Crimson Hunter

A Ranma 1/2 and One Piece FanFiction

Written by: Konsaki

"You did what?" Makino asked, not really believing what she'd just heard Ranma say. Maybe it's because of how late it was today but she'd never have expected this situation to cap off her daughter's birthday.

"I asked her to marry me and she said yes." The redhead replied, still holding onto Sora's hand, fingers intertwined.

"Right, yes… of course you did." The green haired woman sighed, taking a seat out of wariness. Truthfully, this was exactly like her daughter; jump in feet first and figure out the damages later. Seeing Ranma's prideful look while her brown haired 'fiancee's' worried looks between them, Makino pointed towards the chairs across the table. "Sit down. Apparently, we have some things to talk about tonight."

"I'm not gonna break it off!" Ranma replied defiantly, squeezing Sora's hand.

"That wasn't a request! Sit, both of you! Now!" Makino commanded, hardening her gaze as she used her 'mother' voice.

Ranma tried to say something but halted when Sora whispered something in her ear. The redhead looked into the girl's pleading eyes before letting out a breath. It took a couple moments but eventually both teenagers were seated across the table from the concerned mother.

Taking a breath of her own, Makino tried to calm herself while thinking of the correct words to speak her mind to her daughter without alienating her. "Okay, I'm going to be honest here; I never expected this to be your solution to whatever problems you two had between you. I'm also… very worried you're making a bad decision that- I'm not done talking!" She raised her voice with a glare, halting her daughter even as Ranma opened her mouth. "No! You will let me finish!"

"Ranma…" Sora lightly said, touching the redheaded teen on the shoulder.

Said teen sent a soft look to the girl she still hands with before sending a glare towards her mother. "Fine."

"If you want to start doing adult things, start acting like an adult and not like a petulant child, daughter." Makino advised sternly before taking another calming breath to regain her flow of thought. "As I tried to say, I'm worried you girls are making a bad decision which could shatter your friendship if it doesn't work out."

"I know we're both girls but we're attracted to each other…" Sora said after Makino finished, though her tone was more confused than confrontational, unlike the teenager next to her.

"Yeah, there's nothing wrong if we both want to do it!"

Makino just sent a baleful glare to her agitated child. "I'm not talking about the lesbianism. If that's the way you are, then so be it! There are going to be other consequences, which we can talk about later but I'm not personally bothered by that. No, I'm more worried about my daughter, once again, jumping head first into something she could regret later. You know, like fighting Ace and getting your leg shattered or fighting pirate captains with large bounties!"

"Hey! I won that last one without even getting hit once!" Ranma cried out in obvious affront.

"Yeah, you might have, but if this doesn't work out with Sora, what then?" Makino made her point, waving towards the brown haired teen. "What if you don't get hurt but she does? What if things work out great till you want kids? What if you're just too damn immature to think you're rushing things too god damn fast?!"

Makino's last yelled words echoed off the tavern's walls, quickly absorbed by both furniture and teens, fading away to oppressive silence.

"Why do you think we're going too fast?" Sora asked after a few quiet moments, squeezing the redhead's hand for comfort.

"Because you two are still too young." Makino replied in a much softer tone, having had a few calming breaths. She held up a stalling hand, to let herself continue unabated. "Look, I know you might feel head over heels for each other right now but how do you know it's not a temporary thing?"

"Yanette and Horatio were seventeen when they got married and are happy with 's wrong about us?" Ranma questioned, confident in her point.

"They were just a month shy of being eighteen, you just turned seventeen and Sora's still sixteen for four more months." Makino dryly countered, giving her daughter a patronizing look. "Plus, they both grew up with each other here in the village. You've known Sora for less than a year."

"So what! It's still long enough!" Ranma barked back, getting annoyed at her mother's hard hitting points.

Makino pinched the bridge of her nose. "This has to be karma for my own mother." She sighed before folding her hands on the table. "Fine, let's see if that's true or not. Answer these questions and I'll back off about it being too soon."

"Fine, bring it on." The red-headed daughter challenged back with a frown.

"Ms Makino, I don't think this is necessary..." Sora tried to defuse the situation between mother and daughter.

Makino just waved it off, not even looking away from her daughter. "No, this definitely needs to happen to get the point through my daughter's thick skull. Gods know I was the same way when I was younger. Just be thankful that I'm not like my mother or else I'd be screaming my head off at you two." At that, she held up a hand and started ticking off fingers. "What's Sora's favorite color? What's her favorite flower? What does she want to do with her life? What makes her angry and how do you tell by just looking at her? What does she want to name her first child?"

Ranma just looked stunned at the unexpected questions and how fast her mother rattled them out.

"Well? I'm waiting." Makino smugly replied to her daughter's expression.

Steeling herself, Ranma tried to answer them. "Violet. Um, lily. She doesn't know what she want's yet, except to be with me. Uh…" Ranma's voice trailed off as it became unsure, the teen trying to think of what Sora looked like angry. "I can't remember and I don't know."

Nodding at that expected response, Makino glanced towards the brown haired girl who was now looking towards the table in defeat. "Sora?"

"Violet's right. My favorite flowers are Lisianthus. She's right about not having a plan. Um… I think I start tapping my foot in irritation and… I don't like people dismissing me. I… I always hoped to have a daughter and name her after my mother, Ryoko".

