Dear Son
I know this may seem strange for me to contact you after so many years. You were five when my husband, your father, said that he needed to take you on a training trip. He had promised to care for you and to bring you up properly. At the time I had no reason to doubt him. Why should I, he was my husband. Since then I have been constantly getting postcards from your father telling me that you were fine and that your training was going well. For years this was enough for me.

It wasn't until recently that I began to doubt the letters. It was this doubt and the fact that I missed both of you that prompted me to hire a private detective to find you and your father. You can imagine my shock when I found out that he had not taken care of you, but rather had abused you. Also, he had lost you ten years ago. I can only hope, my son, that you can find it in your heart to forgive a traditional woman. One who was fool enough to trust her own husband to take care of their only child. I would very much wish to see you again. I have placed my address in Nerima at the bottom of this letter, and although I am a women of modest means, I will try to cover any travel expenses necessary.

I hope to see you soon.
Your mother,
Nodoka Saotome

NEKO CAN'T

By: James Lee
Story Idea by: Gregg Sharp

Disclaimer: Ranma and company belongs to Viz. Gold Diggers belongs to Antarctic Press and Fred Perry. No profit is being made off of this fanfiction.

Part 5
Reika watched as Nodoka paced back and forth. Her friend's son was coming home today for the first time in ten years. Nodoka, to say the least, was somewhat nervous.

"Nodoka, will you please stop pacing? You're making me dizzy."

"I'm sorry, I can't help it. I can't calm down. What if Ranma doesn't want me? What if he's angry at me for letting Genma take him on that training trip? What if he hates me?" said Nodoka as she looked down at a piece of paper. *What if he isn't manly?*

Reika noticed her friend looking down at what appeared to be some kind of document. "Umm, Nodoka? What's that?"

Nodoka looked at her friend for a moment then looked down at the paper. "It's a promise made by Genma. He left it when he took Ranma."

Reika raised an eyebrow. "May I see it?"

Nodoka looked at the document once more, then handed it to her friend. As Reika read the promise Genma had made, her eyes narrowed. "No-chan, you've got to get rid of this."

"Y-you don't think I'll actually...?"

"No, but that doesn't matter! If Ranma sees this, he's liable to head straight back to America and stay there!"

"You think he'll choose that other family instead of me?"

"Nodoka, we're talking about the people who have cared for him for the past ten years. He barely remembers you, and will likely not trust you, until he gets to know you again. This WILL NOT HELP. In addition, this contract isn't even legal. Ranma was way too young to know what he was signing."

"But it was signed with his father's supervision..."

"With Genma's record? I seriously doubt that'll hold up Nodoka. Besides,..." said Reika pointing at the various handprints all over the document. "This isn't a signature, it's a child's finger painting."

"Are you sure, Reika? Japanese law is very strict on this."

"Yes it is. However, you must keep in mind that Ranma is an American citizen. If someone was to push this on him, he could call the US embassy for help. I know enough about the US legal system to know that they will not find this death contract valid. Also he isn't legally your son anymore and he sure as hell isn't going to want his name back if it means this! Please Nodoka, get rid it."

Nodoka closed her eyes, then nodded. "So you think he won't trust me?"

"Well, let's just say that he doesn't know you. To tell the truth, this could only be the first of many visits. And even if he does get to like you, he might choose to stay with his current family for other reasons. Have you thought about what I said earlier this morning?"

"I-I'm still not too sure. Probably. I want to see Genma first."

"Well keep it in mind." Nodoka once more nodded her head.

*****

Ranma sat in his seat watching the scenery pass by. *Japan...* He was born here, but it almost seemed like a different world now. A world made darker by this sudden change of events. He was going to see his mother for the first time in over ten years. He wasn't sure if he should be glad or not. Ranma couldn't really remember what she looked like. He had no idea of what she was really...

"What cha thinking about Ranma?" asked Britanny who was sitting next to him. She, Gina and their father had come with Ranma on this first trip to see his birth mother.

"I-I wonder what she's like."

"Your mother?" Britanny looked at Ranma. She wondered what it would be like, if a member of her family suddenly contacted her. "Well, the letter sounded nice enough."

"Yeah, she sounded nice enough, but what will happen when she sees my curse? What if she thinks I'm a freak? Or worse, what if she's just like Genma?"

Dr. Diggers, who was sitting across from Ranma, looked into his eyes. "Ranma, know that no matter what happens, I will always consider you my son."

