10/22/99

On the eight planet of the Milky Way, a man was walking around a little nervously.

Today was going to be a very hectic but also joyous day for Genma Saotome. Today was the day that an heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts was to be born. Yes, today was a joyous occasion indeed. Looking back at the last two days just made the father to be smile even more.

* * * * *

Inside a room, a man with the look of excitement coupled with a tingle of nervousness sat next to a woman lying upon a hospital bed with the same look mirrored upon her face as well.

"It'll be any day now, dear. Just think, soon I'll be able to pass down my knowledge of The Anything Goes School of Martial Arts to my son, Ranma," Genma said with pride, a smile spread across his face and lit the room which made Nodoka smile as well.

"You've forgot our agreement, dearest Genma, although I can't blame you in light of the possibility of an heir to your school and another member of our household. Remember though, if the child is a boy his name shall be Ranma and it will be your responsibility to train him in the arts as well as being a man among men. But if the child is a girl, then we'll going to be naming her Ranko and I can finally fulfill the promise I made to my mother. I'll be able to pass down the knowledge that was given to me by my mother as it was passed down from her mother to her," she explained.

"Of course, honey."

*Wouldn't it be nice to have another female around the house,* Nodoka thought. Although she had many friends, the joy of having a daughter and being able to teach her, see her grow up and marry created great anticipation and emotions that brought tears of joy to Nodoka. Then reality and a sense of dread hit her as she thought that there might be a chance of something going wrong and her or the baby would die. Dreaded thoughts of the many possible dark outcomes started to surface from her imagination but a light kick from her swollen belly stopped it. Placing a hand to the source of the kick, Nodoka smiled. *Thank you for reassuring me, my child.*

* * * * *

Genma was snapped out of his daydream by the shout from his wife. Rushing into the room and followed seconds later by a few nurses and a doctor, the grandmaster of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts was witnessing the birth of a new life into the world.

"A little more Mrs. Saotome. I can see the head emerging now. Just push a little more. You're doing fine, " encouraged the doctor a little later on.

With sweat forming and slowly descending down her face all the while tracing its curvature before falling onto the bed that Nodoka was currently on, she gave one final push and cry before collapsing due to the stress and activities of the day. All her problems and the effort of the past couple of hours seemed far away as she heard her child cry as it came into the world.

"You're the proud mother and father of a healthy baby boy, Mr. and Mrs. Saotome," exclaimed the doctor.

Although at this time, Genma had passed out sometime around Nodoka being carted into the operation room and Ranma's cries as he entered the outside world.

"Thank you, sensei," Nodoka smiled at the doctor. Looking down at her sleeping husband, "Please let him rest there for a few moments, he has not had a good nights rest in over a week and decent food by the sound of his stomach, " replied Nodoka. Nodoka was still wondering how someone who had faced life and death could faint at one of the most natural things on Earth. Holding onto Ranma and smiling at the scene that her husband was making on the floor, *nothing could be more right in the world at this moment,* she mused.

* * * * *

"Happy fifth birthday, Ranma!" everyone around the table shouted.

"Make a wish and blow out the candles, Ran-chan," Nodoka urged him.

There were a few awes from the surround females, as Ranma looked adorable trying to think up of something to wish for. "I wish I could attend the academy when I grow up!" Ranma said and quickly blew out all of his candles.

Looking over a Genma, Nodoka could see the proud expression on her husband's face.

"That's my boy!" Genma said.

"If you study really hard, you might never know," Nodoka encouraged him.

"Thanks, mommy!" Ranma exclaimed. "Can I open my presents now?" young Ranma asked.

"Yes you can," Nodoka answered.

With that having been said all the kids started to shout about cake and who's present Ranma was to open first.

"Open mine!" Ryou shouted.

"No mine!" Karou called out.

Glancing over her shoulder at the heated argument, Nodoka smiled for a moment before she put on a neutral face and walked over to a man standing near the back.

"You have quite a boy there," the man complimented her.

"Arigatou, uncle. But does he have the gift?" Nodoka asked a bit nervously.