Silence reigned once more over the conversation, Makino allowing the situation to soak into her daughter's head before speaking once more. "Honey, I'm not against your decision because you're both girls or that I think it's a bad decision, I just think it's too soon. You're both still young and I just don't want you rushing so fast that you make a mistake and ruin what could be a wonderful thing."

"You're not gonna make us break off the engagement?" Ranma asked warily but with hope.

"No, I'm not going to do that." Makino responded with a shake of her head. "If I did that, I'd be just as bad as my own mother and I swore I'd never do that to my own child."

"What happened, if you don't mind me asking." Sora inquired, leaning forward slightly in interest.

The elder woman let out a sigh, running a hand through her sea green hair. "My mother, Aeka, was a very traditional woman. Once I'd turned sixteen, she'd decided that I was old enough to be betrothed. So, she'd shopped around for available bachelors behind my back and surprised me one day with the news that I'd meet my future husband in a week."

"That's messed up!" Ranma reeled back in disgust, having seen where that could lead in her memory dreams.

Makino nodded in agreement. "That's what I thought as well and our 'discussion' turned into a full blown screaming match. Words were thrown in each other's faces, things that can't be taken back and I'm not going to repeat, but that was the last day I saw my mother and I've never looked back."

"That's so sad…" Sora whispered, imagining the fight in all its terrible glory.

"Just like I was too young back then, I think you both are too young right now. I just want you to really think about if this is really what you both want and need right now. Figure out who you two are and what you want to be as a couple before even thinking about marriage. Right now, you still have a chance to back out and stay friends. Who knows if that's possible if you go too deep too fast and find out it just won't work."

Spearing both girls with a look, Makino turned pleading. "Please, just wait till you're both eighteen before you even think about marriage, okay? Use that year to figure out if even that's too soon or if it won't work out at all."

The two teens looked from the worried mother to each other. Something silent transpired through their eyes before Sora nodded. Ranma let out a breath before looking back towards her mother. "Alright. We'll wait till Sora's eighteen."

"I can accept that." The elder Ohmoto replied with a relaxed sagging of her shoulders before turning her blue eyes towards Sora. "And since my daughter's bullheaded enough that I know it's going to happen eventually, you can start calling me 'Mother' if you'd like."

The sixteen year old's eyes widened in shock before filling up with tears. "I… Thank you, Mother." Ranma looked at her fiancée with a wide grin, twitching their intertwined fingers.

"You're welcome, dear. Good, now moving on to you two and sex in this house." Makino continued on with a nod, ignoring the shocked look on the teens' faces. "Zero, none, zilch, nada, forbidden, not happening, too bad, don't even think about it. Understood?"

oO0Oo

"I can't believe she did that!" Ranma cried out, thumping her forehead into her closed bedroom door.

Sora's face was still bright red with blush as she sat on the edge of Ranma's bed, looking down to her twiddling fingers. "Ah… It's okay. I don't… think I'm ready for that anyways."

Pausing in her headbutting to just lay her skin against the smooth wood, the redhead let out a breath. After a moment, she moved over and sat on her bed next to her new fiancee and put an arm around her shoulder. Ranma smiled as the brown haired girl leaned into her. "Don't worry. I'm gonna wait till you're ready."

"Thanks…" Sora smiled up at the now grinning redhead. That smile turned into a smirk as her eyes turned smokey. "Your mother never said anything about kissing, though." The surprised look on Ranma's face as Sora leaned over to kiss her was soon changed to a content dazed look before Sora pulled away. "Yeah, I think I could do that again."

"So why aren't you?" Ranma asked partly in challenge and partly in confusion.

Shifting herself to where she was sitting cross legged and facing the redhead, Sora lifted a finger. "I think, Mother..." She smiled at being able to call her that. "Was right about us needing to figure out what we want in the future. We don't have to figure out everything tonight but… I think we should at least talk about something."

Cocking her head, Ranma thought about Sora's words before matching her sitting stance, cross legged and facing her new fiancee. "Alright, so what do you think we should figure out first?"

"Well…" Sora thought out loud, tapping her chin before nodding. "How about what we'll be doing for money if we do get married."

"When." Ranma corrected. "Not if, when."

"Sorry." Sora blushed slightly at how she felt at that confident statement. "What are we going to do about money 'when' we get married?"

Dropping her chin into a hand, the redhead thought about it for a bit. "Well, considering how much I've been making so far, I guess bounty hunting isn't that bad of a job plan. You know?" Giving her fiancee an appraising look, Ranma raised an eyebrow. "You know, considering your powers, you'd probably do good at it, too."

Sora looked a little apprehensive at that, though. "I'm not sure I want to be hunting bad guys my entire life, though. I mean, I've always dreamed of starting a family and I'm not sure raising a child on a ship sailing after dangerous people is a good thing."

Ranma blinked her crystal blue eyes at that. "Okay, I'm guessing you want a long term thing while I was just thinking right now." Drumming the fingers of her free hand onto her knee, she really pondered the question. "Okay, long term I don't wanna do the bounty thing. I mean, I want to be the best martial artist in the world, not the best bounty hunter or whatever. So, I guess I could always open a dojo like Master Koshiro to make our living."

