Hello.  Posting unrevised material.

Standard disclaimers apply.  I'd love C&C on the material.

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	Ranko sat behind her mother at the moment, slightly confused and 
curious at the same time.  Akane sat next to her, behind her father, 
equally curious and confused.  Kasumi sat between Ranko's mother and her 
father trying to ease him out of the state of shock he was apparently 
in.  Nabiki sat to the other side of her father, sipping a soda, 
somewhat perplexed, that much Ranko could tell from the darting of her 
eyes, but not much else.  The only Saotome daughter turned to peer at 
her mother's neutral expression.  It looked, to Ranko, like her mother 
was contemplating something very serious.  At the moment, it was the 
fact that the panda was desperately trying to scrawl kanji onto a piece 
of paper with a felt tip marker.  Obviously, the kana was illegible and 
the writing no more than a scrawl.
	"Otousan, please try to be a bit more patient," Kasumi assured her 
father.  Soun simply nodded slowly.
	"Mom?" Ranko asked in a whisper.
	Nodoka turned slightly to look at her daughter with a slightly arched 
look.
	"Hmm?" the matriarch responded.
	Ranko withered slightly under her gaze.  Nodoka immediately softened.
	"Gomen ne, Ranko-chan," Nodoka apologized.  "But this is starting to 
wear my patience thin.  I don't understand what the panda is trying to 
write, and I'm scarcely believing that I'm actually watching a panda try 
to write at all."
	"I dunno either, Mom.  I think he's trying to draw something now," 
Ranko replied.
	She sighed and stared at the girl sitting next to the panda in seiza.  
The girl looked just like Ranko, but with a slightly leaner frame, as if 
she'd been living a life of constant exercise, or at least, that was 
what Akane whispered to her when they came down from the furo.
	Ranko watched as her friend looked at the new girl with unease.  The 
moment they'd finished practicing in the dojo and gone in for a relaxing 
soak in the furo, a commotion erupted downstairs.  The two girls had 
scrambled down to see a large panda stalk into the living room with a 
young girl in tow.  The girl bore a striking resemblance to Ranko, and 
it unnerved them.  What made the pair most uncomfortable was the the 
girl seemed to be a machine, settling into seiza perfectly and sitting 
ther unmoving, eyes transfixed to some spot on the wall behind them all, 
a blank expression on her face.  It was as if nobody was home, so to 
speak.
	"So what's with the brunette?" Ranko asked in a whisper.
	Akane shrugged.
	"Looks like you," the darker haired girl replied.
	"The pigtail's too long.  And I think I got better curves," Ranko 
replied with a quiet snicker.
	"Now you say you have a decent figure.  You wouldn't think so from the 
way you carry on about dieting in school," Akane replied with a giggle.
	Nodoka turned slightly.
	"What's going on back there?" she asked with the first hint of a grin 
either girl had seen that day.
	"Doesn't that girl look like Ranko?" Akane giggled.
	Nodoka seemed to smile, perhaps a bit nervously.
	"Yes, she does look a bit like Ranko-" Nodoka began.
	"A pot of hot water!" Kasumi exclaimed.
	Everyone turned to look at Kasumi.
	"Kasumi, what's wrong?" Soun asked finally breaking his silence.
	"The panda's drawing a pot of hot water," she replied.
	The panda made loud grunting and growling noises.
	"I suppose we could fetch the water for tea," Soun mused.  "Would you 
please bring it in, Kasumi?"
	Kasumi nodded and left to fetch the pot.  She returned a few moments 
later, with the steaming kettle.  She set it in front of the panda, 
which seemed to take immeasurable interest in it.  The pandatouched it 
lightly with a paw, testing the heat.  It painstakingly nudged the lid 
off and made futile attempts to blow over the top to cool the water.
	"Is it too hot?" Soun asked slowly.
	The panda nodded.  Kasumi waved her hand over it to cool it some.
	"Still too hot?" she asked.
	The panda nodded vigorously.  Nabiki, in a sudden display of life, 
dumped her soda into the kettle.  The panda peered into the pot and 
unceremoniously upended half the contents of the pot onto itself.  
Nodoka stared in shock as the steam cleared, and the panda shift in the 
blink of an eye, accompanied by an odd shimmering, into her husband.  
Before anyone could close their mouth or speak a word, Genma upended the 
rest of the water onto the girl.  Everyone stared as the girl grew 
slightly in size and build and turned into a young man with black hair.  
The young man simply sat there, as umoving and unaffected as before.
	"I see I have some explaining to do," Genma replied to a shocked 
audience.
	Nodoka frowned.  Soun nodded vigorously.  Everyone else held their 
collective breath.
	"This is Ranma," Genma said with a wave at the still ummoving youth 
next to him.
	Nodoka inhaled sharply.  Soun stared wide-eyed.  Nabiki coughed 
slightly and blinked.  Kasumi quietly exclaimed, "oh my!"  Akane shifted 
nervously in her seat.  Ranko simply fainted.