With a sad expression, he shook his head. "I can't detect a single ounce of magic in the boy and that is strange considering his lineage, having come from a long line of mages, he should have some, even weak, but at least some," he explained a bit puzzled himself. Looking over at Nodoka, he smiled. His niece was a powerful mage in her own right with the gift of healing while her husband was gifted with control of wind. Her power level was enough to make her one of the top twenty healers within the Kingdom. Now if only the lazy fool that was her husband would apply himself, he could have gotten a full mage ranking instead of just a magician class ranking.

"Genma would be disappointed but we've come to expect this after he showed no signs around his third birthday," she replied.

"Fret not, he is still a healthy and handsome child," he continued to try and calm his niece.

"Thank you, uncle. Will you stay for dinner?" Nodoka asked.

"No, I have things I have to attend to back on Saturn," he informed her.

"I understand. Please come by and visit. Ranma loves those tricks you do."

"Those are not tricks but true magic," he said, acting a bit hurt but the smile reassured Nodoka that he was only joking. Having said that, he closed his eyes and vanished.

Sighing, Nodoka went to tell her husband the bad news.

* * * * *

"Trust me, son. This will make you a powerful martial artist," Genma said while holding his six-year-old son over a pit. From the pit there were sounds of hissing and meowing.

"But I'm afraid!" Ranma shouted.

"Don't you want to be a man?" Genma asked his son. "I promised to make you a man among men and that is exactly what I will do. The shame when I heard you had no magic powers. You're dishonoring your family and what it stands for," Genma continued his relentless attack, trying to persuade the boy to accept the training. The Nekoken was suppose to be one of the most powerful battle techniques ever devised. The best part was it did not need magic to use. It was so powerful even that Genma had to travel to Saturn and sneak into the academy's storage vault and borrow it to even give Ranma a chance at learning it. "Don't you want to make your mother proud and also to go to the Academy on Saturn?" Genma finally used his trump cards.

"Hai!" Ranma shouted. He didn't want to disappoint his mother and also wanted to go to the Academy. "I want to grow up to be a great martial artist and help protect the Silver Millennium!"

"Well then, in you go," Genma said and tossed his son into the pit of starving cats and closed the lid.

After the first try and failure, Genma spent the whole day using various other type of food products in hopes of teaching Ranma the Nekoken. After throwing in Ranma was the unprecedented time, he sat down and took the booklet out. *I must be doing something wrong,* he thought. *Let's see,* he mused. "Dig a pit. Check. Gather starving cats into pit. Check. Tie student up in fish sausage. Check. Throw him in pit and cover entrance. Check," He read each of the instruction out loud. *What am I doing wrong?* he thought. Flipping the booklet over in his hands, Genma finally spotted something strange. It seemed like the last few pages were stuck together. *Strange how did that happen?* Genma thought while separating the pages. There were several strange red-brownish dots that had held the final pages together. The next page made Genma a little pale. 'Warning. Do not attempt this technique at any cost. It's GARENTEE to make your student insane. Death is also a possibility.' Running to the pit, Genma first thought was to get his son out. The second was to think how stupid the person who invented this technique was. The third was why it was so quiet and his final thought was Nodoka was going to kill him as he remembered his conversation with her.

* * * * *

"Genma Saotome!" Nodoka shouted.

*This is not good. It's rare when his wife lost her temper and shouted, rarer still when she used his full name and rarest still when she used them both,* he thought.

"You think I'm going to let you take our son on a training trip for an unknown amount of time? I do not think so. You know that Ranma doesn't have any magic and thus will live his life like a normal citizen of the Silver Millennium."

"But, love."

"No but. It's not right that a mother will outlive her son. I will not let you take him away from me. He only has a century to live at most and I will not be separated from him for any amount of time," she argued.

"That's my point. With you codling and sheltering him, he will never be a true martial artist. He will never live up to his true potential."

"Is it wrong to try and make your son happy?"

