No Need for Ranma!
(A Ranma One Half / Tenchi Muyo / Sailor Moon Alternate 
History)
By Ammadeau
Roy.Fokker@UNSpacy.org
http://members.tripod.com/~Ammadeau/fanfiction.htm

As always, C&C, questions, comments, volunteers for pre-readers, 
and suggestions for a new title are welcome.

	A young man crawled on his hands and knees in the sand, 
searching for food, water, anything to help the people he felt 
responsible for, even though he might not have the energy to return 
to camp.  He was their captain, and even though his space ship had 
been a pirate vessel, he was of an unusually high moral character.  
Many compared him to his grandfather, though the major 
difference was his ancestor had been fed and cared for by an army 
of servants, while he had to rob others just so he and his crew 
could stay alive.
	Or used to, at any rate.  The merchant guild ship he thought 
had been easy pickings turned out to be a trap and they stranded 
him and his crew on this god-forsaken desert planet where there 
wasn't a sign of life as far as the eye could see.  Most of his people 
had given up hope by now, resigned to die here, the last remnants 
of a once-grand House.  He hadn't given up though, not when there 
were those who depended on him.
	The man scaled a dune that looked like just like the twenty 
or more he had already passed, but what he saw on the other side 
made him rub his eyes in wonder.  'This can't be real,' he thought to 
himself, as he gazed down upon the largest tree that he had ever 
seen, growing green and healthy right in the middle of the desert.  
What was more important to him and his people though, was the 
small lake which surrounded it.
	With a sudden burst of strength born from desperation, he 
frantically ran down the hill, stumbling and falling in the end to 
land at the edge of the pool.  The man rubbed his eyes again.  He 
knew that this had to be a mirage just like the many others he had 
seen already, but there was just something so real about it that his 
mind refused to pass it off as mere fantasy.
	Slowly, he dipped his hand in the water and nearly pulled it 
right out again.  Despite the oppressive heat of the sun shining 
down on the lake, the water was cool to the touch.  He brought a 
few drops up to his parched lips and tasted pure spring water.  No 
longer caring if this were a mirage, the man cupped his hands and 
drank until he couldn't hold anymore.  He was still starving, but at 
the moment he felt strangely satisfied.
	The man leaned back, the sun's heat now longer feeling 
quite so strong, and jumped up as if suddenly awakened from a 
dream.  This was no time to rest, not when his people needed him!  
Taking out some of the containers he had brought with him, he 
started to fill them up as far as they could go.  It wouldn't be nearly 
enough for everyone, but now that he knew of this place they could 
move their settlement here.  He even considered taking a bath, but 
somehow felt that it would be like polluting a holy shrine.
	It was while he was filling these containers, that he heard a 
voice.  A female voice that was soft as a whisper and seemed to be 
coming from inside his head.  At first he ignored it, thinking it 
some form of madness that had finally overtaken him from the sun 
constantly pounding on his brain, but the voice was persistent.  It 
was, however, very soft and even those words which he could 
make out clearly were in no language that he knew.
	"All right," the man shouted. "What do you want?"
	The voice said very clearly, "Who are you?"
	The man blinked in surprise and looked around.  That voice 
wasn't from inside his head, but there was no one there but him.  
"Who said that?"
	"I did."
	"You?  Well, where I you?"
	"I am right before you."
	"Huh?  The only thing before me is the huge tree."
	"Yes."
	It took a moment or two for that to sink in.  "You're trying 
to tell me that you're that big tree?" the man shouted incredulously.
	"Yes."
	"But trees can't talk!"
	"I can.  I am a space tree, and currently the only one of my 
kind.  I have been waiting for hundreds of years for someone like 
you to arrive."
	"Waiting for me? Why?"
	"Who are you?"  It spoke each word slowly, as if it were 
part of a ritual.
