was 
there. The shogi board and Genma, however, were nowhere in sight. "Dad?"

Soun quickly attempted to hide a postcard. His face tear-ridden. "Yes, 
daughter."

"What day is today?" Akane asked meekly.

"Sunday, Dear."

Akane blinked, yesterday had been Tuesday. "Um, I meant the date."

"May tenth." Soun looked at her puzzled.

Akane's head began to spin. It was Sunday, May tenth, but yesterday was 
Tuesday May tenth. Ranma arrived on May tenth... Sunday. "I-is the year 
1992?"

"Of course, daughter. Are you all right? You don't look good."

"I'm fine... Great even." Akane smiled from ear to ear. Today was the 
day. Ranma is coming, and she wasn't going to make the same mistakes 
this time around. She would use this second chance wisely.

Soun looked at his daughter closely.  "Akane, could you get your sisters? I have something I 
need to discuss with all of you."

Akane paled.  She noticed the time. Her father was going to 
start earlier. She had a little more time, but she needed to delay 
things. "Um, Dad, can I get cleaned up a little first?"

"Sure, but don't take too long."

Akane nodded.  She paused for a moment.  Akane shook her head. 

Akane went to her room to read the entry. She flipped past the first 
several entries and found the one of his first day at the Tendos:

	Today Pop took me to his old friends house. That baka actually 
wants me to marry one of his old friend's daughters. They chose a 
violent maniac for me. Shouldn't I get to choose. I don't care if she 
was the one I would of chosen if forced to. It was my decision. After 
she hit me with that table, I wanted to chose none of them. 

	I accidentally saw Akane, the girl I'm suppose marry, nude. One 
word sums up what I saw: kawaii. I just hope she isn't as violent and 
insulting as our first meeting indicates. She was so friendly up until 
that accident. I really could use a friend right now, someone who 
understands and accepts me. I really shouldn't have said I was better 
looking, but it really hurt how insulting she was towards me. 

	This isn't the time for fiancees, I should get back to China and 
find a cure. I'll give it some time though, this is about family honor, 
and she does look cute. I'll write down what I think of the Tendos 
later.

Tears ran down Akane's cheeks. She flipped ahead and found that a week 
later he detailed what he felt about the various people he meet. She 
only read hers.

	Tendo Akane: A violent, uncute, macho chick. She is insulting, 
prone to hitting you, and is also a pretty good fighter. If she had 
trained since she could walk, she could probably wipe the floor with me. 
I wish I knew how I really feel about her. A couple times I felt so 
close to her it scared me, so I pushed her away. I don't want to be hurt 
when I leave her. I know I will, as soon as Tendo gets fed up with Pop's 
freeloading or when Pop decides he's had enough of this place and moves 
on.

 Akane 
quickly dried her tears and got dressed in a nice red sun dress. It 
wasn't the fanciest thing she had, but remembered Ranma did like it. She 
also didn't want to give away she knew what was about to happen. As she 
left, she grabbed her gi. She had about twenty minutes before Ranma 
would show up.

Akane checked to see if Nabiki was in her room. She knocked on the door.

"It's open," Nabiki said through the door.

Akane opened the door and said, "Dad has something to tell us."

"Sure, whatever," Nabiki moaned, she rarely liked what her father had to 
say. She noticed what Akane was wearing, and asked, "How come you're all 
dressed up?"

"Oh, no reason," Akane smiled nervously.

Nabiki knew Akane was hiding something, maybe she knew what father had 
to say. Nabiki got out of bed and followed Akane downstairs. Akane 
tossed her gi into the changing room after she told Kasumi that their
father wanted to talk to them. 

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

Soun sat in front of his daughters scared of how they'll react to this. 
He then thought of the joy that would happen when his family line joined 
with the Saotome clan. Smiling, he began, "I have wonderful news for you. 
Soon we will have some visitors."

Nabiki rolled her eyes as she sipped some lemonade.

Kasumi smiled. Hopefully they'll stay for a meal, so she could hear them 
compliment her cooking.

Akane tried to remain emotionless. 

"One of them will be a fiance to one of you."

"FIANCE!?!" yelled the three Tendo girls. Akane hoped they bought her 
acting.

"Yes, the son of a very good friend of mine. The son's name is Saotome 
Ranma. If one of you three would marry him and carry on this training 
center then the Tendo family legacy would be secure."

Nabiki resumed drinking her lemonade, thinking of how to turn this to 
her advantage. From what her father said, marrying him means she would 
inherit the Tendo home.

Akane wanted to say something, but didn't want to give away anything. If 
Nabiki knew Akane could tell of the event for the next two years, there 
would be trouble.

Kasumi was the first to speak, "Daddy, we don't even know who this Ranma 
is."

Soun was surprised Kasumi seemed to be the most upset at this. "Then let 
me tell you a little about him: Ranma and his father have been on a 
voyage of training. Recently, it seems, they crossed into China."