"No but we have a tradition to uphold. Remember what we agreed upon when Ranma was born. You promised me that I will get to train Ranma to be the heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts."

"That was low," Nodoka replied, a tear coming to her eyes.

"I'm sorry. This is something I have to do."

"Then promise me. Promise that you will bring him back every once in awhile to visit me."

"I promise."

* * * * *

*She's going to kill me if something has happened to Ranma,* Genma panicked as he started to lift the cover form the pit.

When the lid of the pit was almost opened. A gusher of cats exploded from the pit. Each cat let out a unified shout of terror. From the pit Ranma leaped out. Landing on all four, he attack the source of his pain, aka his father.

Seeing Ranma alive calmed Genma somewhat. Relief soon turned to puzzlement at studying his son. First off, Ranma was on all four and had his back in an arch. Second, there was a slight glow around Ranma yet Genma could not detect any sign of magic. All this disappeared when Ranma rushed him faster than he had ever seen Ranma moved before.

Reaching his target, Ranma clawed at the fat man.

Drawing on experience he had collected in his eighty-six years of life, Genma was able to recover in time and avoid the blow. It was shocking to discover then that the air current itself had cut into his gi he had decided to wear today. Using his magic sense, he discovered that the air spirits around Ranma was helping him in his movement and attacks. *How!* he thought. Genma had little time to wonder when he was forced to dodge again. Calling air spirits to him, Genma started to enhance his speed as well. Having done that, Genma was able to dodge Ranma's berserk attack and canceled the air currents that were directed at him with a few of his own.

Neko-Ranma was starting to get more than a little pissed off. Not being able to touch his foe in the last few minutes, he stopped and studied his prey.

Finally having time to organize himself. Genma studies his son. *Strange he's glowing yet I sense no magic. Could this somehow be part of the higher arts? Could my son have actually mastered a ki or chi attack?* he pondered.

Circling the balding and fat man, Neko-Ranma finally decided on a plan of attack. Without warning he launched himself at his prey once again.

Again Genma was on the defense. As far was he could tell there was no way to stop Ranma short of lethal moves. One mistake and he could lose his head and so Genma bided his time, hoping to find an opening.

Slashing twice, Ranma flipped backwards. The instant his feet touched the ground he sprung back into action.

The second rush made Genma upgrade his assessment of Ranma's threat value. The second rush was faster than the first and Genma, a master of not only Anything Goes but also a practitioner of magic relating to wind and air magic, could see the spirits around Ranma draw closer to the boy. When Ranma was in range, Genma started to dodge once again but was surprised when his son leaped over him. Turning his head, he was just in time to see him rebound and launched himself as him once again. Twisting in a vain hope of blocking or dodging the blow, Genma failed when his back suddenly flared with pain. Seeing that there was nothing he could do, Genma utilized one of the Saotome family's most secret maneuvers. He ran away, not wanting to permanently hurt his son and hoping to come up with a way to cure him or pray that Ranma would return to normal by himself.

Seeing his prey leave, Neko-Ranma licked himself clean and bounced away looking for food.

* * * * *

"So what is the occasion, Pluto?" Karou asked.

"You know it almost time to pass on the mantle right?" Setsuna replied.

"Yes. I know the time for each of the Elder Senshi to pass the mantle and full power of their position to the Younger Senshi is coming soon. Why do you ask?"

"Because I was wondering if you could take Saturn under your wing as well?"

A gasp escaped the lips of the Elder Senshi as she heard the request Pluto had asked. "Saturn is being born?" Seeing Pluto nod, she nodded as well. "I see. I understand the reason behind putting her under my care but can you tell me a little bit about the cause for her rebirth?"

"I'm sorry but I can't."

Sighing, "Have you told the others?"

"I haven't told anyone but the Queen."

"You know you could have told me about this piece of news on Uranus. Why did you bring me to Neptune?"

"I got a message from my future self that hinted a picnic would be a good idea today and she also hinted that I should go to Neptune for the picnic. When I looked into the future, I did not see anything important but who is to argue with one's future self?" Pluto smiled a little at the comment as well as Elder Uranus.

