Ranma-chan awoke later, hearing soft steps heading in herdirection. Her eyes focused on the figure. “What do you want,
jiji?” It was night now, and the stars twinkled clearly overhead.
Crickets and frogs sounded their calls, which Ranma-chan found
incredibly relaxing.

“You slept through lunch, and now I’m bringing you
dinner,” Yosho explained.

Ranma-chan’s stomach growled. “Thanks, gramps. What
would I do without you?” she joked.

“Go hungry,” he replied blandly as he placed the tray on her
lap. “I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced. I am Katsuhito
Masaki, the caretaker of the Masaki Shrine.”

“Ranko Sao-Sakada.”

“How’s your wound?” Yosho asked, taking note of
Ranma-chan’s slight stutter.

Ranma-chan sipped her miso soup. “Doin’ better, I guess.
Don’t know, still hurts to move. Hate to think what it’ll feel like
when I finally stand up,” she said with a grin.

“Well,” Yosho began, “when Tsunami heals your wounds,
you and I will have to spar so I can test your abilities.” He started
walking away. “If you’re good enough, perhaps I’ll train you
myself.”

“If you’re as good as I think you are, I’ll take you up on
that match, jiji, and I’ll show you just how much better than you I
am.”

Yosho grinned to himself. ‘Lots of confidence, that’s
good. She'll need it. Perhaps Tsunami was right about this one.’

---------

Disclaimer: I own neither Ranma ½ or Tenchi Muyo, their
respective owners, Rumiko Takahashi and Masaki Kajishima
do. If I owned either of them, I wouldn’t be writing this fic,
that’s for sure!

“O, what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practice to deceive!”
Scott, Marmion. Canto vi, st. 17.

AN: This ignores GXP and the 3rd OAV of Tenchi Muyo

V 2.0 (May 26th, 2007)

Juraian Knight
A Ranma ½/ Tenchi Muyo Crossover
By Hawk

---------

Chapter 4 - A Double Sided Deal

Ranma-chan stirred, waking to a throbbing pain in her
side, and she groaned loudly. The sun was just rising. She looked
down at her side, noticing a growing red splotch on the blanket.
Pulling it off, she found her shirt was soaked through with fresh,
sticky blood. "Shit!"

Her breathe quickened, and she gasped aloud as she
pressed her hand firmly against her side to try and slow the
bleeding.

“Damnit, Tsunami!” Ranma-chan growled. “Where the hell
are you!”

She fell on her side and grunted in pain. Her sight blurred
and blood began to stream into the ground near Funaho’s roots. A
long streak blood marred Funaho’s trunk, and as Ranma-chan lapsed
into unconscious, Funaho unwillingly drank of the dying girls blood.

---------

Sasami smiled to herself as she walked toward Funaho. In
her hands, she carried a tray of breakfast for Ranko. She was
happy to have new guests staying at the Masaki house. Tenchi had
gone to college, Ayeka and Ryoko tagging along, while Kiyone
and Mihoshi had left for assignment shortly after. Since Tenchi was
now a legal adult, the Galaxy Police had no jurisdiction to watch
over him.

The house had been empty for Tenchi’s freshmen year,
except for Christmas and summer. Tenchi’s second year of college
had started just a week before, and so Tenchi, Ayeka, and
Ryoko had left again, this time taking Ryo-Ohki with them. Sasami
had been left with just Yosho, Nobuyuki, and Washu, who spent
most of her time in her lab anyway.

Life at the Masaki house had become a lot more boring
from when she had first arrived there, and the new guests, Asuka,
and especially Ranko, seemed like they could add some greatly
needed excitement. She really hoped that Tsunami would heal
Ranko, and heal her fast. She had tried talking to the Goddess
about the redhead, but had been ignored. Tsunami wasn't
answering her calls.

As she approached the clearing around Funaho, her eyes
widened. She noticed the blood streak on Funaho’s trunk first
before seeing Ranko’s body laying motionless by its roots.

Sasami dropped the tray of food, and hurried to Ranko’s
side. She rolled the redhead on her back, and checked her
bleeding side. There wasn’t enough time to get help, Ranko would
die from blood loss if she was left alone for another ten minutes.

Cradling Ranko's head in her lap, Sasami looked to Funaho,
tears threatening the corner of her eyes. "Help me! Please!"