"Yeah, and you'll always be our little brother Ranma." Said Gina, who was also sitting across from Ranma. "So, if this Nodoka can't handle your condition or turns out to be a real witch, then we'll just go back to the airport and have Ace fly us back to Atlanta."

Ranma smiled, "Thanks guys."

*****

Nodoka practically bolted upright at the ring of the doorbell. After rushing to the door, Nodoka took a deep breath and opened it. She found herself facing a tall gaijin man with gray hair and a beard. Behind him were two girls and...*Ranma.* The boy was tall and well built. His black hair was done in a long braid and Nodoka could see some of herself in his face.

"Mrs. Saotome?" asked the gentleman.

"Y-Yes?" replied Nodoka facing the man before her. He smiled and bowed slightly to her.

"I am Dr. Diggers and this is your son..."

"Ranma!" Unable to hold it in any longer, Nodoka ran past the man and grabbed her son in a hug, sobbing. "My baby's finally home! I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

For a moment the Ranma just blinked, trying figure out what to do. He then returned her hug. "It's OK Mother, it's going to be all right."

As she calmed down, Nodoka took a step back and tried to dry her eyes. "W-Where are my manners? Please come in."

Dr. Diggers nodded and followed Nodoka into the house. The others quickly followed. They went to the table where another woman was waiting. Sitting beside the other woman, Nodoka decided to continue the introductions.

"This is my friend Reika Nogami, she's the private detective who helped me find you." Reika bowed slightly to the group. Ranma bowed back, then turned to his sisters.

"Oh and these are my sisters, Gina..." Said girl smiled and waved her hand. "...and Britanny."

"Call me Cheetah." said Britanny. Nodoka looked at the girl for a moment. While wondering if the spots in Britanny's hair were real, she realized that she would have to do something about the girl's fashion sense. While the clothes she was wearing were nice, they were way too big for the small girl. She was practically swimming in them.

"Now, before we begin, I think I-I should show you something." said Ranma, somewhat nervously.

"Oh? What?" asked Nodoka.

Ranma turned to his father and sisters, who all nodded. "Well, last month I was on a training trip in China. On our way back we stopped by a place known as Jusenkyo. It was a place filled with all these cursed springs."

Nodoka raised an eyebrow, but let her son continue. "After finding out about the curses, we were keeping our distance from the place. Then however, this evil little genius by the name of Talon showed up and attacked us. Sometime during the fight, he threw a hand grenade and it blew me into one of the cursed springs."

"S-So you're cursed now?" Ranma nodded. Nodoka took a deep breath; she wasn't sure she should believe him or not. "So...what does this curse do?"

"It's a shape shifting curse that's activated by water." said Ranma as he grabbed a nearby glass of water. Nodoka's eyes widened as Ranma poured the water on himself. Before her eyes, the tall boy who was her son became a very attractive red haired girl. "As you can see, cold water turns me into a girl. Hot water changes me back."

Nodoka tried to calm herself down as Reika stared at the redhead, mouth agape. She then turned to Nodoka and whispered to her. "Guess it's a good thing we got rid of that paper, huh?"

Nodoka nodded, as she watched Ranma change back with some water from a thermos. "So hot water changes you back to a boy." Ranma nodded. "Well, I don't see why that should be a problem we can't overcome."

The four sighed in relief at hearing this. Nodoka then continued, "You said you were on a training trip, are you still studying the martial arts?"

Ranma smiled, happy to get away from the subject of the curse, and nodded.

"Well, I would like to see how strong you are. Would you mind having a small sparring match?"

Once more Ranma nodded his head.

*****

In the back yard of the Saotome home was a small dojo. Inside Ranma and Nodoka faced off with two wooden bokkens. Dr. Diggers and Gina sat at the entrance with Reika to watch. Britanny, who was sitting at the opposite end from her sister and father, had her hand raised. Snapping it down she yelled.

"BEGIN!"

For a moment Nodoka circled Ranma, her sword held at the ready. Ranma for his part stood in the middle of the floor in a relaxed pose. Nodoka frowned at how unskilled her son seemed to be,...or was he? *Is he that foolish or is he trying to lull me into a false sense of security?* Seeing that Ranma wasn't willing to make the first move, there was only one way for her to find out.