"So I'm just there to clean, cook and raise the kids?" Sora inquired with a raised eyebrow.

Ranma grimaced. "Well, what'd you want to do? All you said so far was wanting a family."

Sora blinked at that. "Fair point. Hmm… I guess, if you're going to do the bounty thing to fund the travel and dojo, I'd learn to use my powers more effectively. You know, just in case." Rocking her head back and forth in thought, she let out a hum. "Okay, I guess I wouldn't mind watching the kids, all things considered, but I'm not being a housewife."

"Sure. No problem."

Sora let out a sigh, looking into Ranma's crystal blue eyes with sadness. "I've always dreamed of having children one day with the man I married." Reaching out, she laid a hand against the redhead's cheek with a sad smile. "I love you, Ranma, but I always thought I'd marry the man of my dreams. I… I just get that tingling feeling when I look at you as I get looking at some guys." Sora let out a small laugh. "That just made me so confused after you kissed me. Sorry."

Ranma just crawled around and hugged Sora from behind. "I always liked girls. It didn't really hit me, though, till one of the guys tried giving me flowers. It felt… wrong. I mean, I was one of the guys and I only felt disgust when he did that. I tried to tell Mom, but she didn't understand and thought I was just confused with puberty and all." She put her nose into the brown hair before her and breathed in. "It wasn't till I finished my training with Master Koshiro and I knew I'd have to leave that I realised I liked you more than a friend."

"That long?!" Sora gasped out in surprise. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I was scared." Ranma responded, holding the smaller girl to her. "Scared I'd drive you away. So, I just enjoyed being your friend until… until I just decided to go for it. You don't know how relieved I am that you said yes."

Silence fell over them as they thought about everything. It'd been an eventful evening, the night long since stolen the light of day.

After a couple minutes of just sitting there feeling Ranma's breath in her hair, Sora let out a small giggle. Pulling away gently, Sora slipped off the bed and clicked the lock on the bedroom door. Then, flashing a smoky gaze at the confused redhead, she reached down and pulled the dress up and off her body. Now, just clad in her underwear, she crawled back onto the bed with a flush on her cheeks and a smirk on her lips.

Ranma looked on in awe, knowing she'd seen the brown haired girl in her underwear or fully naked before, but seeing Sora like this…

"You know, I think I might just have one last gift for my birthday girl."

oO0Oo

Dear Sister Freya… Mother,

A lot has happened since the last letter I sent you! The biggest thing… No, the most important thing is that Ranma asked me to marry her and I said yes!

I know this all might seem too fast, something Ranma's mother brought up, but we spent a couple days talking about it and we decided to take our engagement slow and easy. Makino, Ranma's mom, is a wise woman and I'm happy to call her Mother! Yeah, she even said I can call her Mother now!

Ranma and I have been thinking about the future and what our relationship means to us. You know, where we'll settle down, what we're going to do about money and children. *sigh* That last one is the hardest for me because I've always dreamed of having my own children. Right now, though, I'm thinking of you and that, once we're ready, we'll probably adopt.

It's a long way off, both the marriage and when/if we'll adopt, but we're still talking about what number of kids we want. Ranma want's two, one boy and one girl but I'd like three or four. Like I said, we've got a long time left to talk about it and I'm sure I'll bring her around. *laughter*

Everytime I bring up children, though, Ranma gets this odd look in her eyes, like she's determined to do something. I've asked her about it but she just tells me to trust her. It's like she has some plan she's working on but doesn't want to get my hopes up, or something. I'm a little worried about it, but I trust her and she said she'd let me know as soon as she figures it out.

Oh, and if you want to reply, send your letter to Advika Island. Ranma said she needed to go there to find a spiritual worker to work something out and… well, we need to get a little space from Makino-mama and that's all I'm going to say about that!

Anyways, we'll be boarding the cruise ship headed there in a few hours. From the itinerary, we'll be there in two weeks.

Ranma doesn't know it, but I packed that evening dress. You know, the forest green over the shoulder with that hip slit? Yeah, the cruise has a ballroom with a live five string band and I'm going to enjoy it! *cat-grin*

Anyways, I hope things are going well back home. (Yes, the orphanage is still home!) Once we're done with Ranma's thing at Advika Island, we'll try and drop by. I'm not sure when that'll be, so I'll just keep in touch via letters.

Looking forward to getting on the ship. Ranma says she's going to make me sweat! *blush*

I love you and everyone there! I can't wait to hear from you!

Sincerely,

Valke (eventually Ohmoto) Sora

oO0Oo

"Faster, Sora! Faster!"

Hearing Ranma's demanding voice, Sora tried to go faster, sweat dripping down her form as her hair stuck to her neck. She'd learned she couldn't talk back a few minutes ago, needing to control her breathing just to keep up Ranma's demanding pace.

"Come on, five more laps!"

She couldn't even tell her fiancee to shut the hell up, unless she wanted to throw off her stride and crash to the deck. She'd learned that lesson the hard way yesterday and her shoulder was still sore from the fall.

All in all, she hated this workout regimen Ranma had thought up for her, running laps around the main deck of the cruise ship. Sora didn't need to run anywhere! She could freaking fly! This was unnecessary!

