Disclaimer : I do not own Ranma½, Gold Diggers, or any other anime characters used in this story, and no way even pretend that I do.

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'' - thoughts
;; - English
"" - Japanese
/\ = Panda signs
~~ - Sounds

++++ = Flashback
-------- = Change in Time
***** = Another place

************ Ranma, the cursed bred *************

Ranma stepped into a stance as he assessed his opponent. The ninja garbed man got into a kempo stance and he stared down at Ranma, anger in his voice "So,. _BOY_ are you ready?"

Ranma sneered at him before cracking his knuckles "Depends, are you flexible enough old man?" He was awarded with the narrowing of Daishi's eyes. Daishi's anger motivated him enough to launch the first attack, as he threw a punch directed at Ranma's face. However, he was shocked when Ranma flipped over him and tapped the back of his head "Come on,.... I want a real fight" Daishi's movements suddenly increased as he pulled the punch back and stepped to the side, slamming his fist into Ranma's stomach. The force of the punch nearly doubled Ranma over, as it through him back and slammed him into the tree behind him.

Daishi cracked his knuckles before giving a gruff laugh "Please, and here I was hoping for a challenge."

Looks were varied as Theo and Julia had already knocked both Ionis and Zelda unconscious and were now watching Ranma's fight with Daishi "Do you think we should help him?"

Julia looked at Theodore before smiling gently "Why? From what I see, Ranma isn't even hurt" Theodore glanced at his wife through the corner of his eyes, as his daughter gasped.

Ranma stood up to his full height and brushed off the dirt that covered him "Dang... that was a nice hit there. Too bad your so weak, otherwise that might have hurt" Daishi growled and jumped into the air, his hands cupping at his side. Ranma, sensing the buildup of power, mimicked the motion and cupped his hands, drawing in his confidence.

Daishi noted the buildup, but smirked as he finished his own power up "Gado Beam!" He thrust his hands out as the white glow burst from his palms.

Britanny was about to run into the Frey, before Julia grabbed her arm and stopped her "Mom?!? What are you doing, I have to get him out of there!"

Julia just shook her head before looking back at the fight "Watch closely Britanny, you'll learn something" Britanny bit her lip and tried her best not to run in and save Ranma. Almost failing miserably twice.

Ranma watched as the energy came rushing toward him and then smirked, throwing out his hands and launching the yellow ball of energy "Moko Takabisha!" The energies collided not a foot from Ranma's palms, as they fought for power and destroyed each other in a shockwave of energy. Ranma smiled at Daishi as the confused ninja landed on the ground "Is that all you know, a few dirty tricks and a Ki blast?" Ranma shook his head before dashing forward and dodging a clumsy punch, then coming up with his fist primed "Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Britanny watched in amazement as over two hundred punches found their way into Daishi's stomach, and launched him through the same hole they entered through. With a sigh, Ranma turned toward the now clapping Julia and Theodore "Is that good enough?"

Julia nodded slightly before allowing a small smile to appear on her lips "Good enough, but far from your true potential" Ranma tilted his head in confusion before she sighed "Ranma, have you ever tested yourself against a more powerful opponent?"

Ranma fell down on the ground and crossed his legs, as he thought back "Well, there was the Dragon Prince Herb. The Phoenix God, Saffron. But none of them really pushed my powers to the max, why do you ask?"

Julia fought off the urge to face fault as Ranma talked about some of Earth's more powerful entities as if they were nothing "Well,... as a martial artist, I'm sure you know the need of fighting a more powerful opponent" Seeing Ranma's nod, she nods herself "Well, those you fought are nothing compared to some of the people we know. If you like, I would be honored to take you on as a student"

Ranma looked at Julia with a shamed looked on his face "I'm sorry,... Mrs. Diggers-"

Julia smiled comfortably before waving a hand "Julia"

Ranma nods at her before correcting himself "Julia... but I've had some bad experiences with people wanting to train me..." He looks down and then away from the group as tears find their way into his eyes "I don't even know how I can put up with seeing myself"

This peaked both Julia's and Theodore's interest "What do you mean, Ranma? What could be so bad that you couldn't look at yourself?"