	Ranko awoke later, to the feeling of a cold, moist cloth being applied 
to her forehead.  She blinked her eyes blearily.
	"You're awake I see," a familiar voice said with a quiet giggle.
	Ranko turned her head to see Kasumi kneeling by her head, adjusting the 
pillow she was resting on.  The eldest Tendo daughter smiled gently and 
flipped down the covers on Ranko an inch.
	"Are you feeling better?" Kasumi asked.
	"Wha-happened?" Ranko muttered.
	"You fainted," Kasumi laughed.
	"I can see that," Ranko said weakly as she turned to stare at the 
ceiling.
	"Well, everyone was rather shocked that the young lady turned into 
Ranma," Kasumi said plainly.
	"I guessed that," Ranko muttered.
	"Well, father is taking it better than I would have expected," Kasumi 
said quietly.  "Nabiki is already looking at the young man with that 
look in her eyes."
	"The look?" Ranko asked.
	"Of course.  Is there any other?" Kasumi said with a giggle.
	"What'd Akane do?  She freak out like she always does?"
	Kasumi shook her head.
	"Not really, though she's in a bit of a state of shock," the young 
woman replied as she pushed a stray lock of hair behind an ear.  "How 
are you holding up?"
	Ranko shrugged under the covers.
	"It's weird," she replied.  "I don't get it.  Mom said I had a twin 
brother, but that he was dead.  She never really talked about, Pops; and 
it wasn't ever glowing, if you know what I mean."
	Kasumi nodded.
	"I don't think we got any pictures of the old man anywhere either.  I 
think Mom really hates his guts," Ranko continued.  "How's Mom doing?"
	Kasumi shrugged.
	"Your father apparently made a silly contract with father about 
marrying one of us to your brother, Ranma.  Father's trying to dissuade 
your father from upholding it.  I think father said he was drunk at the 
time," Kasumi said with a nervous laugh and a small smile tainted by her 
uneasiness.
	"Where's Mom?" Ranko asked.
	Kasumi nodded towards the guestroom.
	"She retired there to think over what's going on," she replied.  "I 
don't think your mother likes the situation much at all."
	"So what's Ranma like?" Ranko asked, trying to avoid the subject she so 
recently brought up.
	"I don't know.  He's still in seiza.  It's as if he's made of stone.  I 
don't like it at all," Kasumi said, shaking her head.  "It's so 
unnatural.  There's something very wrong about him.  It makes me very 
uncomfortable and sad too.  I don't understand it."
	Ranko nodded and sighed.
	"There really isn't anyone home at all.  It's like he's some zombie."
	Kasumi nodded and stood up.
	"I have to make dinner now.  Don't exert yourself.  Your mother should 
be in soon, I guess."
	Ranko nodded again as Kasumi left quietly.  A stale silence fell over 
the room and Ranko fidgeted uncomfortably.  It was easy to see something 
was wrong, but she had no idea what to do.  It was as if someone had 
taken her life out of her hands and started to play with her like a 
marionette, but they were pulling on all the wrong strings purposely.
	It seemed like an eternity before her mother walked into the room 
quietly.  She slid the door closed behind her gently and walked softly 
towards her sleeping daughter.  Ranko could hear the soft swishing noise 
of the tatami mat as her mother made her way over and sat in seiza next 
to her.  Ranko blinked and continued to stare at the ceiling aimlessly.
	"Are you feeling better, Ranko-chan?" Nodoka asked.
	"Sure," Ranko replied.
	"What's the matter?"
	"Nuthin', I guess."
	"You can tell your mother," Nodoka admonished.
	Ranko sighed.  She turned to face her mother, and noticed she'd been 
crying.  Her mother's eyes weren't puffy or red, but in the dim light of 
the room, Ranko could see that they were wet from tears.
	"What's gonna happen to Dad?" Ranko asked.
	Nodoka was silent for a moment.
	"I thought he might have changed, but I can see he hasn't," she said 
with a sigh.
	"Yeah.  I guess so.  I don't like him very much right now," Ranko 
confessed.
	Nodoka didn't respond.
	"Is that really Ranma?" Ranko asked quietly.
	"I guess he is," Nodoka replied sadly, "but he seems so different now.  
I always thought he would stay the energetic young boy I remember him 
as."  A tear trickled silently down Nodoka's cheek.  "But when I see him 
now, it seems like he died and there's this new somebody there; and it 
isn't even remotely close to Ranma.  I don't even think I want to know 
who it is, or what it is.  All I know is that your brother died 
somewhere."
	Ranko watched as tears fell from Nodoka's eyes again.  Ranko bit her 
lower lip and crawled up to hug her mother.
	"It'll be okay, Mom.  I'm sure it'll be okay."
	"I hope so, Ranko-chan.  I certainly hope so."
	"We probably should go down to dinner.  I bet Kasumi's making a good 
meal tonight," Ranko said earnestly.
	Nodoka nodded and smiled as she wiped away her tears.
	"You run along first.  I've got to clean up," Nodoka said quietly.
	Ranko nodded and headed out the door.  Nodoka turned and looked out the 
windows at the stars as they came out into dimming the night sky before 
sighing and collecting herself for dinner.

