**********************************************************************************************************************************Epilogue: The Girl with the Sun in Her Eyes
<So show me how you do that Kaminariken attack again,> Ranma said, wordlessly. As was the norm, when the "twins" were together in private, they never spoke...verbally. <Think I've almost got the hang of it.>
<Couldn't if you tried, bro. Your ki's not right for it,> Ranko said, authoritatively. <That's why you or Pop'll never be able to use my Phoenix variation of the Saotome AGMA kenpo. It was designed with a female in mind.> She hooked a thumb at herself. <Namely, me. Maybe I will teach Shi-chan, though....>
A voice called to them in their heads, as Ranko's Phoenix Eye talisman glowed a soft, non-intrusive blue. <Lunch time!>
A second voice joined in. <Better say your prayers!> Both Saotome siblings felt the sting of pain, followed by, <That *HURT,* Akane!>
<Serves you right for saying that, Shampoo!!! You know I spent hours with this food!>
Brother fondly looked to sister. <Give somebody a magical pendant-->
Sister lovingly looked back. <--and they think they have a real psychic link with us.> Ranko smiled. <If they only knew....>
He spoke. "C'mon, we better go face our fates bravely before Akane gets even worse ideas."
"Got a question for you, bro: Didja ever see that one Sigourney Weaver film, _Alien_?"
Both Saotomes walked off their sparring point in the water, to join their family and friends for lunch. It was a nice Saturday, the Fourth of July. They were all in Carmel.
The previous days had been exhausting, to say the least. All of the San Francisco contingent filing Police and Insurance Reports. Dealing with the "psychic broadcast" that Ranko had somehow sent to her loved ones around the world. Healing. Getting together to help rebuild the Magic Duck and Pier 39 (a job fully donated by Kunotech Construction Corp.--good thing that it was a *construction* company that KTech had just bought). Dealing with Ranma going into the "Cat Fu" after Mige pounced on him one morning. More healing. Sending Mige to live at Ronnie's for the rest of the Saotomes' stay. Still more healing. The fact that the coin pendant that Jiu gave Akane allowed her a limited amount of the link that the Saotomes shared; the same went for the other half of the Phoenix Eyes that Ranko gave to Shampoo--she said that this had been the Chinese Amazon's true birthright, she was entitled to half. Even more healing. Shampoo actually getting a new shoulder length hairdo to make up for the burns. A twelve hour standoff between Shampoo and Ronnie over Mousse. And yet more healing.
There were also several changes that everybody had to deal with. The first was Ranko's announcement that she no longer wanted to be called "Ran-chan"; she was not and never would be "Ranma-chan". The second was when Ranma and Akane said that they were proud that she'd finally become her own woman and that she could come home; to which Ranko replied that she *was* home, she'd found her place in life, where she belonged. The third was the CNN report that informed the world that there had been a 8.2 earthquake in the Quinhai region of China; no casualties reported, but the area known as the Jusenkyo valley became a below-sea level canyon, and the mountain known as Quanjing suddenly disappeared. The fourth, well....
As the group munched on sub sandwiches that Akane had *bought* (to everyone's relief), Nabiki turned to her husband. "Oh, Kuno-baby, forgot to tell you. Dr. Rosenberg found out why I've been having those dizzy spells for the last few weeks."
Shampoo, leaning on Mousse, looked at Nabiki. "Tate mentioned something about that. Why didn't you call? Never mind that, though--what was the prognosis?" She also took the time to pinch Ronnie, who was on Mousse's other arm, much to his discomfort.
She took a sip of her soda, then looked at the concerned faces of her family and friends. "He says we'll find out in about seven months or so." She took a small bite of her sandwich, and continued. "Personally, I was leaning towards Eric, if it's a boy, or Ashley, if it's a girl." Looking at Tate, she said, "Unless you want Japanese names...."
Tate stopped, mouth agape at mid-bite. His bite still unchewed, he stammered, "Mmpmh...a...mmmph?!?!?!"
"Sorry," she blinked, then ran a finger along the trace of his jawline. "Didn't catch that. By the way, swallow that, wouldja? It's really disgusting!"
He quickly swallowed, then gulped. "I'm gonna be...a father?"
She nodded yes.
Ranma clapped Kuno on his back. "That's great!"
"I get to be an aunt again!" Akane cheered.
Nabiki looked at the other two girls. "Same with you, 'Aunt Shan Fu', 'Aunt Ranko'. Don't think you're getting off the hook, either."
Both ladies replied in stereo. "Wouldn't dream of it."
