(C&C welcome. Not to mention needed)

THE PROTECTOR
By Angela Jewell

An Alternate Reality Fanfic:
Same beloved characters, but whole new twists...

Standard Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the property and creation of Rumiko Takahashi—there are lots of other names that are supposed to go here as well, but sadly, they all escape me. And more importantly, none of them are mine.

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Chapter 2
Battle in the Tendo Dojo!
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Soun Tendo slowly, reluctantly, opened his eyes—only to be rewarded with a splitting headache for his trouble. He knew instinctively that his headache was not merely a result of the small bump on his head he had received from when he had collapsed—although he wished it were...

No. The reason was *much* more horrifying than that.

Ranma Saotome was here.

Ranma—the man who was in charge of his youngest daughter's safety—the man he had found cowering on his roof in fear of a small *kitten*.

Soun closed his eyes tightly, willing himself to wake up. He couldn't claim to be an expert on matters of dream analysis or superstition—although he did know a thing or two about omens—but he was certain that this all had to be a terrible, terrible nightmare.

Lying stock-still for several minutes, Soun continued to block out every sound, noise, and thought that entered his mind. He tried to concentrate on nothing: to keep his mind absolutely clear—willing the evilness away.

After several minutes had passed, he reluctantly opened one eye, the other clenched tightly shut, unready and unwilling, to discovering what he already knew to be true.

What he saw was the same old ceiling he had been staring at only moments before.

"It wasn't a dream," he whimpered to himself. And if it's not a dream, it could only mean one thing...

Oh Akane, he thought to himself sullenly, the tears quickly returning to his eyes. My little baby girl is doomed.

The sound of arguing cut through his regret and self-pity, reminding him of the situation at hand. Soun Tendo sat up in his makeshift bed and craned his neck around, looking ashamedly at his daughters and his new guest. No matter what the circumstances, it wasn't right for the head of the Tendo family clan to pass out when there was such pressing business to attend to. After all, his daughters' safety always came first.

"Oh, father, you're finally awake!" Kasumi exclaimed happily, emerging from the open door that led to the kitchen.

"Yes, well..." Soun coughed uncomfortably. Perhaps he *had* overreacted just a little…

"So good of you to join us, daddy," Nabiki replied dryly. "We were really starting to worry there for a minute."

Soun slowly got to his feet and walked towards the open door, glancing hesitantly at Ranma who was sitting across from Akane, looking dejected and embarrassed.

"So," Soun began slowly, masking his uncertainty behind a forced smile, "you're the Ranma Saotome that was sent to us from the agency..."

Ranma hung his head in shame. "Yup. That's me," he replied sullenly.

Soun nodded his head and then asked in a condescending voice, "Would you like to tell me what you were doing on my roof?"

Ranma gulped nervously, his head lowered. "Um... it's kind of a long story," he began in embarrassment.

Nabiki crossed her arms and smiled. "Lucky us," she said. "We just happen to have a lot of time on our hands."

Ranma sighed in defeat as he began to explain all about Cat-Fu, the pit full of hungry cats, and consequently his ailurophobia. When he was done he was surprised to see the warring expressions on the Tendo's faces. Kasumi, the eldest sister, had a sympathetic look, which was accentuated by a slight frown on her normally happy and smiling visage. Nabiki looked cool and calm, her expression unreadable, while Soun looked drawn and annoyed.

Akane looked at him in astonishment. "You mean... your own *father* did that?" She shook her head in disbelief. "I refuse to believe someone could be that terrible."

Ranma laughed bitterly. "You didn't know my father, Akane."

Soun cleared his throat as he put his hand on Ranma's shoulder comfortingly. "What horrible experiences you've been forced to endure," he sniffled. "But don't you worry, son. We're here for you now."

Kasumi nodded her head sympathetically.

"Uh, yeah..." Ranma said slowly, his hand slipping unconsciously behind his head. He hadn't been called 'son' in a while; ever since his father sold him to the agency.

Akane's eyes widened slightly, her mouth open in surprise. "Wait a minute," she said, standing up, her eyes narrowed. "How did you know my name? We haven't even introduced ourselves yet!"

"Akane, really," Nabiki drawled as she placed her hand on her hip. "Do you really think his agency would have let him come here without knowing just "who" he's protecting? I'm sure they gave them all kinds of interesting information about our family. Right, Saotome?" she smiled.

"Well, I know enough," he replied guardedly.

"Yes, yes," Soun interrupted, moving next to Ranma, "I'm sure you know everything you need to. Now, to the matter at hand, how do you plan on protecting my daughter?"