	Ranko skipped down the stairs, trying to convince herself everything 
was going well when she ran into Akane.
	"Hey, you okay?" Akane asked immediately.
	Ranko nodded.
	"What about you?" she asked in turn.
	The youngest Tendo daughter mused for a second before shrugging.
	"I dunno," she said.  "This whole thing's got me weirded out.  I mean, 
the panda-thing and turning into a girl?"
	Ranko frowned.
	"Yeah," the brunette replied.  "It is pretty weird."
	"You don't sound so convinced," Akane said as she reversed direction 
and walked down the stars with her friend.
	"Well, it's not everyday you see your long-lost twin brother," Ranko 
replied bluntly.
	"Yeah."
	"So what's the deal with this marriage thing?"
	Akane rolled her eyes.
	"Don't remind me.  I'm so angry at Otousan.  I can't believe he did 
something like that!"
	"But he's denying it, isn't he?"
	"Yes, but I don't think your father's too willing to back down."
	"It's not like my mom's gonna make you guys stick to it."
	"It's your father we're worried about," Akane said quietly.  "He seems 
so adamant about it."
	"Just ignore him."
	"We can't.  He being very vocal about it."
	Ranko frowned.
	"So what about Ranma?" she asked.
	Akane shrugged.
	"I have no clue," she replied.  "Can you believe he's still sitting 
there?"
	"You're kidding me."
	"Nope.  It's really spooky.  I swear he's a zombie or something."
	The two stopped inches from the doorway.  Ranko peeking into the room 
she'd fainted in.  There was Ranma, sitting the same way, only this 
time, she noticed he was rocking ever so slightly.
	"He looks so sad," Akane noted.
	"He looks so gone," Ranko replied.
	"He's your brother."
	"He's a zombie."
	Akane frowned.
	"Don't you have any feelings for your brother?" she asked.
	Ranko stood up and stared at Akane square in the eyes.
	"What do you expect me to think?  One minute he's as good as dead and 
now he's back!  What the hell am I supposed to think?!?" she hissed.
	"Look-"
	"I just don't know, okay?  Mom's really shook up by it all, and I 
really can't say I'm all that happy with it either."
	"You finished?"
	"Yeah," Ranko said lamely.
	Akane gave her friend a reassuring pat on the back.
	"Don't worry about it.  Everything's going to be just fine.  You'll 
see," she said to Ranko.


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