Still… the cooldown oil rubs she'd get back in their room… maybe it made the twenty laps worth it.

Meh, who was she kidding, she'd run fifty if it got her that damn redhead's hands on her body! Ranma was one hell of a masseuse and Sora wasn't sharing her with nobody!

oO0Oo

"The things I'll do for you." Ranma stated in mock exasperation as she shimmied into her forest green evening dress.

"Oh, quiet, you!" Sora replied from the small desk in their cabin where she carefully applied her eyeshadow, accounting for the slight rolling of the large ship. "You know you enjoy it."

Settling the satin fabric to sit just right on her curves, Ranma gathered her hair up into a high ponytail. "Hair up or down?"

Looking over at her fiancee, Sora hummed. "I think a braid this time. Come on over and sit." Saying that, the brown haired girl pulled around the spare chair before her. Ranma sat down, smoothing the dress out before Sora started styling the hair. "Let's try a simple fishscale braid."

Shrugging, careful not to disturb the girl behind her, Ranma was unconcerned. "Whatever looks good to you." Letting out a small chuckle, the redhead added, "I swear, you like my hair more than I do."

"Well, you do have nice hair." Sora commented, hands deftly weaving the red locks before her.

Snorting, Ranma crossed her legs. "Maybe you should grow yours out so you'll stop playing with mine.

Sora just let out a small burst of laughter. "No way! I'd have to maintain it then! Right now, I get all the play with none of the work!"

"Glad I can be your dress up toy, then." The redhead wryly stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh, don't be that way. You know you enjoy the attention." Sora stated, leaning down to kiss at her fiancee's neck.

Shivering as Sora's breath ran over her skin, Ranma flushed. "You'd better stop that or we're not leaving the cabin."

The brown haired teenager just giggled as she nipped at Ranma's earlobe. "Oh, is the poor baby getting warm?" Glancing down, she smirked. "Or is she getting cold?"

oO0Oo

"Ship still astern and closing, Captain!"

"Time to interception?" The portly captain of the cruiseliner inquired, mopping his brow with a handkerchief.

"Around seven minutes and closing!" The denden-mushi connecting to the spotter currently standing on the aft observation point called back.

"Engines, can we get any more speed?"

"Negative, Captain! She's running above green as it is!" The engine room engineer called back over the rumbling engine.

"Any word from the Marines?" The rotund man asked his communications officer.

The woman shook her head in response. "The closest ship is five hours out if they go full sail."

"Captain! They just fired a warning shot! Their flagman is indicating if we heave to, no one will be injured." The spotter informed, the panicking screams of some of the passengers nearby carrying over the connection.

"Damn… Engines, full stop. Comms, notify all passengers. Jackson, flag back our intentions to surrender."

"Aye, aye!" All three people responded before the two connections closed. The communications officer turned to the intercom denden-mushi and opened it after clearing her throat.

"Attention all crew and passengers. We will soon be boarded by pirates. They claim not to be interested in causing mayhem. Please remain calm and follow the directions of the crew to reduce chance of injury. I repeat, we will soon…"

oO0Oo

"These cruise liners are like sheep ready to be shorn." The sandy haired man stated with a smirk, shoving his left hand into his blue suit vest.

"I know what you mean, love. You'd think they'd have an escort at least, considering this is the fifth one this year." The blonde woman walking beside him added, wearing her own white suit vest, though with the top couple buttons undone.

"Quite so, my dear Connie. Though, if the Marines don't wish to bother us, it's less hassle in the long run." The man replied, looking at where his henchmen were fleecing said sheep of their valuables. "Don't forget the earrings, my good man."

"Yes, Captain!"

"Blyde, what have I told you about micromanaging the men?" Connie calmly said to her companion.

Raising his right hand to ward off any female aggression, Blyde acquiesced. "Understood, my love."

"Good, then." The blonde woman nodded as they continued their walk. "You there! Ignore the necklace. Those pearls are fake, I'm afraid."

"What?!" The woman wearing said necklace screeched, jerking towards the now very nervous man beside her. "You told me they were real and cost you your entire bonus!"

"Madam, if you wish to throttle your husband, please do it once we've left, if you would." Blyde blythely directed, waving his henchman to continue on.

*WHAM*

The sound of a door slamming open into a wall echoed out into the air, causing everyone to halt.

"Who the fuck is in charge here?!" A young woman's voice screamed out into the air.

"Hey, you! Girl! Get back insiIIIIEEEEEEEeeeee!" A henchman's voice called out before his screams faded off into a splash.

"It seems we have some rather irritated company, my dear." Blyde commented, snapping his fingers and having a pistol placed in his right hand by another henchman.

Said irritated company stomped around a corner, revealing a red faced young woman full of feminine fury, her brown shoulder length locks seemingly floating with her anger. Spotting the two who had to be the bosses of the pirates, she marched forward, her violet evening dress rumpled as her bare feet stomped on the polished metal decking. "You! You had to freaking do this now of, all times?! It was my turn!"

Looking over the irate girl and noticing things that went with the context of her words, Connie smirked at the younger female. "Aw, did we interrupt your special time with your lover? Poor baby..."