Ranma sighed and sat back in the grass, noticing that both Brianna and Britanny sat next to him "because I turn into a big freaking cat,... that's why"

This time it was Britanny who spoke up, as she looked at Ranma with a slight anger in her voice, which came out in a sing-song way "What's so bad about turning into a 'freaking' cat, as you put it?" Everyone around her, grimaced as they recognized the tone she used.

Ranma turned his head and looked at Britanny sadly, which caused her to blink suddenly "Because of my past, I have an intense fear of cats. That jackass panda caused me to, not only hate, be terrified of the things I once loved and envied."

Theodore sat in front of Ranma, and crossed his legs in a thinking position "What could be so bad that it would cause you to hate them, if you don't mind me asking"

"I guess I don't,...It was a martial arts technique called the Neko-Ken" He sighed and looked down into his lap, not noticing the intense looks he was getting "The old man,... no... Genma Saotome threw me into a pit of starving cats, while I was tied with fish sausage. To add insult to injury, the bastard locked the lid covering the hole and left me in there, hours at a time."

Julia flinched at the mental image she received and sighed "I guess it's not so bad,... at least it was only once"

She was on the receiving end of a few nods, and one raised eyebrow "Who said it was just once,.... When that didn't work, he threw me in over twelve more times, each time with a different food. Just in case they didn't like the first one."

Wincing slightly, Julia sighed and marveled at Ranma's aura, as it churned from sadness, anger, and loneliness "Well,... I guess that is a good reason to have a passionate fear of cats, huh? Then again, if you turn into a cat, maybe that side of you merged with this technique?"

Ranma seemed to think about it for a moment before shrugging his shoulders "Or it could just be me, and I could be afraid of other cats" He sighed and looked at a now giggling Britanny as she shifted into her hybrid form.

Looking at Ranma, she got closer and rubbed against him playfully "So.... are you afraid? Are you terrified of little old me?"

Ranma blinked a few times before an excited look over came his face and swept Britanny up in a huge embrace "Britanny! Your the best!" He dropped her to the ground with a slight thud, and danced about the yard doing flips and the such "YES! Never gonna be afraid again!"

Britanny and Brianna blushed slightly as Ranma unconsciously shifted into his hybrid form and released all his pheromones into the air "While that's all good and such,.... can we get back to his were-form?"

Theodore nodded and watched as Ranma walked up to them and once again took a seat on the ground "Sure thing, I was just rather excited to never be afraid of cats again. You have no idea how much of a relief this is."

Chuckling slightly, Theodore nods again "I guess it would be, if you went through something like that and lived. Anyways, about your were-form, it seems that you are like Britanny here. Your form is a Cheetah, and so is hers. So we think, that since you two are the last two in existence of your kind, that you might know something about each other."

Looking away from the group, Ranma wiped away a threatening tear "I don't think I could be of much help there,.... I just found out about this around a week ago. I didn't even know my parents names until Genma told me. Hell, I would have loved to meet Cyan, or Xerxes" Ranma looked around the yard as it got too quiet for his tastes, and noticed they were all staring at him "W-What?"

Britanny's eyes were tearing up slightly as she got her hopes up slightly "D-Did you say, Cyan and Xerxes?" Ranma nodded slowly, trying to see if something was going to try and trick him or something. He was rather surprised when Britanny lunged onto him and cried hard against his chest "Y-Your,.... "

Ranma patted her back gently as Julia and Theodore smiled on, getting closer and holding each other "Ranma,... you said two words that might make your lives a bit better"

Ranma whispered some encouraging words into Britanny's ears before looking at the two of them and sighing "Care to explain?"

Brianna was trying her hardest not to do the same as Britanny was, but her tears were coming out just the same "It seems,... that your Britanny's brother then"

Ranma looked from Brianna, down to Britanny before smiling wide "A sister,... huh.. You know,.. I always wondered what it would be like to have a sister." He tightly embraced Britanny as she cried against his chest, not stopping any time soon. Ranma glanced out of the corner of his eye, still not used to such emotions, and noticed that Brianna seemed to be fighting with herself. Gently pulling Britanny away from him and giving a smile, he walked over and sat next to Brianna "What's wrong Brianna?"

