Change, Grow, To Live
					  by Shaule Sachs
						  Part 4

= - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - =
Version 0.4

= - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - =

	Ranma awoke feeling more rested than he had ever felt. As he
awoke his senses told him something was different... nothing wrong,
mind you, simply different. Whatever the differences was, for once,
was not life threating, so he ignored it as he got out of bed and
headed towards the bathroom.
	//Wait a moment,// Ranma thought to himself. //I don't sleep
in a bed...//
	Ranma looked around and realized he wasn't in his room at the
Tendo's. The room consisted of a simply bed, a small closet, a small
window, and two wooden doors. The style of the room was foreign to
him. As matter of fact, he didn't even know how he got to where ever
he was...
	A slight breeze alerted him to the fact that he wasn't wearing
anything. The breeze was actually warm which puzzled Ranma since it
was the middle of winter in Nerima... Looking inside the small closet,
he found various clothes, all the correct size and fit for him to
wear. Also, while the clothing styles varied, the styles were to
Ranma's liking... As if he, himself, had picked them out... which he
didn't remember doing. 
	The second wooden door, which clearly couldn't lead anywhere,
puzzled him. Letting his curiosity get the better of him, he opened
the door. What he discovered was a small western-style bathroom with a
small shower stall, a toilet, and a sink. Somehow he just knew where
the things he needed where, so Ranma showered, brushed his teeth, and
got dressed in his usual red Chinese outfit. Again, without knowing
how he knew, he opened the other door and walked down the hall to the
dining room.
	In the dining room, the strange lady from last night was sitting
at a table. Upon Ranma's entrance she looked up and said, "Good
morning, Ranma."
	"Good morning..." Ranma began but couldn't continue because he
didn't even know how to address the woman.
	Ranma saw a slight pained look cross the woman's face but it had
a touch of understanding in it too. The woman looked him up and down
as if searching for something. Upon finding it she said, "So much like
your father..."
	Ranma was confused. What did Genma Saotome has to do with
anything? And normally, Ranma didn't like it when women looked at him
like that, but this time... There was something different in that
look.
	The woman motioned Ranma to seat next to her. When he did, the
woman gave him a breakfast similar to what he wold have gotten at the
Tendo's... although it wasn't as good as Kasumi's.
	The woman sighed and said, "I have so much to tell you, Ranma, I
don't know where to begin..."
	Ranma, of course, said the first thing that came to mind, "You
can start at the beginning..."
	With a slight smile, the woman said, "In the Beginning, there was
light and darkness..."
	"You don't have to go that far back," Ranma laughed.
	"In this case, Ranma, I do," the woman said seriously. "But
you're right, the details you can learn later, if you wish... Anyway,
after Odin-sama and the other 'All-Fathers' joined together to form
Kami-sama, Kami-sama assigned the other gods and goddesses their
domains. To the domain of Time, the Past, the Present, and the Future,
Kami-sama gave to..."
	"The three Norns," Ranma replied. "I heard all about Urthr,
Verthandi, and Skuld... Nordic Mythology *so* cool. All that
fighting... Continuing on even though you know you're doomed... The
honor..."
	"It's *Urd*," the woman interrupted. "And my sister's name is
*Belldandy*, not Verthandi, at least, that fool poet got Skuld's name
right."
	"What?" Ranma exclaimed. "You're saying that *your* sister is the
Goddess of the Present..."
	"Yes," the woman responded. "Our names are a touchy subject with
us."
	Shaking his head, Ranma stated, "You're not trying to tell me
that *you're* Urthr -- I mean Urd?"
	"This isn't going the way I planned," Urd answered. She sighed
and continued, "But, yes, I am Urd..."
	"The Goddess of the Past?" Ranma stated incredibly.
	"Yes," Urd answered simply.
	"If you're a goddess," Ranma asked. "What does that have to do
with me?"
	"Seventeen years ago," Urd replied gently. "I was pregnant... I
was scared... I thought it would be better if my son would grow up
with a mortal couple than my attempting to raise him by myself."
	"But..." Ranma started to say.
	Urd cut him off by saying, "What has that to do with you?
Everything, for you see, Ranma, you are *my* biological *son*..."
	"But..." Ranma started to say.
	"Definitely, your father's son," Urd sighed. "Part of my job was
to grant wishes to certain mortals... It was just after I gave birth
to you, that I had my first wish granting assignment. My assignment
was a young woman named Nodoka Saotome... she had been married to
Genma Saotome for two years without having any children."