	"I am Yosho, of the House of  . . ."  He stopped himself, 
knowing that his house had been destroyed before he had even 
been born.  He had gotten used to calling himself that, but he felt 
uneasy on trying to lie to this strange tree.  He got the feeling that 
it could see right through him.  "I'm a pirate.  I steal from the rich 
so my crew and I can have food to eat."
	"Why are you here?"
	Again, he had the sense that he were taking part in a 
ceremony of some sort, that this tree already knew all the answers 
to the questions that it asked, but they needed to be spoken aloud.
	"My people and I were stranded here by those who we 
sought to rob."
	"What do you want?"
	"Well, first I'd like to get this water to my people so they 
don't die of thirst," Yosho said almost jokingly. 'I'm having a 
conversation with a tree,' he thought to himself.  'I must be going 
mad.'  "With your permission, of course."
	"Is that all?" the voice sounded disappointed.
	Yosho had the feeling that he had made his first mistake in 
the ritual that he was taking part of.  He was being given a chance 
to make up for his mistake, but the next time the tree might not be 
so lenient.  Being an experienced pirate had given him a feel for 
sensing when he was in a dangerous situation and despite the signs 
of tranquillity, this feeling was sunk deep in his bones.  To fail here 
would bring disaster, for him and his crew.
	"If we don't get some food soon, we'll starve instead of 
dying of thirst.  I'd like to have someplace to live better than this 
dust bowl, a working ship would be nice, as well as revenge 
against the people that left us here.  While I'm at it, might as well 
ask for the restoration of my house and a mighty empire to rule."
	When the tree spoke again, it sounded pleased, which made 
Yosho breathe a small sigh of relief.  The sense of danger had 
lessened, but it wasn't gone completely.
	"I have the power to make this world into a paradise if you 
choose, and to create a mighty fleet for you to command.  I can 
give your lineage power beyond anything any human has ever 
experienced before.  I can make it so that your descendants will 
rule over the galaxy and live in splendor for all of their days.  I can 
grant you all this and more, if you are willing to pledge the service 
of you and your people unto me."
	Yosho found himself suddenly snapped out of his joking 
mood.  He'd thought this was all some sort of hallucination and so 
had been asking for things that only a god could grant.  When the 
tree spoke, however, he got the feeling deep in his bones that it 
could come through with its promises.
	He wasn't exactly fond of the idea of pledging his people to 
anyone, but what choice did he have?  They were dying, would be 
dead, if he couldn't do something to save them.  Striking a bargain 
with a tree, as strange as it seemed, was about the best choice that 
he had.  Actually, it was his only one.
	"All right, if you can do all those things then you have 
yourself a deal.  Now what do I do?"
	"Cross the lake to stand directly before me."
	"How do I do . . ." Yosho started to say when he noticed 
stepping stones rise up out of the water.  "Okay, I see."
	After crossing, he said, "Now what?"
	"Place you hand on my trunk."
	Yosho did as he was told and was shocked as power like he 
had never felt before flowed into his body, removing all the signs 
of weariness and hunger from him.  There was no one there to 
notice the three glowing marks on his forehead appear and then 
slowly fade.
	"Who are you?" he asked, awestruck.
	"I am Tsunami.  Who are you?"
	"I am Yosho, of the House Jurai . . . no.  I am Yosho, first 
king of the planet Jurai!"

Chapter 1: The Return of Ranma

	Ranma cursed his luck as the bus splashed him.  'She' 
squeezed the dirty water out of now red hair and tight-fitting shirt.
	A few minutes later and he was before the Masaki 
household, home ever since his pop died protecting him and his 
mom six years ago.  It seemed like a lifetime.  They had moved in 
with his cousin Tenchi and Uncle Nobuyuki, who had lost his own 
spouse years before.  Memories of good times spent there were 
almost enough to wash the bitter taste of China out of his mouth.

	Tenchi looked up from his homework to wonder who could 
be knocking in the middle of the day. It would be almost another 
week before his cousin Ranma was to come back from his training 
journey to China. His father was at work and Auntie Nodoka was 
out buying groceries.
