Warning: This chapter is mostly setup for the next. I'm sorry to say it may not be all that exciting, but it is needed.

Congratulations to Aoirann and TJG, who guessed the wielder of the super hammer of idiot bashing(TM.)

Chapter 2, that once went... right?

The denizens of Nerima had seen, even before the coming of the redhead and her panda, quite a few odd things over their lifetimes. In fact, most of those who were around now had seen Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome’s antics under their old, perverted master. As a result, it was no surprise to them when they saw an irritated looking young woman dragging a man in a set of red Chinese style clothes down the street. Basically, all they wondered was whether he deserved the beating he’d quite obviously taken or not.

A few minutes of annoyed grunting later, the young woman made her way to a street that bordered the canal that ran through the middle of the district, and lifted the unconscious boy, pitching him over the fence. About three seconds later, she smirked in satisfaction as she heard several loud splashes. “Hey, what’d ya do that for?!” An Indignant voice called, and a red haired girl in the same clothes as the boy came rocketing over the fence, her clothes dripping. “Great, and I just got these yesterday.” She muttered, tugging at the red shirt.

“Your clothes are the last thing you should be worried about, Saotome!” The girl said, still looking irritated. It was at about that time that the redhead noticed her, looking at her out of the corner of her eye.

The other looked younger than she did, but only by a couple of years, with long black hair that flowed down her back, and a set of odd looking markings on her face. “Okay, what’d me or my ol’ man do ta get me smacked in the back ‘o the head with a mallet?” The pigtailed martial artist grumbled, irritably.

“What did you do?” The dark haired girl asked, disbelieving. “You know perfectly well what you’ve done, and it’s going to cause me weeks of paperwork!”

The one who called herself Saffron blinked. “Huh?” She asked.

“I mean how you’re going around, changing the future!” The other girl yelled, and then blushed as she noticed that several nearby people had turned their heads to look. “Look, this place is too public, we’re going to a restaurant to talk.” Not noticing that the residents of Nerima had just shrugged and gone on with their lives after hearing something about possible time travel, the girl grabbed Saffron by the hand and started pulling.

“Yeash.” The redhead muttered, hopefully too quietly for the other to hear. “First she hits me with a mallet, now we’re goin ta get lunch?”

HR.

Ten minutes later, the two were sitting at a table outside of the small ice cream shop in the middle of Nerima, and the black haired girl was scowling at Saffron, yet again. “That was disgusting, you know that?” She grumbled.

“What? Ya insisted I buy ya some ice cream, and I’m low on money.” The martial artist justified, looking back into the restaurant and waving at the stupidly grinning counter boy. “Besides, it ain’t like he minds bein flirted with, and he knows it ain’t gunna go any further.”

The black haired girl glared some more, before being distracted by the chocolate sundae before her and starting to dig in. Across from her, Saffron crossed her arms, impatiently waiting for the other to come up for air. About a minute later, she was still waiting, and starting to wonder if this girl knew the Anything Goes Eating Technique, since she hadn’t come up for air. Losing patience, she spoke up. “So, ya gunna tell me why I bought you food, and who the hell ya are?”

The girl looked up, ice cream dripping from her chin, and then blushed. Quickly wiping the dessert off, she cleared her throat. ”I am Skuld, Goddess of the future, and do you know the impact you’ve made on this timeline?” She asked, indignantly.

Saffron shrugged, not really terribly surprised that she was talking to a goddess, and answered the girl’s question. “Not really, no.” She admitted, honestly. “I got my younger self, I assume ya know who I am, home ta see his mom, ‘n I’m planning to warn pops of some of his mistakes when he shows up. Other than that…” She stopped for a moment, and her eyes widened. “Hey, my interference with the Tendos, it… it didn’t make things worse, did it?”

Skuld blinked. “The Tendos?” She asked, then remembered where she’d found the errant time traveler. Suddenly, she held her hands out in mid-air, and a keypad and screen materialized in front of her, several lines of text scrolling by, both far too rapidly for Saffron to read and in a completely different language. For a moment, she allowed herself to smile. “Actually, you did something right. At least for the moment, the Tendo family is better off than when you came.”

Saffron sighed in relief, and was about to ask what had happened, when she frowned. “Okay, so then what’d I do ta get hit in the head with a mallet?”