"KYAAAAHHH!" In an instant Nodoka crossed the area between them and let loose a series of attacks. Ranma parried the first two attacks, and dodged the third. Jumping back, Nodoka once again began to circle Ranma. *Well his defense is strong. Now, let's see how good his offense is.*

Seeing that his mother wasn't going to fall for his ruse anymore, Ranma started to attack. Nodoka quickly found herself hard pressed to defend herself. *His offense is also strong.* Nodoka began sweating as Ranma picked up speed. She could now see that he was holding back. *Well, let's see how he deals with this!*

Nodoka struck Ranma's bokken and with a special twist it was sent flying out of his hands to land behind her. She then swung at her unarmed son. Ranma jumped over the sword swipe. Nodoka blinked as Ranma seemed to disappear before her eyes. She then felt his hand land on top of her head. Realizing what was happening, Nodoka wheeled around, but it was all ready too late. Ranma had bounced off her head and recovered his lost weapon. He was still on his knees however, so Nodoka pressed her attack while she still had the advantage.

Ranma began to parry his mother's blows at a furious speed. He then smirked as an idea came to him. Nodoka blinked, as with the same special twist, her own weapon was sent flying out of her hands. Rolling under and past Ranma, Nodoka made a grab for her sword, but was stopped when his foot slammed down on the blade. Seeing that he now had her, Nodoka said, "Yield!"

Reika whistled as Ranma stepped back and bowed slightly. "That was a good fight."

Nodoka nodded. "Yes, although I could see that you were holding back. You used just enough force to keep me in. I would however, like to see just how strong you really are."

Ranma thought for a moment, then looked over at Britanny. "Hey Sis, up for a spar?"

"Sure!" said Britanny as she walked out to the center of the dojo.

Nodoka joined Gina and Dr. Diggers on the sideline. She wondered how her son was going to show his strength with this much smaller girl. Maybe the girl was stronger than she looked, like that little pervert Happosai. Turning to Gina, Nodoka asked, "Is Britanny a strong fighter?"

"She is in her hybrid form."

"H-Her hybrid form?"

Dr. Diggers turned to her. "I guess we should warn you. Britanny, like Ranma, is adopted. She's really a lycanthrope."

"A-A lycanthrope, you mean like a werewolf!?"

Gina and her father winced at the word werewolf. *Better not let Britanny hear you compare her to one of those.* "Not quite, she's actually a werecheetah."

"A-A werecheetah?"

"You'll see." said Dr. Diggers.

Nodoka gasped as Britanny suddenly sprouted spotted fur and sprang to a height of seven feet. She now had a tail and pointed ears. The clothes that had looked so baggy on her before, were now skin tight. Nodoka was about to say something about that, but then realized that anything looser and the cat girl wouldn't be able to wear them in human form.

As the two began to fight, Dr. Diggers whispered to Nodoka. "You'll see that Britanny is much faster and stronger than Ranma, but he makes up for it in skill."

Nodoka winced as Britanny, missing, punched a hole in a nearby post.

"Umm Cheets, I think we better take this outside." said Ranma.

"Ahh, right. Sorry Mrs. Saotome." said Britanny as she followed Ranma out the entrance.

"That's ok." said Nodoka as she herself followed to watch. Once outside she could clearly see that Ranma outclassed her. Both Ranma and Britanny were now throwing punches and dodging at a blinding rate. Nodoka could see how the two were almost evenly matched. Ranma seemed to able to read and dodge any move the werecheetah could throw. Meanwhile, Britanny seemed to be able to shake off any blow that Ranma could land.

"Hey Ranma, when are you going to show me all those so called great Amazon moves you learned?"

*So she wants to see an Amazon move huh?* Ranma smirked as he had just the move in mind. "I don't know Chester. I don't think you're ready for any of those."

Britanny nearly stopped. "Ranma, I've told you not to call me that!"

"Oh, is that so CHESTER?"

Gina blinked. *Is he trying to piss her off? And why's he fighting in a spiral now?*

"Hey Chester, how's that commercial go?"

"RRaannmmaa!" growled Britanny as she tried harder to hit him. He knew damn good and well she hated that name.

"I'm in hot pursuit!"

"RRaannmmmaaa!"

"In my BAAAAAD motor scoot"

"RRRAAAANNNMMMAAA!!!"

"After the one, the only, CHHHEEEETTTOOOOS!"

"AAARRRGHHH!" Baring her fangs, Britanny lunged at Ranma. Just as she was on top him, Ranma suddenly punched up. Nodoka yelped and dove for cover as a tornado suddenly sprang up in her back yard; the others did likewise. Dr. Diggers watched as the tornado started to pick up rocks, garden tools, and other debris. For a moment he thought that Ranma had learned some sort of weather spell, but he couldn't detect any magic. As the tornado died down, they could see Ranma standing in the middle. His clothes where torn, but his body was apparently unscathed. Britanny came crashing down behind him.