	Grandpa rarely visited; more often than not, Tenchi had to 
be the one to go to see him.  The tension between father and 
daughter hadn't really lessened over the years, not even after the 
death of its cause, the man that Nodoka had married against his 
wishes.  Tenchi hoped that the silent war between mother and 
daughter would end some day, but both of them were too stubborn 
to back down.
	Tenchi opened the door to face a beautiful young redhead 
dressed in a red Chinese shirt and black pants.  "Um . . . excuse 
me?" he managed to blurt out.
	Ranma looked up and said, "Oh, hi Tenchi."
	Tenchi was stunned.  At school, girls rarely paid any 
attention to him, usually gawking at his cousin who was oblivious 
to their interest.
	Here was a girl that knew Tenchi's name and used it like 
they were old friends.  Yet he was sure that he hadn't seen her 
before.  With that flaming red hair she'd be hard not to notice.
	"Ah, who are you exactly?"  Tenchi asked, and 
immediately berated himself for blowing his chance by saying 
something so stupid.
	Finally Ranma remembered what he looked like at the 
moment, a little surprised that he could so easily forget something 
like what gender he was.  He guessed that in coming home from 
China he had gotten so used to the differences in his two forms that 
he didn't notice them anymore.  That irked him a little bit, he didn't 
want to get used to his curse.
	"Oops... sorry, I forgot what I look like," he said, rubbing 
the back of his head in embarrassment.  "It's me, Tenchi.  Ranma."
	"Ranma?" Tenchi asked, more confused then ever.  He was 
sure that the Ranma he had shared a room with hadn't been a girl, 
and the way that the wet shirt clung to this girl's ample features not 
only identified her as female, but started a slight nosebleed.  
Someone must be playing a joke on him or something.  
	"Ranma."  Tenchi laughed sheepishly, absently rubbing the 
back of his head, totally unaware that he was mimicking the girl's  
earlier gesture.  "That's funny, I have a cousin with the exact same 
name.  You could be related to him."
	"I am him," Ranma stated, starting to grow annoyed with 
both his cousin and his curse.  "I know I don't look like it right now 
but I'm your cousin Ranma that's been staying here for the past six 
years.  Just get me some hot water and I'll explain everything."
	"Oh okay, won't you come in?"  Tenchi lead the way back 
into the house, leaving 'Ranma' in the living room as he got a glass 
of warm water from the kitchen.  'Did Ranma get a sex change in 
China?'  The very notion seemed ridiculous.  'Ranma was the 
manliest person he knew and proud of it.  Auntie Nodoka was 
forever telling her friends of how 'manly' her son was. And what 
did hot water have to do with anything?'
	Despite the confusion with his cousin, Ranma felt great 
being back in the calm Masaki living room, after all the chaos of 
China. Soon he'd be seeing his mother again, hanging out with his 
cousin and friends, going back to school (urk, well, not everything 
is pleasant), and his life would be back to normal... as long as he 
kept away from cold water, that is.  Yeah, right, he hadn't had 
much success with that lately.  Ever since getting the stupid curse, 
disaster after disaster seemed to strike him and his life had been 
hectic enough to begin with.
	Tenchi came back in and gave Ranma a glass of water, his 
face still marked by confusion.
	"There's a place in China called Jusenkyo," Ranma began 
to explain.  "It's a valley filled with cursed pools that various 
people and animals have drowned in over the years.  Anyone falls 
into these pools takes on the form of whatever drowned there.  
Cold water activates the curse, but hot water reverses it."
	And with that he dumped the glass on himself, changing 
before Tenchi's startled eyes from a beautiful red-haired woman to 
his black-haired cousin.
	"So you . . .?" Tenchi managed to stutter out.
	Ranma nodded.  "Yep, fell into spring of drowned young 
girl.  Very tragic story of a young girl who drowned there 1500 
years ago."