---------

Ranma-chan slowly opened her eyes, and groaned loudly.
Above her stood Sasami, Katsuhito, and a young redheaded girl.

“What happened?” Ranma-chan asked weakly.

“Your wound reopened, and Sasami found you dying,”
Yosho explained.

Ranma-chan sat up, ignoring the immense pain in her side.
Yosho tried to force her to lay back down, but she brushed his
hands away. She looked at Sasami, then around at the Funaho,
noticing all the blood covering it and the grass around her. “Wow,
I really bled a lot, sorry ‘bout that. Um. . . who are you?”

“I’m Washu! The Greatest Scientific Mind in the
Universe!” Washu exclaimed and cackled out a laugh.

Sasami and Yosho both sweat-dropped before noticing
Ranma-chan had passed out again. They sighed in relief.

“Washu. . .” Yosho started.

“Sorry! Sorry! Force of habit.”

“Ranko can’t know that we’re aliens. There’s no way of
telling how she’d react,” Yosho explained.

“Is Ranko-chan going to be ok?” Sasami asked nervously.

“She should be fine, Sasami-chan. The wound though. . .
something I’ve never really seen before. It wasn’t made by some
other martial artist like Asuka said, but something a lot more
powerful.

Washu shook her head. “I think I’ve encountered a
wound like this before, but I was only able to patch it up slightly.
Ranko’s wound is still in a very precarious position. Why don’t
you go up and make her something to eat, it would do her good.
Tell Asuka that her friend is ok, so she doesn’t worry.”

Sasami nodded, stood up and hurried away.

“We’re very lucky you have a link with Funaho,” Washu
said.

“Yes, if Funaho hadn’t contacted me. . . Ranko wouldn't
have made it.”

“I’m still not sure if she will,” Washu mumbled, shaking her
head again. “That wound wasn’t made by any human being. The
wound is spreading, even after I patched it up, it’s slowly eating
away at her body. I know only of a certain alien species that can
inflict such a wound, but they’re supposedly extinct. If her wound
isn’t fully healed in two days, it’ll grow too large and she’ll die.
I’m amazed she’s even alive right now, it’s a credit to her
determination to live.”

“What species of alien are you talking about?”

Washu tapped her chin. “I’m not too sure right now, I
have an assumption, but I’d like to look it up first. I’ll get back to
you when I figure it out. For now though, I can’t do anything else
for her.”

“Then we have no choice, but to leave her in Tsunami’s
hands,” Yosho replied.

“Will Tsunami come?”

“It’s not a matter of will she come, because I know she
will. It’s a matter of when. If Tsunami takes too long. . .” Yosho
looked down at the girl sleeping on Funaho’s roots.

---------

‘Pain. Ow, my cheek! Ow!’ Ranma-chan smacked her
cheek, waking herself up in the process. She shook her head, and
looked around, taking note of Nabiki standing over her.

“That got you,” Nabiki muttered.

“Did you have to pinch my cheek so hard though?”
Ranma-chan whined. “What happened?”

“Your wound reopened. Sasami found you dying, Ranma.
DYING! You said you’d be fine out here, and I believed you, and
you go and almost DIE! What does that tell me about you,
Ranma?”

Ranma-chan said nothing.

“It tells me you’re a liar, Ranma, that I can’t trust what you
tell me. It makes me doubt even more that this,” she waved her
hands around, emphasizing their surroundings, “will magically heal
you.”

“It will.”

“How do you know that? You don’t, Ranma! How can
you have such faith in something you don’t know anything about!
Stop being so stupid!” Nabiki screamed, her eyes sheen with
tears.

“Look, I can’t promise you I won’t bleed every once in
awhile, but I can promise you that Tsunami will come.”

“Who is Tsunami?” Nabiki asked, blinking away the
wetness from her eyes.

“She’s the Goddess. She’s the one that’ll heal me. I’ve
seen her twice already, so I know she’ll come for me,” Ranma-
chan explained matter-of-factly.

“If you’ve seen her twice, why didn’t she heal you those
times?”

Ranma-chan looked up into Nabiki’s eyes. “She’s testing
me, I know she is, I know she’ll come. You can argue all you
want, Nabiki, but I’m not leaving.” She crossed her arms under
her chest, wincing as she accidently stretched her side.

Nabiki huffed, and crossed her arms as well. The two
stared each other in the eye for a minute or two before Nabiki
finally sat down next to the small redhead.

