On that fateful day, the clouds seemed to be moving in for a downpour on Sunnydale. But that could not ruin Joyce Summers' joyous feeling at the moment. She held the postcard in her shaky hands, and cried a waterfall of tears. "Xa-Xander. . . Coming here?!"
She inhaled deeply and sighed. "Oh how I've waited for this day!!"
After some minutes of reflection on the horrendous writing on the postcard and concluding an animal must have written it, Joyce called out to her three daughters from the Summers gathering room. "TARA! DAWN! BUFFY!"
"Tara!"
"Yes, mother?" The nineteen-year-old blonde replied from the kitchen.
"Dawn!"
The long-haired girl looked up from her manga at the call of her name "Hmm?"
"Buffy! Where is that girl?"
The youngest daughter was no where to be found in the Summers home until footsteps arrived at the front door.
"I'm hoooooome!" she shouted. As soon as she made it into her room, she quickly changed into her gi and then headed towards the training hall to practice. She stacked two cement blocks on top of one another and then struck her fist directly on the top block, smashing everything to pieces.
She looked at the mess with satisfaction and wiped the sweat from her face. "Whew!"
"There you are." said Dawn as she walked into the room. "No wonder the boys think you're so weird."
Buffy frowned at her sister, "Why should I care?! Not everyone thinks the world revolves around... ugh... ick... boys, Dawn!"
"No," she said, quietly, turning towards the doorway. "Then I guess this wouldn't interest YOU."
She glanced back and saw curiosity on Buffy's face, and smiled.
Later that day, the rain began to come down. The sound of the droplets splashing into the backyard koi pond could not compare to the chorus of the Summers daughter's voices raised in surprise, "FIANCE?!!"
"Yes. The son of a very good friend of mine," Joyce explained. "The son's name is Xander Harris. If one of you three girls marry him and carry on this dojo, then the Summers family legacy would be secure."
She nodded, firmly, thinking that her future was also secure since her daughter and her daughter's future husband could care for her in her old age.
Buffy was the first to voice her opinion of such a notion, "Don't WE have some say in who we marry?!"
"Buffy's right, mother," Dawn piped in. "We've never even MET Xander."
Joyce grinned, holding up the postcard to the girls, "That's easily fixed."
Meanwhile somewhere elsewhere in Sunnydale, a young, red-haired girl was running down the street, carrying a bag of groceries. It was just her luck to get stuck with making dinner *and* stuck in the onslaught rain. She heard the thunder roaring above and leapt into the air in sighed, "Damn hellish weather."
Willow Rosenburg wasn't fond of the rain pouring down on her.
Suddenly she looked ahead and saw...
"It's... It's a... panda... and a red-haired girl?!!"
She watched as the short, red-headed girl kicked the panda's face, knocking him back onto the slippery road.
"That IS a panda, isn't it?" a bystander questioned.
The panda stood up and fell into a fighting position. Everyone continued watching as the bold girl took a defensive stance. Willow stared at the two beings, wondering what in the world had happened to the neighborhood. The panda finally attacked with a flurry of punches and kicks. What amazed Willow even more was the girl was able to dodge all of them.
The panda's left arm slipped by the girl's head as she yelled, "Well, I STILL say this whole thing SUCKS!"
She grabbed his arm.
"Picking my fiancee for me. . ." she said while heaving the panda's huge body effortlessly over herself, "without even ASKING!!"
Willow suddenly jumped up as she realized the panda had crashed into a traffic sign right next to her. "Maybe I should leave now."
She was about to run away but slipped in a puddle and fell on her butt.
"Ouch."
The panda reached for the traffic sign and uprooted it from the ground.
Willow yelled "Look out!" at the girl who had turned and was walking away.
The girl turned back and saw it.
Willow saw the strong girl glaring at the panda, who was climbing on his feet again.
"Back for more, old man?" said the young girl.
The panda moved.
He rolled forward.
Not expecting that, the red-haired girl backed away as the animal prepared to attack with the weapon. She decided to charge at the panda before he could make a move.
Willow was just standing up when her eyes nearly popped out of her head, seeing the panda holding the sign. The panda was about to swing it at the charging girl when the girl suddenly disappeared from the panda's view. The panda quickly moved around and held the traffic sign pointing straight up and Willow saw the young girl fall on it and knock herself unconscious.
The panda picked up the girl and her backpack too, sweating as the people around him began to snicker. Someone commented, "Did ja see that? That panda tried to kill that poor girl."
"What a reckless creature."
"No wonder pandas are wanted."
"Don't ja mean endangered?"
The panda roared at the crowds, hoping to scare them away. Most people left the scene, but being scared was the last thing on their list. The animal growled at Willow and Willow fled. After a few moments of silence staring up at the sky, the panda shrugged, grabbed his backpack, and continued his journey.
Joyce commented "He'll be here any minute." She stood and walked toward the garden. "Xander and his father have been on a training mission. Recently they crossed into China."
Dawn squealed, "Ohh, China!"
Tara asked, "Mother, how old is this... Xander?"
Dawn joined in the game of twenty questions, "Is he cute?"
"Younger men are so... young," Tara commented.
Dawn posed another question, "Well, what kind of guy is he?"
Joyce laughed at the questions before turning her head to look at her daughters and responded, "I don't know."
Dawn sounded disbelieving. "You don't know?"
Looking back over her garden, Joyce responded, "I've never met him."
A moment later the sound of a door opening could be heard.
Tara said, "sounds like we have visitors," as she stood.
"Ohh! It must be Xander!" Dawn stood and hurried to the door.
Joyce rushed to greet Anthony. "Harris, my friend. We've been waiting."
Tara sighed as she followed at a more patient pace. "I hope that he's older than me."
Suddenly, Dawn screamed, and rushed back followed closely by Joyce. Behind them came a panda walking on its hind legs carrying a backpack in one hand and a small person over the other shoulder.
Buffy stood behind her family, with a look of sheer disbelief.
"So mother. This is your friend?" inquired Tara.
Joyce shook her head vigorously, still too startled to speak.
Dawn gave her mother a skeptical look. "Oh, so this panda just decided to drop in is that it?"
Again, Joyce just shook her head.
The panda set the person down.
She looked shamefully away from the Summers.
Joyce asked, "You wouldn't be...?"
Dawn stepped forward.
Xander sighed and replied. "I'm Xander Harris. Sorry 'bout this."
"At last you're here," Joyce cautiously stated, still a little worried about the panda behind Ranma.
"Oh, he is cute!" Dawn squealed.
"I'm so glad you're here." Joyce hugged Xander tightly to her chest. Only to notice something was amiss. Grabbing Xander and pushing away to get a good look, her mind shut down with this evidence before her, refusing to believe it.
Dawn soon noticed her mother's reaction and took a closer look at Xander, or more specifically, Xander's chest. She approached and poked at Xander's chest.
"Uhh... could you stop that?" Xander asked.
Her investigation complete, Dawn turned on her mother. "Xander's not a boy! 'He' is a small girl!"
That got through to what remained of Joyce's mind. "A... girl?" The world started to spin around her, and she fainted.
The last thing she heard was Tara say, "Mother?"