Maria chirped, "I'll bring the champagne and flowers!"
Ronnie rubbed the pinch mark Shampoo had given her. "Maria, champagne's for parties! Don't know about the flowers, though...."
"Oh. Oopsie."
Libby chuckled, rolling her eyes in familiar amusement. "Same old Maria."
The girls all hugged Nabiki, while Ranma stared at his brother-in-law. "Hey, Tatewaki, you can snap out of it now." Kuno continued to stare into space, so Ranma began to shake him. "Hey, man, wake up! You still at one with your body? Starfleet Command to _Enterprise_, he-llo...."
Mousse smirked, looking at his watch. "I give it an hour before he comes back to reality." He then peered at the statuesque Kuno. "Then again...."
Tyler smiled, "I say two."
Gil disagreed, stating, "A week, at least."
Tate Kuno was off in la-la-land for three hours.
As the sun began to set, Ranma, Akane, Nabiki, and Tate sat on a blanket, as Ranko and Gil flew a Chinese Dragon kite, and Shampoo and Ronnie were fighting over Mousse. Tyler and Maria wandered off to happily chat, maybe ride the carousel. They watched all that went about in the world, conversing in their native language while waiting for the fireworks show to start. At least, that's what it looked like.
Tate commented to all, staring at Ranko and Gil. "Whaddya think?"
Ranma answered. "Well, I can answer for her. She's attracted to him, but time will tell...."
Nabiki said, "That's great. She deserves somebody in her life. That is, somebody *single*, for a change."
"You know it was the gem," Ranma said, coming to his sister's defense.
"I didn't mean it like that. What I meant was, she may spend the rest of her days repairing the damage that the demon did to her life. There may even be people that may not believe her. We all do, but what about Kodachi? Or Mikado? You know what Azusa wanted--still wants to--do to her."
"Pigtail will handle it in her own way, same as always," Tate replied. "That's plainly obvious."
Akane watched the other romantic crisis unfold. Nodding in the direction of Shampoo, Mousse, and Ronnie, she commented, "I'd like to see how that turns out."
"Mousse, I thought this was supposed to be a romantic trip!"
"Leave me alone, Ronnie!"
"I don't see you putting up much of a fight, Mousse."
"She won't get off my arm, Shampoo!"
"Sure she won't. You're obviously not trying hard enough. I thought you loved me. How could you do this to me?"
"Hey, I'll do him. It's clear he doesn't want you."
"Shut up, Ronnie...."
"Make me."
The Saotomes and Kunos winced in sympathy as Shampoo delivered a ki-charged punch towards Ronnie, who ducked and let the shot hit Mousse. They then watched as the girls began a full-out catfight, inadvertently trampling and stomping on Mousse.
Nabiki looked at Ranma and Akane. "Gee, does that look familiar to you two?"
Ranma and Akane looked at each other uneasily, then began laughing. Ranma answered for them both. "What is it you Americans always say? Oh yeah--'We plead the 5th.'"
Tate countered, wide smile on face. "Surely, though, you can't resist watching Shampoo getting her just desserts, right?"
A wicked grin beamed on Akane's face. "You know what they say about karma...."
Pretending to admire the view of the sun sinking behind the horizon, Ranko stole a glance at Gil when he wasn't looking. The date they went out on last week was nice and platonic, a pair of friends just going to dinner and the movies together. {But he's seeing Maria, I think. I'll have to ask Shampoo. Still, he's such a babe....}
Gil caught her glance. "Thinking about something, Ranko?"
"Nothing much. Just thinking about how happy I am to be here." {Beside you, that is.}
Shampoo sat on Ronnie, the other girl completely buried in sand and incapacitated for the moment. She used that moment to steal a kiss from Mousse. "I love you, Muu Tsu. Don't forget that."
Mousse couldn't help himself. He tried his old tactics once more. "So when are we getting married, Shan Fu?"
A playful, yet definite shadow crossed her face. "Don't push your luck, duck boy. Still," she said, resting her head against his arm, "You never know. Just be patient."
"Been that way for 26 years. I have no intention of stopping now."
She leaned in for another kiss. "Good for y-" The words stopped as the pair kissed once more, cherishing the love that had somehow managed to survive through 26 years, tons of troubles, and two continents.
As the fireworks began to reach for the sky, the former Chinese Amazon felt fireworks of a different kind racing though her heart.
Shan Fu Lao decided this had to be the best day of her life yet.
