Family Trees - Chapter 3
Ripples in the Water



Standard Warning and Disclaimer: None of this stuff
belongs to me, and be careful in reading seriously
lest it twist your mind into new and interesting
shapes. *This time I hope the comp doesn't long me
off when I get half-way through*

Last Episode: Ranma, Akane, Nabiki and Nodoka arrived
at the Masaki shrine and climbed lots of stairs, at
least that's Nabiki's opinion. Ryouga encountered the
elfin "girl" her name is leaf, and her husband
apparently weilds a big spatula. Kiyone learns that
her mother is looking for her and freaks out, the
slayers crew arrives in Nerima, and the fiancees leave
in pursuit of Ranma.

*******************************************************
"MARRIAGE!?! Do YOU want to know what I think about
MARRIAGE!?! It is foolishness! I was married once,
in my younger days when I didn't no any better. I am
certainly not get married again just because someone
older than me says I have to! A married person is a
fool. And someone who WANTS..."
"Hey, Wu Fei, wouldn't that make you a fool then?"
the ranter turned to face the speaker, a lounging boy,
smirk across his face, dressed in something that
belonged on a catholic priest.
"SILENCE DUO! I need no commentary from the likes
of an air-headed OVER-dramatic blow hard like you!" 
This comment dragged several, "do you listen to
yourself" stares towards the ranter. "Now..where was
I?"
"Ohhhkaaaay," Sally crossed her arms and arched an
eyebrow as she entered what was supposed to be a
tactical planning session. "Who mentioned marriage."
"SILENCE WOMAN! I'm trying to expound my point
here!"
"No one mentioned marriage," Heero informed her
quietly, in his
"let-me-do-my-mission-or-I'll-kill-you-several-times-very-painfully"
voice. "Quatre was drawing a parrallel of our
situation to greek mythos and upon saying the word
amazon, he started talking." Wu Fei turned to, really
open up on the other pilot, and paused, trying to
figure out where Heero's gun was. 
"You DO NOT know what I had to put up with," he
snapped, gruffly, though not nearly so loudly as with
the others. "Thank the GODS for inter-dimensional
worm holes!" Everybody stared blankly at him for a
moment, Duo turned toward Heero.
"Heero, you no longer hold the position of the
least sane Gundam pilot," Duo regarded the barrel of
the gun in his face, ~where DOES he keep that?~ "Just
kidding buddy."
*******************************************************
Nabiki smirked as she materialized just over the
rise outside of her companions line of sight. Useful
trick that, should make it a little easier to earn a
few yen here and there.
"Hmm, interesting," Nabiki whirled to see an old
man sweeping the tiles of the shrine. He hadn't been
there a moment ago, she could have sworn it. "Are you
perhaps the fiancee my daughter's postcard mentioned?"
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm just her sister,"
Nabiki answered, resisting the urge to ask where he'd
come from.
"Hey where'd Nabiki go?" Akane asked as the
Nerimites began to appear coming up the stairs.
"Over here sis," Nabiki smirked, the other three
Nerimites looked at her confused. "Perhaps you three
should do some more speed training, if a poor little
untrained girl like me can beat you all the way up
those stairs without you seeing me." She resisted the
urge to look at the old man, but she could almost tell
he was amused.
They all ignored the explosions taking place along
the hillside, the old man noticed this with interest. 
Most people that visited here found Ayeka and Ryoko's
fights unnerving to say the least.
"How'd she do that?" Ranma asked pointing at Nabiki
and looking at the other two martial artists.
"Ah Nodoka, its good to see you after all these
years," the old man declared with a serene
cheerfulness. Akane and Ranma watched him move and
were impressed.
~He's good.~ Akane thought.
~Wow, haven't seen chi control like that outside
Cologne and Happosai.~
"I am sorry that did return earlier," Nodoka said
quietly. "Especially when Achika died." Yosho nodded
grim-faced.
"I think I understand your reasons," he said
softly, clapping her on the shoulders gently. "And
this must be your son."
"Ranma Saotome...or whatever," Ranma shrugged. "So
you're my mom's pop?"
"Ranma!" Akane was aghast. "At least try to be
polite."
"What did I say?!?"
"Don't you have ANY social graces?"
"Oh like a tomboy like you would know anything
about that," Ranma waved it off. Everybody watched as
Akane's aura flared, and she reached up into the
dimensional pocket that she kept her mallet.