“Eh?” Ranma-chan eyed Nabiki suspiciously.

Nabiki leaned her back against the tree, and stared dead
ahead, as if trying to ignore her companion. She felt Ranma-chan
shift beside her. There was a long silence between the two.

“Thanks, Nabiki.”

Nabiki bopped her gently on the head, and smiled.
“Baka, it’s Asuka now.”

---------

The light of the morning sun warmed Ranma’s face and he
warily blinked himself awake. Shaking his head clear, he then
rubbed his eyes, before quickly realizing he was a guy.

“How. . .?”

“You’re dreaming, Ranma. Or should I say Ranko?”

Ranma looked up and beheld the Goddess Tsunami for
the third time, a bemused smile on her face. He found that he
couldn’t look directly into her eyes.

“Were you starting to doubt that I would show?” Tsunami
asked.

“Not for a second. There was something about you. . . I
just knew you’d show,” Ranma replied, hanging his head to hide
his blush.

“I called you here for a reason, Ranma, not just to heal
your wound,” she explained. “I need your help.”

“My help? But. . . what-why, I don’t get it? You’re a
Goddess, what could you possibly need help with?” Ranma
exclaimed, looking up at Tsunami surprised

“Sasami and I are one.”

“That’s why you two look so much alike!” Ranma cried,
eyes going wide.

Tsunami nodded. “My being exists only inside of
Sasami’s, and if she dies, or is harmed in anyway, then I shall be
too.” The Goddess paused and let it sink in. “I need a guardian.
Sasami needs a guardian. One that will protect us at all times, and
I’ve chosen you. If you accept.”

“What do you need protection from?” Ranma asked,
confused.

“You are not the only one with enemies, Ranma
Saotome.” Ranma hung his head in embarrassment, feeling stupid
for not realizing such an obvious fact. “There are many out there
that would jump at the chance to kill or capture me.”

“But. . . you’re a GODDESS, doesn’t that mean you
have, like. . . crazy super powers? Couldn’t you stop them on
your own?”

“When Sasami is 18, she and I will become one, and all of
my powers will be free, but for now, my abilities are hampered. If
I do anything too powerful, Sasami’s body won't be able to
handle it and it will be destroyed.”

“Jeez. . .” Ranma pushed himself to his feet, standing
slightly shorter than the Goddess. “What. . . what would I have to
do?”

“Protect us. All you have to do to accept is take this
seed,” Tsunami explained and held out her hand, proffering a small
green seed. “It will heal your wound and give you renewed strength,
which you'll use to protect us from those that wish us harm."

He looked down at the seed then back at Tsunami. “I
don’t get it. What is it that gives it the ability to give me what you
say it’ll give me?”

Tsunami blinked. “Say again?”

“The seed, what is it exactly? How will it give me ‘renewed
strength, which blah blah blah blah wish us harm?’” Ranma asked.

“This is a seed of Jurai, the Kingdom I am the Goddess of.
My greatest servants use these seeds to protect Jurai. Typically
they are born with their own seeds though, so for you I had to go
to. . . shall we say, extreme measures, to get this seed.”

“What do you mean? Where's Jurai? And what’s so special
about this seed?” Ranma looked doubtfully at the little object.
"And why do you think I need it? I can handle anything perfectly as
I am right now. Well, once you heal me anyway. I'm only the best
martial artist around. That's why you chose me, right?" he boasted,
grinning broadly.

Tsunami’s eye twitched, feeling somewhat insulted by Ranma’s
question. “This is not just any seed of Jurai, Ranma Saotome, this is
mine and Sasami’s. Since we share the same body, we share the same
seed. This SEED is the seed of a Goddess, the most powerful seed
in all of Jurai."

“Whoa! Whoa! And you wanna give it to me?” Ranma waved his
hands in protest. “I can’t accept that! No way! That’s way too big!”

“You have to!” Tsunami pleaded, still holding out the seed.

“No. Just no. I can’t. You gotta find someone else.
Someone better. I-I’m not good enough to protect you.” Ranma shook
his head emphatically, having suddenly lost his cocky bravado.

“You have no other choice, Ranma. It’s either accept the
seed. . . or die.”

Ranma took a step back, and glared in confusion. “What?
Are you threatening me?”

“No, your wound will kill you if you do not accept.”
Ranma started, but Tsunami cut him off, “I can’t heal your wound
as I am right now, Ranma, only this seed can.”