She fidgeted under his gaze and sighed "Nothing really,.... I'm sure you don't know how I came to be, do you?"

Ranma blushed slightly before looking up and away from her "Well,... I know the basics of how that works....."

Blushing slightly and giggling while wiping away some of her tears "Not that, silly. I'm talking about how,.. I,.. came to be. I wasn't born to a family"

Looking at Ranma, she giggled at his confused look "Well,... Are you adopted or something?"

She looked away from Ranma and tried to hide her tears so that Ranma wouldn't see "I,... I was a curse..." She choked back a sob as Ranma gently patted her back "Britanny and Gina were on one of their treasure hunts when they contracted a curse. I don't remember how, but after that they had tried to remove the curse by making a doll and putting it in there. However they didn't stop to think that the doll might come alive and try to kill them,... I guess. Anyways, I am that doll, only I'm trying to live a full life now."

Ranma nodded to her and smiled gently "I think I understand how you feel. Half of the time I feel like I'm not in my own body myself. But, you do have a family, so why are you crying?"

Smiling at Ranma, she blushed and sniffled "Well,... after all was said and done, I was adopted by the Diggers and made one of their own. The only draw back is that I have a little of Gina in me, and a little of Britanny in me. I've always had to fight off the urges that both girls once had, and never got to experience anything for myself. It was always directly through them, did I get to know life."

Ranma put his arms around the young girl and held her close to him, stroking her hair gently and smiling more to himself than to her "Well,... you know. I always wanted a family,... would you be my sister too?"

Brianna seemed to purr and blush at the same time before pushing him away and looking away, the blush increasing "But if we're brother and sister,... we wouldn't be able to go out"

Ranma flinched back at the thought of having another woman chasing after his feelings "Is that so bad?"

Brianna turned her head and stared at Ranma in horror before getting up and running away "Ranma your horrible!" Ranma watched as she disappeared into the house, crying all the way.

It wasn't until Julia came up and smacked him upside the head, did Ranma blink "Ranma, what the heck did you say to her?"

Looking between the door and Julia, Ranma sighed "She told me how she came to be, and how she wanted to live a full life. Then it went to her feelings of not having a family. So I asked her if she wanted to be my sister" Julia smiled at that "and she told me that, if she was my sister, that we couldn't go out. I thought of my past in Nerima for a second before asking her if that was so bad, then she got up and ran away crying"

Britanny looked at Ranma in shock before slapping him gently on the cheek "Ranma,... your so dense. Don't think about your past, think about your future. She didn't want to be a family with you because she had a crush on you. I think that she wants to START a family with you" She blushed in the end and looked away, trying not to blush harder as her thoughts went to little baby Strype's running around the yard.

Ranma watched as Britanny got a far away look in her eyes and giggled madly "I understand that,... but I don't know how to deal with those kinds of emotions. I've had three women after me my entire stay in Nerima, and one of them hitting me for the other three chasing me. I've never had to sit down and sort out my feelings before, and I've really never gave it any thought. I mean, sure I want a family some day, but I don't know if I'm willing to even think about it right now...... to tell the truth,... it scares me"

Theodore looked at Ranma before smiling sadly "Then I guess it can't be helped... it seems that you have already made up your mind about that whole ordeal. If your anything like Britanny,... then you won't change your mind" He looked at Britanny, hoping to break her out of her dreams, but failed miserably as she kept giggling.

Ranma sighed and looked down at his hands before remembering how soft Brianna was when she was clutching onto him "I don't know what to think....... and I'm scared of these emotions. They have been nothing but trouble for me, and I don't want that anymore. It's bad enough that I don't have a true family to call my own anymore. I don't need anything to screw up my thoughts any further."