"Wow! China!" Nabiki chirped in. 

"I bet they regretted it," Akane whispered.

"How old is he? Younger men bore me. What kind of guy is this Ranma?" 
Kasumi asked, upset.

Soun laughed, and then deadpanned, "No idea."

"'No idea,'" Nabiki repeated.

"I've never met him." Soun began to sweat.

Suddenly the sound of a fight was heard outside. "Leggo, y'ol' fool!" 
someone screamed.

"We have visitors!" Kasumi said.

"OOOO! It must be Ranma!" Nabiki said, racing to the door hoping he was 
cute.

"Saotome, my friend! We've been waiting!" Soun yelled following Nabiki.

 Kasumi thought, straightening her hair.

 Akane blinked.  Akane came out of 
her thoughts as a Panda set down a person with red hair onto the floor.

"You wouldn't be..." Soun began.

"Saotome Ranma. Sorry `bout this." Ranma nervously said.

Akane heart ached at the sight of Ranma looking so vulnerable. She 
wanted to hug him and make him feel welcomed, but that would probably be 
a bad idea.

"At last! You've come!" Soun shouted for joy.

"OOOO! He's cute!" Nabiki elated.

Soun hugged Ranma tightly. "It's so good of you to come! So..." Soun 
felt something wrong in his hug with his old friend's 'son.' He pushed 
away Ranma and started sweating.

Nabiki looked closer at Ranma and saw he had a rather big chest for a 
guy. She poked Ranma in 'his' chest.

"Um, could you stop that?"

"'He's' a girl," Nabiki said, upset at the lost of her meal ticket.

Soun fainted. 

Akane was momentarily torn between helping her father or helping Ranma. 
She decided to help her father to go along with their initial meeting as 
best she remembered up until it went sour.

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

Soun awoke, crying.

"Oh, poor daddy. He's so disappointed." Kasumi said worried.

"HE'S disappointed! Some fiancee this is!" Nabiki shouted.

"Will you stop it! He... SHE is our guest!" Akane angrily replied. 


"This is all your fault, daddy! You should have made sure!" Nabiki 
yelled.

"Well, he said he had a son!!" Soun shouted his reply.

"Do you see a son here? Hmm? Do you?" Nabiki squeezed Ranma's breast for 
emphasis.

"Um, I really wish you'd stop that," Ranma said, embarrassed.

Akane remember now was the moment to introduce herself. "Hi. I'm Akane. 
You want to be friends?"

"Ah, sure," Ranma replied.

Akane smiled. "What to join me in the dojo?"

Ranma smiled and nodded.  

"Wait here, I'll go change into my gi. Be right back" Akane said. 


Ranma nodded. 


Akane stepped into the changing room. She started to think about what 
happened in their first encounter and what to do this time. 

After changing, she rushed back to Ranma and then led her to the dojo. 
"You do kempo, right?"

"A little," Ranma replied.

Akane shook her head. He's dan level in kempo. "Then let's have a little 
match, okay?"

"Huh?" Ranma uttered. 

"Just for fun. I've been training most my life. I can stop myself from 
hurting you." 

 "If you say so."

Akane got into her battle stance while Ranma remained relaxed in her 
position. Akane rushed Ranma, the battle nearly perfectly reflected 
their first battle. 

 Akane thought.  With a final punch, which 
Ranma jumped over Akane as a response, she sent her fist into the wall. 
Ranma tapped Akane on the back of her head.

Ranma started laughing, which Akane joined in.

 Ranma thought.

"You're great! I hope whoever my fiance is..." Akane began.

"Huh?" Ranma looked at Akane quizzically.

"...can beat me."

Ranma wasn't sure how to respond to that so she left. 

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

"Akane! Bath's ready!" Nabiki called.

"Thanks," Akane replied. She remembered Ranma would be in there now, 
debating if she should go in. He would get to see her nude, and better 
yet, she'd get to see him. Akane cut the line of thought, she'd be a 
hentai to do that. "I'll take it a little later."

"Suit yourself."

Akane went to her room and started to flip through Ranma's journal 
trying to find Ukyou's arrival. After a moment she was interrupted by 
Nabiki screaming, "Who the hell are you?!" Akane paled, hoping Nabiki 
didn't give Ranma a free show.

Akane ran downstairs, towards the bath. She was relieved to see Nabiki 
apparently saw Ranma walk out of the bath. Ranma was completely tongue 
tied.

Kasumi, Soun and Genma entered the hallway.

"I'm waiting... Who are you?" Nabiki demanded.

"I'm Saotome Ranma. Sorry `bout this." 

Kasumi stared at him in disbelief.

Nabiki replied, "No you're not. Ranma is a girl with red hair."

Soun interrupted, "Actually that is Ranma. He and his father will 
explain this."

