Ranma 1/2: Ranma No More Alternate History By: Dani Yanega yanega@mindspring.com (please respond to this e-mail address) Chapter Twenty Since the Nekohanten was opening within the week, everyone was working on getting it ready. The Amazon Emporium was ready and just waiting for the first shipment from the village. Ranma and Ryoga are working with the Amazons and slowly they start becoming friends, to the delight of Ku Lon. It seems that Ryoga and La Si are getting closer then the others. Ranma would watch the two out of the corner of her eyes as she worked a sly smile on her lips. She likes La Si and feels she would be good for the eternally lost boy. La Si helps to make sure Ryoga doesn't get to badly lost, but if he does manage to disappear he is always led back within the hour by a stray cat or two. Which they would feed and water then the cats would be on their way. Since they spent the entire week getting the Nekohanten ready for the grand opening, Ranma has not been able to start working on her laboratory. Ku Lon promises her three days off the week after the restaurant is open to work on the lab. However, Ranma must take the Amazon artifacts to her laboratory, before the opening. Since Ku Lon feels that some are too dangerous to have laying around the complex. She finally gets Ranma to agree to take her to the laboratory, with her when she goes. The Nekohanten would open in three days, which should give them enough time to get there and back. She is also curious about where the laboratory is at and what it looks like. "Why did you insist only you and I go, why not Ryoga too? He does know where the laboratory is." Ranma asks as they run at top speed through the forest. "I felt we needed some time alone just you and I, plus, I didn't think La Si would want him out of her sight for two days, do you?" Ranma laughs her musical laughter, as she runs her golden white hair flowing behind her. "Your right I think La Si has plans for poor Ryoga, at least he is safe from the outsider laws until he decides he wants to marry her." Ku Lon raises an eyebrow. "So he likes her?" Ranma nods her head. "Yes but he wants to get to know her better first, but I think we will see a marriage there soon." Ku Lon looks speculative. "You do realize he will _have_ to challenge her and win, since she is heir to a counsel seat." Ranma nods her head as she stares distractedly ahead. "Yes he knows that, and when he is ready he will, but not before he and La Si are ready." After an hour of running they reach the base of the mountain where her lab is located, and began their ascent. If anyone could have seen them on the side of the mountain all they would see would be two white blurs as they ascend at warp breaking speeds. They reach the plateau just as it is getting dark. "Gee, it seems going with you I get here faster." Ranma comments, Ku Lon just smiles. Ranma starts her incantation and begins to glow, thus opening the door to the laboratory. Once they step inside Ranma closes the opening behind them. She then starts to glow to light the way down the short low ceiling, sloping passageway. Since she is taller then when last she was here Ranma must bend over even more to traverse the short tunnel. While Ku Lon on the other hand only has to tilt her staff a bit to go down the pathway. When they enter the main chamber Ranma lights two torches that are by the tunnel opening, taking one to light the rest. When the main cave is finally lit Ranma's aura goes out and Ku Lon looks around in awe at its size. "You have done well, niece this will make a wonderful refuge for you." Ranma nods then points to one of the plateaus with a small cave. "That is the one I am going to use as a vault." She then jumps to the lowest plateau and makes her way to the vault, Ku Lon following behind her. Ku Lon helps Ranma construct the few shelving units she carried with her in dimensional space. Then they set about sorting the artifacts Ku Lon brought with her. Once they were all in place and tagged they left the vault and Ranma sealed the entrance using the same spell she uses for the cave entrance. "Are you going to leave this ledge empty, child?" "No, Elder that would call attention to it. I plan on setting up a living room on this plateau since it is quite large." Ku Lon nods, then starts to head down. Ranma heads up towards the top most ledges. When Ku Lon reaches the bottom she turns and sees Ranma working on the openings of the ledges closer to the top of the cave. She shrugs and goes to the fire alcove and starts a fire. Ranma has stocked the cave with a pile of wood for the alcove. Ku Lon then starts to cook their dinner. When Ranma returns an hour and a half later. Ku Lon hands her a bowl of ramen and cup of tea. Ku Lon then looks up and notices five of the caves now sport heavy draperies, of varying colors. The two highest caves, one has red drapes, the other has yellow. The three just below those, were, blue, green, and dark lavender. She squints and notices the brass rings holding them to antique brass shower rods. "Their spring loaded all I needed to do was create a depression on each side of the entrance and then put the rod in." Ku Lon smiles at the