“You said you’d heal me!” Ranma screamed, balling his
fists. “You lied to me!”

“No, I didn’t lie! I just don’t have the power! I can’t! And
if you don’t take this seed, your wound will kill you! You HAVE
to take it, don’t you see?” Tsunami cried, suddenly looking very
distraught. She had hoped that Ranma would have accepted the
seed without qualm, but she was unlucky, and now Ranma clearly
distrusted her. This wasn’t how she had wanted their relationship
to start.

“That would be the catch then wouldn’t it. . . I either
accept and become your body guard, or die.” Ranma sighed,
suddenly drained of energy. “I’ll take the seed. . . but don’t expect. . .
this. . .” he gestured between the two of them, “to be so pleasant. I
don’t like bein’ used.”

“Don’t take any unpleasantness you have with me out on
Sasami. She knows nothing about this,” Tsunami pleaded.

“Just gimme the seed,” Ranma said, reaching out to take
the seed, which was dropped into the palm of his right hand.
“How does this work?”

“It’s already started,” Tsunami whispered.

Ranma looked down at his hand, watching in horror as the
seed slowly sunk into his palm, underneath his skin. “Wait!” he
reached fast for the seed, but it had already disappeared beneath his
flesh. He looked up at Tsunami, suddenly scared

“The seed will grow inside you, spread its roots like a tree,
and while the roots grow, so will the power I spoke of,” Tsunami
explained softly, almost afraid that Ranma might turn on her.

Ranma’s arm seized, and his right hand clenched into a
fist. “It hurts. . ,” he mumbled, every muscle in his arm straining,
the veins bulging. “Why. . .?” He fell to his knees, and cradled his
arm against his chest. Looking around, he noticed Tsunami had left
him alone with the pain.

“Why does it hurt. . .!” he screamed, and dropped his
head to the ground to better cradle his arm. Drool dripped from
the corner of his mouth, but he ignored it, all his attention diverted
to the stabbing pain. He looked over his arm, and watched as his
bulging veins glowed green momentarily. Eyes wide, breath caught
in his throat, Ranma Saotome passed out, never to be the fully
human again.

---------

Ranma-chan awoke with a start, lurching forward, and
immediately grabbed her right arm. There was no pain, anywhere,
not in her arm, or her side. She slowly lifted her shirt and looked at
her side. There was no blood, no wound, just perfect skin, as if it
had never been touched.

Tentatively, she touched the spot, wincing even though it
didn’t hurt. She breathed deeply, enjoying the first inhale and
exhale that didn’t burn in over a week. Standing up, Ranma-chan
stretched, popping the bones in her arms, knees and back. She
flexed her muscles.

“Wow, I feel twice as strong!” she exclaimed and
continued to flex her muscles. “This is great! Wow! Wow! Wow!”
She was grinning like an idiot and she knew it, but really didn’t
care.

‘I bet I could take down Ryouga with one arm tied behind
my back,’ she thought. ‘Maybe I should give Tsunami a break. . .
this is way better than I expected. . .’

“Ran-Ranma. . .?” Nabiki asked, rubbing the sleep from
her eyes before looking Ranma-chan up and down thoroughly.
She was on her feet in an instant and reaching out to touch the
other girl, to make sure what she was seeing was real. “Are you-
are you alright?”

Ranma-chan grinned broadly. “I’m great! Better than I’ve
ever been!”

“What about your side?” Nabiki asked anxiously.

To prove she was feeling great, Ranma-chan punched
herself where her wound had just been, and felt absolutely nothing.
She back flipped and punched the air around her rapidly. “Never
felt better. I bet I could take on Cologne and Happosai at the
same time.”

“Then she came. . . she really came. . . and she healed
you. . .” To say Nabiki was dumb-struck would be an
understatement

“Yeah, Tsunami came,” Ranma-chan replied, looking
intently at her right hand.

“How did it happen? How’d she heal you?” Nabiki asked
eagerly. This was big, bigger than anything she’d seen before. She
had seen a lot of things living with Ranma for the past year, but a
Goddess actually existing and healing her friend from near death
was something else.

“She came to me in my dreams, and gave me a seed."

"A seed?"

"It's inside me now. It healed my side."

Nabiki stopped and stared at the redhead. She knew
Ranma was hiding something from her, and she was going to find
out what. Something akin to realization dawned on Nabiki’s face.
“There’s some sort of catch, isn’t there. . .?”