Those condescending words were definitely not what Sora wanted to hear. Pulling on the power she'd had since eating the Sora Sora no Mi, she took a breath before shoving outward. "Sora Baasuto!" (Sky Burst)

White clouds shot out to cover the entirety of not only the cruise liner but the pirate ship rigged to it by grapnel lines. It took only three seconds to cover everything so thick those trapped inside could barely see their hands before their own faces. A shot rang out, doubling the screaming caused by Sora's actions.

Blyde would never know it, but his shot was true. Sora just didn't care, it passing right through her as she tracked the targets within her mists.

"Shiro Chissoku!" (White Suffocation)

The sounds of bodies hitting the decks followed a bit after her words finished echoing out. A little while after, the blinding mists dissipated into the afternoon winds, leaving a brown haired woman standing over the two pirate captains.

"That's for ruining my mood, assholes!"

With that, she marched through the stunned silence, over the downed bodies of the unconscious pirate henchmen and by the unharmed passengers.

Sora didn't care about any of that, just angrily marching back to her cabin where Ranma was.

oO0Oo

"So, you're the one who took out the Outlaw Duo." The Marine Captain stated, chewing on his unlit cigar.

"Yes, sir." Sora confirmed, dressed in a more casual white with blue flowers sundress. Ranma stood beside her in black cargo shorts and green short sleeved shirt, crimson hair still in the fishscale braid.

"Said you used some sorta Devil Fruit power." The captain drawled out, not really in a rush with his questioning.

"Yes, sir."

Another few seconds passed between her response and his next statement. "Yer not a registered bounty hunter. The 'Crimson Hunter' there is." He nodded towards Ranma as he said the last bit.

Ranma blinked at that. "What? They used that stupid name?! Damnit, Sora!"

Laughing nervously, Sora purposefully didn't look at her annoyed companion. "So, is there a problem, Captain?"

"Might be." He drawled, a few seconds of lag between that and adding, "You got to be a registered hunter to get the bounty."

Ranma waved that fact off. "Don't worry, she'll register as one right now if you got the paperwork."

"What?!" Sora cried out in shock at her fiancee's blase response.

"What? You took them out, so the bounty's yours. If they're who I'm thinking of, they're worth around 1.2 million Beli. That's pretty good money." Ranma stated, still unconcerned with Sora's surprise.

"3.3 million Beli." The bearded man replied as he switched his cigar to the other side of his mouth.

"Oh, huh. Guess the bounty flier was old." Ranma blinked at the correction before cursing. "Damn… that means you've earned almost as much as me in just one turn in!"

"That's not the point, Ranma! I don't want random bounties trying to fight me!" Sora loudly declared back.

Ranma just gave Sora a look. "Come on. When's the last time that's happened?"

"Just as we entered Goa City!" Sora threw back into the redhead's face, reminding her of a 700,000 Beli bounty bandit from Grey Terminal tried to throw his weight around.

"Oh, yeah… Oops."

"If you want to register and claim the bounty, take this to the Marine Depot at your destination." The Marine captain broke in, no change in his bored drawl. An aide held out some papers, which Ranma took before Sora could reject them. "Since that's all, we're heading out."

"Aye, aye, Captain!" The scattered marines called out with salutes, hauling what was left of the pirates onto the frigate and into the brig.

Following the redhead back into the hallways leading to their cabin, Sora frowned. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Making sure you can afford a ring or something." Ranma unhurriedly replied, flipping through the paperwork she'd taken on Sora's behalf.

Sora stopped, stunned at that statement, realizing that if she ever wanted to afford something like that for her love, she'd need to receive the bounty. Her face cringed even as the redhead reached their cabin a few meters away and unlocked the door. Walking in, Ranma poked her head back out with a quirked eyebrow to ask, "Problem?"

Letting out a sigh, Sora slumped slightly as she slunk towards the waiting redhead. "Nothing…"

oO0Oo

Sora, my dear daughter,

I was surprised to receive your last letter and the news contained within. To think that you would ever have become a bounty hunter, I would have never had believed it. If that is how you wish to pursue your future with your fiancee, I wish for you to be careful. With great reward comes great risk.

I understand that you and Ranma should be able to make an amazing team but it would break my heart if something were to happen to you.

As for happenings here at the orphanage, Daniel seems to be planning to join the Marines. He's already talked with the local detachment about being recruited and they've given him a small handbook to study. I think he has it in him to go far but he still needs to learn to control his excitement.

Umi and Riki were adopted by this nice green haired woman named Monet. She was so kind to those two children, smiling the entire time and giving them some candy when they left. It does my heart good to know that those two are going to a good home, though I hope their trip to the Grand Line is safe.

Sarah seems to be adapting to life here at the orphanage but Lily and Vanessa are still suffering from their loss. All I can do is be there for them if they need me but the other children are trying to include them in games and such.

I just wish the Ed's would stop being such troublemakers…

Thankfully, it's been considerably less eventful than your last letter said your life has been. Still, it is always good to hear from you and the children love to receive letters as well.

With love and well wishes,

Sister Freya

P.S. Could you please keep out any suggestive comments from your next letter. I don't enjoy having to explain some of the questions they cause...

oO0Oo

Ranma sighed as she watched the roundhouse kick flow through Sora's body, the third time she'd had to resort to using her powers this fight. "Come on, girl! Dodge or block!"