* * * * *

Neko-Ranma stomach started to protest at the lack of food in a not so silent way. Holding his head up, he started to sniff the surrounding area. A light scent caught Neko-Ranma's attention as he bounced in the direction of the smell.

Moments later, Neko-Ranma slowed as he sensed two other presence near his food. Growling a little at the intrusion, he started to stealthily approach the two. Deep down, Neko-Ranma knew that soon the food he had smelled earlier will be his and what was wrong with a little exercise and maybe fun to go with his meal.

As he got closer, he discovered that the two presence were different than the fat bald man. These two had lots of hair and were shaped differently. Having his curiosity peaked, Neko-Ranma creep closer. The two reminded Neko-Ranma of his mother for some reason yet could not understand this feel since the two were hind leg walkers and not four like he was.

Sailor Uranus started to look around as something warned her of a disturbance near her. Something was wrong. The air spirits were unusually active. Being the Senshi of Uranus, she had more power over wind in one hand than most adepts had in their entire body.

"Something wrong, Uranus?" Pluto asked.

"Something is stirring up the wind spirits," Uranus responded.

"Strange, I can't sense anything and there is no major events I can see that would happen this day in the time line."

"I don't know. The air and wind spirits are very excited. It's like someone is casting a spell within the realm of air or wind."

"I sense no one who is strong in the ways of magic nearby. Are you sure?" Pluto asked.

"Yes, strange. You should be able to sense those who can influence the spirits better than anyone. Do you think the person is shielding himself?" Uranus asked.

"Even if they are, they have to be very powerful to avoid my scans and attacking a Senshi less two would be crazy."

"I know but . . . I still think I saw thing over the ridge."

From atop the ridge, Neko-Ranma knew that he had been spotted but seeing as how his two new acquaintances had not moved, he figured they were unsure. Smiling, Neko-Ranma decided to see if he could catch the two unprepared. Without a second thought, Neko-Ranma darted towards the two Senshi.

Twisting her head around, Uranus caught a black blur headed in her direction in a zigzag pattern. "Pluto! Incoming!" she yelled.

Turning around, Pluto was barely able to keep her eyes on the unknown target. Whatever it was it was fast.

Nearing the two, Neko-Ranma grinned as he passed between the two and dashed away with his prize between his teeth, that being the picnic basket.

"What was that?" Pluto asked.

"I couldn't tell. Whatever it was, its body is white. Should I call Neptune?"

"No. We should be able to handle this," Pluto replied.

Nodding her head in agreement, Elder Uranus headed towards the direction of the blur, both Senshi still had not noticed the missing food container.

Sensing the approach of the two ladies, Neko-Ranma shrugged and went back to eating. Since Neko-Ranma still thought these two ladies, mother-like, he did not consider the two to be a threat.

Cresting the hill, Uranus gasp at what she saw. The blur was in actuality a small child no older than seven years old. That was not what shocked her though. It was the way the child was behaving that made her stare. *How could something like this happen. Abandoning a baby to the wilds,* she thought. This reaction was the result of seeing a baby child, eating on all four and acting in all ways like a feline.

Unknown to Uranus, who was currently focused on Ranma, Pluto just stared at the boy. *Something is wrong here. How could a baby child move that fast without the use of magic or some form of energy manipulation? Yet I sense no magic emanating from the boy.*

Having finally finished his dinner, Neko-Ranma yearned and then leaped at Uranus.

Not expecting the sudden movement from the boy, her hands flew up instinctively and caught Ranma. Before she knew it, Uranus was holding a sleeping six-year-old boy. Looking to Pluto for advice, all the Guardian of Time could do was shrug, seeing as how she could not see the future when this strange boy was concerned.

"I suggest we head back to the palace," Pluto said.

"I agree."

To be continued

Author notes:

This story was inspired by Zaxxon's Ranma/SM fic that at this moment is titleless.

Just wanted to do something out of the ordinary since there are many Ranma/SM fics floating around. Hope you all like.