	Tenchi really needed to sit down after seeing the change.  
It's not every day a potential girlfriend becomes your male cousin 
before your eyes.  "I guess this is why you're back to early.  How 
did this happen?"
	"Well, let's wait for my mom to come home.  I don't want 
to explain this more than I have to."
	Nodoka was overjoyed to see her son again, but was less 
than pleased when she found out about his curse.  She had always 
tried to raise him as the pinnacle of manhood, and now with a 
careless gesture he had become half-woman.  She found her center 
as she always did before beginning sword practice, and asked 
calmly for the whole story.
	"Well you know that pops always wanted to take me to 
China to train," Ranma began to say.  It was going a lot easier than 
he had thought.  He'd been half-worried that his mom would reach 
for her katana as soon as Ranma had demonstrated his new curse.  
His mom had been training him in their family's unique style of 
kendo for six years now and she always went harder on him when 
she was upset with him.
	"It was part of his dream.  I guess when Tendo-sensei took 
over training me it became his dream as well.  He would always 
talk up the ancient mystery, the beauty, the fierce battles, and the 
many sights pops wanted me to see.  One such place was Jusenkyo.
	"The guide there tried to warn us, but his Japanese was 
pretty bad and Akane and me were too hyped up to try to listen 
anyway.  We were jumping from these bamboo poles over shallow 
pools, practicing mid-air combat. Tendo-sensei quickly joined in.  
	"Well, I've always been a little better than Akane and I 
knocked her into one of the pools.  I was worried when Akane 
didn't surface immediately since I know she can't swim, but the 
pools couldn't have been more than waist deep.  Then a tiger 
suddenly jumps out of the pool and attacks me!  Well mom, you 
know how I am with cats so the rest of it was kind of a blur.  Next 
thing I know, I'm sitting next to a panda, my hair is red, and my 
chest is . . . um . . . you know, bigger."
	When Ranma heard his mother shouting at Mr. Tendo on 
the phone, he decided to save the rest of his story for later, like 
some time next decade.

	"Aren't you even going to start your homework?" Tenchi 
asked his cousin, who was currently lounging on his futon and 
looking up at the ceiling while Tenchi was busy doing math.  
Tenchi had the same amount of assignments as Ranma and knew 
that it would be hard to get it all done in a week.  It was no surprise 
to Tenchi that Ranma didn't even bother to bring his homework 
with him, even though that was part of the agreement to let him 
leave on vacation early.  Just about everyone knew how Ranma felt 
about school. 
	"Hey, I only got back an hour ago, I need a break.  Besides, 
there's almost a week before school starts, I have plenty of time to 
get it all done."
	"Did you forget that the teacher gave you a whole different 
set of assignments so you couldn't copy off me or any of your 
girlfriends?"  The teacher had wised up to this when Ranma, never 
being an exceptional student, started handing in homework that 
was neatly written and on time.
	"Girlfriends?" Ranma asked with some alarm.  "What are 
you talking about, Tenchi?"
	"Oh, come on.  Those girls who are always helping you out 
in school.  There has to be over a dozen of them.  It's like you have 
your own fan club or something!"
	"They're just my friends, Tenchi.  So what they help me out 
sometimes?  I've been teaching them all martial arts to pay them 
back for it.  They were really eager to learn for some reason."
	Tenchi decided not to mention that the girls spent more 
time watching Ranma exercise in his gi than actually learning 
martial arts.  You'd think he'd catch on after the tenth time they 
asked him to perform the katas over again.  Only two of his friends 
were actually serious about martial arts, and one of them was just 
as serious about Ranma himself.
	Not liking where this line of conversation was leading, 
Ranma decided to change the subject.  "So Tenchi, found out 
what's really in that cave yet?  The whole demon thing is probably 
only to keep people away.  There could be some kind of treasure in 
there."
	"You know it's kept locked and only grandpa has the key."