"I'm trying!" Sora cried back, barely ducking a spinning reverse crescent kick.

Ranma knew the brown haired girl was doing her best, having scouted out the black haired woman specifically to challenge Sora's speed and skill. The woman, Wanda, had just a little reach and around five years of experience on the desperately scrambling girl. Still, it was to first hit and Sora technically hadn't been touched yet by using her powers but she'd just run out with that last use.

Sora seemed to realise that too, diving in after a barely blocked punching combination to try and jab into Wanda's stomach. The older female shifted just out of the way, chopping down towards Sora's neck, to flow through it once more.

"Match!" Ranma declared, taking Sora's illegal use of her Sora Sora no Mi as a true hit in Wanda's favor.

"Damnit!" Sora cursed to herself, nodding towards the grinning Wanda. "Good match."

"Good match." The woman replied with a raspy voice, the scars on her throat showing the reason.

"Yeah, thanks for helping us out. Let me know when you want that spar with me, okay?" Ranma added in, shaking Wanda's hands. Wanda just silently nodded before walking away to other things. Turning towards her fiancee, the redhead smiled. "You're getting better."

"You're a slave driver, you know that right?" Sora complained, picking at her sweaty black sports top.

Ranma just smirked, handing over a water bottle. "Just making sure you can protect yourself if worse comes to worse."

"Come on, I took out all those Outlaw Pirates, right?" Sora countered before taking a drink.

"And what if they had seastone bullets loaded or seastone knifes? If people know you're a Logia user, that could happen." Ranma pointed out, wrapping an arm around her lover. "Just look at it this way, I just want you good enough to run away if you have to, especially if you can't use your powers for some reason."

"Yeah, yeah. It's just annoying to never win against the people you keep picking." Sora groused, finishing off the bottle.

"It's only been two weeks, Sora. You're getting better." Ranma stated before thinking about it. "How about this, if you can beat the five kilometers faster than twenty minutes, I'll give you that special massage.

Sora blinked at that. "Really?" Seeing Ranma's grinning nod, Sora clenched her fists with a fire in her eyes. "Let's do this!"

oO0Oo

Ranma burst into the hotel room, laughing joyously as she picked her fiance up by the waist and spun around.

Quickly wrapping her arms behind the redhead's neck for support, Sora tried to gather her bearing. "What's gotten into you, Ranma?!"

Slowing to a stop, Ranma leaned in and kissed the brown haired girl on the nose. "I did it, Sora! I found someone who can help me work it out!"

"Really? That's great!" Sora responded, hugging her love. She knew that Ranma was searching for a specific type of instructor, someone specialising in meditative techniques. To her, it sounded like a sort of self hypnotism but, while she really didn't understand why Ranma needed to accomplish this, Sora was happy for her.

"Yeah! He said he'd work with us tomorrow morning." The redhead said, putting Sora back on her feet but not letting go.

"Us?" Sora asked with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean 'us'?"

Blinking, the martial artist cocked her head. "I figured you'd join in. Meditation is good for helping people sort through stuff, you know. With everything that's gone on recently, I figured you'd like to join in."

"You could have talked to me before you found this guy." Sora stated in mild annoyance.

"I could have just dragged you along and told you about it when we got there." Ranma countered, with her own raised eyebrow. "Instead, I'm telling you now so you can decide whether you want to join me or not."

"I… sorry." Sora apologized. "I'm just getting tired of the constant training we've been doing. You might be able to go non-stop for weeks but I'm getting burned out here.

"I know, love. That's why I'm so happy. Once I get this thing to work, we can move on to whatever you want to do." Ranma replied, rubbing Sora's back. "You know, give and take."

"That sounds like a good idea. Maybe we should do that, take turns deciding where we go next." Sora mused, idly twirling some of her woman's crimson hair around a finger.

"Sounds like a plan. So, any idea where you want to go next?" Ranma asked, looking into her fiancee's blue/green eyes.

"Well, I just want some time to sight-see, I guess." Sora mused, still messing with the hair within her fingers. "I heard there's this place called Little Wing Island, on the other side of East Blue. I read that the birds there sound like they're playing guitars and the scenic trails have the most romantic views.

"Okay, sure. We'll set out as soon as I figure this thing out." Ranma replied with a smile, leaning in to softly peck her love on the lips.

"Hmm…" The brown haired teen hummed pleasantly. "So, when are you going to let me in on your little secret training thing?"

"When I figure it out, Sora. When I figure it out."

oO0Oo

"Meditation is the art of sorting through everything and reaching nothing." The ancient wrinkled Spirit Guide crooned out in a surprisingly smooth voice, repeating something he'd already explained earlier when he taught Sora the basics. He sat there with legs crossed, his eyes closed and hands laying palm up on his knees. "Do not seek to clear your mind but search out for the self who has already removed the unnecessary."

Both teenagers sat before him, holding the same positions as the branches of the large cherry tree shaded all three. Sora was fidgeting every now and then but Ranma held with a soft breathing, almost to the point you could think she was asleep.