Ranma-chan looked at Nabiki then at the ground. “Catch
is we can’t leave. We gotta stay here.”

“Why? I don’t get it.”

“It’s better that you don’t get it. It’s not bad though, right?
We’ll be staying with the Masaki’s, at their house. . . I think. And we
can keep looking for Musou and Takenda while we're here.”

Ranma-chan shook her head. She couldn't tell Nabiki about
Sasami and Tsunami sharing the same body. That was something the
blue-haired girl had the right to tell whoever she wanted. Wasn't
Ranma's right. “Lets go get something to eat! I’m starved!” she
exclaimed.

“A miracle occurs and you’re more concerned about
eating,” Nabiki said with a sigh. ‘And what if Musou and
Takenda decide to leave Okayama, Ranma? Then what
would we do? Are you giving up on getting them already?’

---------

Ranma-chan and Nabiki entered the Masaki house just as
Sasami was finishing making breakfast. One large whiff, and
Ranma-chan was off, taking a seat at the table. “Food!” she
cheered, her stomach growling angrily.

Nabiki grinned and sat down next to her friend moments
before Sasami entered, carrying two trays of food. The blue-
haired girl started at the sight of them sitting in the house. She
stood in silence, waiting for one of them to speak, unsure of what
to say.

Ranma-chan grinned happily. “All better!” she crowed,
flexing her left arm to show that her side no longer hurt. “That
Tsunami’s a miracle worker, let me tell you!” She clapped her
hands together, looking at the food. “What’s for breakfast?”

Sasami smiled and laughed. “I was going to bring this
down to the tree for you two, but now I don’t have to anymore!”
She placed the trays down in front of the two.

---------

Later that night, up on the roof, in the brisk August air,
Ranma-chan sat. She stared at the stars, losing herself in the
endless sky, and her thoughts.

In all her life, Ranma-chan had never felt so great
physically, yet so terrible mentally. It was usually the other way
around. Tsunami had definitely followed through with her end of
the deal. Ranma-chan could easily tell that she was two times, maybe
even three times stronger than Ryouga and at least two times faster
than before. Her overall stamina had increased as well. She couldn’t
wait to get into a fight and find out just howmuch better she was.

But still, her mind, fill with the recent horrific memories,
pained her worse than any wound she had ever had before. How
was she supposed to feel now?

She had been given a second chance at life, a stronger,
more powerful body. She was free of all her engagements, and
problems her dad had made for her, for now, but at what cost?

The loss of her family. The loss of Akane. Why, of all the
people, did she deserve this while the others didn’t? Why did she
continue living while the others died? It was an unfair balance,
especially since it was her fault they were dead.

The tears started to fall again. “Akane. . . I’m sorry. . . I’m
so sorry. . . I don’t deserve this. . . You deserve to be alive more
than I do. It’s not. . . not fair!" She pounded her fist into the roof,
cracking a shingle.

"Damnit, I'm sorry!" she shouted up at the sky in frustration,
only to receive no reply except the silence of her own loneliness. She
buried her head in her hands.

More tears followed.

---------

Next Time: Chapter 5 - New Students
Ranma-chan and Nabiki are enrolled into Sasami's school. The
search for Musou and Takenda continues.

A/N: Hopefully this chapter cleared up some questions people had.
I'm already done with Chapter 5. Ranma is NOT stuck as Ranma-chan,
and he will be a guy at times in this fic, he's just hiding as a girl
for the time being.

For those of you who have stated that things aren't going to be easy for
Ranma: Yes, they are NOT going to be easy. Ranma maybe stronger now,
but his opponents in this story aren't going to be push overs. He's
not going to beating them so handily, and Ranma's past will come back to
bite him, as well as his lies and other things. As much as Ranma thinks
he's in the clear, he isn't. I know this story has had a rough start,
kinda slow too, but this has all been setup. I'm just starting to get
to the action of the story.

Also, yes, Ranma is crying. Live with it, it's his fault that his
fiancee, her family, and his dad are dead and he has to live with that
on his shoulders.

Finally, the seed implantation idea came from the story: The Girl Who
Wasn't and the Princess Who Was. I suggest everyone try and read it,
it's a great Ranma/Tenchi crossover. Unfortunately, this story seems to
have disappeared from the net. I hope you guys can find it.