	"Then what about me?" Ranma asked in a pained, little voice.
	"It was Nodoka's wish to have a child to *give* to her husband,"
Urd continued. "As I said, I felt that I couldn't raise you, so, I
gave you over to the Saotome... thus fulfilling Nodoka's wish."
	"Then," Ranma said in a small voice, "Who am I?"
	"You're my son," Urd said gently. "Kami-sama sent me to you on
the pretext that you deserved a wish... What you truly deserved was
the truth..."
	"But," Ranma injected. He was confused. He had always assumed
that he was the biological child of the Saotomes and yet Nodoka had
allow Genma to take Ranma away over all those extended training trips.
She knew what kind of man Genma was, especially without her around,
and yet, all she did was have Genma swear an oath, a strong one sure,
but one Nodoka must have known that Genma would never fulfill, either
way. And to top it off, the Tendos had to do some very fast talking in
order to convince Nodoka not to have Ranma go through with the promise
that five year old Ranma and Genma had made. Ranma had always wondered
why he didn't feel as connected with Nodoka as the Tendo daughters
seemed to be with their departed mother. Ranma had simply assumed it
was because he spent so little time with her... But on reflection,
Akane had spent as much time as with her mother as he did with Nodoka
since Akane's mother died about the same time, Ranma and Genma started
their training trips. And yet, while Ranma couldn't dismiss what Urd's
was saying completely out of hand. It was still unbelievable.
	"You need proof," Urd stated. "Just like your father...."
	"You keep saying that," Ranma complained. "And yet, you claim to
be my mother..."
	"What? You think *I* got pregnant by Genma Saotome?" Urd asked in
surprise. "Oh no... Your father is Raijin."
	"Raijin?" Ranma exclaimed. "As in the 'god of thunder and
lightning' Raijin..."
	"That him," Urd sounded pleased. "He doesn't make friends easily,
but once you get to know him...." Urd blushed.
	"This is too much," Ranma stated. "I'm out of here." Ranma got up
and headed for the door...
	"Sit down, young man," Urd commanded.
	"Or what?" Ranma asked angrily. His eyes were glowing and there
were two slanted lines on his forehead for a moment. 
	Calmly, Urd pleaded, "Please, Ranma. I know I haven't been much of
a mother to you... I'm sorry. But there's more that I have to tell
you."
	Ranma counted to ten and then sat back down.
	"How often have you done that?" Urd asked.
	"Done what?" Ranma replied confused.
	"Show your..." Urd began. She hestiated a moment and continued in
a pained voice, "'birthmarks' like that."
	"My what?" Ranma was more confused at Urd's question.
	"Making your eyes glow like you did a few moment ago," Urd
answered. "And making those slanted lines appear of your forehead."
	"Huh?" Ranma asked.
	"You don't know..." Urd stated in amazement. "Haven't you noticed
that you're different from other people..."
	"No, I'm not," Ranma put in too quickly.
	"Come on, Ranma," Urd remarked. "You're the best martial artists
in Nerima..."
	"But I've been training since I could stand on my own," Ranma
countered.
	"Ryouga and Shampoo have been training just as long," Urd
continued. "And they're not in the same league as you are.  And what
about how fast you heal and how much damage you can take?"
	"I've been trained..." Ranma began but Urd countered with, "When?
You have always been able to heal faster than any mortal could..."
	Ranma tried to responded with, "Ryouga..." 
	"Ryouga was only recently able to withstand some of the damage
that you could have taken all a long and that was with Cologne's
training," Urd stated.
	Ranma remember a time, back when he was about seven when he and
Genma had stayed at a Shinto Temple for a while. He remembered getting
very mad at Genma for the various things that he had done. He also
remembered how one of the priests had overheard his screaming at his
father. The priest had came over in order to mediate the argument but
upon seeing Ranma began screaming that Ranma was a demon. Ranma and
Genma left rather quickly after that and Genma had avoided any Temple
or priests after that. Ranma had thought that it was simply because
Genma felt guilty about the things he stole from that Temple but this
was Genma he was thinking about...
	"Am I a demon?" Ranma asked suddenly.
	"Well, that's a complicated question..." Urd began.
	Ranma repeated, "Am I a demon?"
	"Well, you see... I'm only half goddess..." Urd stated. "My
mother was a demon and Raijin changed sides.... Maybe Kami-sama should
answer this question...  Let's go see Him."
	Ranma's eyes got very round. It was one thing for Urd to claim to
be one of the Norns out of myth. It quite was another to go see
Kami-sama, especially as casual to say that like Urd had just did.
	Grabbing Ranma's hand Urd said, "Come on..."

[=== End of Part 4 ===]