Ranma flexed his hands. Now THIS was something he knew how to do. "Well, first I thought I'd start by checking out the layout of the house—including places where someone could possibly hide, and then I'd—"

Akane rolled her eyes. "This is ridiculous," she interrupted, crossing her arms stubbornly across her chest. "I don't *need* him to protect me! What's she going to do, anyway? Follow me all the way to Japan?"

Soun Tendo regarded his daughter with frustration. He could practically feel his black hair turning gray. "Daughter," he began tiredly, his hands going to his forehead in exasperation. "As the heir to the Tendo School Of Anything Goes Martial Arts, it is your *duty* to carry on our dojo, and to do that, I can't have you getting killed!"

"Father's right, Akane," Kasumi spoke up softly. "It's dangerous to underestimate her. Just because you beat her in China-"

"Whoa. Ya mean she really *did* beat an Amazon?" Ranma interrupted, his eyes wide with surprise.

"What does THAT mean?" Akane demanded.

"Nothin'," he shrugged. "I mean, I've never seen you fight, so..."

"You're right you *haven't* seen me fight!"

"Oh yeah? Well, I know you like to break bricks!" he replied defensively.

"How nice, Akane!" Kasumi said sweetly. "He knows all about your block breaking hobby!"

Akane narrowed her eyes angrily at Ranma. "Just how much about me do you know?" she demanded.

Ranma grinned. "Well, I *am* your protector, so it's only natural that I know everything about my client."

"Your *client*?" she asked incredulously.

Ranma nodded his head. "Yup. My client."

"Well then," Akane smiled sweetly. "I guess that makes me your *employer* then, doesn't it?"

Ranma's smile faltered. "Well, actually-"

"So in other words, you have to do what I say, right?" she asked, ignoring his feeble protests.

Nabiki slowly grinned. "It sure sounds like the intricate workings of a client— employer relationship to me," she added slyly.

"Hey! Now wait a minute!" Ranma began irritably. "There ain't no *way* I'm taking orders from her! Hell no!"

Akane's expression became tight and thin, and her brown eyes began to blaze as she advanced menacingly towards him. "And why exactly not?"

Ranma gulped nervously as she continued to advance angrily towards him. "Ca—cause," he said, taking a small step backwards, unsure how to handle an angry woman. "Cause, you're a… a girl."

Akane stopped abruptly, her blue battle aura swarming around her. "All right!" she yelled loudly, her fingers twitching sporadically at her side. "That's it, Ranma! We spar!"

"Uh oh." Kasumi gasped as she put a dainty hand to her mouth. Soun simply shook his head.

"Ranma," he said sadly, "you have a lot to learn about women."

*          *          *

Ranma stood before Akane in the family's dojo, relaxed and waiting as she finished tightening the belt of her white dogi. "Well, are you ready?" she asked excitedly, moving into the standard position. "I'm not going to go easy on you, you know!"

Ranma shrugged his shoulders, his expression neutral and bored. "Why do you want to fight me again?" he asked in confusion. "I mean, I know I musta said something that really made you mad an stuff …"

Akane's eyes widened, and she looked at him with a mixture of surprise and irritation. "You mean… you don't even know what you did?" she asked in disbelief. "You are SUCH a jerk!"

Ranma shrugged his shoulders. "So."

Akane's eyes twitched, and she found her fists curling reflexively at her sides. "Well are we going to fight or not?" she demanded impatiently.

Ranma put a hand behind his head sheepishly and grinned. "I don't know," he answered. "I feel kinda weird fighting you like this…"

"Why?" Akane asked in confusion, her gaze lightening as she stared at him thoughtfully. "Oh, wait! I see!" she replied, smiling shyly. "You're *afraid* to fight me, aren't you?"

Ranma's whole body stiffened, and his relaxed stance turned to one of shocked disgust. "Are you NUTS?" he yelled. "Me? Afraid of YOU? You have GOTTA be kidding!"

Akane recoiled as if she'd been slapped, her anger quickly returning. "And just what do you mean by that?" she demanded.

"I mean," Ranma answered scornfully, "that if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you're gonna get!"

"Then let's go," she replied.

Without a moment's hesitation Akane launched herself at her opponent, her hands moving in a flurry of motion, her feet keeping rhythm with her steps.