Sora couldn't really understand half of what the aged man was talking about but his droning was somehow calming. If she tuned it out and just let it flow over her like the band's string music during dinner on the cruise, Sora could feel the tension in her shoulders fade away.

"If your troubles are as to a mountain, each pebble is trivial in its solitude."

Willing to give that a try, Sora thought about the most recent trouble weighing on her mind; all this training Ranma was pushing her to do. At first, she hated it and the sweaty, sore aftermath she always turned into. And with Ranma always looking perfect afterwards, it made Sora feel vastly inferior. Then, one day, she'd gone on a grueling run by herself without realizing Ranma wasn't even with her.

She'd started to feel stronger and faster after the months rolled by. Now, she was wondering how far she could go, practicing her Devil Fruit powers on her own in the hopes of surprising her lover. Even those have gotten stronger, as exampled by what she did to the pirates.

Now, Sora planned on focusing on those powers till she could match her lover in combat, knowing she'd never catch up with only martial arts. The secret training sessions were going well, in her opinion but she'd need someone to test it against…

Setting that aside, she pondered just why Ranma felt the need to have Sora improve; the bounty hunter problem.

They'd talked it over after that day and both of them had agreed that they weren't going to go out of their way to hunt bounties. If something just happened to fall into their laps and caused them problems, they'd reap the easy rewards. They'd only go out of their way if they both agreed to it, but they couldn't think of anything off the top of their heads that'd demand that course of action.

It would pay the bills during their trip, though. The trip they were planning to the Grand Line.

The ultimate goal… Red Haired Shanks… Ranma's father.

To say that it had been a surprise would have been an understatement, Ranma explaining her lineage to Sora in the days just after the engagement. Sora would never had believed it had it not come from Ranma's own lips, though the need for secrecy was also told. Sora promised to never tell a soul, not only for Ranma and Minako's safety but for her own too.

They looked up Red Haired Shank's last known location and activities once they reached Advika Island, surprising the desk clerk with the request. Still, with both girls now bounty hunters, he didn't have a reason to keep the information from them and handed over the info file the Marines kept.

Her father was a Yonko, one of the four strongest pirates in the world, his crew equal to a nation unto itself. If the unlikely occurred and all four Yonko banded together, they rivaled the strength of the Marines itself.

This was their ultimate goal; to get to and meet with this man. Ranma dreamed of showing how much stronger she'd gotten. Sora just hoped they were ready for both the trip and for actually finding the man who was to be her father-in-law.

Nervous couldn't even describe the butterflies in her heart at the thought of the trials ahead of her and her fiancee…

"Set aside the falsehoods of life to find the truths of balance and embrace eternity."

oO0Oo

Meditation was nothing new to the redhead martial artist, having already learned the basics from her memory dreams. The main reason she'd come to Advika Island was to find a Spirit Guide who'd be able to refine her technique, filling in the gaps she knew she had due to not being unable to understand speech or text in her dreams.

"Do not seek to clear your mind but search out for the self who has already removed the unnecessary."

The words echoed through her mindscape as she did just that, looking around at the visions standing and sitting around the tavern of Party's Bar. Sora sitting on a table, swinging her legs with a smile on her lips as she looked back. Makino standing behind the bar, laughing as she poured a mug of rum. Shanks sitting there at the bar, looking just like his bounty poster as he sweet talked the mother of his daughter. Luffy, her young adopted brother, trying to impress her father with how big he'd grown. Finally, Garp, the large man grinning at his grandson's antics, seemingly ignoring or unaware that Shanks sat not meters away.

"If your troubles are as to a mountain, each pebble is trivial in its solitude."

Ranma decided to start with the easy ones first, moving just before the giant Marine Vice Admiral. She didn't hate him like she did as a child. He was just a man trying to do what he thought was the right thing for his family while balancing his very demanding job. She still saw him as a benchmark to pass though, but Grandpa Garp was no longer an enemy.

As Garp faded from view, she moved over to Luffy, her adopted brother and sometimes pain in the ass. Sora said that's normal for siblings, which was fine, since Ranma still loved him as family even with all the trouble he caused. She wished she'd been able to see him before leaving but Garp hadn't brought him back from their training trip by then. Maybe when they got back…

The grinning straw hat wearing boy faded as Ranma moved towards her mother and father. She loved them both, only it was different. Her mother was the guiding hand in her youth, keeping her grounded while not tying her down. Her father was the dream of what she might see in this great big world, his letters giving glimpses and teasing adventure. Makino hadn't really changed as Ranma grew up, still looking like she was barely in her twenties. Shanks' bounty poster looked like his travels had hardened him but his letters still showed his happy go lucky personality.

Ranma just hoped that Shanks was still the same man she remembered him to be, as her mother and father faded away, leaving Sora the only vision remaining.

Her heart skipped a beat at the brown haired girl's smile, the only image to react to Ranma's presence. Ranma reached out and traced Sora's jaw, the image closing her eye and leaning into the contact. Ranma still couldn't help but feel giddy, wary, loving, wonder and fearful about this girl who would one day be her wife.

Ranma was giddy with the way this girl just fit her, like a puzzle piece that completed the picture. The romance between the two of them might seem whirlwind but Ranma just thought that it proved they had connected that well. She'd do this woman no wrong.