Skuld’s eyebrows twitched, and she was about to start another irritated yelling fit, when she caught herself. For a moment, the furious face of her older sister burst into her mind, and she shuddered, shaking that image off. “Look, I’m sorry about that.” She finally said. “I’m just not having a good month.” Rubbing her forehead, she continued. “You really have no idea what you’ve done, do you?”

At Saffron’s blank look, the goddess of the future sighed. “Basically, what happened is that you destabilized a chain of events that, in the end, would have done a lot of good. In stopping Ranma Saotome from going on his training trip, several people’s lives have been affected.”

Saffron blinked. “Huh? I never stopped him from goin.” She objected. “Once the ol’ man skulks back ‘round and picks him up, he’ll continue like it was never interrupted.”

Skuld winced, not quite wanting to deal with that bombshell at the moment. “Genma isn’t going to come and get him.” She explained, flatly. Seeing Saffron’s mouth opening to start throwing questions at her, she continued. “For one, you’ve stuck the boy in a place where Genma’s terrified to go anywhere near. Also, something happened during the Neko-Ken training…” She trailed off, then shook her head. “He won’t be back for a good long time, and especially not at Nodoka Saotome’s house.”

“Okay, fine.” Saffron said, trying not to think about what implications that last statement had about her father’s state of health. “So, the kid gets raised by Mom, and ends up bein something close to normal. I don’t see any problems.”

Skuld grimaced, and wondered if it would really be all that bad to hit this idiot over the head with her mallet. “Ranma, like I said, you have an impact on many people.” She started, slowly. “For example, take the Tendos. Without you there, at least one of them would likely be married to Picolet Chardin, and Akane would have been killed by the Orochi when she tried to rescue Shinosuke. You do know that ALL of their problems weren’t of your doing, correct?”

The pigtailed martial artist went pale, having not really thought about that. “But, I thought you said the Tendos’d be better off now?” She asked, confused.

“For the most part, they will. That doesn’t mean there won’t be disasters in future.” Skuld explained. “And the Tendos aren’t all of it, but I’m not really allowed to tell you the other results.”

Saffron frowned, then closed her eyes in thought for a moment. “So, um, it’s that pebble and landslide thing?” She asked. At Skuld’s uncomprehending look, she continued. “Y’know, where a small rock being knocked loose can cause half a mountain to come down, ‘n the training trip was the rock.”

“Yes, that actually works well.” Skuld explained, then looked at the redhead oddly. “But, how did you come up with something like that?”

Saffron scratched the back of her neck uncomfortably. “Nabiki mentioned it once, after I’d asked why the hell this sorta thing always happened ta me. But, if that’s the case, then I guess I’ve screwed it up pretty bad, huh?”

Skuld nodded. “Yes, now things will never quite go the way they did.” She replied, “But there is a way to mitigate the damage to the future.”

“Hmm?” Saffron asked, blinking at the other in surprise.

“It’s simple, actually.” Skuld said. “For example, in order to fulfill the conditions for saving Akane from the Orochi, Ranma Saotome has to be at a certain skill level, and have at least some relationship with Akane Tendo.”

Saffron looked horrified, as she realized where the black haired girl was going. “Ya don’t mean ya want me to train him.” She muttered.

Skuld nodded.

“But, I can’t put him through half the stuff I got put through as a kid!” Saffron objected, hotly. “I mean, a lot ‘o it’s illegal, and, I just couldn’t do it to a kid, especially not to myself.”

“Yes,” Skuld said. “But quite frankly, at the moment, the world as a whole is slightly worse off than it would have been if you’d gone on the trip, and Akane Tendo isn’t the only person who will die.” She knew that she was playing dirty, but the Yggdrasil had reported that there were VERY few Sensei capable of getting Ranma trained in time while following Genma’s schedule well enough, and some of the results were…

For a moment, a view of what would happen if Ranma didn’t become rivals with that Hibiki boy, his rage and depression unfocussed and dangerous to all around him, flashed through her mind and she felt as if she was going to throw up her lunch. Seeing that Saffron was still looking stubborn, she sighed. “I can’t help you enough to stop this without replicating the original timeline to some degree,” She explained, “But I can tell you exactly what has to be done. Not all of Genma’s idiocies have to be repeated.”

“…Yeah.” Saffron muttered, looking down. “I guess, since I caused this, I’m sorta honor bound ta fix it, huh?” Then, softly, she mumbled “I was only tryin ta make things work out better.”