Ranma evaded her attacks easily, his body barely moving as he stepped easily around the room. Akane slowed down slightly to survey her opponent, looking for a weakness. There had to be something—some slack in his defense that she could break through. Launching another set of punches at his chest, Akane sped up her attack, her fists flying through the air. "Why aren't you fighting back?" she yelled, throwing another angry punch at his head that he once again, dodged. Akane launched a kick at his chest instead.

Ranma, not slowing down at all, smiled as he jumped effortlessly over her outstretched leg. "Cause I don't hit girls," he replied smugly, "Even uncute tomboy's like you."

"What did you just call me?" Akane asked in disbelief, her face reddening. "You better not have said what I think you just said!" she added.

Ranma laughed, his blue eyes shining. "Well, guess I'd better not repeat it then, huh?"

"That's it," Akane fumed. "Now I'm going to fight you for real!"

Ranma lifted an eyebrow. "Ya mean you haven't been?"

Akane screamed as she sent a flying spin kick at Ranma's chest, only to feel her leg meet empty air, her body straining with the effort alone. She couldn't remember a time she'd been this tired during a match before! Groaning, Akane turned around quickly to see Ranma standing patiently behind her, his breathing steady, not a hair out of place. Akane, frustrated and angry, advanced towards him, throwing an onslaught of empty punches in the air, hoping one of them would hit him. None of them did…

"Stand still!" she screamed in annoyance, her body moving faster than she remembered it being capable of. Ranma seemed to dance around the room, his feet barely moving as he leapt and dodged her attacks. Akane slowed down her barrage of punches, realizing none of them were having much effect. No matter what she did, Ranma dodged them easily: A tilt of his head, a feign to the left…

Akane found herself growing more and more frustrated as time went by. 'Is he reading my moves?' she thought desperately.

Ranma continued to move around the room effortlessly, his breathing even and controlled while Akane found herself panting with exhaustion and frustration, her body slowly tiring.

I have to end this soon, she thought. 'Alright, here goes.' With a yell Akane gathered up all of her remaining strength and ran at Ranma with all she had, determination and stubbornness pushing her on.

"This is it!" she whispered, forcing him up against the walls of the dojo. "Kyaa!"

Akane released all of her strength as she drove one last powerful punch towards Ranma's open defenses…

…only to have her hand go through the dojo's wall instead.

Akane stopped in surprise, staring at the hole her fist had made. Ranma was no longer there! Suddenly she sensed movement behind her, and turning around, tried to get out of the way as quickly as possible. Once she'd taken a step, however, she felt her legs swept out from under her, and fell to the floor, her heart pounding.

"Give up yet?" Ranma asked, staring down at her.

Akane stared in surprise at Ranma's grinning face. How had he done it? She wondered. She hadn't even been able to _touch_ him! Ranma continued grinning as he offered his hand to help her up.

"How can this be?" she wondered aloud, ignoring him as she looked down in confusion at the dojo's floor.

"Well," Ranma explained, leaning over her. "You're WAY too slow, your timings off, you're much too predictable, and you allow your anger to control your movements. I mean, sure, anger can be good in some cases, but—"

"Shut up!" Akane yelled, pushing him hand away from her. "So I need a _little_ work. Big deal! I haven't been training for 10 years either, you know!"

"Jeez," he complained. "I was just tryin' to help. No need ta bite my head off or nothin'."

Akane laughed bitterly. "Ha! *Help* he says!"

"Anyway," said Ranma, "There was something I wanted to ask you…"

Akane looked at him expectantly. "Well, What is it?"

Ranma raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"You mean to tell me that *you*," he asked, his voice dripping sarcasm, "beat an Amazon warrior?"

Akane narrowed her eyes. "Are you saying that I *couldn't*?"

Ranma smiled. "Well, unless she was blind or crippled, yes."

Akane angrily jumped up from where she'd been sitting. "Crippled, huh?" she asked through clenched teeth. "I'll show you crippled!"

"Heh," Ranma laughed. "Kinda hard when you can't even *touch* me, don't cha think?"

Akane screamed in anger as she threw a punch towards his head, which, to her irritation, he easily sidestepped once again.

"RANMA YOU JERK!"

Soun and Nabiki stood just outside the door of the dojo, watching the two with silent, observant eyes. "A formidable opponent indeed," Soun nodded approvingly, his eyes for once serious and focused.

Nabiki nodded her head in agreement, for once, impressed. "Well," she sighed, resigned. "I guess it can't hurt business to have him stay a _little_ while. After all, he IS a really good martial artist… and it doesn't hurt that he's good looking either. I'll just have to think of some way to keep the fact that he's hired help a secret."