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

It was now after sunset. Genma and Ranma repeated their story several 
times of how they became cursed.

Akane was quickly bored. She had heard and told the story hundreds of 
times. She rarely took her eyes off Ranma, though, he was quite 
attractive and she missed him.

Kasumi and Nabiki couldn't believe what they were being told, demanding 
they explain it again and again. When they had demonstrated how the 
curses worked, they thought the world had gone completely insane. 
Neither of them wanted to be engaged to Ranma.

Ranma noticed Akane's attention, and was nervous. She wasn't looking at 
him with fear and shock that Nabiki and Kasumi were giving. Akane was 
looking at him with what seemed to be understanding, caring, and longing 
all wrapped into one. It was the longing part of her gaze that made him 
more nervous than the gazes from Nabiki and Kasumi.

"The legendary ground of accursed springs. It's true horror has always 
been shrouded in mystery. But now..." Soun said.

"Whaddya mean 'true horror?'" Ranma interrupted, angrily. "Yo, old man. 
What's the idea draggin' me to a place like that, anyway?"

Genma responded with another Judo throw into the koi pond. "You sound 
like a woman! Were you not prepared to give your life for the sake of 
your training?"

"My life, yes," Ranma answered. "My manhood is another story!" Ranma 
dumped a bucket of water on his father and started fighting him.

"Oh, what a tragedy!" Soun cried.

"Stop that!" Kasumi demanded.

Akane kicked Genma into the pond. "How can you be that stupid?!" 

"He makes Kuno look intelligent," Nabiki said angrily.

"Why did you do something so dangerous?" Kasumi demanded.

Nabiki noticed a pamphlet on the ground and picked it up. "It's Chinese. 
A map... and a guide book? Something about 'training grounds.'"

"You can't read Chinese, can you?!" Kasumi asked.

"Correct," said a banner that came out of a confetti bomb held by Genma. 
Ranma punched him.

Soun used a teakettle to turn Genma back into human form. "So, when 
doused with hot water, you return to human form." 

"Well, it needn't be quite that hot," Genma commented.

"When doused with cold water you become a girl..." Soun pointed at 
Ranma, and then tried to pour the scolding hot water onto her, "...but 
hot water turns you back into a boy!"

"Hot water! Not Boiling!" Ranma corrected, dodging the water.

"No sweat. Your problem isn't so terrible after all," Soun said, patting 
Ranma on the back.

"Huh?" Ranma uttered. 

"My daughter Kasumi, nineteen. And Nabiki, seventeen. And Akane, 
sixteen. Pick the one you want. She's your fiancee." 

"Oh, he wants Akane!" Kasumi suggested.

"Oh, definitely!" Nabiki confirmed.

"Wait! It is HIS decision!" Akane demanded.

Nabiki and Kasumi blinked.

"Well, Ranma, make your decision," Soun demanded.

"Do I have ta?" Ranma asked, very nervous.

"YES!" demanded Soun and Genma.

"None of them?" Ranma asked a little hopefully.

"That isn't an option, boy." Genma said flatly.

 Ranma looked 
at her feet. "I-I-I... c-choose... A-A-Akane," she said meekly. 

Akane tried to repress her smile, but failed badly as it went from ear 
to ear.

"It's settled then. Akane is your fiancee," Soun said.

"Um, Akane, you don't mind? Do ya?" Ranma asked nervously.

"I don't like being forced into this, but it'll probably help with my 
boy problems. This might be a good thing for me," Akane answered, 
blushing DEEP red.

"What boy problems?" Ranma asked.

"Every morning, I have to fight all the guys at school who want to date 
me," Akane related.

"How many?"

"A couple dozen at least," Akane shrugged.

Ranma blinked. He didn't expect that many.

Kasumi breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't engaged to her. 

Nabiki spied Akane suspiciously. Akane hadn't reacted violently to 
getting engaged. She even appeared to like it. Something was wrong with 
this picture. The girl who hates boys was actually to be forced into an 
engagement with a half-girl freak. Was it because Akane is a lesbian and 
she could hide it with him? Nabiki didn't think so, but the evidence 
seemed to point towards it.

Soun was thankful that Akane seemed to accept her engagement already. He 
thought if Akane was chosen, it'd take years before she'd accept it.

Genma was happy. He was at his old friends house and given full ability 
to freeload.

Ranma was confused. His curse still fresh and uncertain in his mind, and 
now he was engaged to a girl he hardly knew. She was cute at least. He 
wanted to get cured, but family honor demanded he stay. Ranma didn't 
know what to think. Once again, she felt like her life was sent through 
a blender.

Akane was happy. Her Ranma was back, and this time she wouldn't make the 
same mistakes.

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

Author's notes:

Thanks to the numerous pre-readers and those who sent C&C on this 
series.

    Source: geocities.com/tokyo/fuji/9061/second