	"So?  He must keep the key somewhere.  I bet it's in his 
office at the shrine.  All you have to do is sneak in there and put 
the key back later.  It'd be easy."
	"Easy for you maybe. You have any idea what he'll do if he 
catches me?  He's been forbidding me to even go near that cave 
since I was little."
	Not that that had really stopped Tenchi in the past.  In fact, 
near the entrance of the cave had been one of his favorite places to 
play.  He had just felt so safe there, like someone was always 
watching out for him.  It was his special place, much like the holy 
tree was Ranma's.
	"He won't do anything to you, after all you're his favorite, 
his heir.  You, he'll forgive."
	Ranma didn't bother disguising the bitterness he felt to the 
old man who refused to acknowledge him as his grandson.  He 
wasn't sure why, all Ranma knew that it had something to do with 
his pop before Ranma was even born.  Still, he found it impossible 
to actually hate his grandfather.  The old man was teaching him 
that sword style of his, along with Tenchi.  While Ranma usually 
preferred to fight with his fists, he was well-versed in the 
advantages of kendo.  His preference could be due to the fact that 
his cousin Tenchi was better at kendo than he was.
	"I don't know about this.  I want to but . . ."
	"Jeez, you've sure turned cowardly since I've been away."
	"Hey, you take that back!" Tenchi shouted.  Though he had 
never told him this, Tenchi idolized his cousin and tried to emulate 
him as best he could.  Tenchi had never been all that brave, and so 
worked hard to be as fearless as Ranma (except when it came to 
cats, that is).
	"I mean, who would have thought that the once great 
Tenchi Masaki, captain of Juuban's undefeated kendo club, would 
have turned chicken so quickly."
	"Stop it right now, Ranma!"
	"And afraid of his own grandfather no less, a feeble old 
man.  Such a shame."  Ranma knew that grandpa was anything but 
feeble, but he wanted to goad his cousin on.
	"All right already, I'll do it!  I was going to visit grandpa 
the day before school anyway, but you're coming with me, all the 
way into the cave to face whatever is in there."
	"Wouldn't miss it.  Have to make sure that you don't 
chicken out."
	Tenchi decided to switch the subject back to him.  "So it 
must be rough to be in love with a girl that changes into your 
biggest fear."
	"What?!!"  Ranma practically screamed, exasperated and 
utterly confused.
	"You and Akane must have had some pretty romantic 
moments in China, after all the trouble you went through to be 
alone together.  Out under the stars, waiting for old man Tendo to 
fall asleep so you can sneak into her tent and  . . ."
	"Have you gone insane?!!  I would never do anything like 
that with an uncute tomboy like Akane!  And if I had tried 
something that macho chick would've booted me right back to 
Japan!  She wouldn't have come at all if she hadn't threatened 
Tendo-sensei with her cooking."
	Tenchi had only met Akane a few times since his 
grandfather didn't want him to even try picking up Anything Goes 
style.  While she wasn't always understanding, he could tell at heart 
that she was basically a good person. Ranma himself had told 
Tenchi that Akane was liable to say anything when she got really 
angry.  When she as seven, she once yelled at the mailman because 
a stuffed animal she had sent away for was late.
	Tenchi could also tell that, while she treated Ranma as an 
almost hated rival, she actually considered him a friend and 
perhaps something more.  They had known each other since they 
were five years old and been rivals for almost as long.  Tenchi had 
come to feel a little resentment for the strong bond he saw between 
Ranma and Akane. 
	Not liking where that though was going, Tenchi decided to 
try and at least get his cousin to start his homework, though he 
doubted he'd be finished in time for school.  It wasn't that his 
cousin was stupid, a little na�ve sometimes yes, but not stupid.  It 
was he just didn't see any worth in school and thought of it as 
wasting time.  It was the Art that Ranma lived for, and Tenchi 
sincerely hoped that his cousin could find something else in life 
besides martial arts.  Like a nice girl to settle down with.


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