Skuld sighed, now truly regretting having clubbed this person in the head earlier, especially since she’d recently done some things that she really wanted to take back, and reached out to take her hand. “I’m sorry I have to ask this of you, but heaven isn’t allowed to interfere more directly than this, for fear of giving hell the same amount of leeway.”

“Yeah, figured as much.” Saffron said. “Ya got that list on ya? I’ll wanna see it before I really decide.”

Skuld nodded, raising her hands and typing in mid-air again, before a small sheet of paper materialized. Handing it over, she got up. “I shouldn’t have to contact you again any time soon.” She said. “If you decline this responsibility, I… won’t think less of you.”

Saffron nodded, studying the paper that now rested on the table in front of her, and started to chuckle. “Well, I guess even if the Kami don’t hate me, irony’s a bitch.” She muttered, picking it up and slipping it into her wallet.

HR.

About two and a half hours later, Saffron sat under a bridge. He’d spent quite a bit of time under this bridge in the past, usually to hide from everyone while he tried to work something out. Now, there was no one to hide from, but definitely something to work out. Sighing, he looked down at the crumpled list in his hands. A lot of what was written there he’d rather not do, especially since it had caused a lot of the trouble in his life, but there were other things that weren’t mentioned at all.

It was still possible to give the kid a better childhood than he’d had, especially since he knew which of Genma’s techniques had worked, which had eventually gotten refined, and which were just plain useless. Standing up, he looked at the sky and had to laugh. It could only be in his life that something this stupid could happen. Clenching the hand with the note in it, he frowned down at the water of the canal, and then jumped to its edge, headed for Nodoka Saotome’s home.

It only took him about five minutes to make the trip, and each time he did so it amazed him that he’d been living so close to her the entire time he’d been in Nerima, and had forgotten where she lived. Landing casually on the walk in front of the door, he raised his hand and knocked. There were several moments of silent activity from inside, before Nodoka opened the door, smiling. “Oh, Saffron-san.” She greeted, surprised.

“Can I come in?” He asked, nervously. Nodoka didn’t object, simply bowing, and the young martial artist stepped into the house, shucking off his shoes for a pair of house slippers, and walking into the living room. As he entered, he saw Ranma sitting at the low table, fidgeting with his chopsticks and staring hungrily at a plate of food.

Saffron noticed, with a slight snicker, that the boy had already stolen some small bits of the meal, ensuring that his mother wouldn’t notice. “Saffron-san, I’m afraid I don’t have anything prepared for you, but you may have some of my meal.” Nodoka offered, causing the larger boy to jump and the smaller one to look up at him curiously.

“You’re back?” Ranma asked, excitedly. “Did you come to show me those techniques of yours again?”

Saffron shook his head, but had to smirk at Ranma’s one track mind, and distantly wondered if he acted like that when he had a new move to learn. “Actually, I’m here ta talk to yer mom first.” He answered turning and noting that Nodoka had raised an eyebrow.

Nodoka nodded. “Shall I make some tea for the discussion?” She asked, but Saffron shook his head.

“Actually, I gotta talk to ya without Ranma round.” The older martial artist said, awkwardly. Nodoka seemed to frown at this, but then nodded, and gestured for Saffron to follow her as she headed for the stairs.

Seeing her son’s downcast expression, the woman continued, “Ranma, why don’t you start your lunch? I will join you soon.”

Ranma nodded, digging into the food eagerly, and the two adults left the room.

HR.

Once Nodoka and Saffron reached the top of the stairs, the older woman lead the way into the master bedroom, closing the door slowly, and turning an angry glare on the man that caused him to step back about a foot. “What has been done to my son?” She asked, in a low and dangerous voice.

“Wh… what do you mean?” Saffron asked, stepping back slightly in shock.

Nodoka noted the man’s obvious confusion, but didn’t lessen her glare as she paced over to the bed, and sat down on it heavily. “When Ranma entered the house, our cat was laying on the couch.” She carefully noted as the martial artist flinched, looking around warily, before continuing. “Ranma was afraid of the animal, and refused to come in until I put him out in the back yard. When I asked him how this had happened, he only said ‘Neko-ken,’ and shuddered when I asked for further explanation.”

