AN: Finally got around to making this longer. I bet you thought I forgot about it.

As soon as Kho Lon and Xian Pu reached the Tendo dojo, they called for everyone present to gather in the living room. Nodoka arrived immediately after them and sat next to her husband. As soon as everyone was seated, Kho Lon launched into her bad news. “Ranma has disappeared,” she said.

“So, what else is new?” said Nabiki. “He wanders off for training all the time. Plus, Akane's always hitting him into the next ward.”

“He deserves it for being such a pervert!!” yelled the mallet-happy girl. “He’s probably with one of his hussies again!”

“WAAHH!! Now the schools will never be joined!” cried fountain-san (Soun).

“So that dishonourable boy has run out on his responsibilities,” said Genma. “Oh why was I cursed with such a worthless son?”

“But, husband,” said Nodoka, “I think it’s quite manly of our son to take his training so seriously.” No one noticed the humour in her eyes.

“Ara,” said Kasumi, “I hope he comes home in time for dinner.”

“I fear this is more than just a training trip,” Kho Lon continued. “I believe that Ranma has left this world.”

“Come again?” said Nabiki.

“I cannot sense his life force anywhere. Normally, that would mean he was dead…”

“WHAT!?!” yelled the room at large with an “Ara” from you-know-who.

“Calm down. I said that would normally be the case. However, in this case, not even the trace energies you would sense from a dead body are present.”

“Any idea where he went?” asked the ever pragmatic Nabiki.

“None. And my only clue is a charred tree on the school grounds. That was where his ki signature disappeared. It’s covered in chaos magic, which means he either cast a spell that backfired…”

“Possible, considering how desperate he is to get rid of the curse,” Nabiki interjected.

“Or someone cast a spell on him to get rid of him.”

“Also possible, considering how many enemies he has.”

Then Xian Pu, who had been silently listening to her elder, spoke up. “Hibachan,” she said, “Xian Pu see whole thing when try to get to Airen. It not spell.”

“What do you mean, child? There was chaos magic all over that tree.”

“No one there to cast spell. Xian Pu look after Airen vanish. And Airen no have time to do own spell.”

“Well,” said Nabiki, “What happened?”

“Kitchen destroyer mad at Airen again and hit. Xian Pu follow Airen. Airen land in tree. Clouds form over tree and lightening strike Airen. Then Airen gone and tree burnt.”

“I see,” said Kho Lon. “It is possible that someone at the other end of Mukudo’s journey cast a spell wrong. With his luck, I wouldn’t rule it out.”

“Well, good riddance,” said Akane. “He was nothing but a stupid pervert anyway.”

“Excuse me,” said Nodoka, “but some of us will miss him.” If looks could kill, Akane would be twitching on the floor from the glare Nodoka was sending her way. As it was, she simply fumed in silence. She had forgotten Ranma’s mother was there when faced with the presence of the amazons.

Nodoka, for her part, was doing some fuming of her own. ‘I can’t believe they expected my child to marry this brat,’ she thought. She had rejected the idea of having Akane for a daughter-in-law from the very beginning. As to why she never openly objected, well… it was a mother’s prerogative to tease her child. That was why she never let on that she knew about his curse all along. After all, being who and what she was, how could she not know?

“What do we do to bring the boy back, old woman?” Genma asked.

“The only thing we can do is try to trace the magic and reverse it. Otherwise, we will have to enlist the aid of Ryoga and hope for the best.”

“Ryoga?” asked Nabiki. “What can he do to help?”

“Haven’t you ever wondered how that boy can get so lost so quickly?” The whole group nodded. “I believe the boy has the ability to travel through time and space.”

‘Being a minor mazoku might have something to do with that,’ thought Nodoka. ‘Pity he’s too young to figure it out.’

“If so,” Kho Lon continued, “he can find Ranma, wherever he is, and bring him back… eventually.”

“Ara,” said Kasumi, “it must be fun to be able to travel so easily.” Cue the group sweat-drop.

“O-okay,” said Nabiki into the silence, “I think our best bet is to ask Ryoga to find him. Chances are a spell would backfire like they always do when it comes to Ranma.”

‘Oh, drat,’ thought L-sama (Nodoka), ‘why couldn’t they go with the spell? It would have been so much fun.’

“True, child,” said Kho Lon. “But how do we find the boy?”

“Oh, he usually shows up about once a week to play with Ranma,” said Kasumi (insert group sweat-drop here).

‘Sure,’ thought Nabiki, ‘if you consider trying to kill somebody “playing”.’ “He also drops by to visit somebody he has a crush on,” she said aloud, staring straight at an oblivious Akane.