End Volume One
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Author's Notes: The California Cat Cafe Customer Service Form
Welcome to revision of the first fan-novel that I have done (I don't call them fanfics, as they are way too long to be "normal" fanfics). There wasn't too much changed to the story, mostly spelling and grammar corrections and a few insertions here and there. I hope you enjoyed it. You can mail your responses in care of calicatcafe@geocities.com, or check us out at http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/6505 (as soon as we get it online). I decided to revise the tale because I'm anal-retentive when it comes to perfection in my fics. That and the fact that I intend to put this on the RAAC, so I want it to be the best possible.
Basically, I removed inconsistencies in spelling wherever possible (e.g. Anglicized vs. Romajii spelling--'Ukyo' vice 'Ukyou'), revisions in some of the San Francisco locations, and other minor little things. As for insertions, they mainly were people and things that are so critical in the upcoming second tale, The Phoenix Eye Saga, that they warranted at least a brief mention here (e.g., Ranma and Ranko's younger sister, Shiva; or Natsumi's lover, Mai).
The dedications:
1. First and foremost to Rumiko Takahashi, for letting her fans (such as myself) absolutely warp whatever she originally had planned for the series.
2. My fellow cohorts (aka The Yokosuka Guinea Pig):
Marvin Peace--Publisher;
David Clare--Senior Editor;
John Shearen--Associate Editor;
Sam Lambson, Adam Halstead, Chris Hickins, Shannon Ryan and Sakura Toronaga--Test Readers;
3. Ray Carrillo, Joe Yarger, Zack Bartunek, Dawn Downey, Sharon Nichols, and all those who gave moral support (i.e., "Why the hell are you wasting your time on a story no one will read, Rob?");
4. Paco Gutierrez--my unwitting "expert" on San Francisco (he lived there a few years ago, so.... 'Hey Paco, name an affluent suburb of San Francisco.' "Palo Alto. Why?' 'Uh, never mind.');
5. Jack Hutton and Chris Jambretz--Editors for the Jusenkyo tale (Jack also for other parts, as well);
6. The West of Tokyo Club for their exhaustively detailed FAQ page. They came in very handy when I was stumped on a concept or two (in fact, one bit of information on the WOTC page caused a major revision in this tale!). For those interested, it's at http://www.wot-club.org.uk/RanmaFAQ.
7. All you other otaku out there, especially those at Viz/Shokugakan, who were critical in bringing the Ranma saga to the Western world in the first place.
Now for the inevitable questions:
1Q. Why did you do this (to the Ranma characters)?
1A. Primarily for the following reasons:
-Shampoo. She was destined to lose, especially in light of the last story. She's one of my favorite characters in the series, but as far as chasing Ranma went, it's a dead end. Sooner or later, she had to give up, tribal law not withstanding. I just wanted to show what would happen when the day came that she, probably the most determined of Ranma's unwanted fiancees, finally gave up, and the after-effects. Then there was the fact that also, she would probably never want to return to China a second time in disgrace, so it may be better this way.
-Mousse. Where Shampoo goes, he follows. 'Nuff sed.
-Ranko/Ranma-chan. Probably the most maligned character in the series. No real personality, just a costume of sorts for Ranma, a curse. By the end of the series, he had finally come to terms with his female side, and had given up changing it.
In fanfics (even sometimes in the series itself), Ranma-chan/Ranko's been recreated in every possible manner, from an innocent 2 year old child, to an outgoing sister, to an incestuous sex toy. I liked some of these ideas, and really disliked others. So came the idea for me to recreate her myself. In doing so, who she was (the core of the actual character, not the story facet) would be an amalgam of other fanfics (thank you all!), while who she is becoming now, well, we'll see--I have an idea of who I'll use as a reference. The thing is, try to remember that Ranko's 25 (or eight or six or ?, depending on your view), and much more the "Generation X"-er than the others, so she's still trying to find what she wants out of life.
2Q. Why the changes in scenery?
2A. That's a very interesting question. Well, here's the story by area:
-Japan. Ranma1/2 purportedly takes place in the Nerima district of Tokyo, but has never been formally announced as such. Viz has taken the position of placing the setting as Furinkan, Japan, but I like Nerima (got lost there once--no Ryoga jokes, please). Kamakura (Ranma's new home) is a beautiful little town southwest of Yokohama (famous for its temples and the Daibutsu Giant Buddha statue), so I decided to use that (it's also not far from where I live, the town of Yokosuka). Osaka seemed far enough to justify why Nodoka didn't visit more often. Kobe seemed naturally the place for Ryoga and Akari to start life anew in. In short, here's a really rough diagram (sorry, no actual map available...diagram has been corrected, BTW):
************************************************************
The Tokyo/Yokohama/Kanto plain area
(Note: Sapporo, Osaka, Narita and Kobe
are too far away to be on map
Nerima
T O K Y O
TOKYO WAN (BAY)
YOKOHAMA
Kamakura
Yokosuka
***********************************************************
And that's that.