ingenuity of her great niece. "Then those will be bed chambers?" Ranma nods, taking a sip of tea. "Yes, they are the largest caves, plus they have small alcoves for using as a fireplace to keep them warm. And since they are close to the air vents, they will get constant fresh air." "You plan on having a lot of guest with four guest rooms?" "No, three guest rooms the two most upper ones are mine and Ryoga's." Ku Lon raises an eyebrow then nods. Dinner passes quickly as Ku Lon and Ranma talk about Ranma's plans on using all the space. It is much larger then her last laboratory. Ku Lon is impressed how Ranma has everything worked out. Ranma mentions some of the ideas that came from Ryoga and Ra Koh. At the mentioning of their great grandmother Ranma gets a sad look then reaches up to clasp the locket around her neck. "What is that Ranma?" Ranma looks down at the locket then removes it to show her aunt. "It is great grandmother's locket." Ku Lon opens it and a gasp escapes her lips. "That is great grandfather, and her daughters. Great Grandfather gave it to her for her birthday the year she died." "It's beautiful, I..I can see my Xian Pu in each of their faces." "Yeah, I see me there too, when I was little." Ku Lon hands it back to the girl. They then start getting ready for bed as, Ku Lon has agreed to work with Ranma on some of the Amazon techniques, to gage her skill level. They then need to head back to Tokyo to get some final supplies before the opening of the Nekohanten. /*\*/*\ Ryoga is very nervous he does not like letting Ranma go off without him. He has gotten so use to being her traveling companion it seems wrong not to be with her. Then he looks over a La Si and smiles, she is a wonderful girl and he enjoys spending time with her. He and Ranma have talked about how he feels about her, and Ranma insists that he advances at his own pace and not let anyone push him before either he or La Si was ready. She is beautiful, smart, and it didn't bother her about his curse or the fact that he is Ranma's soul mate, like it seems to bother the others. She also likes to get lost with him to spend time with him. During those times they talk and although her great grandmother is pushing her to find a husband she, like Ryoga wants time to get to know the person first. /*\*/*\ La Si is watching Ryoga out of the corner of her eyes, he is really nice and fun to be with, she doesn't understand why the other girls shy away from him. She asks Xian Pu but she couldn't give a really good response. La Si especially likes it when they get lost together, he tells her of his travels, of the places he has seen, and the adventures he's had. She would tell him of the places she wants to see. She wants to see the world before she has to become matriarch, and Ryoga wouldn't be to bad of company to travel with. She smiles wistfully as she daydreams about traveling with the lost boy. "What La Si smile about?" La Si jerks out of her daydream. "Is nothing, private thoughts." Xian Pu raises an eyebrow then looks from Ryoga to La Si. She smiles at her Amazon sister. "Xian Pu think La Si, like dog boy, maybe want dog boy be mate?" La Si glares at Xian Pu, and she growls. "_His_ name is _Ryoga_." Xian Pu steps back a step and holds up her hands in a placating manner. "Xian Pu sorry, will try remember, ok?" La Si nods and turns to go back to stocking the shelves for the opening of the Nekohanten. Xian Pu looks hurt then ashamed, she places her hand upon La Si's shoulder. "Xian Pu sorry La Si, no mean to make mad." La Si looks at her then smiles and gives her best friend a big hug. /*\*/*\ Nabiki slams her fist down hard on her desk as she hangs up her private telephone line. [I can't believe it she was telling the truth, every bit of it.] She starts making some notes in a notebook labeled 'Joketsuzoku Village'. [Well even if my contact did warn me away from this I am going to get something on them I can make a profit on. No one messes with Tendo Nabiki and gets away with it!] Nabiki is brought out of her thoughts by a knock at the door. "Come in?" Her door opens; her older sister peeks in. "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes Nabiki and you have a phone call." Kasumi tells her younger sister. "Thanks, sis I will be right down." Nabiki gets up and heads to the downstairs telephone. "Moshi, Moshi, yes, um hmm, yes I have it, ok, your sure, um hmm, ok fine thanks, yes, yes same fee." Nabiki hangs up the telephone looking thoughtful then heads back up to her room to write down her new information, and to start setting up her tape recorder. Now that the listening devices have been planted, Nabiki grins like a shark the entire way up to her room. /*\*/*\ The morning finds Ku Lon and Ranma sparring in the center of the main cave, their hands moving so fast they are almost invisible. They keep this up for about an hour then break. "Very good niece, you have mastered the Kachuu Tenshin Amiguriken, quite well, but you will need to work on being faster. I am much faster than that, but don't forget I have three hundred plus years on you." Ranma smiles at her aunt and nods. "You know, there is not much else I can teach you. I can spar with you to