Soun glanced over to his older daughter, his forehead creased in worry. "And how do you suppose we do that, Nabiki?" he asked, slightly curious.

Nabiki smiled slyly. "I think I have an idea or two. Just leave everything to me."

"Alright." Soun agreed, confident in his daughter's abilities. There were some things Nabiki seemed to have a knack for, which he himself was sorely lacking. Turning his gaze to his youngest daughter, Soun watched in amusement as she chased Ranma around the dojo with a wooden mallet, her hair torn free from its ribbon, once again flowing freely behind her.

"Daddy," said Nabiki. "Shouldn't we have a little talk with Ranma and Akane and lay down some ground work? If he's going to be living here for a while, he's going to have to know the rules. And I'm sure there are some things he's going to need our cooperation with."

"Yes, yes. You're exactly right Nabiki," Soun nodded. "We'll have a family meeting right away. You go inform Ranma and Akane and I'll go get Kasumi. We'll meet in the family room in an hour. That ought to give them enough time to get cleaned up after their sparring match. And it'll give me just enough time to get some food before we embark on such an important family mission!"

Rolling her eyes, Nabiki watched her dad disappear into the house, her arms crossed casually over her chest as she continued to watch her younger sister chase Ranma around the dojo. It was fairly obvious to someone not even familiar with the art that Ranma had been holding back in his earlier fight with Akane. If Shampoo _did_ find her way to Japan, Nabiki was sure it would be an interesting fight at best. Finally with a sigh, curious to hear Ranma's ideas and suggest some of her own, Nabiki walked towards the center of the dojo to deliver the latest message.

*          *          *

Ranma walked towards the Tendo's bathroom, a pile of towels carried loosely in his hands, his pack slung carelessly over his shoulder. Although he had been reluctant at first to take a bath after his spar with Akane, the idea of a nice hot soak was starting to sound tempting. Although he hadn't even broken a sweat during his fight, at the agency they had always used mixed bathing, so the very concept of privacy alone wasn't one that was generally granted to the agents employed there.

Opening up the door, Ranma slipped inside and threw his bag on the floor with the towels on top of them. Quickly undressing, he pushed aside the screen and headed into the main part of the bath. Sitting on the stool, Ranma quickly filled the bucket of cold water to the very top, and shuddering, dumped the contents over himself, shivering from the sheer coldness of the water.

He could feel the transformation flowing throughout his body as soon as the cold water touched it and shivered again as the weird sensation of changing overwhelmed him. He hated this feeling: shrinking in some parts—growing in others. His entire body seemed to prickle, like millions and millions of pins and needles stabbing him at once. And when Ranma placed the bucket back on the floor, he was smaller in stature, his hair was now red, and he was no longer male. The shock of the familiar change however was cut short as Ranma turned in surprise at the sound of a door being slid open before her.

Ranma watched in silence, her heart racing. There, in the center of the door stood Akane, naked, a small towel held before her, covering her vital areas.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ranma yelled, hiding behind the stool, temporarily forgetting she was female. What is she? Some kind of pervert? she though, a new suspicion gripping him. I bet she was hoping to come in here and see me naked!

Akane stared in surprise, looking at the stranger sitting in her bathroom with wide, confused eyes. "I'm so sorry." she stammered, embarrassed. "I didn't know someone else was in here. All I saw were the towels and I just assumed Kasumi put them there for my bath. Are you one of Kasumi or Nabiki's friends?"

Ranma continued to watch Akane safely from behind the stool, not saying anything—not sure *what* to say. Akane observed the stranger's weird behavior and slowly began to back out of the room. "Um… anyway," she laughed uncomfortably, "I didn't mean to startle you. I'm *REALLY* sorry! I'll just let you get back to your bath now." Akane turned around to leave, but before going, added over her shoulder, "And don't worry, I'll warn Ranma someone else is in here… it wouldn't do to have a guy walk in on you, now, would it?" Akane smiled brightly as she quickly shut the door.

Ranma stared in surprise at the place Akane had been standing only moments before: Too shocked to move. "Aw, man." she complained, "what am I gonna do now?"

Sighing, Ranma stood up and walked towards the changing room once again, glancing at the hot furo with longing. "Well, guess I better go out like this," she said aloud, putting on her familiar red Chinese shirt and black pants. "Here goes." Ranma grabbed her bag off the floor and left the towels lying on the ground, her wet red hair dripping. And with that, stepped out of the bathroom.

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End of Chapter 2
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