A butterfly took flight somewhere in Brazil.

Two weeks later the rain was coming down in sheets. It wasn't the rainy season yet, but this year had been unnaturally wet. As the pedestrians mulled about their business and generally tried to stay dry, one adventurous soul quickly proceeded down the sidewalk using her umbrella as a shield against the driving rain.

Tendo Kimiko was late. She hated being late to anything, and really didn't want to be late for Akane's first recital. As she stepped into the intersection a dozen blocks from her destination a strong gust of wind caught her umbrella and pulled her back and onto her bottom. A fraction of a second later she was splashed in the face by a car that sped through the spot that she had just occupied.

"Wow, if it hadn't been for that wind I would've been hit," she thought as she stood back up.

To Marry a Tendo

11.11.02

I do not own any of the Ranma ½ characters. However, I will if I ever strike it rich.

Ch 1: A Butterfly's Flight

Three months later Kimiko was in the attic doing some spring cleaning.

"Hmmm, what's this?" Kimiko asked herself as she pulled down a box with scrolls and papers in it.

As she flipped through them she discovered that they were old documents of Soun's. "Surely, I can get rid of some of these," she thought as she pulled out some of the papers and skimmed over them.

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It was noon and Soun was just finishing a class. "Honey, what are we having for lunch?"

Kimiko entered the tearoom carrying a tray of food and set it on the table. "I thought we would have squid sukiyaki."

Soun knew that he was in trouble the minute she sat the food down. He hated squid sukiyaki and his wife knew it. He went through everything that he had done in the last couple of weeks and could not recall a single instance that would cause his wife to be this upset with him. So he gathered his courage and ventured into a land from which few men return unscathed. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no dear. Nothing is wrong.  _Why_ would you think that something was wrong?"

Soun not being the brightest of men continued despite the immediate warning signs. "Nothing, you just seem a little upset."

"And _why_ would I be upset?"

"No reason I guess," Soun continued as he finally noticed the signals of danger and decided to steer the conversation to a safer topic. "So dear, what do you have planned for today?"

"Oh, I wasn't sure. I thought that I might take the girls down to the market and see how much," Kimiko calmly replied before yelling in Soun's face, "I COULD GET FOR THEM!"

Soun fell back from the force of the scream. His eyes widened in shock at the anger in his wife's voice. "What… what are you talking about?"

Kimiko slammed the paper that she found in Soun's box on the table in front of him. "Oh don't worry _dear_. I wouldn't _dream_ of selling all three of our daughters as it seems you've already given one away, but then I guess you didn't find it necessary to _tell_ me about that. Did you?!"

Soun looked at the paper that his wife had slammed in front of him. It was the contract that he and Genma had wrote out the night that they had decided to unite the schools. Soun mentally cursed as he struggled for a way to explain this one. "Hehehe, well honey, you see. Um… well you remember that time I went out with my old friend Saotome… about eight years ago?"

"_Yes_ I do!"

"Well, we decided that it would be a good thing if our children married and united the schools."

"So, let me get this straight! You and your old friend got together, got drunk, and then decided to force your unborn children to marry each other?!"

"No! We didn't get drunk until after we decided."

"Oh, that is soooo much better," Kimiko said with a huff as she stood up, grabbed the contract and walked out of the room.

Soun quickly stood up and followed her. "Honey, you have to understand this is for the best of the school."

"Oh, and what about what is best for your daughters? Soun, you _know_ how I feel about arranged marriages!"

"Yes, I know all about your parents, Kimiko. But this will be different. I promise you."

"Promise? Promise! What do you know about this boy?" Kimiko hissed through clenched teeth as she whirled to face her husband with fire in her eyes.

"Well, I… I'm sure that he's… that he's… that he's a _great_ martial artist," Soun said with a smile as he thought of the perfect trait.

"What else? Huh, what else do you know? How old is he?"

"He's Akane's age."

Kimiko advanced on her husband with a look of sorrowful remembrance. "What is he like?"

"I… I don't know," Soun squeaked.

"Exactly! So how can you _promise_ me or your daughter anything?" Kimiko turned back around and walked stoically to the front door.

"Kimiko, where are you going?"

"I'm going to meet this boy that you've given one of our daughters to. I'm going to meet his parents."

"But… but…"

"No. No 'buts' love," Kimiko said gently as she held a finger up to Soun's mouth. "I'm going to go salvage what I can of this situation that you have gotten our daughter into," Kimiko said before she kissed Soun and walked out the door.

Soun sighed and finished to himself, "But they aren't even there."