help you increase your skill, but that is about it I am afraid." Ku Lon muses, Ranma nods. "Yeah I know and that would be _great_, _but_ what is the real reason you wanted to come with me?" Ku Lon raises an eyebrow and smiles. "You inherited a lot from Ra Koh, didn't you." Ranma just smiles and rubs the locket hanging around her neck. They sit down to breakfast and for a long needed talk. "Ranma why haven't you asked what happen to your father, after we returned to the village." Ranma shrugs her shoulders. "Well I know you didn't kill him because he is staying with the Tendo family." Ku Lon nods, then looks to Ranma to continue. "I figure you would not give him a punishment that was not yours to give. Since After all I am not a real member of your tribe." The look of loneliness comes back to the white hair girl, as she puts her hand around Ra Koh's locket. Ku Lon reaches over and pats her arm. "Well that is not quite right Ranma. You are every bit a _true Amazon_, but more importantly you are my _family_, don't ever forget that. Well, since you gave us the location of where Genma and his friend, buried Happosai, we planned to cause him _great_ pain to verify it. It seems your father took all the fun out of that by giving in just as we were getting started. That, however, did not stop us from punishing him for what he did to you. You _are_ an Amazon by birth and what he did may have made you the greatest martial artist in your generation but it also caused you to have many weakness until now." Ranma stares at her entranced. [they actually took revenge over _him_ for me?] "W..What did you do to him." Ku Lon looks sheepishly at the girl then responds. "Well after we gave our report to the counsel most of them wanted panda stew and panda skin rugs." Ranma gulped and looks on in horror, although she knew they didn't do it, but if _he_ is ever found near Joketsuzoku it could happen. "But I felt you would not want that even if you despise him now, so I suggested something that would remind him every time he changed shapes." Ranma looks at her intrigued. "There are several shiatsu points that when pressed can lock you in your cursed form and cause great pain when trying to change back that one is the 'Full Body Cat Tongue' and makes your body extremely sensitive to hot water. The one we used changes the temperature of the water used to return to normal." Ranma begins to smile evilly. "I remember that one, from great grandmother. So what does the water temperature have to be for him to become human again?" "Well we changed both temperatures, about 190 degrees Fahrenheit to cold will make him a panda, and 212 degrees Fahrenheit and above will turn him back. Anything in between will do nothing which ever form he is in." Ranma smile just got larger and more feral. "I love it, thank you auntie. Every time he takes a bath he's a panda" Ku Lon smiles at her. "That is not all we did child." Ranma looks to Ku Lon expectantly. "There is another pressure point which we used on him that each time he changes shape he will be in excruciating pain. We also know some very ancient points, that have long gone from shiatsu training, that permanently locks the pressure points in place until removed by those that put them in place. Since each member of the counsel worked the punishment then locked them, Genma will have to have the Amazon counsel release him, and that is not likely." Ranma looks at Ku Lon with her mouth agape and eyes open wide. Ku Lon clears her throat then continues. "We have another matter to discuss before we leave child." Ku Lon said looking seriously at Ranma. Ranma drops her head in sadness. "Your mother will be coming to the Nekohanten's grand open have you decided how you want to handle it." Ranma sighs and shakes her head sadly. "well, I would like you and the others there when I tell her, but if she won't except me as I am or won't let me find out who I am now, on my own like you are. I will not be Ranma any longer." Ku Lon raises an eyebrow, and looks at Ranma with curiosity. "What do you mean you won't be Ranma any longer?" Ranma takes a deep breath. "Well I haven't been Ranma since great grandmother was fully merged with me, but I kept my name. I guess mostly because I'm use to it, but I think since I am a whole new person that should include a new name as well, what do you think?" Ku Lon thinks for a moment. "It might help convince your mother you are no longer her son, but are now her child trying to determine who you are. Do you have a name in mind?" Ranma nods and smiles. "I think, since I am a combination of me and great grandmother, that 'Ran Koh' would be a good name." Ku Lon smiles broadly at her. "It is a perfect name for you child, though are you sure you want to change your name before you meet your mother?" Ranma takes a deep breath and nods. "Very well, Ran Koh, welcome to your new life." Ku Lon gives the girl a hug. "Now let us be going we need to contact that company you found that inspects premises for surveillance devices, and we can stop at 'The Yankee Trader' about getting furniture for your laboratory." The two Amazons leave the cave and head back to Tokyo business district, in search of good deals.