*crunch*

"You'll have to excuse Ranma and my sister," Nabiki
said dryly. "They have a unique form of interaction."
"I'm not so old as to not remember the passions of
youth," Yosho said, amused.
"What? No...there's nothing like that!" Akane
waved her hands in desperate denial.
"Hell no, I'd never do that before we're married."
"Right!" Akane and Ranma blinked. "errr...as if
I'm actually going to marry YOU."
"Ahh, who'd want you anyway!" they hmphed and
turned their backs on each other. The thought ~close
call~ floating through their heads.
"I was merely commenting on how emotional the young
get," Yosho smiled slightly. "I never meant to imply
anything specific."
"Uh...oh," Ranma and Akane said, blushing.
~I like this guy,~ Nabiki thought to herself. 
~I'll bet he could give daddy-demon a run for his
money.~
"Hey Grandpa," a young man's voice called out. 
They turned to see someone just about Ranma and
Akane's age appear at the top of the stairs. He was
slim and wiry with dark hair. "Sasami says lunch is
almost ready and Washu keeps complaining about
dimensional anomalies. Oh hello..."
Nabiki saw a few similarities between him and
Ranma, mostly body type and the martial artist walk,
but Ranma was marginally bulkiet. Perhaps that came
from his father, the picture that Nabiki had finally
gotten a look at certainly showed a very muscular
individual.
"Let me guess," Akane said. "You're Tenchi right?"
"How'd you guess?" he asked seriously. On cue the
fighting girls suddenly appeared nearby. One of them
had spiky silver hair, she just materialized out of
nowhere, the other had long purple hair and sort of
stalked out of the woods dressed in a ripped gown that
HAD been very ornate and elegant.
"Miss RYOKO," Ayeka shouted in a scandalized voice.
"How DARE you, this is a very expensive piece of
clothing!"
"You should have thought of that before you tried
to take me princess!"
"Oh, you met Ryoko and Ayeka," Tenchi said simply.
"TENNCHIII!!!" suddenly both girls were glomped
onto the boy. Then they glared at each other and the
fight erupted again around the boy.
"Wow, this is creepy," Ranma said.
"I wonder if its genetic," Akane growled. Nabiki
watched them closely for several moments, tapping her
chin, before smirking and laughing low and evilly.
*******************************************************
Xellos stopped and looked around nervously.
"Anything wrong, Xellos?" Amelia asked, keeping as
much of her concern out of her voice. She was still
mad at him.
"I just felt like somebody walked over my grave,"
he said.
*******************************************************
Tenchi managed to find his way out of the battle
"So how many fiancees do you got?" Ranma asked,
casually, as if it was a common question for him.
"Actually I don't have any fian..." Tenchi paused
and blinked. The fighting girls even stopped at the
question.
"Excuse me, I don't believe I heard you properly,"
the purple haired girl said. "Did you say fiancees?"
"Plural?" Ryoko blinked. Nabiki checked her watch.
"Two hours."
"What does she mean by that?" Tenchi asked.
"To tell you the truth we don't really understand
Nabiki," Akane said. "We just sort of watch for her
out of the corners of our eyes." Nabiki smirked.
"Okay, you were about to explain this multiple
fiancee thing," Ryoko interjected.
"Ranma's step father had an interesting idea on how
to make money," Nodoka explained.
"And everything else," Akane noted grimmly.
"Yeah, we're going to have a talk about that pretty
soon," Ranma cracked his knuckles.
"Uh...right.." Tenchi said. "Sounds like you'll
fit in around here. What were your names again?"
"This is Ranma Saotome, and his fiancee, Akane
Tendo."
"ITS NOT OUR CHOICE!!!" they both shouted at once.
"Wait, we already established that," Akane said.
"Oops," Ranma said, and everybody else
sweatdropped.
*******************************************************
"Hello?" The girl answering the phone had long
brown hair tied in odango like hoops.
"Yohko?" The cold voice at the other end of the
phone surprised her.
"Iako?! Why are you calling here?" Yohko
sweatdropped. ~What if she wants to challenge me
again?~
"I just wanted to tell you that apparently there is
another soul-weapon and another branch of Manos," her
cousin said calmly. "At least they used to be Manos,
I think the name has changed since then."
"Oh that's good, makes it easier on the rest of us
then," Yohko could almost feel the irritation from the
other end. Iako still believed in only one true
demon-hunter apparently.
"Actually, apparently this branch has a history of
insanity and comingling with demon races," Iako said. 
"And I don't mean the ally races either."
"Okay, that's not good," Yohko agreed. "So why are
you calling me about it?"
"Because I just dragged the story out of the old
fart," Iako growled. "It seems their weapon was
recently stolen by a group of girls in gymnast suits. 
So when she mentioned it I suspected another 'greatest
nemesis of the Mano clan.'"
"Oh wonderful."