Julia walked over to Ranma "Ranma?" He looked up at her and was victim of a slap across the face "You need to quit feeling sorry for yourself. What's done is done, and can't be undone. Instead of looking back, look toward the future. Can you honestly see yourself with someone at this moment? Are your thoughts on a particular person?"

Ranma started to shiver nervously as his eyes darted back and forth to look for a certain demented mallet wielding Tendo "Um,.... I-I" His eyes started to shake as his vision dimmed and he gripped his head in agony.

Britanny watched in amazement as Ranma's body shifted into his Cheetah form and nearly disappeared from view as he ran away "W-What just happened?"

Theodore leveled a look at Julia that made her blush, abashed "Ranma has a number of fiancée problems back in Japan, and my guess is that he doesn't want a single one of them. When Julia brought up all the stuff about where his thoughts were at, and if they were on a particular person. Ranma did the only thing he knew, and ran away from his problems."

Julia shifted nervously under his look before sighing out "Well, I guess we can only wait for him to come back..... Honestly, to think that Ranma had this many problems with relationships, as to run away."

Britanny looked between her mother and father before looking back at the house and seeing Brianna look around the corner of the door "Brianna! Come on out, we're going to hunt for Ranma!" at the mention of Ranma's name, Brianna flew right back into the house in a flurry of emotions as Britanny slumped slightly "I guess it's just me then...." Britanny wasted no time in running after Ranma's form, that was a shadow in the sun's rays. Covering the ground with her hybrid form, Britanny's eyes looked from side to side, trying to find any trace of Ranma. She ran for what seemed like hours as she finally stopped to take a rest in a nearby park, throwing herself down on one of the benches.

Ranma watched from the tree as Britanny sat on the bench and then dropped himself down behind her "So,.... "

Britanny jumped forward off of the bench and did a roll on the ground before standing "Jesus Ranma! You scared me half to death!"

Ranma gave a weak smile before taking a seat on the bench where Britanny once was "Sorry, I thought you heard me"

Britanny watched Ranma as he took his seat on the bench and sighed before sitting next to him "So,.... are you okay?"

Glancing nervously around him, Ranma sighed and sat against the back of it "I don't know,... I've never had to stop and think about settle down before. I've always been too busy running from either my life, or my fiancée's. Sure I want kids, just like every other person in the world. But I don't think I'm ready to even start dating yet"

Britanny smiled at him as she gripped his hand gently "Ranma, there is something you have to know about Brianna before you jump to conclusions."

Ranma shook his head and smiled at her "I know all about her, and how she's part you and Gina. It seems like Brianna believes that she doesn't have a life of her own. While part of me wants to help her, the other part of me is scared by her forwardness."

Britanny stood up and pulled Ranma to his feet "You might not believe this Ranma, but there is even more to her that you can't understand unless your alone."

Ranma smirked slightly before chuckling "I've been alone my whole life, I have feelings and stuff that I haven't told a soul. Not even Genma or Akane. Does she know how it feels to be surrounded by people who just wants to use you to further their own gain?" Ranma sighs before calming himself down "Do you have any idea how much it hurts to be hated and despised by the people you thought were your family?"

Britanny sobbed gently as Ranma poured his heart out to her, and soon embraced him tightly "This is the reason you need someone like her. She may not be much of a talker, but she loves to listen. Just be sure to not bring up anything about sex...... she has a keen sense on the subject."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ranma and Britanny both turn their heads toward the voice and notice a puffy eyed Brianna "Is that how you see me Britanny? Just as some girl who only wants sex to make me feel whole?" Before Britanny could open her mouth, Brianna continued "Sure I use it as a way of getting pleasure and feeling loved, but it's not something I need to feel human" Ranma looked at the two Were-Cheetahs before sighing and walking over to Brianna and hauling her over to the bench and sitting her down.

"I guess it's time we had a talk,.... like a family" Ranma smiled at the two before looking down at his hands "Let's start by telling a little about each other. That way we can get a better grasp on who feels like what, and why" They all smiled at him as they started to talk about their lives.

TO BE CONTINUED____________