-San Francisco/The Bay Area. If I got a few details wrong, you can look at it this way:
1. Oopsie, gomen ne. Chalk it up to the fact that I've only been there a handful of times in my life.
2. It's a stylized version (i.e. "artistic license").
3. Blame Paco.
Originally, I planned to have Shampoo and company in a city I was more familiar with, like LA, San Diego, or Honolulu. It turned out that it seemed more natural to base her there (Viz' home base had nothing to do with it); it also posed a challenge for me, using sparse city atlases and the WWW (particularly _Yahoo_! maps) to try to figure everything out. So, for the readers in SF, please forgive any discrepancies (in fact, submit EMail! It'll help!), and if 130 Haight Rd. turns out to be a vacant lot (or nowhere near Haight-Ashbury, for that matter), I didn't know. Also, for those who are purists, the location of the Cali Cat is the same location at that of the real-life Mandarin (4th floor, Cocoa bldg. of Ghirardelli Square). Also, Alcatraz Island is a bit more Hollywood-ized, and I apologize if it's not totally correct to the original specifications (maybe I shouldn't have watched _The Rock_, ne?).
-LA. I'm from the area. It's a convenient plot device to have Nabiki and Kuno do occasional appearances (in those later tales).
-Globetrotting. All the places that the characters have traveled/will travel to are actual places that I'm familiar with. Those, ironically, are more detailed and correct than the American sites, except Honolulu. (I haven't lived in the continental US for four years, now). So as I toss the characters to the four winds, who knows where the hell they'll end up?
I'll try to be more accurate from now on.
3Q. Your Chinese is really bad.
3A. Gee, thanks. Seriously, some of the Chinese I actually researched; I think I used Mandarin, instead of Shampoo's native Cantonese (the dictionary said only "Chinese-English" on the cover). Shan Fu (of which "Shampoo" is a Japanese alteration) means "Mountain" (Shan) "Woman/Girl" (Fu). Muu Tsu, according to a friend of mine in Kowloon (Hong Kong), is a common enough name in the PRC. K'o Lon ("Cologne") means "Conquering Revolution" (I think)--I tried to use something that looked close enough. Chochuanshan is the Chinese name for Jusenkyo.
As for Jiu, and many other Chinese words, I admit I ad-libbed; in later stories, I will try to be more accurate with the language (regardless of which one it is). Plus, there's that EMail bit again....
My Japanese (I speak it, though not great) is much more accurate--which you'll see the applicable characters use it when it adds to the situation. If there are requests, I will try to add a glossary page later on.
4Q. Why did you do this (we mean you this time, baka!)?
4A. Would take far too long to explain. Suffice to say I've been into anime/manga since I was a kid, but really didn't know about fanfics until recently, when the Senior Editor introduced me to it. I have always wanted to be a professional author (perhaps someday, I will be), but never wrote anything more than short stories here and there and "ghost wrote" for a few friends. So, to practice my skills (as well as a love for the Ranma series), I wrote this. Originally, I intended just the two stories. Now, it appears that two series are in order.
I wrote this while at sea for a month (yes, the occupation of myself--and all but two of the above mentioned people--is that of the US Navy; hey, I have to do something in my spare time. It allows me to run rampant around the world and come up with ideas.
Well, that's it for now! Stay tuned for the next of the Tales of Shampoo, Volume II: The Phoenix Eye Saga.
--Rob Barba (aka Ashita)
At sea, 97Apr12
(Revised, NAVSTA Yokosuka, Japan 97Aug15)
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Ranma 1/2, Maison Ikkoku, the Mermaid saga, and Inu-Yasha, copyright, trademark, etc. etc. Rumiko Takahashi
/Shokugakan/Viz Communications.
Magic Knight Rayearth,copyright, trademark, etc. etc. CLAMP/Kodansha/COMIXX Publications.
All other copyrights, trademarks, whatever, are the property of their respective owners.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to people (living, dead, cloned, or otherwise), places, things, and events is purely coincidental (if not, there would've been some lawsuits by now). All rights reserved, all wrongs unreserved. Void where prohibited, not void where not prohibited. Some prices may vary; state and federal taxes not included.