Saffron sighed, rubbing his forehead. He hadn’t expected this to happen when he’d dropped Ranma off, but then again, he hadn’t remembered that his family had once had a cat. “It’s hard to explain, Saotome-san.” He started, but at a sharp glare from Nodoka, he continued. “The Neko-ken is a technique where you take your prospective student, wrap him in fish products, and drop him into a pit full of starved cats. This is done until the trainee is killed, or learns the Neko-ken, an unbeatable berserker technique that gives the trainee the strength and abilities of a cat.” By this point, the pigtailed martial artist’s eyes were distant, and he was speaking in a flat monotone to avoid showing any emotion.

Nodoka seemed to notice this, and narrowed her eyes. “Did you do this to my son?” She asked, evenly.

This seemed to snap Saffron out of his trance state, and he fliched violently. “Look, I’d never put anyone through that damned technique!” He snapped, being far harsher than he intended. “It screws ya up for the rest of your life, and the nightmares you get from it ain’t exactly pretty.”

Nodoka nodded, seeing the sincerity in Saffron’s eyes, then her own widened. “You were trained in it?"

“Yeah.” The boy admitted, then shook his head. “Look, that ain’t why I need ta talk to you, actually.”

“You tell me that my son’s been put through a technique like that, and then you say that there’s something more important to talk about?” Nodoka asked, unbelieving.

“Not really more important, but the Neko-ken’s been done, ‘n aside from letin his wounds heal, there’s not much else that can be done about it.” Saffron returned, brutally honestly. Steeling himself, he rode out the indignant look that Nodoka gave him, having to remind himself constantly that she wasn’t really his mother, but a sort of copy, or alternate version, just like the boy enjoying his lunch downstairs wasn’t actually him.

“Why I’m here is ‘cuz I found out that Genma’s not likely ta be back any time soon, and I made a promise ta train Ranma in his father’s absence.” The martial artist pushed on, and then braced for the explosion.

“You what?!” Nodoka asked, the volume of her shout causing Saffron to wince, and making him note that he was right about the explosion. “First my baby somehow gets trained in this… Neko-ken technique, and now you want me to allow you to take him away for more dangerous training like it?”

At this particular moment, Saffron was very grateful that Nodoka didn’t carry her Katana everywhere, as he was sure she would be waving it at him if she did. “Nothing quite as stupid as that, Saotome-san.” He said, trying to be as respectful as he could, now that he’d pissed her off. “I promised to make the boy the best practitioner of Genma’s style that I could if he ever got incapacitated.” Saffron was only half-lying here, so he hoped the older woman wouldn’t notice his nervousness. “The only thing that could make me give up on this is if the boy told me, straight out, that he didn’t want to do it, and yeah, that means you forbidding it ain’t gunna stop me.”

“…what?” Nodoka asked, her face darkening with rage.

Saffron shrugged. “That’s why I warned ya before asking him. If ya tell Ranma you don’t want him goin, he probably won’t go.” Saffron said, bluntly. “But his training is very important for the honor and future of Genma’s school, and mine.”

“I… see.” Nodoka said, the word honor seeming to bring her back to a calmer state. “…if I don’t forbid him from going, how do you think Ranma would react?” She asked, timidly.

“He’d agree.” Saffron said, confidently. “Anything Goes is already an important part of his life, and he’ll wanna learn it.”

Nodoka nodded, then raised her head to meet Saffron’s eyes directly. “I will allow Ranma to leave with you if he wishes,” She started, but before Saffron could sigh in relief, she continued. “In exchange, you will give me your word of honor that you’ll take care of him, and you will keep in contact with me.”

Saffron blinked at the woman, surprised. “That’s… it?” He asked, confused.

Nodoka shook her head. “I am unsure why, but I trust your word.” She said, then narrowed her eyes. “Do not disappoint that trust.”

Saffron bowed to the woman, and looking up, said “I swear on my art… and my life.” As the woman who was an almost exact duplicate of his mother looked into his eyes, the pigtailed martial artist realized that she took that vow very seriously, but he truthfully wouldn’t want it any other way.

“You should probably go down stairs and talk to Ranma.” Nodoka said, her voice quavering slightly.

“Um, yeah…” Saffron said, looking away. Abruptly, he turned back to her. “Um, y’know, Ranma’s injuries’ll take a while to heal, and I’ve got some preparations to make.”

“Hmm?” Nodoka asked, confused.

“Well, it’d be better if he stayed in a warm, dry house than a tent.” Saffron clarified.

“Yes, I suppose it would be best.” She replied, smiling happily.

END.

Well, hope you don't mind the fillerishness. Still, some odd questions. Is Nodoka figuring things out? And precisely what's up with Skuld?

R&R!