That left her wary, Ranma knowing exactly how many ways this relationship could go wrong, having seen them in her memory dreams. She might not have known the details but crazy things had happened, so she was going to do her best to make sure this union was as solid as the stars in the sky.

And that was making sure Sora knew how much Ranma loved her. Every morning when they woke up in each other's arms, when Sora smiled and laughed, every time they'd make each other's hearts beat faster… There was never enough times in the day for Ranma to display her happiness that Sora was with her, her eyes so full of love and wonder.

But all this led to the fear that something might happen, to break them apart or take Sora from her. She was already doing what she could to work with Sora to solidify their relationship. That left helping to train Sora to be strong enough to not be taken from her. It was hard, watching Sora strain and hurt during training, even knowing that sweat during training was worth blood in combat. She just hoped that everything she was doing would be enough if something did come to pass…

Then, Sora herself faded leaving her in an empty Party's Bar. Home, the place she'd grown up in and where Mama always said she could come back to, no matter what happened. She'd seen some of the best and worst of humanity in this place, hearing stories from all over the world from faces as varied as the fish in the sea. She was leaving it behind and, even though she felt unease at the action, she cut it lose.

The room faded from view, leaving her in an empty void.

"Set aside the falsehoods of life to find the truths of balance and embrace eternity."

Ranma was comfortable with her own body, having grown tall, strong and beautiful. She'd become the perfect mix of her mother's figure and eyes with her father's extra height and hair. She trained for years to turn this body into the finely honed machine it was today, even though she knew there was always a way to improve. This training trip was just one more way she was going to improve…

She didn't want to become a man, quite happy to be a woman. Ranma just knew that she'd never fully fulfill her future wife's wishes if she never explored this possibility. The ability to become a man, to be able to provide her woman with the children she desired, she'd do everything within her power to obtain!

If she wanted that, she'd have to move past what she currently was…

"It is only when you free yourself of desires that you find what you truly need."

This was the hard part; letting go and just… be.

Words really couldn't explain her experience at that point, everything and nothing happening at the same time. Her heart still beat, thudding out it's steady rhythm but it was also silent, the eternity between beats spanning forever. Being totally deaf and blind to everything, yet still feeling her awareness expanding with increasing clarity.

She found it.

Awareness snapped back as she examined what she was looking for.

As she focused on it, it grew in size from rice grain to a dark crystal large enough to show the young man contained with the smokey blue. She knew him, the looks of her dream self only with her own crimson hair.

It was odd, now that she'd found it, Ranma knew exactly where this was. It was like a hiding spot in the floorboards; as soon as you knew where it was, you'd always be able to find it again.

Even still, she couldn't see any obvious ways to activate the crystal and no amount of visual examination was changing that fact.

Giving a metaphorical shrug, Ranma decided to move on to interacting with it, though definitely using as much caution as possible. So, she prepared herself to poke it.

Reaching out slowly, she extended her metaphysical index finger towards the dark blue crystal and the male self held within, making just the barest conta-

End of Chapter 6

A/N

So, slightly shorter chapter, since a scene I tried to write out didn't seem to work. I tried to get them to dine at the Baratie but the entire thing felt forced. They either ate there and had a good meal or they interacted with Sanji. The first didn't seem too interesting and the second just felt contrived when I tried writing it.

Added after posting:
Chub pointed out the impossibilities of the girls getting to South Blue, which I forgot about... With the Grand Line separating East and South Blues, there's no way for them to get to Karate Island. I just changed it's name to Advika Island and Sora's suggestion to Little Wing Island. Thank Oda for creating a world where I can literally make up places off the top of my head and it's okay!

SORA'S ABILITIES

"Sora Baasuto" (Sky Burst)
Sora blasts out clouds in all directions, mainly keeping a two meter ceiling with an adjustable radius based on her control at the time. In this chapter, she was able to cover around a 300 meter radius, covering both the cruise ship and the smaller pirate ship. She has redementery target identification of people within the field.

People caught within the cloud field have impaired vision, hearing and movement. Sora can predetermine which of the three she wants to make stronger, so she can make it a pure white-out instead off the normal 1 meter range of vision. In this chapter, she strengthened the movement impairment.

"Shiro Chissoku" (White Suffocation)
Using the cloud field, Sora suffocates her victims by condensing the clouds around the target's heads. She just needs to be careful to release it before her victims die of asphyxiation instead of just being knocked out.

COMMENTS TO REVIEWERS

- cj1of4
Between Ranma and Zoro, Zoro will be the more feared bounty hunter before he goes pirate. Zoro just has a bloodthirsty aura around himself which his tri-sword style makes even more menacing. Ranma's pretty easy going until she strikes like a viper, though eventually people will know to look out for her no matter her mood.

- Grizzmon & Aceina
She's gonna unlock it but not like you might be thinking. Just know I'm trying to be very careful with this ability and it's not going to be mostly male Ranma nor like the original curse. The next chapter will clear up a lot of questions, so I'm not going to talk too much here.

- Styrgwyr21
I guess my plan worked too well…

- Pixelsaber
Thanks for reviewing as part of the Fanfiction Reddit team! Sorry the story type isn't to your liking but thanks for slogging through it. I'll look into editing in some time marks or something into the first few chapters.