“Really?” asked the girl in question. “Who?” This, of course, caused a group face-fault.

“So,” said Kho Lon after she recovered, “all we need to do is wait for him to show up, then ask him for assistance.”

“We’ll have to offer him something though,” Nabiki said. “Let’s not forget, Ryoga’s one of the people who’d be happy Ranma’s gone.”

The two fools had only listened up to the part when there was a possible solution. “Hear that, Saotome-kun?” said Soun.

“Sure did, Tendo-kun,” Genma replied. Until now, he had been contemplating the loss of his meal ticket.

Together they cried, “The boy will return!! The schools will be joined!!”

‘So, they think they’ve found a loop-hole, do they,’ thought Nodoka. ‘Never in a million years will I allow them to get their grubby hands on my baby again. The Hibiki boy will provide some entertainment though.’ She nodded at the group, stood up to say her good-byes and (false) thank-yous, and left. ‘It is time I went back home,’ she thought. ‘Twenty years is more than enough of a vacation.’

The Slayers Gang had been travelling with Ranma in tow for a solid week. So far, they had begun to notice a steady rise in random weirdness and attacks form minor mazoku. Normally, they would assume that Lina had pissed off some Dark Lord or other or that she posed a threat to somebody. That assumption was binned when they realised that most of their new problems were aimed at Ranma. The golems weren’t much of a problem. After all, he did pick up the Bakusai Tenketsu after a while. The trolls were a pain in the ass though.

His magic training started immediately… well, after a bit of protest on his part. But, in the end, he figured that it couldn’t be much different from using chi… and it wasn’t. The rest of the group was stunned when he made a fireball without an incantation, and downright peeved when he learned how to make a decent flare arrow after three tries. By the time they got through a large number of the minor spells, they began to dismiss it as raw talent. After all, if Lina can learn the Ragna Blade after one (incomplete) read, why can’t someone learn magic’s baby steps with as little effort?

At the moment, they were approaching their first stop in their quest to send Ranma home. “Here we are,” said Lina, “the city of Danjodokenron. This place supposedly has hundreds of powerful scrolls in its libraries. The only problem is…” she slyly eyed the males in the group, “like Femile, no boys allowed,” she finished with a grin. “Well, not in the temples and libraries, anyway.”

“Well,” said Ranma, “since I can’t read yer language, I’ll just wait here.”

Goury, with a resigned look on his face, turned to Ranma and said, “You won’t get out of it that easy, Ranma. Hell, she’s gonna dress me, Zelgadis and Xellos up and we can’t even turn into girls.”

“Ye’re kiddin,” Ranma replied only to turn and see Amelia and Lina holding a bucket of cold water and a bunch of frilly dresses. Where they got them from is anyone’s guess. A quick change later and we see Ranma-chan wearing the absolutely cutest, girliest dress imaginable with her hair done in two ponytails and full makeup, Goury in another frilly concoction with a hair ribbon, Zelgadis tarted up like the last time and an unsurprisingly unbothered Xellos in an elegant number.

“Now look,” said Ranma to the two girls with the ‘that’s so cute’ puppy-eyed expression on their faces, one hand clenched into a fist while a vein popped out on his forehead, “I already said I can’t read the stupid scrolls. So… WHY THE HELL DO I HAFTA WEAR THIS GET-UP!!”

“Please, calm down, Ranma-san,” said Amelia.

“Think about it, Ranma,” said Lina. What would you do if you got splashed with cold water in the middle of a crowd? This way, you’re already a girl.”

Another vein joined the first one on Ranma’s brow. When next spoke tensely, words measured evenly… through gritted teeth, “It’d be even worse if I got splashed with hot water, as I probably will, WEARIN A DRESS!!!”

Lina and Amelia blink-blinked at that. Then Lina, finger to her chin in thought, remarked, “Huh, didn’t think about that.” Ranma hits the ground face-first. And so, after that bit of nonsense was over, they formulated a plan in which Ranma, in girl form yet comfortably dressed, would ask for info on specific types of spells and report what he’d learned to the rest of the group, while the rest would search through the libraries and temples, the men suitably disguised. Their search turned up many scrolls on the subject and they handed them all to Xellos to study. Being the monster of the group, he was the one most likely to know if what they found would be useful.

He searched through the pile, putting every one he’d read to the side without saying anything. Finally, he came to the end. “Well, Ranma,” he said, “it seems the only way to send you home is…” dramatic pause, “non-existent,” group face-fault.

“Aw, man,” Ranma whined. “That’s not fair! Why can’t I go back?”

“Because I will not allow it,” replied a familiar, yet unexpected, voice.

Ranma whirled around to see… “Mom?!”

“Hello, my child.”