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There was a knock on the front door of the Saotome home and Nodoka looked up from the letter she was writing to her husband and son. "I wonder who that could be?" she thought as she stood from the table and went to open the door.

Kimiko knocked on the door and waited as she heard someone approaching from the other side. When the door opened a woman about her age stood there. She was wearing a slightly worn casual kimono and had a long bundle strapped to her back. "Hello. My name is Tendo Kimiko. I'm looking for the Saotomes. I was told that they lived here."

"I'm Saotome Nodoka. How may I help you Ms. Tendo?"

"I have a matter of grave importance to discuss with you Mrs. Saotome. May I come in?"

Nodoka blushed a little at her poor manners in not inviting her guest in. It had been so long since she'd had a visitor. "Yes. I'm sorry for my rudeness. Please come in," Nodoka apologized as she led Kimiko into the family room and quickly left to get some tea.

When Kimiko was left alone she looked around the house and found it to be very well decorated but it had the appearance of a person with little money. She focused her attention back on Nodoka when she reentered the family room with the tea.

Nodoka poured the tea and seated herself opposite of Kimiko. "What is this matter that must be discussed Ms. Tendo?"

"It is a matter that concerns your husband and son."

Nodoka visibly brightened when Kimiko mentioned her son. "Have you seen them? Are they okay? How is Ranma?"

"No I haven't seen them," Kimiko answered in surprise. This was definitely not what she was expecting. "I found a contract that my husband and your husband made concerning our children," Kimiko said as she pulled out the contract and handed it to Nodoka.

Nodoka scanned the contract and became rather irate at her wayward husband. She decided that she would kill the fool when he returned. Didn't he realize that engaging a boy at this young of an age would make it more difficult for him to explore his manly impulses?

"As you can clearly see Mrs. Saotome. Our husbands have made it a matter of family honor that our children should marry."

"Oh well, it is now a matter of family honor and I will just have to make the best of the situation," Nodoka thought before replying. "Yes, Mrs. Tendo. Therefore, it now falls to us more responsible adults to assure that this doesn't harm our children or our family honor."

"I am so relieved to hear you say that you are also concerned about the effect of this on our children," Kimiko said with a smile. "Their future happiness is one of my main concerns."

Nodoka smiled back. "I agree, Mrs. Tendo. The happiness of our children should be a major concern."

The two women talked and planned for a few hours before Kimiko excused herself and headed home to meet her children and prepare supper.

*****************************************************************

Nodoka watched Kimiko walk away and closed the door. It felt good to have a purpose again and to have a peer to talk to. She also liked the way that Kimiko thought. She was devious, but honorably devious.

They had decided after much discussion that Akane would be the best match of the three possible daughters for Ranma. They also decided that the two needed to know each other before they were forced together. Nodoka had mentioned the letters that she received and the replies that she sent. This led to the decision to have the two children become pen pals.

Nodoka sat at the table with the letter that she had started earlier. She crumpled the letter up and retrieved a new sheet of paper and her brush. "Now, how to best insure that Genma doesn't interfere with our plans?"

[Genma,

I had a most unusual visitor today. Tendo Kimiko came to visit and had an interesting contract involving our family honor and the marriage of our son to her daughter. We have decided that Ranma shall wed Akane when they are older. I am very worried about your progress in making my son a man among men. It is most decidedly unmanly to not keep in correspondence with ones fiancée. As I would most dislike to see you and my son have to commit seppuku, I have decided to help you assure Ranma's manliness. You will soon receive a letter from Tendo Akane. I would expect that you will help Ranma read this letter and you will help him write a reply.

Your loving wife.]

Nodoka smiled to herself. That should provide the proper motivation for Genma to make Ranma write to Akane.

As Nodoka sealed the letter and walked to mail it she decided that soon she would have to go meet her future daughter-in-law.

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Author's Notes:

First, thanks to Ghost in the Machine for prereading this story. Without his help the story would not be half as good as it is.

As fair warning, this story is going to have Ranma and Akane as a couple. Therefore, if you absolutely cannot stand them together, I would suggest that you not continue reading. However, if you are somewhat open minded then please keep reading. This story will not focus only on Ranma and Akane after the first few chapters. It will, in fact, be focused a lot on Kasumi and Nabiki.

I hope that you have enjoyed the first chapter, and please read and review.

I have been trying to decide how best to handle reviews and have decided to handle them in emails. If you want a reply to your review, please make sure that I have an email address and I will respond.

Taechunsa ([email protected])