Rushing over to her sister, Gina turned Britanny over to see her eyes spinning. "Are you ok Britanny?"

"O-o, tunie fishies..." Gina looked back up at her brother. "What was that!?"

"One of the new Amazon moves I learned, the Rising Dragon Ascension."

Nodoka stepped forward. "How does it work?"

Ranma shook his head, "I'm sorry, but the person who taught it to me made me promise not to teach it to anyone else."

"I see."

Ranma nodded then looked down at his sister, who was just starting to recover. "Sorry about all the name calling Sis. It only works if your opponent is really mad."

"I'll forgive you, this time." said Britanny as she got up.

"Still Ranma, you should be more careful. Someone could have gotten hurt." said Dr. Diggers. Gina nodded in agreement. Both Ranma and Britanny rolled their eyes.

"Sure thing Dad." Theodore just glared at the two as he could see that, like usual, they weren't taking it seriously.

"Well why we don't all go back to the dining room. I'll make us something to eat." said Nodoka as she headed to the house, the others following. As they walked, Nodoka turned to Ranma. "By the way, where did you learn my special disarming move?"

"Actually, he probably learned it from you." replied Britanny.

Nodoka blinked. "W-What?"

"You see, Ranma was always good at learning martial arts moves quickly. Then he had a match with a friend of ours. Seeing this guy learn any martial arts move instantly sort of inspired Ranma to do the same."

"Oh, who was he?"

"Ryan Talbot." answered Ranma. "Haven't seen him a while though."

*****

A short while later, the group was once more sitting at the table. Ranma and Britanny had changed into some new clothes and Nodoka was now serving dinner. Figuring that the Americans would prefer Forks and knives over chop sticks, Nodoka placed out her fine silverware. Looking down at the shiny silver utensils, Britanny gulped.

"Umm, Ranma." said Britanny pointing at the silverware on the table. Nodding, Ranma began gathering up the silver in front of Britanny as Gina took out a small package. Inside the package was a knife, fork, and spoon, all made of plastic.

"Umm is there something wrong?" asked Nodoka.

Ranma shook his head, "No, it's just that silver and werecheetahs don't mix. Nodoka nodded in understanding as she began to serve her guest. After she had served everyone, she sat down.

"So Ranma, what's your home in America like?" asked Reika.

"Atlanta? It's sort of like this city. It's got a mass transit system, high rises, and lots of suburbs. Of course Atlanta's a lot smaller than Tokyo and it doesn't have a port."

"Do you have a girlfriend back home?" asked Nodoka.

"Unfortunately." grumbled Gina. Nodoka blinked at this. Apparently this was a loaded question.

"Umm excuse me. Did I say something wrong?"

"Oh no mother..." said Ranma. "Gina doesn't approve of my girlfriend because she happens to be Penny Pincer's cousin."

"I still think you can do better than her, Ranma. And Penny has nothing to do with it!"

"SSSuurre Gina. Tell us another one." said Ranma and Britanny at the same time. Gina just growled and Nodoka decided to change the subject.

"Umm Ranma, now that we've found you, will you be willing to rejoin the Saotome register?"

Ranma sighed, he knew this question was going to come up sooner or later. "I'm sorry Mother, I will be keeping the Diggers name. I can't imagine my life without Gina, Cheetah or Dad, not to mention my friends back home. Also, does the name Daijkoku mean anything to you?"

Nodoka shook her head. "Ah, no?"

"How about Tanaka, Shintoro, or Shiga?"

Once more Nodoka shook her head. "I don't understand. I've never heard of any of these people."

Ranma then went on to explain the various arranged marriages that Genma had set up to fill his stomach. As Ranma continued to go into detail, Nodoka became more and more angry. How could her husband sell her son for a fish, rice, and two pickles!? She now understood what Reika meant by "other reasons".

"So you see Mother, why I must keep the Diggers name?. If I take up the Saotome name, I'll be obligated to marry all of those girls and who knows how many more."

"I-I think I understand Son." replied Nodoka sadly.

Ranma looked at her for a moment. "I-I still want to get to know you though and I think I know how I can do it."

Nodoka looked up sharply. "Y-You do?"

"Yes, I'm going to be part of this student exchange program. I'm going to be going to school here in Tokyo, so I can stay here with you for the next few months."

Nodoka's face lit up at hearing this. "That's wonderful! Umm, which school will you be going to?"

"I think it's close enough to here." said Ranma. "It's some place called Furinken High School."

To be continued:

Next:
-Ranma's first day at Furinken High. Where he makes some new enemies. Guess who.